Things are finally starting to calm down a bit at work. And by starting to calm down, I mean that I got a couple hours to go home after arriving at 6:00am and leaving at 8:00pm today. It's nice to be busy and all, but this is getting ridiculous.

Last month I shot an interview with Bill Clinton. It was conducted in NYC at the start of his Clinton Global Initiative event. I brought a bunch of lights up from DC and had Paige and Nathan bring some more. They only gave us an hour and a half to set up, which is not a lot for a big-name, two-camera shoot. When we were almost done setting up, they made us move the lights and cameras to the sides of the room to make way for catering. Twenty minutes before Clinton's arrival we were finally let back in the room to re-set everything. It was a mess. The interview went well though and he stayed around afterward to take pictures with us. The edit took a lot longer than I expected, because I was using a new camera and a new recording format. I ended up missing the last train back to DC and had to wait for the 1:30 bus. I didn't get back to DC until 7:30am, but there was so much going on at the office that I had to work all day. That was probably the worst part, but the best part was that the Colbert Report picked up a clip from the interview! Oh, and no one touched the catering.

At the beginning of the month, we put on the First Draft of History event with the Atlantic Magazine. It was a forum for famous journalists to interview politicians and other newsmakers. Emily did most of the planning, design and production. She did a great job, but I don't think she had a single day off in September. She became the main point of contact for all of the people and organizations working on the event. In addition to being on the phone 12 hours a day, she designed all of the graphics and took over the Managing Editor's job for a couple weeks.

I was in charge of the video side of the event. I set up the control room, directed four cameras, and controlled the switched feed going to the major networks. I am not sure which networks showed our video, but I did see a clip on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

There were some great guests at the event, including John McCain, Lindsey Graham (who comes to all of these events), General Petraeus, Alan Greenspan, Larry Summers, Tim Geithner, Janet Napolitano and CEOs from Google, AOL and Time Warner. Given this was the first time they have done this event, it went really well. The Atlantic is planning to do the event next year and I'm sure Emily is the first person they will call.

Yesterday I helped my friend Ted shoot some green-screen footage for Georgetown Basketball. This footage, plus some some stuff from the highlight reel will be played on the Jumbotron at their games. We used a 400 sqft freestanding green-screen, plus over 20 lights to fill the basketball court. The shoot went well, but I wish we could have hired some extra people to help us carry all the equipment. It took us six hours just to set everything up.

Today Emily and arrived at the office at 6:00am to shoot an hour long talk show about Hispanic American issues. Emily designed and constructed the set. I set up all the cameras, decks, monitors, sound equipment and switcher. We did it for the first time last week and we're suppose to do it every week from now on. I just hope that the set up will take less time in the coming weeks than it has for the last two.

Sorry I haven't updated much this month, but anyone following me on twitter should know what's going on in my life...

Our manager at work has been out of town for the last couple weeks. Emily has taken over all of the scheduling duties and she's doing a great job. Our co-workers are even starting to call her "boss". We also started working on a big event for the Atlantic Monthly. Well mostly Emily has been working on it. She is meeting with all of the big-wigs like David Bradley and helping to organize the whole thing.

I helped out another production company with a green-screen shoot in Baltimore. I always enjoy working with them, because their projects are so much different than ours. We do broadcast TV news, while they do mostly corporate videos. And I don't get to do many shoots in a proper studio. There are much fewer time constraints, so you get to spend hours tweaking the camera and lighting.

My Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes are going well. The school is very small, so there are usually just a few students. This is only my first month of classes. I have yet to learn many submissions and counters. Therefore, I spent most of the class either getting choked or with my joints being forced in the wrong directions. It's fun though.

I had a busy weekend. Saturday I had to film the President's sister, Maya Ng. She was at the opening to an exhibit of her mother's textile collection from Indonesia. She didn't show up for the press conference, so I almost left. But soon after I started shooting b-roll of the fabrics, she showed up. Immediately all of the reporters attacked her. Someone alerted me just as she walked in, so I was able to get in front of the crowd and get a good shot. She answered some questions and posed for photos while everyone stuck various recording devices in her face. She obviously wasn't use to the attention and didn't have any security to keep the rabid journalists at bay. As the crowd pushed forward she kept backing up, until she was finally behind one of the displays and almost against the wall. Everyone left when she stopped talking.

After the shoot I saw the latest Harry Potter movie, which was highly entertaining. Then I went straight from the movie to Buffalo Billiards to see the UFC pay-per-view event. Kat usually comes with me, but she decided to stay home. I met up with my new Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teacher and watched the event with him and his friends. Did I mention that I started taking BJJ classes? Well I did and they are lots of fun.

Sunday, I helped my friend Aaron shoot a video for the Republican Liberty Caucus, of which he is deeply involved. We shot at my office where it was scorching hot; they leave the a/c off over the weekend. And the video lights made it even worse. Everyone was a bit testy because of the heat, but we got through one of the videos he wanted to do.

