We saw our first protest today. While we were having our Machiattos at the Piazza Venezia, a large group of young protesters gathered in front of the cafe and started shouting. We weren't the only ones confused. The Italians standing in front of us were clearly scratching their heads, unable to make out the banners, or tell what the leaders were shouting, despite (or because of) the large speakers and amplifiers they were using. At one point the protesters seemed to be taunting the police. If you've ever seen how Italian police are equipped, you know that this may be unwise. The owner of the cafe came out and asked if we were Americans. He assured us that the protesters were harmless, but said we would help us if we were worried about anything. The Romans have been very, very kind to us. Our taxi driver expressed sadness over the troubles in America in mixed English and Italian. All in all, Rome is one of the friendliest cities I have ever visited.

Welcome to Firenze

Welcome to Florence. Touristas are not allowed in the church until 3pm. The charge is 5000 lire. The crypt costs 2500 lire to see. It will be 10000 lire to climb to the dome. Watch your head, the arches are low. You cannot sit here. Could you be so kind as to move? We are taking photographs of the monument.

I've had to come to grips with the fact that Florence is not the Italy I fell in love with years ago. This is not the city of a hunk of cheese and a bottle of wine along the river sitting on hunks of a Roman column. But Florence is the city of ART. It is the city of sitting in the Ristorante lingering over a bottle of chianti. Holiness is not what it was in Rome. Relics of the saints are on display in the Museum. The number of the tourists overwhelms the ones who come into the church to pray. It's not the city of pilgrims, or it is for a different kind of pilgrim. There is a library where Michelangelo designed a staircase, which has a quiet holiness which draws Italians and tourists alike just to sit and look at it.

Here we are, bleary-eyed in Florence, stumbling over the punctuation marks on this bizarre euro-keyboard. It's good to see some things haven't changed in Italy, like Al'Italia's army of mini-skirt clad service girls (and the pretty city police girls manning the tourist aid stand). Everyone here is "dressed". I,m the only person in town with a T-shirt (and I thought powerpuff girls would be oh-so chic), the women are ALL in heels (on the cobblestones, yet). OK, time to run. This is costing me 7500 lire an hour! Wheee!

This just in: the incredibly improbably, but totally true story of the Bert in the Bin Laden poster. Yes, images of Bert from Sesame Street appear on banners carried by Ossama Bin Laden supporters in Asia. If you don't beleive me, you can read about it here.

Tomorrow Farida and I are leaving for Italy, so you won't see much from us for the next three weeks (though we may post intermittently).

This morning, a disturbing email was forwarded to me by a friend of mine. It was a loud denunciation of Islam as "Islam is archaic, hateful, anti-Christian, anti-liberal democracy, and anti-Western Civilization from beginning to end." It was basically a four page rant on the topic of Islam and Christianity and it ended with the statment: "Either our leaders wake up to this reality very soon or we'll all soon be wailing away in Mosques in downtown Washington and Philadelphia wrapped up like mummies, tripping over our beards, and shouting "Ali Ahkbar!" as airplanes fall out of the skies all around." It reminded me of something that happened to me about 6 years ago when I was a student working in the computer center at the Catholic University of America. An Islamic student came in with a Macintosh 520 laptop with a Turkish (IIRC) OS and an Arabic language pack. The two were not playing well together. After a lot of effort, I was able to fix the problem. The student, who was studying Byzantine history at CUA, invited me to breakfast at his apartment in Pentagon City. I accepted.

The breakfast was a traditional affair. All the furniture had been cleared from the center of the room, and we ate sitting on the floor. There were about a dozen people there, almost all Moslems. Some were embassy workers, others were students at CUA and various universities. My host and I spent much of the time discussing Muslim and Catholic theology. He explained that Moslems have a great devotion for Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed, and that there is a tradition that the blessing of the Prophet flow to the faithful through her. We compared this to the Catholic belief that grace comes to Catholics through Mary, the mother of God. He also beleived that this devotion to Fatima might be the kernel around which a deeper understanding of the role of women in Islamic society might be built. At the end of dinner, we made an interesting exchange of gifts. I gave him my roasary, and he gave me a set of Moslem prayer beads. Since then, I have always thought that some day Islam and Catholicism could come to a greater understanding of each other.

Also of interest, today I found this link to Our Lady and Islam, which talks about this topic.

Salon.com News | Rush Limbaugh tells listeners he's deaf

"All I've lost is my ability to hear," he said,"but it doesn't mean I've lost my ability to communicate. Those are two different things, given the technological advances we have in this country today"

Second anthrax case detected in Florida

"A NASAL SWAB from the man, whose name was not immediately made public, tested positive for the anthrax bacterium, Tim O’Conner, regional spokesman for the Florida Department of Health, said Monday.

Dr. Seuss Went to War

Tiny Ninja Theater Company

"Tiny Ninja Theater is a New York City-based company dedicated to the principle that 'there are no small parts, only small actors." It was founded in 1999 by company director Dov Weinstein. "I had noticed that there were these tiny plastic ninjas in vending machines all across the city,' says Weinstein, 'but no one was using them to perform classical theater. Something had to be done.'"

vnunet.com Hackers find bin Laden's accounts

"A group of UK hackers claims to have captured confidential banking information on the wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden, and Al Qaeda, the organisation he heads up.

L33t hax0rz rul3!

This MMORPG seems to have more potential than most. Link thanks to JettJag.

myarmor.htm

"Ever since I was a small child, I always wanted so badly to become a knight in shining armor. Unfortunately I was born several hundred years too late."

I could argue that being born in our era is a better way to get a suit or armor than being born in the middle ages. After all, you'd probably be born a peasant, or die of plague, and even a nobleman would have to put up with fleas and rats and dying at the age of 35, like as not. Nevertheless, here is a fine picture of one mans obsession with owning a suit of armor.

Cat-Scan.Com

"Cat-Scan is home to people who love art as much as their cats. So much so, they combine the two! Every weekday we'll bring you the most hilarious cat scans available."

Yes, this is a home page dedicated to scans of people's cats.

City of Heroes is the first really cool new idea for a game I've seen in a while. It's apparently an online multiplayer game where you're a superhero battling to protect the citizens of Paragon City. The movie is excellent. If it delivers, it'll be a cool, cool game.

Beast, The (1988) is a movie about a tank commander in Afghanistan in 1988. Wonder if it's any good.

"During the war in Afghanistan a Soviet tank crew commanded by a tyrannical officer find themselves lost and in a struggle against a band of Mujahadeen guerrillas in the mountains. A unique look at the Soviet 'Vietnam' experience sympathetically told for both sides."

Stratfor's Strategic analysis of the third world war:
Part 4 | Part 5

"The United States shrewdly has declined al-Qa'ida's opening strategy. It has refused to diffuse its forces in multiple large-scale military operations. This decision represents a serious defeat for bin Laden, who STRATFOR believes was counting on an American overreaction. In order to place his scenario back on track, he must create situations in which the United States cannot decline engagement, gambits the United States can neither refuse nor win."

Check out this kickass Warhammer 40k diorama by French Golden Demon Winner Jeremie Bonamant.

more here.

In a Military Town, Osama's Place Cafe Is Tasting Tolerance

"In a town full of soldiers, on the edge of Fort Bragg, there could be worse names for a restaurant these days than Osama's Place, but it is hard to think of any."

3-2-1 Penguins! Kids - Spaced Penguin!

This shockwave game is awesom. I scored over 400,000 points, but you can easily top a million.