I Still Notice the Disconnect

Israeli air strike, commandos kill 3 Palestinians

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, at least one of them a militant, during separate operations in the Gaza Strip and West Bank on Wednesday, witnesses said.

All right, I'm reading along, there seems to be some dispute about whether the man was a militant or not, I get it. Then, though, then I come across this line:

During the offensive, at least 208 Palestinians have been killed, about half of them civilians.

I was momentarily confused. Why is it so important that half of them are civilians? Aren't all war fatalities of equally terrible import? And that's when it hit me: Americans still don't know what it's like to live with war. I've said it before, but it's still true. No one runs through our streets with guns because they're from another country and they're here to kill us for being American. We've got it all sorted out in our heads that in war, only soldiers get killed, and killing the civilians makes an army the Bad Guy.

How I wish that it were true that casualties could somehow be limited to those who had signed on to be part of a war - hell, I still wish there was no war. This is just a wish, though, people. Anyone in a war zone can be killed, on purpose or by accident. There are bombs and guns there. When a neighborhood is suddenly deemed to be a war zone, people who couldn't or wouldn't get out are now in danger of being killed, whether or not they're soldiers. Thinking that civilian casualties can be avoided is delusional.

War is terrible, people, for everyone involved, not just the soldiers. As Americans, we're all just lucky that land war against us is geographically improbable.

Make the connection.

Some Random Thoughts

I have a referral to go see a specialist. I had 3 choices, and all 3 were Jewish. I just live in an area with a lot of Jews.

My father lectures me on the same stuff over and over again. The man hardly ever has conversations, he just warms up to a topic and starts lecturing. These days the repeat track is how people are crying that pension plans in New Jersey cost too much, and they're one of the causes of our high real estate taxes. His points:

• Only allowing people to take one state job doesn't lower pension spending, because those jobs would just be filled with other people, so the money spent is the same


• Lowering the amount of money spent on pensions wouldn't affect property taxes anyway, because property taxes aren't set by the state, they're set by individual municipalities.

I tell him that lowering the amount spent on pensions could possibly, indirectly affect property taxes, if - IF - the money saved was then distributed as state aid to the municipalities, thereby lowering the amount that they need to collect from the residents. I tell him that, but I don't really believe that it will ever work that way.

The Most Bigoted Thing I'll Ever Say

Medical practices blend health and faith

...The center is one of a small but growing number of practices around the country that tailor the care they provide to the religious beliefs of their doctors, shunning birth-control and morning-after pills, IUDs and other contraceptive devices, sterilizations, and abortions, as well as in vitro fertilization. Instead, doctors offer "natural family planning" -- teaching couples to monitor a woman's temperature and other bodily signals to time intercourse.

Well, then. While I'm not opposed to people being able to practice their religions, I'm certainly opposed to people putting their religious beliefs on to me.

Looks like I'm sticking to Jewish doctors, I guess.
(Yes, that was the bigoted thing, in case you missed it)

I also thought this was fairly moronic:

"What happens is a patient says to her doctor, 'I don't want an abortion. I don't want to go on birth-control pills. I don't want to create 10 embryos and kill eight of them to have a baby,' " said Thomas W. Hilgers, who started the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha to do research in this area, offer patients alternatives and train doctors. "They end up getting ridiculed or told they are stupid."

I have *never* heard of a case where a patient didn't want birth control, abortion, or artificial insemination and because of that, their doctor said that they were stupid. If that is indeed happening, then I agree, those doctors are wrong. Choice is choice, and if you choose to live your reproductive life in a religious manner, that's your business. The thing is, choice is still choice for everyone, and if you choose to not live that way, then the full range of medical options should be available to you.

More Useless Filler

Yes, more useless filler while my actual job makes actual demands on me.

Today, my weirdest referrer was this Google search:

"hurts to swallow white spots".

Apparently, when you've got strep throat, I'm the seventh most useful place to go for answers.

Christ on a Cracker.

Well, the Klimt exhibit was very cool, but coming back to work isn't. Of course major changes happen whenever I'm away, and there's been a re-org of my whole department. My immediate boss isn't my boss any more, but the person who insists that I work a million miles from my home is still at the top of the pyramid.

I must attend many meetings, now, to find out how exactly my job will not change at all. Honestly, I think this is the 4th department I'll be in while doing the exact same projects. Plus ca change...

