Tengrain was correct in saying, if you are going to read another post tonight, make it this one by fairlane.
o
Friday, August 31, 2007
Senator Larry Craig to resign Saturday
The Associated Press is reporting:Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig will resign from the Senate amid a furor over his arrest and guilty plea in a police sex sting in an airport men's room, Republican officials said Friday.
Craig will announce at a news conference in Boise Saturday morning that he will resign effective Sept. 30, four state GOP officials told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Word of the resignation came four days after the disclosure that Craig had pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge arising out of his June 11 arrest during a lewd-conduct investigation at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
The three-term Republican senator had maintained that he did nothing wrong except for making the guilty plea without consulting a lawyer. But he found almost no support among Republicans in his home state or Washington.
Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter appeared Friday to have already settled on a successor: Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, according to several Republicans familiar with internal deliberations.
So there you have it! Too bad the 'Bush problem' can't be resolved as quickly.
Bush wants $50 billion more for failed Iraq war
If this doesn't make your blood boil, nothing will. The WaPo reports:President Bush plans to ask Congress next month for up to $50 billion in additional funding for the war in Iraq, a White House official said yesterday, a move that appears to reflect increasing administration confidence that it can fend off congressional calls for a rapid drawdown of U.S. forces.
WTF??
Why should George Bush have "confidence" that he can push through another spending increase? Because so far, the spineless Congress HAS LET HIM!
JUST SAY NO!
The request -- which would come on top of about $460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defense budget and $147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- is expected to be announced after congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September featuring the two top U.S. officials in Iraq. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker will assess the state of the war and the effect of the new strategy the U.S. military has pursued this year.
The request is being prepared now in the belief that Congress will be unlikely to balk so soon after hearing the two officials argue that there are promising developments in Iraq but that they need more time to solidify the progress they have made, a congressional aide said.
Call your members of Congress on Tuesday and DEMAND that they say NO to this out of control administration. The Congressional switchboard number is 202-224-3121. They can connect you to your Representative or Senators office. If you don't know who your Congress members are, go here and type in your zip code in the box on the left.
Let them know you have read the GAO report that finds little progress on Iraq goals.
Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report. The document questions whether some aspects of a more positive assessment by the White House last month adequately reflected the range of views the GAO found within the administration.
The strikingly negative GAO draft, which will be delivered to Congress in final form on Tuesday, comes as the White House prepares to deliver its own new benchmark report in the second week of September, along with congressional testimony from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker. They are expected to describe significant security improvements and offer at least some promise for political reconciliation in Iraq.
The draft provides a stark assessment of the tactical effects of the current U.S.-led counteroffensive to secure Baghdad. "While the Baghdad security plan was intended to reduce sectarian violence, U.S. agencies differ on whether such violence has been reduced," it states. While there have been fewer attacks against U.S. forces, it notes, the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians remains unchanged. It also finds that "the capabilities of Iraqi security forces have not improved."
We already know the commanders are not going to present a negative report to Congress. They know Bush would find a way to punish them if they dare tell the truth. Congress has got to stand up to this lunatic president.
Free Speech
Quaker Dave is back with a thought provoking post about free speech. While reading it I was reminded of the following clip from "The American President."
We've not getting older, we're getting faster
A New York Times feature points out something that once I read it seemed obvious. That as women age, their running speeds increase. For male runners the stats are just the opposite. Younger men run, on average, faster than do older men. So why isn't the same true for women?Gina Kolata writes, "... now that I’ve grown more committed [to running], I am starting to notice something odd about women and running.
Men, as might be expected, get slower as they age. At a recent five-kilometer race in Pine Beach, N.J., which drew nearly 1,000 runners, the fastest man was 24 years old and the men’s times increased with each five-year age group.
But the women were different — their times were all over the place with older women beating younger women in almost every age category. The fastest woman was 37 years old; the fastest woman in the 45 to 49 age group beat the fastest woman in the 20 to 24 and the 40 to 44 age groups.
The same thing happened in another five-kilometer local race, the Eden Family Run, in Princeton, N.J.
There, the top female runner in the 50 to 54 age group beat the top females in the 20 to 24, 25 to 29, and 40 to 44 age groups.
And it’s not just a New Jersey effect. Others have noticed it elsewhere and when I did a random check of race results in California, I saw it there too. On Aug. 8, in a 10-kilometer race in Alameda, the 53-year-old woman who won in the 50 to 54 age group was faster than the woman who won in the 25 to 29 group. A 38-year-old woman beat every other woman in the race.
Results like those made me wonder, Are women really trying in these races and, if they are, why are older women beating younger women?
The answer seems to be that as women age we care less what others think.
Mary Wittenberg, president of New York Road Runners, thinks part of the answer is that most female runners shortchange themselves. Look at them before races she said. Men warm up and do strides, short runs to prepare to take off at the starting line. A lot of women hang back, often because they are embarrassed to be out there with the men, acting like determined athletes, Ms. Wittenberg said.
“They are too inhibited to put their full passion out there,” she said. “They are almost afraid to be serious about a sport. They think that if they’re not the best, they shouldn’t care so much.”
As women age they may be less interested in catching a man, than in staying two steps ahead of him!
Ralph Vernacchia, who directs the Center for Performance Excellence at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash., says:
"... with average runners, older women may be faster because, oddly enough, they are trying harder than younger women and discovering for the first time what they are capable of.
Most middle-aged women grew up when track and cross-country teams were for men only. Some of those women, who had no opportunity to race when they were young, are just learning to be athletes and are running faster than younger women who may not care as much.
He described the experience for women as “a kind of wakening, an epiphany.”
So there you have it ... we're not getting older, we're getting faster!
Judge strikes down Iowa ban on same-sex marriage
The same-sex marriage train has left the station, it's time to get on board! Iowa is now the latest, in an ever growing number of states, to proved approved spousal rights in some form for same-sex couples.The New York Times reports:
Less than two hours after a judge struck down Iowa's decade-old gay marriage ban, two Des Moines men applied for a marriage license as bride and groom, and county officials said they expected to see more same-sex couples doing the same on Friday. [...]
Polk County Judge Robert Hanson cleared the way for the two men on Thursday when he ruled that a state law allowing marriage only between a man and woman violated the constitutional rights of due process and equal protection.
The judge ordered local officials to process marriage licenses for the six gay couples who sued. With the ruling, gay couples across the state can now apply for a marriage license in the central-Iowa county.
Same-sex couples in Massachusetts have been allowed to legally marry for a couple of years now, with no noticeable change in the divorce rate of heterosexual couples. The idea that same-sex marriage would somehow destroy the "sanctity of marriage" is preposterous.
Republicans like Iowa House Minority Leader Christopher Rants need to just get over themselves. Responding to the ruling, Rants said:
''I can't believe this is happening in Iowa,'' Rants said. ''I guarantee you there will be a vote on this issue come January,'' when the Legislature convenes.
The lawyer for the six gay couples argued that Iowa had a long history of protecting civil rights based on race and gender. He also commented that the Defense of Marriage Act (which should be abolished) passed in 1998 declaring marriage to be between one man and one woman is simply ''mean spirited.''
