the loquacious one....

2003-10-13T09:54:00.000-04:00

i'm considering a career change.

after a weekend epiphany, i now have in my head that i would like to go into the ministry (this is a surprise to me, so i'm still sorting it all out). i'm a buddhist by faith, but i'm actually thinking that i would be interested in being a unitarian universalist minister. i personally belive that all spiritual paths and doctorines are valid, as long as they are followed from the heart, and they practice the core teachings - not the self-righteous crap that has been spouted by many churches - and in the end, all teachings arrive at the same point. for example, if you look at what Jesus really said, it isn't very far removed from what the Buddha spoke of a few hundred years before him. anyway, i'm really inspired by the idea of leading people through the self-awareness and transfomation that can come with spirtuality.

am i crazy? this would require going to divinity school...and i suspect i would want to go to harvard, being the overacheiver that i am. but this is so far removed from anything i've ever done before...anyone out there know anything about going into the ministry, or just have any thoughts about this idea?

2003-10-13T09:42:00.000-04:00

this weekend we saw "the school of rock", with jack black. easily one of the most entertaining movies i've seen in a long time. go see it - you will not be dissapointed.

2003-10-08T10:35:00.000-04:00

will we ever fucking learn?

dammit...i am intolerant of intolerance and ignorance. maybe i should make up a derogatory term for ignorant racists.

oh, wait. we already have one. it's ASSHOLE.

2003-10-08T10:21:00.000-04:00

wha?

this is fucking unbelievable.

what kind of world do we live in when "strictly" enforcing the dress code at a public high school means suspending students whose shirts are untucked? what could causing them to miss classes because of an *accidental* (in the two cases sited) untucking really be teaching them about priorities in their education? and how is that even part of the dress code - what does keeping your shirt tucked in, like you live in the 1950's, really teach a kid? do these fuckers think that somehow if your shirt is tucked in, you'll stop thinking about sex? and what about students wearing shirts that are not meant to be tucked in, like the conservative collared polo i'm wearing right now? what about the concept of allowing students to have some freedom in their own self-expression? ugh, i'm going to be sick.

maybe big brother really is watching...

2003-10-07T14:48:00.000-04:00

the power of the ring -
(alternatively titled: hello, my name is rebecca, and i have a nice round ass.)

what's more, i don't tend to hide it - i really like well fitting pants (not tight, but trendy, you know what i mean - the lowriding kind, with a nice bootcut at the bottom?).

anyway, this weekend i was walking from my house to downtown, about a 1/2 mile, to meet my husband at the street festival. as i was walking this guy pulls up along side of me in his car, with his window rolled down, and says something along the lines of "hey, honey" - it was pretty clear that he wasn't asking for directions. i glanced at him and ignored him, and continued to walk up the hill. he follows me in his car, looking at me. finally after another minute or two of this, i get an idea to make him go away (believe it or not, this has happened before, talking to and being straight with guys like this really just spurs them on to continure trying to convince you to give them your phone number). I lifted up my left hand and held out my ring finger (it did kinda look like I was giving him the finger. hee) but after a second or two he said "oh. okay" and drove off.

ah, very effective.

but I have one more question - and I don't mean to make this sound like a generalization, but i guess it is - what is it about me that attracts hispanic guys? i live in a really diverse neighborhood on the edge of a major city - it's one of the things i love best about takoma park. there are a lot of immigrants - mostly from africa, india and south and central american countries. and one thing i have really noticed is that, overwhelmingly, the men who leer, shout at and generally try to pick me up are hispanic (not that i care one way or the other, but i'm curious). and while i am not alone in this - other girlfriends have noticed the same thing - these other girlfriends also tend to have a similar build to mine - curvy, big boned, with a J.Lo booty...

so i ask...is it my ass? are white guys just afraid of a little booty?

2003-10-03T10:19:00.000-04:00

man, my boss is crazy. don't get me wrong. he is a good boss, a good mentor, and we've been through a lot together. however, that doesn't make him any less crazy.

case in point: yesterday, i was ordering supplies for our little office, and he says he needs some of those cardboard storage boxes - you know the ones you use to deadfile paperwork, and whatnot? he reminds me of the kind - brown, faux wood print on them, about $2-3 a piece. i look in the staples catalog and see that they only carry one brand - the staples brand, in white, but they only cost $1 a piece. luckily, i know him, so before i order, i mention to him that this is the only brand i can find. so he says, "no, that's not acceptable, i need the brown ones. staples changed them on me again." and when i ask why the color matters, since they are the same box, really, he says "i need to be consistant." WHAT? these are storage boxes. they sit in your basement, or your storage space. no one looks at them. except you. and no one, even if they did see them, would expect your boxes to match. bizarre. fortunately, after i got finished laughing at him, he acknowledged that he was being a *little* silly and his frugality won over his need to be consistant and we bought the boxes. but he didn't go without a fight. i'm just glad that he didn't make me hunt the brown ones down through some obscure carrier on the internet, cause it wouldn't be completely unlike him to do that.

i just need to learn to embrace the control freak side of my boss....otherwise, i'll go crazy, like him.

2003-09-24T10:20:00.000-04:00

woo hoo....OutKast has a new double album out...hmm, reconsidering my boycott of the recording industry.....

2003-09-23T16:47:00.000-04:00

shit...what do you want to bet that the fundementalists are going to be all over this one?

crap. while it is a horrible tragedy for this girls family that she died, especially at such a young age, it seems pretty clear to me that she did not die because of taking RU486. from the articles i've read on the issue, complications such as hers happen in a small percentage of patients who use the abortion pill. such complications are similar to what happens in a miscarriage - if the fetus is not completely expelled from a woman's body, infections can occur. doctors then need to do a D&C to remove excess tissue from the uterus and stop the infection. i wish it was made clear what she told the ER physians when she came into the hospital. i imagine that her life could have been saved if she had just communicated what was going on with someone - and if she had done that, why didn't these er doctors take care of her? someone should be investigating that. planned parenthood, and other clinics that dispense RU486 require a patient to be fully informed about potential side effects and what a patient should do in the event of a situation like the one this girl encountered. i'm quite sure that many papers must be signed, for liability reasons.

regardless, moronic idiots around the country will unite over this, using it as yet another arguement why RU486 and abortion in general should be made illegal. yeah, making it illegal will make abortion soooo much safer, because of course, women won't try to get illegal ones, nah. i've already seen some so called 'christians' on one message board posting that this girl deserved to die for her 'sin' of 'killing' her baby. nice. real nice. they get me so riled up that i need to take a minute to realize that morons like this are not worth my time in arguing with them.

2003-09-22T09:15:00.000-04:00

fuck....i haven't had power since thursday night (9.18.03) at 8:30 pm. never in my life have i been so happy to get out of the freaking house and go to work. showering by candlelight is not all it's cracked up to be. what the fuck did people do before electricity? at least i'm getting to sample new resturants these days...and we did have a black-out BBQ on friday. that was interesting...

2003-09-18T11:22:00.000-04:00

there's a hurricane coming town today...apparently. anyway, the city, the goverment, and the metro is shut down, because everyone washington dc goes crazy when there is bad weather. i can assure you that there is no bread or milk to be found in any supermarket in the entire city. it's really bizarre - the storm is has been downgraded in our area to a tropical storm and probably won't be more than a really big rainstorm. i guess there will be some flooding. but seriously, you should see what happens in this wuss-bag town when 2 inches of snow is predicted - panic in the streets. bizarre. i guess i should really stop bitching, since frankly, i get the day off. whee! thanks, hurricane isabel! now to just sit here and make banana bread until the storm starts and the power goes out.

2003-09-18T11:16:00.000-04:00

courtesy of grandma jean... (i wish i had the guts to ask her to take me off her damn e-mail list!)

Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, I think I'll squeeze those dangly things here, and drink whatever the hell comes out!"

Who was the first person to say "See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta it's butt"

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a
horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?

If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of coconut....why can't he fix a hole in a boat?

Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?

Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!

What do you call male ballerinas?

Can blind people see their dreams? Do they dream?

If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that Acme crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?

If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Is Disney World the only people trap operated by a mouse?

Does the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet soup?

Why did you try singing the two songs above?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you,but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive
faster?

Do you ever wonder why you gave me your e-mail address in the first place?

2003-09-10T09:50:00.000-04:00

okay, i'm coming back...give me a little time today to get some thoughts together, but yes, i will start posting again. sorry for the long hiatus.

god, looks like i have to do some major clean up around here.....

many thanks to bob for convincing me of the need to blog again...

2003-05-16T09:41:00.000-04:00

ah, dear abby....

as i have mentioned before, i love dear abby, and advice columnists in general...yes, it is weird. i think it is because i get a voyeuristic thrill out of reading about other people's problems - sometimes, i don't even read the advice, just the problem. however, because dear abby usually has good things to say (she is suprisingly progressive on many issues - particularly with gays, religion and transexuals. she never hesitates to rip people a new one for bigotry. ok, maybe she's not the "ripping" type, but she certainly speaks up), i tend to read her advice and agree. anyway, today, she published a letter about an issue that is near and dear to my heart, and one that i have been thinking about lately - people who wear too much perfume. Gargh... Here's the letter:

DEAR ABBY: Yesterday, my 27-year-old daughter was coming out of a store behind a woman who was reeking of very strong perfume. It triggered an asthma attack and my daughter ended up in the emergency room.
Would you please remind your readers that they should apply their perfume with discretion, and that there are people who are allergic to it and could end up seriously ill if they are exposed to it? -- KATHY IN NEW MEXICO

DEAR KATHY: Your message has been in this column before, but it is one that's worth repeating, and I'm pleased to help. It applies to both women and men, because in many cases both sexes are equally heavy-handed when it comes to applying scents. To steal a line from an old jingle, "A little dab'll do ya." So please show some consideration for those whom you encounter in the workplace, in elevators and on airplanes as well. In an enclosed environment, the effects can be overpowering, or even life-threatening.

word, abby. i'm not chemically sensitive, but i have a very strong nose. and i don't get asthma or anything, but certian scents, especially when applied liberaly, and in confined spaces (like the metro!) can trigger an instant and horrible (like with accompaning nausea) headache. it's so unfair. i like (certian) perfumes and smelling good just like the rest of us...i just wish people would be more thoughtful about how much they use - i mean, the only person who should be able to smell it is the person who is trying to - if you get my drift....*wink, wink, nudge, nudge*

2003-05-16T09:28:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'm not going to keep apologizing for not updating the blog frequently...But I do hope that people who regularly visit here will perservere and keep coming back, regardless of my sporadic postings....Life has been more than bloggage and finding juicy tidbits to share with y'all lately...but I promise to post when I am inspired...

