Hurricane Katrina

I don't think that there's anything to say about this. There aren't really any words.

The devastation is enormous. Levees have broken in New Orleans and, because it basically sits in a bowl, all the water is rushing in, raising levels by an inch or two an hour.

I heard the mayor speak today on CNN. Aaron Brown asked him about the numbers of deaths. He said they really had no idea - rescuers were pushing away dead bodies to get to live ones.

They've deployed the National Guard (although why they weren't there *before* the hurricane hit, I don't know.) Martial law has been declared (so I heard). The looters have already started, although what they're stealing and where they plan to store it, I don't know. I don't think a big screen tv is going to help them now.

Bush (you *know* I had to slam him) spent yesterday - while the hurricane was barreling through, ripping apart 4 states, killing probably hundreds of people, leaving millions and millions homeless with no clean water, no electricity, no gas - he spent yesterday FUCKING CAMPAIGNING!!! He was in California pushing his Social Security reforms and comparing the Iraq war to WWII. But isn't it sweet of him to cut his vacation *2 days* short to go back to Washington to "oversee relief efforts".

Oh please. The "man" *should* have been back in Washington Sunday or Monday to "oversee things" - you know, pretend like he actually cares. Instead, since nobody told him what to do (rather like 9-11 when he sat for, oh, 15 to 20 minutes or so, doing NOTHING) he screwed up. Millions of his constituency base have had their lives devastated, but he was still flogging the "Iraq is a necessary war" bullshit.

On the plus side, Senator Trent Lott's house in Mississippi was destroyed, so that's ok.
(Geeze that was mean.... )

Computer Tech Help

My boy works at an inbound call centre which is for computer support.

The funniest story today:

"Ok, Ma'am, could you boot your computer for me."

BAM! BAM!! BAM!!!

"Uh, Ma'am? What happened?"

"I booted the computer."

"You booted the computer?"

"Yes, I kicked it."

"Uh... ok... that probably wasn't a good thing."

It wasn't a good thing. She had to buy a new computer.

Republican quotes

From www.dailykos.com:

Quotes from Republicans when Clinton committed troops to Bosnia:

“You can support the troops but not the president.”–Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

“Well, I just think it’s a bad idea. What’s going to happen is they’regoing to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years.”–Joe Scarborough (R-FL)

“Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that maycome home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up theirlife?”–Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99

“[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military mighton a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exitstrategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation willcost. And he has not informed our nation’s armed forces about how longthey will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a soundforeign policy.”–Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

“American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, theadministration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreignpolicy.”–Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

“If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain theyhave a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy.”–Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W Bush

“I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning . . Ididn’t think we had done enough in the diplomatic area.”–Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

“I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that itis often easier to make war than peace. This administration is justlearning that lesson right now. The President began this mission withvery vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later,these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules ofengagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definitionof victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There isno clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster ourover-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vitalnational interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for warwhen the President started this thing, and there still is no plantoday”–Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President toexplain to us what the exit strategy is.”–Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)

Funny thing is, we ended that war without a single American killed in action.

Don't Vacation in Bali

I've followed the Schapelle Corby case. She's a woman from Australia who was arrested in Bali with lots and lots of marijuana that she was attempting to smuggle into the country in a bag carrying her boogie board.

At least, that's what they say.

She was convicted of the smuggling and sentenced to 20 years in a Balinese jail. The court, according to the defense, refused to consider evidence that there was a drug smuggling ring working out of Australian airports and that the marijuana got put into the wrong bag. Australians are up in arms over it.

Now, there's another girl - Michelle Leslie - a model on vacation in Indonesia. She got caught with 2 Ecstasy pills worth about $50. For this she faces up to 15 years in prison.

Admittedly, she's stupid. She claims that she didn't know that it was illegal to carry drugs in Indonesia (huh?!?!) How could she NOT have heard about Corby?? It was all over the news, worldwide. The verdict was covered live on Australian TV.

However... 15 years for 2 Ecstasy pills?? That seems a little excessive.

I just know that, even if I did have the money for a vacation... I wouldn't be going to Indonesia.