Day Off

Today I have taken the day off so that I can go to the Neue Galerie and look at the Klimt exhibit.

I'm kind of stoked about it.

The Company You Keep

Feminists And Islamists

Matt Drachenberg makes an excellent point:

A funny, ironical, thing happened during the anti-Israel, er anti-war, protests in Britain: feminists were protesting against Israel, er against the war, side-by-side with... Muslim extremists.

This, of course, is so ironical because Muslim extremists are feminists' natural enemy. Somehow, though, those feminists chanting against the war, didn't understand that, or, perhaps better said, weren't willing to understand that.

See?

Maybe when one looks at all the reasons there are for taking up a cause - and certainly, I understand protesting against war - perhaps one should look also at the reasons to not take it up at this particular time. The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Not so much in this case. No matter what the cause, you will never find me standing on the same side as someone who holds up a sign that says, "We're all Hezbollah, Now".

Today In My Email

I got an email claiming that my order for Canadian drugs was confirmed and on its way, and one email from my actual prescription plan telling me that my real, I-actually-ordered it drug order was confirmed and on its way.

It's not too often that my Spam matches my real mail so well!

The Personal Is Still Political

Hat tip to Sharon GR of BlueJersey and The Center of New Jersey Life.

Some of the lowest points of my life have been at funerals. Dealing with a sense of loss, trying to wrap your head around the new order of who is and isn't there any more, it's a lot. The last thing anyone should be doing at a funeral is protesting - even the most unprincipled felon came into the world as someone's child. This is why I'm glad that a bill was signed into law here in NJ yesterday that would keep protesters back at least 500 feet. Yes, it's a free country, and we can protest if we want to, but we should be allowed to grieve without physical harassment when we need to, as well.

Is "Debby Does Cape Verde" Too Obvious?

Hello, I'm back from vacation, all tanned and rested and more determined than ever to win the lottery!

I've returned just in time to preach gloom and doom, old-school. Tropical depressions lead to tropical storms, and nothing says doom like catastrophic weather.

At 8 a.m. EDT, the depression that formed Monday was centered 130 miles south-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde and was moving toward the west-northwest near 16 mph.

The storm had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, 4 mph below the threshold for a tropical storm and well below hurricane strength of 74 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. But it was expected to become a tropical storm by Wednesday.

Pluto Position Plagues Prague

(This was originally posted on August 15 at Blanton's and Ashton's. It is the first of two postings on the subject of the conference of the International Astronomical Union.)

Scientists are meeting in Prague to decide whether Pluto should continue to be designated as a planet or be downgraded to something like "that asteroid named after the Disney character". Okay, so maybe this doesn't matter to you, but to Plutologists, this is their entire life's work on the line. About half of the scientists say it should remain a planet while the other half say it should be considered an asteroid. I am sure there is a joke in there somewhere about "a third half of the scientists say", but I'll leave that for the physicists to work out.

Delegates from the Plutonian delegation could not be reached for comment.

The deliberation is part of the 12-day conference of the International Astronomical Union, or "IAU", as we acronymists like to call it. In addition to the fate of Pluto, the Union will decide whether to go on strike for bigger planets, longer breaks between comets, and an "asteroid-sharing plan" that would allow the members to participate in asteroids that are developed as a result of their efforts. When viewed through a telescope, by the way, the meeting looks like this:A team of scientists are now studying this picture to try and determine whether there is water in Prague. Their efforts are being hampered by the fact that none of them speak Czech. NASA is applying for funding to mount a mission to send probes to Prague to gather further information.

Fall into my orbit, chilluns: NEW PLANETS!

(I am reposting these from Blanton's and Ashton's. This was the second of the two pieces I wrote. This one was posted today, August 16.)

You all thought I was just posting a throwaway piece yesterday when I wrote about Pluto and the International Astronomical Union. Ha! This should teach you not to take me lightly. I was on top of the story of the day. A committee of the IAU has proposed that not only will Pluto remain a planet, but three large pieces of space detritus (look it up) may become new planets. After all those years of painstakingly memorizing the nine planets in our solar system in order (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto), you'll have to memorize three more. And the names are real dillies, let me tell you.

