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August 20, 2004
Hey
As I mentioned before, CB and Eclectra will be blogging while I'm gone. But I failed to mention that the inimitable Paul the Strongbow Man, will be keeping an eye on the blog in general while I'm gone.
Hello Devotees of Ith, thanks for entertaining this stand-in effort.
A penetrating and brilliant precept has been revealed to me as a result of a certain incident last night, and with your permission, I want to try it by you. But first, you know those questionnaires you take to determine whether you’re liberal or conservative? Such as Dennis Prager has on his site? Well, I now have my own. I call it, “The Skunk Conundrum.”
Here’s the one, simple, cogent question: say you had a Have-a-Heart trap and baited it with kibble to catch a ground squirrel and the squirrel ignored it all day. You go to bed and at midnight are wakened by your teen who announces you have accidentally caught a skunk: what do you do?
(I mean, knowing that the skunk is going to spray, regardless. And the cage is wire on all sides and you can’t approach it without being seen.)
I’ll wait here while you think a couple o’ seconds…
Okay. Now. Did you begin cranking out some self-serve Rube Goldberg solution like “I’ll have my child hide behind a sheet of plywood and squirt the skunk with a hose so its aim will be off while I creep up with a large trash bag (the seams of which I’ve cut to form a plastic sheet) and throw the sheet over the cage while the skunk is distracted by the water in its face and fumble through the plastic to loose the mechanism so the skunk can get out, and then I’ll run like hell.”
----OR----
…did you think, “I’ll call Animal Control.”
If the former: you’re a conservative. If the latter, a liberal.
AM I RIGHT? Don’t ask me how this works. I just know it does.
Uh oh... Ith has let the guest bloviators out of the cage again... she knoweth not what she hath wrought!
My first salvo:
Saw a newspaper story the other day wherein a disabled jail inmate (a guy with only one arm) was whining about the overcrowding, and how he had to sleep on the floor. He complained that with his handicapped condition, he should have been allotted a bed.
Earth to inmate: If you don't want to sleep on the jailhouse floor, don't do the crime!
Carrying on with what seems to be my theme this week, comes this article from Allah on a sixteen year old girl who was executed in Iran for 'having a sharp tongue'.
My current events list is having a discussion on the headline currently up on Drudge:
KERRY CAMPAIGN CALLS FOR BOOK BAN
The Kerry campaign calls on a publisher to 'withdraw book' written by group of veterans, claiming veterans are lying about Kerry's service in Vietnam and operating as a front organization for Bush. Kerry campaign has told Salon.com that the publisher of UNFIT FOR COMMAND is 'retailing a hoax'... 'No publisher should want to be selling books with proven falsehoods in them,' Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton tells the online mag... Developing...
My reaction earlier:
I am stunned! CRUSHING OF DISSENT!! BROWN SHIRTS!! NAZIS!! Oh, wait... that's us Republicans. I forgot.
I'm thrilled Kerry suddenly cares about the truth. Maybe he will call for the banning of F9/11, the Richard Clark book, the Joe Wilson book.... Oh, wait... that's right -- it's okay to publish books and release movies with lies about the President. I'm sorry, I get so confused. I need to put a sticker on my sweater to remind myself that I'm the Eeeeeevil Digital Brown Shirt, and Kerry is a po' misunderstood lil bunny. I apologize profusely. I'll try and do better at remembering my evilness and the Dems saintliness.
Cranky Beach will be guestblogging for me again while I'm in UT. Helping her out this time is our Meetup buddy, Eclectra. She's never blogged before, so she'll be dipping her toes in the water tomorrow while I'm still around to help out.
Good news here on Donald Rumsfeld's plan to make sure that the Dems can't disenfranchise military overseas votes like they've tried to in the past.
.... This problem is not unique to Florida, and it didn't just happen in 2000. According to the results of a survey by the Reserve Officers' Association, ROA estimates that the disenfranchisement rate among military personnel who try to vote in Florida, Missouri, and South Carolina is 40-45 percent.
It's not the hypocrisy of what the Florida Dems did that still rankles; what's most bothersome is who they tried to do it to. Every American has the right to vote, but were it not for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who put themselves in harm's way, none of us would have that right. The warriors and their families have long memories, and this time they're determined to vote.
For once, at the insistence of Don Rumsfeld, the folks in Fort Fumble are acting, not reacting, to solve this problem before it repeats itself.
On March 17, Rumsfeld sent a memo to the Joint Chiefs and Combatant Commanders telling them how the services will make sure all military members — and their family members — who are overseas, or stationed here but are away from home, get the chance to vote, and vote so that no Mark Herrons can disenfranchise them.
