Holy Cow, am I Sad.

(warning, this may be a little free-form)

All weekend I thought about whether or not we (the world) are already in World War III. If you sit back and think about the number of countries involved in attacking or defending against other countries, it sure looks like it.

People try to justify war. They say things like "some people won't be negotiated with, and that means that they must be destroyed, or they will destroy us", but it doesn't seem like a good solution to me.

What makes me sad is that there are people who won't be negotiated with. It makes me sad that there are people who think that war is a good idea. It makes me sad that there are people who think that the world will be a better place if others are wiped off of the earth through violence.

I only make those kinds of statements when I get crazy angry and frightened (and goodness, I certainly did). Within a day, I regret saying violent things. Within 3 days, I regret that there are so many that cannot step back from their anger and fear long enough to think that there is another way.

I live in the United States, where, it has been pointed out to me, war never comes knocking at my door with a rifle. I think it is often the case that people can only understand that something is an atrocity that should be discontinued if they are sufficiently removed from said atrocity for at least a generation. By not experiencing war on a daily/monthly/yearly basis, I have formed the opinion that life is much better when you don't worry all the time about Daddy getting taken out by shrapnel on his way home.

Of course, I think that this kind of pacifist thinking can also be carried too far, as in the case of vegetarianism. I still don't think that eating meat is an atrocity. Maybe I just need to be separated from it some more, though, who knows.

I am thinking of the people in Beirut, and the people in Haifa. I'm thinking about the parties we held in the bomb shelter when I lived on Kibbutz, because we could turn up the music without anyone hearing us. We got shut down, by the way, when it was discovered that there were men and women dancing together. I'm thinking about people using those bomb shelters to protect them from explosions, instead of a strict daily routine. I'm thinking about how there will be war for a very long time, and it's going to have to be incorporated into my daily thinking as something that just is, not something that people are working to stop, or prevent. The dichotomy of planning to attend a party next month, or an event in November, or my sister's wedding next year with the stark facts of families being killed all at once in places that I've been, on streets that I've traveled.

I regret the hot-headed words I said a few days ago, and I'm glad that they're only words, and even though they're out there forever, they don't have the power to end anyone's life. I'm so very sad that people whose words do have that power are the ones living daily with the anger and the fear, and the hate.

Why the Phrase "War on Terror" is Stupid

Cross-posted at Running Scared

Barry at Cynical Nation puts up the following cynical Q&A:

Q: How does the U.N. determine when to call for a ceasefire?

A: When Israel starts shooting back.

My comment to him:

I understand that the world seems to be worried right now that they've given Israel too much unquestioning support, but you've nailed it on the head, there.

Know why a cease-fire wasn't called for before this? Because no one else doing the attacking represents any kind of government that the U.N. can officially reprimand.

DivaJood over on Journeys with Jood weighs in with a similar observation:

With yesterday's kidnappings of Israeli soldiers, Hezbollah acted as a sovereign state. The militants' raid is a sign that it sees itself as an independent force in Lebanon and beyond.

Hezbollah chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah went on Lebanese television, acting every bit like a head of state. In a not-so-veiled threat, Nasrallah said that criticism of the raids and kidnappings would be colluding with Israel. "To the Lebanese people, both officials and non-officials, nobody should behave in a way that encourages the enemy to attack Lebanon, and nobody should say anything that gives cover to attack Lebanon," he said.

Hezbollah has attempted this attack, unsuccessfully, before. This has been long planned, and it has nothing to do with the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit by Hamas in Gaza. While Nasrallah attempts to link the two, it really is a message to the rest of Lebanon, other neighboring states, and the West. Hezbollah is laying claims to being an independent state, at a time when Lebanon is trying to get them to give up arms.

So if I'm making the point that Hezbollah (the way I've decided to spell it from now on, because I don't like the look of "Hizbollah") is not actually a nation in itself, then why would Israel treat an attack by this terrorist group as an act of war by Lebanon, and bomb the Beirut airport? It could be plain old-fashioned Military strategy. NBC's Robert Windrem writes:

Analysts say there are two possible reasons and they are not mutually exclusive. Israel wants to keep Iranian arms from getting in and Israeli captives from being flown out.

At least that makes some kind of sense to me.

Now, back to my statement about there not being a central government for the U.N. to scold. It's just true. If we are, in fact engaged in a "War on Terror", then who is it that we're fighting? Al Quaeda? Iraqi insurgents? Are they really terrorists?

What about Hezbollah, and Hamas, and Islamic Jihad? Palestine Liberation Front? Is the IRA still considered to be a terrorist group by our government? Should we be fighting them, too?

Terrorism used to be viewed as a crime, and those who committed acts of terrorism were considered to be criminals. By declaring this a war (as if that was all it really took to legally make one), I feel like Bush has almost legitimized terrorist efforts. In a war, there are two sides, and neither is necessarily wrong, they're just both trying to protect their own (conflicting) interests. Sometimes stalemates are reached, and peace settlements can be made through negotiations and treaties. The current terminology makes it easy to forget we're not supposed to be negotiating a treaty with criminals; we're just supposed to arrest them.

Feeling a Little Better

Well. Re-reading yesterday's rant, I see that I was a bit uncontrolled. Quite frankly, I'm surprised the words "bomb the shit out of your infrastructure" really made it into the final post. I guess I was pretty damn upset. Still, my only comment (while I'm writing this) was "you are an idiot". Yikes.

While I admit that once I've calmed down, bombings and killings don't seem like the way to peace anymore, I also have to stand by some of what I said. Let's face it, I'm not a reporter, paid to give you the facts, I'm a blogger who specifically says up front that I'm here to give opinions.

Yesterday the opinion I was trying to voice is that the extremist Muslim method of operations involves killing people who aren't actively plotting against someone else, and convincing innocent youths that giving your life for a cause as a suicide bomber will bring you rewards after death. Israel's not like that. Even the factions in Israel who think that violent actions will solve problems aren't encouraging 14-year-olds to hang out at the border and throw the biggest rocks you can at people. The school curriculums don't include why Arabs have to be wiped off the face of the earth because they don't worship properly.

When Israel executes a violent military plan, it is because they want people to stop trying to eliminate their country. When I lived there, every day was full of bomb threats and random searches - every day. When you become used to the idea that entire countries full of people would like to kill you because of what you believe, sometimes the inner controls snap.

What's that you say? I shouldn't take this all so personally? I'm an American Jew, so these people who are fighting wars against Israel could care less about me? They wouldn't actually like to kill me because of my religion? Don't be naive, of course they would. I'm lucky because I only lived alongside those people for a short part of my life, but just that taste was enough to convince me that they're very real, and they're very scary.

The Day I Lost Perspective

You know how I'm all "war is bad" and "every human life counts" and "any death of another person makes me sad" all the time? Well that's over.

Israel kills 23 in Gaza, targets Hamas commanders

Normally I'd be anxious about this, because war s a terrible thing, and any death... whatever you get the point. Then I read this:

"Israel will pay for daring to hunt the lion of Qassam," said one Hamas activist who gave his name as Ahmed, speaking near the wrecked building, a tangle of twisted metal, broken concrete and blood.

Right. Well you know what Ahmed - which I'm sure isn't your real name? Fuck you. Fuck you, and everyone who lives near you. Israel needs to bomb the shit out of your infrastructure and kill all those who would educate their children with only words of hate. Are these words of hate I'm spewing now? Maybe, maybe they are. I'll tell you this, though, there's no such god damn thing as "the lion of Qassam". There's just men. Men with families who bleed and die like the rest of us.

Israel is not run by terrorists who tell their people that the reason they have no modern conveniences is because the Jews have Israel. Israel does not have to explain away the crazy unevenness of a country where there is a street modeled after Rodeo Drive, but America is the great satan. Israel does not tell its soldiers that if they die in combat, 72 virgins await them in heaven for eternal pleasure. Israel has a central government that works, and random groups of people are not lobbing missiles willy-nilly over borders because no one cares to stop them.

Israeli children have schools where they learn how to read, and write, and do math. They are never taught that killing a group of people in an open market place or on a bus just because they aren't Jewish is the right thing to do.

Is the retaliation over-aggressive? Maybe. I cannot think so, though, not when the retaliation is for acts that deliberately provoke, acts that deliberately harm non-military personnel. The Israeli bombings are not random, they are targeted at terrorist leaders. At this point, I feel like we don't need to keep those terrorist leaders alive, any more.

So it *is* an Act of War, Then

Israel calls Hizbollah capture of soldiers act of war

MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (Reuters) - Hizbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed up to seven Israelis in violence on either side of the Lebanese border on Wednesday, further inflaming Middle East tensions.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described the Hizbollah attacks as an "act of war" by Lebanon and promised a "very painful and far-reaching" response.

I have previously said this:

We have a militant group kidnapping a soldier, which if you ask me, seems like the kind of stunt that people pull when they're trying to start full-blown wars.