2003 UB313, the farthest-known object in the solar system and nicknamed "Xena, Warrior Planet"; Pluto's largest moon, Charon, named for the ferryman who takes the dead to Hades in Greek mythology; and the asteroid Ceres, which was a planet in the 1800s before it got demoted, could all become planets if the proposal is accepted. Of these, 2003 UB313 is my favorite name for a planet. It's like when they started naming cars "ES 300" and stuff like that instead of "Phaeton". Completely lacking in romance or personality, bled of all warmth, planets can become big hunks of matter circling some other big hunk of matter. If you want to ensure that few people become astronomers, name the planets with letters and numbers.

I mentioned the planetary additions to my co-worker just now and her response was perfect. "Yeah, I heard they were thinking of adding three new planets. You can do that? You can just add three new planets just like that?"

Apparently.

Beat this woman to a pulp (figuratively, of course)

Until I ran across this post (on Memeorandum) from one Jacqueline Mackie Paisley Passey (can you possibly have any more names that don't involve saints?) I had never heard of the woman. When I finished reading it, I wanted to hit her with a half-brick in a sock. I'l fully admit that I've not done enough personally to alleviate the gender gap in our society... hell, I'm sure I'm far behind the curve. But if there was ever an example of women out there who just make men want to say, "Why bother ever getting married if THIS is what I'm going to get" this is your girl.

I’m not looking for a new boyfriend right now but it seems I should clarify what it is I look for in a man when I am, which will hopefully stem the flow of offers from guys who really don’t have it.

I am a very high-quality woman. I know that sounds arrogant, but let’s consider the facts:

• I’m slim (whereas 62% of American women age 20 to 74 are overweight)
• I’m attractive (my new picture has been rated more attractive than 86% of the women on Hot or Not -- and the women who upload their pictures are a self-selected sample that is probably already biased towards being more attractive than the general female population)
• I’m relatively young (whereas 82% of American adult women are over 30 years old)
• I’m intelligent (IQ tested at 145 when I was a child, which is 3 standard deviations above the mean -- higher than 99.85% of the population. Even if I’ve gotten dumber as I’ve aged I’m probably still at least a 130, which is higher than 97.5% of the population.)
• I’m educated (whereas 77% of American women do not have bachelor’s degrees)
• I have my financial shit together (no debt, perfect credit history, 6+ months living expenses saved, adequate insurance, self employed)
• I have a strong libido and love having sex (my lover *never* has to beg, unless it’s for me to let him get some sleep!)
• Most of my interests tend to be more popular with men than women: science fiction, libertarianism, blogging, politics, economics, guns, gambling, etc.

Given that self-improvement is an ongoing project of mine this list will continue to grow (I’m currently working on adding bilingual, very physically fit, well-traveled, higher income, and fantastic cook to the list). So even when “relatively young” (an important criteria for most men) drops off that list, I should have added enough other things that my overall dating market value should remain the same or even improve.

She felt a need to top this off with some advice for men who don't qualify to date her.

I realize that some of you will find this post depressing because you’ll realize that you don’t qualify as a high quality man and thus won’t be able to get a high quality woman. You have a few options:

1. Lower your standards and stop pursuing women who are out of your league. There are lots of fat single mothers out there who can’t find dates either.
2. Look in the developing world. If you’re literate with a home computer and an internet connection you are very wealthy compared to the rest of the world. Citizenship or legal permanent residency in a rich country makes you more attractive to women in poorer countries. Your value on the dating market is thus much higher there.
3. Self-improvement! I used to be a fat unattractive college dropout who couldn’t get her life together. Now I’m thin, attractive, and successfully self-employed after graduating. You can make yourself over into a higher-quality man capable of winning a higher-quality woman too.

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed or commented their offers, it's nice to feel wanted. Although I'm not looking for a new relationship right now (don't worry, I'll blog about it when I am), hopefully this post gave those of you who are interested a better idea of your chances in the future.

I'd go into this further, but I think I'll leave you with the opportunity to stop by and let her know just how high quality she is.

Ceasefire agreement in effect

I'm sure Tami would want me to tell you all what you already know. The ceasefire agreement between Israel and the terrorist organization Hezbollah went into effect at 8 AM their time. They are about 7 hours ahead of us, so must of you were probably sleeping quietly when it took effect. There were reports of some forces firing upon others, but no major outbreaks of renewed conflict.

