unbound @ seema.org

2012-01-27T14:58:00.000-06:00

LoTD

I'm about to go on a screed re one of my least favorite companies in the world, and how (in the words of Mitt Romney) I wish I could fire them. But while I was striving to bring myself down from red hot fury and frustration, I found this stunning story a girl who has only ever eaten chicken nuggets -- a real life Super Size Me. Scary, scary.

2012-01-19T04:55:00.000-06:00

What the heck?

"Entertainment Tonight", that self-serving and glossily packaged entertainment 'news' program, has been airing clips about the filming of the epic movie Titanic as its angle on the recent cruise ship disaster off the coast of Italy. It strikes me as misguided, even a bit callous, as the anchors breathlessly describe the hardships and intricacies of the movie filming as compared to the ACTUAL SINKING OF A SHIP. Yes, poor Kate Winslet was cold while filming, but she did not DROWN. Old interviews from actors are dredged up and they talk about the 60 degree water, the 40-foot drops they had to make and it's all fascinating and interesting stuff, it really is. But the fact remains that "ET" is serving up a decade-plus old disaster movie (albeit real life disaster) as its hook/comparison to a real life tragedy. The more they milk the filming of Titanic in relation to the Costa Concordia, the more disgusting and annoying it becomes. If you can't cover a tragedy properly, then it's probably best to move on and not do it at all.

2012-01-14T18:05:00.000-06:00

LotD

"Is It Time For You To Go On An 'Information Diet'?"

"Our bodies are wired to love salt, fat and sugar. ... Our minds are really wired to be affirmed and be told that we're right. ... Who wants to hear the truth when they can hear that they're right? Who wants to be informed when they can be affirmed? What we do is we tell our media that that's what we want to hear, and our media responds to that by telling us what it is that we want, and sometimes that isn't what's best for us."

2011-09-11T17:27:00.000-05:00

LotD

Five unforgettable stories from Ground Zero.

2011-08-27T23:11:00.000-05:00

One more thing...

Netflix apparently has all seven seasons of both "Voyager" and "Deep Space Nine." I did get DS9 on DVD prior to the whole streaming versus DVD debacle, but never really got past the first couple of discs. I'd forgotten just how tedious the first three seasons of DS9 were, to be honest, and I just wanted to skip forward to season 4, which is when the true awesomeness began, but couldn't because I was introducing J to the best Trek of all time and well, plodding through the first few seasons was a necessary evil. I haven't even though about going through the first season or so of VOY -- not sure actually that I saw a lot of those first few episodes, mostly because I was in denial that anything could take DS9's place in those early days. It might very well be a time to re-attempt that trip down memory lane now that both shows are completely available on Netflix.

2011-08-27T22:58:00.000-05:00

LotD

Hidden images in famous logos. I'm super tired tonight for reasons that are neither here nor there but cannot yet go back to sleep due to waiting on a phone call. This article amused me and killed made time go a little bit more quickly (seriously, time crawls when you wake up jarringly from a dead sleep and then need to stay awake for at least another hour).

2011-08-05T06:21:00.000-05:00

LotD

Jordan gets a 'Star Trek' theme park!

Though the flight simulator is the only ride to be confirmed thus far, the Jordan park could be as immersive an experience for the Starfleet faithful as Universal Orlando’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter is for the magically inclined. Imagine the possibilities! Restaurants serving targ and Vulcan-endorsed baked-beans washed down by Romulan ale — with raktajino to accompany gree-worms for dessert. If you visit the adjoining bar, remember: two tranya minimum.

Forget targ, what about gagh????

2011-07-16T10:13:00.002-05:00

LotD

Literary theme today -- one of my favorite authors in the spotlight. Five Myths About Jane Austen.

2011-07-12T21:26:00.002-05:00

Things that make you go hmmm...

Ted Danson joins CSI. I'm having a serious cognitive dissonance imagining this. I mean, it's SAM MALONE. SAMMY!!!!

2011-07-08T15:06:00.000-05:00

Still movin'

The unpacking continues. The weird thing about moving is how quickly stuff multiplies. It's like what, this box here? What's in it? And you find receipts from 2007. I lived in my first apartment for six years and got comfortable. I stuffed things here and there, collected stuff, and just found places for it all without really thinking about the consequences. When I realized I would be moving in 2009, I did a couple of garage sales and a run to the Salvation Army. The garage sales and donations lulled me into a false sense of security; surely the move of 2011 would be a lot less stuff, right? RIGHT? Strangely, no.

At this point, we've collected eight boxes worth of stuff to donate to the Salvation Army (incidently, we donate to the Salvation Army because they are super close to our house, not for any other reason). We've also been deailng with some of the stuff that the sellers left behind like 30 years worth of paint in the garage (seriously, we had to take gallons of the stuff to the recycling center) and a refrigerator, the name brand of which had been discontinued back in the 70s. And for some odd reason, the sellers also left a lot of hangers for us -- like Old Navy and Wal-Mart hangers; into the donate box they go. It also took two weeks of trash pickup to work through the sellers' trash. As a result, we're just now getting through our own recycling and trash pick-up.

Today I'm working through the mess in the office. We get a lot of mail. Let me clarify -- a lot of needless mail. Purchase a house and suddenly everyone wants to sell you something. Don't they know we just bought a house and we're still in shock and don't want to buy anything from anyone? Especially when we're still muddling around in what looks like a box factory explosion? Then there is all the junk mail that you have no intention of doing anything with but have to shred it anyway because it's stuff like credit card applications. I should also mention that we brought a bunch of paper from our other places, so the new paper is just piling on top of the old. What we need, what we *really* need, is a filing cabinet, so we can dump all this stuff in there and fuggadabboutit. Seems to have worked just fine for us in the past.

2011-07-02T16:09:00.000-05:00

LotD

Interesting article: Don't Send Another Email Until You Read This. Interesting thoughts on how business communicate with customers. I've never been a big fan of direct email in my line of work for precisely the reasons outlined in the article: how do we know we're not pissing off the customer? I think about the 80 gazillion hotel emails I get a day from the various reward programs I'm enrolled in; I now delete without reading now. Maybe I'll send them a copy of this article instead.

2011-06-29T20:01:00.000-05:00

LotD

Here's an interesting concept: Would you pay $2,500 for a guaranteed job offer in six months? TheLadders.com wants to make it happen for you. Anyway, this article is interesting since it analyzes the program and other criteria. Let's hear it for that good ol' entrepreneurial spirit!

2011-06-27T20:41:00.001-05:00

'roid!

On a personal note, I wanted to share a little bit of a health issue I've had over the last few weeks. I'm not going to go into all of the gory details, but I did want to talk about this one thing because it is unusual and there wasn't a lot out there on the internet about it and for a while, I felt like I was the only one who had this problem. It's got a great name: degenerating fibroid. In other words, a fibroid that was dying.

A fibroid is basically a harmless mass; most women have them at some point in their lives. Mine made an appearance about 6 months ago. Surprise! My doctor said not to worry about it, it wasn't serious, and the biggest complication would be pain if the fibroid started to degenerate (i.e. start to shrink if it outgrew its blood supply), but she assured me that that was a rare occurrence. Well, surprise again!

