All we Deserve to Know

The teleprompter did NOT break during Palin's speech last night, as was reported by a few right-wing bloggers, touting her extraordinary memory and grace under pressure. She's a smooth speaker, I'll give her that, but she wasn't "winging it", like the 'pubs would have you believe.

Geesh.

Of course, the McCain campaign announced today that she won't be doing any interviews or any unscripted events at all -- she'll just read speeches that are written for her by the campaign over the next few weeks; once she gets back into the campaign at all after going to "school", I guess. Wow, they must have a lot of respect and confidence in her abilities, eh?

We'll be carefully told everything we need to know about her, in a carefully choreographed manner. Apparently, being able to give a speech is qualification enough, and we don't "need" to know what her positions are or what she knows.

According to Nicole Wallace of the McCain campaign, the American people don't care whether Sarah Palin can answer specific questions about foreign and domestic policy. According to Wallace -- in an appearance I did with her this morning on Joe Scarborough's show -- the American people will learn all they need to know (and all they deserve to know) from Palin's scripted speeches and choreographed appearances on the campaign trail and in campaign ads.
[from TIME.com - go watch the video]

I don't know about you, but that attitude scares me. Shouldn't we expect transparency and substance from our politicians? I know I do.

Daily Show Rocks

Double standard? You decide...

Turning off CNN

Sorry for the ranting in the previous couple of posts about politics. I made the mistake of turning on CNN for the last few days to catch the highlights of the conventions.

It all just pisses me off so much that I'm instituting a self-imposed news moratorium. I get nauseated watching the RNC, frustrated watching the DNC, and end up yelling at the lies and fakery of political ads. I feel sorry for any canvassers or telephone polls that call here, it isn't pretty. I don't think I've ever been this angry about politics -- I just can't imagine another four years like the last eight. I just can't.

So, while I may watch the news and such, I'll try not to actually post much here. You all can do your own reading and watching and fact checking.

It's all just Truthiness

Truthout.org goes through the lies in the speeches last night at the RNC convention.

If I hear the "I opposed the bridge-to-nowhere" one more time, I'm going to scream. No, she didn't. And when it was finally killed, Alaska kept all the money for 'other projects'. Didn't save a penny there. And as for the new talking point about "command experience" -- nope. She has never issued any orders to the Alaska National Guard - she can't. While she has limited control over their deployment for in-state emergencies, those decisions are handled by the State Department (although with her approval in some cases). Once the ANG is sent overseas, the governor has absolutely no authority. Period. So all this "she's the CiC of the Guard is spin. Just stop it.

Where was the uplifting message of their vision? Where was the outline of their plans? Where was one moment of illumination of what kind of leaders these people will be? All I heard was petty snarking. Jon Stewart was right: the GOP may love America, but they hate half the people living in it. And now, the stage is set so nicely for any criticism of Palin to be "sexist" -- because they simply cannot imagine that there might be some other reason to dislike her. Oh, no, can't make any comments about her job performance, that would be picking on a poor, defenseless woman. I can't imagine how you can argue she's fit to be VP at the same time you say she needs protecting from those big, bad democrats who are going to chew her up and spit her out over policy issues and decisionmaking.

It's funny, though, since it's remarkably easy to find them arguing that other women (Hillary, for example) need to just suck it up and handle it and not cry sexism, if they want to be in politics. Are these people unaware that there are machines nowadays that can actually (gasp!) record their comments? Do they not think that the double-standard they are applying is going to be noticed? Gah.

It frightens me that there are people out there who hear this, and believe every word without checking anything on their own. Gotta fact check, people! On both sides.

Low Crawling

So, as I noted earlier in the 'new carpet' post, we have decided that the carpeted living room and dining a room are off-limits to Uulaq when we're gone. For the moment, we've just put two of the kitchen chairs across the entry to the living room and are keeping the dining room door closed.

It works beautifully for Uulaq.

However, I walked out this morning to see Berit happily chewing a bone in the living room. Oh, says I, how did you get in there?

Well, she proceeded to show me -- low crawling under the kitchen chair, while wagging maniacally. She was SO PROUD of herself. (It's a really blurry picture, she moves pretty fast!)

Is anyone watching?

I'm sure these "claims" by the Republican speakers last night will start the email rounds soon.

• OBAMA WILL RAISE TAXES
• OBAMA NEVER REACHED ACROSS THE AISLE ON ANY PIECE OF LEGISLATION
• PALIN HAS MORE EXPERIENCE THAN OBAMA
  
• OBAMA CUT OFF FUNDING FOR OUR TROOPS ON THE BATTLEFIELD

It took less than a minute to find the truth under all the spin. Yeah, yeah, politics is about half-truths and saying what people want to hear, but some basic honesty would be nice, you know? If you look at the world in bright primary colors and simple one-syllable words, well, I guess this sort of "truth" might appeal to you. Nuance really isn't a skill at this level, is it?

Yes, taxes will go up -- if you make more than 250K a year. While that probably does affect the delegates at the convention, it doesn't touch 95% of the people who vote republican. Neither income nor capital gains taxes would affect them. And, of course, closing corporate tax loopholes will piss off a big part of the Republican support base. So, technically true fpr about 5% of the people, but certainly not the gasping, breathless threat of "Obama will raise YOUR taxes" that is presented. Unless, well, the RNC assumes that everyone is making that much money.

Never reached across the aisle. Flat-out false. He worked with Sen. Coburn to track Federal spending, and with Sen. Lugar on a non-proliferation Law, among others. Maybe he didn't reach across the aisle to agree wholeheartedly with the Republicans, but to say he does not work with the other side is false. Then again, for the last eight years, bipartisan meant agreeing with the Republicans and Bush. I don't know how much of Obama's speech on "working together" we can take as face value, I hope it's true.

And cut funding for troops? Well, I suppose you could spin it that way -- if by not voting on an appropriations and military funding bill that didn't include some sort of plan to withdraw from Iraq (as did many other Senators) is "voting against funding for the troops" . That's skating on pretty thin ice. If that's the criteria, we should take a look at the stuff that everyone else has "voted against" in the past-- like voting against funding education when it's got to much pork attached to it that it's a farce, or voting against veterans because the law didn't include enough support for huge spending increases in other areas. But, spin is everything. Characterizing this as a vote against the troops is misleading -- especially since there is a huge double standard here.

Then again, the fact that legislation is often festooned with various and unrelated bits of law -- funding pork barrel projects in a social security bill, adding wording to ban a contraceptive in a law creating parkland, that sort of thing. Have you ever read the bills proposed? By the time they make it through committee, most of them have a few pages of special legislation added. Can't veto a bill the funds the government for another year just because you don't like a line item that provides funding for something else -- or maybe you do, then you are criticized for shutting down government. Maybe the first law that everyone should consider is that every single line in a bill has to have the same topic.

And, if we want to look at "not supporting the troops" lets not lose sight of the fact that the current administration has refused to support pay increases, GI bill expansion, and has cut funding for VA hospitals among other things. What, you say? Well, that's just spin as well, isn't it? He didn't "cut" funding, he just didn't allocate as much as was requested; but he did strongly oppose raises and increased benefits for our troops, is that "voting against our troops"? What about opposing the GI bill? Pot, meet kettle.