Roger J. Kuhle, an assistant Polk County attorney, argued that the issue is not for a judge to decide.
Is he kidding? Our Constitution was written to protect minority interests over the tyranny of the majority. Civil rights should NEVER be decided by popular vote.
The frightening aspect of all this is that should a state challenge reach the current U.S. Supreme Court there is no guarantee the Justices will do the right thing. Personal bias has replaced sound jurisprudence.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
What's your spark bird?
I learned a new birding term from Roana yesterday: "spark bird," which is "the bird that got you into birding." The cool thing is that I actually HAVE a spark bird; I didn't forget or just wander into birding.
I had always loved birds and nature, but shortly after we moved into the Marsh House in 2005, I was sitting in my back doorway, looking out at the marsh. There was barely any purple loosestrife then, so I could see a lot of little patches of cattails, short marsh grasses, all kinds of things. (sigh) Anyway, I noticed a little group of redwinged blackbirds making some squawking noises and flying in a little area just over the ground. I got my binocs and saw this weird brown bird that looked kinda like a small crane, sticking its long beak straight into the air. I ran and grabbed a book that I'd bought only a couple of months before -- a 1940s edition of Peterson's Field Guide to Eastern Birds. I stared at the bird, looked at the book, stared at the bird, looked at the book -- and ID'd my first bird that wasn't a cardinal or a bluejay or a robin.
Since then, I've seen American bitterns out on the marsh and in Cape May. A very experienced birder I know and respect told me that it's rare to actually see American bitterns because they hide so well. I've seen them lots of times! He also said that there are only 5 confirmed breeding records for this upcoming Breeding Bird Atlas, and that my marsh was the first one. My report!
After that day, I was totally hooked on birding. Shortly thereafter, I started this blog. It makes me smile just to think of it -- my bittern, my little blog, and birds.
What was your spark bird?
I had always loved birds and nature, but shortly after we moved into the Marsh House in 2005, I was sitting in my back doorway, looking out at the marsh. There was barely any purple loosestrife then, so I could see a lot of little patches of cattails, short marsh grasses, all kinds of things. (sigh) Anyway, I noticed a little group of redwinged blackbirds making some squawking noises and flying in a little area just over the ground. I got my binocs and saw this weird brown bird that looked kinda like a small crane, sticking its long beak straight into the air. I ran and grabbed a book that I'd bought only a couple of months before -- a 1940s edition of Peterson's Field Guide to Eastern Birds. I stared at the bird, looked at the book, stared at the bird, looked at the book -- and ID'd my first bird that wasn't a cardinal or a bluejay or a robin.
Since then, I've seen American bitterns out on the marsh and in Cape May. A very experienced birder I know and respect told me that it's rare to actually see American bitterns because they hide so well. I've seen them lots of times! He also said that there are only 5 confirmed breeding records for this upcoming Breeding Bird Atlas, and that my marsh was the first one. My report!
After that day, I was totally hooked on birding. Shortly thereafter, I started this blog. It makes me smile just to think of it -- my bittern, my little blog, and birds.
What was your spark bird?
Welcome to my world
Note that I added my bloggy pal Splotchy and my new bloggy pal FranIAm to my blogroll; both are well worth a (daily) look. They don't really write about birds, but they write about our world--and isn't that what we're all interested in?
Baba Wawa I ain't
But I did have a great time interviewing Splotchy. Check out his witty, frank, and revealing answers to my insightful questions.
More interviews comin' atcha (the list will be updated as interviews are completed):
Dr. Monkey von Monkerstein
Man, I should get an agent! Or publish my own magazine! Or do my own blog!
oh wait a minute. oh yeah.
More interviews comin' atcha (the list will be updated as interviews are completed):
Dr. Monkey von Monkerstein
Man, I should get an agent! Or publish my own magazine! Or do my own blog!
oh wait a minute. oh yeah.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
General Discontent
Wyoming is moving its GOP primary to January 5. Florida moved their Democratic primary to January 29. For Iowa and New Hampshire to retain their traditional "first in the nation" status, will they need to move their respective caucus and primary voting to December 2007!
Since everyone is SO unhappy -- and clearly ready for a new 
administration -- why not just end our collective misery and move the general election to THIS November?
Why should we care about a little thing like the Constitution, or Bill of Rights -- the current administration clearly doesn't.
Presidential campaigning has been underway for months now. We've already seen as many televised presidential debates as are generally held during a more "traditional" election cycle. You remember the tradition, don't you ... the one where presidential candidates don't even START campaigning until Labor Day!
August is supposed to be a quite time, Congress is in recess, the president is on vacation (again) and families are enjoying that last bit of vacation time before packing the kids off to school. But noooooooooooooooo ... not this August.
Rove and Gonzo jumped ship, and Larry Craig's political career seems to be in the toilet.
And you know it's bad when Republicans are turning on (and not in the fun way) Republicans. Can Armageddon be far behind?
You've all seen the bumper stickers ... let's end this madness now!
Interview with a Vampire Vegetarian
My bloggy pal Splotchy's been doing interviews with people, sending them cool, penetrating questions and eliciting thoughtful, compelling answers. Following are the cool, penetrating questions he sent me, along with my answers--you can judge how thoughtful and compelling they are.
1. I see mention of a Mennonite grocery store down the road from you. What makes a grocery store a Mennonite grocery store? Any special products, or absence of products that I should be aware of? Would I be able to get beef jerky there?
The Mennonite grocery store down the road is staffed (mostly) and owned by Mennonites, hence the name. We’re talking ladies in their plain dresses, white aprons, and those little bonnets. It’s like watching Witness at the grocery store (kinda). The actual name of the store is Burkholder’s. I guess that’s a Mennonite name? What do I know, I’m from Texas. As for special products, they have the usual grocery store stuff, though I don’t know about the beef jerky. (I’m vegetarian so I never looked.) You can also buy these Amish-themed books there, like teen romances and stories about young Amish/Mennonite people; most of these books are written by someone named Beverly Lewis. I always wonder if she’s Amish, or just has a really good research assistant. Also, it’s the only grocery store I know of where you can’t buy cigarettes or any tobacco products. I once asked where the cigarettes were (my partner smokes), and the lady behind the counter gave me a look like I’d said, “I just had an abortion in Aisle 7; can you get someone with a mop?”
2. Please describe a favorite unexpected or unplanned bird-watching moment.
My favorite unplanned moments in bird-watching always occur when my partner Kat, who doesn’t like birds because they creep her out, is around. Usually, this happens in the backyard when I’m looking for birds on the marsh behind our house, because she NEVER comes birding with me. One time, I was sitting in the yard watching the birds at one of my feeders when she started screaming, “BIG WHITE BIRD! BIG WHITE BIRD FLYING AWAY!” After I recovered from the heart attack she caused, I turned in time to see a great egret pair – beautiful big white birds – taking flight together. That was nice. And her knowledgeable and poetic description really put a capper on the experience.
3. Are there any birds you see when watching, to whom you would just like to cry "MOVE ON! You are boring and are keeping me from seeing birds of more interest!"