The wider conflagration that some analysts said would break out in the region never materialized. So much for all those traditional media analysts. Probably the same ones that told us about the WMDs in Iraq.

Seek and Ye Shall Be Found

If you've got the mental horsepower required to fire up a computer and read this blog I probably don't need to tell you that electronic privacy is an issue of growing concern to users of "the internets" all over the world. But it's not just jihadists meeting up in chat rooms trying to decide which cow to blow up next in North Dakota who need to be worried. The folks who run the most popular search engines keep an alarming stack of records covering every web search that you do. Recently AOL royally screwed the pooch by releasing a batch of search information on the web. It turns out it wasn't hard at all to trace that information back and identify the people doing the searching.

Buried in a list of 20 million Web search queries collected by AOL and recently released on the Internet is user No. 4417749. The number was assigned by the company to protect the searcher'’s anonymity, but it was not much of a shield.

No. 4417749 conducted hundreds of searches over a three-month period on topics ranging from "“numb fingers"” to "“60 single men"” to "“dog that urinates on everything."

And search by search, click by click, the identity of AOL user No. 4417749 became easier to discern. There are queries for "“landscapers in Lilburn, Ga,"” several people with the last name Arnold and "“homes sold in shadow lake subdivision gwinnett county georgia."

It did not take much investigating to follow that data trail to Thelma Arnold, a 62-year-old widow who lives in Lilburn, Ga., frequently researches her friends'’ medical ailments and loves her three dogs.

I particularly enjoyed the caption to the picture of Thelma accompanying the linked article:

Thelma Arnold'’s identity was betrayed by AOL records of her Web searches, like ones for her dog, Dudley, who clearly has a problem.

We can all get a good chuckle out of poor Thelma's situation, and Dudley's propensity for peeing. However, stop for a moment and think about everything you may have searched for in the last three months. What if you recently found out that you have an embarassing medical condition and you were seeking information on it. Is that the sort of thing you'd want your friends or even your employer to know? Even worse, what if the information was for a friend but people saw it and just assumed it applied to you?

Maybe you were searching for information on known pedophiles and sex offenders in your area because you were concerned for your children's safety, but the search engine also returned some links to kiddy porn? Want that showing up on the six o'clock news on your local CBS affiliate?

We are living in an era where the current administration knows no shame or hesitation in collecting all manner of private information about us in the name of the "war on terror." I think we need to ask ourselves if we really want the search engine companies storing and compiling this information at all. What use does it serve the public? And by simply having irepresentists reprsent the fruit of temptation to a government with an appetite that is never sated.

Be careful what you search for. Whether you find it or not, somebody else may find it even more interesting than you.

Bob Ney Drops Out of Ohio Race

How did I miss it? After all my postings on Bob Ney, former chairman of the House Administration Committee and "Representative Number One" in the Abramoff indictment, after spending months making sure to check for Bob Ney news on the Internet every week, how did I miss the news that Bob Ney has dropped his re-election bid this year?

It's always like this, you know. You have to wonder how they think they can get away with it for so long, but then they are so accustomed, some of these guys, to slinging bologna at the public and being believed that they can't stop themselves. They think they can get away with anything. Tom Delay is a case in point. Now Ney has dropped out of the race.

Buh-bye, Bob Ney. To me you will always be the guy who hung HR 550 up in committee rather than permit the United States to hold honest elections.

Congressman Ehlers? Let's get that legislation moving, sir. Time is a-wastin'. As a physicist, you must understand how much energy needs to be applied to the legislation to move it from committee to the floor. Apply it, sir, and get your committee applying it, too. The bill currently has 206 co-sponsors. It hardly needs many more votes than those of its co-sponsors to pass.


Tarentaise
Tarentaise is an aged raw milk cheese of the Tarentaise Valley in the Savoie region of the French Alps. Traditionally, tarentaise cheese is made in a copper vat. The cheese is smooth-textured, subtly nut-flavored and naturally rinded. Tarentaise is a good melting cheese.

(Cross-posted at Blanton's and Ashton's)

Please allow me to introduce myself...

I posted already (see below), but now I realize I should have introduced myself first. I'm a blogger and friend of Tami's. I blog as DBK. Last year, I asked Tami to be a contributor at my usual hangout, Blanton's and Ashton's and she agreed. As a reward for giving her posting privileges at B and A, Tami asked me to guest blog here at her joint while she is away. Which I am doing.

