Wright Finally Hitting & Mets are Winning

Above: View of Mets vs. Nationals Game in Washington D.C on Friday Night

THE GOOD NEWS: David Wright is hitting .455 since his return to the Mets, with 15 hits in 33 at-bats. Mike Pelfrey had his best game so far this year in Cinci and the Mets continue to win with Dillion Gee on the mound. They have scored 8+ runs in 4 straight games.

THE BAD NEWS: Unfortunately, Jason Bay has hit .203 in the month of July. So, while the Mets have been able to beat up on some bad pitchers, facing the sub-.500 Cincinnati and even worse Washington, they will face some real tests starting Monday, facing their division rival and nemesis Florida Marlins. New York will be facing the Marlins without Carlos Beltran, having already lost 2 out of 3 games in Miami last week with Beltran playing.

Still, the Mets are 4 games above .500 for the first time this season and have won 5 games in a row. While they are still 6+ games out of the Wild Card race, it's exciting to see them pushing for gold with Santana's return less than a month away. Lets Go Mets!

Loud Music + Moshing = ??

If you follow Squeaks' blogs, either Hidden Doorways or The Minstrel Warrior, you'll know that she got to go to a Manafest concert on Monday. Read all about her Epic experience here. I suggest you check it out; she has some insight into things I didn't even pick up on.


Now, that isn't nearly as random as some of you may think, because last night my siblings and I (plus one of Goose's friends) went and saw him too. (I was actually going to invite you, Squeaks, until I read your post and realized you had already seen him. :)


Leauphaun and I knew about seeing Manafest for several days, but we kept it from Goose (who really likes Manafest) until yesterday morning. When we told him that we were going to "a pizza party... with Manafest", his eyes practically bugged out of his head. *happy grin* It was so worth waiting to tell him.


Yes, pizza party. After the concert -- which was completely awesome, as there were maybe 100 people there, tops -- we got to hang around with the band and eat pizza with them. Correction: the band didn't eat pizza, but everyone else did.


Prior to last night, Leauphaun and I had each seen Manafest twice and met him at YC Alberta 2010. When Leauphaun approached him (last night) to get a drawing she did of him signed, he mentioned that she seemed familiar, to which we replied that we'd already met before at YC. Because of that, Chris actually stood and talked to us for a good five minutes after most of the people there had gotten what they wanted signed. He's such a nice guy, very friendly and encouraging too.


There were dozens of funny moments that happened over the course of the evening, but probably the best one was at the end when we were waiting for our parents to come pick us up. Manafest drove his van/trailer around the church so that they could begin loading their gear into it. As he drove by where we were sitting, he rolled down the window and asked us if we wanted to go on tour with him. Of course, we all said yes, then Leauphaun added, "'bout time you asked!" o_O I don't think he heard her.




Leauphaun and I bought t-shirts and got them signed, and Goose bought a hoodie and Manafest's live CD/DVD combo, which he had the band sign it. That makes it... *counts on fingers* Four DVDs of bands Leauphaun and I saw at YC.




All in all, I had a great time last night. Oh, sure, I can barely move my neck and right shoulder, and I'll probably fall asleep during supper tonight, but who cares? I actually got to enjoy a Manafest concert, had Chris scream in my face at one point (during the concert) and got to headbang to my heart's content. Now I can't wait for September. TFK, Newsboys, Manafest...


I can't wait.


PS: Happy anniversary, Chris!! Thank you for sacrificing your eighth anniversary to be with your fans. But make sure you do something for Mrs. Greenwood. Soon.
 ~God Bless~

Beijing China at Night

After breakfast, visit Tiananmen Square and the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City, home of Chinese emperors for more than 500 years. After lunch, visit the Summer Palace, taking a leisure stroll while admiring the thousands of ancient murals along the Long Corridor and a boat ride on Kunming Lake (weather permitting). Enjoy a fabulous welcome banquet featuring the famous Beijing Duck in the evening.