And as for Palin having "more experience", that is laughable. Oh, wait, they're touting her "executive experience'. Apparently being governor of a state with the population of Memphis, TN is awfully important, and being the mayor of a town with 7K people has given her so much more experience than someone who has taught constitutional law, been a sendator in Illinois for eight years, and a US senator for four - and on the Foreign Relations Committee --....but wait! They are claiming Palin has foreign affairs experience because she lived near Russia. And she has command experience as CiC of the National Guard in Alaska (which is untrue, but the way - the governer has extremely limited powers to control the ANG) Oh! And she was in the PTA. And John McCain is a POW? Who knew? (please inject as much sarcasm as you can into that particular sentence. It seems to be trotted out against every criticism.)

Gah. I need to stop listening to CNN during the day. I avoided all but the final acceptance speech of the Democratic Convention, I should certainly stay away from the Republican one, or I'm going to be a Miss Bitchypants for the next week or so.

New Carpet

We finally succumbed. We've talked about recarpeting the the house in the next few years -- since we've moved in, Uulaq has had issues and occassionally peed in the dining room when she's left alone. Why that room, we don't know-- maybe it's the least-used part of the house and she figured it wasn't "den".

We know that she has some physical issues that make this a common occurrence - not only is she getting older but the has some long-term damage from chronic UTIs. At any rate, we had resigned ourselves to dealing with it and responded with frequent carpet cleanings and medication to make this a bit easier. We would replace the carpet after we lost her. Sounds a bit macabre, I know, sorry.

But this weekend was particularly bad (the Adorable husband cleaned the carpets again, and the wet carpet just reeks of dog pee). Nope, we can't wait any longer. This needs to be fixed. Now.

So, off to search for carpet -- you'd think that we'd be used to this sort of endeavor by now! At least we mostly agree on color and type of carpet -- we found a lovely cafe-au-lait color twist at Carpet Mill outlets and they're coming to measure the living room and dining room today. Just the two rooms -- we'll do the rest of the house later, I think. I'm planning on extending the wood floor into my office, and we are considering bamboo flooring on the first floor.

Oy. And all this started because I decided I was tired of the 18-year-old couch.

And this was the plan?

I've heard multiple times in the past few days that McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate will "bring over the disillusioned Hillary voters" and would bring the woman voters to the republican ticket.

I'm not a particularly vehement Hillary supporter (I don't hate her, i don't like her), but would someone please explain why I would suddenly vote for McCain because he has a woman running mate? Why would I change my vote to support an anti-abortion, anti-gay-rights, anti-woman, anti-contraception, anti-science, anti-environment, anti-conservation, pro-oil, pro-corporation, dominionist, stupendously unqualified woman?

Because she has a vagina?

That's just insulting. I don't vote for someone because they share the same genitalia, I vote for them because I agree with their positions and plans. That anyone thought women would suddenly flock to the party ticket because it has (gasp!) a woman on it, is just plan idiotic. There is absolutely nothing about this woman that appeals to me as a voter. Women (and men) were not supportive of Hillary because she's a woman, they supported her because they liked her policies and views. That's going to change? Bah.

I'm sure it will appeal to some cross-section of society that was looking for a fundamentalist, religious candidate that shared their values -- but to think that women would suddenly change their minds to support her just because she's a woman, is ludicrous.

Way to make that first "presidential decision".

Someone's not getting it

Another Failblog.org entry. Someone is just not quite getting the problem....here's s proposed solution to flooding from global warming...

I was watching inconvenient truth the other day and theres the bit where it shows the sea level rising really high and flooding most of the world. Well i live near the sea, and don’t want to drown, so i got to thinking. Maybe if we lower the sea level a bit, when the water level rises then it won’t rise high enough to flood.

Anyway, heres the plan. Everyone who can should take a bucket of sea water and pour it down the sink. If lots of people put the effort in, we could lower the sea level substantially and create a better world for our children to live

Um. Yeah. That's going to work. I first thought this was an attempt to be funny, but I'm not so sure anymore.

Olympic Gold!

Something I really didn't know -- the winner of the Women's Marathon is an Erie, CO resident! She ran for her home country of Romania, but she lives in Erie!

How cool!

We're alive!

We're back! Ok, I'm a bit late in starting back to the blog, but missing three days of work means it takes most of the week to catch up.

The drive wasn't actually too bad, since we avoided Iowa (with their low speed limit) and instead ran right up the side of S. Dakota and N. Dakota before driving through corn country in northern Minnesota. Pretty uneventful.

It was great to see everyone -- the nieces are great, it's fun to be able to talk to everyone, the food at the resort was terrific, and we pretty much did nothing but eat, nap, and talk. My kind of vacation!

Off we go!

We're packing up the rest of the car and heading off for vacation -- leaving our poor housesitter alone with the Weasels.

I hope that they are good. I wrote out two pages of notes for them (like any good helicopter parent would!) with things like "WARNING: don't leave anything you want to keep on the floor" and "Don't use the front door if the dogs are loose in the house - they'll bolt out over your prone body and take off"

Cross your fingers that you don't see any horrible notes about the puppies on his blog!

We'll be back this weekend. I expect a couple of days of reading, eating good food, and hanging out with the in-laws. I can't wait to see the munchkins. Assuming we survive the drive, of course. I have about 52 hours of stuff on the ipod and enough books to keep me busy for at least a day or so. We might make it.

Pop! Soda!

Do you drink soda, pop, coke, fizzy drink, cool drink, soft drink? As anyone knows, there is a definitely regional bias -- and someone at popvssoda has actually collated all that data.

Sony Ebook vs Kindle

Instant Gratification Girl here - I was unable to resist the lure of the shiny new Sony eBooks at Borders (with a vacation coming up, having books is critical!). My new eBook i silver, though, not the shiny spiffy red that is being offered for pre-order and not available until September. If the puppies are psychic, they were a wee bit off.

The new eBook is thinner and lighter, and they've moved the buttons a bit (and made the page-turning buttons larger). Insteadof having the numbered buttons along the buttom of the screen, they are along the side, and a small page-forward and page-back button also were moved to the side. The "peg" is gone and there is a menu button now that is much easier to deal with. They obviously put a bit more thought into the ergnomis this time.

There is also a "go to page" function (woah, was that a huge miss in the first edition), and bookmarking is much easier. Can't actually search in books, but the listing features for titles and authors is much cleaner. And - PDFs now resize and reflow in a much more readable way. All in all, a very nice upgrade.

Even if it's not red.

My MIL asked why not a Kindle, from Amazon. My FIL has one, and is very pleased with it - and it's definitely a good option. The Kindle is a wireless device, so you can download content from Amazon whereever you are, and offers searching and annotation via the little teensy keyboard on the bottom, and the ability to suck down websites and such for later use. Live access to Wikipedia, too. (hm, I might miss that).

So why not a Kindle, with all that content available? A couple of reasons (first and foremost, having downloadable books available all the time is probably not a good idea for me, the book-hoarder) -- I like the more solid feel of the Sony. The Kindle is light, but most of the case is plastic. The eBook just feels better to me, especially the way that I ted to hold it while reading.

The Kindle also has large previous-page, next-page buttons along the sides; in fact, the next page button is most of the right side of the Kindle, and every time I picked up my FIL's, I turned the page. There was no way to hold id comfortably (for me) that didn't start flipping pages at random as I shifted my hands.