This is not an item I want to be correct about. I am possibly doubly alarmed about the fact that this particular kidnapping was committed by Hizbollah, and the one I previously spoke of was Hamas. The number of terrorist organizations that would call themselves governments continues to worry me.

Firefighter Honored

Franklin Township, NJ is renaming a street to honor Kevin A. Apuzzio, a young firefighter who lost his life responding to a house fire earlier this year.

"It means a lot to the family," said his father, Joseph Apuzzio. "It also means a lot to the public. My son touched a lot of lives for the better. I think it's a way of remembering him. We as a family really appreciate it."

We, as a community, appreciate men like Kevin, as well.

Personal Stuff

The job I applied for has been filled by someone else. I am pissed.

Not because I got beat out by someone whom the interviewers thought was more qualified, or funnier, or better looking, or younger, or cheaper, but because my application was never forwarded to the interviewer for consideration. At least, that's what my manager told me yesterday.

The words "unfair work practice" have been mentioned to me.

I knew something was wrong when a friend let me know that this job - did I mention that they wrote the job description for me? Actually came to me, asked what I know, and then wrote exactly that on the posting? - this job that I was so sure would be mine was posted on the internet, and she saw it on "hot jobs". I told her to apply, even though I already had. She declined, not wanting to cause awkwardness. She really should have applied, because apparently, I never did.

Why did no one call and ask me where my application was? Why did I not check to make sure that my boss had really sent it where it was supposed to go? Why did I take such a hands-off attitude on something I wanted so much?

Was it really just a system failure, that an email got lost somewhere in the ether and no one knew to look for it? Maybe. Was I deliberately screwed over by someone so that I couldn't change departments? Maybe. I can't know which, and it's making me crazy.

Non-Violent Tendencies

You know what? It's a good thing that I'm not a young man with gallons of testosterone pumping through my bloodstream.

Why? Because I believe that the second amendment is in place so that Americans can rise up and revolt when the government gets too uppity and forgets that it's "of the people" and "by the people". OK, that phrasing wasn't around yet when the second amendment was written, but it's too pithy to not use. We do not have a secret cabal government; will someone please remind the current administration of this fact? You know, so that no one actually *does* go for the guns?

Friday Cheese Blogging

To celebrate the re-opening of my state, and the acceptance of a budget that I feel deals with property taxes in an idiotic way, I purchased:



Pecorino Tartufello
A fresh raw sheep's milk cheese with whole pieces of black truffles. Buttery and intense with the aroma of damp pastures, lanolin and earthen fungi. Smooth, buttery and intensely satisfying, permeated with the essence of truffles.

Region: Toscana
Country: Italy
Type: Hard
Beverage: Old World Red
Milk: Raw Sheep

I will enjoy the cheese, and I will continue to write letters about how only through additional state aid to the municipalities, and not through rebates can real property tax relief be achieved. My new crop of letters are going straight to state senators.

Today I Bring Us All Down

Hey, New Jersey's bleeding money.
My take on the issues that are being discussed:
I don't care if we get a 1% tax raise. I hate the idea of taxing magazines and the fees paid to temporary employment agencies.

I want the state to open again, and the fact that the state senate and the governor can't EVER agree on a budget on time (well, maybe sometimes, but the late thing has happened before) is pissing me off. Agree on SOMETHING that will allow the state to start bringing in revenue again, folks! Forget the political aspects and try and remember that you're supposed to be aiming to make the quality of life better for the people who live in New Jersey. ALL of them. A budget that doesn't do everything you want is still a starting point, so please figure out a compromise, today.

Also in the news today,
Israel kills four in Gaza as fighting intensifies
Yes, everyone's favorite violent peoples remain violent today in the increasingly badly named "Cradle of Civilization". Remember folks, if you wipe each other out, nobody actually wins.

I Know I'm Petty

Monday my father told me that he'd opened a letter that was intended for me, because it was addressed to him. I looked, and it was a letter from my congressman, Frank Pallone. It seems that 2 months ago, I emailed him that I was upset about him voting "no" on a Net Neutrality bill that I was hoping would be supported. I admit that the letter was informal, and probably a little insulting. I believe the text went something like this:

You voted against
'net neutrality? What gives?

I was very surprised when I never got any sort of an email back. Every other congresscritter that I've ever written hit me back with an auto-mailer almost instantaneously. While that doesn't give me confidence that my letters are being read, at least it lets me know that my letter got there. Incidentally, eventually I have actually received direct replies from every single letter I've ever written, which is nice. Even when I wrote President Carter, back in the stone age, I got a nice autographed picture of his family sent to me, with my name on the envelope and everything.

But not last Monday - and so, even though I know it's stupid, pointless, and beneath me, my ego wrote Frank Pallone another letter, and this time instead of being irreverent, I was just pissy:

To The Honorable Frank Pallone Jr.,

I would like to thank you for getting back to me about your position on "Net Neutrality".

I would like to, but you didn't actually get back to *me*. Instead, whomever it is on your staff that reads these letters completely ignored the fact that I sign my letters "Tami", and instead mailed a response addressed to my father and my late mother.

While I am heartened to read that you say that you support the same position I do in the idea of keeping the Internet on an equal footing for all, I can't help but wonder at why the response was addressed to my parents. I may not be a property owner, but I pay my federal taxes just like anyone else, and can't seem to get past the fact that my actual name wasn't anywhere on that letter. Perhaps it's an insignificant detail to dwell on, but we all have egos, and mine's a little bruised.

If by chance, you decide to write me back about this by snail mail instead of email (the medium that I'm using to contact you) in another 2 months, please address the letter to me, and not my father. If that's too much to ask, please leave the "Mrs." off, since she's been deceased since 1987, and it's a bit jarring to my poor dad to see that on a letter these days.

Sincerely,
Tami

And that's almost exactly what I sent him, except for the parts with my real name, and my address.

Seriously, when I was 11, I got my own letter from the president. Now I'm 38, but the letter gets sent to my daddy and (dead) mommy. That's not right.

ed: wait - I'm 37, not 38. Damn.

Half empty

OK, ABC is on, and there's a special report for the space shuttle launch, and I swear, they're doing everything except screaming "THEY'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!"

Holiday Blogging

Happy 3rd of July, people. See you later in the week.

Friday Cheese Blogging Continues

A local selection at Murray's

Jasper Hill Farm Bayley Hazen Blue
From the northern VT farm of Jasper Hill, Bayley Hazen is an exceptional new blue made of raw Ayrshire cows' milk. Cylindrical in shape like Fourme d'Ambert, the paste has a drier texture reminiscent of English Stilton. The flavors are incredibly complex: nutty and earthen with distinctive hints of licorice. Aged four months in natural caves.

City: Greensboro
State: VT
Country: USA
Type: semi-hard
Beverage: New World Red
Rennet: Animal
Milk: Raw Ayrshire Cow
Age: 90 days

Quaint, My Ass

Ah, thee freedom to swear in your own personal blog. I'll be removing the title for the cross-posts.

Anyway, on to talking about the Geneva Conventions (What else?). From CNN:

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday strongly limited the power of the Bush administration to conduct military tribunals for suspected terrorists imprisoned overseas at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Hamdan's lawyers argued that Bush exceeded his authority by setting up military commissions to try terrorist suspects, whom the administration terms "enemy combatants," rather than prisoners of war.

The administration's position was that the term means detainees do not have the rights traditionally afforded prisoners of war, as outlined in the Geneva Conventions.

And, from AMERICAblog:

And what a surprise:

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a strongly worded dissent, saying the court's decision would "sorely hamper the president's ability to confront and defeat a new and deadly enemy."

The court's willingness, Thomas said, "to second-guess the determination of the political branches that these conspirators must be brought to justice is both unprecedented and dangerous."

Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito also filed dissents.

Here's my problem with this whole thing - yes, it would make it much easier to defeat our enemies if we could torture the sh*t out of them. As often as people lie to stop the torture, I'm willing to believe that they give up actual information as well. It would be easier - for about a minute and a half. Then, all hell would break loose. "Policies" (I can't think of another word) like this seem like a great idea until someone used them on YOU. We want soldiers treated like humans, dammit. Just because most of our current crop of detainees aren't enlisted in a "proper" army doesn't mean that our soldiers can't get grabbed in retaliation.

Oh, right. Barbaric behavior does nothing but send us backwards in time to a more graphically violent world. If you think that things are more violent today than they were in the days of, say, public hangings, I think you're fooling yourself.

We must lead as we intend to go on. We must behave maturely in order to even begin to hope that others will behave maturely towards us. Bad behavior has never engendered good behavior, and it never will. These rules that we have, they weren't put in place because convicting people without trials was working fabulously for everyone.

So for now, even though it was a much closer vote than I deem reasonable, once again I say, "Way to go, Supremes".