2003-05-12T10:10:00.000-04:00

sorry to have been away last week...i didn't have much to share, and i had a lot of work....but that stupid work-smork thing is behind me this week (heh), and i'm back. not much to report as yet, but for laughs, look what i found on the ap wires this morning. oh my. i happen to like star trek, probably more than the next guy (yes, i was at one point what you would consider a trekkie...when i was 13!). but it is, and always will be a (albeit a good one) a freaking television show. i hear william shatner's voice (from that old saturday night live skit - and i've been to a convention, they actually ask questions like that) somewhere in the back of my head saying "people, it's not real, it's a television show!"

2003-05-02T11:43:00.000-04:00

34 million friends

has anyone heard of this? i just read an article about them in salon today. It's a grassroots group, founded by two women who were pissed as hell at the bush administration for reneging on its promise to give $34 million to the united nations population fund (UNFPA) after bowing to pressure from a very small, far right-wing anti-family planning organization called the population research institute who alleged UNFPA funded coerced abortions in china. as you might remember, these allegations were not only disproved by UN and other outside organizations, but by our own government as well. this $34 million was apparently crucial to the UNFPA budget, and as a result of the shortfall, they have had to close many family planning centers throughout the world. they estimate that this money could have prevented 3 million unwanted pregnancies, over 7,000 maternal deaths and 1.2 million abortions (which is certianly an interesting statistic, given that a right wing group that opposes abortion blocked the money). according to the salon article many of the maternal deaths are a result of a condition called fistula, which is essentially a rupturing of the uterine wall, urinary canal and rectum during an obstructed labor, where the baby generally dies. this almost never happens in the west any longer. women who survive such a labor are left incontinent, torn, in a lot of pain and generally shunned and unable to function in a normal life. a $350 operation or two can usually fix it. sounds horrible? that $34 million could have performed a lot of surgeries to help these women (or provided help in the first place to prevent it from ever happening).

anyway, 34 million friends was founded by two women with the supposition that if 34 million americans would all send $1 to the UNFPA, we could make up the shortfall, as well as make a statement about how we disagree with the bush administration's decision regarding this money. they've raised a million dollars so far. i'm sending in my dollar - and maybe a couple more - to show my outrage. here's a link to the website if you want to help out.

2003-05-02T09:46:00.000-04:00

i'm so moving to canada.

2003-05-01T09:23:00.000-04:00

oh my god. read this.

i didn't think i could hate asscroft more than i did before. thomas jefferson is spinning in his grave. or as jon puts it: "with everything that has been happening with the blatant ignoring of our bill of rights in the last few years, jefferson probably thinks he's a rotisserie chicken by now"

2003-04-30T13:05:00.000-04:00

should i be happy about this?

it seems that at long last we are pulling our troops out of saudi arabia - apparently, our government wants no more hypocracy concerning our policies in the middle east (gee, it seems that most of the 9/11 hijackers were saudis, as is osama, but it took us this long - not to mention attacking two other countries in retaliation - to start changing our relationship with them)?. i suspect it has more to do with the fact that we now have a whole country in which to station our troops in the middle east, but regardless of the reason, i think it's a good step, and one in the right direction concerning our foreign policy in the middle east. any thoughts?

sorry for not blogging much...haven't had much time or much to say. hopefully i'll be around a bit more tomorrow and friday.

2003-04-25T10:50:00.000-04:00

for those who like their reality programming british, historically accurate and sans horse rectum...

check it out! pbs has a new reality show, similar in spirit to frontier house, and 1800's house - manor house. ah yes, back to the days of classism, servants who wash your chamber pots and household staff daily prayers. can't wait.

of course, while i definately prefer the pbs version of the reality show, i will admit to having seen the horse rectum episode of fear factor, among others. what? yes, i admit it...i occasionally watch reality tv...after yoga on monday nights, i return, hungry, to an empty house (jon has tennis that night) and dinner in front of the tv beckons. monday night is the unfortunate choice for the networks (particularly fox's) worst shows. but it's like a freaking train wreck. you can't look away!

2003-04-23T09:50:00.000-04:00

holy freaking shit

read this. apparently, being canadian and nursing your child on an american airline makes you a terrorist. what is wrong with this country? and what is wrong with people who can't handle seeing someone breast feed in public? it's food! and if the mother doesn't feed her child, her breasts fill with milk and get pretty damned uncomfortable. i swear. this country's fucked up morality is making me see red. don't even get me started on rick santorum. i'll bitch about him later. after i cool down.

2003-04-21T16:56:00.000-04:00

so, today i am spending a few hours away from the computer, once again *gasp* drawing and designing, with real pens and paper. this is becoming all too common...i'm getting frightened - what? you mean i'm actually doing what i thought i would be doing when i applied for grad school? impossible! ok, perhaps thats a bit of an inside joke (inside my head, that is). the point is, is that when most people hear that i am a landscape architect they say "wow, cool. you get to design gardens and stuff. that must be the coolest job in the world." to which i always reply "well, the designing gardens part is about 5% of the entire job, sometimes less, being the peon that i am. the rest is spent in front of autoCAD drawing diagrams that show contractors how to build our sidewalk, which is much less exciting."

anyway, while i am drawing i am listening to my new indigo girls CD, which i got this weekend. i've been a fan of the indigo girls for about 10 years...i just keep coming back to their music- i won't listen to them for a long while, and then i'll pick up one of their albums and it's like coming back to an old friend. their music has always spoken to me, and got me through a very tough romantic period in my life. for a long time i thought that "ghost" (on rites of passage) was my theme song. it's still quite a powerful song for me - i mean, who doesn't have a "ghost" in their life (listen to the song if you haven't heard it, and you will see what i mean)? anyway, the new album "becoming you" is quite fabulous, although it took me a couple of listens through to see it's awesomeness. it's very stripped down from their last few releases, a little more of the folky, acoustic stuff that made them big, and a lot less rock. i'm liking it - and i'm particularly surprised that my favorite songs are amy's, not emily's - it's been the opposite on nearly all of their albums. amy appears to be mellowing out. i just wish that they could play small venues like the days of old...i hate seeing them in huge ass ampitheaters.

2003-04-18T09:50:00.000-04:00

the friday five...

yes, i am jumping on the bandwagon...mostly cause i don't feel like thinking too hard this morning. here goes:

1. Who is your favorite celebrity? *scratching head* do i have a favorite celebrity? i think it changes as my mood changes. right now it's tim robbins (see post from wednesday). i also have a secret crush on tobey macguire. he's very much my "type". yes, i do have a type - tall, lanky or scrawny, a bit nerdy, dorky looking, but in a cute, jon cusack, tobey kinda way...

2. Who is your least favorite? oh dear, i can see i picked a bad week to start doing this. i don't really care all that much about celebrities. um...i can't stand emeril lagasse. i would like to see him take that "BAM" and stick it somewhere where the sun don't shine.

3. Have you ever met or seen any celebrities in real life? i swear that i once saw jimmy page walking down the pedestrian mall in boulder, co, but that was never confirmed. and once, when i was about 8 or 9, our car, with my dad driving, pulled up in line to get through the holland tunnels into NYC right next to bill cosby. his son, the one that was killed, was driving, and bill was hanging out of the passenger seat window with a big ole' stogie hanging out of his mouth. my father leaned out of the car window and said to bill "the greatest compliment that my kids ever gave me was that i was just like you on the cosby show" (which at the time was everyone's favorite show). bill seemed pretty happy to hear that. he said thanks, we moved on. it was cool.

4. Would you want to be famous? Why or why not? probably not, unless it was because i had done something really signifigant, like cure cancer or bring peace to the world or something like that. frankly, i think it would suck to always be recognized, and stand out in a crowd. i like my anonimity. i have this weird thing about standing out in a crowd...i get paranoid and imagine that people are judging me. i suspect that if i were a celebrity i wouldn't be imagining it.

5. If you had to trade places with a celebrity for a day, who would you choose and why?geez...i have no idea. i'm not sure i would want to (see answer to #4). if it's only for a day, i guess i should pick someone who leads a really interesting life, so i wouldn't wind up sitting on my ass by their pool all day. i know...i would love to be jackie chan, while he's filming a new movie. it would be so cool to learn how he does all those stunts - and how much it hurts when he screws up. (yes, i'm a girl. yes, i like jackie chan. he's a brilliant physical comedian).

