Newley.com: An American Living and Teaching English in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

The Bush Administration: Scarier By the Day
The Bush administration scares me more and more every day.

First, let me say this: I think it's counter-productive and intellectually foolish for liberals to automatically hate everything the Bushies do. But my God I'm continuously amazed and discouraged with the White House's seemingly Machiavellian ways. To wit:

--Where are the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction? That's the main reason we invaded Iraq, right? But so far there's no evidence of WMDs. (Related Bush administration linguistic evasion here.)

As the Times's Paul Krugman notes, Paul Wolfowitz, deputy defense secretary, recently said WMDs were emphasized for "bureaucratic reasons . . . because it was the one reason everyone could agree on." (Krugman, by the way, is on a roll this week: his Tuesday column, about the horrendous new Bush tax cut, is excellent. And just how bad is said tax cut, incidentally? Well, Warren Buffet hates it.)

--Why won't the family of ex-POW Jessica Lynch talk about her rescue? Is it because the whole thing might have been made more media friendly than it needed to be?

--They might be building execution chambers down in Guantanamo Bay. Jesus.

--Remember that bunker in Bagdad we bombed during the first night of the war? The one that supposedly contained Saddam Hussein? Yeah, well, um...it...er, never existed.

"The Truth Will Emerge," says West Virginia senator Robert Byrd. I hope so. (Buffett and Byrd links via Nick M.)

Deportivo Cuenca 1, Barcelona de Guayaquil 0
I witnessed a great soccer game last night. Or actually, I witnessed a somewhat dull game last night--but one that was played in an electric atmosphere.

Deportivo Cuenca, currently 4th in the table, shocked the first-placed Barcelona de Guayaquil by the score of 1-0. The stadium was way oversold; my friend and I stood and watched the action from behind a tall, barbed wire-rimmed fence, right next to a bunch of camouflage-clad Ecuadorian soldiers. A good time was had by all.

I Believe the Word is Incongruous...
Israeli PM Ariel Sharon met with Whitney "Crack is Whack" Houston and her hubby Bobby Brown the other day. The result: this ridiculous photo. What's next? Ozzy Ozbourne dropping by for tea with Robert Mugabe?

Will Congo Be the Next Rwanda?
Thousands of innocent people are getting slaughtered in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (In fact, 3.3 million Congolese have been killed in wars in the last five years.) And the UN isn't doing anything about it. (And obviously the US isn't, either. There's nothing to be gained from committing troops to save Africans.) Nicholas Kristof says our "children and grandchildren may fairly ask, 'So, what did you do during the African holocaust?'"

You Have Got to be Kidding Me
Japanese costumes for cats!

For Rent: My Writing Skills
A quick note to let everyone know that my writing skills are for rent (or for sale, depending on what's being offered).

I'm looking for freelance writing gigs; following are my areas of expertise: travel, sports (specifically soccer), Internet strategies and Web marketing, TEFL/ESL (teaching English to non-native speakers), book publishing, and Latin America (especially Ecuador and other Andean nations). I've also done some book reviews on a wide variety of topics in the past; I'd be happy to do more. And I'm also open, naturally, to subjects I'm less familiar with.

If you know of anyone who needs writing services that might be a good match for me, please let me know.

Byron Moreno: Suspended Again
Following his dismal performance last weekend (which I witnessed and described here), Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno has been handed a one game suspension. (Thanks to Nick M. for the heads-up on this one.)

Real Men...
...raise and eat their own steers.

"Pygmies Want U.N. Cannibal Court"
CNN reports: "Pygmy activists from Congo are demanding that the United Nations set up a tribunal to try government and rebel fighters accused of slaughtering and eating Pygmies during fighting in the northeastern corner of the country."

Bad Ex-Pat Writing, Cont'd
Follow-up on the godawful editor's letter I linked to yesterday: Part of what I hate about it is that it reflects the worst in ex-pat attitudes--a vacuous approach to living, a lack of interest in local culture, and the romantization of drug use simply for the sake of drug use.

And so I like this related humorous piece: "Titles of Unwritten Essays Jotted Down While Living in Prague in the 90's." My favorite: "My Visiting Friend Is Not Impressed by My Broken Czech: You Have, He Says, Been Living Here for Three Years." (All links via the excellent Gawker.)

So Bad it's Almost Good. Almost
Purple prose + stomach-turning self-absorption + too much Hunter Thompson = this.

Byron Moreno, Quite Possibly the Most Hated Ecuadorian in the World
Last summer, during the World Cup in Korea and Japan, Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno became famous for all the wrong reasons: his questionable decisions may well have decided the outcome of a crucial game. In this case, it was the round of 16 match between South Korea and Italy; his calls during the contest, in which Korea upset a tournament favorite, made him a reviled figure in Italy.