Rising Tensions

Remember yesterday when I said that kidnapping a soldier seemed like the kind of act one committed when one was trying to start a war?

Israeli warplanes buzz Syrian president

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli warplanes flew over the home of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday, as Israeli forces conducted operations in Gaza to save a kidnapped soldier.

...

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres has complained that Syria allowed the exiled political leadership of Hamas (ed: Exiled from where, exactly?)-- operating out of Damascus -- to order Shalit's kidnapping.

Three Palestinian militant groups said they were behind the 19-year-old corporal's kidnapping on Sunday: Hamas' military wing Izzedine al Qassam, the Army of Islam and the Popular Resistance Committees. The last group also claims to hold another hostage: 18-year-old Israeli settler Eliyahu Yitzhak Asheri.

Neither side seems to be as interested in peace right now as one would hope.

How Free is Free?

How free is free? Is the ability to burn the U.S. flag too free?

Yesterday the Senate voted down an ammendment to ban flag desecration.

Senate supporters said the flag amounts to a national monument in cloth that represents freedom and the sacrifice of American troops.

"Countless men and women have died defending that flag," said Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., closing two days of debate. "It is but a small humble act for us to defend it."

Opponents said the amendment would violate the First Amendment right to free speech. And some Democrats complained that majority Republicans were exploiting people's patriotism for political advantage in the midterm elections.

"Our country's unique because our dissidents have a voice," said Sen. Daniel Inouye (news, bio, voting record), D-Hawaii, a World War II veteran who lost an arm in the war and was decorated with the Medal of Honor.

"While I take offense at disrespect to the flag," he said, "I nonetheless believe it is my continued duty as a veteran, as an American citizen, and as a United States senator to defend the constitutional right of protesters to use the flag in nonviolent speech."

OK, so that's the essence of both sides of the argument. I personally have always agreed with the opinion voiced by Sen. Inouye; I love that we live in a free country. We have the right to express ourselves freely - so freely in fact, that we can even burn the U.S. flag if that's the way that we want to make our point.

To me, this ammendment said, "Hey, you know what? We need to back down that whole freedom thing a little". I'm glad it was voted down. That fact that it was voted down by only one vote? Very unsettling.

Impossible to Read

For the life of me, I cannot read the current Israeli/Palestinian situation. Yesterday, we hear that Palestinian militants have kidnapped an Israeli soldier, today we read that Hamas and Fatah have completed an agreement over a plan that implicitly recognizes Israel.

All right, let's see what they say -

"We have an agreement over the document," said Ibrahim Abu Naja, who coordinated the "national dialogue" over the proposal. He said negotiators would present the document to President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads Fatah, and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.

"There is no complicated issue left because everyone signed and everyone approved the document," he said.

All right, Ibrahim Abu Naja is a name that doesn't strike me as familiar, let's Google him. Let's see, an old listing of PLO Legislative Council members. Great. I'm old enough that just hearing the letters "PLO" all in a row makes me nervous. Why do all of these groups need to keep the same names they've been using while trying to blow people up? It really eliminates any kind of comfort factor for the average American Jew.

I do believe that it all boils down to trust. It seems to me that the rival Palestinian factions don't trust each other to take care of common interests. I cannot blame them, because any steps towards peace always include the recognition of Israel, which, of course, is the exact opposite of their goals.

Israel, on the other hand, cannot trust the Palestinian authorities because none of them seem to actually have complete authority. Was the return of land on the Gaza Strip not proof enough? As soon as it was relinquished by Israel, missiles started flying out of there. Within minutes, I'm sure. Was this the aim of the government? Of course not. Are the people listening to their government? Well...

Acceptance of the plan marks a significant concession by Hamas, which is committed to Israel's destruction and has killed scores of Israelis in suicide bombings. Still, it falls short of demands by Israel and the international community that Hamas renounce violence and give full recognition to Israel.

I do not see how this will play out. Will Hamas actually acknowledge Israel? And even if they do, will the people who make up the party go along with it? And what about other factions? Fatah and Hamas are not alone in this venture.

The agreement also was marred by opposition to the deal by Islamic Jihad, a small militant group that has carried out numerous attacks against Israel.

"In today's meeting, we announced we reject some of the articles of this document and we have reservations about other articles," said Khaled al-Batch, spokesman for Islamic Jihad.

Ah, Islamic Jihad, of course.

So you see what I'm saying about these names, here? How can anyone feel comfortable having peace talks with a group that has "Jihad" right in their name?

As I read the news today, I find that I just cannot trust it. This agreement seems way too tenuous to hold up against onslaught, and in this region, onslaught always comes.

I do hope for peace someday, but I still don't think that we're far enough away (in years) from the original disagreement to actually begin solving it. Opinions there are so very different, and run so very deep that they cannot yet be talked away.

So that's what we have. We have multiple groups all trying to agree with Israel on something that is the opposite of their stated goals - the elimination of Israel. We have a militant group kidnapping a soldier, which if you ask me, seems like the kind of stunt that people pull when they're trying to start full-blown wars.

There's a complete disconnect of the news coming from the leaders from the news coming from the people themselves. This, to me, makes a situation that's impossible to read.

I'm Really Asking

OK, an honest-to-goodness question.

Gaza militants make demands in soldier's kidnapping

Now, I could probably look this up, but when is it officially called "kidnapping", and when is it officially called "captured by the enemy"? Is it because they're not officially at war? Is it because "Palestinian Militants" are not a recognized army?

If you know, please clue me in.

Friday Cheese Blogging IV

I said there would be cheese!

This week I focus on a cheese that I personally find very delicious.


Tetilla!

Queso Tetilla
D.O.: Made in Galicia, the northernmost, westernmost region of Spain, from whole, pasteurized cowÂ’s milk, Tetilla is a classic table cheese. Springy and elastic in texture, buttery and tart on the palate with a hint of grassiness, Tetilla is, as its name infers, shaped like a breast. The thick rind is not great for eating, but the mild, creamy paste inside is. Also great for melting.

Region: Galacia
Country: Spain
Type: Semi-Soft
Beverage: White and Dry
Milk: Pasteurized Cow

So yummy at room temperature that I would turn it over and use the rind as a bowl while I ate it with a spoon.

And yes, it looks like a breast. Maybe not so much in that picture, but in person? Embarrassingly so.

I Know It's Not Cheese

Don't' worry, cheese is coming, It is, after all, Friday.

Ran across this today, though, and I really liked it. A snippet:

Women's interests are not frivolous and irrelevant.

My interests are important. Why?

Because I'm a member of society, I work, I vote, I pay taxes, and I say so.

The post is about knitting. I don't knit, but I do crochet. I do it because it keeps my hands busy when I'm sitting around in the evening, and unlike video games (which I shamelessly love), if I crochet long enough I get useful things out of it. Last year I made myself a chenille blanket - Queen sized. This year I made a tiny baby blanket, and I'm about a third of a way into another. I know it'll make me happy to see them tucked around my friends' children.

I see nothing frivolous about a craft that allows you to make things that people need.

One Way Ticket

OK, a recent survey at Beliefnet proves it: conservatives are more judgmental than liberals.

Asked to rate their "chances that you might go to hell," 46% of self-identified conservatives said "not a chance"—compared with 28% of liberals. Born-again Christians were the most upbeat about their odds: 55% said "not a chance" compared with 21% of Roman Catholics; 56% of those who filled out the survey thought they knew one or more people who were "probably" headed south, with 64% of conservatives saying yes and only 47% of liberals. Conservatives, and men, are more likely to believe in hell as a physical place with fire and demons, as opposed to a spiritual state of separation from God.

Wow. I don't know about you, but there's nothing I find more attractive that someone who takes religious lore literally. Oh, yeah, gimme a man who doesn't want to think for himself every time, baby.

What? I shouldn't say things like that because conservatives might believe me? Yeesh.

Yes, I know, I should not be mocking what people believe, but I do think that it's my place as a snarky woman who blogs to mock those that think they're so superior that they're going to heaven while they watch their friends and family "head south".

Most people said the doomed are "acquaintances," but almost 25% said the hellbound are members of their own families.

Still, if you think I'm snarky, get a load of the last paragraph in the article:

In what may be a worrisome sign of the state of family relations, those who thought their family members were headed down were very likely to think of hell as a place of fire and torment. Oh, and eternal. It was unclear whether the respondents were expressing a prediction or a wish.

Very nice.

I Don't Have to Make This Stuff Up

Via Shakespeare's Sister:

Remember the anti-Gore 200 ad with the little girl in the field of daisies? The one that was a remake of the famous anti-Goldwater ad? Well, looks like political consultant (R, of course) Carey Lee Cramer, has been charged with molesting that little girl.

What the hell is wrong with people? I know that sometimes my opinions are selfish and not-thought out, but I never think that touching children is OK.

I am officially creeped out.

