From Illinois to Hawai'i

There's a fascinating Times look at Barack Obama's time growing up in Hawai'i, A Search for Self in Obama’s Hawaii Childhood, that gives you a glimpse into why he's so at ease with America circa 2007, in contrast with all the white male Americas running around as if it's 1957.

Unlike those carefully-constructed empty suits, Obama is an absolutely natural politician, totally relaxed in front of people and able to communicate his ideas and principles in a straightforward, understandable style. He has the gift of distilling the complex down to its essentials without patronizing his audience or himself.

Yet for all his ease with his fellow Americans, he's a uniquely complicated person--the more I find out, the more amazed I am at all the interesting little items in his background. His path has been harder and more meandering than I expected, based on his golden boy public image that's quickly taken on aspects of the mythic.

In a very specific way he reminds me of Lincoln--the optimism about America, intertwined with a dead seriousness about his personal mission; that same quick wit and easy sense of humor, overlaying both a prodigious intellect and a deeper, darker strain that comes from atypical levels of thought and personal experiences.

And, like Lincoln, shaped by the frontier, Obama, shaped by Hawai'i, knows America needs everyone.

Jennifer Steinhauer: To his high school classmates, Barack Obama was a pleasant if undistinguished student, the guy who seemed happiest on the basketball court, the first to dive into the pumpkin carving at Halloween, the one whose oratorical prowess was largely limited to out-debating classmates over the relative qualities of point guards.

But Mr. Obama’s family here in Hawaii saw a more complex young man, a person whose racial confusion and feelings of alienation were matched with equal parts ambition, disquietude and lofty notions about where his internal struggles might lead.

“There was always a joke between my mom and Barack that he would be the first black president,” his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, said in an interview over tea. “So there were intimations of all this early on. He has always been restless. There was always somewhere else he needed to go.”

It was his early search for a cultural identity on this plumeria-scented island populated with people of diverse origins, but relatively few blacks, that presaged his current political persona, his sister suggested.

“He couldn’t sit back and wait for the answers to come to him,” said Ms. Soetoro-Ng, the child of Mr. Obama’s mother from another marriage, who remains close to him. “He had to pursue those answers actively. People from very far-away places collide here, and cultures collide, and there is a blending and negotiation that is constant.”

She continued, “I think Hawaii gave him a sense that a lot of different voices and textures can sort of live together, however imperfectly, and he would walk in many worlds and feel a level of comfort.”

The political narrative of Mr. Obama was written about 4,500 miles and a cultural universe away from here, largely in Illinois. But the seeds of his racial consciousness, its attendant alienation and political curiosity appear to have been planted in Hawaii.

There was, by the description of his classmates, coaches and teachers, their Barry, the one who still looks remarkably like the picture in his yearbook, smiling under his Afro, or posing somewhat stiffly with other children under a sign “Mixed Races of America.”

That Barry had a confident gait, a cheerful smile and a B average.

“He had the same exact mannerisms then as he does now,” said Eric Kusunoki, Mr. Obama’s homeroom teacher at the Punahou School. “When he walked up to give that speech at the Democratic convention, we recognized him right away by the way he walked. He was well liked by everybody, a very charismatic guy.”

You wonder how different George Bush would've been, had he grown up in the multicultural paradise that is our 50th state.

Heck, or even Hillary Clinton, who lest we forget was a Goldwater girl growing up in Illinois, that sudden fount of politicians again (any chance Obama-Clinton can bring out the best in each other and one day resonate like Lincoln-Douglas?)

Clinton Campaign Accused of Snub to Ethnic Media Reporters
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign barred reporters with prominent Chinese-language news organizations from a fundraiser last week, angering some journalists who serve this city's sizable Asian-American community.

Reporters from at least two Chinese-language newspapers and a crew from a Chinese-language TV station were denied admission to the event Friday when they arrived after a Secret Service-imposed cutoff time, according to the journalists and the New York senator's campaign.

The Chinese-language newspapers and others had not been included on the e-mail list from the campaign telling journalists to check in by 11:45 a.m. Friday, Clinton campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee said Tuesday.

A reporter with a Russian-language newspaper and a crew from a network television affiliate also were denied admission because of the deadline.

"We're sorry for the misunderstanding, and we're going to take steps so that all news outlets know about the Secret Service's requirements in advance next time so we don't have this kind of incident happen again," Elleithee said.

Reporter Portia Li of the World Journal - a Chinese-language paper run independently from offices in San Francisco and other North American cities - said she arrived about five minutes late. When Li showed her business card, the staffer asked for two forms of identification, which Li said she found insulting because she never had to do so at similar events.

"She kept saying this is only open for local media, not foreign press," Li said. "I told her, I'm not foreign press. I'm local media."

"It's not about myself, it's about how the mainstream looks at Chinese (people) as a whole. Why do they call us foreigners, even they we have a local address on our business card?" she added.

I do really do feel bad for Hillary; she's given her life to serving others, pretty uncynically in my opinion, if not always prettily.

Yet she lacks the light touch of her husand or Obama; and now, after paying her dues, she finds herself running against history even as she tries to make her own. She must sometimes at night curse her lack of luck, wondering why these larger-than-life men always seem to loom over her own light.

And loom Obama does; it's in his nature to light up the room, as evident in a New Yorker profile of Obama from May of 2004, The Candidate: How the son of a Kenyan economist became an Illinois Everyman, when he was a relatively unknown state legislator running for an open Senate seat in Illionis. There are a lot of little observations made by William Finnegan in the piece, many centering around how universal and at times surprising Obama's charisma can be.

If you look at the poll numbers, the fundraising totals, the buzz, the New York times bestseller list (Obama has both the current #1 nonfiction book, as well as the #5 nonfiction paperback) it all testifies to how far this son of Illinois has come in such a brief time. Just a little way farther, and he'll truly have a chance to live up to the legacy of his fellow Illini.

Jan Schakowsky told me about a recent visit she had made to the White House with a congressional delegation. On her way out, she said, President Bush noticed her “obama” button. “He jumped back, almost literally,” she said. “And I knew what he was thinking. So I reassured him it was Obama, with a ‘b.’ And I explained who he was. The President said, ‘Well, I don’t know him.’ So I just said, ‘You will.’ ”

Uncredited AP photo via the Times.

Small but interesting

So 1969 is BC

Unix Tick Tocks to a Billion, Wired: Delving into the intricate study of how computers tell time is not a task suited to those weak in math. In a machine, time is represented by a counter: At the center of a system is a quartz-crystal heart that pulses every second, and each second is added to the count. For a computer to have any comprehension of now, it must determine how many seconds have elapsed since then -- and the earliest then is called the "epoch," or the theoretical time the clock began ticking.

The Unix epoch is midnight on January 1, 1970. It's important to remember that this isn't Unix's "birthday" -- rough versions of the operating system were around in the 1960s. Instead, the date was programmed into the system sometime in the early 70s only because it was convenient to do so, according to Dennis Ritchie, one the engineers who worked on Unix at Bell Labs at its inception.

"At the time we didn't have tapes and we had a couple of file-systems running and we kept changing the origin of time," he said. "So finally we said, 'Let's pick one thing that's not going to overflow for a while.' 1970 seemed to be as good as any. "

There are approximately 32 millions seconds in a year, which means that it takes about 31 years for a billion seconds to pass.

But where's MLK?

Scrutiny Increases for a Group Advocating for Muslims in U.S., The Times: But they still support its civil rights work and endorse the idea of anyone working to make American Islam a more integral part of society. One Arab-American advocate compared CAIR to “the tough cousin who curses at anyone who speaks badly about the family.”

Some activists and academics view the controversy surrounding the group as typical of why Washington fails so often in the Middle East, while extremism mushrooms.

“How far are we going to keep going in this endless circle: ‘You are a terrorist!’ ‘No, you are a terrorist!’? ” said Souleiman Ghali, one of the founders of a moderate San Francisco mosque. “People are paying a price for that.”

What we're bringing to Iraq

For U.S. Troops at War, Liquor Is Spur to Crime , The Times: And in March 2006, in perhaps the most gruesome crime committed by American troops in Iraq, a group of 101st Airborne Division soldiers stationed in Mahmudiya raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killed her and her family after drinking several cans of locally made whiskey supplied by Iraqi Army soldiers, military prosecutors said.

Alcohol, strictly forbidden by the American military in Iraq and Afghanistan, is involved in a growing number of crimes committed by troops deployed to those countries. Alcohol- and drug-related charges were involved in more than a third of all Army criminal prosecutions of soldiers in the two war zones — 240 of the 665 cases resulting in convictions, according to records obtained by The New York Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Seventy-three of those 240 cases involve some of the most serious crimes committed, including murder, rape, armed robbery and assault. Sex crimes accounted for 12 of the convictions.

The 240 cases involved a roughly equal number of drug and alcohol offenses, although alcohol-related crimes have increased each year since 2004.

Despite the military’s ban on all alcoholic beverages — and strict Islamic prohibitions against drinking and drug use — liquor is cheap and ever easier to find for soldiers looking to self-medicate the effects of combat stress, depression or the frustrations of extended deployments, said military defense lawyers, commanders and doctors who treat soldiers’ emotional problems.

“It’s clear that we’ve got a lot of significant alcohol problems that are pervasive across the military,” said Dr. Thomas R. Kosten, a psychiatrist at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston. He traces their drinking and drug use to the stress of working in a war zone. “The treatment that they take for it is the same treatment that they took after Vietnam,” Dr. Kosten said. “They turn to alcohol and drugs.”

The use of alcohol and drugs in war zones appears to reflect a broader trend toward heavier and more frequent drinking among all military personnel, but especially in the Army and Marine Corps, the two services doing most of the fighting, Pentagon officials and military health experts said.

A Pentagon health study released in January, for instance, found that the rate of binge drinking in the Army shot up by 30 percent from 2002 to 2005, and “may signal an increasing pattern of heavy alcohol use in the Army.”

How's their Chines?