I try not to be a snob to the more common birds, but it does happen sometimes, especially when there’s like 50 grackles hogging up all the birdseed at my feeders, and the little songbirds can’t get in there. It also happens a lot when I’m driving around in the countryside looking for birds, and I see something and slam on the brakes, thinking it’s some cool hawk or falcon, and it’s always a damned pigeon.
4. I really enjoy the many beautiful pictures of your garden, including the occasional pics of food. Which of your home-grown food do you savor the most?
Tomatoes, without a doubt. I’ve always loved tomatoes right off the vine. I rub ’em on my shirt for sanitary purposes, then I eat them – right outside. Eating something you’ve grown yourself, nurtured from the time it was a little seed, is magical to me. As a vegetarian and nature-lover, it just doesn’t get any better. At least until I can grow veggie egg rolls, fried up crispy and golden.
5. I see that your other blog, "Impeachment And Other Dreams" has been dormant for quite some time. Is impeachment no longer a possibility, even the dream of impeachment?
I’ve stopped believing it’s a possibility. I used to listen to news about the latest scandal or lie or crime connected to this administration and think, “okay, THIS is the tipping point! This is IT!” But that tipping point never came; it’s still never come. I just got too discouraged to keep writing about it; that’s when I started the birding blog. It’s easier to keep from throwing up all the time when I just write about birds and stuff. Besides, there are so many great liberal blogs and news sites out there; I just read those and throw up on a limited basis.
Now it's your turn: Here are Splotchy's Rules of Order:
1. If you want to be interviewed, leave me a comment saying "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with a post containing your the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
And so on, and so on, and so on....
1. I see mention of a Mennonite grocery store down the road from you. What makes a grocery store a Mennonite grocery store? Any special products, or absence of products that I should be aware of? Would I be able to get beef jerky there?
The Mennonite grocery store down the road is staffed (mostly) and owned by Mennonites, hence the name. We’re talking ladies in their plain dresses, white aprons, and those little bonnets. It’s like watching Witness at the grocery store (kinda). The actual name of the store is Burkholder’s. I guess that’s a Mennonite name? What do I know, I’m from Texas. As for special products, they have the usual grocery store stuff, though I don’t know about the beef jerky. (I’m vegetarian so I never looked.) You can also buy these Amish-themed books there, like teen romances and stories about young Amish/Mennonite people; most of these books are written by someone named Beverly Lewis. I always wonder if she’s Amish, or just has a really good research assistant. Also, it’s the only grocery store I know of where you can’t buy cigarettes or any tobacco products. I once asked where the cigarettes were (my partner smokes), and the lady behind the counter gave me a look like I’d said, “I just had an abortion in Aisle 7; can you get someone with a mop?”
2. Please describe a favorite unexpected or unplanned bird-watching moment.
My favorite unplanned moments in bird-watching always occur when my partner Kat, who doesn’t like birds because they creep her out, is around. Usually, this happens in the backyard when I’m looking for birds on the marsh behind our house, because she NEVER comes birding with me. One time, I was sitting in the yard watching the birds at one of my feeders when she started screaming, “BIG WHITE BIRD! BIG WHITE BIRD FLYING AWAY!” After I recovered from the heart attack she caused, I turned in time to see a great egret pair – beautiful big white birds – taking flight together. That was nice. And her knowledgeable and poetic description really put a capper on the experience.
3. Are there any birds you see when watching, to whom you would just like to cry "MOVE ON! You are boring and are keeping me from seeing birds of more interest!"
I try not to be a snob to the more common birds, but it does happen sometimes, especially when there’s like 50 grackles hogging up all the birdseed at my feeders, and the little songbirds can’t get in there. It also happens a lot when I’m driving around in the countryside looking for birds, and I see something and slam on the brakes, thinking it’s some cool hawk or falcon, and it’s always a damned pigeon.
4. I really enjoy the many beautiful pictures of your garden, including the occasional pics of food. Which of your home-grown food do you savor the most?
Tomatoes, without a doubt. I’ve always loved tomatoes right off the vine. I rub ’em on my shirt for sanitary purposes, then I eat them – right outside. Eating something you’ve grown yourself, nurtured from the time it was a little seed, is magical to me. As a vegetarian and nature-lover, it just doesn’t get any better. At least until I can grow veggie egg rolls, fried up crispy and golden.
5. I see that your other blog, "Impeachment And Other Dreams" has been dormant for quite some time. Is impeachment no longer a possibility, even the dream of impeachment?
I’ve stopped believing it’s a possibility. I used to listen to news about the latest scandal or lie or crime connected to this administration and think, “okay, THIS is the tipping point! This is IT!” But that tipping point never came; it’s still never come. I just got too discouraged to keep writing about it; that’s when I started the birding blog. It’s easier to keep from throwing up all the time when I just write about birds and stuff. Besides, there are so many great liberal blogs and news sites out there; I just read those and throw up on a limited basis.
Now it's your turn: Here are Splotchy's Rules of Order:
1. If you want to be interviewed, leave me a comment saying "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with a post containing your the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
And so on, and so on, and so on....
A Presidential Snub of Wiccan War Widow
A picture of Patrick and Roberta Stewart on their wedding day, along with memories of her loving husband, help Roberta get through each day.On September 25, 2005, with honor, Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart, 113th Aviation, D company, Mustangs, of the Nevada National Guard, gave his life for his country. He was killed in action in Operation Enduring Freedom. Mustang 22, the Chinook helicopter he was in was shot down in Afghanistan by Al Quada terrorists.Determined to honor her husband, Roberta spent years fighting the US Department of Veterans Affairs for the right of her husband to have the symbol of their faith, the Wiccan symbol, on his grave marker.
Wicca is a nature-based religion grounded in pre-Christian beliefs. Circle Sanctuary says the Wiccan religion honors the Divine as both Mother and Father, encompasses love and respect of Nature, celebrates the cycles of Sun and Moon, and encourages adherents to live in harmony with other humans and the greater Circle of Life.
Patrick and Roberta practice the Wiccan faith, they were married in a Wiccan ceremony, and Patrick had "Wiccan" placed on his dog-tags to designate his faith tradition.
With help from Americans United for Separation of Church and State's legal department, last April the Department of Veterans Affairs settled the lawsuit brought by Stewart (and others).One might think that would be the end of the story. Think again.
Following an address to the American Legion’s national convention in Reno on Tuesday, President Bush met with northern Nevada family members of soldiers who have perished in combat. Everyone, that is, EXCEPT Roberta Stewart.
Stewart wasn't invited, even though other relatives of Sgt. Stewart were.
A press release issued by Americans United says:
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Sgt. Stewart’s parents and brother were invited to the brief, private meeting with the president. So was the widow of one of the other National Guardsmen killed with Sgt. Stewart when their Chinook helicopter was shot down.Is there no end to this president's shameful behavior?
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, condemned Bush’s snub of Stewart.
“The president should issue an apology to Roberta Stewart,” Lynn said. “She stood courageously for religious freedom for all soldiers, and the president was wrong to treat her so shabbily.” [...]