2003-04-17T12:30:00.000-04:00

liberation...

last night was the passover seder. for those of you who have never been to one, it goes like this: the table reads the story of passover (the story of how moses, directed by god, freed the jews from slavery in egypt) and talks about why it is important to remember and teach the story of passover to each generation, and you go through certain rituals (eating certian things, drinking wine, saying prayers), and eat the seder meal. anyway, there is a lot of talk during the reading of the haggadah (seder book) where we discuss that passover is not just about the slaves in egypt, but about liberation from tyranny, freedom and the struggle against evil everywhere, in all times, which is true, and cool. but, my fiance's parents, as we read those parts, mentioned how this all takes on a different meaning this year, given what is happening in the world, which is true, in several senses, depending on your stand on the war. since they didn't elaborate on their comments, i wasn't sure from what perspective they were speaking - were they saying "see, we're liberating the iraqis, it's what the torah tells us to do" or were they saying, "it's interesting that bush is using these very words to back up this war, and are we really doing what the torah says to do?", if you get my point. i'm not sure what their stand is on the war...we haven't really talked about it with them since the war started.

if my in-laws were expressing this with the former meaning i gave, i really have to wonder how deluded we have become as a country. first this war was about a pre-emptive strike against iraq - they had w.m.d.'s, they were going to hurt us. then it was about tenuous ties to 9/11 and the al queda terrorists. finally, it was about liberating the iraqi people. i know this has been said time and time again by the anti-war camp, but i'm going to reiterate it - cause it is really important - if it was always about liberating a people from tyranny, why did we let saddam stay in power all those years? why did we initally support him? why do we have ties with known human rights violators like saudi arabia and china? why didn't we help in ruwanda? why have we largely turned our heads away from this kind of oppression until it was too late (in yugoslavia and even during the holocaust)? why do we still have the death penalty? i know it's a larger debate as to whether it is our job to go around deciding who is bad and who is good and when to step in, so i'm not neccessarily advocating that we should have fought these battles. but my point is, why the hypocracy? it's just so blatant and transparent, i'm shocked that more people don't see it - as soon as one reason for going to war doesn't pan out, they spin another one out to us. i'm sorry, but while i'm glad that the iraqi people might have a chance to be free from saddam's tyranny as a consequence of this war, i just don't buy that our government really cares at all about freedom, or liberation. their past actions just don't back it up.

2003-04-16T17:41:00.000-04:00

rock on, tim robbins. read this speech he recently gave. he's the man.

2003-04-16T16:51:00.000-04:00

why, oh why, would you do this?

courtesy of this crazy japanese website. take a look, there are many more, sure to make you laugh your ass off. poor cat...he looks just like our cat walt. but unlike this cat, walt would have scratched my eyes out if i attempted to put that thing on his head, as well he should have. ah walt...maybe some day i will tell you all about walt. named for walt whitman. walt is not nearly as poetic as his namesake. but he does have a very nice range of meows and purrs. and sometimes he likes to sing the body electric - usually at around 5am, usually right in the space between the headboard and the top of jon's head. he knows well enough not to do it to me.

2003-04-16T13:13:00.000-04:00

a mighty wind....snarf

yay! the guys who brought you the mockumentaries "this is spinal tap", "waiting for guffman" and "best in show" have a new movie out. "best in show" is definately on my all time favorite movie list...."that is not a bee, it is a bear in a bee suit"

anyway, "a mighty wind" looks like it is totally hysterical, which is not surprising given the cast. i love catherine o'hara and eugene levy. check out the salon review here.

2003-04-16T10:34:00.000-04:00

ok, i guess i'm back.

double ugh. read this too. science is going the way of the dodo, to slowly be replaced with dark age style religious retoric, courtesy of the bush administration...abstinence, creationism. people: evolution is a fact, not a theory. and regardless of that, creationism is religious doctorine and has no place in our public schools. and abstinence? um, we are mammals. we are biologically pushed to reproduce (or to do the action that is supposed to lead to reproduction). churches and strict societial ethics have tried for centuries to get us to give up our sexual urges. guess what? it's not ever going to happen...it's a part of life. we can embrace it and teach people to be responsible, or we can walk around with blindfolds as more people get sick and more children are born unwanted. ugh.

2003-04-16T10:20:00.000-04:00

ugh. read this. the average enlisted soldier makes only a little bit more than minimum wage. yeah, our government really cares about the troops. what was it i said about rich men waging this war on the backs of the young and poor minorities of this country?

2003-04-16T10:06:00.000-04:00

i admit defeat...

ok, vegan macaroons are a dismal failure. well, dismal is a bit too harsh. the batter tasted delicious. and the puddle of goo scraped off the silpat mat once they were cooked was chewy and yummy (i have now found the only thing that will stick to a silpat mat). but they do not look like cookies. it appears that macaroons need one of two things to get them to hold their shape in the oven - eggs, which would mean they were no longer vegan, or flour, which would mean they were no longer kosher for passover. oh well. i did manage to scrape one batch into mounds resembling cookies...they don't look so pretty, and they aren't light and airy, but they do taste good, and they are nice and chewy, so we will probably eat them anyway tonight. but i don't think i'll make them again. sigh.

and sorry if my blog entries have been less than interesting of late...i'm feeling weary of politics and all things going on outside my life...or maybe that it's just that i'm giving up - i can't do anything anyway. i hope not.

2003-04-15T09:39:00.000-04:00

vegan passover...

those of you who have read the bio off to the right there will know that i am not jewish, but my fiance's family is, so we celebrate all the major holidays with them. i personally think it is great, since i love holidays...and my fiance jokes with me that i know more about judiaism than him anyway, so i get to be jewish by association. i'm the one who actually insists that we light the candles on hannukah, and i'm the one who bakes the vegan rugelah. i buy the matzo, and i was the one who insisted on us having a mezzuzah for our door, and a ketubah (jewish marriage contract) for our wedding. maybe it's because i am a gentile, but the customs of judism seem so much cooler than the ones in my family (with the exception of parts of christmas)...they are just richer in history and lore. i grew up in Pittsburgh, in a neighborhood that has one of the largest jewish populations in the US outside of NY. we had at least 3 bagel bakeries within a few blocks of each other, a resturant called "the bagel nosh" (damn, i loved that place), and numerous jewish bakeries, shops and delis (of course, now they have been all taken over by the corporate machine of starbucks and bruggers). most of my friends were jewish. and before we moved to Pittsburgh my mother worked for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, part of Yeshiva University, in the Bronx. all of my mothers grad students were jewish, my parents went to orthodox weddings, they had orthodox jewish friends. and if that isn't enough exposure to jewish culture, i lived with one of my mother's former grad students as her nanny for a year in grad school. i was always invited for shabbat dinner on fridays - the singing and the prayers...it was awesome.

however, as much as i love passover, i hate being a vegan at passover. two reasons: 1. given that most of the food that is chamutz (forbidden) during passover is what constitutes a large portion of my diet, it is really hard to come up with something to eat for the seder (we don't keep kosher during the week, just for the seder dinner.) and 2. i love gefiltefish and kugel. it sucks not to eat it. anyway, this year jon and i consulted www.jewfaq.org to find out what was actually chamutz for passover so we could see if we could expand our cusine. it turns out that all grains are forbidden - wheat, rye, barley, oats...and if you are orthodox, corn, rice, peanuts and legumes are also forbidden, cause technically they could be made into flour and into leavened bread. but it seems that orthodox or not, most jews follow the second rule as well, at least for the seder. we decided to not tempt fate (that means no tofu, rice or beans! staples of my diet!) and are making a lovely ratatouille served over baked potatoes. yum. but, i'm feeling some serious deja vu - i'm pretty sure that's what we made last year. but at least this year we will have dessert! i am going to attempt to make vegan macaroons - the only sweet i can think of that could both be made vegan and kosher for passover at the same time. i'm making them tonight. i'll let you know how they turn out.

anyway, happy passover (early) y'all.

2003-04-14T10:05:00.000-04:00

ugh, i had the ugliest cold last week...it knocked me out for days. three days straight of sitting on my ass, watching VH1 and chugging nyquil. i guess it could be worse. so, sorry for the lack of blogging, but my head was off, stuck in a cloud somewhere...

2003-04-09T11:06:00.000-04:00

yes, barbara, why should you think about such nasty things?

from former first lady barbara bush talking about george senior and herself (from newsday, scroll down. link via tom tomorrow.):

"He sits and listens and I read books because I know perfectly well that - don't take offense - that 90 percent of what I hear on television is supposition, when we're talking about the news. And he's not, not as understanding of my pettiness about that. But why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many, what day it's going to happen, and how many this or what do you suppose? Oh, I mean, it's, not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that? And watch him suffer."

yeah, exactly, i mean it's not like they are happening to your rich, self-absorbed ass, or any of those in your family. i mean, it's not like your husband brought us into the first version of this unjust war, and your son got us into the second. i mean, really, don't trouble yourself with the dead iraqis and american, british and kurdish soldiers and other nasty things that happen in this world . i mean, it's not like we usually bother until it happens to interupt our oil supply... *cough*ruwanda*cough*. your mind is too beautiful and the casualties are so irrelevant, right.? or is it just that you don't want to see what your son is doing to the world and to democracy?

2003-04-09T10:53:00.000-04:00

tom tomorrow posted this link. great cartoon. just thought i would share it.

2003-04-09T10:36:00.000-04:00

hey, anyone on the liberal blog ring know how to fix my link? i keep getting those weird symbols on either side of the link (looks like an A with a ~ over it), even though i have removed it from my template code several times. they keep coming back! ugh. maybe it's a blogspot thing.