Emily picked me up from the office and we went to her mom and Tom's house for a joint birthday dinner. We were celebrating Emily's, her step-brother's, step-sister's and step-dad's birthdays. They made hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill and finished it off with brownies and yellow cake (two of my favorites).

Below are some photos I took of an apartment fire a couple blocks from my house.

Here are some photos from our trip to Mexico:

Yesterday, Emily and I spent the entire day sitting on the beach and reading our books. It was great! The resort has beds as well as regular lounge chairs on the beach. I spent a few hours napping on one of the beds under an umbrella.

Today we also spent the day at the beach. I decided to try sailing again. But this time, I had someone show me how to do it. I was able to go back and forth in front of the hotel a few times, but on my third turn I flipped the boat. It happened so quick that I didn´t even realize what was going on until I found myself in the water. My glasses fell off and started sinking. Somehow I was able to grab them before they were washed away. The instructor had to paddle out in a little kayak to help me turn it back over. I was able to sail past the hotel one more time, before making my entirely ungraceful landing on the shore.

Overall the trip has been really nice. We haven´t had to think about anything. There are eight restaurants, all of which are included in the price of the trip. The staff is wonderful and they take care of your every need. I imagine it´s like living in a very nice retirement home on the beach.

Emily and I arrived in Mexico last night. Our resort is beautiful, but the food is basically inedible. We spent all day today sitting on the beach or by the pool reading. I tried to sail a small, one person sailboat, but failed miserably. I thought that my sailing experience in Sudan would be sufficient, so I rented a boat from our hotel. The first time I got about 20 feet from shore, then headed into the wind and came right back to where I started. The second time, I went out much further, sailing parallel to the shore. When I passed the resort, I tried turning around and heading back. The wind took me right into the resort's swimming area. I narrowly dodged some swimmers and landed on the beach. Someone helped me pull the boat ashore so I could get someone to sail it back. The guy who rented me the boat seemed to have no problem zipping right back along the shore to the dock. When I get back to DC, I want to try taking some lessons.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Things have suddenly gotten really busy at work. Manalisi, the SABC correspondent, is back in town (and busier than ever) and we have a couple new clients. Emily has been doing about seven shoots a week for Newsmax.tv, a conservative website. Most of her shoots are with Republican members of the Senate and House. Last week, I came with her to interview Ron Paul, which was very exciting. Here are some photos from my recent shoots:





My upside-down tomato plant is doing great! I haven't had much luck growing tomatoes in the past, but this year I cut a hole in the bottom of a bucket and suspended it from the outside of our house. I let the tomatoes ripen on the vine and they are the most delicious I have ever tasted. Here are some photos of the plant and my pesto pasta with tomatoes:




Tomorrow we leave for our vacation in Mexico!

I have a love / hate relationship with the Fourth of July. The problem is that it gives my neighbors an excuse to light fireworks. They really take it too far. The "celebration" starts on July 1st and goes till July 7th. During this time, my dogs huddle in the corner shaking and refusing to eat or go outside.

We did manage to get out of the city for part of the day. Emily, Kat, Turtle, Piggy and I went hiking at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland. The hike down was great. Going back up, not so much. The route up the mountain didn't allow for a gradual incline. We were exhausted by the time we got back to the car. After the hike, we stopped at the Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard for their Fourth of July celebration. They had a nice outdoor seating area, a delicious fruit and cheese plate and plenty of wines to taste.

Last night someone was setting off dynamite on the corner. Literally dynamite. It rattled all of the windows in the neighborhood and set off car alarms. I was unfortunate enough to be sitting on the porch for one of the explosions. My hearing will never be the same.

The people behind our house were blasting Michael Jackson's greatest hits at full volume. Kat saw a fat lady moonwalk across the alley. Judging by the abandoned cars in the ally, our neighbors clearly spend more money on fireworks than they do on car repairs.

We sold our house in Orlando! We bought it four years ago, hoping to fix it up and quickly re-sell it for a profit (check out my post from 8/4/05) Unfortunately we got it right at the end of the real estate bubble. Just as we finished the renovations, houses in Orlando stopped selling. We've been trying to sell it since then, and have had a series of tenants living there while it was on the market. The rent never covered the mortgage, so we lost money every month.

We've had a few offers on the house, but none have been very serious. Finally someone came along who actually wanted to buy it. There were some scary moments throughout the sales process. The buyer's realtor didn't contact our realtor for a few weeks. We figured they walked away from the deal. Eventually they got back in touch and the closing process started. At first our bank said that we would have to come up with $14,000+ for the closing. I was able to negotiate that amount down to a much more reasonable amount. I'm not surprised they wanted us to bring money to the closing. We sold the house for almost $100k less than we paid for it. Eventually the bank agreed to the terms and the sale went through. Anyone trying to sell a house in Orlando should contact Pam Potenza at Sutton and Sutton. She'll take care of you.