I also gravitated towards the Sony because of the variety of formats that I can read - pdf, rdf, doc, bbeb, epub -- and the easy of transferring things to the reader. Having the wireless download is a great idea, but being able to easily transfer my own documents to the Reader from my computer (no emailing - and no cost) was definitely a clincher. The amount of free content out there (Gutenberg, anyone?) is amazing. New books are cheaper on the Kindle vs the Sony eBook store or other electronic books stores, but the pricing structures seem to be evening out. A big plus here is that the Reader supports the open-source ePub format, which opens up enormous vistas of other ebook formats. Well, it's always possible to use a conversion program to make .lit, mobi, epub, docs, text, and html files into the "standard" format, of course, but having so mnay options is a plus.

I think if I read more 'subscription content' -- magazines or newspapers -- that the Kindle would be a better option. As it is, that's only a tiny portion of what I read - and since I spend 70% of my day in front of the computer, it's less of an issue.

But the Wikipedia access is pretty cool. I wonder does that work outside of the US?

Coincidence?

The bookreader is dead. Fully charged, and it won't turn on. I think they chewed down hard enough on the power button that it's just not functional. Dead. Bricked. I am pissed.

However, a slightly frightening thought occurred to me as I sat at my desk today, fending off the attempts of the puppies to get back into my good graces.

The puppies may be psychic.

They just KNEW that I had earlier today seen this lovely vision in red, and decided that if they destroyed my existing book reader, I would have to upgrade to the Sangria Red new version. It does pdfs better and handles larger documents better than my bleeding-edge-adopter version.

How did they know?

Want a free puppy?

I'll ship them in a small box. Very small. Perhaps without air holes.

They CHEWED UP MY BOOKREADER this morning while we went out. Ate the leather cover and CHEWED THE READER. I am fit to be tied.

It was on my desk, and while within reach, they had to work to get it off of my desk to chew it. BAD BAD BAD PUPPIES! BAD!

I'm still charging it up to see if it works at all.

The puppies, after being yelled at and chased from the house with the chewed up bookreader, are now skulking around and hiding in the living room.

They had been so good lately. No destruction.

BAD PUPPIES!

More redecorating news

The living room/dining room redo continues apace: we agreed on drapes (crimsom taffeta), drapery rods (doorknob finials), and are expecting the new furniture in the next week or so! While we will apparently negotiate for months on what do to, once we decide, we can run with it!

The only hiccup in the plan is that I bought a clock that I absolutely love, to hang above the fireplace, and the Adorable husband loathes it. Right now, with my fabulous love of the clock and his hatred of the clock, we are at about even. While I've told him that if he really hates it that much, that I'd return it, but so far, it's still on the mantel, awaiting hanging.

You can vote - click for a larger image. It's a huge clock (28").

Anyways, we found the drapes we love at BedBath and Beyond, so they aren't hundreds of dollars apiece, and they look fabulous. I can't wait for the furniture to show up.

Of course, not all is perfect: I can't get the drapery rods for the big windows until the middle of October some time (backordered), and we haven't found an ottoman yet that we both like, but it is all coming together.

Traveller IQ Test

Fabulous! I tried linking this in directly, but it barfs, so —

Here's the link!

Don't Think About It

Hopefully, everyone will find this as funny as I did. I just barked out with laughter, scaring the puppies.

More weirdness at xkcd, too.

Squeeeee!

My website on the Egyptian pharaohs has at least one page listed in the Encylopaedia Britannica website as an "outside link" -- my page on Pepi I! How cool is that! The website wants you to join/try a free trial, but you can see the link on the page if you squint a little bit.

At least I know that someone else has looked at the pages, not just me!


A couple of years ago, the UK site for History Channel listed the general website as a resource for their Lesson plans for a show on Egypt. Who'd have thought all that "scope creep" was useful?

McCain and Paris

Perhaps, if you are going to criticize your Democratic opponent as being a know-nothing, self-important,. useless rock-star celebrity like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, you ought to make sure that the celebrities in question aren't, you know....Republicans. The kind that support...um, you.

The Hilton family are McCain campaign donors, and have been staunch Republican supporters -- rumor has it they are furious with the ad. Spears is also a Republican supporter. Although her planned performance at the Republican convention was nixed, she's a strong supporter of those Southern, conservative values.

And the response? Well, most people are shaking their heads in disbelief that the ad was so cack-handed. But, Paris has apparently taken matters into her own hands.



You can see the video here, as well. I'm not a fan of either Paris or Britney, but I have to admit that her response is sharp and pretty damn funny.

Odd Convenience

A friend send me an email with the following photo:

Yup. SQUARE watermelons. The explanation is that these melons, grown in Japan, are a response to the tight spaces in Japanese refrigerators. A square melon -- grown in a hinged glass box while on the vine -- is easier to store, ship, and stack. Neat idea.

Well, neat until you realize they retail for about eighty bucks. (Back in 2001, according to this article at CNN).

"But cubic fruit comes with a caveat: Each square watermelon costs 10,000 yen, the equivalent of about $82. Regular watermelons in Japan cost from $15 to $25 each.

At $82 apiece, Winters said she didn't know if there would be a market for square-grown watermelons in the United States.

"I think that's a pretty expensive watermelon," she said. "Maybe they give them as gifts. Maybe it says something for the gift-fruit market, perhaps."

Gift watermelons? Well, probably not.

I found a website that explains how do to it yourself! How cool!

And you wonder why...

...people believe this shit.

From Church Signs that Won't Make you got to Church

Painting!

The painting has begun! The two-person crew showed up today, moved all the furniture, taped and caulked and the first coat is up in the living room, dining room, and entryway.

It's a huge change -- from plum in the living room and beige on the stairwell to a lovely, rich bronze color. Since Sherwin Williams actually gives me the RBG color codes for the paint, I can try to replicate it here:

It's "Relic Bronze". It's a great color, and will look fabulous with merlot-colored curtains. Assuming I can convince the Adorable Husband about the red....hm.

Can't wait for the new furniture!

Astonishing

I love old typewriters, so at least a tiny part of me is sad at cannibalizing venerable machines to make other stuff...but these sculptures are amazing.

Google ROCKS

I know that this has been around for awhile -- HOW could I have MISSED THIS?!

Google has scanned/digitized thousands of books and made them available online via Google Book Search. I went looking for a book on Irish grammar and came up with two dozen old books on the subject, which led me to browse the books that have "full versions" available -- usually books that are far, far out of print and have moved into the public domain. I love these old books -- I tend to collect them (on cooking and household life, and travel) off eBay. I have no idea that they were likely available from Google as electronic files!

I knew that they had limited access to current books (a few pages, etc, to allow for cites), but I had no idea that they had the full text of out-of-copyright materials. This is what the internet should be! Books, books, and more books.

I am so excited to continue browsing I can barely focus on work.

Lacking Math Skills

The Adorable Husband ran into this toy vending machine last night when we went out for a burger. Obviously, their counting skills leave much to be desired. Either that, or they're redefining a baker's dozen.

Seeing a Trend

I know, I know, no one ever pays attention to polls. At least that's what we're supposed to believe.

Which is a entirely untrue, of course. Everyone pays attention to them (whether they act on them is an entirely different matter). Everyone really pays attention to them when every single poll shows the same trend.