2003-04-09T10:23:00.000-04:00

i gots the funky shoes...

i got these really cool vegan shoes this weekend at DSW (which were paractically free because i had bought enough shoes to get my $25 reward bonus this month. DSW rocks. it's an addiction, i know.), and i just felt like sharing...they are red and look like bowling shoes, except they are mary janes. i'm wearing them today, and they are about as far from the suit and pantyhose outfit of monday as you can get. i don't know what possesed me to buy red shoes...i've never owned a pair of red shoes in my life. these are easily the coolest pair of shoes i own, which gives you an idea about just how uncool i am.

anyway, here's a pic (or close to one - they don't have the white stripes, and the sole is white, not brown):

whacha think?

2003-04-07T14:16:00.000-04:00

yay! bill moyers is interviewed in salon today.

i love him. but, geez...after reading that interview, i really am starting to get nervous about where democracy is headed. when i start to get freaked out about where the world is headed, jon(fiance) always says to me, yes, it's bad, but it has always been bad, just in different ways. so, when bill moyers, someone whose viewpoint i trust and generally agree with, says "Yeah, I think we are in a very disturbing period. I've never seen anything like it. I've lived through the Depression, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, the rise of the conservative movement, the nuclear age, all of these changes. I've never seen anything like this." i get a little freaked out.

2003-04-07T11:50:00.000-04:00

i hate cold weather. i hate the rain. i hate pantyhose.

why, you think, am i wearing such a foolish thing as pantyhose? ugh. it's cold out right now, and i have a meeting, to which, i decided to wear (and look like a grown up) my new suit, which happens to have a knee length skirt bottom. on friday i wore my only other suit (yes, fortunately i work in a field which requires me to almost never wear suits, unless of course i have multiple client meetings in a row, which also never happens) to another meeting, and i couldn't bear to wear it again. anyway, i planned to never wear the new one with pantyhose, but then it went from being 60 degrees around here to being in the 30's. cold legs = pantyhose (yes, guys, it actually does keep the legs a bit warmer). ugh. did i mention that i hate pantyhose?

do any women in my generation wear the stuff on a regular basis? i'm curious...i remember reading an interview last year with Lateisha Baldridge (sp? i'm pretty sure it was her, but i really don't feel like looking it up right now) - Jackie Kennedy's personal secretary, i think - where she condemned women who don't wear pantyhose, regardless of the weather. i'm sorry, but there is nothing worse looking than the sight of pantyhose with open toe shoes. period. according to her, we would not get anywhere in the world with bare legs. hah. what.ever. um, Lateisha? we have other, more awful ways of torturing ourselves for beauty these days...ever hear of botox?

2003-04-07T10:51:00.000-04:00

nah, our government hasn't been planning this war for years. not at all....

have you heard this? apparently rummie and dick and all of their neo-consevative buddies (most of whom are now on Bush's cabinet) have been planning to reshape the middle east since 1997, when they founded a group called the project for the new american century. they apparently sent letters to key lawmakers calling for the removal of saddam's regime and a more agressive policy in the middle east during the clinton administration. and apparently they published a report just before the 2000 elections, predicting that "the shift would come about slowly, unless there were "some catastrophic and catalyzing event, like a new Pearl Harbor." wow, handy that 9-11 happened when it did so that rummie could put his plan in motion. the morning after sept. 11, according to bob woodward's new book, Bush At War: "before it was even clear who was behind the attacks - Rumsfeld insisted at a Cabinet meeting that Saddam's Iraq should be "a principal target of the first round of terrorism,"

wow. handy that they also have the press in their pocket so that they can spin everything in way which convinces the american public that saddam is responsible for 9-11 and everything else that scares us about the middle east. it's pretty clear what rummie et al's motives are here. are we ever going to learn the lessons of history? imperialism is not a good thing, people, for anyone. england? russia? WWI?

ugh.

2003-04-04T10:18:00.000-05:00

Many thanks to Julia for this link....i knew our president is not a man of his word, and in fact has even acted counter to his word, but it is nice to see the evidence all laid out for you...

and, props to Tom Tomorrow for his excellent blogging of the past few days - he's been pointing out some great rewriting of recent history that our government has been involved in. i particularly like his references to 1984....no, we never said the war in iraq would be a cakewalk. and yes, we have always been at war with eurasia.

2003-04-02T14:05:00.000-05:00

i love the onion....check out this lovely tongue-in-cheek editorial.. exactly. that's what i'm talking about. i miss their "operation piss off the planet" logo from last week. i'm guessing they got a lot of flack for last week's super critical issue, since this week they've toned down the anti-bush stuff. bummer.

2003-04-02T12:14:00.000-05:00

i can't take the smallpox vaccine...

i have a history of excema (i had it BAD when i was a kid, and occasionally get small outbreaks on my hands in severly dry weather), and according to the CDC, this is a contraindication against taking the vaccine. it's not that i'm not terribly worried about it...i think there is a slim chance of terrorists getting a hold enough of the virus to release it on the general population. and i tend to subscribe to the idea that this is all about the government keeping us in a state of panic. besides, if it does happen, given our efficency in such matters, i doubt we will have gotten everyone vaccinated by then anyway. but it sucks to know that i'm screwed if such a thing does happen. oh well. c'est la vie.

yes, for some reason i am doing research on contagious diseases today....

2003-04-02T11:41:00.000-05:00

scary...

so far, the mortality rate for SARS is about 3.5% - compare that with other viruses, like AIDS, which killed 57% of all people infected in the US from the years 1981-2001, or ebola, which kills 50-90% of infected people (according to the WHO) it doesn't sound too high. i'm not saying that it's good that anyone would die from this, but 3.5% doesn't sound that high compared with other infectious diseases. however, this virus spreads like the common cold, which means it's easy for it to move all over the world, quickly, as we have seen. and i just found a statistic that said the the 1918 flu epidemic, which killed 50 million people, had a mortality rate of only 2.5%. there are 6 billion people on this planet...you do the math. YIKES.

2003-04-02T10:45:00.000-05:00

just been thinking....

i got this comment to a post a few weeks back, and since then, i've been giving it a lot of thought:

"I do have a problem with the troops. My conflict is with them, at least partly. Following orders is no excuse. Following orders is what produced the holocaust. When you enlist in the armed forces, you're enlisting with the knowledge that you may be called on to kill in causes that you don't believe in, to kill for the state. You sign up to be a professional killer, or at least to facilitate professional killing. For these reasons, I don't back the troops. I don't want to see them die needlessly, but they are every bit as responsible for this war as Bush is. If they refused to fight, would we have a war at all?"

there is a part of me that agrees with that sentiment; following orders is no excuse for killing, especially when it is blatantly unjustified, which is why i have been flipping it around in my head for the last few weeks. but i cannot bring myself to embrace the idea; i do support the troops - i want them to come home, stop dying and stop killing. i want mothers and fathers and wives and husbands to be reunited with their loved ones. i think about who those soldiers are, and i see 18, 19, 20 year old kids...i see minorities and small town americans who joined the military in hope of getting out, or just hoping to get an education. i see people who felt they had no other choice. i see a military so filled with minorities that i have to wonder about the segregation and injustice inherent in our system such that sometimes the only choice a minority in this county has is either to sell drugs or to join the military because we would rather spend money on guns and warplanes than education and scholarships. i see people who have been brainwashed into believing that they are doing the right thing, and that this war really is about liberating the iraqis and protecting our "freedom" (even as it is being erroded at home), like in this excellent article in salon yesterday. sure, the soldiers could choose not to fight the war - go AWOL, as some have - but i think of who those soldiers are and of myself at the age of 18, 19, 20 and i wonder if i would have been able to take such a stand at that age. i think of my 18 year old self being not fully formed as an adult and of my beliefs still being those of my parents, and i remember wanting to fit in, and to be accepted by someone, anyone.

sitting here in my comfortable chair, with my comfortable job, my comfortable education, my comfortable house and my comfortable middle class lifestyle i don't think i have the right to ask them to take such a stand, and pin such responsiblity on them. that is why my issue is with bush, and his rich war-mongering cronies who care so little for the poor, young minorities upon whose back this war is being waged.

2003-04-01T17:41:00.000-05:00

i got and e-mail from a reader this weekend...he sent me a link to his website where he has created a flash movie on the history behind our involvement in Iraq: www.reyvan.com/iraq/. scary. check it out...thanks, Ryan.

i should be writing more this week....work is slowing down again, and I'm back at the computer after spending the last few days away from the screen actually drawing...yep, that's right, drawing, with actual pens, pencils and hands. freakish. i also got to color my drawing. that's the best part of my job - coloring. it's like kindergarden, except without the nap (and you have to stay in the lines).

2003-04-01T17:35:00.000-05:00

An off-line *gasp* friend sent me this:

A good reason to visit Santa Cruz, CA: "The Saturn Cafe in Santa Cruz
is temporarily changing the name of their French Fries to 'Fuck George Bush
Fries' and 5% of the profits go to the impeachment fund."

sweet.

2003-03-28T13:11:00.000-05:00

wow...now this is some serious science .

are they kidding? scientific proof that saying the name of god when you kill an animal reduces the the amount of bacteria present in the carcass? WHAT?????? i can't say anything else...what do you say to that?

2003-03-26T08:26:00.000-05:00

unfortunately, i actually have work *gasp* to do this week, so the blog may not get too much attention for the remainder of the week (a collective sigh goes out amongst all who visit this site - "what, you mean she's actually shutting up for once?")...so, for now, go entertain yourself with the onion. it's brilliant this week. i like the point-counterpoint bit the best. heh.

2003-03-25T11:49:00.000-05:00

isn't it a bit hypocritical of us to be complaining that the iraqis aren't following the rules of warfare or honoring the geneva convention, after we made the UN and other international laws of warfare irrelevent by starting this in the first place? and besides, we knew saddam was a tyrant...why is this a surprise?