Journey From a Chinese Orphanage to a Jewish Rite of Passage , the Times: Fu Qian, renamed Cecelia Nealon-Shapiro at 3 months, was one of the first Chinese children — most of them girls — taken in by American families after China opened its doors to international adoption in the early 1990s. Now, at 13, she is one of the first to complete the rite of passage into Jewish womanhood known as bat mitzvah.

She will not be the last. Across the country, many Jewish girls like her will be studying their Torah portions, struggling to master the plaintive singsong of Hebrew liturgy and trying to decide whether to wear Ann Taylor or a traditional Chinese outfit to the after-party.

There are plenty of American Jews, of course, who do not “look Jewish.” And grappling with identity is something all adopted children do, not just Chinese Jews.

But seldom is the juxtaposition of homeland and new home, of faith and background, so stark. And nothing brings out the contrasts like a bat mitzvah, as formal a declaration of identity as any 13-year-old can be called upon to make. The contradictions show up in ways both playful — yin-and-yang yarmulkes, kiddush cups disguised as papier-mâché dragons, kosher lo mein and veal ribs at the buffet — and profound.

Yet for Cece, as everyone calls Cecelia, and for many of the girls like her, the odd thing about the whole experience is that it’s not much odder than it is for any 13-year-old.

“I knew that when I came to this age I was going to have to do it, so it was sort of natural,” she said a few days before the ceremony at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, a Reform synagogue on West 83rd Street where she has been a familiar face since her days in the Little Twos program. Besides, she said with a shrug, “Most of my Chinese friends are Jewish.”

As Zoe Kress, an adoptee in Mt. Laurel, N.J., said about her approaching bat mitzvah: “Being Chinese and Jewish is normal for me. Thinking about being Chinese and Jewish is a little strange.”

Olivia Rauss, a girl in Massachusetts who celebrated her bat mitzvah last fall on a day when the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot coincided with the Chinese autumn moon festival, said she saw no tension between the two facets of her identity either.

“Judaism is a religion, Chinese is my heritage and somewhat my culture, and I’m looking at them in a different way,” she said. “I don’t feel like they conflict with each other at all.”

While no statistics are kept on the number of Chinese children adopted by Jewish families, over all, there were about 1,300 Chinese children adopted into American families from 1991 to 1994, another 17,000 in the second half of the ’90s, and 44,000 since then, according to the State Department.

Bridging two cultures
From my favorite film critic, Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader, some notes on Letters From Iwo Jima:

One reason I wasn't sure what to think of Letters the first time I saw it was that I didn't know how it would be received in Japan. I wondered if it would seem accurate to most viewers there. I've since learned that the response has been very favorable and that it's been near the top of the box-office charts since it opened.

A Japanese film critic and friend, Shigehiko Hasumi, who was around eight years old when the Americans landed on Iwo Jima, admitted to me that even though he likes Letters From Iwo Jima, he prefers Flags of Our Fathers. I suspect he prefers it for the same reason I prefer Letters From Iwo Jima -- because it tells a less familiar story. (I'll concede that Flags of Our Fathers is stylistically more ambitious -- in its exploration of how images are made and turned into emblems -- but that doesn't necessarily make it more successful.) I told Hasumi I worried that Letters From Iwo Jima might define the humanity of the Japanese characters only in terms of American traits (a bias I see in spades in Lost in Translation), but he assured me the film is true to a "certain Japanese reality." He added that he found the portraits of the pro-American Japanese officers in the film a bit "romantic," comparing them to John Ford's depictions of Confederate officers in such films as The Horse Soldiers.

I think General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) also sometimes recalls John Wayne's cavalry officer in Ford's She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, though he's more ambiguous and more of a misfit. Kuribayashi reportedly was sent to Iwo Jima as punishment for being pro-American, not for incompetence (though his competence is questioned throughout the film by others). Hasumi also told me that in the war's final stages many "internationalized" students and intellectuals were called up, including his father and one of his uncles. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto -- who developed the strategy to bomb Pearl Harbor, and whose death in 1943 in the South Pacific is briefly alluded to in Letters -- was also pro-American and initially opposed to the war.

In the tradition of Christopher Hitchens

Proof That Whites Inherently Hate Us, Kenneth Eng in AsianWeek: White people hate us and will always hate us. Here is a simple list of evidence, going from the most obvious down to the least obvious: ...

Furthermore, we do live in an age where “political correctness” and anti-racism are in vogue. Why then, are there virtually no Asian heroes in the media? This is solid proof that we are enemies in the eyes of the Aryans. If even in an epoch where equality is an important matter they still do not treat us as equals, then what hope is there that they will ever treat us equally?

More importantly, why should we care? We vastly outnumber them. When you have a disobedient child, you do not give him gifts to make him abide to your will. You show him the cane.

Guess which one's white?

Teacher Snips Mouthy Pupil's Tongue: A Milan teacher cut an unruly 7-year-old pupil's tongue with scissors to silence him, police and school officials said on Tuesday.

The child, of North African origin, needed to go to hospital for five stitches to close the wound.

The boy's family has filed suit against the teacher, who has been suspended after last week's incident.

Police are trying to find out whether the injury was inflicted intentionally or was a joke gone wrong, a police source said.

"We are carrying out a full inquiry to find out what really happened," said Anna Maria Dominici, in charge of schools in the Lombardy region.

The teacher, a support tutor on a temporary contract, risks being fired from the elementary school.

"She is a young teacher but the episode is so serious that inexperience has nothing to do with it," Dominici added.

But not the headline writerLet Aliens Vote: Activists, Frankie Edozin, New York Post: They didn't always know nothing back then

Immigrant-rights activists yesterday renewed their push to allow legal noncitizens to vote in the Big Apple.

A bill that would grant permanent residents and other legal immigrants the right to vote in municipal elections has been stalled in the City Council since last year.

"More than 50,000 adult noncitizen taxpayers in those two districts are disenfranchised by citizenship voting laws," said Cheryl Wertz, of New Immigrant Community Empowerment, referring to today's special election for council seats in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn), the sponsor of the Voting Rights Restoration Act, said that years ago, when immigrants were mostly European, they had voting rights.

"Then when the complexion of immigrants changes, then all of a sudden, the laws change," he said.

Ron Hayduk, a CUNY professor, concurred, saying immigrants voted in national elections from 1776 through 1926.

Yup, racism's dead

Churchill Episode Brings Together Black Community: A simmering feud over a girl had exploded into violence outside school. The principal, hoping to calm the school's white majority, wrote that "every incident revolving around this two-month ordeal has been Black-on-Black violence."

The fight and the fallout over the letter threatened to pit parents such as Smith -- who are well educated, affluent and scattered throughout the suburb, and who have mostly warm feelings about the school -- against the historically working-class black community of Scotland, a 10-acre spread of pastel townhouses off Seven Locks Road in eastern Potomac, where many say they have never felt welcome at Churchill High.

The principal's letter did not mention that nearly everyone arrested in the fight lived in Scotland. It didn't have to. Around the community, talk inevitably turned to the black enclave, whose denizens feel forever stigmatized for their race and limited means.

But in the weeks since, parents say, the divisive episode has had the unexpected effect of bringing Potomac's black community closer together. The episode prompted the first school-wide meeting of black parents at Churchill in recent memory. The Jan. 9 meeting, and the dialogue that began there, brought out themes common to the entire black community and tapped into a shared experience of what it means to be black at Churchill.

"The number one challenge you're facing with a child of color centers around expectations," Smith said. "It's just lower expectations."

Smith and his wife own a consulting company that counsels corporations on diversity. He said he has learned to play much the same role at Churchill, monitoring teachers to see that his children's abilities are recognized and their minds suitably challenged.

"It means you have to respond to fairly innocent comments such as, 'He's such a nice boy,' " Smith said. His response: " 'Of course, he's a good kid. But can he read?' It's sad, but I have to mention that my wife and I are both Ivy League-educated."

Smith said he has few complaints about Churchill High. And yet he said he understands why Scotland parents have so many. The difference between their experience and his, he said, is largely one of degree.

He and other blacks in the Potomac community outside Scotland said they were immediately offended by the principal's characterization of the January fight. And they understood the bitter reaction of the Scotland parents, in contrast to the reaction of many white parents at the school. The mostly white PTSA closed rank around the principal.

Loose cannon Australia, part 78

Anti-war Aussies attacked - Rudd: On Sunday, [Australian Prime Minister John] Howard told Channel 9: "If I were running al-Qaida in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory, not only for Obama but also for the Democrats."

Senator Obama replied by challenging Mr Howard to boost Australian troop numbers by 20,000 in Iraq from the 1400 there now if he supported the war so strongly.

"Otherwise, it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric," he said. "I think it's flattering that one of George Bush's allies on the other side of the world started attacking me the day after I announced." ... The latest attacks came as John Howard faced a backlash both at home and abroad over his extraordinary attack on US presidential contender Barack Obama and his Democratic Party.

The PM's suggestion that terrorists would rejoice if Senator Obama or his party won the presidency in 2008 were branded as "bizarre", and condemned by both sides of US politics.

The charismatic Senator Obama dismissed Mr Howard's criticism of his plan to withdraw American forces from Iraq as "empty rhetoric".

Fellow Democrats were also unimpressed by the remarks, which were broadcast across the US.

Even prominent Republicans urged the PM to butt out.

Texas Republican senator John Cornyn said: "I would prefer that Mr Howard stay out of our domestic politics and we will stay out of his domestic politics."

In Canberra, Mr Howard faced an Opposition censure motion alleging he had recklessly endangered the US alliance and possibly relations with the next president.

Mr Rudd said: "To accuse the party of Roosevelt, to accuse the party of Truman, of Kennedy and Johnson, of being the terrorists' party of choice . . .

"I cannot understand how any responsible leader of this country can say to the nation that it is his serious view that the Democratic Party of the US is the terrorists' party of choice."

But Mr Howard stood by his remarks and denied he had threatened US-Australian relations.

"(America) doesn't want a country and a friend that will leave her in the lurch," he said.

"I would say the greatest current threat to the quality of the alliance would be a sense in the United States that Australia had deserted her in her hour of need."