Independence Day

Do you ever wonder if the aliens are up there, watching us, watching our movies and thinking "Well shit! That blows that plan!!"

"Independence Day" - can't use those signals imbedded in the satelite signals anymore.

"Mars Attacks" - can't pretend to be friends and then fry anyone in the immediate vicinity.

"Aliens" - the whole acid for blood thing is toast because we know we can fry them with fire.

"X-Files" - invading the planet through cockroaches is out.

So... are they scrambling for a new plan or laughing up their sleeves at our paranoia?

Inquiring minds...

Arrrrrrrrgh! There Be Dragons!!

Jodie (the girl-who-won't-date-me)'s Mom is on a dragonboat team. For the uninitiated, this is a group of 22 people who all sit together in this big long boat and race down a river rowing like mad.

A lot of the teams are made up of all women - breast cancer survivors. For that bunch, winning isn't the big deal - the fact that they are *there* and *able* to row is the victory.

So, last weekend Jodie's Mom was in a festival. Jodie and I got roped into volunteering to help run the event. Ok, we just ran the Silent Auction table, but we helped. Where we were set up was right by the finish line, so we could watch all the races. Jodie's Mom's team got a silver medal (they lost by 5/100ths of a second.)

Jodie and I decided that it kinda looked fun. So, this week we've rowed with the team twice - just to try it on. Well... I like it. It's a hell of a workout and there's something about being part of a team that's just... really cool. I'm sore, my shoulders hurt and my back muscles are slightly complaining, but I think it's going well. And they seem to be really happy to have us.

I think we're going to keep it up. They have a race coming up in a few weeks and we're going to go and watch. I think that's gonna be my "get into shape" activity *grin*

Religious Right

Well, if we didn't have Pat Robertson, what would we have to talk about?

"Feminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice wichcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."

(S0 THAT's what happened to me!! The lesbian part, not the killing children part.)

"It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-biased media and the homosexuals who want to destroy all Christians."

(Homosexuals want to destroy *all* Christians?? What about the homosexuals who ARE Christians? Tough choice there... to destroy myself or not to destroy myself... that is the question.)

"Many of those people involved in Adolf Hitler were Satanists, many were homosexuals - the two things seem to go together."

(There are so many things wrong with this statement, I'm not sure where to begin. A) Nazis were Christians. Satanists would have been strung up by their gonads. B) Nazis weren't homosexual - homosexuals were sent to concentration camps along with Communists, Jews, Gypsies and "intellectuals". C) I'm pretty sure that I'm homosexual and I'm pretty sure that I'm NOT a Satanist. So how exactly do those go together?)

"Communism was the brain-child of German-Jewish intellectuals."

(ummmm... no. Just... no.)

Robertson said in a letter on the CBN Web site that the [Supreme Court] ruling [that struck down a sodomy law in Texas] "has opened the door to homosexual marriage, bigamy, legalized prostitution and even incest."

(Well, I *hope* that it's opened the door to homosexual marriage - that's not a bad thing *grin*. Bigamy? Lessee... Christian Latter Day Saints pop to mind. Legalized prostitution? Good and bad to that, I suppose. Incest? I don't think that striking down a sodomy law in Texas is either going to make or stop a father from raping his daughter. I'm pretty sure that he's not going to all of a sudden go "Whoo hoo!! I now have permission to rape my daughter!!!")

"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it," said Robertson Monday. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war....We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," he said. "We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

(Alrighty... I was watching Larry King last night and he had a Pat Robertson defender and a couple of people that were saying "he went waaaaaay over the line". Now the defender was saying "oh, well, he was speaking as a political pundit and political pundits say stuff like that all the time!" Well... no. If he's speaking on "The 700 Club" which runs on the CHRISTIAN BROADCASTING NETWORK, then anything he says has religious implications. If he's speaking on CNN on a political affairs show, THEN you can make the argument that he's speaking as a political pundit. Barring that, he's speaking as a religious leader. As such, I find it deeply disturbing that he wants "someone" to break one of the most important (to me) commandments: Thou shalt not kill.