About 3 weeks ago, the fibroid started to degenerate. I had an ultrasound done after having three days of stomach pain and it showed that my fibroid had shrunk from a whopping 11 cm to 9.2 cm. The pain initially started feeling like a pulled muscle and all of the ensuing fun that comes from a sore stomach like hurting when I laughed. The pain got steadily worse over the next few days, making it difficult to walk or bend or do much of anything. It basically felt like the world's worst side stitch along with a rhythmic stabbing motion. Hitting a speed bump in the car, for instance, was agonizing -- shooting pain up my side and through my insides. It was just really painful. My doctor offered prescription painkillers, but I decided to pass on those and just bear it.

I'm happy to report that for the last week or so, the fibroid has been quiet and the pain non-existent. This tells me that the fibroid has stopped shrinking (it hasn't disappeared; I can still feel it on my right side). Sitting still and resting was the best thing. I know pain medication would have made it easier but I didn't want to go that way for personal reasons. I think the message here is that yes, it does hurt when this happens but it does go away, it doesn't cause any other side effects or issues, and it's just a matter of getting through it. I should also add that I'm the world's biggest baby when it comes to pain so if I can do this, anyone can (or maybe it didn't hurt as bad as I thought it did!).

And oh, I'm not a doctor (obviously). So if you think this is happening to you, talk to your doctor to confirm that it is truly this relatively benign issue.

2011-06-26T21:03:00.000-05:00

Ch-ch-changes

Have I mentioned I've given up politics? If I haven't, well, I have. It was not an epiphany that just hit me 'side the head recently, but something that happened back in April when I was hanging out for a week in the allegedly happiest place on earth. It's amazing what one week free of internet and mostly free of news will do to your mind. It clarifies, cleanses, and all that good stuff. And when you come back from the detox, you find out people are still mad about the same stuff, still yelling about the same stuff, and no one has moved the ball down the field. And I realized that I spent a lot of time not moving the ball down the field as well.

I'm not sure how swearing off politics is going to help with the problem I just crystallized in last sentence of the above paragraph. I just know that my life is happier without reading who is saying what to whom, who hates on whom, and why the other side is so freakin' crazy/awful/terrible/hates America. I've unsubscribed from most of the political feeds on my Facebook page, have stopped reading politically orientated op-eds, and now skip the Sunday television gab fests that are usually nothing less than polite food fights.

I think the real thing that gets me about politics and why it's so easy to walk away -- every action has an opposite and equal reaction. For example: cut taxes, you cut revenues. Cut the budget and someone somewhere out there is going to suffer (but it's okay as long as it's someone else, not me -- hands off my government-run Medicare thankyouverymuch). End EPA regulations and sure businesses will have more cash flow, but let's watch the asthma and cancer rates go up at the same time. I can play this game all day and I know you can too.

No one talks about how to get America's kids educated so we can compete in a global marketplace, no one talks about funding research and development so we can be the innovative brains of the world again; do we not realize that the rest of the world has caught up in certain places and we're not competitive anymore? Instead, we talk about stupid things like whether gay people should be allowed to get married (um, yes) or forcing sonograms on women who want abortions (and who's going to take care of the kid when it gets here, you? Certainly not Uncle Sam). We spend all this time quibbling about other people's lives, not realizing that other countries (namely BRIC) are stealing our thunder. And dang it, I want our thunder back.

I'll be back when the country decides that it wants to act like adults and really solve problems, not talk about how the other side isn't cooperating. Cooperation, if I remember correctly, doesn't involve ultimatums and usually takes two. I should also note that my blood pressure is nice and low now that I no longer follow politics. But boy, that means I know a heck of a lot more about Hollywood than any normal, sane person ought to.

2011-06-05T08:51:00.002-05:00

Argh!

I just discovered our magnets don't stick to the stainless steel refrigerator in the kitchen! ACK! Another mark against stainless steel appliances (we don't care for them and would have chosen non-stainless steel, but the house came with them). Now I have to figure out what to do with all of my pictures and other things we would put on the refrigerator so we wouldn't forget about them. It seems odd that the OEMs of these appliances didn't seem to realize that most of us like to decorate our refrigators! Whoever heard of a pristine refrigerator? (Model homes don't count!). *le sigh* I hate that I won't be able to use my magnets anymore, magnets I've had for years, that have followed me from place to place. GE, are you listening????

2011-05-29T17:55:00.001-05:00

Moving...bleech

The move is continuing through this Memorial Day weekend. We got delayed today due to the sudden realization we had run out of storage space. So off to IKEA we went, where we procured a very nice wardrobe closet (and only one widget missing from the kit!). It took 2 1/2 hours for J to build (I supervised; I'm very good at that) and so that took a chunk out of the day. Should also note that we still haven't emptied our apartment; we think we have maybe two hours of work left there for tomorrow.

We had originally planned to put the wardrobe in the closet-less guest room, but then changed direction. As a result, the dresser in the master bedroom is now hanging out in the dining room while waiting to be moved into the guest room. We also have started becoming ruthless with stuff, starting donation boxes and trash; if it's in good enough condition to donate, we will, but some clothes and linens are just so... gross that we tossed them immediately.

We think we're making progress because we have lots of empty boxes, yet the chaos around us seems to grow every day. I'm not sure if it's because we still have the apartment so stuff from there was arriving every day, making it harder to move through the stuff already in the house, or we're just incredibly disorganized, or we have lots and lots of crap. All of these things could be true. Hopefully tomorrow we'll rid ourselves of the apartment -- well, actually we have to since our lease expires on the 31st -- and really get a handle on tackling the mess that is our house. Still, home sweet home. It's nice to be here.

2011-05-27T15:12:00.000-05:00

Administrative note

And oh! I should mention -- because this has actually come up a couple times recently -- that if you ever sent me a story to be published on this site, I don't have a copy of it. Sorry. I deleted all stories from the website some time ago and kept copies for a while on my dearly departed computer, which only had a 20 GB harddrive; at some point, I decided I needed the hard drive space and I deleted anything that was no longer on my site. Add to that a couple of reformats on the drive and last summer's catastrophic hard drive failure, and I don't really have an archive of a lot of things (including some of my stuff anymore. So if you're looking for a copy, you may want to try the Way Back When machine. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

2011-05-27T15:09:00.000-05:00

Things that make you go hmmm...

The more I encounter them, the less I like the CAPTCHA method of telling "humans apart from computer." I understand why it's used and why it's needed, but this particular human is not very good at using them. Mostly it's because those graphics are so badly rendered that it's hard to read them correctly. The letters are pushed together, the lines are blurred or fuzzy, and it's like is that an I or a 1? I invariably get my first attempt at filling the box incorrect and have to do it again several times. A couple of times, the graphics have been so difficult to decipher that I have locked myself out of my own account. I can't be the only one who has this problem, right?

2011-05-22T20:54:00.001-05:00

Moving...

So I have moved again. Moving is no fun, as we all know. In fact, it's amazing -- AMAZING -- just how much stuff one gathers when one stays in place. Part of me thinks it's a great idea to move every year just to keep from accumulating stuff, but then the other part of me remembers what a pain in the butt it was to deal with AT&T to get phone & internet set up at the new place and I'm thinking, "Okay, maybe we'll stay put for a while." Right now I'm a bit intimidated by the number of boxes still left to unpack (we started moving on Wednesday with professional movers for the heavy stuff). We're slowly working our way through it, 'slowly' being the operative word here. At least this computer is now back up and functioning. Hooray!