Obama's specific response was even more pointed, as reported by The Australian: In a pointed reference to Australia's modest contingent of 1400 troops in Iraq and around the Persian Gulf, the Democratic star said: "So, if he's ginned up to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them up to Iraq."

Juan Crow

Va. House Approves Bill On Illegal Immigration, Washignton Post: The Virginia House of Delegates approved a far-reaching proposal Tuesday to strip charities and other organizations of state and local funding if any of the money is used to provide services to immigrants in the country illegally.

The proposal, one of nearly 50 immigration-related bills under consideration by the General Assembly, could force such groups as the Salvation Army and the Virginia Association of Free Clinics to verify immigration status before offering assistance to those in need or risk losing funding.

"This is to make sure the monies that are going to charities and organizations go to the people they are intended to go to, which is legal immigrants," said Del. Jackson H. Miller (R-Manassas), the sponsor of the bill. "The ultimate goal is to make the commonwealth of Virginia an unwelcome place if you are in this country illegally."

Nuevo York

New Favor for a Name That Straddles Cultures, Sam Roberts in the Times: For the first time in a generation, the most popular name for newborn Hispanic boys in New York City is an ethnic one: Angel.

There are more Angels in America than ever before: the name ranked 32nd nationwide, a record high, among all baby boys in 2005 and in Arizona it is now the most popular name among all male newborns.

But in New York, the nation’s proverbial melting pot, a traditional Spanish name has not been No. 1, even among Hispanic boys, since the mid-1980s, when José ranked first. (José is still ahead of Angel nationally, in 30th place.) Instead, Hispanic parents generally choose decidedly Anglo names, like Kevin and Justin. ...

The baby name list is not broken down by the parents’ ancestry, and cultural anthropologists were generally at a loss to suggest a single reason for the popularity of Angel, which can take either the standard English pronunciation or the Spanish one of AHN-hel.

“There were 9,362 boys named Angel in 2004 and 10,788 in 2005” across the country, said Cleveland Kent Evans, the president of the American Name Society. “That’s a 15 percent increase in one year, a fairly rapid upward rise, and shows that Angel was increasing in use in the Hispanic community nationally before it showed up on top in New York City.

“It is today’s perfect compromise name,” he said, “for those who want to emphasize their Hispanic heritage and yet assimilate into the larger society at the same time.”

Héctor R. Cordero-Guzmán, the chairman of the Department of Black and Hispanic Studies at Baruch College, said Angel was suggestive of “qualities mothers would like their children to have or is somewhat eponymous. The levels of religiosity in the Latino community, I think, also add to the popularity of the name.

“I do not think the increase in the name reflects increasing (or decreasing) ‘nationalism’, nor is there a particularly popular figure in music or film or TV that would explain the sudden jump in the name,” he said. “When Latino parents look for names they look for names that can be pronounced well in both Spanish and English.”

Guillermina Jasso, a sociology professor at New York University, said Angel was “evocative of the old converso practice of taking on very Christian surnames as a way of survival in a suspicious environment. If the surge in Angel is indeed linked to New Yorkers born in Mexico, then it has an added meaning, a kind of hope and protection for persons, many of whom are illegal immigrants.

“Like wearing an amulet, having an ‘Angel’ under the roof may provide a measure of tranquillity,” Professor Jasso said.

Is that Borat in the background?

American Road Trip Through Arab Eyes , the Times: “On the Road in America” looks, on first viewing, like the sort of television show that Al Jazeera and MTV might produce if they could be coaxed together in front of an editing terminal. A 12-part reality series, currently being broadcast throughout the Middle East, “On the Road” features a caravan of young, good-looking Arabs crisscrossing America on a mission to educate themselves and the people they encounter along the way.

Call Dustin

Brain Man:
One Man's Gift May Be The Key To Better Understanding The Brain, CBS: Morley Safer met another savant, Daniel Tammet, who is called "Brain Man" in Britain. But unlike most savants, he has no obvious mental disability, and most important to scientists, he can describe his own thought process. He may very well be a scientific Rosetta stone, a key to understanding the brain. ...

It is estimated there are only 50 true savants living in the world today, and yet none are like Daniel. He is articulate, self-sufficient, blessed with all of the spectacular ability of a savant, but with very little of the disability. Take his math skill, for example.

Asked to multiply 31 by 31 by 31 by 31, Tammet quickly – and accurately – responded with "923,521."

And it’s not just calculating. His gift of memory is stunning. Briefly show him a long numerical sequence and he’ll recite it right back to you. And he can do it backwards, to boot.

That feat is just a warm-up for Daniel Tammet. He first made headlines at Oxford, when he publicly recited the endless sequence of numbers embodied by the Greek letter "Pi." Pi, the numbers we use to calculate the dimensions of a circle, are usually rounded off to 3.14. but its numbers actually go on to infinity.

Daniel studied the sequence – a thousand numbers to a page.

"And I would sit and I would gorge on them. And I would just absorb hundreds and hundreds at a time," he tells Safer.

It took him several weeks to prepare and then Daniel headed to Oxford, where with number crunchers checking every digit, he opened the floodgates of his extraordinary memory.

Tammet says he was able to recite, in a proper order, 22,514 numbers. It took him over five hours and he did it without a single mistake. ...

"I see numbers in my head as colors and shapes and textures. So when I see a long sequence, the sequence forms landscapes in my mind," Tammet explains. "Every number up to 10,000, I can visualize in this way, has it's own color, has it's own shape, has it's own texture."

For example, when Daniel says he sees Pi, he does those instant computations, he is not calculating, but says the answer simply appears to him as a landscape of colorful shapes.

"The shapes aren't static. They're full of color. They're full of texture. In a sense, they're full of life," he says.

Asked if they’re beautiful, Tammet says, "Not all of them. Some of them are ugly. 289 is an ugly number. I don't like it very much. Whereas 333, for example, is beautiful to me. It's round. It's…."

"Chubby," Safer remarks.

'It's—yes. It's chubby,' Tammet agrees.

Shocked

Immigrants Mistreated, Report Says, Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post: U.S. authorities mistreated suspected illegal immigrants at five prisons and jails nationwide, violating federal standards meant to ensure safe and humane custody, according to a government report released yesterday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and contractors denied timely medical treatment to some of the immigrants, failed to disclose and justify disciplinary actions against them, and improperly limited access to relatives, lawyers and immigration authorities, according to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general.

Detention officers failed to establish a system to report abuse and violated health and safety rules by neglecting to monitor prisoners on hunger strikes or suicide watches and by serving undercooked food, the report said.

The report comes amid a sharp increase in illegal immigrants in U.S. detention as Congress and the Bush administration debate an overhaul of immigration laws and promise tougher enforcement of existing laws. Civil liberties and immigrant advocacy groups are stepping up scrutiny of conditions. Jorge Bustamante, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights of immigrants, has asked to visit U.S. detention centers next month.

Critics of the agency called the report disappointing, contending that it watered down recommendations and ignored the most serious allegations of abuse collected since June 2004, which they said included physical beatings, medical neglect, food shortages and mixing of illegal immigrants in administrative custody with criminals.

"It took two years for them to come out with this? It's incredibly disappointing," said Judy Rabinovitz, a lawyer with the ACLU immigrants rights project.

Eric Lerner, a spokesman for the New Jersey Civil Rights Defense Committee, called the report a "whitewash" that was delayed to suppress controversy.

Practice makes perfect

Equal Cheers for Boys and Girls Draw Some Boos , the Times: Thirty girls signed up for the cheerleading squad this winter at Whitney Point High School in upstate New York. But upon learning they would be waving their pompoms for the girls’ basketball team as well as the boys’, more than half of the aspiring cheerleaders dropped out.

The eight remaining cheerleaders now awkwardly adjust their routines for whichever team is playing here on the home court — “Hands Up You Guys” becomes “Hands Up You Girls”— to comply with a new ruling from federal education officials interpreting Title IX, the law intended to guarantee gender equality in student sports.

“It feels funny when we do it,” said Amanda Cummings, 15, the cheerleading co-captain, who forgot the name of a female basketball player mid-cheer last month.

Whitney Point is one of 14 high schools in the Binghamton area that began sending cheerleaders to girls’ games in late November, after the mother of a female basketball player in Johnson City, N.Y., filed a discrimination complaint with the United States Department of Education. She said the lack of official sideline support made the girls seem like second-string, and violated Title IX’s promise of equal playing fields for both sexes.

Self-interest

Weaning the military from the GOP, Op-Ed in the L.A. Times: Buried in the news last week was one of the most potentially significant stories of recent years. The Military Times released its annual poll of active-duty service members, and the results showed something virtually unprecedented: a one-year decline of 10 percentage points in the number of military personnel identifying themselves as Republicans. In the 2004 poll, the percentage of military respondents who characterized themselves as Republicans stood at 60%. By the end of 2005, that had dropped to 56%. And by the end of 2006, the percentage of military Republicans plummeted to 46%.

The drop in Republican Party identification among active-duty personnel is a sharp reversal of a 30-year trend toward the "Republicanization" of the U.S. military, and it could mark a sea change in the nature of the military — and the nature of public debates about national security issues.

Look how hip we are!

This Is Your Brain on Drugs, Dad, Times Op-Ed: Equally surprising, graying baby boomers have become America’s fastest-growing crime scourge. The F.B.I. reports that last year the number of Americans over the age of 40 arrested for violent and property felonies rose to 420,000, up from 170,000 in 1980. Arrests for drug offenses among those over 40 rose to 360,000 last year, up from 22,000 in 1980. The Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 440,000 Americans ages 40 and older were incarcerated in 2005, triple the number in 1990. ...

It’s time to end the obsession with hyping teenage drug use. The meaningless surveys that policy makers now rely on should be replaced with a comprehensive “drug abuse index” that pulls together largely ignored data on drug-related deaths, hospital emergencies, crime, diseases and similar practical measures.

A good model is the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs’ fledgling drug abuse index, which I helped compile and which aims to pinpoint which populations and areas are most harmed by drugs, both legal and illicit.