Someone sent me a link to pollster.com, which summarizes the primary political polls nationwide and has presented page of Bush's approval ratings for the last three years. The results aren't surprising, of course, but the symmetry among the twenty or so polls is rather striking.

Polls are a difficult thing to judge, though. Change the wording of a question even slightly, and the results change dramatically sometimes. I get called for a lot of polls (since I'm listed as an independent, I think), and some of them are so poorly put together that there is no "good" answer. The binary options are not equivalent - "do you think George Bush has done the best job possible based on the economic and political issues left to him by a Democratic congress" is not the same question as "do you think Bush has done a good job" -- writing poll questions is an arcane and powerful art, and sometimes it's very interesting to try to tease out what the pollster really wants you to say.

So, like everyone, I don't put too much faith on polls as accurately representing the "will of the people", but when all twenty show the same general trend, it's likely that they are measuring a real-world dissatisfaction fairly closely.

Of course, the last poll I took asked me some pretty odd questons: are you a nascar fan? how often do you shop at walmart? do you think child safety seat laws are too lax? I think they tossed in the first two just to throw me off....

Cake Wreck Blog

I've been laughing until I cried over some of these cakes. The idea that someone actually paid for them is kind of sad, but some of them are so incredibly awful you have to laugh.

Especially, Baby-Butt Cake. Or Naked Mohawk Baby Carrot Jockeys.

[image from Cake Wreck Blog]

What were these people thinking!

Geek Hierarchy

Ah-hah! Finally, a charg to determine just how geeky you are, based on the subjective decision of "consider [yourself] less geeky than...." Should I be embarassed that I can make it down to at least level 3 on a number of different paths? Hmm...

I don't speak Klingon. That should count for something!

Male Un-Bifurcated Garments

A letter-carrier in Washington state is on a mission to change the US Postal Service's dress code to allow him to wear a kilt.

Or, as NPR so amusingly characterized it: a MUG - Male Un-bifurcated Garments. That is, a kilt.

Dean Peterson wants to be able to wear a kilt on his rounds as a USPS Letter Carrier. He says they are more comfortable and allow for more choices in uniforms for male letter carriers. Female letter carriers can wear skirts, of course, but men are limited to trousers and shorts. He owns and wears kilts exclusively when not at work, and wants the option to wear his chosen garment -- in Postal Service Blue -- to work as well.

He's waging a one-man campaign to change the dress code. He spent his own stimulus package check on letters and materials to convince other mail carriers to join him:

"MUGs are worn all over the world, and have been for thousands of years because they are comfortable," he wrote to fellow mailmen. "Unbifurcated Garments are far more comfortable and suitable to male anatomy than trousers or shorts, because they don't confine the legs or cramp the male genitals the way that trousers or shorts do."

He is presenting his proposal to the 66th biennial convention of the National Association of Letter Carriers in Boston. Quite a few of his compatriots aren't terribly supportive. Most don't think it's "manly", or would be embarrassed to wear a "skirt" -- some have suggested that it would be unsafe, or at the very least, immodest (due to climing stairs, etc), although those arguments could just as easily be leveled at women wearing skirts, which is an allowed uniform option.

Good luck to Mr. Peterson! I hope that the Letter Carriers support you!

Geek Womb

I've got to get one of these! A self-contained techno-gek "pod". Obviously aimed at the gaming crowed, but wowsa! How cool would this be? Three 19" monitors, filtered air, surround sound, ergonomic seat and keyboards. I am such a geek.

The Onion Gets it

I occasionally have to re-read Onion stories a few times to make sure they really are satire. Some of them veer a little to close to reality.

WASHINGTON-A panel of top business leaders testified before Congress about the worsening recession Monday, demanding the government provide Americans with a new irresponsible and largely illusory economic bubble in which to invest.

Not Very Neighborly

An amusing, albeit rather shortsighted, response to a shop permit in Allenspark, CO has left the residents without an ATV rental and supply shop...and given them a close-up-and-personal porn shop.

Jeff Mead was recently denied the permit to open an ATV rental location in a shopfront he owns in Allenspark -- residents complained that ATVs are noisy, and have damaged private land. The story isn't terribly clear on whose private land - the renters of the ATVs? Someone else? -- but the residents successfully lobbied against the shop.

Well, Jeff Mead and his wife have responded by putting up a sign advertising "Patterson XXX Porn" on the site.

Mead said he's serious about opening the adult store to make money since he was denied a permit to open his rental shop.

Patterson is the name of one of the more vocal opponents to his ATV Rental shop proposal.

Childish, and immature, yes, but pretty damn funny.

It's a matter of economics, of course. There is no law preventing the use of the building as an adult store.

She and her husband, Jeff, say they are not smut peddlers but frustrated property owners. They say pornography is the only way they can survive in Allenspark after Boulder County turned down their request to run an all-terrain-vehicle rental business in a building they purchased for $428,000 in 2007.

The two-story log building housed the Eastin Gallery and Studio for 16 years just off the Peak to Peak Highway. Since the gallery has been an approved use, Boulder County cannot object to a use dedicated to adult artwork, Mead said.

"We just were shot down and shot down by Boulder County until we decided this is the only thing that's allowed where we might make some money," she said. "We just got to the point where we will do something legal with the building even though it appears unreasonable."

Patterson has made some rather snide comments about the Meads, apparently. Sniffing that what they really intend to do is sue Boulder Country, "that's how he would make his money" and argues that the sign is retribution for her fencing off a meadow that could have been damaged by the poposed ATV renters.

Yes, I laughed. I do hope they change the name - it't not nice to antagonize the neighbors. But I also with them well in their venture.

Ultimate Power!

Where was this guy when I needed him to make the puppies sleeeeeeeeeeepppppy!

Tool of The Man

I got sucked into a rather contentious argument earlier this week on the common practice of name-changes at marriage -- more specifically, when women change their surname to be the same as their husband's when they marry. Not everyone does, of course, but the social convention for a long time in the US has been for the woman to adopt her new husband's last name. For a long time, it wasn't really an option to not do this, which is probably what set a few people off.

I had a ramble about this very topic back in January - about how it really is rather unfair that a woman changing their name at marriage is a no-brainer, while any other combination of things requires far more effort. Apparently, the discussion is still going on!

A question came up about "what name do your kids have, if you and your husband kept your last names?" and suddenly the initially polite conversation became one of "if you even consider changing your name, as a wife, then you are perpetuating a horribly and damaging sexist policy of the "Establishment" and patriarchal ownership and you should be ashamed!" from a couple of posters.

Wha? Apparently, the only reason (according to one of the arguers) that married couples might share a last name is to perpetuate and support a historical context of female subservience. We wouldn't even be thinking about it nowadays, if the tradition hadn't been instituted to enforce a husband's "ownership" of his wife. She had to take his name, so everyone would know to whom she belonged.

If you change your name, then you obviously fully accept and buy into this concept. There is no other option. By sharing a last name with your spouse, you accept that women are subservient and that is ok.

Uh., sorry. No.

And - even better, this logic is just painful -- if you don't change your name, you are also just recognizing the de-facto social oppression of women, by not going along with it. Same for suggesting that the husband change his name.