Beijing China at Night
Beijing China at Night
Beijing China at NightThe highlight today is an excursion to the Great Wall. Enjoy the dramatic vistas and marvel at the Wall as it climbs and descends steep ridges and narrow valleys. Continue on to visit a cloisonné factory on the way to lunch. After lunch, visit the Ming Tombs starting with a stroll along the Sacred Way, which is guarded by stone statues. Then tour the Chang Ling Exhibition Museum.
Beijing China at Night
Beijing China at NightThis morning, visit Beijing Sport University, where over 50 graduates have won world championship titles, and more than 60 have won Asian championship titles. Visit the university''s museum, Garden of Champions, indoor training gyms, outdoor sports fields and courts, etc. En route to the airport, drive around the intriguing architecture of the main Olympic venues: the National Stadium, nicknamed the “Bird''s Nest,” because of its unique design, and the National Aquatics Center, known as the “Water Cube” (H2O3). Take an afternoon flight to Xi''an. Upon arrival, you will start your tour of the ancient City Wall, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Bell Tower. Overnight at the Grand New World Hotel (or similar).
Beijing China at Night
Beijing China at Night
Today''s highlight is a visit to the Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum, home to an army of more than 6,000 life-size statues excavated from the tomb of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty. After lunch, visit the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, renowned for its collection of Han- and Tang-dynasty antiquities. In the evening, enjoy a special dumpling dinner and cultural show at the Tang Dynasty Theatre recreating the music, costumes and dances of that era.

11 Best Hotels in The United States

1. The Ansonia

New York, New York

2. Madrona Manor

Healdsburg, California

3. Tu Tu' Tun Lodge

Gold Beach, Oregon

4. Woodlands Resort & Inn

Summerville, South Carolina

5. Four Seasons Resort

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

6. The Plaza

New York, New York

7. Inn at Spanish Bay

Pebble Beach, California

8. Canterbury Hotel

Indianapolis, Indiana

9. The St. Regis Resort

Aspen, Colorado

10. The Cosmopolitan

Las Vegas, Nevada

11. Grande Colonial

San Diego, California

Forbidden City China

Gugong, or Forbidden City, is located in central Beijing, north of the famous Tiananmen Square. Tourists, excited wonders Imperial Palace, usually enter through the south gate and go through the north, after a complete tour by former administrative and cultural center of the former Chinese empire. Flights are regular bus and links to tourist attractions celelelte Beijing are excellent.

Separated from the rest of the world through a very tall wall red as fire and smoking all ordinary mortals, Town Prohibited chinze downtown, is a city within a city. It was the center of the Chinese empire, and for them, the center of the world. Ming and Qing empire led destiny behind these walls. Beijing's history as lived space is immemorial and vanished in time. Instead of the Forbidden City itself is clearly defined by building location. Inperial Center was founded in impratului Yong Ming dynasty, who had moved here from the capital Nanking in 1420.

Imperial complex required a titanic work to meet the needs of His Majesty. In 1644, the Forbidden City was robbed by the fall of the Ming Dynasty Manchu. But Qing dynasty emperors in Manchuria, it was rebuilt after it was installed on the Dragon Throne, bringing back the glory and opulence of another time. Moreover, the old brilliance, dazzling to ordinary people, were added other beautiful lakes, temples, palaces and gardens. During this period, the city has reached his true majestic splendor.

It has a square shape and is oriented on a north-south axis. is surrounded by a large wall, 10.4 meters high. Inside the walls, palaces, gates, courtyards and gardens are arranged symmetrically. Total number of rooms up to 9000, which were formerly occupied by the emperor and his retinue of ladies (mother, wives and concubines) and a whole army of eunuchs and servants. There is a code of laws, specifically developed for each activity of living day-to-day. There were also labeled and taboos and the Forbidden City was turned slowly in a gilded cage. All major buildings face the south, which could mean a denial of supernatural power and hostile forces in the north (the Mongols and the cold winds from Siberia). Even the southern entrance, called the Meridian Gate (Wumen), took a special insemnateta. Here he reviews the troops king. There are times here on a cross-crossed by a spring garden, Gold River, which is cut by five bridges, all of marble. Vituti representations are five bridges. This leads to the Supreme Gate Harmonies, dimcolo that there is a large courtyard which was designed such that to provide shelter for 20,000 people. Opposite the courtyard, you will see the tallest building in the Forbidden City, the Supreme Hall of Harmony. Here reigned king with fast imperial state during meetings Sensitive.

Around it hung a cloud of incense and ants regiment officials and dignitaries in the gentle murmur of discreet and golden bell. Next you will see two more ceremonies halls: Hall and Hall Conservative Perfect Harmonies Harmonies. North can see houses they lived in the king and his retinue, a little more natural size. Here are the most important treasure that state leaders have gathered along the times, among which there is a collection of watches and a French puppet. Japan sacked the Forbidden City in 1937 and even the National Guard took on more wealth when he left Taiwan in 1949.