Few experts would have suspected that the biggest contributors to California’s drug abuse, death and injury toll are educated, middle-aged women living in the Central Valley and rural areas, while the fastest-declining, lowest-risk populations are urban black and Latino teenagers. Yet the index found exactly that. These are the sorts of trends we need to understand if we are to design effective policies.

Next up: Colonialism bill

UK settles WWII debts to allies, BBC: Britain will settle its World War II debts to the US and Canada when it pays two final instalments before the close of 2006, the Treasury has said.
The payments of $83.25m (£42.5m) to the US and US$22.7m (£11.6m) to Canada are the last of 50 instalments since 1950.

The amount paid back is nearly double that loaned in 1945 and 1946. "This week we finally honour in full our commitments to the US and Canada for the support they gave us 60 years ago," said Treasury Minister Ed Balls.

Good journalism, and bad

More gleanings from Regret the Error.

137th time's the charm
NYTimes: An article on Saturday about fund-raising efforts in New York by Senator Barack Obama misspelled the surname of one of President John F. Kennedy’s closest advisers, who introduced Mr. Obama at a fund-raiser. He is Theodore C. Sorensen, not Sorenson. (Go to Article) The error also appeared in an article in The Arts on Feb. 22 about books written by candidates, including “Profiles in Courage,” which then-Senator Kennedy wrote with guidance from Mr. Sorensen. (The Times has misspelled Mr. Sorensen’s surname more than 135 times in headlines and articles during the 50-plus years he has been a Democratic adviser and well-known author.)

So sure?
Sunday Times: An article about Lord Lambton ("Lord Louche, sex king of Chiantishire", News Review, January 7) falsely stated that his son Ned (now Lord Durham) and daughter Catherine held a party at Lord Lambton's villa, Cetinale, in 1997, which degenerated into such an orgy that Lord Lambton banned them from Cetinale for years. In fact, Lord Durham does not have a sister called Catherine (that is the name of his former wife), there has not been any orgiastic party of any kind and Lord Lambton did not ban him (or Catherine) from Cetinale at all. We apologise sincerely to Lord Durham for the hurt and embarrassment caused.

Slip
Financial Times: The White House described the Democratic Iraq withdrawal proposals as being "aimed at bringing comity to their internal politics", not comedy as stated in an article on March 9. The word comedy was taken from the original White House transcript which was corrected after we had gone to press.

But what about this Jim guy?
The Australian: On December 30, 2006, The Weekend Australian published an article titled, 'Big Jim faces 10 years jail'. The Weekend Australian acknowledges that the quotes attributed to Mr Nicholson were in fact given to The Weekend Australian by a Mr Nicoll. The Weekend Australian apologises unreservedly for any embarrassment or hurt suffered by Mr Nicholson as a result of the error.

Glad someone's reading the paper
NYTimes: A letter in most editions yesterday, by Syed Waris Shere, writing from Brooklyn, discussed Vice President Dick Cheney and the verdict in the trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr.

After the newspaper started printing, the letter was posted on our Web site, where an alert reader, to whom we are extremely grateful, noticed that almost all of the letter had been copied from an article about Mr. Cheney and the trial from the previous day’s newspaper. The letter included parts of sentences written by a Times reporter and sentences taken from quotations in the article.

Mr. Shere said by telephone yesterday that he had intended to attribute all the copied passages in the letter, and regrets not having done so.
As soon as we learned of the problem, we removed the letter from our Web site, and from remaining copies of the paper that had not yet been printed.

I guess they watch CBC up there
Toronto Star: Wednesday's story about Canada's Walk of Fame inductees incorrectly referred to "the late Morley Safer." Safer is alive and continues to file stories as a 60 Minutes correspondent. The Star regrets the error.

Thanks for bringing it up again
Times-Picayune: Woman booked with DWI: The police report in some Tuesday editions incorrectly stated that Barbara Schields of 6024 Jean St. in Metairie was booked Feb. 27 with loitering for prostitution. Actually, she was booked with third-offense DWI.

But they wore bags over their heads
ESPN Radio: In a March 5 story on ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning, it was reported that the Detroit Lions did not have a representative at Sunday's Brady Quinn workout. According to the Lions' public relations staff, the team had four coaches, two scouts and one front office executive at the workout. Lions President Matt Millen was not there, but he could attend a later Quinn workout.

No longer a bastard
A Canadian Press story titled "'Lost Canadians' fight back" about the children of Canadian soldiers and diplomats born overseas described Sheila Walshe as being born "out of wedlock." Walshe's parents were, in fact, married when she was born.

Always wait a day before trying our recipes
Guardian: We should clarify that the stir-fried morning glory recipe featured in Observer Food Monthly last week uses an edible morning glory Ipomoea aquatica, found in south east Asia and also known as water spinach. This should not to be confused with the UK Ipomoea, also known as morning glory, which is poisonous.

What else is he doing anonymously?
NYTimes: An article yesterday about an interview Vice President Dick Cheney gave aboard his military transport on Tuesday, for which he asked to be identified only as “a senior administration official” but then spoke in the first person about his discussions with the Pakistani and Afghan presidents, truncated the final passage in some copies. It should have read: “On Iran, the administration’s highest-ranking and best-known hawk challenged a questioner who suggested that oil prices might drop 10 or 15 percent if the United States took off the table the option of a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. ‘I don’t buy it,’ the senior administration official said, before retreating to his cabin.”

Wikipedia vs. Journalism, Round 3,892
New Yorker: The July 31, 2006, piece on Wikipedia, “Know It All,” by Stacy Schiff, contained an interview with a Wikipedia site administrator and contributor called Essjay, whose responsibilities included handling disagreements about the accuracy of the site’s articles and taking action against users who violate site policy. He was described in the piece as “a tenured professor of religion at a private university” with “a Ph.D. in theology and a degree in canon law.”

Essjay was recommended to Ms. Schiff as a source by a member of Wikipedia’s management team because of his respected position within the Wikipedia community. He was willing to describe his work as a Wikipedia administrator but would not identify himself other than by confirming the biographical details that appeared on his user page. At the time of publication, neither we nor Wikipedia knew Essjay’s real name. Essjay’s entire Wikipedia life was conducted with only a user name; anonymity is common for Wikipedia admin-istrators and contributors, and he says that he feared personal retribution from those he had ruled against online. Essjay now says that his real name is Ryan Jordan, that he is twenty-four and holds no advanced degrees, and that he has never taught. He was recently hired by Wikia—a for-profit company affiliated with Wikipedia—as a “community manager”; he continues to hold his Wikipedia positions. He did not answer a message we sent to him; Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikia and of Wikipedia, said of Essjay’s invented persona, “I regard it as a pseudonym and I don’t really have a problem with it.”

Observant journalists
Greeley newspaper acknowledges ethical lapses:
The Greeley Tribune has agreed to end a years-old practice of copying stories from competing newspapers and falsely labeling them as Associated Press stories, the newspaper’s publisher said today.

“That’s clearly a very bad journalism practice,” said Steve Weaver, the Tribune’s publisher.

Lehman Communications Publisher Ed Lehman said editors at the Loveland Reporter-Herald, which is owned by his company, spotted the practice and asked the Tribune last week to stop copying stories from the Reporter-Herald’s Web site.

“They apologized,” Lehman said. “We’ve asked them to stop.”

Rancid honey
Citigroup and CNBC Cozy Up, David Carr in the Times: Buy, sell, trade — journalism is one more form of commerce. And when the favor bank goes airborne, it captures the imagination in a new way. Like $6,000 shower curtains and the nickname Kenny Boy, the corporate jet lives large in the public imagination.

Which brings us to the question: why was Maria Bartiromo, the popular anchor on the business news channel CNBC, making command appearances at the request of Citigroup — and many other companies — that sit dead center in Ms. Bartiromo’s beat as the daily host of “Closing Bell With Maria Bartiromo” and the host of “The Wall Street Journal Report With Maria Bartiromo,” a nationally syndicated television show?

On the surface, these kinds of appearances at corporate events — sponsored by the companies she covers — would be considered unsightly, if not unethical, by many in her chosen field. But perhaps nobody would have noticed if a corporate jet wasn’t involved.

The question arose last week when Todd S. Thomson, chief of Citigroup’s wealth management unit, lost his job after it was revealed that in addition to the usual profligate expenses, he spent way too much time and money scrambling the jets for Ms. Bartiromo.

She had attended a number of client functions at Mr. Thomson’s request — she was trotted out like Bill Murray at a celebrity golf tournament — most notably during a trip last year in which other Citigroup executives were bumped from a plane bound home from the Far East while Mr. Thomson and Ms. Bartiromo flew back together. ...

When the Thomson-Bartiromo story broke, officials at CNBC issued a reflexive defense of its biggest star, saying, “Maria Bartiromo is one of the most prolific and well-respected financial journalists in the industry, who works tirelessly around the world in the service of business journalism.”

Yesterday the company added a further statement: “Maria Bartiromo’s journalistic integrity was never compromised nor would she or CNBC allow it to be. Any implication to the contrary is inaccurate.”

Hyperbole aside, the statement is true as far as it goes. But it ignores the reality that there is an implicit contract at play here. By making huge advertising buys on CNBC, Citigroup obtained access to its biggest star. Clearly, an exchange of brands was under way.

CNBC has positioned itself as an adjunct to business, the glowing friend in the corner with the sound off and a ticker at the bottom. In that respect, CNBC has roughly the same relationship to Wall Street that “Entertainment Tonight” has to Hollywood: boosterish, gossipy and more than a little starry-eyed.

It is companion media rather than the source of oversight or rigorous coverage that you might expect from, say, The Wall Street Journal. By demonstrating that it was able to deliver Ms. Bartiromo for important functions, Citigroup was able to use her fame as an adjunct to its marketing. It didn’t own her so much as rent her through its ongoing advertising on CNBC.

If there’s a price to be paid, the bill will be sent to Ms. Bartiromo’s reputation. After all, what are all those day traders going to think the next time she opens her show with a look at Citigroup? It may be hard to keep their minds on their “trade” buttons.

Unkind cut

I guess the key thing about tonight is whoever gets cut doesn't go on the summer tour, since traditionally only the top ten make the circuit. Recap, per usual, is entertaining if misleading.