2011-05-08T21:22:00.001-05:00

LotD

I always enjoy reading features on Hillary; have been a fan since she was first lady, so it's nice to see an article when she's not getting beat on for one thing or another. It's amazing she went from one of the most reviled figures in America to one of the most admired women in the world (though in all fairness, she's been pretty respected and fairly treated since she became the junior senator from New York). Hillary Clinton: Woman of the World Politics: vanityfair.com

2011-05-04T20:48:00.000-05:00

LotD II

The state of Sbarro: America's Least Essential Restaurant. This article cracked me. Maybe I'm easily amused by the nostalgia of hitting a rather lame mall in western Mass and thinking Sbarro was gourmet; in those days, anything was better than the dining commons. Oh how I looked forward to that pizza slice. Now you can't get me to even glance at the display case of the place. Anyway, fun article, especially if you're a reformed Sbarro "fan" like yours truly.

2011-05-04T20:37:00.002-05:00

LotD

I guess my temporary political truce is over. Paul Ryan's Individual Mandate -- how his budget resembles Obamacare. As startling as this article is, I have to 'fess -- I'm happy when I'm not part of the political cacophony. It's starting to get to be a bit much. Maybe tomorrow I'll go back to the silly stuff again.

2011-05-02T22:26:00.000-05:00

He won't be missed

The NYTimes' Osama bin Laden obituary. Startling but very welcome development. Here's the inside story, per the WaPo. I'm just in awe of the Navy SEALs and CIA operatives who carried out this mission.

2011-04-29T13:36:00.000-05:00

Happily ever after

I must have slept through this part of the Royal Wedding. Enjoy!

2011-04-24T11:08:00.000-05:00

'tis the season

The Perfect Summer Dress. As a dress lover, I was greatly amused by this analysis, written by a man no less!

I just returned from a week-long vacation to the happiest place on Earth. It was GREAT to be without internet or television for that time. Amazingly, people are still shouting about the same things this week as they were last week when we left. I'm, however, still in my happy place, and have no desire to be pulled back into the real world just yet.

2011-04-24T08:26:00.000-05:00

Wedding bells

To clear up the confusion, Kate Middleton will actually be known as Princess William after marriage, not Princess Catherine. See more here.

150 Years After Fort Sumter: Why We're Still Fighting the Civil War

2011-04-15T18:08:00.000-05:00

LotD II

150 Years After Fort Sumter: Why We're Still Fighting the Civil War. Interesting read. Coming across a lot of great analysis of the Civil War and it's scary how much I've forgotten since grade school. The 're-education' is much appreciated, especially since here in Big Red State the Confederate flag can still be found flying proud.

2011-04-15T16:52:00.000-05:00

LotD

Five Myths About Planned Parenthood. I really like this series from the Washington Post and try to catch most, if not all of them when I can.

2011-04-13T19:30:00.000-05:00

Things that make you go hmmm

Our taxes are done and not surprisingly, we paid more in taxes than GE in 2010. Now if only our income matched theirs...

2011-04-09T22:41:00.000-05:00

LotD II

Analysis: Is the US ready for the GOP's Medicare cuts?

... as time goes on, the demand for the government to provide—or assist in the provision of—social insurance will grow, not decline. Historically, companies shouldered the load of funding workers' health care and retirement savings. But 401(K)s are replacing pensions. According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute, the percentage of employees participating in defined benefit plans was 33 percent in 2007 compared with 63 percent in 1988. Public-sector pensions are likely to be trimmed. That means tomorrow's retirees will need more old-age income insurance, not less. In addition, jobs increasingly don't come with health care benefits. According to the Census Bureau, the percentage of people in 2009 covered by employment-based health insurance fell to 55.8 percent in 2009, the lowest "since 1987, the first year that comparable health insurance data were collected." With each passing year, more people need help buying insurance, not fewer.

2011-04-09T17:08:00.000-05:00

LotD

I thought Andrea Grime's quest to find an alternative to Planned Parenthood for a pap smear was quite interesting, especially in light of the fact she lives in Dallas. DALLAS! A major metropolitan area and she still could not find an appointment within two months. A sobering reality for the poor and uninsured; I just find it ironic since arguments people make against Obamacare is they want to be able to get an appointment with a doctor on the same day and 'socialized medicine' won't allow them to do that.

2011-04-03T23:00:00.000-05:00

Video of the month

So much for such and such of the day! I have a fandom related post coming up, but I need to gather my thoughts since it's still relatively fresh and I'm so far away from fannish things. I just want to be coherent, y'know, and just not possible at this moment.

In the meantime, here is my Bollywood song of the day.

2011-03-20T04:37:00.002-05:00

LotD

Uninsured with a pre-existing condition? Apparently there are some 'bridge' plans out there provided either at the federal or state level -- a temporary fix until all insurers must cover pre-existing conditions in 2014. There are some requirements, which seem kind of onerous depending on your situation, but worth checking out if you qualify. The article explaining all is here and the federal government site to apply is here.

2011-03-19T21:37:00.000-05:00

Movie-licious

Finally watched Food Inc tonight; I'd been avoiding it despite rave reviews and an Oscar nomination because truth be told, sometimes you just don't want to know where your food comes from. It's an intriguing film and I definitely recommend it, but do warn there are a couple of graphic slaughter-house scenes in it (though nowhere as bad as I'd heard). It's definitely thought provoking and filled with "you gotta be kidding me" moments (corn really makes it into nearly everything we eat?). Also, new big corporate villain is introduced -- Monsanto -- and you'll be seriously creeped out by some of their activities. Unfortunately it's food and we have to eat, but at least now I'm a little more educated on what it takes to produce the food I eat; that backyard garden looks more and more attractive now.

2011-03-04T19:08:00.000-06:00

Baby's got an out of this world name

Just in case you were looking for names for your little bouncing bundle of joy, may I suggest Trek baby names? I especially like the suggestion of 'Borg'. With the middle name of Hirogen, it rolls right off the tongue.

2011-02-26T22:08:00.000-06:00

LotD

The War Against Women. And we haven't even covered the Georgia congressman who introduced a bill making miscarriages a felony if the mother can't disprove "human involvement". BTW, the previous link comes from Fox News...

2011-02-25T22:42:00.000-06:00

LotD

How to make oatmeal... wrong. I never thought of McDonald's as the place to go for anything particularly helpful, but seven ingredients in cream? Really? Another seven in oatmeal, including 'natural flavor'? And wait until you read aout the sugar and calorie count in this one. Thanks, but no thanks.

2011-02-20T18:29:00.000-06:00

I stand with Planned Parenthood

Did you hear? The House voted to bar Planned Parenthood from federal funding. They cut funding for HIV tests, cancer screenings, birth control, and more, putting millions of women and families at risk. We can't let it go unanswered. It's time for you and me to stand with Planned Parenthood. Sign the open letter to the reps who voted for this bill — and to the senators who still have a chance to stop it. You can find the letter here:
http://www.ppaction.org/IStandWithPP

Pass it on.