Yesterday was a big day for Emily and I. On the way to work, we stopped by the AT&T store to buy our new iPhones. We've been waiting a long time to get out of our Sprint contract. It ended just in time for the release of the iPhone 3Gs!

Last night was the Radio and TV Correspondents' Dinner. It would have been fine, if we didn't have to get all dressed up. The one thing that saved it was the fact that our table was right up front in the center of the room. Obama was seated about 15 feet away. He got up and told some jokes and one of the guys from the Daily Show delivered the keynote speech. Priscilla posted some more photos and stuff on the FSN Reporters' blog.

I got back from shooting a conference in the Bahamas a few hours ago. Unfortunately the entire event was 'off the record', so I can't tell you who hosted it or who was there. It was centered on strategic goals for the global war on terror, but they focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The conference itself didn't really hold my interest, but the resort where it was held was great. It was the same place the Pirates of the Caribbean people stayed when they were shooting the movie. I had a room with a spectacular view overlooking the ocean. The conference lasted until 4:00 pm everyday, so I had time to go for a swim in the clear blue water.

It took me awhile to feel comfortable around the other attendees. I was in a sort of a limbo between the guests and the staff. But there was an open bar each night, so I eventually became more comfortable with them. The people were actually really interesting. They were heavily involved in the war and reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan and they had great stories to tell. I probably would have liked it better if I understood what they were talking about. The topics were so focused on specific regions and tribes, that most of it went straight over my head.

Emily and I have started learning how to make radio stories. Our company runs a news radio feed which is used by broadcasters around the world. Until now, we have stayed away from the radio side and only done TV. But we decided to expand our skill set and learn how to write and voice stories for the feed. Here is my first attempt at radio and here is Emily's latest story.

Also check out the FSN reporter's blog while you are at it.

I feel so cheated! I just tried to watch the movie Rocky for the fist time. It was playing on On Demand, so I set aside a couple hours to watch it. It was a bit strange though, because there were two copies of the movie on On Demand selection screen. The only difference was that Sylvester Stallone's name was spelled wrong on one version. I thought noting of it and choose one.

By the end of the movie, I was thoroughly confused. The plot made no sense and it seemed to be missing some of the most famous scenes (like Rocky punching the animal carcasses). I went back and checked the other version by fast forwarding through the entire movie. Sure enough this version made much more sense and had the missing scenes. I then fast forwarded though Rocky II and found the problem.

Someone had cut off the second half of Rocky 1 and replaced it with the second half of Rocky 2. Then they cut off the ending of Rocky 2 during the climactic fight scene and switched back to the ending of Rocky 1.

Now I have to watch both movies again, even though they are ruined.

I spent the morning chasing Sonya Sotomayor around the Senate office buildings. She was meeting with a couple of Senators who are involved in the confirmation hearings. The first place she stopped was Senator Barbara Mikulski's office. They let the still photographers in first, then the videographers. By the time we got into the office, Sotomayor and Senator Mikulski had started talking about how much they like Nancy Drew books. It was like listening into a phone conversation between two teenage girls. Sotomayor said that her local library did not carry many titles, so her mom had to buy them for her. Then they started talking about how strict the nuns/teachers were at their school.

Her next stop was in the Russel office building. I was able to get a nice walk in shot, but the cameraman next to me kept elbowing me and telling me to stop moving around. I was standing perfectly still and not touching him. These photo-sprays are always hard, because everyone wants to get the shot and they will push you out of the way to do so. I had to hit a print reporter on the head, because he was leaning his face into my shot. It is much easier when they let the cameras set up first, then they come into the room. Hillary Clinton always does her photo-sprays at the State Department that way and it makes them much more civilized.

I just got back from my trip to Florida with Emily, Kat and Sara. We got to the beach house on Friday and took a short walk along the beach between rain storms. Saturday it rained in the morning, but we were able to spend the afternoon on the beach, before going out for pizza. Sunday we had better luck with the weather. We spent most of the day on the beach. I huddled in the shade of the umbrella fully clothed with a thick layer of sunblock covering my skin. Emily laid out in the sun and burnt herself to a crisp, except for the odd hand-print on her leg where she tried to use sunblock. We sat on the back deck at North Turn and ate dinner. Emily and Sara loved the Alaskan crab they ordered, but I refused to try it. I've never liked weird seafood like that.

Monday morning, Sara left and my parents and grandma came out. We spent most of the day on the beach, me under the tent and Emily in the sun burning any bit of pale skin she could find. My parents brought about 10 pounds of hamburgers and turkey burgers. I grilled all of it, but most was taken home for leftovers. Yesterday, Emily and I got our teeth cleaned at my dad's office, before heading back to Orlando for dinner. We went to Serena and Brad's house afterward and hung out with them. Emily won't admit it, but she had fun playing with their daughter Bella. This morning we had the mandatory First Watch breakfast, before heading back to DC. We are thinking of going back to Orlando in a couple months (when it might be less rainy) or meeting Serena and Brad for a camping trip somewhere in the Carolinas.