Well, which is it? Changing your name is supporting oppression, or not changing your name is supporting oppression? Add in a soupcon of patronizing and insulting commentary about "how it's really hard for some people to buck conventions, tsk tsk", and it erupted into a kerfuffle.

I didn't realize that by wanting to have a common surname, and making the explicit decision to change my name, that I was suddenly assumed to have condoned, nay, supported, the historic denigration of women throughout history. Wow. Because what I call myself, what name I have, is obviously of such world-rocking importance that I need to carefully weight my impact on society.

As I noted before, it important to me that a married couple (me, again) have the same last name. Kind of a "unit" thing, presenting a unified front to the world. I don't expect anyone else to do this, but I must admit that I prefer it to the bothersome proliferating hyphens. People aren't any more or less "married" based on name, but I like the symmetry. This is apparently righteously offensive to the self-identified feminists on the discussion board.

Sure, it's frustrating that women who don't change their names are still faced with criticism from some people. Maybe you need a bit more documentation of your relationship in certain circumstances (for example, travelling with a child who does not share your name in this new TSA regime), but no one really pays that much attention anymore.

Unless everyone makes up a new name, there would be no way to make this person happy about naming choices, though. My surname was passed to me by my father, so it's no more "my name" and out from under the thumb of the patriarchy than my husband's name. Keeping my maiden name would not be any different than choosing to adopt the surname of my married family.

I'm actually all for making up new names. It could be fun. It would freak out the geneaologists to no end, but it could be fun trying to figure out who everyone was and who they were related to. "Hi, my name is John Snufflebooger and this is my wife Jane Gugglewhump, my son Jack Moof and my two daughters, Jill Zappa-Tweet and Jillian Smythe"

Can you imagine the name-tags?

Manufactured Controversy

Apparently, some college student in Florida went to Catholic mass (apparently on campus), and instead of eating the eucharist wafer, he carried it back to his seat -- and took the wafer from the church. (He has since returned it, btw). This, apparently, is something that he churchgoers are equating to killing and torturing someone. He was physically accosted and threatened when he didn't immediately eat the wafer. The student has been vocal about his opposition to public school funding for religious activitives on the campus, so it is quite likely that he was acting to prove a point.

Now the Catholic league is screeching about "vile acts" and comparing this to kidnapping and terrorism and hate crimes. Deranged, that's what it is. The hyperbole is soaring high.

“We don’t know 100% what Mr. Cooks motivation was,” said Susan Fani a spokesperson with the local Catholic diocese. “However, if anything were to qualify as a hate crime, to us this seems like this might be it.”

We just expect the University to take this seriously,” she added “To send a message to not just Mr. Cook but the whole community that this kind of really complete sacrilege will not be tolerated.”

PZ Myers, at Pharyngula blog, has more info on this -- and since he posted his angry response to this ridiculous message, he has received threats , sly accusations of pedophilia, personal attacks, and the Catholic league has -- get this - contacted the legislature in MN, apparently in an effort to force people to respect their superstitions (and to threaten to get people fired for not properly respecting their beliefs.)

The comments on the blog are rather interesting. The hatred and death threats really only seem to be coming from the good "christians" among the commenters. Does the irony not register on them that they are demanding tolerance and respect while specifically denying it to anyone who disagrees with them? This makes me very angry, so I'm sorry if I start to sound strident.

I don't suggest specifically and pointedly offending someone by goring their sacred cow, but the reaction by the church is over the top. Yes, the student was disrespectful; yes, the student was out of line -- but the assertion that this is the worst thing ever is a bit dramatic, especially to the point of demanding respect. Sorry, we might have to accept that you have a specific belief, but other than the social rules that we all abide by to live comfortably together -- there is no onus on a non-catholic to endorse those beliefs. We just have to tolerate them. I can think of hundreds of things more vile than not accepting the idea that a wafer is anything more than a wafer, and treating it as such. Making this a huge issue is an odd misplacement of priorities. The point of PZ's blog entry is that this student has been assaulted and threatened because he doesn't believe in transubstantiation. The assertion by the Catholic league is that because some hold it sacred they are entitled to insist that everyone should. They aren't. And that's the point.

I do think the student should apologize for taking it, because there are a lot of people who take this stuff seriously. The student wanted to make a point, and in doing so purposely jabbed a stick at someone's belief. Rude, yes. Insensitive, yes. But criminal? Horrible? Vile? Please., ratchet the rhetoric down a bit, eh?

This is a breach of etiquette, not an oppression of religion. No actual harm to anyone was perpetrated. Get a grip.

To-MAY-to, To-MAH-to

Sometimes, people should not use big words. A poster on TT posted this earlier in the week, after the announcement of the death of Jesse Helms. I didn't hear this -- I'm not sure where 'local" is for this person, but I still got a chuckle out of this.

I just heard a local newsperson talking about the career of Jesse Helms, saying that while he was often controversial, he spent many meretricious years serving his country.

Freudian slip? Big word confusion?

The word does not mean "full of merit" or "worthy of respect", as was probably intended here.

Main Entry: mer·e·tri·cious

Pronunciation: \ˌmer-ə-ˈtri-shəs\

Function: adjective

Etymology: Latin meretricius, from meretric-, meretrix prostitute, from merēre to earn — more at merit

Date: 1626

1: of or relating to a prostitute : having the nature of prostitution <meretricious relationships>
2 a: tawdrily and falsely attractive meretricious trash — Carolyn See> b: superficially significant : pretentious meretricious but stylish books

Sometimes the typos and misspeaking are far more amusing than they should be.

Now That's Fancy!

I am a bad person. This made me laugh like a hyena.

" Debra Jackson said she likes shopping at the Dollar Palace because it is convenient and casual.

"I don't have to get all dressed up like I'm going to Wal-Mart or something," she said, adding she shops at Williams' store "to pick up my cleaning supplies."

It's an actual news clipping from the Daily Town Talk -- you can see the actual clip here.

Ironic

While it's entirely possible that Windows is running on this laptop, the picture is awfully amusing!

From failblog.org

Geeky Birthday

The Adorable Husband knows me really well.

For my birthday, no jewelry, no foofery...but instead a 2T external backup drive for my computer. Two terabyptes. Vistas of space! Yeeha!

Deal or No Deal

Here's an interesting little widget: the cost of the War in Iraq.


click here to learn more

Since I know that about seven people read the blog, it probably won't freak out the bandwidth.

Good, Good Wine

Well, we've made the unsurprising discovery that we really, really like the uber-expensive bottle of wine we got for our anniversary. Really. As in, "yeah, I guess it really IS worth that much money..."

This is not necessarily a good discovery, of course. Now I'm going to feel guilty for wanting to buy more of it. It's probably good that there is a seriously limited amount of it available -- Mollydooker Velvet Glove shiraz. Yum. I don't pay a huge amount of attention to the wine ratings from all the wine magazines, but when a wine scores 98, 99 from more than one of them, it's probably as close to perfect as I'm going to find.

We are fans of Australian wines in general (must be our "broad American palates" that like the rich fruit) and I don't think we've had any of the Mollydooker wines that we didn't like. We've stocked up on their Boxer and recommend it whole heartedly to everyone!

But if you're looking for a nice bottle for a special occasion -- and are willing to drop two hundred bucks on the bottle for that special occassion...well, this is one I'd be more than happy to share with you!