Annan Actually Says Something

Kofi Annan says the world is "sleepwalking" to nuclear proliferation.

(unrelated note - if any of you pronounce that "nucular", you can just leave now)

Addressing the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, he said that without moves to halt proliferation, more and more states were likely to seek nuclear weapons which could also fall into non-state hands.

OK, so if they exist, people can misuse them. Fair enough.

"The international community seems almost to be sleepwalking down that latter path -- not by conscious choice, but rather through miscalculation, sterile debate and paralysis," Annan said. He was speaking against a backdrop of international tension over North Korea's nuclear program and Western fears that Iran may be trying to develop nuclear arms.

North Korea says it is preparing to test a long-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead as far as Alaska in what the United States, South Korea and Japan have called a grave threat to regional security.

First off I have to wonder - why would you target Alaska? It's the third least populous state, and the odds of actually killing anyone are smallest, I'd reckon, if you don't count Wyoming. So it would just be to piss us off. Great.

Second I have to wonder out loud, again, why we went to war against the country that screamed that it didn't have WMDs, instead of the one screaming that it does.

No, I don't want to go to war with North Korea. I don't want to go to war with anyone, really. I'm just having one of those days where the war in Iraq seems even more stupid to me than ever.

Yesterday the buzzwords seemd to be "cut and run". "The democrats want us to cut and run!", I heard, as I passed the CNN-spouting TV in the cafeteria. Well, I want to cut and run. I do. Civil war? Fine. It's not like we're stopping them from killing each other now, and is it really our business to do so?

I mentioned this to my dad, and he says that we can't - the situation could escalate more crazily than it already has with no controls at all in the region. He says that the Democrats should stop talking about getting out and start focusing loudly on how the "cheap easy war" has turned into an occupational situation that we're committed to for generations to come, now. I concede that's a pretty good idea, and told him I'd put it in my blog.

Mission Accomplished.

New Catch Phrase

I'm officially tired of the phrase "Take back America", I think that if everybody uses it, it means nothing. Each group is claiming that they need to take it back from the other(s), with no one admitting to actually *having* America.

From now on my catch phrase for this kind of sentiment shall be "Take over America".

There, much better.

All Over The Map, Creatively

I recommend giving this article a read. It touches on a lot of interesting topics regarding the character of today's economy.

It sucked me in with the notion that certain places in the world attract the intelligentsia - the article says that Bill gates has dubbed them "IQ Magnets". I've often thought about moving to Boston, because I have family roots in MA, and because it's known as a "cool" place for technology workers. I have friends who moved to California to work in the entertainment industry, when they could have pursued their dreams in a slightly different manner in NY. The thing is, we live so close to NY that it just wasn't perceived to be as cool.

As it turns out, creative is the thing to be:

Such remarkable job growth goes far beyond technology and engineering. While the U.S. economy will add 950,000 computer jobs and another 195,000 in engineering, the biggest gains by far will be in health care and education, which will add more than 3.5 million. Jobs for college professors alone are projected to increase by more than half a million. Arts, music, culture, and entertainment will contribute some 400,000 new jobs. That's twice as many as engineering.

OK, ignoring education and health care, which I think we can all agree on, are not paying commensurate salaries based upon the importance of the work, creative professions seem to be the way to go.

From there, the article moves on to the relative death of the middle class of the USA:

As the U.S. loses another half-million high-paying manufacturing jobs over the coming decade to automation, improved efficiency, and outsourcing, its labor market is essentially cleaving into two distinct economic classes: high-skilled, high-paying creative work and much lower paying, low skill work in the service economy.

The task facing economic leaders of the 21st century is not simply how to spur technology and innovation, but how to recreate the large pool of high-paying but relatively low-skill jobs that were once the hallmark of our broad middle-class society.

The author's answer? Make the low-paying service jobs better paying, and encourage every employee to be more creative in executing their jobs.

OK, I found it annoying that the answer was "make those jobs higher-paying". Um... with whose money? Last time I checked, it was the exception to the rule that a company worried more about paying employees fairly than it did about making as much profit as humanly possible, squeezing out every conceivable penny.

It would indeed be lovely if we could, in fact, harness the creative potential in every single individual in our society, "aligning the further development of human creative capabilities with the further growth and development of our economies", but I'm going to be honest, here - I stopped getting daily lattes because they were four dollars and eight cents. I'm not even going to Starbucks, where they're really expensive. I don't want to pay a premium for a cup of coffee every morning just because the person making it has done so creatively, perhaps giving me an adorable design in the foam, or creating the perfect blend of flavor syrups so as to transcend the ordinary coffee drinking experience. Raisingsalariess in the service sector will raise prices there, as well, and that will not, on any large-scale model, grow our economy. If I, the whimsical money waster can see that, I'm guessing that you can, too.

I would love to pay everyone a living wage, but the truth is that we have to have a mor estable economy than ths to start with if we want to pull that off. If the average person can't make ends meet, then it is not a good time to raise prices.

Dairy Motherlode!

How in the world did it get to be Friday, already? I know I complain about work a lot, but rarely do I have a week where I work ridiculously hard and then never get to go home to my own computer, afterwards. It's been a week of crazy followed by busy. No wonder I got cranky!

Still, I've started this tradition, see, of the Friday Cheese Blogging. I don't know how many of you like it, but I love it. This week I decided to see if anyone else was as dedicated (I suspected that they must be) and I discovered About.com's cheese of the week. Sure, it's outdated, but come on, it's not like the Kashkaval's gone bad!

Kashkaval
A Tangy Sheep's Milk Cheese

Country and Region of Origin: Bulgaria

Type of Cheese: A pasteurized, pasta filata, sheep's milk cheese.

Texture: Semi-firm.

Rind: Smooth and waxy.

Tasting Notes: A straw-colored, salty, tangy, sharp cheese.

Wine Pairing: Serve with a young, full-bodied red wine such as a Merlot.

Serving Suggestions: Serve on a cheese board or as part of an appetizer with olives, or stuffed grape leaves or with other piquant foods.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to read the Progressive Patriots web site, pointed out to me by DC Peaches.

Shame

Yes I'm ashamed at myself for taking joy in reading the round up of Ann Coulter deserters at Hullabaloo.

At least, a little.

I Write Stuff in Other Places

I posted this on skippy, the bush kangaroo: (I left it lower-case out of laziness)

free man
leak counsel won't charge rove, lawyer announces

in a statement, mr. luskin said, "on june 12, 2006, special counsel patrick fitzgerald formally advised us that he does not anticipate seeking charges against karl rove."

not "finds no evidence to support seeking charges", just that he doesn't anticipate doing so. great. nothing i like better out of an investigation than no explanations whatsoever.

when i was 22, i got a speeding ticket when i wasn't speeding. when i went to court, the cop wasn't there, and the judge basically told me, "you're guilty because i say so". this news gives me the same kind of feeling as the situation that night did.

Then, I immediately got this comment - this anonymous comment:

Why do you blog?

And what does your ignorance of the law and your unwillingness to appeal a charge that had no witness have to do with Rove?

Wow. I try to convey a feeling of powerlessness and dismay, and it gets me insulted. Terrific. I thought about replying on the site, but that felt like feeding the trolls. Instead, I went with my second thought, vent here, in my personal blog space.

Know what kills me most? I am not ignorant of the law, damn it! What do you do when you say that x and y are true, and all the people standing around you say, "Too bad."?

Day 2453900, and I'm Grumpy

I didn't get enough sleep last night, and I've got a really low-level cramp in the back of my right thigh. Not the kind to keep me from walking, just the kind to keep me from cheering up. Do not expect posting from the grumpy Tami.

That's Not Right

This was in my referrer logs.

That's not right.

Friday Cheese Blogging III

Today I got an email with the subject line "What Would Cheeses Do?".

Seriously.

It led me to a cheese blog. Cheese blog!

Now I have a terrible craving for something with a mild, nutty flavor and grassy undertones. Damn it!

Whoa-oh-oh-oh, on the radio

This morning I heard on the radio that the body of Al-Zarqawi was so blown to bits that the U.S. sent in a team of plastic surgeons to put him back together so they could recognize him in the photos. This, the morning show host said, was why it took a couple of days before the photos were published.

I did a quick web search looking to see if I could find evidence anywhere else - anywhere else at all about that. I could not. I didn't expect to, though, because quite frankly, it sounds like a giant, physically impossible, load of crap. What would posses someone to repeat such an idiotic story with no sources?

Hideous Beast

I'm not an overly kind person, when it comes down to it, it's just a fact. The phrase "Hideous Beast" is one I normally reserve for my father's girlfriend, seeing as I wish she was anyone else's girlfriend, but I'm going to have to come up with another slanderous phrase for her, because I'm reassigning this one to Anne Coulter.