At the heart of Rumsfeld's plan is putting some teeth into the old Voting Assistance Officer idea. On top of it is a strategy — now underway — to use both the internet and the Postal Service effectively to help servicemen and their families request absentee ballots and get them returned in time to be counted.
.... "Politics is something that is very personal to me," Cruise said. "I am not going to comment publicly (about) who I'm going to vote for. ... I don't want what I say to become a political football."
But when asked how he feels about other performers lobbying for their favorite candidate, Cruise signaled his approval.
"It's their right to do that and I respect that," said Cruise, appearing next to posters of the gray and grizzled hit man he plays in "Collateral."
"But I do believe and I encourage people to go out and study the issues, get beyond the propaganda," he said.
An excerpt from an email I received today from Feminists for Life:
....In a peaceful revolution led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, women won the right to keep their own earnings, sign contracts, sit on a jury, testify on their own behalf, to secure a divorce if a husband drank the family’s income away or physically abused his wife and share custody of their children. When these two feminist foremothers were born, no women were admitted to college. By the time they died, colleges and universities opened their doors to women, and they started down the path to equal opportunities in the workplace.
[....]
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton passed the torch to two more generations before women’s suffrage—their most cherished goal—was realized. By the time the struggle ended, women had suffered greatly for what too many today take for granted—or sadly, don’t exercise at all.
In 1913, Alice Paul, author of the original Equal Rights Amendment, organized a magnificent pageant to parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. Women dressed all in white were led by New York attorney Inez Milholland Boissevain, who was dressed like Joan of Arc on a white horse. At the end of the parade women were pulled off their horses, grabbed by jeering men as police stood by smirking. By the time the cavalry had been brought in to restore order, 100 people were hospitalized—but not one man had been arrested.
Later, a perpetual delegation of dignified, silent, peaceful protesters were organized by Paul to hold vigil outside the White House—just a few blocks from FFL’s current office. Angry men tore their banners down. Alice Paul was knocked to the ground by a sailor and dragged down the street. Another man tore a woman’s blouse off in order to remove her purple and yellow suffrage sash as the police looked on. Later the women were arrested and forced to remove all their clothing—one by one—in front of a company of men, and incarcerated for days, weeks, or months at time. Their mail was cut off and they were made to perform hard labor. They were terrorized by the guards, some tossed like dolls headfirst into their prison cells and rendered unconscious. One political prisoner was left handcuffed above the cell door all night long.
Women became more resolved than ever to win the vote—and men in ever-increasing numbers began to support the fight for women’s suffrage.
By the time the 19th amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, Inez Milholland Boissevain had died of exhaustion from traveling the country with her message of “votes for women.” She is known as a martyr for women’s suffrage.
There are growing indications that Iran may be planning an attack on American soil. These indicators are not secret — they appear in speeches,newspaper articles, TV programs, and sermons in Iran by figures linked to the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other government officials, all discussing potential Iranian attacks on America, which will subsequently lead to its destruction.
A report on May 28 in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that an Iranian intelligence unit has established a center called “The Brigades of the Shahids of the Global Islamic Awakening.”The paper claimed that it had obtained a tape with a speech by Hassan Abbassi, a Revolutionary Guards intelligence theoretician who teaches at Al-Hussein University. In the tape, Mr. Abbassi spoke of Tehran’s secret plans, which include “a strategy drawn up for the destruction of Anglo-Saxon civilization.” In order to accomplish this, he explained,“There are 29 sensitive sites in the U.S. and in the West. We have already spied on these sites and we know how we are going to attack them.”
After responding to the comments here, it occurred to me that it should be a post.
I can't remember exactly when I realized, that as a girl, I was very lucky to be living in the western world. By the time I was a teenager, the plight of women and girls in other parts of the world was something I was very passionate about. Like my commenter though, I found very little interest in discussing, or even acknowledging, the subject. Twenty odd years later, I'm still finding it frustrating.
Whether it's infanticide of girls in China and India, genital mutilation in Africa and using rape as a tool of terror (as referenced in the article linked here), the total lack of rights and abuse of women in some Islamic countries, the sex slave trade, or what was happening under the Taliban, there seems to be little will to try and do anything about it. As much as I loath organizations like NOW, they still have a powerful platform to shine light on the plight of women around the world. But it's something they seem to have no interest in doing.
We in the western world had no problem imposing sanctions on South Africa for apartheid. Why aren't we imposing sanctions on countries that practice gender apartheid? We aren't even willing to make a symbolic stand by banning those countries from competing in the Olympics. Yes, I'm aware that there are some aspects that are being addressed. I know the Bush administration is taking steps, and many Christian groups are working to stop the sex slave trade, but few people are aware they are, or even that such things exist.