Not my brand of "patriotism"

A booth at the Texas Republican State Convention is selling buttons with such lovely sentiments as "if Obama is president, will we still call it the white house?". WTF?

The company, RepublicanMarket (google for it, I don't want to give them a link), sells "Patriotic and Republican Products". By whose definition? Certainly not mine (and I hope not that of most Republicans). But this is Texas, so I'm not really surprised that this booth managed to get space at the convention. If I were a Republican, I'd be ashamed. As it is, I'm just disgusted. I would expect to see this sort of thing in a sidewalk vendor's cart, or online...not at a formal convention. Apparently some in the party have nothing to peddle but hate and war. Not quite the inclusive and accepting picture they've been trying to paint, eh?

I'm waiting for the spin that tries to explain how this button (and others, like 'Life's a B**tch, don't vote for one!" and "Press 1 for English, press 2 for Deportation") is not a disgusting, repulsive expression of racism, bigotry, and stupidity.

I can only hope that they are no longer peddling their wares at the convention, but I have no idea what the rules are regarding that.

Brawny Labor

Friends of ours are redoing their kitchen. Wait, "kitchen" is too small a description for the work that they are doing on their house -- knocking down walls, popping out the front of the house, framing in a laundry room in the breezeway, making the kitchen at least twice as large. It's going to be fabulous!

So their new refrigerator arrived yesterday and it required several brawny men to move it insdie. No wonder - it weight something like 500 pounds. It took four of the guys almost an hour to get it unwrapped, on the wheelie thing and up the few stairs into the house. Of course, the kitchen isn't quite done yet, so they're going to live with the fridge/freezer (all 48 cubic feet) in their living room for awhile.

I can't wait to see the finished product -- when we showed up yesterday, Mae was finishing up a plaster finish on the walls in the living room, which gets me thinking that I need something cool on MY living room walls and taht we should repaint the bedroom....the Adorable Husband just laughs.

I think we need to repaint our bedroom. The mediterranean green is not making me happy anymore. Sigh.

Bonk!

I've been getting a bunch of books lately based on recommendations from my Online Invisible Friends -- they're a widely-read bunch with some rather interesting choices.

On their recommendation, I picked up Bonk, by Mary Roach - "the curious coupling of science and sex" -- basically, a history of sex research. It's an absolute hoot. Her style is breezy and irreverent, and I actually laughed out loud a couple of times while reading. She is also the author of Stiff and Spook - studies of cadavers and life-after-death, in the same style.

It's worth it to just read the footnotes -- I kept interrupting the Adorable Husband (reading his own book) to read the footnotes out loud. I think my favorite thing in Bonk is the footnote which warns that "if you know what is good for you, you will not do a Google search on the words 'scrotum' and 'elephantiasis'."

Well, that, and the researcher who dresses mice up in polyester pants.

We Might Listen

Isn't it nice how he makes it sound like abiding by SC decisions is optional?

Q Mr. President, also back home, the Supreme Court ruled that Guantanamo detainees have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts. Doesn't this rebuke of your policy on detainees validate the criticism that Gitmo has gotten all over the world, especially here in Europe?

PRESIDENT BUSH: First of all, it's a Supreme Court decision; we'll abide by the Court's decision. That doesn't mean I have to agree with it. It's a deeply divided Court, and I strongly agree with those who dissented, and their dissent was based upon their serious concerns about U.S. national security.

[...]

And we'll study this opinion, and we'll do so with this in mind, to determine whether or not additional legislation might be appropriate, so that we can safely say, or truly say to the American people: We're doing everything we can to protect you.

I actually feel much safer knowing that the out-of-control disregard for the constitution and civisl rights has been curbed, at lesat nominally.

You're F-ing kidding me

When American decided to charge for checking any baggage on their flights, I thought - well, that sucks. I'm sure it's because of fuel costs, but what a ridiculous and stupid way to handle that.

Now United has done the same thing. I have preferentially flown United out of Denver for a long time. No longer. They, too, are going to charge for ANY checked baggage -- the first back is 15 bucks, the second + are 25.

So -- guess what you can look forward to? Every single person bringing on every single thing they own into the cabin. Everyone will have carry on luggage. Everyone will have a LOT of carryon luggage. Just wait until you have to fly someplace for vacation and that family of four wants to avoid an extra sixty bucks in baggage fees. Oh, yes, sit with your coat on your lap and every single storage space in the plane full. You wanted that space under the seat for your feet? So sorry, you'll have to put your wheely under there if you aren't one of the first twelve people on the plane.

I cannot even BEGIN to express how angry this makes me. It's just stupid and will make flying -- already getting onerous -- into a completely misery.

If they had just upped the cost of every fare by 10 bucks or so -- hey, I understand that fuel costs are skyrocketing and everyone is suffering -- I wouldn't have batted an eyelash. But reinforce the rigid hierarchy of flyers (remember, business and first class are exempt) by reminding us again that flying coach is flying cattle car and they dont' give a fuck for our comfort or safety, well, that's going to be fun.

So, United? F-ck you for following in American's misguided footsteps. If itt's at all possible, I'l fly some other airline. So not only will you lose my extra fifteen bugs for bagage -- and whatever premium you ask me for to upgrade to Economy Plus, you have lost my fare. Maybe you don't care, maybe you have too many passengers already. Sure seems like it.

Want some Candy?

This is all over the web -- Gummi Lighthouses. It's work-safe but pretty damn funny.

I can't believe no one, um...noticed this. And it's not just that mind is in the gutter!

Turing Test

Finally, a science validates that the walks-like-a-duck, quacks-like-a-duck = duck example. I feel all wam and fuzzy that I have an actual flowchart to follow now! Makes it feel oh, so much more valid! And science-y!
Actually, the check for pants is what made me laugh.

Tender and Tasty

Over the weekend, I picked up a book called Survival Wisdom and Know How (well, I picked up a whole bunch of books from the neighborhood garage sale, most of them from a woman living down the road who is an anthropologist who spent many years at digs in Egypt!) and we spent the evening watching movies and paging through the book. Thousands to tips on how to survive alone in the wilderness in just about any situation. (This should come in handy when we become post-apocalyptic warlords, I figure)

Early on the book, discussing survival in the arctic, there is a side-bar that announces in scary italics:

Do not eat polar bear liver. It contains toxic levels of vitamin A

I read this out loud to the Adorable Husband, who paused a moment, in thought, then announced.

"If I'm in a situation in the arctic where I have killed a polar bear to survive, a little extra vitamin A isn't going to worry me a bit. I killed a polar bear. I am INVINCIBLE!"

Considering that polar bears are one of the few animals that consider us quite tasty, I'm inclined to agree!

Heckuva Job, George!

As everyone knows (or should!) I'm not a fan of George Bush. Not a lot of people are. He's terribly worried about his "legacy", and if you visit Heckuvajobgeorge.com, you can add your observations to the collection. And, from the website,this little gem:

Q: You say we are writing these letters to George W. Bush, but will he ever see them?

A: The book Heckuva Job, George! will be delivered to George W. Bush. We can't promise, though, that he'll read it. If he does, we can't promise he'll read it right-side-up

Send a note!

Book Rental

Wow, I would gladly pay a rental fee to read books. I mean, of course! But it would be nice if that sort of thing was, you know, free.