During the litigation, AU attorneys unearthed evidence that the VA’s refusal to recognize the pentacle may have been motivated by bias toward the Wiccan faith. It appeared that the VA did not want to recognize the faith, which President Bush has publicly derided in the past.
Lynn said the president’s snub of Roberta Stewart smacked of retaliation for her public and successful stand against the administration policy.
“President Bush seems to be continuing a pattern of hostility toward the Wiccan faith,” he said. “That’s an outrage. America is a nation of great religious diversity, and all public officials, especially the president, have an obligation to serve all of the people. Our Constitution mandates equal treatment of all faiths.”
_____________________________________
UPDATE
from Americans United for Separation of Church and State:
President Says Deceased Veteran's Wife Should Have Been Included In Meeting With Families Of Fallen Service Personnel
Americans United for Separation of Church and State today commended President George W. Bush for his apology to a Wiccan war widow who was excluded from a private meeting with veterans and their deceased family members in Nevada earlier this week. (more)
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Evolution vs Creationism
The truth comes out at last!
TRIVA QUESTION: The song comes from what movie?
Okay, the LAST on Sen Larry Craig
The fall semester begins
"Time in the hand is not control of time...."
-- Adrienne Rich, "Storm Warnings"
I started my calculus class today, the next step toward getting into my desired major: forensic science. All we did today was review old algebra concepts and already I'm lost. I didn't really "get" algebra all that well, and none of those concepts seem to have stuck with me. I am hoping it all comes back soon, and I'm able to get through this class the way I did trigonometry--studying all the time, but doing well and coming out with an A- and ending up on the Dean's List to boot. Kinda silly, that.
As I waited for class to begin, I had a weird thought: I came to class today in shorts and a golf shirt, with the late afternoon sun still high in the sky and a cool breeze blowing a little before 6pm. I realized that before this course is over in December, I'll be coming to class in a heavy coat and boots, under a darkened sky with a bitter wind--and most likely snow--blowing. Class ends at 8, and on this day I drove home and watched the sun set, admiring the moon rising through the pink band of sky known as the girdle of Venus. Soon, it'll be dark by 5, and I'll trudge to and from class in the snow. The weather has to change so much before I am done with this course! The strange thing is, I feel like the days are changing so fast when I look at the sunlight, the birds, the sky, the weather; yet it seems like this semester is stretching out before me like a life sentence in prison, one day after the other, unchanging. How can it be both ways at once?
Time is such a strange thing. The hours of a day can be so cruel, hurrying by when we want them to last but dragging when we just want them to move along. The length of those hours never changes, except in our minds. What seems like a mercilessly unending day to me can, at the very same time, have flown by for you. And we can tell each other of our different perceptions, and it doesn't make a bit of difference.
Makes wearing a wristwatch seem pretty pointless.
-- Adrienne Rich, "Storm Warnings"
I started my calculus class today, the next step toward getting into my desired major: forensic science. All we did today was review old algebra concepts and already I'm lost. I didn't really "get" algebra all that well, and none of those concepts seem to have stuck with me. I am hoping it all comes back soon, and I'm able to get through this class the way I did trigonometry--studying all the time, but doing well and coming out with an A- and ending up on the Dean's List to boot. Kinda silly, that.
As I waited for class to begin, I had a weird thought: I came to class today in shorts and a golf shirt, with the late afternoon sun still high in the sky and a cool breeze blowing a little before 6pm. I realized that before this course is over in December, I'll be coming to class in a heavy coat and boots, under a darkened sky with a bitter wind--and most likely snow--blowing. Class ends at 8, and on this day I drove home and watched the sun set, admiring the moon rising through the pink band of sky known as the girdle of Venus. Soon, it'll be dark by 5, and I'll trudge to and from class in the snow. The weather has to change so much before I am done with this course! The strange thing is, I feel like the days are changing so fast when I look at the sunlight, the birds, the sky, the weather; yet it seems like this semester is stretching out before me like a life sentence in prison, one day after the other, unchanging. How can it be both ways at once?
Time is such a strange thing. The hours of a day can be so cruel, hurrying by when we want them to last but dragging when we just want them to move along. The length of those hours never changes, except in our minds. What seems like a mercilessly unending day to me can, at the very same time, have flown by for you. And we can tell each other of our different perceptions, and it doesn't make a bit of difference.
Makes wearing a wristwatch seem pretty pointless.
Facing a draft, Ted Nugent bravely wet his pants
By now I'm sure many have heard about singer Ted Nugent's rant against Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Dianne Feinstein. Leave it to John Amato at Crooks and Liars to point us to the real story!Richard Roeper, of the Chicago Sun-Times, writes:
So Ted Nugent roams a concert stage while toting automatic weapons, calls Barack Obama “a piece of —–” and says he told Obama to suck on one of his machine-guns. He also calls Hillary Clinton a “worthless bitch” and Dianne Feinstein a “worthless whore.”
That Nugent, he’s a man’s man. He talks the talk and walks the walk, right?
Except when it was time to register for the draft during the Vietnam era. By his own admission, Nugent stopped all forms of personal hygiene for a month and showed up for his draft board physical in pants caked with his own urine and feces, winning a deferment. Creative!…read on
Roeper then reveals (as if we didn't know) the bias of FOX News personality Sean Hannity, all in one short report! Brilliant!
The final word on Sen. Craig
Well, maybe the final word ... unless something else as funny as this surfaces. From Jesus' General we get the following message:
Larry Craig wants to punish nasty, bad, naughty boys
For the rest of the story, visit Jesus' General.
UPDATE: NBC News4 in DC is reporting that a DC man has come forward claiming that he had sex with the Senator in a men's room in Union Station. The report also aired tape of a younger Craig talking about a 1982 charge that he was involved in a gay sex scandal with Congressional Pages. Yikes! Senator Craig says he's not gay, but it sure looks like his boyfriend is!
I'm an auntie! Again!
My baby sister Nora and her great husband Mike just had her second daughter yesterday! I don't have any pics yet, but I do have some adorable pictures of her first daughter Alyssa, who's so cute that she almost looks like me!
Look at that sass!
The obligatory bath photo.
Look at that sass!Congratulations, Nora and Mikey!
More on Larry Craig ...
from Susie Bright's Journal:The GOP Narcissists aren't the exception to the rule— they ARE the rule. They personify the very sexuality they campaign against. If they vote against gays, we know they're queer. If they're hopped up about "child porn," we can guess their internet habits. If they hold up monogamous marriage as a Christian ideal, we know they're adulterous, blasphemous fools.
Here's what they all have in common; They pretend it didn't happen. They try to buy people off to shut them up. They cry that they've been victimized. And then they continue to persecute everyone else by:
Voting YES on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.
Voting NO on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes.
Voting NO on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation.
Voting YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage.
Voting NO on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation.
For more on Republican hypocrisy check this out! You gotta love the tubes, and their ability to bring people the truth.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Sen Craig BUSTED for Lewd Behavior
Someone needs to tell Sen. Larry Craig, (R-ID) that National Coming Out day is in October! It seems the Senator was arrested in an airport restroom for "lewd" behavior. The Senator says it was all a misunderstanding. Right.Roll Call's web site, the DC newspaper that broke the story, must be overloaded with visitors -- so here is the story from USAToday:
Roll Call is reporting that Sen. Larry Craig, an Idaho Republican, was arrested earlier this summer in a men's room at the Minneapolis airport by an undercover officer investigating complaints about sexual activity. The Capitol Hill newspaper says it obtained the arrest report.