Kate and I are doing a story for Voice of America about how the recession is affecting people's eating habits. Yesterday, Lucy (our intern) and I went to the McDonalds at 14th and U to film some vox pops. I brought a small consumer grade camcorder and shot some interiors of the McDonalds. The last time I tried to shoot inside of a McDonalds, I brought the larger camera and was promptly kicked out. But while I was getting kicked out, I set the camera down on the counter and hit record. I was able to get a great shot of people ordering and receiving their food while I stalled the manager with pointless questions. Yesterday I had it much easier. No one seemed to care that I was shooting in the restaurant and I was able to get all of the shots I wanted.

The vox pops were hilarious. There was a large group of homeless people sitting outside and they all wanted to talk to us. I tried asking one man about McDonalds, but he just wanted to tell me how the soul food restaurant next door was much better. We interviewed many people as they left the restaurant and got them to say exactly what we wanted them to say. We may as well have written them a script. The basic idea was, "yes I know that McDonalds is unhealty, but it's cheap so I have been going there more during the recession."

At work we send all of our footage to Getty Images, who then sells it to other production companies for lots of money. One of the clips which sells every month is a shot of someone getting arrested. Around my neighborhood I see people getting arrested all of the time, so I decided to film it and make some money. Of course, when you're looking for something you never find it. Kat and I have spent the last couple nights driving around the neighborhood with a video camera and stopping when we see the police. So far we haven't seen anyone getting arrested, but we're going to keep trying until we get the shot.

I've has had a busy shoot schedule for the last couple days. Yesterday Emily and I did a two camera switched shoot for Rand Corporation. The event was held at the new visitor center of the US Capital, a beautiful facility which is well suited for these type of policy meetings. Plus they always serve delicious cookies. Immediately after that shoot, Malcolm and I walked over to the Heritage Foundation and shot an interview for Newsmax with former Attorney General Ed Meese.

Today I was at the National Press Club shooting a story on Diarrheal Disease for the South African Broadcasting Corporation. They also served nice food, but the topic sort of killed my appetite. I got back to the office just in time to leave again for our first two camera interview for Newsmax. The interview subject was Senator Kit Bond of Missouri. It was held in his office conference room. It is always easier to shoot interviews with people in the Senate rather than the House of Representatives, because they generally have much larger offices. You can check out the interview on the Newsmax website in the next couple days.

Saturday was the White House Correspondents dinner. Emily and I attended a brunch for the Washington big-wigs at Tammy Haddad's house. Most of the people there were from the news networks, but there were some Hollywood types there too like Val Kilmer and Christian Slater.

We arrived at the hotel where the Correspondents dinner was being held in the late afternoon and claimed our spots along the red carpet. Murry (our freelance cameraman friend) was shooting on one end and I was on the other. We hired Kat for the evening and got her to conduct the celebrity interviews. Before anyone even arrived, the photographers were trying to push their way in. There were a few photographers who showed up late and tried to squeeze into a spot up front. Those of us who were there early to claim our spots weren't having any of it. Some of them got pretty mouthy with me, claiming that I was taking up too much room with my tripod. I just said, "too bad, in this business you have to be on time." The guy next to us was from Extra, and he seemed to be personal friends with all of the celebrities. Kat just stood next to him and stuck her microphone near whoever was there. I will try to list the people we spoke to and hopefully I wont forget too many: Louis Gossett Jr., Barbra Walters, Woopie Goldberg, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Christian Slater, Samuel L Jackson, Wanda Sykes, Denis Leary, Jon Hamm, Mayor Villaraigosa, Alicia Keys, Carrol King, Ludacris, Rick Schroder, Al Sharpton, Clinton Portis, and Richard Belzer.

Last night I was really angry with someone in my dream. Emily had to wake me up when I started punching her. This morning, I let the dogs out. It was raining, so I grabbed an umbrella from my porch. When I opened it, a dead bird fell out and hit me on the head.

Monday, Emily and I did a multi-camera shoot for The Week magazine. The event was their 6th Annual Opinion Awards. All of the usual Washington political pundits and media types were there. Emily, Kate and I were at the office until 6:00 am editing the videos.

Does anyone else find this whole global warming debate a bit misguided? It's not the Earth that we should be worried about. It has been here for billions of years. The climate has and will always be changing, regardless of our involvement.

The Human Race is the one we should be worried about. We need to drop this biblical notion of mankind being dropped into a world ideally suited to our survival, which is only changing as a result of our behavior. The real question is how to adapt to the planet. I doubt that even the most dire predictions about global warming will have much effect on our ability to survive. At most, it may impact the number of humans the Earth can sustain.

We should instead be worried about actual threats to our survival. In that regard, we are our worst enemy. Man's quest for dominance over other men will kill more people than global warming ever could. But, I guess it is much easier to build a windmill or recycle a can than to look within ourselves to the root of the problem.