Of course now he's saying that his remarks were taken out of context. "I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out.' And 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted by the AP [Associated Press], but that happens all the time," Robertson said on "The 700 Club." I'm not sure how his remarks were taken out of context. "Take him out" seems pretty cut and dried to me.)

Pat Robertson and the rest of the "evangelicals" make my skin crawl. There hasn't been a one of them, except, ironically, Tammy Faye Baker, who I think actually lives according to the "love thy neighbour" stuff that's in the Bible. Of course, I can't listen to anyone who uses the Bible to justify anything. It's a book that's been cut by 2/3 and mistranslated all to hell. Who knows what was in there, what should be in there? Maybe homosexuals are the chosen ones.

(Most) churches suck.

Itches to Scratch

Don't you hate it when the bottom of your foot itches?

First you have to wiggle your toes in your shoe and hope that something will rub against the right spot. You have to do that two or three times before you realize that that won't work.

Then you have to rub your whole foot against the bottom of your shoe.

Then you scratch the side of your foot hoping that, somehow, the scratching will travel down your foot to the sole where the itch actually is.

When all else fails, you finally give in and take your shoe off to scratch the itch, hoping that no one in the near vicinity will pass out from the obnoxious fumes and that no one peeks around the corner of your cube to see what died.

Or maybe that's just me.

Grease

WARNING!!! Bad language is used in this post...

I love this movie... maybe I've mentioned that before. I'm watching it on TV right now and the censoring puzzles me immensely.

They just sang "Greased Lightnin'". This line got through: "You know that ain't no shit we'll be gettin' lots of tit, Greased Lightnin'." and this one "I'll get off my rocks" but this one got bleeped "You know that I ain't braggin' she's a real p****wagon."

I'm confuzzled by this... you can say "shit", "tit", "rocks" but you can't say "pussy". Female "sexual organs" above the waist and the male sexual organ are ok to reference, but not female "sexual organs" below the waist. But you can *show* female sexual organs below the waist, but you can't show the male sexual organ or you'll get an "X" rating.

It's the objectification of women - women as sex objects, but men don't wanna show their dicks, because...? Other men get uncomfortable having to see 'em. I think it's the same reason that women are much more open to exploring other women than men are to exploring other men.

Let's face it, about the worst thing you can call a man references sex - ie cocksucker or pussy. A man is less of a man if they suck cock. A man is a "girl" = less than if he's a pussy - and a sex object to be "acted on" by another man.

I don't think I have a real point - semantics just interests me. The next time you hear a man insult another man, listen to what they're saying... listen to what they "call" each other. It's interesting.

Smoking

I'm a smoker. I came to it late in the game, not actually starting to smoke on a regular basis until I was 25. Lately I've been thinking that maybe I shouldn't be smoking. I've always had a weak bronchial system - chest infections 2 or 3 times a year, that kind of thing. My breath has been getting shorter, I don't seem to be breathing in as deeply as a should. I'm not overly fond of coughing in the morning...

I don't know how this all came about, but last week my gay-friend-who-won't-date-me Jodie and I decided that, come Monday (tomorrow), we're not going to smoke at work. I went and bought the gum, just in case I get jumpy. Thursday and Friday I cut down to two cigarettes during the day (which didn't go *too* badly). Yesterday during the day, I had a couple of drags off my roomie's smoke. Today I've had 2 1/2 smokes so far.

I don't know if it'll stick, but I'll try.

Paula Abdul Cleared!!!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/12/abdul.idol.reut/index.html

Well, thank god! Singers all over America are now safe from the predatory advances of Paula Abdul! Ok, they might not be safe, but an "independant review" says that she didn't have an affair with Corey Clark or give him tips or hints on how to get farther in Idol.

I love Idol. Well... I used to. I loved the first season and watched it faithfully and enthusiastically. I was extremely invested in whether or not Kelly Clarkson won. I'm Canadian, and I can't vote for American Idol, so I bit my nails for 2 hours waiting to find out if the teeny-boppers took over and made Justin (where-is-he-now) Guarini the winner.

Second season... eh. Kimberley Locke was my girl so I really didn't much care if Rueben or Clay won. I was just kind of hoping it wasn't Clay because something about him annoyed the crap out of me.