Nah, that would never happen....

(Courtesy of FailBlog - which had me in tears, I was laughing so hard)

Of course, there really is such a thing, strange though it may be. Bookswim. LIke a netflix for books. I have to admit to being a big boggled. But I suppose, for people without a local lending library, or the ability to get out to it....

Welsh Soulmates

While doing some research for our next trip, I ran across a recommendation for a book called "Castles in the Air" , by Judy Corbett-- the story of a young couple who bought Gwydir Castle in Wales and have worked to restore it. The castle was a partial ruin, roof-less, invaded by bats and rats, and horribly 'renovated" in the 60s to be a sort of "rave club".

I've always fantasized about living in a castle -- so I sat down and devoured this book in one sitting. Her writing style is a bit florid and overly precious, but the story really resonated with me. Almost penniless, unemployed , they ran across this dilapidated pile and instantly fell in love. ALmost two years later, they moved in -- sleeping on cots, cooking on a camp stove, no hot water, and sharing the place with the creepy crawlies, birds, various rodents, and (if the author is to believed) ghosts.

"I was so saddened that such a venerable old house had been brought to its nknees in this way. I wanted to wrap my arms around it and comfort it as you would a small child. The more I saw, the angrier I became, angry with the people and the authorities who had allowed this to happen. And with that anger came another, fiercer emotion which took me completely by surprise. I know as I ran my fingers over the damaged walls and as I picked up the broken shards of stained glass which lay scattered across the floorboards, that I would be prepared to anything to save this house."

Now, it's not my dream to live in a historically-accurate restoration sans electricity and running water, but the idea of bringing back a ruined house appeals to me tremendously. I'd prefer not to do it while living in squalor, but I absolutely understand that first, strong, emotional tie to the house. While the two are hardly comparable, that's exactly how I felt when we bought our first house -- a run-down, much-abused Folk Victorian with sagging porches, a leaking roof, and the full measure of dirt and grime from its hundred-year life. Houses have a sense, a personality, if you will, that really speaks to someone. Not every "gets it", I guess, but for the Adorable Husband and I, our two house purchases have been made on the basis of "yes, this is the RIGHT HOUSE. This one feels right." I doubt we would buy a house and move if we didn't have that instant and immediate connection.

We bought our current house after walking through it ONE time, and we weren't even looking to move. (As a matter of fact, when we had seriously discussed moving, the idea of leaving my old house made me so sad that I cried for hours) We were walking through the neighborhood and looking into all the open houses, just as entertainment for a Saturday afternoon. We walked into our current house, and within fifteen minutes, met in the living room and announced, rather dramatically, 'Well, crap. Now we have to move." We made an offer on the house the next day.

So, Judy Corbett and her husband Peter having that instant "click" with the run-down Gwydir Castle, I knew the feeling. The book follows the first five years of their restoration -- cleaning out the detritus of a century of neglect and trying to restore the house to its former glory as accurately as possible. Not always an easy task, especially when they were on the brink of penury each month just trying to keep themselves fed and warm.

Gwydir is currently open as a bed and breakfast, and work is ongoing. I can't help but feel a strong urge to go wandering the countryside in Scotland and find a decrepit pile to try my hand at it.

It actually EXISTS!

I joke alot about craving chocolate and craving bacon and having bad hormonal moments when I crave chocolate-covered bacon...I never realized that it actually exists!

From iGourmet.com, the Mo's Chocolate and Bacon Candy Bar. I know I should think that's a bit gross, but...it sounds pretty good!

Lawnmower Woes

I am going to relate this story as a disinterest third-party observer, since I don't (won't!) mow the lawn. I don't actually get a vote.

The Adorable husband was mowing the grass on Tuesday and the self-propelled drive on the lawnmower broke. The mower itself mows just fine...it just requires pushing now and offers no power-assist anything. So, he puts the mower up on blocks, pulls out the tools and confidently embarks on an effort to fix the drive. Since he is Mr. Fix-it, this should be resolved in about ten minutes.

Well, it didn't go that smoothly.There was much banging and crashing and bad language, I tell you. He came inside and rather sheepishly announced that no only could he NOT fix the mower, he wasn't even sure how it actually worked! I am shocked! Shocked! He can fix anything, and am a bit worried that he's losing his Magic.

Well, Consumer Reports suggests that a mower over 5 years old is probably not worth fixing -- the cost of parts and time outweights the cost of the (admittedly fairly cheap) lawnmower. So, Consumer Reports issue for lawnmowers in hand, we traipse off to the home store.

The magazine recommended a Toro model, which (after pushing them around in the aisle for awhile to make sure the handle adjusted high enough) we brought home. It is exceptionally rated for mulching, which we do all the time, and for ease-of-use. We had narrowed it down to the Toro and a nice Honda machine (for about $200 more). I remember clearly suggesting that the Honda was rated higher and that we should buy it, but the Adorable Husband assures me that I was rather noncommittal about the whole thing, so he picked the one that CS recommended.

Forward to this morning -- off to mow the lawn on this lovely sunny day...and it doesn't mulch well at all. Definitely not as well as the lawnmower it replaced. Hm. Consumer reports has led us astray. A brief discussion, a few minutes washing it off with the hose, and back to Home Depot we go to return it. It performed that badly.

And thus returned triumphantly with a new new Lawnmower, this time the Honda, and he's happily mowing the backyard and mulching the grass into a find powder, as far as I can tell. Success! It mulches better, and it's so quiet I can barely hear it from inside the house. Rather startlingly quiet, actually, which is worth the premium price right there.

I'm still a bit concerned that he couldn't fix the old one, mind you!

Definitely an Engineer

I was giggling through most of this -- yes, definitely an engineer!

San Francisco

We're back from our long weekend in San Francisco! What a great time -- the weather was perfect, we saw cool stuff, had great meals, rode cablecars and streetcars. Lots of fun. My feet are sore from walking so much -- they aren't kidding about the hills!

We had a lovely hotel up on Nob Hill, just a block or so off from the main cable car routes, and we walked along the waterfront to see the sights on Friday, then went to Alcatraz for their night tour. Saturday we went to Chinatown and the Farmer's Market and then to a fabulous dinner show at Teatro Zinzanni, and on Sunday drove up to Muir Woods to see the giant redwoods and drive along the coast highway.

Absolutely fabulous!

And Who Supports the troops?

Irony Alert

The [veterans' benefit] measure would guarantee that veterans who have served for three years since Sept. 11 will receive tuition assistance that could pay for the most expensive public universities in each of their states. The bill would also extend unemployment benefits and provide money for levee construction in New Orleans. Bush has spoken up against the bill, saying that the expanded veterans' education benefits would motivate people to leave the military rather than re-enlist.

Cool New Toys

The Adorable Husband is going to be seriously unproductive at work today. Why? Last night he bought an Apple iPhone, and he's going to be playing with it all day, I'm sure.

It is amazingly cool. Apple has definitely clicked with the consumer on design. The iPhone, like the iPods and other apple gadgets is sexy. Smooth and rounded and comfortable and just a joy to hold.

And the iPhone? Live maps, watch videos, get email -- it's absolutely cool. We're heading to San Francisco today, and having the turn-by-turn maps available in an instant is going to be a huge help!