The city of Beijing swirls around the mystery of the Forbidden City of China. Also known as the Imperial Palace Museum, it has almost 10,000 buildings splayed across 250 acres. The enclosure housed the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for around 500 years. A behemoth of a national landmark, its inner workings hold thousands upon thousands of China's rarest treasures and artifacts. It should be no surprise that the Forbidden City of China is one of the premier places for tourists to visit. Its convenient location to the greater Beijing area and other attractions such as the Great Wall certainly doesnt hurt, either.

The wall enveloping the Forbidden City China measures almost 30 feet in height. Held inside is the world's largest palace complex. The Forbidden City history begins in 1407 when over a million laborers began its construction. Thirteen years in the making, the interior is a violent yellow. The bricks that layer the ground, the roofs that rise into the sky, numerous decorations and shrines throughout the Forbidden City of China: all a similar shade of yellow. This is because the traditional color of royalty in China is, of course, yellow. Until 1911, when the revolution finally came to the streets of Beijing, this was where the emperors lived, where they governed, where they prayed.

The Forbidden City China is divided into two main parts. The outer court is where the emperors governed, the inner court is where they, along with the rest of the royal family, lived. The two are separated by the immense Gate of Celestial Purity. But first you have to get inside—the main gate to the Forbidden City is located to the south, opposite Tiananmen Square. This gate, also called the Meridian Gate, is famous for its resemblance to a phoenix. Like most of Chinese architecture and surroundings, most every aspect of the Forbidden City has a nickname; every hallway or courtyard is an ancient symbol, every nook and cranny has some secret meaning. The maze of walls and buildings is also strictly governed by the rigid principles of Feng Shui, the certainty of which gives the many structures an austere and stoic quality to them, the knowledge that everything is in its right place.

Beijing China Olympics

While every country participating in the Olympics have their own stories to follow, one of the biggest ones in the United States has been swimmer Michael Phelps.� Phelps has already won two gold medals in the early stages of the tournament.� He won one of the medals in an individual race and last night his relay team beat the favorite French team by one eight hundredth of a second.� The victory was a satisfying one for team USA because leading up the event, the French team had promised a victory over the USA team, and they said it would be an easy one.

Michael Phelps is currently on pace to break the all-time gold medal record for a single Olympics.� If he wins every event he�s scheduled to be in he would have nine, beating Mark Spitz�s 36 year record.� Spitz, also a swimmer, is also tied with Carl Lewis for the most Gold Medals of all time, with eight.� If (it�s more like when) Phelps wins his next gold medal, he will be number one all time, as he has already won 8 between this year and last year�s Olympics.� Phelps next chance to do this will be Tuesday in an individual competition.

Also last night the USA Woman�s gymnastics team advanced to the medal stage, second behind the host country team, China.� China finished the preliminary round in first place, but in the medal round, the initial scores are wiped out and you start from scratch.� What China does get out of finishing first is the ability to watch American participate in their events first.� This way, China will no exactly what they will have to do to win the events.


Overall, China is expected to win the most medals in this years Olympics games.� They have been waiting for this moment for a long time, and their over 600 athletes appear to be destined for the Gold Medal title.� Already they have a lead over America in the number of medals, and in just Gold Medals they have a commanding lead.

The action continues nearly all day on NBC and their sister stations.��

�


Also last night the USA Woman�s gymnastics team advanced to the medal stage, second behind the host country team, China.� China finished the preliminary round in first place, but in the medal round, the initial scores are wiped out and you start from scratch.� What China does get out of finishing first is the ability to watch American participate in their events first.� This way, China will no exactly what they will have to do to win the events.

Overall, China is expected to win the most medals in this years Olympics games.� They have been waiting for this moment for a long time, and their over 600 athletes appear to be destined for the Gold Medal title.� Already they have a lead over America in the number of medals, and in just Gold Medals they have a commanding lead.

Beijing

An Italian traveller once told me that people fall in love with a country on the basis of 3 things; the air, the food and the people. For me, I first fell in love with the Chinese signage in Beijing! Especially the huge ones with neon lights (I loved it!). Then it was the food. Especially Peking duck! For the record, I’ve never like duck dishes, wouldn’t even eat ‘em if I’m paid to. But Peking duck was DELICIOUS! Then it was all the good looking men in Beijing! So tall, well build with good looking features. Wow, I wouldn’t mind living in Beijing (at all!)! Hahaha..