Oh, and we should probably worry about diseases too.

Emily and I have been really busy lately. It's good though. We get bored easily. This week is the Spring meetings for the IMF / World Bank. These things are getting old very quickly. They meet twice a year and it's always the same thing. Yesterday I attended the Sub-Saharan Africa forum. I could have conducted the meeting myself. "Africa has been affected by the global economic slowdown. The continent as a whole will experience negative growth this year. Blah blah blah." And I'm sick of hearing economists use ridiculous phrases like "negative growth".

I have to head down to the IMF early tomorrow morning to shoot an interview with the South African finance minister. It always takes awhile to arrange for these high profile interviews, which will probably mean that I will be waiting around for a long time. Luckily, the meetings are the only time I can get good shots of the World Bank and IMF buildings without being shooed away by security. So that should give me something to do.

This is such a fascinating time we live in. The pace of technological innovation is faster than it has ever been, thanks in part to electricity, computers and the internet. It is amazing how quickly our lives are changing. I was just reading about new hard-drive technology and wondering when it would be available for use in video cameras. Even now, most professional video cameras are moving from tape to flash based memory cards. One day I will be telling young videographers about how I use to shoot on tape. It makes me feel old just thinking about it.

I spent the morning at the South African embassy in Washington DC filming ex-pats voting in their national election. There was a steady stream of voters, despite the fact that it is cold and rainy here. The photo is of ambassador Welile Nhlapo casting his ballot.

FSN has a new blog. There are some pictures of Emily and I, as well as a link to the video we did for Rand a couple days ago. Yes, I will be duplicating posts to both blogs, so don't give me crap when you read the same post twice.

Emily has been editing the India pieces for Newshour all week. I helped finish the last one, which will air today.

Here are the first three: Four Months On, Slum Rehabilitation, and Two Indias. Click on "Streaming Video" to watch them.

In other news, we finally got another offer on our house in Orlando! It is great timing too, because our tenants will be moving out May 31st and the buyers want to close around that time. Unfortunately the house is worth so much less than our mortgage, that we have to do a short sale. It will affect our credit, but not like a foreclosure. The buyers are certainly choosing the right time to buy. If only we had such foresight.

About President Bashir of Sudan being indicted by the International Criminal Court... Most people I have spoken to, both here and in Sudan, think the ICC decision was long overdue. Bashir has sanctioned and even supported the atrocities in Darfur. It is widely assumed that his government supplied arms to the Janjaweed militias. As a result of the ICC, Bashir has kicked all international aid organizations out of Sudan.

We have seen the Sudanese people protesting the ICC's decision and their position is hard for many of us to understand. Don't they know what is happening in Darfur? Today I got a very different perspective from one of my Sudanese friends. She was trained as a doctor and recently opened her own medical clinic in Khartoum.

She writes, "The crisis is not just in the states its double here in Sudan with the international financial crisis & the ICC. Work in the clinic is not fine. The number of patient shrunk because of the ICC & no one is talking about this in the media. The number of sales in the pharmaceutical companies is also decreasing. I am looking for another job beside the clinic & trying to leave Sudan as soon as possible! Something I want to say to you is that people in Sudan hate the Americans now because of the ICC & what happened in Palestine. But for me you are still my best American Jewish friend & I think is one of the last bright points in me now. I still can judge people according to their behavior not from their skin color, nation or religion & I'll love you whatever they are saying about Jews & how much that they are bad, because I know you are good person."

Friday I got stuck at the White House for a good part of the day. I was there to film the daily press briefing, because Priscilla was hoping to get a question in about Roxana Saberi. We cleared it ahead of time, but they gave me some crap about where to setup the camera. I ended up being stuck in the far back corner against the wall. And after standing there for an hour trying to shoot over some lady's shoulder, Priscilla didn't even get to ask the question. After the briefing, Mayor Bloomberg, Gov. Rendell and Gov. Schwarzenegger were giving a press conference after meeting with Obama. I got there just in time to set up my tripod next to a big thorny bush, which I then stood in while they answered questions.

Yesterday I covered a protest organized by Answer Coalition. As with any of these protests, the participants seemed to average one shower a year. It was a fairly typical event - speeches and a march. The march, however, went on forever! They started near the Lincoln Monument and went all the way past the Pentagon to Crystal City Virginia! Manalisi and I were exhausted when we finally got back to the office.

I did a two camera interview with Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (the South African equivalent of Hillary Clinton). The interview was originally scheduled for 4:00, but I got a call at 3:00 to get to her hotel right away. Priscilla, Mima and I quickly set up the lights and cameras. She walked in just as we were finishing. There was no time to check the shots or the audio; luckily everything looked good. The interview itself was incredibly boring, but at least it looked good. So that's all I care about.