2011-02-16T22:15:00.001-06:00

LotD

How the middle class became the underclass. Discuss.

2011-02-13T20:34:00.000-06:00

LotD

Search's Dirty Little Secrets. Interesting article on how a certain retailer was trying to gain position on google's search engine. Click on the NYTimes article above to find out who it is (hint: I bet most of you have shopped there in the last 12 months).

2011-02-12T09:37:00.000-06:00

Two more

Add Lindsey Lohan and Charlie Sheen to the list of people I wish news organizations would ignore. The former hasn't been relevant in a while and the latter is just... disgusting. Neither adds much to society. They both need help, seem willfully inclined to disregard any help that is offered, and neither shows any motivation to improve themselves (and yes, I know addiction is a disease). It's just irritating when their troubles seem to trounce what's happening in Egypt and other places around the world.

2011-02-06T22:21:00.001-06:00

Lotd III

My friend, Tamar Carroll, wrote an op/ed on Glenn Beck and his 'special' view of history here.

Beck has repeatedly and erroneously tarred as un-American the efforts of those who have sought to increase low-income voter registration, labor union membership, interracial cooperation, peaceful resolution of foreign conflict, and the meeting of poor people’s needs within and by their own communities.

2011-02-06T21:21:00.001-06:00

LoTD II

Defend Planned Parenthood here. I don't usually sign up for things like this but I feel the GOP is continually doing everything they can to erode women's rights to make decisions about their own bodies. In this particular case, they're also taking away a key source for health services -- 97% of which are services not abortion (ex: pap smears, breast cancer screenings) -- for low income women and men. It just boggles the mind. Again, I want to know what the GOP is doing to address that particular gap? Oh, that's right, as the party of no, they don't have to do anything at all.

2011-02-06T09:11:00.001-06:00

LotD

It's actually a "laugh of the day" versus "link of the day," but no matter. Today's hilarity is brought to you by Glenn Beck. It'd be funnier if so many people didn't take him so seriously and take his 'geography lessons' to heart (and we wonder why we're falling behind educationally-wise?).

"One, a Muslim caliphate that controls the Mideast and parts of Europe. Two, China, that will control Asia, the southern half of Africa, part of the Middle East, Australia, maybe New Zealand, and God only knows what else. And Russia, which will control all of the old former Soviet Union bloc, plus maybe the Netherlands. I'm not really sure. But their strong arm is coming. That leaves us and South America. What happens to us?"

My favorite is Russia taking over the Netherlands? WTF? Wouldn't Russia rather have the Baltics with which it shares a land border (and continues to squabble with, especially over matters of natural gas)? What about the Scandanavian countries with which it has a common waterway? Why would Russia want the Netherlands, a relatively small European country, when Germany and Poland are much bigger priczs. I have no idea what Beck is talking about, unless when he refers to the old Soviet bloc, he's including Poland and East Germany. Clearly, Russia has got enough states to harass and occupy before they get to the Netherlands.

BTW, this post earns a new tag: conspiracy theories. I guess I should start filing any X-Files related stuff under this tag as well.

2011-02-06T08:59:00.000-06:00

Deep thoughts

The Pandora jewelry collection is not pretty.

2011-02-05T09:47:00.001-06:00

LotD

I've been wanting to address the efforts in Congress to defund Planned Parenthood and the separate bill that changes the definition of rape (until recently, it had to be a 'forcible' rape, as if there is any other kind), but Gail Collins in the NYT sums up my position beautifully so go there to read. I'd take the Republicans more seriously on health care repeal efforts if a) I thought they had a workable plan to replace Obamacare and b) if I thought they actually cared about people who make less than $250,000 a year and c) if their position wasn't so hypocritical: get government out of my healthcare, but by the way, ladies, we the government want to make it difficult for you to make decisions about your own bodies and whether you can have birth control covered under Obamacare. Notice we don't have these same conversations about Viagra.

The best way, mho, to put abortion providers out of business is to reduce the need. That includes providing education, contraception, and the care and support women need to raise the children (or pay the bills required to deliver and then give the child up for adoption). My greatest fear is that abortions will become so hard to get legally that women will find unscrupulous individuals to get their abortions or attempt it themselves with dire results (the WHO reports that in Europe, up to 30% of maternal deaths are due to illegal abortions). In fact, a study shows that the rates of abortions -- legal or not -- remain the same.

PP performed 340,000 abortions last year; that's a lot hearts and minds of women to change and I would argue that we can't judge those women without knowing the why of their decisions (in fact, we shouldn't judge anyway -- it's a personal and private decision). A woman's ability to make her own decisions about her personal health care is constantly being eroded by the GOP. This isn't the time to sit back and let it happen. We need to do everything we can to make abortion legal and safe but more importantly, rare. But more importantly, we need to reclaim our right to make our own decisions about our body; no bureaucrat in DC should have that power.

2011-02-03T16:10:00.000-06:00

LotD

The entire country is in a deep freeze and something seems to be going on Cairo, but for the moment, forget all that and venture with me to the weirdly awkward world of maternity photography. And don't click if you're at work; some of these pictures are decidedly Not!Safe. Enjoy!

2011-02-01T20:14:00.000-06:00

LotD

A politics-free post! On an entirely different note, I've been reading some of the stories on PicFic, a website devoted to "I Want to Believe" (X-Files) era fanfic, nicely divided up into before/during/after the movie. There are some really good ones here, and I'm not going to recommend any one story because pretty much all of them are wonderful. Since I don't follow fandom anywhere, it was nice to find out about this site and have all these wonderful stories by various authors all in one place. So much to read, so little time.

2011-01-31T20:26:00.002-06:00

LotD

This article -- Repeal This -- caught my eye a couple weeks ago but due to travel, I wasn't able to post it here. It's an article dealing with a study that says half of Americans have pre-existing conditions. I looked at one of the insurance questionnaires the article linked to and found that my relatively mild case of [redacted] warrants a 50% rate increase. A coworker was telling me he's worried about getting laid off because of his wife's pregnancy -- a pre-existing condition. If you get a chance, go through the questionnaire; it's eye-opening. I daresay most people will have at least one of the conditions listed for rate increase or automatic denial.

You can look at HealthNet's guidelines here. United Healthcare and Humana's guidelines are linked within the article.

What's worrisome about the Republicans' desire to repeal the health care law is that they have NO plan to replace it or address the very real issues people are facing. We're in a new world where companies have no loyalties to their employees and will lay people off the minute it'll help the bottomline, and as a result jobs are scarce or gone forever, and yet the best way to get coverage is through your employer. Something isn't computing. If the Republicans have a plan, let's hear it already. But then again, they have the "gold plated" federal health plan, so I suppose there's no rush to make sure the rest of us have the same care.

2011-01-30T09:38:00.000-06:00

QotD

Thomas Friedman just said on Meet the Press: "Egypt and the Middle East has been on vacation from history for the last 50 years because of oil. Egypt didn't have oil but it had the agreement with Israel, which was to Egypt what oil is to the rest of the Middle East."