From Tianjin Binhai International Airport, we took a shuttle bus to Beijing. That took us approximately 2 hours. But for those in a rush, you can also opt for the bullet train which would only take 30 minutes.

Beijing
Beijing
Beijing
Beijing
Beijing
Beijing
Beijing

Northern Ireland Nature

My game Hexyle is progressing nicely. I’ve just nailed the 3d rendering system, which creates a procedurally generated world out of hexagonal tiles.

The images from my previous post were just throw togethers to explore the general aesthetic of using hexagonal building blocks to create random scenery – there was no consideration for frame rate or optimisation – it would have been impossible to play at the 10 fps or so it was allowing me. So I had to rebuild an optimised game engine from scratch using some innovative techniques to achieve maximum visual impact and fast frame rate.

Asides from the usual considerations of open gl optimisations such as pre baked lighting, streamlined meshes etc, I’ve created my own geomipmapping technique using depth buffering.

Geomipmapping is a technique used in 3d games whereby low poly models replace high poly models at far distances, to improve performance without any visual degradation. The trouble with this however is that you have to ‘switch’ over the 2 models at the right time, at the right distance, to avoid ‘popping’ new geometry with suddenly higher/lower polys. This involves having lots of different versions of the same model in memory.

Northern Ireland Nature
Northern Ireland Nature
Northern Ireland Nature
Northern Ireland Nature
Northern Ireland Nature
Northern Ireland Nature

Below .500 and Limping to the Finish: 4 Game Set in Cinci is Mets Very Last Chance

If the Mets made it to the playoffs this year, they would be the first team ever to do so this far back in the Wild Card race this late in the season. With the Phillies running away with the division, the Wild Card is the Mets last hope. This series with the Cincinnati Reds is make or break for both teams, as they are both 8.5 games back in the race. Not only do the Reds have home field advantage, but they are going in with a-lot more confidence, having won their last two games. The Mets, who just lost a dismal series to the god awful Florida Marlins, have little chance. Lets just hold our breath and hope for the best, because, mark my words- this is our very last chance.

Here are the 2 reasons I don't see the Mets finishing any better than a game or two above .500:

• Jason Bay is hitting .228 and David Wright is hitting .241. Those are two guys that a couple years ago were among the best in the majors. Now they are burnt out and injury prone, fielding terribly and suffering from year-long slumps. Bay was great on the Red Sox and Pirates, hitting extremely well with lots of Home Runs. The Mets expected power hitting and paid him amazingly well to join the team. But like Wright, he has been nothing but a disappointment in 2011.
• Playoff teams do not ever have pitching this bad. Without their two best pitchers (Johan Santana and Chris Young) out until at least August 21st, the Mets have been forced to rely on the horrid Mike Pelfrey who is expected to be 5-10 by the time the Mets get to D.C on Friday and Chris Capuano, whose ERA has risen to 4.23. Even the 4-8 R.A Dickey has showed us that as impressive as 2010 was, he simply dosen't have it in him anymore.

I wanna say Ronny Paulino, Daniel Murphy, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran can continue to swing hot bats and the Mets can hit there way into the postseason, but with Wright and Bay struggling, I doubt that will happen. We need pitching to come through. Dillon Gee is our only hope when it comes to starting pitching, and with KROD gone and Izzy iffy, we have to keep on holding our breath as we watch the bullpen throw away game after game.

If the Mets dont win this series in Cinci, there is no point in watching them for the rest of the year. They are below .500 and have proven to all of us that 2011 may simply be another year to forget in Queens. Tickets are now $5 for 3 games in early August. I'm not sure the Mets are worth $5.

Michigan Fun Facts (Updated)

With careful research, I presented each cabin (where I work at Camp Blodgett) with a crayon-drawn colorfully decorated series of fun facts. Each cabin got 3 fun facts- 1 random, 1 top 10 list and 1 fun-fact about Michigan. Here are the fun facts I chose to present about Michigan.

- Lake Michigan is the third largest lake in America and sixth largest freshwater lake in the world!

- More people own boats in Michigan than any other state!

- Michigan has more clear water shoreline than any state in America!

- The University of Michigan was the first university established by any of the states. It was originally located in Detroit, but after 24 years there, it moved to Ann Arbor in 1841!

- A pond is the same as a lake, only smaller. In fact, a pond is any body of water under 10 acres. Michigan thus has over 64,000 ponds.