And then last September, he was suspended by the Ecuadorian domestic league for signaling 6 minues of injury time but then allowing the players to continue for 14 more, during which time one of the squads rallied from two goals down to win the match.

Well, I saw Moreno perform yesterday. And let me tell you this: he's a poor referee.

The local pro team, Deportivo Cuenca, took on Deportivo Quito in an important league game. During the course of the 1-1 tie, Moreno handed out seven yellow cards and three reds; his calls were erratic, and he never assumed control of the game. (Of course, it didn't help that he was mercilessly jeered all the while by the Cuenca fans--the result of the notorious 20-minutes-of-injury-time game last year was that Deportivo Cuenca didn't qualify the championship; they needed the other team to win.)

Rolf Potts and Vagabonding
I recently read Rolf Potts's excellent new book, "Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel." I recommend it highly.

And I just came across an interview he gave to World Hum (which is itself an exceptional site devoted to high-quality travel writing) a few months ago. Quoth Potts: "...the only thing you really own in life is time. That is, if you can learn to find your wealth in time and experience instead of 'things,' you stand a much better chance of living life to the fullest."

"Latin America Could Become a New Vietnam"
I don't see the logic in the statement, but Adolfo Pérez Esquivel says he has "...no doubt that if Ecuador should become involved in Plan Colombia, Latin America could become a new Vietnam, with consequences as serious as or more serious than those of the war in Iraq."

Vigilante Justice, Ecuadorian Style
The AP says: "Doling out vigilante justice, highland villagers partially stripped and whipped two women in a public square after accusing them of being swindlers."

Ecuador's Railroad System--or Lack Thereof
A Canadian (?) development agency will study the feasibility of two new potential Ecuadorian rail lines: one from Guayaquil to Quito to Esmereldas, and one from Guayaquil to Cuenca. Sounds cool to me.

From Laguna Quilotoa:

--Lewis and Clark (James and I) survey the spectacular crater lake (and yes, my infamous red, tie-died, too-tight hiking pants return in all of their splendor)

--Me in front of Laguna Quilotoa

--Jill, Jayne, me, and a scenic vista

--I try to pet a pig

--Yuri, Ya'el, Mike, Jill, Jayne and me before entering a cloud forrest

--Mike (barely visible) on a cliff overlooking Laguna Quilotoa

--Me in front of Quilotoa village

--Jayne confronts an indigenous woman and her llama

--Standing around (with the twin Ilinizas peaks visible in the background)

--Me in front of a scenic field...

--...and striking a meditative pose

--Group shot at Hostal Mama Hilda

--How we rode (for three hours) back to Latacunga (with a live chicken in a burlap sack thrown in for good measure)...

--...and why my hair looked like this

From Vilcabamba:

--Pippa, Penny, Mickella, Becky and I in our mode of transport from Loja to Vilcabamba

--The cabin Frank, James, Mike and I stayed in

--Jill and Rebecca

--James and Mickella

From Cuenca:

--Me and two cow heads I encountered on the street

--A man shepherding ducks down calle Benigno Malo

--Me and my 103 class

--My friend Chris with my 403 class

--My apartment--looking into the kitchen from the living room

--My room

--A view from my patio--looking West along calle Simon Bolivar

--Another view from my patio--our (barren) flowerbed and the church across the street

--Me pondering the Cuenca skyline

(Previously-posted Ecuador photos are available here.)

My Thoughts on Nonprofit Web Marketing
Part of an article I penned last December is available on the Philanthropy Journal Web site. It's called "Driving Traffic to Your Mission: Tips on Nonprofit Web Marketing." The entire piece has been posted on the Web site of my former employer, Burness Communications (an excellent outfit full of great people).

I spent the last last three years helping nonprofit organizations use the Interent to communicate their work, and it's nice to see this information, which I consider a nice culmination of what I learned, available for public consumption.

Photos from Japan
My friend Hayes, who teaches English in Tokyo, has posted some great pics on his Web site.

Ali G.
I've never heard of Ali G. before, but his schtick sounds hilarious.
--Update: Ali G. snared Naomi Wolf and got her to rap "Yo, yo, don't be sexist, I'll let you ride in my Lexus."

The Riobamba Munitions Explosion--More than Meets the Eye?
Had an interesting chat last weekend with an American woman who lives in Riobamba. She says the word on the street is that the military munitions explosion that killed seven people there last November was no accident.

People are speculating that the blast was orchestrated by the miliary to cover up the fact that they'd sold small arms to the FARK, Colombia's most powerful rebel group. Apparently something like 70,000 grenades were missing, and so, the theory goes, the army blew up a warehouse to hide the evidence. Supposedly an Ecuadorian Congressman is spearheading an investigation; my initial Web research hasn't turned anything up. I'm interested in learning more.