The quote just struck me because I'm reading a biography of Catherine of Aragon and the first few chapters have reference to the Moorish influences on Spain and the technological and artistic contributions made to that country prior to their ousting. I'm not quite sure what the peace treaty with Israel did economically for Egypt (perhaps aid from the US?) but oil and its ensuring revenues/subsidies gave some of these countries a reason not to develop other capabilities/competencies, leading to the high unemployment rates and stagnation that we see in the Middle East today. It's not just a democratic revolution that's needed, but an industrial one as well.

2011-01-29T07:28:00.000-06:00

Ask and you shall receive

A few weeks ago, I voiced my desire for a Palin-free month (I think more than a month would be asking too much; a Palin-free week is practically a luxury). Dana Millbank of the WaPo has declared February a Palin-free month. Unfortunately, I don't think the rest of the media will follow the ever amusing Millbank's lead.

2011-01-18T22:02:00.001-06:00

Challenge

Some years ago, the AP tried a bold experiment: they ignored Paris Hilton for a week. Not a single story about the socialite ran for a week and amazingl, the earth didn't fall off its axis and the sun still rose in the east and set in the west. I wish they would try the same experiment with Sarah Palin; she's now becoming completely tiresome and annoying and taking attention away from credible and intelligent presidential candidates in 2012.

2011-01-15T08:02:00.001-06:00

Happ birthday!

This blog is a decade old today! Wow. I had no idea why I wanted a blog 10 years ago (and I still don't know why) but somehow this blog has stuck around all of this time. It's been fun and I've met some great people through it. Here's to another 10 years!

2011-01-13T20:09:00.000-06:00

Ideear

The show will be called "Baggage Wars" and 100 to 150 contestants will compete to get bags of various sides into the overhead bins on an airplane. Bonuses will be given to contestants who succeed stuffing not only an oversized bag, an huge personal item, and a jacket into the bins. Extra extra points will be given to contestant who holds up the line by rearranging all the bags in an overhead bin in order to get their bag in. Points will be subtracted if anyone uses the space beneath the seat in front of them.

2011-01-06T21:26:00.000-06:00

Milestone

It's been a looonnng time, but I'm adding a new tag: tea party. I eventually plan to add an 'election 2012' tag as well. If I'm feeling really motivated (which I'm not), I might go back and re-tag the entries written prior to Blogger's introduction of the tags. Then there might be a lot of new tags on the block.

2011-01-06T21:22:00.000-06:00

LotD

How the Tea Party's fetish for the Constitution as written may get it in trouble.

The problem with the Tea Party's new Constitution fetish is that it's hopelessly selective. As Robert Parry notes, the folks who will be reading the Constitution aloud this week can't read the parts permitting slavery or prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment using only their inside voices, while shouting their support for the 10th Amendment. They don't get to support Madison and renounce Jefferson, then claim to be restoring the vision of "the Framers." Either the Founders got it right the first time they calibrated the balance of power between the federal government and the states, or they got it so wrong that we need to pass a "Repeal Amendment" to fix it. And unless Tea Party Republicans are willing to stand proud and announce that they adore and revere the whole Constitution as written, except for the First, 14, 16th, and 17th amendments, which totally blow, they should admit right now that they are in the same conundrum as everyone else: This document no more commands the specific policies they espouse than it commands the specific policies their opponents support.

Anisha's wedding

2011-01-03T12:30:00.000-06:00

Photo of the Day

I like to take pictures of food and in 2010, this was one of my favorite pictures.

2011-01-02T22:19:00.000-06:00

LotD

Why are Republicans Changing Their Tune on Fannie and Freddie?

When your party is in the opposition with a weak minority, it's very easy to talk big. You can tell Americans exactly what they want to hear without any consequences, because you can't actually pass any legislation. But now that Republicans are in a position to actually pass bills, they need to pay a little more attention to the consequences of their talking points.

2011-01-01T11:46:00.001-06:00

2011

Happy new year!

Bollywood Hero Flash Mob in Times Square

2010-12-31T12:27:00.000-06:00

Dancing in the streets

What if Bollywood dancers showed up in the middle of NYC? Such a fun video (though obviously staged as a marketing tool -- not spontaneous as a 'flash mob' ought to be).

2010-12-31T09:54:00.000-06:00

Couponing

As much as I enjoy saving money, I don't particularly care for or use coupons that often. I've found, for the most part, coupons don't apply for the food items I buy -- namely fresh veggies and some bulk goods -- and the store brands are generally just as good and are cheaper without the coupon. Every now and then, I make an attempt to coupon, like I did this morning. I took a pair of scissors to the weekly P&G saver and cut out about 30 coupons. I know I'm probably not going to buy any of the items for the coupons I cut, but it makes me feel like I'm making an effort. Especially since we now have a goal of saving at least 50 cents a week or $2/month to cover the cost of the Sunday Sweat Sock City Chronicle.

I have, however, started using Groupon on occasion. So far I've bought three of the Groupons, all to restaurants. The restaurants are all ones we like or want to try and most of them were purchased for 50% off, i.e. spend $20 to get $40. What we found however is that we overspent in order to collect the full value of the Groupon. So a dinner at a posh Mexican restaurant would have cost us about $35 before the Groupon (excluding my margarita), but because we had to spend $40 in order to get the $20 off, we got dessert (which we split). I should note in this particular instance the Groupon did not include alcohol.

Another Groupon we used, we went $10 over the value -- $10 for a $20 Groupon. Again, it was another deal where we were $5 short and we ended up ordering some sodas and an appetizer to make up the difference. Overspent and overate. We're concerned we might have the same issue with another Groupon we bought, another $10 for $20 deal; this is for a restaurant where typically we spend about $13 for our meal -- a noodle bowl, a sandwich, egg rolls, and two drinks (yes, it's super cheap). So now we'll have to find another $7 to claim the full value of the Groupon.

The best way, I think, to look at a Groupon is that it's a discount of a certain amount before the final bill. We haven't managed to get to the 50% savings advertised, but we would have saved if we didn't have to over order. As a result, we're being very stingy with our Groupon purchases. There are some that look like great deals, such as $50 to get $150 off a new mattress at Matress Firm, but they also lock you into that store and that purchase. It might be better off just waiting for the sale to come around.

I should also note some people are GREAT at couponing; I'm in owe of their skill. I think it makes a lot of sense IF you're going to buy those particular products anyway. In our case, it hasn't really paid off at all simply because we don't buy very many processed foods outside of whole wheat pasta and the occasional rice or couscous mix. We primarily buy store brands and buy the veggies and fruits that are on sale during the week. We also stock up when there's a big sale. When Dannon yogurt was $10 for 10 -- the usual price being anywhere from $2.06 to $2.75 -- we stocked up. We have A LOT of yogurt containers to recycle!

I'm going to keep attempting to try the couponing thing, give it a fair shake. So far though, our 50 cent/week subscription to the newspaper hasn't paid for itself at all as advertised. As each week ticks by, we have to save 50 cents more to recoup the "investment." On the upside, I like to read it, so maybe it's worth that much for the enjoyment.

2010-12-31T09:41:00.002-06:00

Hmmm

My niece, who is only five years old, has more blog posts than me. Like, a lot more. I haven't been very dilligent about keeping this up. Mea culpa.