On Aug. 8 Craig pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct. A 10-day sentence was stayed, but he received a year probation and paid more than $500 in fines and fees, Roll Call writes.[From the police report:]
After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?” the report states.
"What do you think about that?" Is it appropriate to include LOL in a blog post?
[Sgt. Dave] Karsnia entered the bathroom at noon that day and about 13 minutes after taking a seat in a stall, he stated he could see “an older white male with grey hair standing outside my stall.”
The man, who lingered in front of the stall for two minutes, was later identified as Craig.
“I could see Craig look through the crack in the door from his position. Craig would look down at his hands, ‘fidget’ with his fingers, and then look through the crack into my stall again. Craig would repeat this cycle for about two minutes,” the report states.
Craig then entered the stall next to Karsnia’s ... “At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot.
Craig pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge and paid more than $500 in fines. A ten-day jail sentence was stayed, but the Senator received a year probation.
Craig is up for reelection in 2008. Wonder how this is going to go over with voters.
Happy Birthday Bella!
The newest member of our family is one-year old today!
Older sister Braco (11 years-old), and
big brother Bart (6 years-old) join in the celebration.
Gonzales OUT!
Controversial Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned, according to the New York Times and the Associated Press. Gonzales submitted his resignation to the President on Friday, and an official announcement is expected later today.Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjury before Congress, has resigned. A senior administration official said he would announce the decision later this morning in Washington.
Mr. Gonzales, who had rebuffed calls for his resignation, submitted his to President Bush by telephone on Friday, the official said. His decision was not immediately announced, the official added, until after the president invited him and his wife to lunch at his ranch near here.
Possible replacements include head of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Senator Orrin Hatch.
So there you have it, another rat is leaving a sinking ship!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
Military Injustice?
from The Pfc. LaVena Johnson Petition web site:
Dr. Johnson spoke ... at the Veterans for Peace speakout on sexual assault in the military outside the Robert A. Young Federal Building in downtown St. Louis. This was just one of many events and workshops comprising the 22nd annual national convention of VFP.
In the video embedded here, Dr. Johnson talks about learning of LaVena's death, his suspicions about how she died, and the family's attempts to get the Army to reopen its investigation. He is introduced by antiwar activist and retired Army colonel Ann Wright.
Help compel the Army to reopen the investigation of a young soldier's death in Iraq.
Pfc. LaVena Johnson's death was ruled a suicide by military officials. The Johnson family believes she was murdered. Given the other stories that have come out of Iraq about violence against women in the military, I would absolutely agree with them. The family has pursued this matter for months. Please take a few minutes to visit their site and sign the petition.
As Logan Murphy, at Crooks and Liars, noted:
We know that George Bush and the military are still covering up the truth about the murder of Pat Tillman and lied about Jessica Lynch’s story so why should we trust we’re getting the truth about LaVena’s death?
h/t to Murphy at Crooks and Liars
Why August 26th matters
Women's Equality Day is coming up on Sunday, August 26. Instituted by Rep. Bella Abzug and first established in 1971, the date commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, the Woman Suffrage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave U.S. women full voting rights in 1920.
Unless your name is Ann Coulter, the day is cause for celebration! It's also a time when religious right fanatics take to the streets in protest -- usually of abortion rights. 2007 is no different, as the protests have already started in some parts of the country.
The next election is MONTHS away, but it's never too early to remind women in particular, and everyone, how important it is to VOTE. I know it seems as though our votes don't always count -- and sometimes they aren't counted properly, but the bottom line is we have a civic responsibility to show up and vote!
The young women, and men, who will vote for the first time in 2008 were born in 1990. YIKES! They have not lived in a world where birth control and abortion were illegal -- even for married couples. They never saw employment ads that were listed as "Help Wanted Male" and "Help Wanted Female." And they have no memory of the first Gulf war.
We are close to losing reproductive rights. The Bush administration's 'faith-based' initiatives have created government funded employment discrimination (based on religion) and far too many young people are dying in a war based on lies.
The slogan "we won't go back" works for someone my age, but is meaningless to new voters. The New York Times reports that young voters are leaning to the left. So I suggest to them that unless they want to find out first hand what we are all chanting about (at various protests and rallies) they -- and ALL progressives -- need to get our butts to the polls and vote!
Quick link: Must-read
Haven't had the chance to read it all yet, but I wanted to share this article with you.
Show me the money
With the presidential campaigns already in full swing, television and radio station owners across the country can already hear their cash registeres ringing! Visions of dollar signs are dancing in their heads -- and why not? Reuters is reporting:
With that in mind, here is a sample of what you may, or may not, see in the coming months!
The presidential election is 14 months away and with as many as 17 candidates now running, U.S. television and radio broadcasters are elated at the prospect of billions more in advertising dollars. [...]Yikes!
Wall Street analysts predict television stations alone could bring in a record $2 billion to $3 billion from the 2008 election cycle, up from $1.6 billion in 2006 and $900 million in 2004.
With that in mind, here is a sample of what you may, or may not, see in the coming months!
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Is it Sunday yet?
It's been a hectic week ... I really like this guy's voice ... so Cas Haley, take me away!
The Bird Almanac by David Bird
I finally found some time to look through my Bird Almanac; what a fascinating book! For trivia-goobers like me, this book is a veritable gold mine of information. Some highlights:
The New Jersey Audubon Society's World Series of Birding: the first winning team, in 1984, competed for Zeiss Optics and was composed of a few names that might ring a bell: R. T. Peterson, P. Dunne, L. Dunne, D. Sibley, P. Bacinski, and W. Boyle. (the book only gives first initials) I was reminded of the first Olympic basketball team composed of professional athletes, back in 1992, with Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Clyde (the Glide) Drexler, and John Stockton on it (and some other guys). Can you imagine going hard-core birding with RTP, Pete Dunne, and David Sibley!? Holy moly. Incidentally, they tallied 201 species to get the win.
Top U.S. ABA World Lister as of January 2002: G. Winter, with 7,716 species. Wow. Only a couple thousand to go, and this person racks up every bird species in the world; it's kind-of hard to even fathom that. My lifelist isn't even to 200 yet.
Top U.S. ABA USA Lister as of Jan 2002: M. Smith, with 907 species out of the total 984 species in the USA. Sheesh. By now, this M. Smith probably has to go to another country just to get a life bird! Can you imagine that?
The common swift can go up to three years without landing. The sooty tern can go from three to ten years without landing! Don't they get tired of flying? I mean, the birds could kind-of float on the breeze for a while here and there, but I'd sure want to sit down after about a year or so.