2003-03-25T11:31:00.000-05:00

oh, i feel bad. i was just short with this guy in my office who offered me a piece of bagel with cream cheese on it....when i politely refused, he insisted, and i got a little snapish, saying "no, don't you remember i don't eat cream cheese?" i feel kinda shitty, and he seemed a bit hurt. it's just that we've had multiple conversations (started by him or my boss) about what a vegan is and what i do and do not eat and every time he seemed mystified about it and acted like i was a serious weirdo, and just seems to think it's either not true or irrelevant. i think it must be a cultural thing (he's from thailand), but i wish he would just understand.

now i should go apologize.

2003-03-25T11:24:00.000-05:00

oh, and on another note...

wonder why our soldiers are finding that the iraqis are not welcoming them with american flags and cheers for liberating them as the president seemed to insinuate they would? could it be the bombs we are dropping on their neighborhoods and the number of iraqi dead? although, paul wolfowitz seems to have another, more bullshit answer, "I think that when the people of Basra no longer feel the threat of that regime, you are going to see an explosion of joy and relief, but right now they're still under threat. Saddam is still maybe alive and his goons and his assassination squads are still there." or, maybe it's because in war time, people tend to rally around their leader, out of patriotic duty, even if he is a lying despot. heh.

2003-03-25T10:43:00.000-05:00

i gotta stop reading dystopian novels...i'm getting kinda paranoid.

i picked up this link on tom tomorrow's blog. apparently, in oregon "the harshest critics of the war protests in downtown Portland angrily called the demonstrators "terrorists" and wished aloud that the police and courts would treat them as such." and the legislators have heard them: "This morning, that idea gets put to the test at the Oregon Legislature, where a ranking senator has introduced a bill to "create the crime of terrorism" and apply it to people who intentionally cause injury while disrupting commerce or traffic."

yikes. fortunately the article goes on to mention that other state senate leaders, the ACLU and other organizations are already criticizing it, but it scares me. i feel like we are on the brink of something disasterous...Salon published an excellent article this morning on the erosion of debate, free speech and civil liberties since 9-11 and the onset of the iraqi war. more specifically they talked about attorney general ashcroft, the USAPATRIOT act (oh, and don't you love how the act allows the FBI to review records of books you purchased or checked out but that the FBI cannot review the records of gun-purchase background checks? sure, that makes sense - throw away the first amendment, but you sure as hell ain't touching that second ammendment.) and his new "domestic security enhancement act 2003", in which the government would have broad new rights to label and punish "terrorist groups". but beyond that, it frightens me that it isn't just the government that is interested in quelching public debate, or destroying free speech - it's ordinary US citizens who are participating in this - like in oregon, or with the dixie chicks, or any of the other examples cited in the salon article. the b spot last week picked up on a small informal poll on the website for the NBC 5 station in chicago which asked people if they supported the right to protest. 40% of those who answered said no, they didn't. now, this wasn't a scientific poll, but that is still a scary number regardless. it's fear mongering at it's worst...the bush war machine has been very successful in convincing people that their safety will be assured by giving up their rights - to free speech, to free movement, to free media, to free religion. fear is a very convienent method of control, and of getting what you want. sure, it's easy to give up your privacy when you haven't done anything wrong according to the current laws...but what happens when ashcroft or bush suddenly makes what you do wrong? sure, it's easy to give up the muslims, the protesters, the environmentalists, etc. to the scrutiny of the government...but what happens when the tide changes and it becomes your religion they scrutinize, your words, your affiliations? preserving our first amendment rights depend on the fact that we don't censure the speech of people who scare us, or who spew hateful things, or, especially, who disagree with the government (and frankly, in this situation, i feel it is my moral duty to disagree with the government. it would betray my moral code to do otherwise). we can't censure one without opening it up to censuring them all.

and once we start heading down that path, are we really that far away from a government like the one portrayed in 1984?

2003-03-24T12:46:00.000-05:00

a non-war related entry - for laughs...

an ad on a bus shelter for zipcar:

350 hours/year having sex
420 hours/year looking for parking

What's wrong with this picture?

350 hours a year?!!? who the hell spends 350 hours/year having sex? that's just under 1 hour a day. wow. that's a lot of sex.

it's also a lot of parking. where are these people whose day is made up with sex and looking for parking? prostitutes who drive from suburban NJ into NYC everyday for work, but are too cheap to pay for a garage?

2003-03-24T10:04:00.000-05:00

one protesters story...

so jon and i discovered (at about 11:45am on Saturday morning) that there was an emergency protest scheduled for noon down at the white house. we decided to ditch our plans for the day and headed down there (we decided that it was Bush's fault that the dog didn't get a bath - heh). it turned out to be one of the best days i have had in a long time...

there was a large crowd (a couple of thousand, maybe more - i can never tell) gathered on the end of pennsylvania avenue (the rest of the street, including lafayette park, was barricaded - cops everywhere). shortly after we got there the organizers started us marching up the street, at first on the sidewalks, and then into the streets, closing them down. this was an un-permitted march, so the cops were less than happy with us - there were motorcycle cops driving through the crowd, firing sound grenades. they tried to get us to go down one route or another by barricading certain side streets. at one point the whole group tried to evade them by turning and running across 14th street, at thomas circle, to try to go down a road they weren't expecting us to take...they blocked us. eventually, the cops split our group and corralled about a thousand of us on one block of rhode island avenue between 14th and 15th streets - we were essentially stuck there until they decided what to do with us. i was pretty certain that we would be arrested. but, after about 30 minutes of holding us there, the cops announced that they were going to let us march (much to my surprise, given that the DC cops are not known for their kindness when dealing with protesters). they gave us a police escort, shut down the streets, and lead us through the city - up 14th street to U street - though the U street/cardoza neighborhood - up 18th street in to adams-morgan and across columbia to 16th street, and back down to the white house. a very long march, actually.

i have been to quite a few anti-war/peace marches in the city since 9-11-01, and to be truthful, i have always been disappointed by the organizers - they seemed more interested in talking about every liberal cause on the planet - mumia, palestine, globalization etc -than the cause at hand. don't get me wrong, some of those causes are important- so important that they deserve their own march. but they dilute the message and they only re-enforce the stereotype about cause-of-the month liberals. this march wasn't like that - it was about the war and the war alone. there were people of every race and every age there on saturday. one business man walked in a suit and a tie, with his briefcase over his shoulder, right next to a dreadlocked guy with a drum, who was right next to a grandmother. we shouted, and chanted in english, and in spanish, as we marched through a hispanic part of town. we were unified, angry at our government about one thing - this war. it felt good, and i felt like i was actually doing something - i felt like i was heard.

there's a part of me that kinda wishes that we had been arrested...it was thrilling to be marching through the street, unpermitted by the cops - all of these people willing to be arrested for this war. but i have to say that i am fully impressed by the DC cops. their solution to let us march peacefully and permitted with a police escort was, well, intelligent. i know that it's in our constitution to allow us to march. it's not like somehow they did something above and beyond the law. but given their past history in dealing with protesters, it was a refreshing change, a hopeful sign. or maybe it was just a PR coup for them. i'm sure it made them look good - a lot better if they had gotten out the tear gas and the billy clubs. regardless, it was a peaceful march, thanks to both the cops and the protesters. i'm really glad i was there.

i just hope someone heard us (and if not us, then maybe the 200,000 people in NY city, huh?).

2003-03-21T17:29:00.000-05:00

many thanks to Julia for this link.

This is what history feels like:

"In a time of war, we must send a message to our servicemen and women:
We want you safely home. Our conflict is with our government's policy, not with you. We ask you to remember that thousands of Gulf War and Vietnam vets were exposed to uranium tailings and Agent Orange by governments that lied to them. We don't know about others, but we will be fighting for your educational benefits, healthcare and veterans' rights upon your return home.

In a time of war, we must send a message to our media:
You need to take seriously the maxim that in war, truth is the first casualty and patriotism turns easily to prejudice. Your loyalty should be to the truth, not to the Murdochs or Molochs or moguls that monopolize and sensationalize what we see and hear. You may be embedded with our troops, but you must not be in bed with the White House and Pentagon.

In a time of war, we must send a message to our political class:
Where have you been hiding? Why has there been no debate on the floors of Congress while the dogs of war are barking? Has politics become all checks and no balances?"

2003-03-21T17:22:00.000-05:00

just something to think about

how can anyone be "pro-war"? i mean, you can support the war, or feel it is justified or neccessary...but pro-war? are there really people out there who think war is ever a good thing (*cough* BUSH *cough*)?? wouldn't that kinda be like a pro-choice person calling themselves "anti-life"?

2003-03-21T16:51:00.000-05:00

ah...the sound of police sirens and protesters outside my office window. what was that about 70%? are they just making up these numbers?

2003-03-21T10:42:00.000-05:00

Did anyone happen to notice that the House passed Bush's new budget and tax cut?

No? Not surprising if you didn't....Conviently, the vote was set for today, 2 days after we went to war, when the americans would be too distracted by the war to think about tax cuts for the rich. Guess who picked that schedule? Hmmm...I wonder.

2003-03-21T10:12:00.000-05:00

I'm scared.

Thanks to Julia for todays blogging topic.

I spend a lot of time on this blog just putting out information - links to stuff I read, thinking that as people find my blog and read it (I'm still young in the blog world, I know my audience is small) they can take that information and pass it around, information can travel. Maybe my information is redundant, maybe it isn't. But, regardless, this is my protest, or part of it, against this war or whatever other injustices I happen upon. But I'm looking at my entries and thinking, hey, you know, I never just share my feelings here - it's always just about my beliefs, which are so much easier to write about. It's easy to post criticisms, facts, opinions.