2010-12-27T10:33:00.000-06:00

LotD

Interesting article: Income Inequality and the 'Superstar Effect'. I'm a big fan of capitalism but there are some downsides to it. I think this article summarizes it well.

CAPITALISM relies on inequality. Like differences in other prices, pay disparities steer resources — in this case, people — to where they would be most productively employed.
[...] Ultimately, the question is this: How much inequality is necessary? It is true that the nation grew quite fast as inequality soared over the last three decades. Since 1980, the country’s gross domestic product per person has increased about 69 percent, even as the share of income accruing to the richest 1 percent of the population jumped to 36 percent from 22 percent. But the economy grew even faster — 83 percent per capita — from 1951 to 1980, when inequality declined when measured as the share of national income going to the very top of the population.

2010-12-18T22:24:00.000-06:00

LotD

Heavy reading from the University of Maryland: Misinformation and the 2010 Election. Andrew Sullivan summarizes here.

2010-12-17T21:55:00.002-06:00

Hmmm

Now that the tax compromise has passed, I expect to see lots and lots of hiring in first quarter 2011. Now that the 'uncertainty' is over (and let's be real, did anyone honestly think Congress would let the Bush tax cuts expire?), there should be no more excuses on why companies aren't hiring.

2010-12-17T18:41:00.000-06:00

LotD

Vanity Fair had an interesting article, The Simple Solution to America's Unemployment Problem. It caught my attention because I've been thinking lately, is Big Business really good for you and me? I haven't completely formulated my thoughts on the subject because I can see the pro and cons of the equation, but I can tell you think: hiring people and paying them a liveable wage cuts in profits.

Profits are what are important to companies. They want to make money and so if they can't make their sales, they cut their spending. People are among the easiest assets to let go. And my great fear these days is that with businesses doing more with less, the incentive to hire is so low. I mean, if they've got someone who can do the job of three people, that's a cost savings to the company and an improved bottomline. Who's going to go through the expense of hiring when you don't need to?

Anyway, it's an interesting rant and much to think about. We think Big Business is good for America, for us the little people, but is Big Business making their decisions with America in mind?

2010-12-11T16:28:00.001-06:00

What I'm listening to now: Desi Girl

2010-12-10T19:14:00.002-06:00

LotD II: the Bernie video

2010-12-10T19:00:00.003-06:00

LotD

Which I had seen this -- Bernie Sanders' "filibuster". My favorite socialist speaks! I don't think it'll make a difference, but I'm glad he got his eight hours in the limelight (albeit C-SPAN). Here's copy of the speech and PolitiFact checks here.

2010-12-09T19:24:00.000-06:00

This is post 2,500

One of the things about traveling a lot, you gain a new found appreciation for your own bed. Also, I've noticed the "break in" time for a hotel bed has gone from 2 days to 0 for me. I've always been famous for being able to sleep anywhere at anytime, but hotels stymied me. I couldn't find a comfortable place in the bed for at least the first two nights (if I was there for that long) and by the time I got comfortable, it was time to pack up and leave.

What intrigues me is this idea that you can now BUY the hotel's bed and linens (and towels, furniture, bath amenities, etc). I swear, there are now catalogs in the rooms selling "the experience" of hotel living and believe you me, that while it's tempting, it's certainly not cheap. Both hotels I stayed in the last two weeks -- major luxury chains -- were charging upwards of $1200 for the mattress and box-spring set. That was before the $60+ price tag on the sheet set. No wonder the beds are so comfortable!

Amenities are also getting quite high class in hotels. You get Pantene and Neutrogena, but also weird stuff like barley shampoo and quinoa lotion. I had no idea. Some hotels provide toothpaste and mouthwash, others provide slippers to walk around in. A couple had robes available and at least one sold animal print pajamas. I've taken advantage of all except the animal print pajamas, of course. That was just... odd.

Hotels also have curiously overpriced breakfasts. If you're lucky, a cup of coffee will only set you back $5. That's including the tax, the 20% gratuity, and the service charge. A bagel with cream cheese at a recent hotel set me back $9. That was before the coffee, by the way. And then there's room service... The same meal in the restaurant versus room service has quite the delta in cost. There's something antisocial about room service, some might argue, but with a bed like they provide, so much more comfortable than ye olde staid dining room.

2010-12-03T18:19:00.000-06:00

Post 2499

I know, I've been away a long time. I wish I had a good reason why, but none really. Just... lots of time in hotels and airplanes and all that good stuff. It doesn't leave a lot of time to just ruminate or catch up on things. On the upside, I'm getting upgraded to first class on airplanes more often now. I'll think of something better for the next post -- lucky 2500.

2010-09-17T08:38:00.000-05:00

I feel your pain

Or more appropriately, I miss Bill Clinton. Check out his two interviews on the Daily Show. He gets it and he has solution. Obama, are you listening?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Exclusive - Bill Clinton Extended Interview Pt. 1

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Exclusive - Bill Clinton Extended Interview Pt. 2

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

2010-09-17T07:28:00.000-05:00

LotD

Interesting article on the current tax debate here: Five points to keep in mind as Congress debates the Bush tax cuts.

2010-09-17T07:25:00.000-05:00

Beautiful nightmare

So it's been years since I worked in newspapers, but last night I dreamed I was working at a specialty trade paper -- electronics, a subject I know minimal about -- and that I was a one woman-show and it was my first day on the job. Deadline was approaching and an editor approached me and said I needed to come up with a cover story and layout. The dream then consisted of me running around frantically trying to figure out what story I could come up with 10 minutes and how I could use the layout to minimize word count. I don't know how the whole thing resolved. My dream did include me talking to my manager about some ideas, but whether any of them were accepted, I don't know.

I'd like to think I didn't miss the deadline as past performance implies I wouldn't have. But past performance also would indicate that I wouldn't have sat on my hands and been surprised by the task and deadline at hand. I should note that while working at newspapers was a blast and I learned a lot, it was long hours and a rather stressful environment come deadline. I'm grateful for the experience but certainly don't miss it.

2010-09-15T21:33:00.000-05:00

LotD

File under "wow"; The Portland Press Herald apologizes for publishing a picture of Muslims celebrating the end of Eid on Sept. 11. The comments are mostly heartening.

2010-09-02T22:41:00.001-05:00

LotD x4

It's the Sarah!Roundup. First, the scathing profile in Vanity Fair: Sarah Palin: The Sound and the Fury Politics. Follow that up with more on the infamous shopping spree. And finally, Sarah's Amazing Race. And of course, Palinisms.Enjoy.

The billionaire Koch brothers’ war against Obama: newyorker.com

2010-08-29T19:44:00.000-05:00

LotD

Not that many people would care, given Obama's approval ratings, but I found this fascinating -- the millions poured into various causes supported by Obama. From healthcare to environmental regulation, their money has been there. And everything they support supports their business. Fascinating profile in the New Yorker. Take a look if you have time. Regardless of what side of the political spectrum you're on, it's always good to know where the money trail stars and ends.