Is there a solution? I don't know. I just know that I'm thankful every day for the life I'm blessed to lead here in this country. I can only hope that in the future, more and more women will be able to feel that sense of thankfulness in countries where they now are brutalized.
Sorry for the lack of bloggage. I'm just incredibly stressed over this moving thing. The owner told us after she looked the house over last weekend that she wanted us to stay in the house until she sold it. well, after the termite inspector came yesterday, she told us she wants us out by mid October!! So now, we have to really slam to try and get a house bought in Utah for my parents when we go up there this weekend. We were just going up to scout, now we need to try and find a house.
My first urge is to panic, but I'm trying to be caaaaalm. Part of the problem is the whole house buying mystery. See, my parents have never owned a home, so this is all new to all of us. Two, I'm afraid we won't have enought time. It's like a giant house of cards that i'm sure is going to collapse on top of us.
So if you would, keep some good thoughts for us this weekend and beginning of next week.
This is the time if you're a local, you stay home! The Monterey Peninsula is a giant parking lot for classic automobiles and so full of tourists you can't move. What started as the Concourse in Pebble Beach has spawned many more auctions and events over the years, till now I think every classic auto in the world is here!
The one perk of living over the highway is that when the Carmel Valley events let out, I can see the cars go by below. So perty! This will be the last year I get to see it since we won't be in this house next year.
So Comcast said we needed to switch digital boxes since our old one was out of date. Fine, I go in and switch the box, I get home, set it up like the last one. Piece of cake. Except now, I can't watch the TV unless the digital box is on. And I can't record on the VCR any channel other than the one I'm watching. What the frell? So I double check all the connections, still nothing. I call Comcast and the guy has me change some settings on the menu, still nothing. Then he puts me on hold, comes back and tells me the new boxes aren't set up to allow taping on another channel etc... I have to get a splitter and an A/B box!! Why on earth would you make something new that works less well than the old version? It makes no frigging sense! And this new box has the RF bypass just like the old one, and I mention that to him, and how that's what allows you to watch the TV independently of the box. He tells me I'm right, but he has no idea of why it works differently. He emailed me a diagram and a list of equipment, and while he was very nice, I'm really ticked off right now.
Hey, I know it's not as important as getting into Augusta, but do you think our "feminist" organizations might like to pay some attention to issues like this?
I haven't said much on Kerry and his ever changing Vietnam memories since so many people are doing a much better job than I could. But I did have a few random thoughts I wanted I'd share.
Back in the day, when the Monica thing broke, and Clinton got on TV and told us he'd never had sex with "that woman", I believed him. Yeah, I was stupid, I know. But even though I didn't vote for him, he was still the President, my President, and maybe I couldn't let myself believe he'd make such a bald faced lie on national TV. It didn't take long for me to discover how naive I'd been. And then we were told that his lies didn't really matter because it was all about sex. A "personal" matter between adults.
Turn the clock to today. John Kerry wants to be President, supposedly my President, though I'm not sure I believe that anymore. He's made Vietnam the centerpiece of his campaign. He reminded us again and again about his time there, and how that qualified him to be President. Okay, me personally, I don't think military service automatically confers Presidential ability. And I remember the Dems making sure we didn't think so when war heros like George H. Bush and Bob Dole were the candidates in question. I want to know what the man wanting the highest office in our land has done lately. Especially when we're at war now. But John Kerry felt differently, so did his party. After all, they've tried to denigrate President Bush's service from day one. They've tried every trick in the book to compare his service unfavourably to Kerry's, they've trotted out men who served with Kerry, and their whole convention was a testament to Kerry's service in Vietnam. Now, of course, it turns out Kerry is still lying, as a man in his fifties. As much as I dislike him, naive old me never really expected it. I know he lied back when he was protesting the war, but the fact he's still doing it just floors me. I guess it shouldn't.
This time, it isn't "just about sex", so I wonder what excuse the Dems will come up with to justify these lies? And what contortions the media will go through to keep the spin going for "their" candidate.
Later: edited this a bit for clarity -- or tried to -- after reading Peter's comment. Sometimes writing at work doesn't always result in the clearest posts.
My current winner in the "most annoying and overplayed song on radio" contest is "Save a Horse, Ride a A Cowboy" by Big & Rich. It's like a country song that wants to be a rap song when it grows up. Any song that uses "bling blinging" is enough to make me want to toss the radio. I went from finding it annoying to actively disliking it after I saw the video -- tawdry and trashy through and through.