Yesterday, Emily and Kate shot an interview with the President of Palau. The secret service didn't know that it was a video interview, so they had to wait half an hour for the bomb sniffing dog. Emily said that the president was very friendly and even stood around afterward to watch the recording of the interview.

I did a couple shoots on Capital Hill this week, including the meeting between John Kerry, Dick Lugar and Ban Ki-Moon. I shot a quick photo-spray (where you go into the meeting room and shoot a few seconds of video) before the meeting, then had to wait an hour for them to make statements afterward.

Yesterday Larry Summers spoke at Brookings. I always like shooting there, because they serve nice pastries and coffee. I got there 45 minutes before his speech and the whole back of the room was jammed with cameras. By the time everyone arrived for the speech, it was standing room only. Luckily I got the last available spot on the first row of cameras. My tripod is too short to go on the back row. The speech was boring, but at least it was much more comprehensible than when Bernanke speaks.

I had a pretty busy week. Manelisi (the SABC correspondent) did at least seven stories this week. Yesterday I had a shoot in the Rayburn building on Capital Hill and Ron Paul was there to liven things up. James Baker, Warren Christopher and someone who I didn't recognize were there to propose changes to the way the president interacts with congress when deciding to go to war. Ron Paul clearly disagreed with their proposal and he engaged James Baker in a heated debate.

Emily and I have a new intern named Mima. She came with us to the political conventions, so we know she is a good worker. We convinced her to go to Sudan and join SVP after her school semester ends. Now her parents, who are friends with Simon, are asking him about us and trying to find out how these crazy people convinced her to go to Africa. They are clearly not pleased with us.

I've been studying my chess books and playing games against my computer, but I have not improved much. I found out that the US Chess Center is a couple blocks from my office and they hold tournaments regularly. I'm going to play there when I have some time.

I'm working late tonight covering the Obama speech. Earlier I was at the State Department waiting for Hillary Clinton and the Pakistani foreign minister to make a statement after their meeting. They were 45 minutes late for the press briefing, which is really annoying when the whole thing lasts 3 minutes.

They let the still photographers crouch in front of the videographers. There were a couple journalists who were obviously not still photographers, but happened to have little cameras, so they were allowed upfront. Unfortunately they were not keen on the idea of sitting. The CNN cameraman and I told them repeatedly to sit down and stay down until Clinton has left the room. They finally sat down a couple minutes before the briefing, but jumped up as she was leaving the room, ruining the walk-out shot. Why are people so obnoxious?

I tried to make a nice Valentines day dinner for Emily and I, but failed miserably. The sauce was suppose to be a vinegar reduction to go on the steak, but the sugar caramelized and it turned into a hard, sticky mess. The worst part is that it didn't harden until I got it onto the steak. It stuck to the plates and silverware like vinegar flavored hard candy. We had to throw out the pot I made it in. The potatoes were good and the steak was good, but I didn't know that you are suppose to cut the ends off fresh green beans. Emily had to cut the ends off each one before eating them. I made bought chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. They were good, but the chocolate didn't stay on. We had to eat a bite of strawberry then a bite of chocolate. Even that was hard, because the chocolate flaked off all over us.

My poor, sweet sugar glider Morty died last night. He seemed fine yesterday, but today he was just laying at the bottom of his cage holding onto the bars. I picked him up and tried to feed him, but he was very lethargic and didn't want to eat. Emily and I brought him to the vet last night. They put him on oxygen and tried to figure out what was wrong. But about an hour after we got to the vet, he passed away. He was the nicest little guy and we will miss him.

We finally had the family Hanukkah party last night. Yes I know, Hanukkah was two months ago. It was held at the Hantman's house and all the usual people were in attendance. After dinner we played Taboo. Grandma Mitzi caught on quickly and became the hero for our team.

Yesterday I was shooting a briefing about the US arms deal with Israel. It was in one of the Congressional office buildings. A few minutes after the briefing started a tall, young, red-headed woman walked in. I thought, she looks like Dennis Kusinich's wife. Sure enough, following behind her was Dennis Kusinich. Would I have ever recognized any other member of congress' wife? Of course not. I'm a big fan of Mr. Kusinich's stance on the Israel / Palestine issue, so I'm glad he showed up to speak. It was pretty tacky, and I usually don't do this, but I couldn't stop myself from shaking his hand and complimenting him on the work that he does.

So I'm finally getting around to writing about the inauguration... In short, it was a long, cold, exhausting day. Emily and I were both up by 4:30am. She was working at the Washington Post and I was headed to the National Mall. I arrived around 5:30am and met up with Daniel (the correspondent). Neither the police nor the information officers knew where the media entrance was, but they all agreed that it must be on the other side of the Capital. We took the long hike around the building and found that the guards on the other side didn't know either. We saw a small line of photographers at the entrance to the Rayburn building, so we decided to go through security acting like we knew what we were doing. We got through the first security screening, went down to the basement and out the capital side entrance through another layer of security. We were now on the mall, but not where we needed to be. A line was forming near the south entrance to the Capital. We stood there hoping we wouldn't get turned away. We made it though the final security checkpoint and found ourselves on the balcony where the inauguration was taking place! I quickly set up my camera and got a great crowd shot.