Then, ugh--Peter is back, to perform. It's not as embarassing as Diana Ross' from last week, but he's still pitchy and looks totally weird, with his random gestures toward the Idols and slightly stoned/botoxed constant glaze. It goes on forever; this is so bizarre, all across America millions of teens are wondering what the hell their parents were thinking, welcoming this invasion.

Back with another hilarious Ford ad, set in a laundromat--and Melinda doing gymnastics?! Gotta be a stunt double, right? Then they embed Brad Garrett in with the Idols, holy selling out Idol. From seating, it looks like it'll be down to Stephanie and Sanjaya.

Phil, Blake and Melinda stand up, and--all three are safe. Chris, LaKisha, and Jordin stand--they're all safe too, of course. Tubby's looking pretty relieved.

Sanjaya, Haley, Gina stand; and these three aren't in the bottom, either. Whoo-hoo. Which means--Chris Richardson and Stephanie are the bottom two; some boos from the audience. They're 15 minutes in, the rest is all padding until the final couple of minutes.

Odd, Ryan takes a few minutes to tell any corporate suits watching how they can sign their company up to be part of the Idol Cares fundraiser. Lulu makes a late entrance onto stage, to sing To Sir With Love, which is one of my favorite songs. Her performance, though, is like sing-by-numbers; no flow, everything is scripted and delivered precisely.

Plus, she's really lost it vocally; so weird, this show is the biggest hit, possibly in tv history, and we're subjected to a C-lister. The contestants are just standing there, bored. I really don't understand why they don't fix these basic flaws with the product.

Well, here we go; Steph and Chris holding hands. And it is, indeed, Stephanie going home. Oh well; she had a good voice, but fell victim to the too-many-good-black-women problem. I hate, by the way, this year's standard going-home music; why not let each contestant choose their own?

I'd buy it

Supposedly the pitch is in Turkish.

Searching for the top 10

American Idol's going from 11 to ten; Haley Scarnato singing first--as far as I'm concerned, just cut her and move on to next week. New Coke glasses, same old judging joshing; and the theme's British Invasion.

Hmm, should be interesting, 21st century Americans singing the songs of a bunch of white Brits. Good, music, though; Peter Noone (of Herman's Hermits) and Lulu are working with the contestants, ugh. What, Sir Paul was too busy?!

Haley doing Tell Him, she says she wants to be more aggressive, not so sweet--uh, she's been sweet? Lulu tells her even without a great voice, there's a place for you in this competition. In crazy short shorts; and baby doll top. Weird look; out in the audience but only looks at the camera. A weirdly aggressive, flat performance--the song's one of my faves, though; and she does show a little bit of fun. Kindof a mess, and she's dressed ridiculously, but also not totally unenjoyable. Randy loves it; good song choice echoes Paula; you naughty little thing says Simon. Fun, young, a bit shrieky, people will be talking about a lot more than your singing tonight. Yeah, like her fat thighs.

Chris Richardson, next. Ryan's in the audience, boss Nigel Lithgoe behind him. Doing Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying; good song choice for him, I think. He's potentially got a bit of Elliott Yamin in him; funny, Peter rips his voice and his phrasing. Odd. On a stool, with a guitarist right next to him. Hmm, sounds off to me--oddly sedate, with a sweater vest, like Mr. Rogers or something. Okay, not a good choice after all--totally boring, he's trying to get the chicks vote but there's something insincere about him. Nobody's really listening; song's not even that great, contrary to what Petey thinks. The audience sortof is into him; Randy, surprisingly, loves it, says everything in tune, great choice; Paula likes it all too, calls it sexy and charming. Simon says that was your best performance to date, excellent control and you didn't make it sound old-fashioned. Hmm, I don't agree.

Stephanie Edwards, in blue gown and high black boots. In answer to fan question says song choice key; everyone's more focused backstage she says. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me, one of my favorite songs--great choice, Dusty Springfield actually has soul. Lulu likes her, says it'll be great. A bit off the beat to start; a little shaky. Selling it well, though; waaay too deliberate in the chorus, no sense of soaring. Not sure why she's enunciating so precisely; I don't like it that much, even if the song is great. Scary that Haley's my fave so far. Randy says not your best, pitchy; Paula pretty much the same, weird that they can't get the mikes right at this stage of the show, but have some fun. Simon asks how she thinks she did, she says, well. Losing your edge, your soul; very cabaret. There's an open mike somewhere that's screwing with the sound quality of their remarks. This might be it for Steph, blending in at this point.

Blake Richardson after a paid commercial by Ryan for AT&T; doing Time of the Season, with beat box. Audience is laughing during the intro; Pete is a bit of a jerk, makes these catty comments. In hipster duds; does have a pretty smooth voice, starts normal. Some interesting dance moves; does some beat box stuff halfway through; this is fun to watch, it's like a show within the show. Simon may make his radio comments again, but I like it--voice a bit thin, but interesting. Randy says cool, vibey, edgy; made the song current, brilliant baby. Paula says you've raised the bar, felt like I was at a concert. Simon says a lot better than last week; good song choice, kept the melody; strongest performance of the night. Ryan dances, pretends to be Blake; it's hilarious.

LaKisha Jones says this isn't her genre; she likes Diamonds Are Forever, which I think would be a good choice; Lulu pushes her to You're My World. So weird, it's like she's like living her dream through her; thankfully, LaKisha goes with her her choice. Man, in emerald dress--and sure enough, does well; a black woman, I think, sang it in the Bond film. Sultry, controlled; man, big part, big voice. A bit nasally at times; almost like she's talking. Not her greatest, but good. I really don't think she's gonna win this thing, though. Audience goes nuts; Randy is like good choice, not my favorite performance, not enough LaKisha in it. Gets booed; Paula says good song, then talks about the bling. Simon says not great, too old; like you in 50 years time. She cracks to Ryan if she sounds and looks like this 45 years from now she'll be happy.

Phil 'Alien' Stacey next, doing Tobacco Road. Peter likes the song, and his performance, says he's never heard it sung that well and that he should go far. Okay.... In jeans and white shirt, he's really rocking out--just going for it. Voice is thin compared to Chris Daughtry from last year; I mean, I don't like him, so think the performance is just okay. A lot of shouting for me, it's like he's just doing his thing, no eye contact or anything; really giving it his all, though. Ugh, just wailing at the end. Randy is like laid it all out, pretty good, pitchy spots, not bad. Paula says good choice, etc.; Simon says he wasn't crazy about it, like a bar band performance, not believable, no grit in your voice--you're being outsung by a lot of others, you may have a problem tomorrow. Phil's appealing to the audience at the end--he really cares, makes me like him a bit more.

Back with Jordin Sparks, who I think is great; in black dress. Says I'm So Excited is the song that describes her best, says it all the time. I Know Nothing, which Lulu loves, seems to be giving Jordin good advice, says she's amazing and a perfect song. Ha, totally excited to hear this now; Jordin says after Lulu's comments oh my gosh that was so exciting--and I don't even have a boyfriend. To which Lulu says you will now. Wow, so dramatic--she's gonna really perform this. Man, she is good--controlled and calm and totally believable. My gosh, this has got to be one of my favorite performances ever, the audience is totally caught up in the tension her voice is creating, the starts and stops and pacing. So powerful--and real. She could sing opera; audience is just shrieking, everyone stands for her at the end. It's total mayhem, Randy can't talk. Says a tall order, very difficult--great performance. Paula good, wonderful; Simon says you sang it beautifully, but I feel like jumping off a bridge, so gloomy, want the sun to shine. Well, that's the point of the song Simon. Ryan zings him, to get it you have to experience love with someone other than yourself.

Sanjaya Malakar next, first they spend a while letting Peter chatter on. Sanjaya says he didn't know what he was going to sing; Peter says not a lot of experience, but cool guy. Sanjaya says he's not the best singer in the competition, but will just keep working. You Really Got Me is Peter's suggestion, just go out and nail it. Wow, this is his best performance to date; there are actually girls in the audience crying for him--wow, he's just belting it out, a bit thin of a voice and some funny flouncing in the audience--goes up on and dances around, messes with Paula, and his crying fan. He's pretty dreamy, goes soft; I'm totally enjoying this, they show that crying girl like a billion times. I mean, it's not melodic, but at least he goes for it; the audience is a bit lukewarm. Randy's already laughing--his sis and family are totally excited. Randy says he was shocked, you came out of your shell, best performance to date. Paula says great, just go for it, a lot of fun. Simon's gonna rain on the parade; just makes a crack about how it made people cry. He goes over and hugs his little fan, it's very sweet.

Gina Glockson, in black; Ryan asks if they pay attention to what the media says, she says she tries not to. Paint it Black, Lulu says perfect choice, but raise it half a step in key. Excited to see this; very dramatic start, not totally believable for me, I really like the song but not so much her version, it's too deliberate, not natural enough--as Lulu said, she needed to really lose herself in it, I don't think she did. Randy not my favorite vocal, just ok, a bit pitchy; Paula says way better than last week, good; Simon says moments of complete torture, off-melody at moments, just horrible; not very good--style over content, will need to sing a heck of a lot better than that. A weird chat with Ryan, she seems to be about to breakdown, it's like Ryan's trying to save her from being kicked off. You've got to sing well, says Simon, that's what this should be about. Ryan keeps prolonging it, probably to fill time; Gina fights back, it's all so weird.

Chris 'Bob Jones University' Sligh next. Chatting up Peter; She's Not There. Uh, okay... in a weird falsetto. He starts out in the audience, in weird paisley outfit. Pretty nice vocals, actually. Locked in on the camera like a tractor beam. Walks past a 'Bringing Chubby Back' sign. I'm liking this; he's having fun with it, a bit out of breath and shouty, but enjoyable. Randy liked the performance, rough start, but wound up good, great song for you; Paula echoes, likes his clothes. Chris jumps in, starts talking to defend Paula from Simon; Simon is like fun, not the best vocal, showed personality, better than last week.

