Wildlife: Muskrats are becoming active on the lake in the evening as Autumn develops.

Charity Alert: The Breast Cancer Site

Weather: Cool in the morning, but sunny all day.

Media Watch: This bloody blogger site wasn't working very well yesterday, and I was fearful of losing my post about Oriana Fallaci's book, but it was still in the "Edit Posts" section today, and I got it uploaded at last.
More about current shadows from Fallaci's Interviews with History -- I finished reading it last night...
Tragically-flawed Ali Bhutto raised a remarkable daughter -- Benazir Bhutto, who became Prime Minister of Pakistan twice. Benazir Bhutto
That country's history has many dark rooms -- Ali Bhutto's execution was just one of them. Their sponsorship of the Taliban is another, but their part in nuclear proliferation may be the darkest yet. As far as the REAL war on terrorism is concerned, many of our worst enemies and best friends live within the borders of Pakistan.
Mohammed Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, preceded Ayatollah Khomeni into the fires of Hell by almost a decade. His son claims to have no desire for the Peacock Throne, and I hope he's not a sociopathic liar like his old man was. Reza Pahlavi....
Today, the government of Iran is scrambling to aquire nuclear weapons to avert an invasion by U.S. forces, or to take horrible revenge if the Bush administration initiates that madness.
NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT -- VH1 Bands Reunited tried to perform that trick with ABC, one of the most successful English "New Wave" groups. Since only two of the four guys showed up for the reunion chat, VH1 had some ace studio musicians fill-in for the missing members in a not-too-bad performance of their hits. Luckily, Martin Fry -- lead singer/songwriter, and owner of the ABC name was one of the members on board.
VH1.com : Shows : Bands Reunited : Main Page
We watched the first half of Lagaan: Once Upon A Time in India -- one of the most accessible Bollywood hit movies for "Westerners." It's a melodrama for sure, stocked with all sorts of stereotypes, including some real bastard British officers, but it's done very well. Aamir Khan is the male lead, and also the producer. Lagaan's web site