Assemblages of birds: We've all heard of a murder of crows and a gaggle of geese. But have you heard of these grouping terms?
hawks: boil, screw, cast, kettle (Susan Gets Native -- have you heard of any of these?!)
warblers: yellowing ("there's a yellowing of warblers over in this thicket!" as if.)
flycatchers: zipper (are they just making this stuff up?)
nuthatches: creep (come on, man...)
vireos: cheer (yeah, right)
gulls: galaxy (my leg is getting tired of being pulled)
ravens: unkindness (seriously, that's what the book says: an unkindness of ravens. Indeed.)
I even found a personal connection: Julie Zickefoose's recipe for bluebird food is in the book.
5 parts oatmeal
1 part each of corn syrup, peanut butter, and bacon grease or lard
Mix well, then push into holes in a feeder log. Other birds like it too.
Cool. Who else would they go to for the best bluebird information? Who else but the Science Chimp! Her husband Bill of the Birds also has a blurb on the back cover.
Speaking of Zick, did everyone get a chance to hear her commentary about marriage on NPR yesterday afternoon around 5:30ish? Another driveway moment, compliments of Julie.
The bird also contains all kinds of crazy anatomical and physiological information on birds; some sections, I can't imagine using unless I were in the Jeopardy final round and the category was Birds. (Bet it all!) But some parts--including the chart on length of incubation of eggs, clutch sizes, and other such charts--are really useful. All in all, it's a really great book. This edition was published back in 2004. Still, other than the listing records and award recipients, the facts are still the facts. Thumbs up for David Bird's The Bird Almanac.
The New Jersey Audubon Society's World Series of Birding: the first winning team, in 1984, competed for Zeiss Optics and was composed of a few names that might ring a bell: R. T. Peterson, P. Dunne, L. Dunne, D. Sibley, P. Bacinski, and W. Boyle. (the book only gives first initials) I was reminded of the first Olympic basketball team composed of professional athletes, back in 1992, with Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Clyde (the Glide) Drexler, and John Stockton on it (and some other guys). Can you imagine going hard-core birding with RTP, Pete Dunne, and David Sibley!? Holy moly. Incidentally, they tallied 201 species to get the win.
Top U.S. ABA World Lister as of January 2002: G. Winter, with 7,716 species. Wow. Only a couple thousand to go, and this person racks up every bird species in the world; it's kind-of hard to even fathom that. My lifelist isn't even to 200 yet.
Top U.S. ABA USA Lister as of Jan 2002: M. Smith, with 907 species out of the total 984 species in the USA. Sheesh. By now, this M. Smith probably has to go to another country just to get a life bird! Can you imagine that?
The common swift can go up to three years without landing. The sooty tern can go from three to ten years without landing! Don't they get tired of flying? I mean, the birds could kind-of float on the breeze for a while here and there, but I'd sure want to sit down after about a year or so.
Assemblages of birds: We've all heard of a murder of crows and a gaggle of geese. But have you heard of these grouping terms?
hawks: boil, screw, cast, kettle (Susan Gets Native -- have you heard of any of these?!)
warblers: yellowing ("there's a yellowing of warblers over in this thicket!" as if.)
flycatchers: zipper (are they just making this stuff up?)
nuthatches: creep (come on, man...)
vireos: cheer (yeah, right)
gulls: galaxy (my leg is getting tired of being pulled)
ravens: unkindness (seriously, that's what the book says: an unkindness of ravens. Indeed.)
I even found a personal connection: Julie Zickefoose's recipe for bluebird food is in the book.
5 parts oatmeal
1 part each of corn syrup, peanut butter, and bacon grease or lard
Mix well, then push into holes in a feeder log. Other birds like it too.
Cool. Who else would they go to for the best bluebird information? Who else but the Science Chimp! Her husband Bill of the Birds also has a blurb on the back cover.
Speaking of Zick, did everyone get a chance to hear her commentary about marriage on NPR yesterday afternoon around 5:30ish? Another driveway moment, compliments of Julie.
The bird also contains all kinds of crazy anatomical and physiological information on birds; some sections, I can't imagine using unless I were in the Jeopardy final round and the category was Birds. (Bet it all!) But some parts--including the chart on length of incubation of eggs, clutch sizes, and other such charts--are really useful. All in all, it's a really great book. This edition was published back in 2004. Still, other than the listing records and award recipients, the facts are still the facts. Thumbs up for David Bird's The Bird Almanac.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Two years today
It's been two years now since the launch of Yikes! The first post was actually a little difficult, because I couldn't settle on what to write. So I decided that less was more:
Aug 22, 2005 -- TimePolitics has been a passion of mine since the Kennedy-Nixon presidential race. Somehow my Republican parents managed to raise a little Democrat. And even though my mother volunteered for the local Republican party, she was very supportive of my interest in politics. So much so that she made a special trip to the local Democratic party headquarters just to get me a "Kennedy for President" campaign button.
Fast forward to 1968, and the night Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed. I was at home in Indiana, and I remember watching the speech delivered by Robert Kennedy that night in Indianapolis on the news. He was in the city for a campaign appearance, but when news of the tragedy broke -- against the wishes of his campaign staff -- he went into the predominately Black neighborhood where he was scheduled to speak. He didn't deliver his prepared remarks, choosing instead to speak from the heart -- and it was incredible:
April 25, 2006 -- Is it too late to get the passion back in politics?It was so frustrating watching Kenneth Lay walk around a free man, while thousands of people were in despair over the loss of their financial security. I had to say something, and this post proved to be my most popular! The Houston Chronicle linked to it, and at a time when I would normally get 10 to 15 hits per day I got almost 400 hits in one day! All I could say was YIKES!:
Mar 22, 2006 -- Why isn't Kenneth Lay in jail?Writing the next three posts broke my heart. Violence and poverty, when will it end?
June 11, 2006 -- Senate 'hate-speech' gives license for violence
Feb 3, 2007 -- A tragic ending for two Rachel's
Mar 2, 2007 -- 12 year old boy died of a toothacheRegular visitors to Yikes! know that I try to post a Sunday Funnies each week. This was one of my favorites:
April 1, 2007 -- Sunday FunniesI am in awe of Tengrain at Mock, Paper, Scissors and Dr. Zaius at Zaius Nation for the wonderful snark they post. I only wish I had a fraction of their talent. So I'd like to close with one of my favorite posts, which also happens to be my attempt to emulate them -- here it is:
July 1, 2007 -- Dogs United for Seamus
See - Know - Evil
Strange billboards are popping up all over the country during the August Congressional Recess. Is their purpose to influence the American public ... or members of Congress who see them while touring their districts? 
Tagged
I would like to thank Republic of Sestakastan, who tagged me for this award. Before I share with you my choices, here is the criteria for receiving the award -- but first, a word from our sponsor.
Now it's my turn to pick five Recipients. Here are my choices in no particular order:
Yeah, I know ... it's a gurrl thang!
This is from the award’s creator, Divided We Stand.
I am, of course, a hack, a flamer, a rock thrower, and it isn’t something I’m uncomfortable with. Look at what happens every time you try to take the “high road” with people that include among their operatives Karl Rove, Michelle Malkin, Maggie Gallagher, Sean “Slanthead” Hannity, Rush “Oxy-Moron” Limbaugh, and my personal favorite, Ann Cuntler. What do you get for being nice to them (and their brain-dead fans?) You get dumped on, and you walk away stinking. The hell with that. Let somebody more virtuous than me take the high road; I’m quite comfortable in the gutter.