The billionaire Koch brothers' war against Obama

"Were You Born on the Wrong Continent?": America's misguided culture of overwork

2010-08-28T22:13:00.000-05:00

LotD II

Interesting article. It's always good fun to tease Europeans about their extensive vacations, how parts of the Continent just seem to flee in the summer months to cooler climes, but really, would you want four weeks or more of paid vacation? I know *I* would. Anyway, so this was an interesting interview to read. Were You Born on the Wrong Continent? America's misguided culture of overwork

2010-08-28T22:03:00.001-05:00

Newsies

We got awesome news today when we went to see the apartment folks about our lease. They let us know that our neighbors "could not renew and will be moving out." Hooray! Our neighbors have been a drunk party in our side for nearly the year we've lived here. We're actually convinced they only come home Friday and Saturday because Sunday through Thursday they're quiet as cockroaches. Come Friday night though, WHOO HOO! PAHR-TEE-TIME!

Our place is not that far from the new hip strip to get alcohol here in Sweat Sock City. We think that's the attraction for our neighbors because they clearly entertain every weekend (music comes on around 9:30 pm and goes on until midnight or later) and then go out afterwards. Once, on our way to the gym at 9 in the morning, we actually saw them coming home from wherever it was they were partying. And they were talking about going out again by lunchtime. J and I looked at each other and groaned and then decided to run lots of miles so for sure we'd sleep through whatever ruckus they made that night.

We thought about moving but we really like the location. It's perfect for both of our commutes and it's in the neighborhood we'd eventually like to buy in. We also frequent the local businesses in the area and chain restaurants take a back seat to locally owned places. In other words, it's great for now except for the neighbors of doom. We happily renewed because we now know we will be able to enjoy weekend nights without the pounding bass and random shouting. We do, however, feel bad for these guys' future neighbors.

2010-08-28T20:57:00.002-05:00

LotD

I think it's important to be prepared for a job interview. That means wearing the right (appropriate) clothes, completely researching the company (including using google news for any new developments, and having at least three questions about the company and/or job already prepared. Here's a link to help with the last bit. The 10 Best Questions to Ask at a Job Interview. It goes without saying that if you're going to ask a question about the company, try to avoid obvious ones like what the company does or where it's headquartered. Your research should have already revealed the answer to those questions. A safe bet? "Where do you see the company in five years?" As always, in a first interview, stay away from salary, benefits, etc., type questions.

2010-08-27T17:32:00.000-05:00

Groupon

We're trying our first Groupon experience tonight. I bought a $20 gift certificate to a restaurant we've been interested in trying for a while for the price of $10. So theoretically, it's a "buy one, get one free" deal, or a 50% deal. That's if we stay in the $20 range (which, btw, doesn't include tip or tax, and this particular deal doesn't include alcohol). Now if we spend an additional $10 for $30 worth of food, then we go over and our savings decrease accordingly. By then, I'll have $20 and our savings will be $10, or about 33 percent. If I spend an additional $30 on a $40 bill, then the savings decrease again. All in all, we'll see how it goes tonight. Luckily, this isn't an expensive place, so I think we'll probably spend an extra $5 or so on tax and tip. I'm just curious as to how these things work so I thought this would be a good one to try. If anyone else has tried and liked, let me know!

2010-08-26T21:59:00.002-05:00

LotD

Interesting opinion piece: Five Reasons to Stop Worrying About Home Prices. On the flip side, Is Housing Still a Good Investment?

2010-08-26T21:47:00.000-05:00

On a lighter note

I keep meaning to update the sidebar on this blog, but I never do. Maybe this weekend... lots of computer activities planned so maybe I'll have the discipline to a) stay away from Facebook games, b) update all the software on the computer, and c) finishing the blog transfer from the seema.org domain.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying a nice crisp buzz off this wine, a green wine from Portugal. It's sweet, crisp, and I actually felt refreshed. Most of the time, wine just makes my mouth dry out and then I sneeze. A lot (I blame the tannins). But this wine was genuinely delightful and I like the price -- as low as $4.49 -- a lot. So if you're looking for something with a little bit of a sparkle, this might be a good one to try.

2010-08-25T21:08:00.000-05:00

LotD

I was planning to stay away from politics a bit, but I found this article on Roger Ailes, the founder of Fox News, fascinating. Check out The Dark Genius of Fox News. Honestly, I think everyone on Fox News looks like they've eaten something bad and are suffering from perpetual heartburn. Must take a lot of energy to stay that chronically angry all. the. time. (I can't say anything about Keith Olbermann because I don't get MSNBC but I suspect he must also be suffering the ill effects of dyspesia).

2010-08-18T22:10:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday, 19th Amendment!

Happy Birthday, 19th Amendment (And thanks to Harry T. Burns mom). Reading the stories of the women's suffrage movement reminds me that progress takes time (in this case, more than 70 years) and guts.

2010-08-17T21:12:00.001-05:00

LotD II

The anatomy of a firestorm. How a project in Manhattan went from basically being ignored and in a couple of instances, supported by the very people who are now attacking it. Intriguing. How the ground zero mosque fear mongering began.

2010-08-17T20:46:00.000-05:00

LotD

I had another post planned for tonight, but a headache is preventing clarity of thought and a rogue mouse (read: laptop touchpad) is making words and letters move around on their own volition. All this to say, I'm pointing you to reason.com, which is an interesting news magazine. I haven't decided what I think of it yet, just that I'm intrigued. I think it's libertarian, but not quite sure yet. There are some articles I'd consider socially conservative and others that would be liberal. Most of all, it's rational and in this crazy summer, rational is good.

2010-08-13T22:25:00.000-05:00

News blues

Our local station -- which once featured an adorable but utterly useless weather dog named Radar -- is reporting on mailboxes that were installed backwards. You have to feel for the poor field reporter spending time interviewing people about their mailbox confusion and investigating WHAT HAPPENED TO HAVE MAILBOXES INSTALLED BACKWARDS (you just know she never anticipated this kind of story when she went to J-school or maybe she's grateful that she's not standing in the surf in the middle of a hurricane; mailboxes are, after all, less dangerous).

After the three-minute story concluded (featuring lots of people parking, getting out of their cars, and mailing letters and letting the reporter know they were confused), the anchors went on their Facebook page and started reading viewer comments (which, btw, is the new "thing" for this news station. Highly annoying as no one is as witty or funny as they think they are on Facebook).

Backwards mailboxes. Hard hitting stuff. It's right up there with the breaking news story from a few years ago about how filthy movie theaters are. And oh, wait! After their commercial break, they're coming back with a story about a dog in a wheelchair... I have no words.

2010-08-13T21:23:00.000-05:00

LotD

Scanning for reviews of "Eat Pray Love", I came across this one in Vanity Fair. It's quite amusing and not your usual paint by the numbers review. Enjoy.

2010-08-13T21:18:00.001-05:00

Uh oh

Obama supports the Muslim community center/mosque near Ground Zero. My Magic 8 Ball tells me all hell is going to break out now.

2010-08-12T20:41:00.001-05:00

LotD

I found the following paragraph in Judge Walker's ruling hilarious:

Proponents also point to harm resulting from “a cloud of uncertainty” surrounding the validity of marriages performed after judgment is entered but before proponents’ appeal is resolved. Doc #705 at 10. Proponents have not, however, alleged that any of them seek to wed a same-sex
spouse.