The next few hours were spent getting interviews with people in the crowd and trying desperately to stay warm. We were successful in the former, but failed miserably in the latter. When the ceremony finally started, I found a good spot beside the Capital reflecting pond to set up my tripod. I was meant to be shooting crowd shots; the speech itself was to be shared freely among all the TV networks. I was right in front of the Capital during the swearing in and Obama's speech, but I would have gotten a better view if I had been further back. I couldn't see any of the Jumbotrons from where I was standing. Nevertheless, I was there to witness the event and film the crowd's reaction.

Afterward I had to walk back to the office. Most of the streets around the Capital were closed and I figured the metro would be jammed, so I walked under the Mall via the 3rd street tunnel and started the long hike. I ended up staying at the office editing for SABC and other clients until 9:00pm. I'm glad I won't have to do another one of these for four years.

Professor discusses the evolution of religion.

Was this Onion article really written in 2001?

UN suggests Israel is guilty of war crimes.

Now Israel is using phosphorus shells against civilians and the UN.

More than 1000 people have been killed in Gaza in the past 19 days. Almost 1/3 of the dead are children.

Click here to read the story on the BBC website.

Israeli soldiers using Palestinian children as human shields:

This is sad...

Today I received a forwarded e-mail containing a "Crash Course on the Arab Israeli Conflict." The following are the assertions made in the e-mail and my refutations (in bold):

1. Nationhood and Jerusalem. Israel became a nation in 1312 BCE, Two thousand years before the rise of Islam.

The newly created United Nations approved the UN Partition Plan (United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181) on November 29, 1947, dividing the country into two states, one Arab and one Jewish. Jerusalem was to be designated an international city – a corpus separatum – administered by the UN to avoid conflict over its status.

On May 14, 1948, the day before the end of the British Mandate, the Jewish Agency proclaimed independence, naming the country Israel.

2. Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

The first widespread use of "Palestinian" as an endonym to refer to the nationalist concept of a Palestinian people by the local Arabic-speaking population of Palestine began prior to the outbreak of World War I, and the first demand for national independence was issued by the Syrian-Palestinian Congress on 21 September 1921.

3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 BCE, the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.

Between the time of the Israelite kingdoms and the 7th-century Muslim conquests, the Land of Israel fell under Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Sassanian, and Byzantine rule. Jewish presence in the region dwindled after the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 CE and the resultant large-scale expulsion of Jews. In 628/9, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius conducted a massacre and expulsion of the Jews, at which point the Jewish population probably reached its lowest point.

4. The only Arab dominion since the conquest in 635 CE lasted no more than 22 years.

The Land of Israel was captured from the Byzantine Empire around 636 CE during the initial Muslim conquests. Control of the region transferred between the Umayyads, Abbasids, and Crusaders over the next six centuries, before falling in the hands of the Mamluk Sultanate, in 1260. In 1516, the Land of Israel became a part of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the region until the 20th century.

5. For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital Jerusalem has
never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.

Jerusalem is considered Islam's third holiest city after Mecca and Medina. Among Muslims of an earlier era, it was referred to as al-Bayt al-Muqaddas; later, it became known as al-Quds al-Sharif. In 638, the Islamic Caliphate extended its dominion to Jerusalem. With the Arab conquest, Jews were allowed back into the city. The Rashidun caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab signed a treaty with Monophysite Christian Patriarch Sophronius, assuring him that Jerusalem's Christian holy places and population would be protected under Muslim rule. The Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik commissioned the construction of the Dome of the Rock in the late 7th century. The 10th century historian al-Muqaddasi writes that Abd al-Malik built the shrine in order to compete in grandeur of Jerusalem's monumental churches. Over the next four hundred years, Jerusalem's prominence diminished as Arab powers in the region jockeyed for control.

6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.

Jerusalem is also mentioned over 150 times in the New Testament, but the United States is not. Perhaps the entire US population should move to Israel.

7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.

The Dome of the Rock, being among a complex of buildings on the Temple Mount, (the other being the Al-Aqsa Mosque) is one of the holiest sites in Islam. Its significance stems from the religious beliefs regarding the rock at its heart. According to Islamic tradition, the rock is the spot from where Muhammad ascended to Heaven accompanied by the angel Gabriel.

8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.

The most basic knowledge of geography shows that the only Muslims who pray with their back to Jerusalem are the ones who live in Saudi Arabia north of Mecca and in southern Jordan.

9. Arab and Jewish Refugees: in 1948 the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Sixty-eight percent left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier.