Here is the Revised Description of the Award courtesy of Central Insanity:
“1. The award recipients are pissants – i.e., they’re not the biggest bloggers in the ’sphere, they’re not Kos or Hewitt or Sullivan, but they make up in attitude what they lack in size/readership.
2. They are provocateurs – i.e., they provoke other people into thinking about and responding to subjects they might not otherwise think about and respond to.
3. By virtue of the first two traits, they advance the intrinsic value of a government that is closely, evenly divided between partisans, so no one party has outright control of the outcomes, recognizing that (a) divided government honors the check-and-balance intent of the founding fathers; and (b) divided government tends to work better; reference the Reagan and Clinton years versus the Carter and Bush #43 years.”
Now it's my turn to pick five Recipients. Here are my choices in no particular order:
Yeah, I know ... it's a gurrl thang!
Monday, August 20, 2007
Hey, 35%ers ... go get 'em
There is a small, but growing band of 35 %ers who unabashedly support Dennis Kucinich. They have not managed to bring me over to their side, but I must say that following Sunday's "debate" I certainly do hope they take George Stephanopoulos to task.During the hour and a half debate, George managed to call on Dennis maybe twice -- and usually only when he was asking for the opinion of all the candidates on a particular topic.
The shut out was so clearly obvious that Kucinich used it to get a laugh line.
A viewer asked: "My question is to understand each candidate's view of a personal God. Do they believe that through the power of prayer disasters like Hurricane Katrina or the Minnesota bridge collapse could have been prevented or lessened?" [Note: I have a question as to why this question was even asked, but that's another post.] All the candidates were asked to respond.
When the question got to Kucinich, who was last in line, he said: "George, I've been standing here for the last 45 minutes praying to God that you were going to call on me." [laughter]
Kucinich then looked toward the heavens and smiled. He was the only candidate to actually quote from the Bible in his response, but then he went on to say: "Now the founders meant to have separation of church and state, but they never meant America to be separate from spiritual values."
To put this in perspective, here are how the candidates currently stack up in Iowa:
Obama - 27%
Clinton - 26%
Edwards - 26%
Richardson - 11%
Biden - 2 %
Kucinich - 2%
Dodd - 1%
Gravel - 0%
Clinton - 26%
Edwards - 26%
Richardson - 11%
Biden - 2 %
Kucinich - 2%
Dodd - 1%
Gravel - 0%
Candidates with less support (Dodd and Gravel), and similar support (Biden), were tossed a lot more questions -- so the 35%ers need to ask George, "what have you got against Kucinich?"
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Quiet Sunday
The birds are strangely quiet this morning, and we're under a cotton-batting sky of solid gray. I heard a catbird's mewing earlier, but now everything is quiet. I'm wondering if the birds know something is coming--a storm, maybe. Do birds sense these things? I would imagine they do, but does it make them get very quiet? I've seen that phenomenon on movies, like just before the big hurricane, all the tropical animal noises stop. But this is Central PA; not much chance of a hurricane.
I went out on the marsh to my migrant-stake-out location and saw. . . nothing. It is colder this morning than it has been, in the upper 50s; maybe that's a contributing factor. Yesterday was beautiful as well, sunny with a high in the low 70s, so we took advantage and finally mowed the lawn and weeded all the garden beds. The front of the house looked like a jungle, with Queen Anne's lace and ragweed reaching up to three feet high.
Yes, I let it get that bad.No, I didn't take a picture; it was too embarassing.
It's all cleared out now, though, and I mowed for the first time in about a month. Neighbor Ed, a compulsive lawn-mower, probably began to cry when he saw me finally starting me up the mower,
One more garden-related note: the Garden Arch, weighed down with morning glory, finally gave up the ghost night before last. I went out to find the metal had completely snapped off at the ground level, and the whole thing had just collapsed. Kat and I worked on clearing that out as well.
Before, a couple of evenings ago, with five-foot Em for scale:
After, yesterday:
It's quite forlorn now, but I imagine those rabid morning glories will take it back over within a couple of days. Meanwhile, I finally cleared out the old lettuce tower (which had grown taller than I am) and all the old bitter lettuce and gone-to-seed cilantro:
Now I can plant some more lettuce and cilantro; I should be able to get some before the cold weather starts.
Here's the collapsed archway, still being strangled by mo-glo's:
That whole thing must've weighed at least 60 lbs; I couldn't lift it, and I can lift 40-lb bags of birdseed without much trouble. The puny little archway (metal, bought on clearance of course at JoAnn Fabrics or someplace--one of Kat's bargain purchases) just rusted and fatigued until it couldn't stand any more. I'm thinking of building a new one out of wood, but then there's the whole pressure-treated thing to deal with. I don't want anything like that near my veggies. I suppose I could get some redwood or cedar; I'll have to price that at the local mega-home-improvement store.
And my beautiful sunflowers, dancing in the breeze:
It's a quiet Sunday here at the Marsh House, and although there are no birds around, I'm not complaining. The weather is cool, there's a gentle breeze, and all seems right with the world. But then, it always seems that way when I'm home.
I went out on the marsh to my migrant-stake-out location and saw. . . nothing. It is colder this morning than it has been, in the upper 50s; maybe that's a contributing factor. Yesterday was beautiful as well, sunny with a high in the low 70s, so we took advantage and finally mowed the lawn and weeded all the garden beds. The front of the house looked like a jungle, with Queen Anne's lace and ragweed reaching up to three feet high.
Yes, I let it get that bad.No, I didn't take a picture; it was too embarassing.
It's all cleared out now, though, and I mowed for the first time in about a month. Neighbor Ed, a compulsive lawn-mower, probably began to cry when he saw me finally starting me up the mower,
One more garden-related note: the Garden Arch, weighed down with morning glory, finally gave up the ghost night before last. I went out to find the metal had completely snapped off at the ground level, and the whole thing had just collapsed. Kat and I worked on clearing that out as well.
Before, a couple of evenings ago, with five-foot Em for scale:
After, yesterday:
It's quite forlorn now, but I imagine those rabid morning glories will take it back over within a couple of days. Meanwhile, I finally cleared out the old lettuce tower (which had grown taller than I am) and all the old bitter lettuce and gone-to-seed cilantro:
Now I can plant some more lettuce and cilantro; I should be able to get some before the cold weather starts.
Here's the collapsed archway, still being strangled by mo-glo's:
That whole thing must've weighed at least 60 lbs; I couldn't lift it, and I can lift 40-lb bags of birdseed without much trouble. The puny little archway (metal, bought on clearance of course at JoAnn Fabrics or someplace--one of Kat's bargain purchases) just rusted and fatigued until it couldn't stand any more. I'm thinking of building a new one out of wood, but then there's the whole pressure-treated thing to deal with. I don't want anything like that near my veggies. I suppose I could get some redwood or cedar; I'll have to price that at the local mega-home-improvement store.