- Michigan has well over 11,000 lakes, third most in the USA. Alaska, seven times bigger than Michigan, has over 3 million lakes. Although there are officially 11,842 lakes in Minnesota, there state motto reads "10,000" lakes, a feat Michigan could also claim.

- There are over 19 million acres of forest in Michigan.

- Over 2.2 million people swim in Lake Michigan ever year.

- Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state.

- Michigan was the birthplace of the Republican Party, so beginning a more serious advocacy to free the slaves.

And the Ugly:

- Michigan is the most segregated state in the nation.

- Michigan has the nation's highest adolescent suicide rate.

- Michigan has the highest unemployment in America.

- Michigan is the only state with a shrinking population.

Brief Thoughts on Immigration

Politicians label undocumented workers "criminals" and say they are leeches on our economy. While statistics show that immigrants are just as likely to commit crime as everyday Americans in the same economic brackets, skapegoating continues to help republicans win elections in immigration-heavy states like Arizona and Texas.

If these politicians could stop fearing immigrants simply trying to survive and start seeing opportunity in the matter of illegal immigration then instead of having migrants shot dead at the border, Mexicans could instead be guided towards American citizenship in a way that benefited everyone.

If immigrants arrived in America and were required by Washington to serve Americore or the American Red Cross, then would we halt the wave of anger being voiced by Latino Americans fed up with the White House's lack of immigration reform. Just think of all the good that could come out of a situation that has been turnt into a debate of anger. If we stopped using a policy of FEAR and HATE and started using a policy of 'Do Onto Others', then maybe this nation of immigrants could stop treating newcombers as a problem and instead see them as equal.

It's Official: I am finally an atheist.

I was thinking the other day about how I have always identified myself as an agnostic. I always say- "I don't believe there is a God, I don't believe there is not a God. I'm okay with not knowing". But then I realized, knowing and believing are two different things. While many Christians say they know there is a God and many Atheists say they know their is not, nobody really knows for sure. They all have beliefs. They all have faith. As Americans, we are exposed primarily to these two groups- atheists and Christians. This is a bubble. Most people on earth are neither.

Anyway, I was thinking, I should have a belief. I should believe something. I have a brain and I can think logically for myself about what is possible and impossible. There are many things in the bible that cannot happen in the real world such as getting pregnant without having sex. Believing that this did happen takes quite a leap of faith.

Because I believe there is no Lord, I shall from now on consider myself and atheist.

If you are a christian and you are reading this and taking offense...oh well. You have your religion on my bills, in my laws and in my courts. Here is what I believe:

Christianity is nothing but a fairy tale for people scared of COLD HARD REALITY. God is just Santa Clause for adults. Don't nobody get pregnant without sex, there is no magical utopia in the sky and the good things in your life were worked for by people, not granted to you by a lord who can somehow hear millions of people whisper to him at once. That bible (which is followed by a minority of human beings, I might add) justifies slavery, rape, violent execution and teaches you homosexuality and random kinds of seafood consumption are sinful. It was written by 40 power-hungry all-male authors who thought the world was flat and didn't know there was a galaxy (much less a universe). If anybody needs converting, it's those who fail to realize they are ATHEISTS when it comes to all the other made up gods around the world and believers in one random guy in a book.

Jesus Christ, from what I understand as a history major, fucked prostitutes, got drunk off his ass on wine, perhaps smoked loads of weed and died a horrible death. (My kinda guy, woulda done well in Colorado). Some people got upset about how horrible his death was, and they made up stories about his afterlife. Most of their ideas were recycled from previous religions and none of their ideas were particularly creative or original. I have read the bible. Most of the advice in it is nothing more than cheesy morals. Most of the stuff in it is good and most of the people who helped write it seemed to be good people, and good writers who wrote many other books. Jesus was a cool guy. But, lets be serious, we have all read far better books than the bible and we all know people can't walk on water... The bible is pretty childish, not to mention deeply outdated and full of inaccuracies and impossibilities.

If you are a christian, more power to you. We all know Christianity is massive force for charity and good, but I don't need to believe God will reward me to do something good. I believe good deeds are inherently rewarding.

I just don't understand and don't think I ever will why your beliefs in the bible's 3 gods- Jesus, The Holy Father aka God and the Holy Spirit are any more valid than someone who believes the tooth ferry or easter bunny.

Please forgive me for any specific inaccuracies. It has been nearly 2 years since I read the Bible, or as I like to call it the "Book of Random Rules "

Thanks for reading this if you did. Sorry I'm not sorry for having an opinion. Keep on rockin in the free world.