I was really trying to ignore her, I really was, but when I heard that she was calling 9/11 widows "the witches of East Brunswick", it felt like someone had slapped me in the face, which was surprising, seeing as I'm not one. Therefore, I concluded that she was slapping any sense of moral decency left in the country in the (metaphorical) face, and I had some of that decency stuff still left in me.

I know there are plenty of 9/11 widows out there that aren't millionaires, and aren't on the news, and are just trying to live their lives, although the only person I know personally who lost a spouse is a man. Even if you are on the news, though, even if you did write a book, or get a large insurance settlement, you don't deserve to be ripped to shreds publicly simply because a tragic twist of fate made you into a public figure.

Do we honestly have to remind her about how grief feels? I feel like Karma should be handing her a tremendous personal tragedy soon, so that she can have a hole ripped in her gut that burns on and off for years, every time you hear a phrase, or see something out of the corner of your eye, or hear certain songs. Yes, the pain lessens as time goes by, but it's always there, it becomes part of you.

I remember the days after 9/11, and the sheer amount of grief all around us was staggering. The fact that Ms. Coulter is disparaging those that experienced it first-hand for profit is simply disgusting.

Lift and Separate, People!

(cross posted at Running Scared, where soon I shall be QUEEN!)

Gay-marriage amendment fails in Senate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate voted down a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on Wednesday, but Republicans planned a vote in the House of Representatives to keep a national spotlight on the hot-button issue.

The 49 to 48 Senate vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to clear a procedural hurdle...

Know why? Because this is stupid, and taking time to work on legislation about it is wasting the taxpayers' money. In fact, I'm pissed off at the 49 Senators who voted in favor of it. If the concept of same sex marriage is based on the bible stating that marriage is between a man and a woman, then it's a religious issue, and individual religious institutions can go ahead and make any rules they like about who can and can't be married by their clergy. The government has no business in religious decisions, even if it's labeled the generic "values" as if to fool us all.

Look, I feel just fine about my values without worrying about gay people getting married. My religion is officially against it, so I can't expect Orthodox Rabbi's to start performing committment ceremonies, and that's fine with me.

What if, say, there were a recognized religion that advocated same sex marriage for people who don't want to procreate? Crazy you say? may I remind you that Scientology is a recognized religion?

I find the concepts of constitutional bans that would take away people's rights to "ensure the blessings of liberty" mind-boggling.

Borrowed Time

I may have mentioned in the past that I lost my mother to breast cancer when I was 18. She, in turn lost her mother to breast cancer at age 13. I have lived my whole life -or at least, since I finally understood that my mother was losing the fight, at around age 17, waiting for the day that I would be diagnosed with it, myself.

Because losing my mother affected our family as much as you'd expect it to, my father worries about me. He's shown me magazine articles about tamoxifen, and asks about my gynecological health, which, honestly, I don't want to discuss with him. At all. I, in turn, have discussed these things with my doctor, and she and I have talked about what she thinks is best for my health. Of course, losing a significant amount of weight is always mentioned, but other changes that I'm supposed to make have been done, and I'm pretty satisfied that we're doing all that we can be doing. At least, now that I've quit smoking (14 months ago, already?) I'm satisfied.

Dad, however, was not. He continued to nag me about not taking any pills that could prevent breast cancer. He wanted to know why I hadn't taken the test to determine if I had the "breast cancer gene". It was an odd amount of nagging, considering that he's usually so very non-invasive that he knows nothing about my dating life, and I live with him. He's not usually the type to pry.

So there I was, home in the morning, because I'd taken a personal day for my OBGYN appointment (you never know how long you're going to sit in that office), and there's my dad, asking when I'm going to get that genetic test. So finally, I gave in. It was a scary big deal, because I didn't want to know. I wanted to both assume that I had it, and assume that I didn't, because it's just something else that could be wrong with me, and my goodness, I've already got Enough wrong with me. I found out that the test costs 4 thousand dollars, and managed to stipulate that if my insurance wouldn't pay for it, then the whole thing was cancelled. I'm not tossing away the price of a European cruise on a test I don't want in the first place.

Well, my insurance company did indeed pay for it, which was shock enough, but not nearly the kind of shock as when my doctor called to tell me that the test came back negative. No mutations, she said. I was too stunned to really react in any kind of way. I'm sure I said thank you for the good news, and I agreed that I understand that this doesn't mean that I *won't* get cancer, but the rest is a little blurry.

I don't have that gene. I feel oddly as if I've been redefined.

What I Learned Today

You know those black frame thingies that dealers put around license plates? Apparently they're illegal in the state of NJ. Not that I mind, because I'd rather have a ticket for that, which doesn't come with any points, than I would for going 82 in a 65mph zone.

Not that I was doing that.

What I Love Right This Minute

Osaka Popstar

Like the DJ/Author Irwin Chusid said, by the end of "Man of Constant Sorrow", I was a fan. Except for me, it happened by the middle of "Wicked World".

And yes, I got the autographed booklet. I'm very nrdgrll.

That's Right, More Friday Cheese Blogging

What, me trying to get out of thinking, so I write fluff? Maybe...

Cheese.com!

Cheese Fact Sheet

No matter how far archaeological finds go, there is evidence that cheese came into being in prehistoric times. Cheese can not really be said to have been "invented". This delicious food must have resulted from the simple observation that milk left in a container ends up by coagulating, even more if it is hot. People living in areas where the climate changed seasonally would also have noticed the effect of temperature on this process: in warmer weather the milk would curdle faster than in the cold. This might be considered the first technological cheesemaking discovery.

There are hundreds of different types of cheese that can be differentiated both by the type of milk - raw, skimmed or pasteurised, and by the animal - cow, goat, sheep, buffalo, horse or camel.

Fascinating! I select, for today's "cheese of the day" -
» Herve «!

Herve is one of the most favorite cheeses in Belgium. It has a shape of brick with glossy, orange-brown rind. The taste and flavor of the cheese deepens on the period of ripening. When young, the interior is sweet, with age the flavor becomes spicy.

Country: Belgium
Milk: cow milk
Texture: semi-hard

Disney Movie Premise Actually Happens

My mind was slightly blown when I saw the following headline:
American Teen Revealed as Royal Princess...

As I read on, though, the details were revealed.

The prince's daughter, who lives in Palm Springs, is welcome in Monaco, Lacoste said, but she cannot take the throne and will not bear the Grimaldi family name. Neither will Albert's other illegitimate child, 3-year-old Alexandre.

All right, then, so an American teen *can* suddenly be a princess, but she can't take the throne, and I'm guessing the whole "Princess Diaries 2" plot about her having to marry before a certain age or she forfeits everything isn't in the cards, either.

And So It Goes

A friend just wrote me that a (local) musician that I should be able to remember has died.

I am sad because he was way too young to go, and I'm sad because I can't remember him.

I'm sad because her email said, "another funeral"; she's gone to so many of these.

I am sad when bright lights burn themselves out.

NJ Drivers

Have you been to Union (the town proper, not the county) at rush hour lately? I have. I tried to drive through it to get to route 22 recently. I would have been better off walking. That town has more traffic than the roads can handle at peak hours. It's a tough situation.

It's the kind of situation that I can see coming to my town, the Somerset section of Franklin Township. Every morning I leave my house as close to 6:15 as possible, because I know that if I wait until after 7, the traffic will already have started. In the evenings, route 27 begins to resemble a parking lot. Don't bother setting up speed traps - no one can go faster than 20mph.

Knowing this about my town, you can imagine how unhappy I am to hear that a developer would like to put in a whole lot of retail services, to go with some new "Fair Share Plan" housing.

This is the part where I admit that I can't make heads or tails of that document, gave up, and assume that it's about the exact rules and regulations for providing affordable and low-income housing.

What I do know, though, is that I do not think that new retail business near Bennett's lane are a good idea. I'm not thrilled about housing, either, because extra traffic is extra traffic, but adding businesses there would cause lots of people to be driving those roads, not just the people who would be living there. I don't know about preserving the red hawk, and I don't know if the township will make millions of dollars in tax revenue that more than offsets the cost of schooling any new children that the housing may bring in. I do know that our current roads can't support our current traffic, and unless that's addressed first, I can't feel comfortable about this project.

Unreasonable Expectations

Today my manager had decreed that a site redesign that's slated for 2 weeks from now be complete today - half an hour ago. I did indeed finish something that will work, and I plan on spending the rest of the time until the sword of Damocles lands on my neck fine tuning and adding the "nice to have" items.

In other words, I don't have time to write even this much.

I wrote something yesterday, feel free to read it, if you like.

I Love When Other People Say Good Stuff

Skippy is ranting, and it makes a lot of sense to me.

we grew up during the 60's, when america had a real enemy, an enemy that could actually blow this country up: the soviet union. a country with a real government, a real army, a real cadre of nuclear missiles and submarines which, at any moment, was poised to shoot across the oceans onto our heads.