And my beautiful sunflowers, dancing in the breeze:
It's a quiet Sunday here at the Marsh House, and although there are no birds around, I'm not complaining. The weather is cool, there's a gentle breeze, and all seems right with the world. But then, it always seems that way when I'm home.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
It's getting close ...
My how time flies when you're having fun! On Wednesday, August 22, Yikes! celebrates its second anniversary. It's been a fun two years!I'd like to thank my five loyal readers. You are the best! And you must have stopped by a lot, because I just realized Yikes! is getting close to 15,000 visitors.
This has been a wonderful learning experience for me, and I've made some great new friends.
Thanks for stopping by!
Friday, August 17, 2007
What a tragedy when the question becomes 'Who Would Jesus Kill?'
What is it about Texans and dragging people behind a vehicle? The tragic death of James Byrd, Jr., an African American, who was dragged to death by two white men made national headlines a few years ago. Byrd was targeted by the men because of his race.Recently, a Texas pastor was arrested and charged with dragging a girl at a Christian camp. Reuters reports:
A Texas pastor and a colleague have been charged with tying a 15-year-old girl to a van and dragging her along the ground after she refused to continue an exercise run at a Christian "boot camp," police said on Sunday.
Charles Flowers, senior pastor at the Faith Outreach Center, an evangelical church in the San Antonio suburb of Schertz, was arrested on Friday along with the camp counselor, Stephanie Bassitt, the Nueces County Sheriff's department said in a statement.The alleged incident took place in June and was reported to police by the mother of the girl, who was hospitalized for unspecified injuries.
WTF is wrong with these people?
The camp claims to strive to "prepare young men and women to positively impact their world with the principles of Christ as their foundation" and is "designed to build character and instill discipline, integrity, unity, and morality back into their lives."
So these morons think that dragging a young girl will instill integrity and bring morality into her life?
In California, another pastor has asked his followers to pray for his critics to die. The Los Angeles Times reports:
Wiley S. Drake, a Buena Park pastor and a former national leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, called on his followers to pray for the deaths of two leaders of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
The request was in response to the liberal group's urging the IRS on Tuesday to investigate Drake's church's nonprofit status because Drake endorsed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for president on church letterhead and during a church-affiliated Internet radio show.
Drake said Wednesday he was "simply doing what God told me to do" by targeting Americans United officials Joe Conn and Jeremy Leaming, whom he calls the "enemies of God."
"God says to pray imprecatory prayer against people who attack God's church," he said. "The Bible says that if anybody attacks God's people, David said this is what will happen to them. . . . Children will become orphans and wives will become widows."
Imprecatory prayers are alternately defined as praying for someone's misfortune, or an appeal to God for justice.
Again, WTF is wrong with these people? They clearly break the rules, and when called on their actions respond by praying for their "enemies" to die?
Notice that Drake didn't respond to the claim of violating federal tax law. I wonder how he will respond when the IRS decides to yank his tax-exempt status, which could clearly happen.
Do these two pastors have ANY understanding of what it means to be "Christian?" I seriously doubt it.
Jose Padilla - when punishment precedes conviction
On Thursday, jurors in the Jose Padilla trial found him guilty of conspiracy to support Islamic terrorism overseas. On December 5 he will learn his fate -- or does he need to wait?The Padilla case may be a first -- where a now convicted criminal actually received his punishment before the trial.
On her Democracy NOW site, Amy Goodman writes:
Jose Padilla has been found guilty in court and faces possible life in prison, but forensic psychiatrist Dr. Angela Hegarty explains after interviewing him that Padilla already paid the ultimate price through torture -- he's lost his mind.
Never mind that his conviction was for a crime different from the reason for his arrest. This is George Bush's America, where Constitutional rights and rule of law are meaningless.
In 2002 Padilla was arrested in Chicago as he exited an airplane. The charge, by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, was that Padilla was at the center of a plot by al-Qaeda to set off nuclear dirty bombs inside the United States.
President Bush then classified Jose Padilla as an enemy combatant, stripping him of all his rights. He was transferred to a Navy brig in South Carolina where he was held in extreme isolation for forty three months.
The Christian Science Monitor reported: "Padilla's cell measured nine feet by seven feet. The windows were covered over… He had no pillow. No sheet. No clock. No calendar. No radio. No television. No telephone calls. No visitors. Even Padilla's lawyer was prevented from seeing him for nearly two years."
According to his attorneys, Padilla was routinely tortured in ways designed to cause pain, anguish, depression and ultimately the loss of will to live.
Keep in mind that Jose Padilla is an American citizen.
Up until last year the Bush administration maintained it had the legal right to hold Padilla without charge forever. But when faced with a Supreme Court challenge, President Bush transferred Padilla out of military custody to face criminal conspiracy charges.
Dr. Angela Hegarty, assistant profession of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University, has spent time with Padilla. She concluded that he lacked the capacity to assist with his own defense. When asked if Padilla had been tortured her response was:
Well, "torture," of course, is a legal term. However, as a clinician, I have worked with torture victims and, of course, abuse victims for a few decades now, actually. I think, from a clinical point of view, he was tortured.
Hegarty was only able to do limited testing on Padilla, but concluded that his results were consistent with someone had suffered brain damage. When asked what happened to Padilla while in the brig, Hegarty responded:
What happened at the brig was essentially the destruction of a human being's mind.
So there you have it. A person is imprisoned for possibly committing a crime, but before having an opportunity to meet with a lawyer, go through a trial, or even have a final judgment, the punishment is inflicted.
The New York Times report called the decision "significant victory for the Bush administration." But the real question to ask is whether this "significant victory" is on the war on terrorism or the war on the Constitution?
Hutchison ponders career change
The August Congressional Recess is always a fun time to learn new things about our elected officials. For example, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is floating the possibility that she will run for governor of Texas in 2010. At 64, Hutchinson is also thinking about her financial security, and the security for her two adopted children who are both 6.
"Before I retire, I need to have financial stability," said Hutchison, 64, raising the option of leaving public service after being asked about the always-swirling speculation about her political plans. "I could certainly see another career in the private sector. ... I certainly would like to make money. I think I've given up a lot of earning potential being in public service."
In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Hutchison said she loves public service but she also likes business. She has a law degree, was a television reporter, worked in banking and owned a candy company, besides serving in the state House and then state treasurer before the Senate.
Hutchison is also seen as a potential vice presidential candidate, should Republicans decide they need diversity on their ticket to counter Sen. Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic presidential candidate.
"Say it's Hillary and (Sen. Barack) Obama," said political scientist Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. "I doubt the Republicans would want to put forward two white males."
He said Hutchison is the only Republican woman in a high office who is well-positioned for the vice presidential spot.
GOP consultant Royal Masset said, "She's probably the most credible female we have in the nation."
It doesn't do for officeholders to look like they're campaigning to be vice president. But Hutchison sounds sincere about not wanting it.
"No. Nooooo," she said. "I do not want to be on the ticket for vice president ... I'm not interested in it. I don't want to be asked."There was a time when I thought maybe I would be interested in running for president but not now," she said. One factor: "I could never run for president with two 6-year-olds."
So there you have it. Hutchison 1) may run for governor, 2) won't run for vice-president, and 3) who knew she had two 6 year-old children?
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