-Sam

New York Architecture & My Favorite Building in the City

Having traveled to some spectacularly beautiful cities- Savannah, Barcelona, London, Cairo, Sante Fe, Paris and San Francisco to name some favorites, nothing compares, architecturally speaking to New York City. The skyscrapers of midtown (Chrysler, Flatiron) and downtown (City Hall, 8 Spruce Street) have their creative charms and immeasurable epicness, but the architecture of New York is encapsulated by far more than the well known. Sure, we all love the Empire State Building and Brooklyn Bridge, but a conversation about the best buildings in New York could go on for hours. Dozens and dozens of it's massive neighborhoods offer architecture that no place on earth can top. To the endlessly gorgeous buildings and museums surrounding Central Park to the ridiculously stunning brownstones of Greenwich Village to the unforgettable beauty of Columbia University's campus, there is no city that has more to offer. From the colorful and breathtakingly intricate buildings of the Meatpacking District, SoHo, Chelsea and the Lower East Side to the stunningly detailed buildings on Broadway, Park or 5th avenue, there is no city, when it comes to architecture, that can touch New York.

So...of the thousands and thousands of unbelievably stunning buildings, which stands alone? Can one truly pick a favorite? I say, we all have ours. We just have to look. What building speaks to me? What do I love the most? Easy. I've always been in love and most impressed with The Ansonia. Like half the buildings in SoHo, I could stare at it for hours. You have to see it to believe it. Located in the Upper West Side on 74th and Broadway, you can't miss it. It takes up the whole block.

Some of the buildings many claims to fame, from Wikipedia:

• The Ansonia housed an infamous gay bathhouse, the Continental Baths, in its basement during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1977, the club became Plato's Retreat, a heterosexual swing club. Bette Midler started her singing career at the Continental Baths, with Barry Manilow as her accompianist.
• In his 1956 novella Seize The Day, Saul Bellow incorrectly attributes the Ansonia Hotel to Stanford White. Bellow's description is otherwise memorably evocative:

"The Ansonia, the neighborhood's great landmark, was built by Stanford White. It looks like a baroque palace fromPrague or Munich enlarged a hundred times, with towers, domes, huge swells of metal gone green from exposure, iron fretwork and festoons. Black television antennae are densely planted on its round summits. Under the changes of weather it may look like marble or sea water, black as slate in the fog, white as tufa in sunlight. This morning it looked like the image of itself reflected in deep water, white and cumulous above, with cavernous distortions underneath."

• The Ansonia was also used as the apartment building where Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh lived in the 1992 film Single White Female. The apartment scenes were filmed in a studio but the stairwell scenes were filmed on location at the hotel.
• In the Neil Simon film, The Sunshine Boys, the character Willie Clark, played by Walter Matthau, lives in the Ansonia.
• In the film, Perfect Stranger, Halle Berry plays a news-reporter who lives in a "professionally decorated $4-million condo in the lavish Ansonia building on the Upper West Side." ^[8]
• In 1916, the Ansonia was the scene of a blackmail plot. Edward R. West, Vice President of the C. D. Gregg Tea and Coffee Company of Chicago, had checked into the hotel with a woman known to him as Alice Williams. Alice Williams was an alias of Helen Godman, also known as "Buda" Godman, who acted as the "lure" for a blackmail gang based in Chicago. West and Godman were together in their room at The Ansonia when two male members of the gang, impersonating Federal law enforcement agents, entered the room and "arrested" West for violation of the Mann Act.^[9] After transporting West and Godman back to Chicago, West was coerced into paying the two "agents" $15,000 in order to avoid prosecution, and avoid embarrassment or soiling the reputation of "Alice." West reported the incident after becoming suspicious that not everything was as it seemed. Several of the male blackmailers earned prison terms, but "Buda" Godman was released on bail.^[10] She disappeared for many years, but she was eventually caught and charged for trying to fence the Glemby Jewels taken in a 1932 robbery.^[11]
• A key player in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, first baseman Chick Gandil, had an apartment at the Ansonia. According to Eliot Asinof, in his book Eight Men Out, Gandil held a meeting there with his White Sox teammates to recruit them for the scheme to intentionally lose the 1919 World Series.
• The Ansonia was also featured in "Don't Say a Word" starring Michael Douglas along with "My Super Ex-Girlfriend starring Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson.
• Willie Sutton the bank robber was arrested at Childs Restaurant in the Ansonia.
• Famous former residents include opera stars Teresa Stratas, Eleanor Steber, Geraldine Farrar, Feodor Chaliapin, Ezio Pinza, Lily Pons, and Lauritz Melchior(who, some maintained, "practiced archery in the 110-foot corridors"); musicians Arturo Toscanini, Igor Stravinksy, Mischa Elman, and Yehudi Menuhin; impresarios Florenz Ziegfeld and Sol Hurok; authors Theodore Dreiser, Cornell Woolrich, and Elmer Rice; athletes Jack Dempsey and Babe Ruth; mobsterArnold Rothstein; the film actors, Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman, and Eric McCormack, and soap opera actress and writer, Clarice Blackburn.
• The Ansonia was the basis for the fictional Balmoral building in Jed Rubenfeld's 2006 literary novel "The Interpretation of Murder".
• The building was featured in the 2003 movie,"Uptown Girls", as the location of Mollie's apartment. (The outside, stair case, and lobby were in the movie).