Hmm, Sanjaya's line is constantly busy. He gets votes when he does poorly, so I guess it's not surprising he's getting even more tonight. Melinda Doolittle last, says she was freaked out at first; As Long As He Needs Me. She says totally out of her comfort zone. Lulu likes it, likes her. In shiny silver top, sultry start--sitting on the edge of the stage. Slow and controlled; such odd facial expressions though; also an old vibe to it all. I like her and she's good--but in my opinion nobody is anywhere near as good as Jordin tonight. Funny, Sanjaya's crying girl is at it again for Melinda. Lots of spit for Melinda; it'd be bizarre to me if she winds up as the Idol. Audience likes her; Randy is like best vocal for last, you're a pro. Paula says you're in your own league. Simon asks if you're really as nice as you seem; started boring, but second half sensational. They got time to fill, so Ryan chats up Melinda.

They bring crying girl up on stage at the end, she hugs everyone, still bawling. It's more weird than cute, I think.

Jordin Sparks
Blake Richardson
Melinda Doolittle
LaKisha Jones
Sanjaya Malakar
Chris Sligh
Haley Scarnato
Stephanie Edwards
Gina Glockson
Chris Richardson
Phil Stacey

Grasping at 1.5 million

From 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge murdered an estimated 1.5 million people, out of a total population of around 7 million.

It's an absolutely astonishing figure that really can't be grasped. 20% of a country killed in four years. Just try to imagine 60 million Americans dying during one president's term; how would we go on?

Worse, between 1970 and 1980 Cambodia lost a total of around 4 million people to war and man-made famine.

Looking at the 114 photos of victims from one of Pol Pot's prison you get a glimmer of the toll.

But it really can't be comprehended.

Photo of unidentified prisoner via Cambodia Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.

Nerds at work

So you know how NASA's Voyager space probes carry a Golden Record:

The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record-a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. The contents of the record were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University. Dr. Sagan and his associates assembled 115 images and a variety of natural sounds, such as those made by surf, wind and thunder, birds, whales, and other animals. To this they added musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings from Earth-people in fifty-five languages, and printed messages from President Carter and U.N. Secretary General Waldheim.

Maybe they should've sent this poster instead, which compares the size of starships from Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, etc. (I like, by the way, how Wikipedia entries about these movies and shows read as if they're real).

Somewhere out there is an alien civilization, laughing.

Off trots one

Watching the American Idol results show, even though I already know the result. Ryan tells us to prepare for the drama; I'm ready for the padding. As always, the editing of the previous night is interesting, cementing LaKisha, Jordin and Melinda as the big three.

This reminds me of those elections where, in a majority-black district, four black candidates run and one white guy, and the white guy wins.

They do a medley of Ross hits for the group song--and as usual it's pretty entertaining. Whoah, Melinda smokes everyone; LaKisha too; and Haley does pretty well. I'm telling you, these group songs are underated, they're fun and you do get a feel for the contestants.

Short show, shortish commercial breaks. And then, a hilarious Ford commercial, with everyone strutting around in first 70s than 80s hair and gear. Ryan gets right into the search for the three lowest vote-getters.

LaKisha; safe. Gina; safe. Brandon; not safe, not looking surprised. Jordin safe, big applause too; Chris Richardson safe; big applause for Melinda, safe; Phil is in the bottom three too; Chris Sligh safe, Stephanie safe; Blake safe.

Sanjaya or Haley... hmmm, they go to break. Then Diana Ross sings, in crazy red flowing outfit, what an entrance. Ugh, she's lost it though, vocals aren't good--she's doing all the tricks, but it's just not good to listen, like she's hoarse. Simon has this funny look on his face, like he wishes he could critique her. And she runs out of steam too, starts swallowing her words, gets even more screechy. She runs over to the Idols, gosh, it's pretty sad. Big fake smiles all around, her chat with Ryan is interesting, she's really a big fan of the show. Who's going home, Ryan asks her--I am, she says.

Sanjaya and Haley stand up; and it's Sanjaya, who has the presence of mind to give her a hug before he comes down. The three guys all hug; funny that it's all guys. Phil gets to sit down; it's pretty quick, 28 million votes cast and Brandon's gone.

I really like Brandon at first; but as the show went on, it seemed didn't want to show his passion on his sleeve. It may just be his personality, but you gotta make America care. He's adult about it, but the show ends before he can sing.

Looking for a star

American Idol starts its top twelve reminding us, again, of how many stars it's discovered. We'll be here for the next 3 months, Ryan reminds us--this time, with a bigger band, as well as the usual crazed audience.

One by one they come out--Blake seems to get the most applause, but who knows. Ryan asks Randy how he thinks the guys will respond to the challenge of the girls, both he and Paula think the guys will step it up. Simon reminds us this stage changes everyone.

It's Diana Ross night; am sure the guys are thrilled. Interestingly, Billboard nominated her for female entertainer of the century, with her 80 top 10 hits. She seems like a good person, saying talking to the contestants tapped into her parental side.

Brandon Rogers gets the tough first spot. She says she likes him, doing You Can't Hurry Love. Weird, they carp on them for not acting their age, and then this. He's in a shimmery white to gray shirt, dress pants. Good song choice, he's happy out there and the audience is into it. He loses steam about halfway through, his voice cracks and he's flat. Does some nice dance moves, and oooh--forgets the words. Kindof finishes rough; the songs are longer in the finals, big adjustment in combination with the nerves. Randy mentions that, Brandon's got a grim look of death on his face. Paula's encouraging; Simon says it was a complete letdown as the audience boos him, everything predictable, dancing horrible, forgot the words, came over as a background singer for a background singer, no star quality, no originality. Ouch! He handles it pretty well, big smile talking to Ryan.

Melinda Doolittle next; I'm certain that Ryan talking to them right beforehand makes for worse performances. She's in a gray dress; apparently they're letting people ask the contestants questions. It's like Miss America; she nails her question, what's the hardest part, by citing the high heels--Ryan asks Simon for a comment, Simon says you should know, Ryan says stay out of my closet, Simon says come out. It's pretty funny.

Melinda clicked with Diana, singing Home; Ross says she got goosebumps listening to her. Not a great song choice--the song itself is only okay, but it does let her show off her rang. She's totally at ease out there, she definitely marches to her own drummer but is comfortable with that. It's a good performance, but I'm unmoved. She's not going to win AI like this; big finish, though. She needs to grow into being a star, right now still acts like she doesn't belong. Big ovation from the audience, Randy says a strong performance but not my favorite from you. Paula is in tears, really liked it. Simon is cracking up, asks Melinda why she's crying, she says never heard anything like that, from an audience. He says you made a boring song fantastic, you remind me of a young Gladys Knight, very good. They're totally having mike and timing problems tonight.

Chris Sligh, who Diana says seemed very nervous, he says he doesn't have a nervous bone in his body. Does Endless Love--whooo, good choice. She says he needs to find the hook in the song; doesn't really say anything positive about him. In sportcoat, t-shirt, jeans, no glasses. He's definitely got a good voice, swells out on the song--I like it. He seems sincere, powerful. And not arrogant. Wow, he can really sing, a bit flat but really gives it his all; not sure if audience connects with him. Randy says odd rendition, didn't like it, thought it was a mess. Paula says essentially you butchered it, don't try so hard to be ultra-hip and cool, just let your voice sing. Simon says you murdered it, turned a beautiful song into a total drone--a few light boos, as Simon notes. And keep your glasses on, stay yourself.

Boy-girl-boy-girl, so Gina Glockson next. Who apparently was starstruck to meet Ross, of course she immediately tells Diana a story about herself. Lovechild, work on pronunciation Ross says. Good tip; I like the song too. She struts out, in velvet top and jeans; plays to the cameras. She has a good voice, but the audience doesn't seem to be into it; and I don't know, she's not quite convincing singing the song. Maybe her voice is too thin or something; it just seems to go on forever. Randy is cracking up, pitchy, no excitement, not that great. Paula says you're better than you did, were shouting. Simon says you can't say much, it was just okay, forgettable.

Sanjaya Malakar next, I think he could hit it out of the park tonight, or just go down in flames. Or do okay. Curious to see if Ryan's bullying side comes out. Diana says to me, he's love--you care about him, gives him a hug. He appreciates her; doing Ain't No Mountain High Enough. Tells him to get into it, move around; she says there's something in his spirit that's the winning ingredient--it's not her hair. Yeah, Diana! In sweater--voice is a bit weak. Everything is a bit too little, for the stage. Big smile, looks good, but the performance is just horrible--and he starts rushing through parts. Some weird dance moves--but you know, it's not a total mess. He loosens up a bit, at least pushes out the last note. Not much applause from the crowd at all.

Randy is like that was horrible, thank god for the background singers; but the hair is rocking, Hair Idol you got it. Paula says you're so sweet and you smile; you sang on pitch, but you have to grab the audience. You gotta explode with your vocals. Simon says Diana is gonna freak when she hears, Sanjaya looks pained, audience starts booing Simon; you're very brave, Simon says. He hits back a bit at Simon when Ryan gives him a chance; it's all awkward--my favorite part is Ryan asks him if he feels like he should be here next week, he says--yeah! See, that's important; he hasn't given up on himself, he's young and to many things he's probably like Whatever, dude. In what's maybe a bad sign, I get in 5 votes for him during the break, with nary a busy signal.

Haley Scarnato, in an odd belted blue dress; where's the craziest place you've ever sang, she says here, everyone's very nervous backstage. I really think she should be first to go; doing Missing You. Diana says her voice is too much inside, needs to project; she says she's singing it to her fiance. Sitting down, from the beginning I don't like it--no voice, boring, swallows her words, plus the mike is right in front of her mouth. Misses some words; it's so random the way she moves around, like she's on drugs. Gosh, I really dislike her. At the end, it's like she just gives up, looks defeated. Randy says you tried, forgot the words, pitchy. Paula says you look lovely, Haley looks like she wants to die, you can't forget the words, pitch was bad. Simon says it wasn't that bad, Haley starts to cry, good presence up there. Not sure what game he's playing; gosh, she's a mess, starts crying; Simon says good stage presence, which is insane, total giberish. She's totally crying, says it means so much to get something good from Simon. Paula says keep singing even if you screw up--this is just ridiculous.

