Dogs are friendly, sometimes restaurants are too

My friend Nathalie and I went out for drinks yesterday and I thought I would amuse her with reminding her of our Philadelphia days by bringing her to the $2 Yuengling happy hour at Saint-Ex. Luckily, she is an animal lover and consented to me bringing Grace along. Although I have brought Grace with me to Saint-Ex's outdoor seating area before, I was told that the happy hour drinks could be consumed at the indoor bar. The outdoor seating is reserved for guests who are going to consume dinner only.

We pleaded and talked reason, stating that we would leave if they needed the space, but right now they only had 2 out of a dozen tables occupied and we wouldn't really be much bother. They refused. House rules or something.

So I am highly displeased with them, despite their delicious brunch menu and their normally catering to the fact that I have a dog that loves to be with me and cannot understand why she can't come into restaurants with me.

The highlight was that Bar Pilar, only a few barfronts down the street, was perfectly happy to entertain us - ALL OF US - with their happy hour outdoors. Our server was very kind and brought my beloved Grace a big bowl of water, which was greatly appreciated during our three-hour stay.

I know it's not much, but it takes so little to make your customers happy and I wish that more customer service industry personnel would figure that out.

So thank you, nameless waitress at Bar Pilar! You are wonderful!

Happy belated birthday...

...to the Dalai Lama, who turned 71 yesterday! What a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful man.

North Korea / U.S. relations

In a way, North Korea is old news. However, I read a comment on a friend's site that inspires me to write about the issue. This particular friend thinks we shouldn't be involved in North Korea's affairs and that if they want to test the Taepodong-2 missile, then it is none of our concern.

Not all that long ago (within the last six months), I wrote a short paper on the six-nation talks with Pyongyang and the ramifications North Korea's nuclear program has on international affairs. I do not have that paper handy at this exact second, but I can make a few statements relating to these and the recent failed missile test.

Here are the facts:

• In 1985, North Korea signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty;
• In 1992, the first IAEA inspectors review North Korea's nuclear program but are limited in their inspection by the state;
• In 1993, the IAEA declared that it would no longer will provide assurances that North Korea did not have nuclear weapons;
• In 1994, North Korea signed the Agreed Framework which stipulated it would dismantle its nuclear program;
• In 1998, North Korea launched a Taepodong-1 missile over Japan;
• In 2002, a uranium-enrichment program was discovered in North Korea and Kim Jong Il kicked out IAEA monitors, in violation of that 1994 treaty;
• In 2003, Jong Il withdrew North Korea's participation in the non-proliferation treaty and made claims that the country now had weapons-grade plutonium and would actively work on a "nuclear deterrent;"
• The six-party talks began in August 2003 to resolve the nuclear issue with North Korea - countries involved are China, South Korea, Russia, the U.S., Japan and North Korea;
• The fourth round of Six-Party Talks in 2005 resulted in a Joint Statement that commits North Korea to "abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning, at an early date, to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to IAEA safeguards" in exchange for economic aid;
• In 2006, North Korea test-launches six missiles, one of which is the Taepodong-2 (fails).

Other fun facts:

• North Korea is one of the few surviving communist states, although Kim Jong Il claims they follow their own Juche politics;
• 2005 was the 11th year running that North Korea experienced a food shortage - China is experiencing a large-scale problem with illegal immigration as North Koreans are crossing the borders in search of food;
• North Korea depends upon humanitarian assistance to feed its people;
• The bulk of North Korea's finances, instead of being used to treat the issue of mass malnutrition (which would be mass starvation and famine if there were no international food aid), is spent on the military (North Korea has the fifth-largest army in the world) - military spending is estimated at 20%-25% of its GNP;
• Kim Jong Il has total control of the country (contrary to the idea of Juche politics), often being referred to as a dictator, but within North Korea holding the official titles of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the National Defense Commission, and Supreme Commander of the Korean Peoples' Army;
• North Korea has supplied Iran and Pakistan with weapons;
• North Korea is officially atheist and all other religions are zealously suppressed;
• Amnesty International and other international organizations accuse North Korea of having one of the worst human rights records of any nation.

I have not editorialized any of the content above, but I cannot see how anyone can look at the facts and still believe that the U.S. can maintain an isolationist stance in today's world. We are all connected through commerce and with that benefit, there are many responsibilities.

Kim Jong Il has labeled the U.S. as imperialists and uses propoganda to paint a picture of American aggression. He sees our country as the biggest threat to North Korea's sovereignty and, as a result, to his rule. We cannot ignore the fact that North Korea views us as public enemy number one, and it is in the name of national security that we must remain involved in the affairs of this country.

North Korea is unstable and ruled by a totalitarian platform. Access to the country is incredibly limited and there exist many questions about even the true structure of their government. The majority of information we have on the country's government, human rights abuses, etc. comes from Jong Il's propoganda and the stories of North Koreans who crossed the border into freedom.