So anyway, the truth is that I'm am scared. I'm scared for what this means for our country, and what it means for peace in the world. I'm scared for my future, for my family's future. I'm scared that even my little voice of protest, in this blog and on the streets- in marches, rallies, will not make a damn bit of difference, because, I'm scared that they aren't listening to me. And I'm such a chickenshit that I'm scared that my voice of protest will be heard - heard by someone who will respond like this (scoll down to the section called, "First Person" - use the day pass if you need to - you must read this) to me. And even worse, I'm scared that tomorrow, or the next day, we won't be able to speak out in protest. And the thought that I should be taking advantage of our first amendment rights while I still can makes me disgusted with my own fear of being challenged by assholes who will call me names.

But most of all, I'm deeply saddened by the lack of respect we seem to have for humanity. I don't understand why it always turns to war. I don't understand how someone could kill another, even in the name of liberation. I don't understand hate and intolerance, or people who accuse other people of being anti-american for speaking out. And I don't understand why people are following our goverment, blindly, like sheep. Or maybe I do understand, and the understanding that this is how humans are just makes me sad. Sad to the depths of my soul. And I am only just now coming to feel it.

It sucks.

2003-03-20T11:33:00.000-05:00

Posted by Salon.com today.

From Saudi Arabia, Nicolas Buchele in the Arab News:

"The new totalitarian regime prevailing in America and taking hold in its satellites around the world has learned important lessons from the failed experiments of the past. The first of these lessons is that the greatest liability to the survival of a regime is a strong and erratic leader ...
Thus without Hitler's deranged ambitions, the Third Reich might really have lasted a thousand years. Similarly, if Stalin had kept his genocidal ambitions in check, the Soviet Union might have continued to enjoy its initial popularity among sections of the West and at home.
With these examples in mind, the leader has been eliminated as a factor in U.S. politics. George W. Bush's very nullity as a politician throws into relief the fact that the United States has long been governed, not by its people, but by interests that are happy to remain largely anonymous, do not rely on individuals for their hold on power, and are recognizable in public mainly by a soothing corporate blue.
Americans often seem baffled that others fail to admire their system of government. They know after all that in the United States there exists a lively culture of debate, where the whole lunatic spectrum of opinion can find a platform of one kind or another (though at the same time the difference between the political parties it is actually possible to elect is vanishingly small)....
They have a vibrant and largely unchecked artistic community. They have the First Amendment ...
The reason for all this is that the new totalitarianism has learned a second lesson from its heavy-handed predecessors. If artists and intellectuals were able to do precisely nothing about Hitler or Stalin or any of the legion of tin-pot dictators around the world, it follows that you might as well have freedom of expression."
In the new totalitarian system, people can say whatever they like, and it makes absolutely no difference.
The impending war on Iraq is only one example among many of a supposedly sovereign public completely powerless in the face of a government bent on a course of action ...
The most important lesson to the new totalitarianism, then, comes from ancient Rome, and is simply that people sufficiently supplied with bread and games will put up with anything"

Interesting how other countries, even ones with repressive governments like Saudi Arabia, can see it more clearly than most of our population can.

2003-03-20T10:49:00.000-05:00

Uh-huh.

From the South Jersey News:

"If the nation escalates to "red alert," which is the highest in the color-coded readiness against terror, you will be assumed by authorities to be the enemy if you so much as venture outside your home, the state's anti-terror czar says.
"A red alert would also tear away virtually all personal freedoms to move about and associate."
"You literally are staying home, is what happens, unless you are required to be out. No different than if you had a state of emergency with a snowstorm."

Riiiight...Just like a snowstorm. A snowstorm in which we are under martial law and all civil liberties are curtailed. And who gets to decide when we are at Red Alert? Forgive me if I don't trust the government....Julia just had me reading this.

Um, anyone read 1984? The Handmaid's Tale? Don't they all start this way?

2003-03-20T09:34:00.000-05:00

Thank you, Senator Byrd:

"Today I weep for my country. No more is the image of America one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. . . . Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned.

"We flaunt our superpower status with arrogance. After war has ended, the United States will have to rebuild much more than the country of Iraq. We will have to rebuild America's image around the globe."

I agree.

2003-03-20T09:08:00.000-05:00

A prayer for our soliders, the people of Iraq and all beings across the world.

From the Metta Sutta (the Buddha's Meditation on Loving Kindness):

May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born,
May all beings be at ease!
Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings.

2003-03-19T10:30:00.000-05:00

From the president's speech Monday:

"In free Iraq there will be no more wars of aggression against your neighbors, no more poison factories, no more executions of dissidents, no more torture chambers and rape rooms."

I was reading Scott Rosenberg's blog on Salon.com today and he pointed his readers towards two recent articles in the N.Y. Times. The first is an article about an apparent culture of rape and intimidation of male cadets on female cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The second is an editorial about the subject written by a rape victim and former U.S. Air Force officer. It seems that our very own military, for years, has not only been failing to punish rapes, but has in fact been twisting the facts so that the blame and punishment is often placed on the victims.

I just find it curious that President Bush is suddenly so concerned for the rape rooms in Iraq while we fail to address this very issue on our own soil. How hypocritical is it of Bush to say that this military action is about protecting the people of Iraq from human rights violations like rape, while such horrors are allowed to go unpunished in our own military?

2003-03-19T08:58:00.000-05:00

It looks like google caught up on that prank that I posted about yesterday....it doesn't work anymore. Anyway, if you were curious about it, what happened was that you were sent to a parody google page that said "Did you mean french military defeats?" It looked so authentic that I thought for a few minutes it was a google programmer having some fun. If you read closely enough you would see a parody copyright at the bottom. If you clicked on any of the links it took you to a web page that was making fun of the French's lack of military skill.

While I think the google parody page was pretty clever, I think this whole anti-french nonsense is total crap. Grow up people! Yes, we saved their asses in WWII (mostly because they lost a signifigant number of their soldiers in WWI only 20 years before) but, let's not forget that they helped us out in a little thing called the American Revolution.

2003-03-18T15:36:00.000-05:00

Julia told me about this little funny...

I'm getting a little sick (as is Julia) of the anti-french stuff being tossed about, but this is too clever not to share.

Go to google, and type in french military victories and hit the button labled I'm feeling lucky

I have to say that it had me, for a few seconds. Very funny.

2003-03-18T11:37:00.000-05:00

Woah...this is fucking scary.

Yup, it's a free country that we live in for sure. But if we disagree with the government, we're anti-american...that's right, I'm sure that's what Jefferson et al were thinking when they wrote that bill of rights. Um, NOT.

On a good note, however, my wonderful, ex-hippie, slightly yuppified, father told me yesterday that he and my mom were going to "take to the street" against this war - this is as serious as Vietnam was to them in the 60's...even if it meant driving all the way to D.C. to march with Jon & I. Yay! And I thought he was cool when he voted for Nader.

2003-03-18T11:23:00.000-05:00

Oh, I do love Tom Tomorrow...

Check out the March 17th entry on his blog - scroll down a bit to the third part of "Things to Watch Out For", the Bush drinking game. Heh. I think I might have died of alcohol poisoning if I had played that last night during his speech.

2003-03-18T10:37:00.000-05:00

The president's speech...

Who are we to be dictating morality to the rest of the world? Are we that arrogant that our president can tell the people of Iraq:

"As our coalition takes away their power, we will deliver the food and medicine you need. We will tear down the apparatus of terror and we will help you to build a new Iraq that is prosperous and free. In free Iraq there will be no more wars of aggression against your neighbors, no more poison factories, no more executions of dissidents, no more torture chambers and rape rooms. The tyrant will soon be gone. The day of your liberation is near."

Is it just me, or does that sound incredibly arrogant? Sure it's cloaked in nice words, but what he is really saying is, look, people of Iraq, we are coming to your rescue, after we bomb your cities....I'm just so disgusted by our arrogance. I agree that Saddam is evil, and has done horrible things to the people of Iraq...I know that he has squashed dissent. It isn't so much Bush's sentiment as it is the phoniness and arrogance of it all. Who are we to decide this course of action against the better judgement of the rest of the world? This is a world, mind you, that has seen what imperialism and hegemony can lead to. Are we such a free nation, wholely absolved from all evils, that we can decide the moral code for the rest of the world? Did we not have McCarthyism, and internment of the Japanese? Did we not pass the USApatriot act and fail to proscute the already rich men in charge of the corporations who robbed their employees of their retirement? Are we not the people who talk about being free but then get outraged at the lack of "patriotism" of an artist who excercised her constitutional right to free speech? And, are our laws so free that homosexuals, people with brown skin and non-christians can feel free to live completely unpersecuted? Who do we think we are?

One last comment on his speech, and I'm done with it....

"Do not destroy oil wells, a source of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people. "

Anybody else find that a very convienent request by the president to the Iraqi people? And interesting he choose to make this request before he asked them not to use weapons of mass destruction. It's so blatant it's kinda funny. And this isn't about oil at all...nah....

2003-03-12T09:43:00.000-05:00

Any Nader voters out there?

Yes, I voted for Nader, and I am not ashamed of it, and do I feel that I still have the right to criticize Bush. I can't believe that the Nader debate still rages, but I will tell you that if Nader runs in 2004, I will vote for him again. I vote my conscience - I do not vote to keep the worst candidate from winning, which seems to be the Democrats platform these days. Frankly, I'm dreadfully embarrassed by the Democrats - these are the people who could not stand up to Bush and his cronies during the whole tax cut crap; these are the people who gave Bush the power to take action against Iraq but are now slowly mumbling their dissaproval; these are the people who didn't do anything to push for accountablity in the accounting scandals; and these are the same people who helped vote the USAPatriot act into law. I don't vote for people who like to talk about protecting our civil liberties, educating our kids, feeding our poor, insuring our elderly and making corporations accountable but don't do a damn thing to actually get it to happen.