How do ya like me so far?

I tend to post about all things political as well as all things...well, all things, really.

I may even do some cheese blogging since I am a fromage-o-phile. Maybe you heard about my trip to France. Or the visit I made some years ago to the organic goat farm and cheese factory in California. Or perhaps you know me from my many guest appearances on "Silvio's Big Hamper of Cheese", where I played the spelunker with a taste for tarentaise. Or maybe you have never heard of me at all, which is just as well. It's all good, except for that cheese with the volcanic ash on the rind because that wasn't nearly as good as it was exotic, and exotic isn't necessarily good. Okay, so maybe it isn't all good after all.

I hear they made a movie of Tristram Shandy. Has anybody seen it? What did you think of it?

Who is Carol Gay?Where is Major Owens?Waiter, what's that gun doing in my soup?On Dawn Patrol with Superman's girlfriend

Run, run, run as fast as you can...
Lucky podcast number 13 is available at Bluejersey (click the link atthe top-center of the page). It's an interview with Democratic candidate for Congress Carol Gay. She's running against popular incumbent Chris Smith. With all the anger against Congress these days, incumbents remain popular and even if Democrats gain control of both houses, it won't really represent a great deal of change in terms of percentages. There are 435 members of the House of Representatives and it will only take a flip of, I think it is, 15 members overall from Republican to Democrat to change the party in control. The other 420 can stay exactly the same. In the Senate, I think it will require a change of only six members from Republican to Democrat to change the majority. That would leave 94% unchanged. The Kremlin in 1954 would have admired our electoral system for the way in which power is retained by a small number of people.

Is that an oligarchy in your pants or are you just glad to serve me?

Sharon GR does a great job with her interview (again, the link is top-center) and I hope you'll all give it a listen.

This is ground control to Major Owens...
From the tip box comes the news that Major Owens is expected to campaign for Ned Lamont in Connecticut. With the Connecticut primary vote tomorrow, blogtopia is salivating at the prospect of challenger Ned Lamont (okay, so he's another rich white guy, like all the other rich white guys, but he's at least on the right side of the issues) knocking off Bush-kisser Joe Lieberman. Congressman Major Owens coming in to help out Lamont's campaign is a huge victory, as it puts a Democratic Party incumbent in Congress in Lamont's corner. Democratic Party faithful have been sticking to Joe Lieberman like snot to a doorknob, but they have stopped short of saying they would stick to him if he Joe lost the primary and ran as a third-party candidate. It's a big deal that a Democratic Party and member of Congress is standing with Lamont. The rumor that Cory Booker, the newly minted Mayor of Newark, New Jersey is going to campaign for Lieberman appears to be just a rumor.

Ten pounds of flour and a .45...
I'm sure you get a lot of odd email. Ads for cheap Canadian Viagra manage to ooze past my spam-filter and into my mailbox all the time, along with intriguing offers to help exiled Nigerian princes retrieve their ten million dollar fortunes (if I had a nickel for every exiled Nigerian prince I tried to help out...)

Today's intriguing email was a tip that was dropped into the Bluejersey "tipbox", as follows:

At approximately 630pm on august 4th a 32 cal handgun was found inside the New Jersey State prison in Trenton, NJ. This weapon was found in the North compound in unit 4c hidden in the unit pantry with one thirteen round clip/magazine.The prison is now on lockdown!

The gang at Bluejersey isn't quite sure what to make of that tip, especially since it isn't really Bluejersey-style material (crime reporting is not what Bluejersey is about, unless it is political crime). Besides, NJ.com already reported this one yesterday. Still, it's nice to know that blogtopia can get in on the mainstream news tips. And while Bluejersey may not be interested in reporting this sort of thing, this is Blanton's and Ashton's; the editorial board at Blanton's and Ashton's is up for practically anything.

Unless it's dangerous or smells bad.

And they're off...
8 AM, Saturday, August 5 and I can't believe I got up so early on a Saturday to be here. Laurie Lane, whom I suspect changed her name from "Lois" to help her career, is yelling at me through a loudspeaker. I am surrounded by dozens of children between the ages of 3 and 10, all accompanied by responsible adults whom I would like to strangle for bringing children between the ages of 3 and 10 within a hundred yards of me at 8 AM on a Saturday morning when they ought to be eating crunchy, sugary cereals and watching cartoons and disturbing someone else's peace...it's the Dawn Patrol at Monmouth Park.