If you have read this, what is your favorite building in New York?

Cuba's Scary Healthcare System

Source: WikiPedia

Status: Facinating

Cuban hospitals are considered by many human rights groups to be among the worst in the developed world. Despite having many world-class hospitals, these hospitals are generally exclusive to wealthy foreigners and those willing to pay fees with U.S dollars.

The Cuban government operates a national health system and assumes full fiscal and administrative responsibility for the health care of its citizens. The government prohibits any private alternatives to the national health system. In 1976, Cuba's healthcare program was enshrined in Article 50 of the revised constitution which states, "Everyone has the right to health protection and care".

Some of Cuba's best medical facilities allegedly exclude Cuban citizens unless they pay in US dollars. In 1994 the founder of Havana's International Center for Neurological Restoration, Dr. Hilda Molina, quit her position after refusing to increase the number of neural transplant operations without the required testing and follow-up. She expressed outrage that only foreigners are treated.^[53]

There is no right to privacy, patient's informed consent, or right to protest for malpractice.^[54][55] Moreover, the patient does not have right to refuse treatment (for example, a Rastafarian cannot refuse an amputation on grounds that his religion forbids it. Rastafari teaches the body must remain whole in order for it to be resurrected on Judgement day).^[54][55] As a result, the experience can be dehumanizing.^[54] Many Cubans complain about politics in medical treatment and health care decision-making.^[54]

After spending nine months in Cuban clinics, Katherine Hirschfeld asserted in her paper "My increased awareness of Cuba’s criminalization of dissent raised a very provocative question: to what extent is the favorable international image of the Cuban health care system maintained by the state’s practice of suppressing dissent and covertly intimidating or imprisoning would-be critics?"^[54]

Family doctors are expected to keep records of patients "political integration".^[55] Epidemiological surveillance has become juxtaposed with political surveillance.^[55]

Sicko was shown in theaters throughout Cuba and on national TV.^[60] Despite this, former United States Interests Section in Havana chief Michael E. Parmlywrote a diplomatic cable on January 31, 2008 which in part read:

XXXXXXXXXXXX stated that Cuban authorities have banned Michael Moore's movie, "Sicko," as being subversive. Although the film's intent is to discredit the U.S. healthcare system by highlighting the excellence of the Cuban system, he said the regime knows the film is a myth and does not want to risk a popular backlash by showing to Cubans facilities that are clearly not available to the vast majority of them.^[61]

More, from PoliticsForum.org:

Good thing for us that Rich Noyes of The Media Research centre keeps an eye on CNN. Good thing for CNN too. Given the latest Nielsen ratings (that finds them 17th during prime time) Ted "Fidel Castro is one helluva guy!" Turner's brainchild should be grateful for any and all viewers, whatever their motivation.

Last week, according to Noyes expose', "CNN aired a piece of Communist Party propaganda about how Cuba could serve as 'a model for health care reform in the United States'."

The CNN report included clips from Michael Moore's Sicko as CNN's Morgan Neill, on location in a Potemkin Havana hospital, gushed about Cuban healthcare's "impressive statistics." "Cuba's infant mortality rates" he reported, "are the lowest in the hemisphere, in line with those of Canada!"

"Amazing!" probably gasped the type of person who watches CNN nowadays (Noyes gets a pass here). Perfect proof of "yes we can!" they probably high-fived. No wonder Colin Powell said "Castro had done some good things for his people!" No wonder Michael Moore catches so much grief from those insufferable Miami Cubans! Before Castro only they could afford doctors, as Cuba's huddled masses languished in sickness and poverty!