...

we walked through life facing down a real enemy, an enemy which proclaimed its desire to infect the world with its own way of thinking, without ever once giving up any of the civil liberties our forefathers built into our way of government and which our fathers fought and bled on foreign shores to protect.

The whole thing is mighty good ranting.

Amusing and Disconcerting

The top 10 downloaded "albums" at iTunes:

iTunes Top 10 Albums

1. Stephen Colbert At the White House Correspondents' Dinner (Original Staging) -
2. Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers
3. Broken Boy Soldiers - The Raconteurs
4. St. Elsewhere - Gnarls Barkley
5. Soundtrack to Your Life - Ashley Parker Angel
6. Every Man for Himself (Red Cover) - Hoobastank
7. Eyes Open - Snow Patrol
8. How to Save a Life - The Fray
9. It's Time - Michael Bublé
10. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam

The amusing part? That Colbert's outselling the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Disconcerting? The fact that I only know 6 of the 10 listed.

Bears!

Bears in my town. This makes me nervous. OK, the closest sighting was about 4 miles from my house, but I don't rightly know how far a bear can/wants to walk. I'm hoping that my area of the township is so densely populated that a bear would be too frightened to wander on in.

I cannot believe that in my definitively suburban lifestyle, I'm actually nervous about the possibility of finding a bear in my back yard.

And wait - I've just realized that this weekend I'm supposed to be camping about 4 miles further west of there. Terrific. I'm going to the baseball field for a local fire house, not the uncharted woods. Modern sprawl is affecting me very adversely, today.

Four Armed

The warnings have begun.

Are we listening?

Friday Cheese Blogging

All right, since I often have trouble with people not understanding that I do not object to many subjects of media articles, but rather the way the articles themselves present said subject, I'm giving up on things that can be misinterpreted. You cannot misinterpret cheese - CHEESE CAN'T DIAL A PHONE! (sorry, I cannot resist a semi-obscure reference).

Today, Goat Cheese! (cheese-cross-posted at B&A)

(from cheese.com)

» Chevres «

These cheeses are made from goat's milk. They come in many sizes and shapes, such as round patties, log-shapes, drum-shapes, pyramids, round loaves, long loaves etc.; their textures vary from soft, but firm like cream cheese to extremely hard. Chevres are excellent dessert cheeses, often served as snacks or before dinner drinks. Goat cheese is often served as an ingredient in many fine dishes.

Country: France
Milk: goat milk
Texture: semi-hard
Fat content: 45 %

This week on Iron Chef America, you see, it was "Battle Goat Cheese".

Angling

OK, I know that it's not a new story that

New federal guidelines ask all females capable of conceiving a baby to treat themselves -- and to be treated by the health care system -- as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon.

- it's a couple of days old, and plenty of people have weighed in on it. But I can't stop thinking about it.

I wonder if I'm so up in arms because I don't plan to get pregnant, and I can only think of these things from my point of view. Still, it shouldn't matter, I'm a woman, and my opinion on women's rights is as valid as any other woman. I live with the results every day. We all do, of course, but just like I can never know what it's like to be a black man, neither can men know what it's like to be a woman. Look at me, stating the obvious! Wheee!

OK, so back to the article. It talks about how women should

take folic acid supplements, refrain from smoking, maintain a healthy weight and keep chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes under control

Now, forgive me if I'm missing something, here, but aren't we all supposed to be doing those things anyway, just in general? I mean, is there any doctor out there who says, "Oh, yeah. You're not pregnant, so you can go ahead and smoke 'em if you got 'em!". Are there doctors advocating unhealthy weights, or telling people that it's OK to let their asthma or diabetes slide, untreated, careening out of control?

Just in case you're the one person who does not know the answer to my rhetorical questions, no, there are not doctors who are all right with those things. In fact, these things are just about good health, period. And truthfully, everyone should, in fact keep themselves in as healthy a state as possible, just on general principal. The fact that lots of us don't is a mystery of human nature, and a study in self destruction, but it's certainly not to be lain at the feet of our doctors, who are always telling us to lose weight, exercise, and lay off the smoking and excessive booze.

So if this is good general advice, why the "pre-pregnancy" crap? That's the part that bothers me, personally. Is it because someone got the idea in their head that women would be more likely to take care of themselves if the government told them that they were harming their future children? Was it just a new twist on the old manipulation of trying to get women to take care of themselves in spite of themselves? "If you won't do it for you, do it for the babies"? That's fairly insulting, but at least good-intentioned. But what if it's not just that? What if it really is just someone's idea that women aren't any good to society if we're not pushing out the next generation (of men)? What then?

The wording in this initiative, this "preconception care", it makes me itchy. What I've learned in life is that things that make me itchy are not good things for me. I don't like it, I don't like it at all. My day to day life, my existence as a person, as Tami, is not my "preconception life", it's just my life, period.

There's More Than One Immigration Bill?

When I saw the headline "Immigration Bill Moves Forward", I had no idea what bill it was talking about. Everything *I've* heard lately about immigration is all about fences, National Guardsmen, and "Visiting Worker" programs. So I was surprised when it started out like this:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved a compromise that would bar illegal immigrants with criminal records from becoming legal residents or U.S. citizens.

Bar illegal immigrants with criminal records from becoming legal? Is this new?! Then, though, I kept reading and never fear, the constant talking points are here!

The 99-0 vote on the amendment blocking felons and people with three misdemeanor convictions was a key hurdle for the bipartisan immigration bill, which would tighten border security while creating a guest worker program and a path toward citizenship for many of the nation's estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants.

Ah, so it *is* all about that same stuff. Thank goodness, I was worried I was missing something, there.

Then, I came up with a question about this whole "barring illegals with a criminal record from becoming legals" angle. Does a criminal record come with being arrested for being an illegal immigrant?

I'm switching to Smoke Signals

What's worse than just collecting all the phone records that you can get, en masse?

doing something Orwellian with them.

a senior federal law enforcement official tells abc news the government is tracking the phone numbers we call in an effort to root out confidential sources.

well, isn't that just the height of trustworthiness. Makes me want to give my phone number to reporters so they can call me weekly and say, "hi".

New Jersey Has Cities?

(cross posted at B&A)

Was pointed to this article by BlueJersey.Net.

But here's what is odd about Newark -- no, odd, really, about New Jersey. Newark is the bad section. The bad section of the state.

The place to be avoided -- along with Camden and Paterson and Trenton and Elizabeth and the parts of Jersey City that don't face the river.

New Jersey hates its cities. Too strong?

I don't think so (also what he said, next). I live near New Brunswick. New Brunswick used to have a whole bunch of "projects" - low income housing - that was clearly viewable from route 18. Now tons of it, whole blocks, are gone, replaced by fancy, gentrified condominiums and upscale restaurants.

There used to be people living in those apartment buildings, hundreds of people. Now there are new people, different people, richer people. I ask what in the world they did with the residents that were misplaced by this whole "refurbishing" effort, but no one ever has an answer for me.

Today I Realized That We're Just Screwed

I was reading the letter that the President of Iran wrote to the President of the United States. (At least, according to WorldNet Daily).

Let me just say that the whole gist of the letter is that the world was wrong, wrong, wrong to create Israel, and that trying for the whole secular government thing is obviously a failed experiment. While he doesn't come right out and say "God will punish you for this", he may as well. And you know what my first thought on that is? "Good luck when you figure out that whole "proof of God's existence" thing, kid".

But still, the letter that reads for the most part as someone waving their religion around while probably spitting too much, and doing so while they're close enough to your face to really bother you, contains this:

Mr. President, history tells us that repressive and cruel governments do not survive. God has entrusted the fate of man to them. The Almighty has not left the universe and humanity to their own devices. Many things have happened contrary to the wishes and plans of governments. These tell us that there is a higher power at work and all events are determined by Him.

No, no, I still don't buy into the higher power taking a direct role in the day-to-day business of the earth thing, but the part about cruel governments I can get behind without a problem.

Our own government is doing enough cruel things that everyone else on the planet has noticed, and we, the populace of the United States, re-elected these people. It was when this that I realized once again, we're just screwed.

My Prerogative

I keep thinking about how changing your mind on an issue based on the way the situation plays out, or new evidence being brought to light is a sign of intelligence and maturity.

Changing a position based on popular approval for that position, and not on analysis or conviction is a sign of a weak mind.

Holding steadfast to a position despite people showing you evidence that it's the wrong tack to take shows me that you'd rather hold your breath and stamp your foot than accept reality and work with the rest of the world. Obviously, I am not counting this among the mature or intelligent options.

Shamelessly catering to the whims of the populous is not the same thing as changing your position because you feel it's the right thing to do. Accusing people of flip-flopping, and the fact that it's still going on everywhere, pisses me off.

Not Running on a Full Tank

I haven't been running at 100% since last Saturday night at about midnight when I was suddenly and surprisingly ill. I was actually asked if I was throwing up because I'd had too much to drink. I have NEVER thrown up because I've had too much to drink, I'm sure as shootin' not gonna start now. No, I was sick with... something. I don't know what.