Monmouth Park is a fine, old New Jersey racetrack and tomorrow (well, yesterday, now, since I am posting this on Monday) is The Haskell Invitational, one of the most prestigious horse races in the country. The Dawn Patrol is an early morning event that takes visitors behind the scenes. Our guide, the attractive and competent Ms Lane, walks us through the jockey room, then by tram to the stables (where the junior members of our party feed forty or fifty pounds of carrots to a soon-to-be-sick-to-his-stomach retired racehorse), up to the starting gate to watch novice racehorses practice their gate skills, and back to the clubhouse.

At the clubhouse, we receive a promised breakfast consisting of juice, coffee, and donuts (I hate donuts, folks...little blobs of grease and sugar are not breakfast; they're a new addition on your future cardilogist's house). We also receive a brief talk about ReRun Inc., an organization that rescues retired race horses. I now proudly wear a ReRun baseball hat. I like horses.

Later, Mrs DBK, a friend of ours, and I attend the races, where I win $94 dollars on a win and exacta bet, which allows me to break even for the day. We get out of Dodge before the tenth race to avoid traffic.

If you're looking for some wholesome Saturday morning entertainment for the kiddies, you could do worse than the Dawn Patrol. And you'll be entertained at least by the jockey's boots.

How do they do such fantastic stunts with such little feet?!

(Cross-posted with permission of the owner from Blanton's and Ashton's, where the cheese always smells like sweatsocks.)

I don't live in Jersey anymore...

... but I do play a Jersian on television.

Just thought I would check in and let you all know that during Tami's absence I will be attempting to amuse and delight you with my thoughtful prose once again. Of course, I had to agree to a gag order not to talk about a whole bunch of subjects, chiefly the growing threat of mutant albino alligators in the Newark sewer system, but ... mfffmff mffmmfmf mfmfmffmfmf!!!!! #(*&$

OK! I'LL STOP!

Actually, due to an accounting error with PayPal and some problems with the support folks at PowerBlogs, my own Blog (Running Scared) is temporarily shut down, so I can only blog here and at Middle Earth Journal anyway. But lately, I haven't been doing much political blogging. Actually, I've moved into amateur filmmaking to take up my days. So before I leave you to ponder what I'll write about here, I'll leave you with a link to my latest short film. It's an experiment in cloning. Just hit the green play button to watch it.

Talk at ya soon, oh devotees of the The True One.

Least In Sight

So, you think my posting has been light this past two weeks? Just wait, my friends, just wait. Tomorrow, I go away until the 20th, and I'm going where there ain't no internet access.

Actually, I kind of think that blogging while on vacation negates some of the relaxation that I'm there for in the first place.

I'll miss you all, but when I come back, I'll have gotten some sleep, and I'll be way less cranky. Perhaps I'll even be able to write about stuff without getting quite so morose and/or violent.

I don't want to leave you guys with nothing to read, though, so Jazz and DBK, two of my favorite bloggers have kindly agreed to pop in every now and again and post for me.

I'm From Jersey, You From Jersey?

If you are (or if you're not and you're just interested),
read this.

Observations on Body Image and Insanity

I read "Cathy" - you know, the comic strip. This week Irving is having an image crisis, because he's sure that he's fat and that everyone last week was staring at his stomach in his bathing suit. Cathy assured him that they've always stared at his stomach. That didn't help.

I also am a member of eDiets. I have 2 boards I'm a member on, and last week a friend of mine wrote a long post about how she'll never be a size 6,and is any of the denial even worth it.

Today, I was reading Poor Impulse Control, and Tata mentions wanting to be a size 2, and that she's sure that she'll achieve this goal just one year after her death.

What I noticed was the difference in goals. Irving wants to be "ripped", my eDiets friend is despairing over a number, and Tata goes out of her way to insist that she's looking for good health above all, but you can tell that she has to remind herself of this constantly.