Anyway, for anyone who wants to blame me for electing Bush, I say one thing - Bullshit. Nader didn't cause the democrats to lose, the democrats cost themselves the election for the reasons I mention above (and psst - Gore didn't actually lose, by the way). But if you still want to talk numbers with me - check this out:

"Besides, Democrats who blame the Greens for losing in 2000 are like drunk drivers blaming the curve for their accident. The fact is that 11% of Democrats voted for Bush while only 2% voted for Nader. 4.5 million Democrats defected to Bush while only 800,000 went for Nader.
"5.7 million union members voted for Bush as opposed to only 500,000 voting for Nader. 2.7 million self-described liberals voted for Bush as opposed to half that number for Nader. When will the Democrats face such facts?"

Hmmm...more democrats voted for Bush than Nader...But Nader cost the dems the election? Curious. I guess it's just easier for them to sit around blaming someone for their loss than actually voting/acting like democrats in the congress and getting voters back the hard way.

2003-03-12T09:20:00.000-05:00

Um, Hello...we are on the verge of war....

Don't you people in power have better things to do than this?

And seriously, sanctions against france? People, grow up!

I heard a good joke by Bill Maher, made on his late night HBO show a few days back (paraphrase, can't find the exact joke):

The difference between the democrats and the French is that the French actually have the spine to stand up to Bush.

2003-03-06T09:48:00.000-05:00

This is scary...

Apparently, a man was arrested at a local mall in upstate NY for wearing a tee-shirt that said "Give Peace a Chance". I first heard this in snippets, so I found a link to the original article, thinking, the man was doing more than just wearing the shirt, like harassing people or being violent with a security guard. No, in fact, the only thing this guy did is refuse to either leave the mall or take off the tee-shirt when a security guard asked. He was indeed arrested. The mall defends itself by saying that it is not a public place (it is owned by the developer) and compares it to a situation similar to you being a visitor in someones house who found what you were wearing offensive. Um...okay. NOT. It's so flawed I don't think I need to comment further. Is this not a free country any more? How is peace EVER an offensive thing?

One good sign, though, at least a hundred people protested the arrest...the mall did not arrest them, but they were asked to leave.

2003-02-27T17:14:00.000-05:00

Goodbye Mr. Rodgers...We'll miss you.

He really was my neighbor, given that I grew up in Pittsburgh (from the age of 12 on), and the studio where he taped his show was just down the street from me (WQED). I remember seeing him once in the grocery store; we were riding the elevator down to the parking garage - my mother, him and I. He smiled at me; he seemed so nice. Unfortunately, being a punk teenager, I didn't recognize him - I thought he was just a random nice old man (in my defense, he was much older than he was when I watched the show) - my mom did, however, and when we got out of the elevator, she said "That was Fred Rodgers - why didn't you say Hi to him?" I'm sorry I didn't say hi to you, Mr. Rodgers, and tell you how great you are. It took until I was a grown up to appreciate the simple beauty of his show.

My father saw him all the time, though, and I know on more than one occasion he spoke to him and told him about how my father, my brother and I used to eat our afternoon snack together when we were little, and watch his show, and how much joy that brought my dad.

I hope Mr. Rodgers knew how much he meant to all of us. Thanks Mr. Rodgers....

2003-02-26T13:35:00.000-05:00

Okay, sorry I haven't posted in a few days (sorry to the 3 people who check this blog - hey if there are more of you out there, will you comment and let me know you are reading me? Thanks!).

Anyway, right now I am feeling super angry and stressed out about the Iraq situation, more specifically, the scary words of people who support this war in this country. As some of you know, I am getting married this summer and so I spend some time on a message board for brides-to-be. Today, there were several posts about the war that got quite heated. I am all for healthy debate, and as an american, I think it is very american to let the government and anyone else who wants to listen how you feel about any political issue in this country, no matter what your views, even if they are hateful and ignorant or they go against popular opinion. Today on this website (just to show what a cross section of Americans are saying), however, there were many people who were calling the anti-war protesters annoying, and even worse, anti-american, unpatriotic and not supportive of our troops. In fact, one person went so far as to tell us that "if you don't like this country, leave it". That's pretty scary and makes me fucking angry as hell. Who the hell are they? What if that person is one of the many people who don't support abortion in this country...should I tell them, "well, since it's legal here, if you don't like it, leave the country"? Bullshit...Hell no...I would tell them, I disagree, but please, go protest as much as you like...just don't hurt, libel or get in the way of people who are performing a legal procedure.

There were many others on this message board who also made ignorant comments like "I like Dubya and I say what he's doing is great! Bomb the bastards! We'll be fine. For christs sakes, the people live in tents and ride camels. They can't be superior to us." Christ. "we'll be fine"? What? Yeah, except when all of the terrorists in arab world come here to launch another sept 11 on us. Do they really think bombing Iraq will stop terrorism? Whatever....that just goes to show you how completely clueless and arrogant we have gotten about our privileged lives in this country. And there were plenty of people telling all of the anti-war folks about the Sept 11 connection to Iraq. Again, whatever...that just shows you that the Bush war machine is doing it's job convincing the masses. But it is damn scary...

Anyway, I hope that some of you are participating in the virtual march today. And here is a sane and interesting article that Julia sent me about this whole situation.

Now I'm going to go send a care package to my friends fiance who is over in afganistan with the U.S. Marines. Cause, even though I don't support this war, I want him to know that I support the individuals who have to be over there, away from their families, required to do what our government tells them to do.

Oh, and I'm gonna go read the Bill of Rights....

2003-02-21T13:37:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I found out more about this Women Deserve Better stuff.

Apparently, they are funded by a group called Feminists for Life. Their main stance is that abortion harms women, emotionally and physically, which is why it should be banned. I think that's crap, personally, since there are many other legal choices people can make about their lives that are emotionally and physically harmful. It's true that abortion can leave emotional scars, and possibly (if rarely) physical ones when it is done in a clinic by a trained physician, but so can childbirth, adoption and pregnancy in general. Abortion is one choice among many other equally difficult ones when faced with an unwanted pregnancy. And the physically harmful argument is just bunk. Here's what some of these fundie sites are saying:

Here's a link to the original article.

The primary reasons women with untimely pregnancies turn to abortion are a lack of financial resources and emotional support. Abortion has been promoted as the answer, but it has instead been an obstacle to developing real solutions that truly address women's needs and concerns.

Since when has abortion been promoted as "the answer"? And what needs and concerns are you talking about? If they have real solutions, why aren't we hearing them? Are there any? As long as people are having sex, as long as there is rape and incest, there will be unwanted pregnancies. And, maybe cause the solution to preventing unwanted pregnancies is educating our kids about sex and birth control - something the fundamentalists don't want to do?

And here's more.

In April 1998, Lou Anne Herron hemorrhaged to death three hours after the abortion of her 26-week-old unborn child. She was still at the A-Z Women's Center when she died. Clinic staffers waited until they could barely perceive a heart beat to call 911.

In another example, former abortion provider Carol Everett recalls the time a 21-year-old patient "danced in" to get her "problem taken care of." Everett was assisting in the abortion when the doctor punctured the patient's uterus and pulled her bowel through.

Sure, that sounds awful....but these examples are only a small percentage of total procedures performed. Are we supposed to stop performing all elective surgeries because some patients have died or because some doctors are incompetent or poorly trained? Some of these articles also mentioned a doctor that was charged with sexually assaulting his patients. Again, terrible, but as my buddy Julia mentioned, are we supposed to make "catholicism illegal because people have been sexually abused by a few errant people?"

Anyway, the physical harm that has been caused to a few women by legal abortions in the thirty years since it was legalized far outways the harm that came to women before Roe v. Wade, when they had back alley abortions performed with a coat hanger. I won't even mention the number of women who will die again by means of a coat hanger when it becomes illegal again.

2003-02-21T13:06:00.000-05:00

Woah, scary...

Wait...Since when has free speech against government action equalled giving aide and comfort to our enemies (article III of the constitution)? According to this guy free speech = treason.

Um....no.

2003-02-21T11:03:00.000-05:00

"Abortion is a reflection that we have not met the needs of women" Um...ok.

What does that mean? I kept seeing these ads for that website on the metro, and finally my curiousity got the better of me, and I checked out the website for this group Women Deserve Better and I'm confused. What is "better", according to these people, whoever they are? I checked the site, and while I like to agree that women's needs have not been met, and I would also like to see fewer unwanted pregnacies, I don't see anything on this site that suggests which needs they are specifically talking about. The fact that we don't really have easy/cheap access to birth control (don't get me started on the fact that my BCP's are no longer covered under my health plan!)? That absinence is the only thing that teenagers are being taught about sex in school? Somehow I doubt this group is advocating any of those things...but I don't know. THEY DON'T SAY ANYTHING! Ugh. Probably just another fundamentalist group trying a new route through this issue. I'm gonna check into it and see if I can dig anything up...I'll post if I find anything.

Abortion is not a good thing, nor is it an easy choice to make, or the right one for all people. However, I am rabidly pro-choice - damn-it - no one knows or has the right to dictate to a person what the right choice is for their lives. Women deserve to have domain over their own bodies, and to decide what is right and best for them. Ok, rant over. Have a nice day...

2003-02-19T10:37:00.000-05:00

Yikes! We got buried under almost 2 feet of snow here in DC. We're just digging out now, and I finally made it into work today around 9:45....So, I've been busy shoveling and entertaining my friends who got stranded in our house this weekend (they were taking care of our dog while we went away this weekend! Such good friends!).