Now I want one. I have absolutely no need for one at all, really, but I waaaant one.

And Flying Keeps Getting Better

Apparently, American Airlines is going to charge for checked baggage -- even the first bag. Quite a few airlines have started charging for a second checked bag, but the first?

Passengers will be charged $15 for their first piece of luggage. The airline, blaming high fuel costs, also plans other fee hikes, domestic flight cutbacks and layoffs.

With oil prices hitting new records almost daily, the nation's largest air carrier, American Airlines, announced drastic steps Wednesday to "remain viable," including charging new fees for all checked baggage, slashing domestic flights and laying off thousands of workers. ...

How does this sound lik e a good idea? All I can see as a result is people now trying to carry on everything they own in as large as bag as they can possible sneak through security. It's already bad enough that people's carryons are reaching the size of steamer trunks, but now let's actively discourage people from checking luggage! Yes, that's the ticket!

My immediate response to this news was "well, I won't ever fly American". And I won't.

Banking Good Karma

My sister was fired on Monday from her job as a home healthcare nurse (there is a very long story here, which has a good dose of karmic retribution, but you'd have to ask her about it). She called me in tears around noon.

It's tough getting fired. No matter what the reason, no matter what the circumstances, you feel like shit.

Which is why it's so satisfying that it took her less than 16 hours to get another job. Not even a whole day. Made a phone call, did an interview, starts on Friday.

Kewl!

Stolen Mac helps nab burglary suspects

A remote desktop access feature found in some Macintoshes is being credited with leading police to two suspects in the burglary of an apartment in New York.

In addition to flat-screen TVs, iPods, and DVDs, the thieves made off with two laptop computers, one of which belonged to Kait Duplaga, an Apple store employee, according to a report in the New York Times on Saturday. While police in White Plains, N.Y., were coming up empty with their investigation, Duplaga learned that her computer was being used on the Internet and turned on the Back to My Mac feature installed on her Mac from another Mac, according to the report.

The feature allowed Duplaga to see immediately how the computer was being used at the time, as well as operate it remotely. Recalling that she had a camera installed on the computer, the fast-thinking Duplaga snapped images of one of the burglary suspects before he realized what was happening, according to the Times. Duplaga showed the image to friends who recognized the suspect as someone who attended a party at the apartment.

The photo lead police to arrest two suspects on Wednesday and recover nearly all the stolen property

Barbie Mommie

This is just weird on so many levels. Yeah, I know that you want to have some sort of assistance discussing things with your kids, but --a cartoon-ey, Barbie-esque mom explaining plastic surgery? Is this really necessary? Well, maybe it is. But I can't shake a feeling "eeeuuuuu" over this. Especially considering the perky illustrations.

"Being a doctor, I can't deal with the political or philosophical arguments" surrounding cosmetic surgery, Salzhauer said. "I have to deal with reality." The book, he said, gives parents "a vehicle to explain the plastic surgery process to their kids" who may be too young to understand why a parent is choosing to undergo an appearance-altering operation.

The bulk of his practice, Salzhauer said, consists of women between 20 and 40 undergoing what he calls "mommy makeovers": breast implants, breast lifts and tummy tucks.

And that's where you lost me. Oh, let's perpetuate this bizarre and false ideal of women's beauty, where bared midriffs at age 40 are normal and women well beyond their teenage years are wearing spandex pants and sporting perky breasts. When did it become so horrific to get older that attractive women in the prime of life have to have "adjustments" because they don't look like Barbie?

I don't know whether to laugh or cry," said Diana Zuckerman, president of the nonprofit National Research Center for Women and Families, after reading "My Beautiful Mommy."

"This is disturbing on so many levels," she added. "For one thing, it perpetuates a completely unrealistic ideal" of female beauty: the large-breasted, wasp-waisted, midriff-baring Barbie-doll look.

Is framing this to children as "beautiful mommy" just going to reinforce the idea that if you're not thin and beautiful that you should change? That you are not as good? I just don't like the message here. Of course, leaving forty behind me has probably biased my view just a wee bit!

(I haven't actually read the book, just clicked through the few illustrations offered.)

Severe Irony Impairment

Like Nancy Pelosi, or don't like her, but she's certainly doing her job to consolidate Democratic power in congress, and deal with those across the aisle.

House Republican leaders say she shuts them out of the process. They used delaying tactics yesterday, preventing House action on housing foreclosure legislation to protest her refusal to let them amend that and a pending Iraq War spending bill.

During an angry exchange on the floor, House Republican Leader John Boehner shouted that "the majority has an obligation to treat the minority with respect.'' ...

Um. Yeah. Just like the Republicans did when they were in the majority. It's ok if they use delaying tactics, that's just "good politics", I guess. But put the shoe on the other foot? Whoo-boy. Irony impaired is the least of it. Politicians in general make my teeth itch.

Idiocy on Parade

A substitute teacher in Florida (that bastion of clear-thinking. NOT!) has been suspended and one of the reasons is an accusation of -- get this -- wizardry.

Doing a simple magic trick to break the ice with the class he was substituting for is apparently enough reason to dismiss him. Ooh. Making a toothpick "disappear" for a room full of school kids is, apparently, verboten. Because, you know, it's...(insert ominous music here) wizardry.

Really? I mean...really? I simply cannot imagine that anyone actually said this. I can't imaging any situation in which this is something that would be taken seriously. Well, maybe in a mental institution, or the back-room of a sci-fi convention after too many Jell-o shots, but accusing a teacher of wizardry. I first thought this was the Onion, but no. It's from Land-o-Lakes, FL, Rushe Middle School. A real person actually made the complaint.

"I get a call the middle of the day from the supervisor of substitute teachers. He says, 'Jim, we have a huge issue. You can't take any more assignments. You need to come in right away,'" he said.

When Piculas went in, he learned his little magic trick cast a spell that went much farther than he'd hoped.

"I said, 'Well Pat, can you explain this to me?' 'You've been accused of wizardry,' [he said]. Wizardry?" he asked.

I can't honestly tell if the school district was seriously considering this complaint, but it was apparently mentioned. The school district has said that there are other reasons to dismiss him, which are perfectly reasonable. The fact that they actually seemed to treat this as a serious issue -- at least enough to mention it without prefacing the entire encounter with "can you believe what someone said? Really?" is what makes this so laughable. The principal actually requested that he be dismissed.

Thanks a Lot

If you are one of the lucky ones who will get a check for the "economic stimulus package" this month, I just wanted to pass on this little info:

For a typical motorist -- someone who drives 15,000 miles a year and gets 25 miles to the gallon -- the cost of gasoline has gone up $600 in the past year -- the exact amount of the individual rebate. Of course, without the stimulus, people would have squeezed spending elsewhere to pay for gas.

I know you're supposed to spend in on stuff, and go out there and stimulate the economy, but most people are going to use it to pay bills, or make up for shortfalls someplace else. Making up for the gas price increase is at least useful, I guess.

Spellcheck Failure

This shouldn't be as funny as it is, really. But, having seen actual business documents with some of these problems, I had to share.

Wichita, woe is me

I got stuck in Wichita. I'm sick, and my plane is late. If the decongestants fail while I'm on the plane, I may be in the headline news tomorrow because someone will die. Maybe me, maybe some poor innocent bystander who complains about my snuffling.

Gah.