In the 1990's, famine killed an estimated 3.5 million people and international food aid has prevented that situation from reoccuring since. However, most people still suffer from malnutrition and food is diverted to the military that is intended for civilian relief. And despite all the assistance, experts in 2005 predicted another food shortage to occur shortly.

If not for reasons of national security, then the U.S. should be involved in North Korea's affairs for humanitarian reasons.

And in fact, we are present for both. The treaties and agreements set forth in the past with North Korea have often been an offer of economic and food aid to the country in exchange for the cease of their nuclear ambitions. Light-water reactors, to be used for energy creation, have been offered.

And yet the facts still remain. North Koreans are being brutalized at the hands of their government. Kim Jong Il is setting up the U.S. as North Korea's biggest enemy. North Korea has nuclear ambitions and it is unclear whether they already have or have the capability to make nuclear weapons. And the North Korean government continues to test short- and long-range missiles with the capability to strike the U.S. (not to mention surrounding countries, such as Japan, with whom North Korea has a long history of enmity).

What about this situation would impel you to NOT care about what happens in North Korea? Ignoring the problem will not make it go away. In fact, it is exactly that isolationist stance that can come back and bite you in the bum. U.S. history gives us plenty of examples of what happens when the U.S. remains aloof. Too many lives have been squandered because we didn't want to be involved. I cannot stress enough what a mistake that would be in the case of North Korea.

More proof of my loser status

It is Monday and I realize that once again I have wasted an entire weekend. Anthony returned from his whirlwind trip to Scotland, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia and Ireland (all in four and a half days) on Friday evening, and then begun working the midnight shift on Saturday night. So really, he's a little bit tired.

I relate that information so you can all forgive me for once again sitting on my plump (and getting plumper) arse for two days. As Anthony is averse to all things fungus, it was easy to convince him to take me out to eat on Friday night instead of partaking of my vegetarian (read: mushroom) lasagna, but that was our only foray out into the concrete wilderness that exists beyond our apartment door.

We went to try Two Quail, which is supposedly "the most romantic" restaurant in DC. It may have been if either waitress ever felt the need to check on our table within the first twenty minutes of arrival. For some reason, the girls kept checking on the surrounding tables, but wouldn't even look in our direction. We were beginning to feel invisible until this one beautiful moment where Anthony and I, in unison no less, gave one girl "the look." It must have made the girl's neck hair stand on end because she was heading out of the room and all of a sudden stopped, turned, and looked directly at us. Yesssss! We were solid opaque beings once again.

The food didn't quite make up for the service so I am removing this restaurant from my DC Restaurants sidebar. Middling food for such a trek and the price makes Ryan go "eh."

The rest of the weekend was consumed by walking the dog, watching the World Cup, napping, watching Pride and Prejudice for about the millionth time, The Simpsons, scrapbooking, watching The Remains of the Day, cooking (and sweating), and one more run through of 10 Things I Hate About You. I know, tres exciting.

Living the dream

I have to submit an unbridled plug for a friend of mine. Nathalie, darling, I am so proud of you!

For those of you who don't know her, she is a good friend of mine from back in the Philadelphia Film Festival days. She is one of those women who is a triple threat: beautiful, intelligent and talented. The last time I saw her was when she was attending Columbia and I was living in NYC. It has seriously been YEARS.

And I recently sent out a blind email to all the old email addresses I have in my address book, and lo and behold, Nathalie responded. Even more amazing? She is here in DC, doing some incredibly important work. I suggest you check out this site and keep up with what is really going on in the world around you...

My life is mediocrity

You may have noticed that I posted a lot of educational/political stuff lately. The real reason behind that is the fact that I have no life. With my back out and all my friends busy with real lives - oh, and with Anthony off in Pakistan and Afghanistan with Secretary Rice - I have been stuck at home every day after work with nothing but two evening walks with Grace to look forward to.

Do you want to know how bad it is? Do you really? Yesterday, Grace, Pookie and I lounged on the bed from 4PM on, first watching World Cup soccer (I missed Ghana and Brazil, but I was there to see France kick some Spanish arse), then a little bit of Cash Cab on the Discovery Channel, quickly followed by a mean preparation of vegetarian rice something-or-other, and more lounging and watching Adrian Grenier in 1999's deliciously mediocre teenage dramedy, Drive Me Crazy, with Melissa Joan Hart.

The excitement for this evening? Garlic pasta, garlic bread, and good old Nanny McPhee. Life doesn't get any sweeter than this.

Depressing stuff

In today's Express:

Jury Finds 9 Guilty in Shooting Death of Newlywed
Copenhagen, Denmark
Nine people were convicted on Tuesday of murder or accessory to murder in the killing of a 19-year-old woman gunned down by her older brother because her Pakistani family disapproved of her choice of husband. The jury returned guilty verdicts against the nine, all family members or friends, for the murder of Ghazala Khan. Sentencing is expected as early as Wednesday.

Ugh, ugh, UGH.