Anyway, we were supposed to be back Sunday from our Valentine's Day trip to The White Pig, a very awesome vegan B&B, south of Charlottesville, VA, but got stranded for an extra day (oh, how horrible). Anyway, we return to all of this snow and unplowed streets and our friends. We had to push our car half a block, but we finally got it parked Then we hiked to the grocery store, cause we had NO food. What fun (NOT). And our street is still not plowed.

Oh well, at least we got Tuesday off from work. And maybe I should be slightly grateful that we made it home safely....

2003-02-14T10:25:00.000-05:00

Veganism...

So Sarah posted about exploring veganism, and sent me an e-mail asking for some references and thoughts on being a vegan, so since I've been thinking about it, I thought I'd post it here. I also said much of this as a comment on Sarah's blog.

Us vegans are peculiar folks. It's funny, but before I became a vegan, I thought that all vegans were a bunch of raving animal rights extremists that wanted everyone to change their diet and do as they do, and would go out of their way to make you uncomfortable about your diet, even if you are a vegetarian. I didn't get it...Now, having met many vegans and then becoming one myself, I see that just as there are many types of people, there are many types of vegans (with a lot of different reasons for doing it), and very few of them, will sit down across the table from you and scrutinize your meat/dairy laden meal and lecture you. In fact, most of us are just hoping that we can talk about something other than what we are eating, so that we can avoid having to explain for the 42,385th time why we are vegan and where we get our protien (not hard by the way - vitamin B12, iron and calcium are the things to watch out for more in a vegan diet. But it's not like the typical american diet of hamburgers and soda provides much in the way of those nutrients either, and I don't see people asking those people how they get their vitamins and fiber).

I personally became a vegan because I saw that supporting the dairy and egg industry was out of line with my beliefs as a vegetarian. I became a vegetarian for environmental reasons, but as I explored the topic more, I saw how unnatural and inhumane our animal agricultural system has become. There are things that are just as bad, possibly worse than killing an animal for food. Just check out this investigation of an egg "factory" made by local animal rights organization Compassion Over Killing. So, I just can't be a part of that anymore.

Course, I still worry that some vegans will lecture me on why I still wear wool and eat honey (not that they ever do), but of course, I'm crazy....oh well.

2003-02-13T10:47:00.000-05:00

Finally someone in the senate says something that makes sense about this war...

Check out this speech made by Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) yesterday. Wow.

At least I know that there are some people in power that are thinking straight. I hope he isn't alone and I hope someone heard him. I think that's being optimistic, though.

2003-02-12T15:58:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's cool to eat beef, all you pre-teens out there....

Especially in recipes like Pizza Pie with Mashed Potatoes.... Yeah, THAT'S health for ya....It also sounds gross.

Riiiight...at least according to this site directed at pre-teen girls that talks about eating, living and staying healthy, and having self esteem while you do it. The only problem? It's run by the cattle industry...they are promoting beef consuption....It's so blatant and transparent (ooh, I like that word today) that I doubt that anyone will give it any credence, especially teen girls.

It's true, I'm a vegan, so of course I would be opposed to any kind of beef promoting site. But beyond my personal beliefs on the subject - come on! With childhood obesity levels rising is it really a great idea to be promoting diets that consist of "Eat a variety of foods.By eating foods like beef, bagels, yogurt, vegetables and fruit, you will stay on top of your game." and
Nacho Beef Dip? This site is dripping in language like "Smart Snacking" and "Healthy Lifestyles"....

I guess I should just laugh, cause it's such a sad and pathetic attempt to convince us that beef is good for you.

2003-02-12T13:56:00.000-05:00

Man, I have a lot to say today...

I was just reading this article in salon today (you might need to use the day pass to read it), and I found myself very disturbed. For those not choosing to read it, it's about ANSWER, the organization that has been responsible for organizing many of the anti-war demonstrations around the country. Apparently, they just blackballed a liberal Rabbi from speaking at this weekends protest in San Fransisco, because of his "pro-israeli" stance. This guy, who is opposed to Ariel Sharon's government, and supports palistinan statehood, also happens to be against palestinian terror and supports Israel's right to exist. What's wrong with that you wonder? I wonder too...

I've been to a few rallys and marches organized by ANSWER, and I have to say, at the last one, I was really disturbed. It was a rally and a march against globalization, held during the recent IMF meetings here in my hometown of Washington D.C. The march met up, at the end of the day, with two other rallies going on that day - a march for peace, and march in support of the Palestinian cause. While I share many of the views that you could see on the signs being carried around that day, there were many that advocated things that suggested that palestinian terror was good, and that all Israelis are evil, or that Israel should be destroyed. Personally, I feel that supporting Palestinian statehood does not equal supporting violence against Israelis. And supporting Israels withdrawl from the occupied territories does not mean that you do not support Israel's right to exist. The situation over there is not black and white. ANSWER's stand on this issue, that to support peace in the Middle East, you must only support the Palestinians, is crap. Both sides have problems, but both sides deserve to be heard, and to exist, peacefully. I did not appreciate being associated with those signs during that march. We left.

And I also find myself wondering - why all these causes, at one time? Doesn't that dilute the message? Now we all look like that sketch on Saturday Night Live last week...it was pretty funny, and so very accurate.

2003-02-12T13:22:00.000-05:00

This is a pretty tenuous connection, if I do say so myself....

I've just been catching up on some of my favorite blogs and I'm seeing a lot of talk about the Osama Bin Laden tape that has just been released. Joe Conason, one of salon.com's regular columnists just posted a comment on the situation, which you can read here. I have to say I agree with Joe...Looking over that transcript, it doesn't look a whole lot like Osama is actually saying what the administration wants us to believe - that there is a link between Bin Laden and Iraq. Gee...that's convienent, we're not really gaining any support for this war so *wha-la* "Lets start talking about Bin Laden and September 11th....that will dupe the American public some more. It helped some when we convinced the american public that some of the hijackers were Iraqi citizens." (None of them were, by the way, and that's not a real quote, I'm just envisioning what our friend Ari might be saying to W up in the O. Office about this). My good friend Julia over on her blog just posted about a pretty funny, but totally feasible, conspiracy theory: that maybe this tape was manufactured by the US. Her fiance takes it one further and suggests that the US manufactured Bin Laden....not sure I would go so far to agree, but he's got some good points.

It's really pathetic (and totally transparent) all the lengths that the administration is going to convince us that this war is a neccessary action....I'm sorry. I'm not convinced. Not only is it a case of extreme American egotism and hegemony, but it is flat out a bad idea...even if the war is over quickly with minimum casualties (are any casualties ever ok?) are we gonna stick around to clean up the mess it makes? History would tell us no. So we will leave behind a broken and destroyed county, with no real government to speak of, and a lot of children who will grow up orphaned and alone and angry as hell at us. Hmmmm....isn't that how we get terrorists in the first place?

2003-02-12T11:30:00.000-05:00

YAY! Now my comments are working...

More later....

2003-02-12T09:58:00.000-05:00

oh dear....my comments aren't working again. God, and this is only my second day blogging.
Gargh....

2003-02-12T09:45:00.000-05:00

Can we keep him that way?

Ashcroft Orders Staff to Chain Him Tightly Before Next Full Moon

HA HA HA....But that second picture gives me the willies...eww...naked John Ashcroft (or as a friend likes to say, Asscroft).

I personally would like to see him stay that way, at least until this scary act dies a quiet (or maybe a loud, filled with the anger of people who would like to see their civil liberties protected) death, if not until the shrub leaves office:

Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003

*shiver*

2003-02-12T09:26:00.000-05:00

Ahhh....Dear Abby.
How I love you, and all advice columnists....

*snarf* Sometimes I just have to wonder about the people who write to advice columns (and I have to wonder about people who read them with the kind of obsessive voracity that I do. Ok, ok...I admit it. I'm a bit a of a voyeur, in a non-sexual way. I love reading about other peoples lives...). Check out a question from today:

DEAR ABBY: My next-door neighbors are nice people, but I'm faced with a problem I don't know how to solve. Their bathroom faces my driveway. They have a coating on their bathroom windowpanes, but it isn't as opaque as they think. There is no other window covering.

Abby, I am greeted nearly every morning with the sight of the man of the house stepping in and out of the shower, sitting on his "throne," etc. I can even tell if he's reading the newspaper.

This morning I went out to my car and could see him through the glass as clear as day. It was hardly a vision of loveliness. Even my friends have witnessed this unforgettable sight. It is embarrassing.

Please print this. I hope my neighbors see this letter and finally put an end to the "show." -- SEEN IT ALL IN MINNEAPOLIS

Dear Abby's oh so logical response? Let the neighbors know about the problem....Gee, it takes a genius to figure that out. Did this person realy need to write a letter to Abby for the answer? God. I have to say that's pretty sad. But, I guess, if they hadn't written the letter, I would never have gotten to read the line "It was hardly a vision of loveliness"
*snarf*

2003-02-11T10:02:00.000-05:00

So here I am...putting myself out there for the web-world to see. Hmmm...see anything interesting? Not yet.

Anyway, welcome to my new blog. I plan on posting here whenever I feel a sense of outrage or despair or joy around the state of the world in general, or my own little personal world. I just need a place to put some thoughts, and this seems like a good spot...if you share those thoughts, great, if not, also great. These are my thoughts, and this is a free country....at least for now.

I would just like to mention that I'm pretty much a flaming liberal...I'm vegan, a member of the green party and my patterns of consumption and my beliefs generally reflect that. If you have a problem with that, great. You don't have to visit this page (see free country statement above) or you can visit and read and feel free to be annoyed with me.

TTFN.