So I want to know what song(s) you can't stand! Share the misery.
Could one of my ever so kind readers point me towards some sort of tutorial or resource that would give me a clue on how to do a template where the image stays put, instead of tiled, and then the text scrolls? Since that's a crappy explanation, like this.
I'm in the mood for a change, and that sort of look is one of my ideas.
Here in CA we have the Coastal Commission, a government organization dedicated to throwing it's substantial weight around to stop development. The Heart Corp. finally got tired of years of trying to develop part of Hearst Ranch and agreed to sell the property to an open spaces/conservation group. Now this is something the Coastal Commission should be all for, but they aren't.
.... A deal to pay the Hearst Corp. $80 million to give up most of its development rights was announced last month — a deal the coastal commission staff should be expected to celebrate.
Instead, in what the San Diego Union-Tribune called an example of “grudge-match meddling,” coastal commission executive director Peter Douglas is trying to sabotage the deal, going so far as calling it a “bait and switch” scam.
Douglas even belittled the deal’s opening of vast stretches of magnificent beaches to the public, claiming that “under the law, all beaches are public” — a bizarre statement which is laughably untrue.
And one of his underlings improperly telephoned state officials, trying to drive down the land’s $230 million valuation, according to an official with Caltrans, which paid for the appraisal.
One newspaper editorial called these efforts another example of the coastal commission staff’s “obstructionist activism.”
We think they’re yet another vivid illustration of the coastal staff’s never-never land concept of reality, where the truth is a lie, fact is fiction, and property rights do not exist.
The Hearst Ranch deal may be the last chance to save this treasured stretch of coast from being turned into ranchettes for Silicon Valley and Hollywood millionaires. The public, which would pay for the acquisition through voter-approved bond measures, has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to buy parkland and open space.
Russian scientists said they have discovered the wreck of an alien device at the site of an unexplained explosion in Siberia almost a hundred years ago, China Daily reported today, citing the Interfax news agency as the source.
The scientists, who belong to the Tunguska space phenomenon public state fund, said they found the remains of an extra-terrestrial device that allegedly crashed near the Tunguska river in Siberia in 1908.
Their findings also include a 50-kilogram (110-pound) rock which they have sent to the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk for analysis.
He led British sailors to a stunning victory over the powerful Spanish Armada in 1588. He is renowned for his naval cunning. He is a true British hero.
.... It denies men the chance to be involved fathers. This is a loss for them and a loss for their children. What does it mean when fathers are denied the opportunity to nurture their kids in ways that are as important as their work? What do the children miss when they don't have fathers changing their diapers, picking them up from school, coaching soccer, making breakfast or dinner and doing homework with them? On both sides, the answer is too much.
Women who stay at home also lose out — they lose a chance to contribute as professionals and community activists. Parenting is an important social contribution. But we need women in medicine, law, education, politics and the arts. It is not selfish to want to give your talents to the broader community — it is an important part of citizenship to do so, and it is something we should expect of everyone.
Full-time mothering is also bad for children. It teaches them that the world is divided by gender. This sends the wrong message to our sons and daughters. I do not want our girls to grow up thinking they must marry and have children to be successful, or that you can only be a good mother if you give up your work.
Nor do I want boys to think that caring for families is women's work and making money is men's work. Our sons and daughters should grow up thinking that raising and providing for a family is a joint enterprise among all the adults in the family.
[....]
Finally, the stay-at-home mother movement is bad for society. It tells employers that women who marry and have children are at risk of withdrawing from their careers, and that men who marry and have children will remain fully focused on their careers, regardless of family demands. Both lessons reinforce sex discrimination.
This movement also privileges certain kinds of families, making it harder for others. The more stay-at-home mothers there are, the more schools and libraries will neglect the needs of working parents, and the more professional mothers, single mothers, working-class mothers and lesbian mothers will feel judged for their failure to be in a traditional family and stay home their children.
By creating an expectation that mothers could and should stay home, we lose sight of the fact that most parents do work — and that they need affordable, high quality child care, after-school enrichment programs and family leave policies that allow mothers and fathers to nurture their children without giving up work.
:: ".... visiting her site is much like visiting her at home, curling up in a chair and chatting about all kinds of different things. It's hard to convey warmth over cyberspace, but she does it." ~ Debbye, "Being American in T.O."::
I get a tuppence for everything
purchased through this site. So if you're
considering an Amazon purchase, I'd appreciate it
if you clicked through here, or on any of the items
linked on the Bookshelf or Entertainment Center.
Thanks!