Typically the Jewish forces carried out reprisals directed against villages and neighborhoods from which attacks against Jews had allegedly originated, The attacks were more damaging than the provoking attack and included killing of armed and unarmed men, destruction of houses and sometimes expulsion of inhabitants. The Zionist groups of Irgun and Lehi reverted to their 1937-1939 strategy of indiscriminate attacks by placing bombs and throwing grenades into crowded places such as bus stops, shopping centres and markets.

10. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.


True. However, the Zionists used the same tactics against the Arabs. According to Ilan Pappé the Zionists organised a campaign of threats, consisting of the distribution of threatening leaflets, 'violent reconnaissance' and, after the arrival of mortars, the shelling of Arab villages and neighborhoods. The idea of 'violent reconnaissance' was to enter a defenceless village at night, fire at everyone who dared leave his or her house and leave after a few hours. Pappé also notes that the Haganah shifted its policy from retaliation through excessive retaliation to offensive initiatives. During the 'long seminar', a meeting of Ben-Gurion with his chief advisors in January 1948, the departure point was that it was desirable to 'transfer' as many Arabs as possible out of Jewish territory, and the discussion focussed mainly on the implementation. The experiences in a number of attacks in February 1948, notably those on Qisarya and Sa'sa', were used in the development of a plan, detailing how enemy population centers should be handled. According to Pappé plan Dalet was the master plan for the expulsion of the Palestinians.


11. Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own people's lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.

Palestinians in the diaspora by place of residence:
Jordan 3,000,000
Syria 434,896
Lebanon 405,425
Chile 300,000
Saudi Arabia 327,000
The Americas 225,000
Egypt 44,200
Other Gulf states 159,000
Other Arab states 153,000
Other countries 308,000
TOTAL 5,256,321

12. The Arab-Israeli Conflict: the Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won.

a.) The Arab nations initiated all five wars.
False: The Six Day War was initiated by Israel. Operation Focus was the opening pre-emptive airstrike by Israel at the start of the Six-Day War of 1967. It is sometimes referred to as "Sinai Air Strike" since the focus was primarily on airfields around the Sinai Peninsula. At 07:45 on June 5, 1967, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) under Maj. Gen. Mordechai Hod launched a massive airstrike that destroyed the majority of the Egyptian air force on the ground. By noon, the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian Air Forces, with about 450 aircraft, were destroyed.

b.) Israel defended itself each time and won.
False: According to the Winograd Commission Report, the Second Lebanon War was regarded as a "missed opportunity" and that "Israel initiated a long war, which ended without a defined military victory". The report continued to state that "a semi-military organization of a few thousand men resisted, for a few weeks, the strongest army in the Middle East, which enjoyed full air superiority and size and technology advantages". Furthermore, Hezbollah's rocket attacks continued throughout the war and the IDF did not provide an effective response to it. Following a long period of using standoff fire power and limited ground activities, the IDF launched a large scale ground offensive close to the UN Security Council's resolution which imposed a cease-fire. "This offensive did not result in military gains and was not completed".


13. The PLO's Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel.
Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land, autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them.

The most controversial element of text of the Palestinian National Charter were many clauses declaring the creation of the state of Israel "null and void", because it was created by force on Palestinian soil. This is usually interpreted as calling for the destruction of the state of Israel. In letters exchanged between Arafat and Rabin in conjunction with the 1993 Oslo Accords, Arafat agreed that those clauses would be removed. On 26 April 1996, the Palestine National Council held a meeting in camera, at whose end it was announced that the Council had voted to nullify or amend all such clauses, and called for a new text to be produced. At the time, Israeli political figures and academics expressed suspicions and doubts this that this is what had actually taken place, and continued to claim that controversial clauses were still in force. A letter from Arafat to US President Bill Clinton in 1998 listed the clauses concerned, and a meeting of the Palestine Central Committee approved that list. To remove all doubt the vote this time was held in a public meeting of PLO, PNC and PCC members which was televised worldwide and in the presence of the President of the United States, Bill Clinton, in person, who arrived in the Gaza Strip for that specific purpose. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted this as the promised nullification.

When is this Israel-Gaza conflict going to stop? It is the same war that has been going on for decades. This time the Palestinians are using rockets instead of suicide bombers. They have no choice when they are walled into Gaza like a modern day ghetto. The rockets certainly don't accomplish anything. Except maybe making them feel good about standing up to Israel. And Israel is not accomplishing anything but fueling more hatred, violence and further justifying the US foreign aid they receive to purchase weapons. We need to stop funding the Israeli military. It's the only way this conflict will end. Let them throw rocks at each other until they are worn out. Instead Israel uses four casualties to justify invading, bombing schools and hospitals, killing hundreds of civilians (including 30 children in one school) and cutting off access to aid organizations. They have even shot a UN truck, forcing the UN to halt food shipments. The Israeli government and its supporters need to look back at the history of the country. Think about the holocaust survivors who fled to this land and the people who originally envisioned the state of Israel. Is this any different than the way they were treated before they left Europe?