Third season was incredibly boring after all the divas got voted off because then it became a foregone conclusion who was going to win. I mean Fantasia against Diana (where-is-she-now) Digarmo?? Please... like there was a question about who was going to win...

Last season was ok... southern rocker vs. country girl... Bo vs. Carrie. I think I'm kind of over it, though...

So, anyway... skanky, skiny, butt-ugly, ho-men should feel safe auditioning for Idol again, knowing that Paula wouldn't hit on them. (Please, did you look at him? I think that would say a *whole* lot for Paula's taste and call into question any reliance on her judgement... of course, it's not like anyone listens to what she says now.)

Moving in together

Just as a piece of advice...

Don't move in with a partner until you've been dating at least a year.

You'll save yourself a lot of drama.

This advice does not come from personal experience, but rather the experience of others of my acquaintance. You jump in too fast and end up paying for it for a long time afterwords.

I'm soooooo not going there. Experience dearly bought by others.

Ear Mites

Such an appetizing subject.

We have a dog and two cats. Puppers has been scratching lately so we had a look and - yup - it's ear mites.

A quick google search yields a six-week homeopathic course of treatment. Basically, you put olive oil mixed with vitamin E in their ears, massage away to get it all the way down, and then use a q-tip (very, very carefully) to clean out all the gunk.

It's such a happy thing. The cats were thrilled to be flipped onto their backs, held by the paws and the head, and have oil dripped into their ears and on their heads. They just LOVE this process. And they're so forgiving when it's all over!

On the plus side, everybody's ears look a LOT better and the scratching has pretty much ended. Only 5 more weeks to go.

Baby Boy

He's been on his own for almost 2 weeks now. He calls every night that he's working (cause they don't have a phone yet.) He's doing well, eating well, I think. He's coming over on Sunday so we can feed him and send him home with the stew, banana bread and meatloaf that we'll be making and freezing tomorrow.

And perhaps some soap and shampoo that I just happened to pick up at the grocery store today.

His mother did ok, relatively speaking, until about Tuesday of this week. Then we had a little breakdown. She's wondering what the purpose of her life is now, what she's supposed to do with the rest of her years now that she doesn't have a child to raise or anyone to take care of.

I know that it'll pass, that things will get better once she finds her feet, once she realizes that her baby boy will always be her baby boy and will always need her. No matter how old he gets. She's, really, the parent he can count on.

Bad Blue!!

I just realized that it's been 9 days - *9* - since my last installment.

It's not like there's been nothing going on - there's been lots going on - I just haven't gotten organized to write it all down.

So, current events:

Shuttle landed safely (yeah!)

Peter Jennings died (booooooooo!)

Cindy Sheehan (who lost her son in the Iraq war) is camped outside of Bush's ranch protesting the war. Good for her!! I hope she keeps it up.

Jennifer Hyatte shot a sherrif's deputy to death to break her husband out of the joint, only to be shot herself and captured, along with her husband, 2 days later. I'm sure that the cop's life was worth it.

"Dallas"s "Miss Ellie", Barbara Bel Geddes, died at the age of 82. Wonderful classy lady. She was in Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo." as well as being a wonderful Broadway actress.

Mitchell Johnson, now a 21 year old man, walked out of custody this week with absolutely no criminal record. When Mitchell was 13 he pulled the fire alarm in his school and then started shooting children and teachers as they came outside. He and his 11 year old partner in crime killed 4 children and 1 teacher and 9 other students and 1 other teacher were wounded. 7 years for 5 deaths and 10 woundings. That seems fair. He wants to be a minister. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Stupid People

I've decided to start a "Stupid People Hall of Fame". It's just that there's SO MANY stupid people out there! From teachers who sleep with students, to Darwin award winners...

Our newest inductee:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/08/02/anthrax.threat.ap/index.html

This woman works for the National Institutes of Health and she lost a claim for tax relief on a property she owns.

So she does the only rational thing she can - she calls the tax office and tells them they have the anthrax virus. Not only does she tell them they have the anthrax virus in the building - she leaves this information in a message on the voice mail. With her name and who she works for!

I like stupid people, they make me feel better about myself.