And indeed, according to UN figures, Cuba's current infant mortality rate places her 44th from the top in worldwide ranking, right next to Canada (the lower the rate the higher the ranking).

What CNN left out is that according to those same UN figures, in 1958 (the year prior to the glorious revolution), Cuba ranked 13th from the top, worldwide. This meant that robustly capitalist Cuba had the 13th LOWEST infant-mortality rate in the world. This put her not only at the top in Latin America but atop most of Western Europe, ahead of France, Belgium, West Germany, Israel, Japan, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Today all of these countries leave Communist Cuba in the dust, with much lower infant mortality rates.

Also noteworthy: according to the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the mortality rate of Cuban children aged one to four years is 34% higher than the US (11.8 versus 8.8 per 1,000). But these don’t figure into UN and World Health Organization spotlighted "infant-mortality rates," you see. So the pressure is not on Cuban doctors to fudge these figures – yet.
In April 2001, Dr. Juan Felipe García, MD, of Jacksonville, Fla., interviewed several recent doctor defectors from Cuba. Based on what he heard, he reported the following: "The official Cuban infant-mortality figure is a farce. Cuban pediatricians constantly falsify figures for the regime. If an infant dies during its first year, the doctors often report he was older. Otherwise, such lapses could cost him severe penalties and his job."

More interesting (and tragic) still, the maternal mortality rate in Cuba is almost four times that of the US rate (33 versus 8.4 per 1,000). Peculiar how so many mothers die during childbirth in Cuba, and how many one- to four-year-olds perish, – while from birth to one year old (the period during which they qualify in UN statistics as infants) they’re perfectly healthy!

This might lead a few people to question Cuba’s official infant-mortality figures. But such people would not get a Havana bureau for their news agency, much less a visa to film a documentary.

Ninety-nine percent of Cubans have no more experience with hospitals like the one Michael Moore featured in Sicko and CNN's Morgan Neill visited than Moore has with a Soloflex. Most Cubans view these hospitals the way teenage boys used to view Playboy magazine and husbands view a Victoria’s Secret catalog: "Wow! If only. . ."

The Castroite propaganda in Sicko so outraged people cursed by fate to live in Castro's fiefdom that they risked their lives by using hidden cameras to film conditions in genuine Cuban hospitals, hoping they could alert the world to Moore's swinishness as a propaganda operative for a Stalinist regime.

At enormous risk, two hours of shocking – often revolting – footage was obtained with tiny hidden cameras and smuggled out of Cuba to Cuban-exile, George Utset who runs the superb and revelatory website The Real Cuba. The man who assumed most of the risk during the filming and smuggling was Cuban dissident – a medical doctor himself – Dr. Darsi Ferrer, who was also willing to talk on camera, narrating much of the video's revelations. Dr. Ferrer works in these genuinely Cuban hospitals daily, witnessing the truth. More importantly, he wasn't cowed from revealing this truth to America and the world.

Originally, ABC's John Stossel planned to show the shocking videos in their entirety, during a 20/20 show. Alas, on Sept. 12th 2007, the 20/20 show ran only a tiny segment on Cuba's "real" healthcare, barely 5 minutes long and with almost none of the smuggled video footage. What happened?

Well, the Castro regime got wind of these videos and called in ABC's Havana bureau for a little talking-to, stressing that ABC's "bureau permit" might face "closer scrutiny" if they showed the blockbuster videos.

ABC (and yes, Stossel, whom we all otherwise admire) wimped out.

Enter Fox News, and Sean Hannity in particular. Your humble servant here contacted Hannity's producers regarding the smuggled videos and they immediately requested a look. Within hours they jumped on them and produced a blockbuster of a show. Seen here. And here. Fox viewers saw naked patients covered with flies while lying on "hospital beds" consisting of a bare mattress. They saw buildings that would be condemned by the health board of any US municipality serving as "hospitals." They saw and heard Dr. Darsi Ferrer along with other Cubans who described their inability to obtain something so basic as aspirins.

"Greed," was the motif of Michael Moore's Sicko, right? "Greed" is what Obama's plan will abolish, right?
Well, Fox viewers saw footage of Cubans being told (by regime apparatchiks) that aspirins and other medicines just might be available to them – but only if they paid in US dollars, not the Cuban pesos they held out in desperation.