Five more votes for Sanjaya; back with Ryan sitting in the audience and talking to his grandmother, next to his mother. Phil Stacey, Love and Affection, she likes him. She advises him to look at the audience, they're just real people; good advice. In black top and jeans, very bald-looking. Ugh, off-key from the start, and unbelievable cheesy. It's like AI is showing the worst and the best, it's really been disappointing so far. He's wailing, and is flat. Good confidence though, and big voice. Just looks so Martian-like. What an odd performance, and totally unenjoyable. Randy says amidst the shrieking that vocals were good--oh, really?! Paula says bad song choice, bad performance, but good vocals. Simon says it was okay, good song choice but don't shout on the big notes; just average. I mean, I don't even like most of these guys this year--there's nothing good about their personality.

Seven votes for Sanjaya this time; LaKisha Jones, who bonds with Ross, doing God Bless the Child. They have a very professional discussion about how she can perform it, Ross says she's totally looking forward to hearing it. Out in a flowing white gown; I sense something good. First note is inaudible, but man, she is in total control, and such a big voice, plays with the song--and man, just belts it out, gestures are controlled and purposeful, there's a sense of urgency to it, you wanna listen. The first performance I've really like tonight. Probably the perfect song choice too; wonder if with the whole Jennifer Hudson thing people will actually vote for someone like LaKisha this year; odd, cuts off the ending. Audience really likes it; Randy is like wow, perfect song, great outfit, unbelievable vocal, didn't overdo it, that was sensational. Paula says beautiful, and your heart comes through, that's most important (she's right). Simon says you've got it, you and Melinda are in a different league, very controlled performance and didn't look intimidated, outstanding. I mean, if someone like LaKisha keeps performing like this and people vote for her, this show will be worth watching.

Blake Lewis, talks about what he listens to in response to a question, Michael Jackson and Prince his faves ever. Show him working on You Keep Me Hanging On; the audience is whooping in response to him singing on the tape. Hmm, I really like him after seeing that segment. Does some interesting dance moves; hey, this is not bad, in a gray suit with sneaks. Big voice, but also smooth; a lot of frenetic motion and dancing, pretty interesting; I do like the original version a lot better, though, it's a great song, this is just dressing it up in fancy packaging. Voice starts to fail a bit, little flat, but overall quite good and fun to watch, although a bit too much at times. Audience really likes it. Randy says it was okay, sometimes let the classics be the classics, don't need to Blake-a-lize everything, put more straight vocals in it; Paula says it was pretty good. Simon didn't like it at all, to big boos, but if you heard that on the radio you wouldn't like it.

Back with everyone messing around at the judges telecast; Stephanie Edwards, Love Hangover, says she loves Diana. You know, it'd be better if they ran little clips of Diana singing each song. I think one problem with tonight is her versions of these great songs are all stuck in our head, and impossible to match. Advises Edwards to sex it up. In weird paisley printed dress; but sultry voice, and very deliberate performance. Hmm, I like it; a bit off-key on the held note, but voice swells well. Ugh, again, off-key; hmm... it's like a LaKisha wanna-be, without all the talent. Starting to not care, like something you'd hear on muzak. Randy says forgetting some of the words not good, wanted more up-tempo; Paula asks how come you didn't go up-tempo, she says it was too long to do, Paula responds well, that's what arranging's for, strive for better. Simon says you sang the intro rather than the song; totally outsung by LaKisha and Melinda, this should've been a great night for you, chose the wrong song, gotta be more memorable.

Chris Richardson, doing The Boss. She says don't be nervous, I'm not any different than you except I'm older. He comes across well in the interview, nervous and sincere. She says make sure you work the audience; she's a total pro, very sharp and like Simon right on. In white dorky sportcoat, jeans, comes out all awkwardly--my gosh, what happened to this guy, it's like he's become a comic or something. I mean, it's laughable to me, the way he looks and acts; and his voice cracks, is pitchy. Loosens up, runs into the audience; maybe he's so confident he's cool coming out as a dork? It's more fun, but god, his voice is horrible, it keeps cracking and fading, and he never looks in one place, is like constantly moving like he's got ADD. Randy says not my favorite, overdid; half good, half bad; Paula says best of the guys blending old and new. Simon says vocals were dreadful--if you heard it on the radio, you'd switch channels, it was terrible. Ha, Sanjaya not looking so bad now, is he....

Close with Jordin Sparks, my favorite female and who knows, maybe soon fave overall. If We Hold On Together--my gosh, what a perfect pick. Diana loves her, but you have to make sure you tell the audience the story. She has star-quality, Ross says; glitter, shine in her eyes, the inner light comes across. Yup. In purple dress; very deliberate start, she has a gorgeous voice. And is very sincere singing into the camera. I predict Simon is gonna say you've vaulted yourself into the top tier. Her voice breaks a bit, but it's in line with the song. Audience is totally listening; wow, what a way to end the show. She has astonishing stage presence; this is definitely the best thing I've seen on the show in a while, I'd watch it again. My gosh, a star is born. Randy says you've made it a three-girl race tonight. Paula loves her, sang your heart out. Simon says a bit gooey, but a very good vocal, you've put yourself in the running for the top three.

Yeah, the second half saved the night. Sanjaya, Jordin, LaKisha, Blake, Melinda--all reason to keep watching. Everyone else can be cut today as far as I'm concerned.

DialIdol shows Sanjaya in the top three, Jordin right behind--whoo-hoo. Apparently Howard Stern has gotten behind the mock-vote for Sanjaya movement; which is fine, keeps him on the show.

Jordin Sparks
LaKisha Jones
Blake Lewis
Melinda Doolittle
Chris Sligh
Gina Glockson
Stephanie Edwards
Sanjaya Malakar
Chris Richardson
Brandon Rogers
Phil Stacey
Haley Scarnato

Man's best friend?

Study Detects Recent Instance of Human Evolution , Nicholas Wade in the Times:

A surprisingly recent instance of human evolution has been detected among the peoples of East Africa. It is the ability to digest milk in adulthood, conferred by genetic changes that occurred as recently as 3,000 years ago, a team of geneticists has found.

The finding is a striking example of a cultural practice — the raising of dairy cattle — feeding back into the human genome. It also seems to be one of the first instances of convergent human evolution to be documented at the genetic level. Convergent evolution refers to two or more populations acquiring the same trait independently.

Throughout most of human history, the ability to digest lactose, the principal sugar of milk, has been switched off after weaning because there is no further need for the lactase enzyme that breaks the sugar apart. But when cattle were first domesticated 9,000 years ago and people later started to consume their milk as well as their meat, natural selection would have favored anyone with a mutation that kept the lactase gene switched on.

Such a mutation is known to have arisen among an early cattle-raising people, the Funnel Beaker culture, which flourished some 5,000 to 6,000 years ago in north-central Europe. People with a persistently active lactase gene have no problem digesting milk and are said to be lactose tolerant.

Almost all Dutch people and 99 percent of Swedes are lactose-tolerant, but the mutation becomes progressively less common in Europeans who live at increasing distance from the ancient Funnel Beaker region.

Geneticists wondered if the lactose tolerance mutation in Europeans, first identified in 2002, had arisen among pastoral peoples elsewhere. But it seemed to be largely absent from Africa, even though pastoral peoples there generally have some degree of tolerance.

A research team led by Sarah Tishkoff of the University of Maryland has now resolved much of the puzzle. After testing for lactose tolerance and genetic makeup among 43 ethnic groups of East Africa, she and her colleagues have found three new mutations, all independent of each other and of the European mutation, which keep the lactase gene permanently switched on.

Photo of cow found online.

Nine women

American Idol's cutting the women down to six; with a twist--no Paula as Ryan starts the show. Okay.... By the time they get through the show's nuttiness, Paula's in her seat, complete with jokes about her having been under the desk.

Jordin Sparks, my favorite female, starts and talks about how big a part of her life football is--she's just picked up a bunchof guy votes, oddly doesn't mention her dad's an ex-NFL player. Hmm, interesting song choice--filmy striped top, jeans; Heartbreaker. Comes out firing; a bit shouty, but lots of dramatic moments too. I'm not nuts about the song, but it really shows she can pretty much sing anything; feels pretty authentic, too. Crowd likes it, goes nuts; Randy says it's weird, when the girls come out it's great; not best, but good. Paula loves her energy, says she's getting better and will be here for a long time. Simon's not as crazy about it, saw it as manic and shrieky, but you'll be here. She scrunches down to be at the same level as Ryan, it's very funny.

Sabrina Sloan, who wanted to be the 'next Katie Couric'. In tiger-y tight dress; doing Lose Control; I for some reason have never really like her, she's a bit sharp but has a good voice... the song does nothing for me though. Nails the last note; I mean, it's okay, I'm not captivated or anything, nor is the audience. Randy says okay all around, not the best, wish more melody; Paula says good; Simon says lacking the emotion that Melinda, Lakisha, Stephanie have, it's like a hotel resort performance, need some personality.

Antonella Barba, who's this year attractive but hated female. Whoah, she plays the violin. In standard good outfit, all black short dress with thigh-high boots; big smile for the camera. She's off-key, doing Put Your Records On--but it's a good song, so I enjoy her performance, You're gonna find yourself someway, somehow. Randy likes the song choice, and ending, but pitchy otherwise--and you're a better singer than you've shown. Paula gives a tepid review, struggling for something to say. Simon says you've gone as far as you can go, you're surrounded by amazing singers and just don't measure up. He says you've taken a lot of stuff from the media and have handled yourself well--to which the audience gives her a hand--I just wish you can sing better. Ryan asks straight out if you deserve to be in the final 12, she defends herself, says I'm myself, don't compare. Simon jumps in on her again, then Randy--this is all only going to help her, she and Sanjaya should form a club.