Poor Prop 8 supporters. It seems they might have been able to make a better case for themselves if they insinuated they wanted to marry someone of the same sex and in which case, "the cloud of uncertainty" would have certainly caused them harm.

I also found the Judge's thoughts on whether the Prop 8 supporters even have standing to bring an appeal interesting. The real defendents are Schwarznegger and Brown, but they couldn't be bothered to show up (in fact, are actively siding with the plaintiffs), so now the B-team is taking the ball and trying to run with it. If the Prop 8 supporters weren't so annoyingly self-righteous and illogical, I'd actually feel sorry for them.

Take this job and shove it!

2010-08-11T21:35:00.000-05:00

Take this job and shove it!

A Hong Kong news station has kindly provided a re-enactment of the JetBlue incident.

Vermont

2010-08-08T17:04:00.000-05:00

Picture of the day

Burlington, Vermont.

2010-08-07T23:05:00.004-05:00

Seriously lame

I usually have high respect for the Christian Science Monitor, but I can't believe they published an article like this one. Okay, maybe I can see it -- looking for opposing opinions, and may be even a fresh take, and this is seriously one of the weirdest spins I've seen on the issue. In Gay marriage: Why Judge Walker got Proposition 8 ruling wrong, the author argues: Marriage is not about couples or lovers – it’s about the physical and moral integrity of women. When a woman’s sexuality is involved, human communities must deal with a malign force that an individual woman and her family cannot control or protect. WTF? The author then goes on to conclude, "[...] most of us who prefer to leave marriage (with all its defects) as it is are not concerned with homosexuality at all. We are merely voicing a sensible desire to preserve an institution that recognizes and protects the special status of women. If marriage becomes a legislative courtesy available to everyone, like a key to the city, it will be women who will lose."

This argument, so charmingly chauvinistic, is laughable in every way. "Special status of women"? Really? That's what this whole thing has been about? After reading this opinion, I feel like I ought to be standing on a marble pedastal or something like that, with a plaque, maybe some safety glass and someone nice to come and dust me off every now and then just in case a spec of dirt hurts me. It's an insulting argument in every way and makes no sense; we're in 2010, after all, and we women seem to have come far ahead in our abilities that three of us sit on the Supreme Court, a woman was a credible candidate for president, and one serves as Speaker of the House. Those are just the headlines. There are awesome women -- some of whom are (gasp!) single -- making extraordinary contributions every single day, seemingly unaware of their "special status". It's insulting in this day and age to read something like this. I'm surprised the CSMonitor allowed the author to get away with such a lazy argument. If you think it's okay to discriminate and create a whole second class citizenry, at least put in the time to come up with an justification that doesn't sound so atavistically patronizing.

2010-08-07T20:11:00.000-05:00

Computer update

Today, we took the old computer (with J's old hard drive installed in it), the monitor, keyboard and mouse to the Salvation Army and donated it. With J's old hard drive in it now, it works -- just needs to be reformatted etc., and I figure it'll be a good machine for someone who is looking for very basic applications. We assured the Salvation Army that it was in working condition and hopefully they can find someone who can make use of it. I also thought it might be good to take apart and rebuild for a computer technology training class. Either way, it felt better to take the computer to the Salvation Army than to the electronics recycling center. It was easier to part with my old "buddy", knowing there was a possibility of another life for it out there. The electronics recycling center would have meant an inglorious end in a Chinese landfill for a trusty machine.

I've begun the slow process of transferring documents to the new computer from a collection of back-up CDs and also from the laptop, where most of my pictures from recent travels are stored. On the upside, it looks like the damage from the hard drive failure is minimal. In other words, I didn't lose as much as I thought I had and I do have documents going all the way back to 2003 saved here and there. So that's the good news. I also have some of my iTunes backed up, but not all of it. So hopefully I can pull the music off the iPod itself. As soon as I get everything situated, I'm looking forward to doing two things I haven't done in a while: writing and editing! So much easier on the desktop than the laptop, that's for sure!

2010-08-07T11:12:00.001-05:00

More on the Mosque controversy

This time from Fareed Zakaria:

If there is going to be a reformist movement in Islam, it is going to emerge from places like the proposed institute. We should be encouraging groups like the one behind this project, not demonizing them.

The entire editorial is here

Also, a history lesson for Newt over here.

2010-08-05T20:40:00.000-05:00

LotD

Ann Taylor explains itself here.

2010-08-04T19:02:00.001-05:00

Deep thoughts

I worry when the rights of the minority are determined by the majority. It's for that reason I'm excited that the gay marriage ban was overturned in CA today. We have to watch that slippery slope where we intentionally deprive members of our society rights on the flimsiest of premises. We can't be a free society if we are oppressing others, no matter the reason behind it. If you read the original transcript of the trial, you'll find just how weak the defendants' case truly was.

On the same topic, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is my new hero for his spirited defense of the mosque/community center two blocks away from Ground Zero. To be honest, I don't have a horse in this race. I'm not Muslim and I have no personal connection to 9/11* or NYC. What concerned me was the idea that we would act to restrict the religious freedom of a group without any real basis other than bigotry and fear and whipping up a frenzy around the issue (I'm looking at you, Gingrich, and yes, you too, Sarah Palin, and oh wait, Pat Robertson, you don't get off either). Once you say it's okay to deny a mosque that location, you say it's okay to deny any religion any location based on an abstraction. Bloomberg says it best:

Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question - should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here. This nation was founded on the principle that the government must never choose between religions, or favor one over another.

For more reading, here is a profile on the Iman behind the mosque. It's worth a read because honestly, didn't know anything about him, and when I read the profile, I thought, we keep wanting Islamic leaders to speak out against terrorism, and here's someone who is, and this is how we treat him?

The thing is, if you attempt (and succeed) to deprive people of their Constitutional rights, as was done in CA and as being advocated in NYC, you automatically make it easier -- and even justifiable -- to do it over and over again. To me, that's incredibly scary, because it's only a matter of time before it comes back to bite you in the butt.

2010-08-01T18:03:00.001-05:00

Updating

I forgot how long it takes to get your computer exactly the way you like it, with all the files and shortcuts and bookmarks, etc. So far, I've added some of my favorite software like Mozilla, Photoshop, Dreamweaver and of course, Civilization 4, but I've yet to transfer over some of my files. I backed up irregularly so I may be missing a document here or there so I'm going back to my oldest back-up, circa 2006 (there might be one from 2004 or thereabouts, but I didn't label the CD with anything more descriptive than 'Backup'). So getting those docs transferred over will be quite the interesting task. I'm hoping that for the most part everything is here.

And for those of you wondering (or not, as the case may be), I got a Dell Studio XPS 8100. I'm starting to navigate Windows 7 Home Premium (miss me my XP; don't know if Office XP will work on Windows 7. Anyone know?). All in all, no compatibility issues yet except McAfee doesn't like ZoneAlarm. That's okay; I don't particularly like McAfee so it'll be gone as soon as my free trial is up. Avast, I found, works so much better.

2010-08-01T08:25:00.001-05:00

Deep thoughts

I can't believe that a singer as talented as Martina McBride couldn't come up with a better ditty for her Sunny-D commercial than the repetitious "Shine on, shine on..." No matter how melodious your singing voice, it still sounds lazy.