If you've ever met my family, though, you'd know that sensitivity to the needs of others isn't our strong suit - not when those others are our relatives. "Suck it up and think about me" may as well be a family motto.

So last Sunday I was supposed to go see my sister's fiance do a demonstration at a museum in Pennsylvania. I was looking forward to it, I was, but the whole puking-my-guts up until 2:30 in the morning had put somewhat of a damper on my enthusiasm. The arrangement was that I would wait for my father to go to a brunch with the people who'd shown up to his 50th high school reunion, and then we'd drive down together. I informed my father of my health.

"What, you mean you want me to drive down there BY MYSELF?"

An hour later, wondering what the hell happens to my ability to refuse people when I'm ill, I'm DRIVING through Philadelphia on Rte 1. looking for Red Lion Road. Not even just traveling, I had to flipping drive. So uncool.

Anyway, I got there, and everyone I know (my sister, her fiance, an odd assortment of our friends) tells me how tired I look. Thanks, guys. They were right though, I was beat. So I sat my butt on a stone wall under a flowering tree, and looked around. Slowly I started noticing that it's absolutely gorgeous there. I regretted not having my camera with me, then I remembered that my phone has a 1.3 megapixel camera in it. Why not give it a try? I figured. I think it worked out pretty well. I don't have the kind of detail shots I'd normally get, but for a phone, I'm pretty impressed.



If you're going to have to be somewhere besides home when you don't feel well, this particular spot is a pretty good second choice.

Tax Talk

I posted over on Running Scared. Feel free to head over there and read it.

Can We Learn?

Today I'm reading about Ray Nagin's announcement about new evacuation plans for New Orleans, should they be needed again.

Nagin also said federal Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had cleared the way for the use of Amtrak passenger trains in the event of an evacuation.

I don't understand - are they saying that trains weren't used during Katrina because people weren't allowed? That's a little mind-boggling. It makes me wonder if people really understand what the word "emergency" entails.

People with special medical needs and the elderly would be picked up by city, school and church buses and taken to the train station or evacuated by bus to shelters.

For security, 3,000 National Guard troops could be stationed with police throughout the city prior to a storm, and a dusk-to-dawn curfew would be in place once the evacuation was over, Police Superintendent Warren Riley said.

...

In addition to the human elements, the plan touches on a heart-wrenching decision evacuees faced ahead of Katrina: To board the buses, they had to leave their pets, and some refused to go without them. In the future, evacuees will be allowed to bring pets with them as long as they are in a cage.

All right, I like the sounds of these parts. Plans to go and fetch those who can't help themselves, and places that will be prepared to take them. Having a police/guard force in place before people get the idea that rioting and looting is a swell thought. Not forcing people to abandon animals, as long as they can contain them.

This part makes me hopeful that we (the American people) sometimes can learn from our mistakes, instead of just repeating them. That would be nice. Because you know what? I've seen the weather patterns these past few years, and we'd be idiots to think that a hurricane like Katrina can't happen to New Orleans again.

Sometimes, I Get Emails

Look! I got an email, and it was good! And let me tell you, my fondness level for the person who sent this to me certainly didn't go down because of it, no sir!

How I Think It Will Play Out

OK, so Governor Corzine suggests that we implement self-serve gas in NJ, because it could save "up to 6 cents a gallon". At least, that's the figure I heard on NJ101.5's news this morning. And sure it will, for the first couple of months. Then, though, I'm willing to bet serious cash that gas station owners will creep the price up by a few cents at a time, until all of the savings that self-service renders are rendered solely unto gas station owners. Look at other states, self-serve gas is *more* expensive, even if that state has ports to bring in oil, or a relatively low gas tax.

Also, I *hate* having to get out of the car in the cold or the rain. That could be clouding my judgement, here.

Dog Help Me

It's "take your child to work day" at my office, and I forgot to call in sick.

There are children everywhere.

When I was 17, I was looking to see what college I was going to go to. I wanted to go to Mason Gross School of the Arts for vocal music. I auditioned. I could tell that they were not as impressed as one would hope for.

"Have you ever considered music education?" one of them asked. I could tell that this woman felt for me. She felt like I had some sort of musical talent, but that I just wasn't ever going to be a performer for a living. Perhaps if I wanted to become a music teacher, this was the path they could help set me on at Mason Gross. I could see all that in her face, and I knew that music education was going to be the only way I was going to get into that college.

"No," I said immediately, without any hesitation.

I do not like children. Sure, sure, I like the odd individual child, but I dislike the random ones, and I especially dislike them en masse.

And now there's dozens of them, maybe hundreds, walking around my office. In the cube next to mine, I hear someone teasing a 7-year-old boy about why he doesn't have a girlfriend.

Why didn't I stay home?

Cool, but not yet worth $6 million

Biped Robot Legs

When I saw the headline about robotic legs on Slashdot, I had images in my mind of replacement legs, or exoskeletons, or something. Very comic book.

As cool as the idea of a biped chair is, what with it's improved accessibility over a wheeled chair, it's still no Steve Austin, if you know what I mean.

Ok, childish fantasy TV images aside, this is pretty cool.

Context Surprises

OK, we all know the phrase, "an eye for an eye", right? Well, I was just reading Exodus 21, the source of said phrase, and I was surprised by the context it's found in. Apparently, there's a whole list of punishments for different crimes/offenses, and one of them deals with the people who would perform an abortion:

22 And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow, he shall be surely fined, according as the woman's husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
23 But if any harm follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25 burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

So if the person performing an abortion harms the mother of the aborted fetus, the husband of said woman (or father, one would assume, in his stead) is supposed to cause equal harm to the one who dealt it. Crazy. And let me say, the burning line is more than just a little disturbing.

Funny I never noticed that before, it's not like this is my first time through the Bible, or anything.

Too Lazy to Make My Own II

Over at the fabulous Shakespeare's Sister, she's using terrific phrases like "mendacious shill", and laying on the obvious snark I love so well.

The Human Factor

A friend of mine pointed me at an interesting article from the weekend:
A video game that seeks to make peace, not war
'PeaceMaker' simulates Israeli-Palestinian conflict in all its complexity

In "PeaceMaker," players choose between the role of an Israeli prime minister or a Palestinian Authority president. They make policy decisions, communicate with the international community and monitor opinion polls while coping with "black events" -— bursts of violence that threaten to throw the game off course.

... okay....

What the article doesn't say is how you're supposed to win a game like this. Establish peace, maybe? The truth is that no game can actually simulate what goes on the middle east unless they hit it by pure, unadulterated luck. No one can actually predict what humans will do under duress, no matter which scenario is most likely. The thing about the odds is, that one chance in a million is still a chance.

When you factor humans and their whims into the situation, you have to know that you can never predict exactly what will happen. After all, if this kind of thing were predictable (in the purest sense of the word), someone would have worked it out by now. Seriously.

In the end, I'm not saying that this game is pointless. Teaching people about tough decisions and their consequences is worthwhile, it really is. But as you know, the lack of winning ability in a game really brings me down.

Yup, Still Futile

Today, I am not in the most giving of moods.

Why are people even bothering talking about this "peace process" crap with regards to the middle east? Are things going so much better these days because of all the outside involvement? I'm thinking that the answer is "no".

Israel Preparing to Retake Gaza Strip

Israel withdrew from Gaza last summer, ending 38 years of military occupation. Since the pullout, militants have fired rockets into southern Israel on a nearly daily basis.

All right, then. Why, I ask you, did Israel pull out of the Gaza Strip? To "help the peace process", that's why.

Oh, no, Israel said, we need to be there to keep our enemies back a few steps.

Just pull on out of there, everyone else said, and they'll behave like reasonable people, just glad that there's a process in motion.

Are you sure, Israel said? Because we think that they'll just get even more violent...

We're sure! We're sure, the rest of the world said, and Israel agreed, and pulled out, and had to bitterly fight its own people to do so in some instances.

Well, Israel did pull out, and what they got for their trouble was more bombing, but now the bombs could get closer more easily. I'm sure they're glad about that decision.

"If the price we have to pay becomes unreasonable as a result of increased attacks, then we shall have to take all steps, including occupying the Gaza Strip," Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant, head of Israel's southern command, told the Maariv daily.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Turkey's state-run news agency Friday that reoccupation of the Gaza Strip would be a "deadly mistake."

It's all a deadly mistake. Don't they see that already?

McClellan Makes a Break For It

I was going to write a post about how I found out that there's a guy in my building named "Peter Gunn", but then this came up:

White House spokesman resigning

I cannot blame him. Hell, who really wants that job?

Going Back to Jersey

Not that I ever physically left, mind you. Well, except the occasional day trip to New York or Pennsylvania. Or, if I'm going to the cheap gas station by my office, the 5-minute detour through Suffern, NY, as that's shorter than going down to 17 and going back up Franklin Turnpike.