I do want to be healthier, it's true. Not that I have as many problems as I could; I have normal blood pressure and good cholesterol levels, but there's plenty of issues abounding. As much as I want to be a healthy body, though, there's always that part of my brain that assigns value to the random numbers assigned by the fashion industry. This has been, recently, a predominantly female issue. According to "Cathy", this is now happening more and more to men, as well. What are we going to be like if we're all crazy obsessed about how we look? I can tell you now, we are not going to be universally hot.

This could get *actually* ugly.

Because I'm Jewish

I have an email in my inbox from the American Zionist Movement (am I a member of that? I don't even know) advertising an "Israeli fact-finding trip" from August 7-9, for just 1600 dollars or so, including airfare.

Now, I'm pretty intrepid, and I absolutely support Israel, but I'm not walking in to the middle of a war on purpose. No one needs me there. It is amazing that these groups would ask it of us. Don't be fooled, this isn't a volunteer mission for soldiers or aid workers, this is just a "meet and greet" with some "Israeli leaders". Could anything seem any more elitist and ignorant? Deliberately obtuse?

Today my opinion of the war is (and remember, it changes pretty much every damn day):

I wish that Israel wasn't holding back. A half-assed war will give them only death for death's sake, and no political gain. Innocent people are already dead as a result of bombing areas where Hezbollah has been headquartered; to have them die for something that amounts to a fruitless vanity charge would be more tragic than even I can support. War has already started, I cannot change that. Since this is true, I want Israel to abandon the small-unit ground force idea that obviously is not effective and just win.

I know, I know, if they do, then who's going to actually be the "peace-keeping force" in that mile-and-a-half buffer zone Israel keeps talking about? I have no idea.

You know, a lot of times, I start writing this stuff down, and as I go, my ideas become clear, and I re-write, and I edit, and I come up with something cohesive and coherent. When it comes to this stuff, though, that just isn't happening. I'm no help, here.

Backwards Americans

With all that's going on in the world today, perhaps you haven't had time to notice that there's a new version of Monopoly available in the United Kingdom.

The new card, which resembles a debit card, is inserted into a small plastic reader/writer that can display and update the balance on the card. Traditional money is gone altogether, though purists can still purchase the original version. Visa's partnership with Parker Bros. seems designed to bolster the belief that using paper money is baffling and insecure.

Now, maybe you think this is cool, or maybe you're all up in arms, because you like your games exactly as you left them when you were a child, thank you very much. Well, no worries:

No word on when the debit card version will reach US shores.

Monday, Busy, High Pressure

I have a headache. Anyone else have a headache, too?

Been reading pro and anti-Israeli opinions about the current violence. I'm still anti-violence (in theory, sometimes my patience snaps, as you all know). I feel like I'm losing a battle with myself.

Still, I haven't punched anyone in years, and I've never shot anyone, so maybe I'm doing all right on a personal non-violence level.

Pressed For Time

Sorry, other stuff is interfering with my blogging time.

I'd love to tell you about cheese, since it's Friday, but I'm in a rush. This week I had a fabulous combination of chevre with apricot jam that made me realize once again why expensive cheese is worth it.

Before I go, I must tell you that I've learned a new word from Jill at B@B: Kitler.

I'm of Two Minds

First things first - killing people is bad. When I read that a 16-year-old is among the latest casualties, I'm obviously upset by it. Of course I am, I have a heart. I had a conversation with my 17-year-old cousin just yesterday, and if he were killed by a tank, I'd be devastated.

Next, though, next comes common sense. If my 17-year-old cousin were living in a settlement near a location that was launching missiles over the border into another country, I can't say that I'd be surprised if he got killed by a tank.

Living near violence is dangerous. Purposefully moving to a turbulent area is either brave or stupid, but it's also always dangerous.

I'm still all torn up about this. What I'd like to happen - that all parties just stop shooting each other and start focusing on the lives they have on the land they have - is a naive dream. Admitting this is true, and being as opposed to war as I am, I can't say what I think should be the strategy.

When I boil down my feelings to the bare bones, I want there to be an Israel, and I want it to be a Jewish homeland. Knowing that, I suppose in the end I'm going to support whichever method seems to be most effective at accomplishing this goal.

History Repeats Itself

Presidential Groping (Crooks and Liars)

Can someone tell me why Bush has been behaving exactly lke Henry VIII? Next thing you know, we'll be hearing about how he's been sleeping with the Boelyn girls.

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.