Haley Scarnato, who says she was a gymnast. In red top and black pants; she really shouldn't be here, her voice is at best ordinary, does an utterly forgetabble, schmaltzy, If My Heart Had Wings. All her gestures are pretty much the same, with her right hand; ugh. Randy is like interesting song choice, but it's kindof who you are; just okay, no pizazz, no Yo! Paula says well, I guess it's like who you are. Simon says the problem is I don't know your name, haven't made any impression. In a very odd chat with Ryan, she says well, every week you just gotta do what you have to do, clock in and clock out. Yeah, that's what America is looking for--someone who puts in her shift and then goes home.

Stephanie Edwards, who says she's been singing forever, but used to be shy. She's totally going the Fantasia route, in a tight black/turquoise-striped dress. She can definitely sing, a big voice--but for me, I just don't care about her. Plus she has some pitch problems, to my ears, hard to listen to, wanna turn down the volume. Randy says a valiant effort, but just okay, pitchy problems. Paula thought she was darn-near flawless, slightly behind the beat sometimes, but great. Simon says you're one of the best, but a bit copycat; enough to make the final twelve though.

LaKisha Jones, easily messing with Ryan before, says she's terrified of all animals. In brown outfit; belts out slow and controlled version of I Don't Wanna Hurt Anymore. It's good, but again--nothing we'll remember next week. Odd choice, everyone knows Whitney's version. Randy says not your best, but good enough. Paula says good; Simon says you brought passion, talent, believability--and a nice outfit. He's right, it's classy and normal versus last week's odd. Her aunt and mother are going nuts in the audience, it's all good.

They come back with Ryan messing around with the women, throwing pillows around, trying to mess with Gina Glockson, who handles it well. She has lucky charms, apparently; which are all weird. In punk outfit or something; does an unmelodic rock song that starts well, but deteriorates, the audience is just standing around. She's definitely her own person, lotsof shrieking, good energy but whatever, I don't really like it. Randy says pitchy but you're true to yourself. Paula says good, but don't oversing and fall flat. Simon says it's obvious you enjoyed that, looked comfortable; really hope you make it through because you're a breath of fresh air, just choose better, more melodic songs. It's interesting, with her there are moments when I like her, but then others when I really don't.

Close with Melinda Doolittle. It hasn't been a great night, people have just been okay. For some reason she talks about OCDish qualities she has. In black and white dress; comes out and just belts out I'm a Woman, she's very believable, it's a strong performance, but I wonder how many guy votes she's gonna get outof this. It's big and all that; but not great to my ears. Randy says the best of the night, a total pro, you ready to just go make a record. Paula says you're likeable and lovable--which I don't know about; she's definitely a bit weird. Simon starts off with you little tiger, I thought we had a pussycat--I loved that, it's nice that you're enjoying all this and not just seeing it all as a stepping stone.

I guess say goodbye to Haley and Sabrina... oh well, now the show's about to start for real; maybe people will start busting out once they make the top 12.

Jordin Sparks
Melinda Doolittle
LaKisha Jones
Gina Glockson
Antonella Barba
Stephanie Edwards
Sabrina Sloan
Haley Scarnato

Eight for six

The show to determine the six American Idol guy finalists kicks off--first thing I notice is Sanjaya's radically--different hairstyle. This show is doing weird things to me.... Ryan teases an important announcement on Tuesday--I'm assuming it's the song-writing competition.

Happy-go-lucky-Blake does some weird improv comedy thing in his tell us something about you we don't know, as a redneck; out in weird orange t-shirt with a skull on it and stripey tan pants. Does some contemporary song I don't know, All Mixed Up; like a pro, lots of his vocal tricks in there, but a curious lack of energy in the room if you ask me. Didn't enjoy it personally, not melodic. Randy likes it, even though he also didn't know the song; Paula echoes, says she was still interested. Simon says he didn't understand a single word, but at least you stand out and are current. He tells Ryan 311 is his favorite band of all time.

Ryan asks Sundance about his tears last week, he claims it was all Chris Richardson's doing. Then he nails Sanjaya with the are you surprised to be here question, he says well, not now. He claims to be able to hula; it's really unattractive, actually--but again, nice guy, learned it while living in Hawaii. Big smile, green jacket, jeans; nice song, starts a bit weak, but stronger as it goes. Still a bit tentative, but his best effort; Waiting on the World to Change. I'm enjoying this, especially as it goes on and he loosens up a bit--a bit off-key, but a good pick. Randy says it started bad, but was better than last week; but you still aren't any good, especially when compared with the beginning; Paula doesn't know what to say, except, keep trying, move out of your comfort zone and raise your game. Simon says not as bad as last week, it's just all a bit weird--you're obviously popular, but it's a singing competition so it's not good enough to have hair. Watching this on tape, I just tried to vote for him (first time I've voted all year), but the line's busy--so that's a good sign.

Sundance, who says in real life he's actually thin, just wears a fat suit on tv. Okay... there go all his fat supporters. In white shirt, jeans; does a good song for his voice, driving and gravely; gosh, it looks like he's wearing eyeliner or something, weird. Not melodic so I don't really like it, but not horrible but nothing like last week; couldn't really understand what he was saying. Randy says there were some problems, but overall not bad. Paula likes his groove; Simon says he didn't like it as much as last week, lost your charm; a generic bar singer, like you were shouting the whole time.

I mean, it's continuously busy for Sanjaya; it's funny that there's such a gap between what the adults and the kids respond to. Travis Tritt is in the crowd, just hanging out; Ryan lets him plug his album, twits Randy a bit.

Chris Richardson, continuing the odd weight theme, says he's lost 40 pounds. Great! Sitting down, jeans and gray shirt; off-key immediately, doing Tonight I Wanna Cry. Not sure why he's doing this--no energy, I think he's really going to be in danger after this performance; he's totally off-key and it's a dull, immediately forgettable performance. Randy likes it, says you're switching it up every week, threw in your own thing; Paula like his intonation, loves his pick; Simon's like it was good, not the best vocal, cutesy--bit nasally and we still haven't heard what you're capable of, bit timid and safe. Ryan asks him how he lost the weight; Simon very oddly interjects, says leave the poor boy alone, careful, stick to the singing; uh, he brought it up himself. One of the few times I think Simon strikes an off note.

Okay, so we have a theme tonight--I keep trying to vote for Sanjaya, and the line keeps being busy. Maybe they should've given him two lines for the semis. Jared up, Ryan mocks his hand/face thing. Played college basketball. Comes out, says let's have some fun, in an argyle sweater, jeans. Feels forced, even if he has a nice smile; doing If You Really Love me; in an un-Stevie manner--it's somehow too much for me, his expressions are all exaggerated, feels over-rehearsed. Randy likes it; Paula says you need to work on coloring up the way you sing, instead of just always shouting--ouch, this is unPaula like and is gonna hurt him. Simon says, amazingly, he knows what Paula's trying to say; not very original, gets lost in the mix; disappointed overall, no wow factor. Jared says fair enough; well, I'm nominating him to go. They all say, when asked, that so far he deserves to be in top 12; he's very adult, if I'm here I'll pull it up next week. Come on Jared, display some real emotion--don't be so polite!

Sanjaya is still continuously busy; Phil kisses up to the judges, in a very funny manner. He's laid back, I like him; the judges aren't even listening, chatting among themselves. Brandon up first; turns out he's a classical piano player. Hmm, interesting; in white shirt, jeans; whoah, comes out smoking. I Just Wanna Celebrate, some crazy dance moves... but again, a weird lack of giving it his all, no sense that he's just going for it. They're all like that, except Sanjaya; it's like they're all pretty happy to be there, know they're famous already, it's all cool, dog. No sense of I'll die if I have to go home. Randy says good choice, but you messed up at the end, okay; Paula continues to champion him, says it was phenomenal. Simon says you're one of the better singers but haven't done well in this competition, have a horrible feeling that song may give you a problem, nervous for you; should learn from the girls, pick more memorable songs. It's all a crapshoot, he tells Ryan; asked how bad he wants it, he says more than you know to Ryan in a stagey voice--well, why don't we know?!

Phil, who says he hasn't always been bald and gives us a history of his hair... my gosh, why are they all talking about their appearances?! Are they really so uninteresting? Ugh, weird hat and brown jacket; odd song, I Need You by LeeAnn Rimes--so weird, plus he misses notes, this is not a good night for the guys. Totally off-key; it's embarassing that one of these guys are gonna make the finals. Randy says high notes good, low parts are bad, and pitchy; Paula is like we're uncomfortable for you, not a great performance; Simon says he doesn't get the look or the song, what's up with that, makes a comment about his big eyes; overall a very bad night for the guys. Ryan grills him about the song choice, he says it's obviously not the right one based on the judges panning him. More weird comments from Ryan, Simon.

Man, this is ridiculous, still can't vote for Sanjaya. Oh well. Chris Sligh finishes out the night--if he's as smart as he thinks, he'll knock one out of the park and become a top fave heading into the finals. Man, more hair stories... who cares! In black, jeans. Strong start--Wanna Be Loved; but I don't know, just don't care; nice tone and all that, but I simply am not listening. There's something very wrong with the guys this year--I wonder how much of it is there not being a natural locker room feeling for them, it seems as if they haven't bonded the way the women seem to have; they're not bringing out the best in each other, building off each other or pumping each other up. Randy says the best vocal of a poor night; Paula says not her favorite performance, stretch a little more. Ha, Sanjaya not looking so bad now is he. Simon says start was good, shouted in middle, struggled; have a lot of potential.

Tells Ryan it's one of his favorite songs, unknown but the sentiments are good--sheesh, does anyone really listen to and process the words?! I mean, my gosh, how dumb are contestants that they're picking songs that they can send a message with? The only one who I think did that successfully was Sanjaya, his song emphasized he and most of the voters are of a different generation than all the adults.

Bye to Brandon and Jared, I guess. Who knows; who really cares, it's been a very disappointing night--I want Sanjaya, Blake, Sundance and I guess Chris Sligh to move on, couldn't care less about all the rest.

Fittingly, Sanjaya's line is, as always, busy.

Sanjaya Malakar
Blake Lewis
Sundance Head
Chris Sligh
Chris Richardson
Brandon Rogers
Jared Cotter
Phil Stacey