Anyway - I used to blog over at Blanton's & Ashton's, yes? What's that, you say? I was never taken off the authors list, I've just been falling down horribly on my obligations? Why yes, I suppose that's just it! It was all brought home to me yesterday when engaging in an email exchange with DBK and Tata (also from Poor Impulse Control and Running Scared).

T,tOT: BAM! You never see logic coming! It's like lightning, but without the teeth!

The main reason I was blogging at B's&A's was that it was a very Jersey-centric blog (and, of course, still is). Previously, if I had New Jersey news to express an opinion upon, I would usually put it up over there. Lately, I've been neglecting my fair state in writing. Well, I promise, that if not before, then definitely while DBK is off on his lovely vacation, I will be diving back into telling you all what I think about the state I live in.

And cheese. I'm going to also tell you about cheese.

Defining Self-Defense

Maybe I'm crazy, but the first definition I looked at seemed like it had the basics down:

Use of force is justified when a person reasonably believes that it is necessary for the defense of oneself or another against the immediate use of unlawful force. However, a person must use no more force than appears reasonably necessary in the circumstances.

Immediate use of unlawful force, no more force than appears reasonably necessary, OK, that looks rational to me.

Suicide bomber kills 9 in Tel Aviv

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called the attack "a natural result of the continued Israeli crimes against our people."

"Our people are in a state of self-defense and they have every right to use all means to defend themselves," he said.

I call bullshit. There's nothing in self-defense that implies that you'll be dead when you finish committing whatever acts it is you're committing in "self-defense". In fact, I'm pretty sure that strapping dynamite to yourself is not defending yourself at all so much as going on a desperate offensive.

I have no sympathy for those who target shoppers and civilians and claim "self-defense".

Strike That Thought, Please

I popped over to my "My Yahoo!" page to look at the headlines, I saw "Bomb Kills 26 at Iraq Mosque". I thought, "I should start counting how many days in a month I see a headline that starts "Bomb Kills". Then, I realized how sad that was.

Can Someone - Anyone - Get Them to Stop, Already?

Iran says has enriched uranium

"I am proud to announce that we have started enriching uranium to the 3.5 percent level," Gholamreza Aghazadeh said in a televised address, adding that the pilot enrichment plant in Natanz, south of Tehran, had started working on Monday.

He's proud? Why? because of the technological achievement, or the "stick it to the U.S.A." factor?

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Iran was "moving in the wrong direction" with its nuclear program and if it persisted, the United States would discuss possible next steps with the U.N. Security Council.

See, now the whole thing where Scott McClellan says that Iran's doing something wrong, that makes me nervous.

President George Bush on Monday dismissed reports of plans for military strikes on Iran as "wild speculation."

Oh, thank goodness. I was all worked up into a frenzy. Now at least I know I can relax. The President said so, right?

What Do We Think We're Doing?

Reading around the blogosphere today I'm noticing a lot of people predicting that the U.S. is going to invade Iran.

Are we complete idiots, now? I'm just checking. Because wouldn't we have to be complete idiots to go to war with a country full of religious fanatics when so many people around the world already hate us, *and* our armed forces are spread thin trying to do any kind of good in a zillion other places. OK, Afghanistan and Iraq are the big ones, but there's troops all over this damn world, trust me.

I don't want to live in the land of idiots. Any suggestions as to what country I should run for when the revolution comes? Ooh - maybe we could make New Jersey it's own country. That might work.

Friday Random Ten, the 30% 30's Music Edition

In the spirit of Rox Populi, my random ten of the morning:

1) Angel of Mine - Monica
2) Turning Japanese - No Use for a Name
3) Holiday in Cambodia - Dead Kennedys
4) Ballroom Blitz - Testify
5) These Foolish Things - Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
6) Leash - Pearl Jam
7) To Keep My Love Alive - Blossom Dearie
8) Down in the Depths - Lisa Stansfield
9) Believe - Cher
10) The Price You Pay - Bruce Springsteen

The problems with my iPod:
1) I put an entire CD's worth of mp3's on it given to me by my ex (when he was my "current") without checking what they were, as a show of affection.
2) That's how "Angel of Mine" got on there.
3) That's not how "Believe" got on there.

Well, Hell.

Libby said Bush cleared leak: filing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush authorized the leak to the media of classified material about Iraq, a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney said according to court papers filed by prosecutors and made public on Thursday.

The aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, also testified that he was specifically directed by Cheney to speak to the media about the intelligence information and about Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador who had criticized Bush's Iraq policy, according to the papers.

Wow. Conspiracy theory proven correct. What the hell am I supposed to think about that?

Oh, yeah - that someone very powerful is a petty, vindictive, immature man who was willing to destroy someone's career in order to get "revenge".

Maybe I'm the Crazy One

OK, read this today:

How UMDNJ became a 'patronage pit'

The harshly critical findings, in a report released yesterday by the federal monitor overseeing the university, also found a top administrator systematically abused his expense account, including the freewheeling use of hotel rooms after "late-night meetings" that never occurred, and the rental of an Alfa Romeo for a business trip.

I read the whole thing, I promise. What I got out of it was that people with personal recommendations from politicians got a number assigned to them, a "rank", if you will. The article also alleges that there were instances where powerful patrons intervened to keep people from getting fired. There's not any actual examples of that cited in the paper, so I'm going on their word, there.

Other than that, I see a lot of people who had their resumes forwarded to UMDNJ by politicians. That's not actually a crime, in my eyes. I guess, if there was a lot of winking an nodding going on like, "Of course we'll hire your guy, Bob!" then yes, this is indeed favoritism, but not anywhere near as appalling to me as the guy who rented an Alpha Romeo on the company's dime. That's obvious abuse that I understand. The hiring thing, well, I'm probably wrong, but it just doesn't read as all that bad to me.

A resume for another individual seeking an operations manager position forwarded by Menendez, then a congressman, was similarly marked with a priority number. The candidate barely met the technical requirements of the job, according to the university's own internal memos.

"...Barely met the technical requirements"? Like no one ever applies for a job that they don't meet the requirements for? Jeez, the last job I applied for required knowledge of a programming language that I've never written in. I went for it anyway, because the department seemed like a good fit for me, and I figured if they liked me, they wouldn't mind waiting for me to pick up that particular skill.

In my mind, the phrase "barely met the technical requirements" reads a lot like "almost late". Instead of "almost late", I like to use the phrase "on time".

As I said before, I'm probably wrong, and I'm probably just coming away with this impression because of the way that the article is written. I know enough about human nature to know that most of the time, where there's smoke, there's fire. If that's not it, though, and these cases of patronage are just in fact politicians recommending people for jobs, why is it the main thing focused on in the title of the article? Why not just dedicate yourself to talking about the slam-dunk topic, the wide-spread misuse of funds? Am I, in fact, the crazy one for thinking this?

I Know Art When I See It

For a while now, I've been wondering if I just don't like poetry, or if I've only been finding bad examples of it. After popping over to Rox Populi this morning, I now know that yes, I've only been seeing bad examples, lately.

Purgatory

by Maxine Kumin

And suppose the darlings get to Mantua,

suppose they cheat the crypt, what next? Begin

with him, unshaven. Though not, I grant you, a

displeasing cockerel, there's egg yolk on his chin.

His seedy robe's aflap, he's got the rheum.

Poor dear, the cooking lard has smoked her eye.

Another Montague is in the womb

although the first babe's bottom's not yet dry.

She scrolls a weekly letter to her Nurse

who dares to send a smock through Balthasar,

and once a month, his father posts a purse.

News from Verona? Always news of war.

Such sour years it takes to right this wrong!

The fifth act runs unconscionably long.

Posted in celebration of National Poetry Month.

When I finished reading this, I realized I'd been sighing the whole time.

P.S. - no, I don't mean that your poetry is bad, silly.

Heard it on the Radio

More stuff you didn't want to know about me: I find David Lee Roths' speaking voice really sexy, especially when he drops it low on purpose. I have no idea why, but man, that sound just wraps around me like a blanket.

Damn. Is there ever a post where I don't wander off my point?

Well, anyway, now you know why I was tuned into David Lee Roth this morning. I listened for a while, and was thrilled to hear that he was talking to John Beltzer from Songs of Love. I love music, and I love compassion for those who deserve it. I cannot think of anybody who deserves compassion more than a sick child. Beltzer's organization composes original songs for ill children and has celebrities (of all levels) record them. This morning I heard Roth's donation of a song to a girl named Ashley with leukemia. If I was a sick kid, I'd love that. AS it is, I'm an adult, and I love the idea.

Then Roth talked about the next guest coming up, and it was a former porn star. Since I could care less about healthy attractive women talking about having lots of sex, I turned it off. She doesn't need my help.