I’m a little bummed. Curt didn’t get the killer (salaried) job he was supposed to be one of the “top 3” candidates for. So it’s back to the job search. *sigh*. I’m drowning my sorrow in Blues music today. That’s right, the coolest part about 4th of July weekend in River City is the annual Blues Festival at Waterfront Park, proceeds of which support the Oregon Food Bank. Folks bring their boats down starting the week before to jockey for position on the river near the stages. Many tattooed people in black abound and what’s not covered in leather gets sunburned. Young kids high on life (or other substances, you never know) line up in front of the stage and start impersonating whirling dervishes. It’s lots of fun! And this year, OregonLive’s got a streaming radio feed of a bunch of the songs from artists that will be performing. So I’m jammin’ at work, trying to decide which day we’ll go. Tomorrow looks like their focusing on Zydeco. I could get into that – get a little cajun pick up after we’re done helping Dad fix the plumbing in our tub. If we weren’t so dead ass broke we might take one of the short 2 hour “Blues Cruise”s on the Spirit of Portland.

In more personal news (TMI alert: consider yourself warned)….

My Scottrade IRA finally received my 401k rollover from the shitty former employer (after the previous administrator had to send my docs back to their HR person *twice* due to their incompetence…) Only 5 months late, but whose counting? I was going to put most of the balance in a smart, safe index-tracking mutual fund but I couldn’t resist buying some shares of some stocks I’ve had my eyes on forever. Namely, Ballard Power (BLDP - fuel cells – long, long term prospect I wanted to buy 5 years ago when it was at an outrageous $100/share; now it’s done to a far more reasonable, and affordable $9/share); Netflix (NFLX - based on the “buy what you like” theory of investment proponed by some sweet little ladies who wrote a book a while back); Alcan (AL - one of the ‘good’ metal companies from a socially responsible standpoint); and my “safe” bet… United Technologies (UTX – high tech building and aerospace products… like Otis elevator! Carrier air conditioning! And Sikorsky helicopters! And UTC Power - another fuel cell company (gotta hedge your bets)).

Speaking of things being late, it’s been 11 days since my favorite communist-colored Aunt Flo was expected to arrive for her monthly visit and there’s still no sign of her. I thought 7 days ago she might have been tiptoeing across the threshold but it was a false alarm. EPT said “No” last weekend so I’m determined not to get my hopes up like the last time, though it would be ironic as hell if our spawning drive was successful the same month we agreed to give it a rest for awhile (for the sake of the relationship). It could, just could be - that the hint I caught of her last week was actually implantation bleeding. No nausea yet, but the gatekeeper (aka “cervix”) has dropped and gotten soft (where she’s supposed to be if I were, in fact preggers. If Aunt Flo were on her way she’d be on full alert, high & tight). Boobs are a bit sore (no help there), but no cramping and I have been a bit tired lately. Time will tell. I’ll check with EPT again if she’s not here by Sunday.

The Kittlin has temporarily given up his snake-hunting regimen and is, according to Curt replacing it with playing “chicken” on the road with passing cars. Fuck….aDuck…!!.In my experience there’s only one cure for the feline’s fascination with the open road. And that’s by losing the game. If they’re lucky, they survive with minor injuries (like both Cleo & Ozzie). If they’re really, really lucky – they just get a good scare (like Jack, I suspect). But if they’re not lucky…. You get the picture. I’m debating what to do. I think I’m going to try training him, though it’s hard because I’m not the one home during the day when he’s doing it. Some folks have reported good success using the “click” method of training with cats . It’s worth a shot.

My other inclination is to park myself down on the sidewalk with the riding lawn mower (or something equally as scary-sounding) and lay in wait, then start it up every time he moves toward the road. But there’s no guarantee if he panics and runs it will be *back* towards the house. So the positive re-enforcement clicker way is probably the best option. I think I’ll sign him up for accidental pet insurance in the meantime, just in case. $9/ month can buy a lot of peace of mind. If it means me bringing a lunch 2 days a month instead of eating out, Iit's worth it.

Good Bloggers Gone Bad... Gone Good!

You think you've found someone who understands your views. You find their blog witty and funny and put them on your blogroll. But then they go and fuck it up by posting something you find incredibly offensive. To whit, a picture of a nearly naked woman passed out amidst the empty beer bottles used to illustrate some totally unrelated point about the threat of terrorists using beer coolers. Especially given recent events in California (mistrial declared in a case of a 16 yr old girl being gangraped while unconscious). I'd leave a comment if there was a comment sections, but alas.... there are none. I don't want to come off like a humorless hairy-legged feminist harpy and demand he take it down (like I would if it were a commercial website). It's a blog. He's entitled to express his views in whatever sexist, degrading, juvenile manner he likes. But I don't have to like it and I can say so. Just like when PETA used naked women to advance their political agenda; and the anti-genetic engineering folks used a naked woman to advance theirs. Prostituting women's bodies in the name of a good cause is still prostitution.

UPDATE: My faith is restored! The HD Skeptic has removed the offending photo from his site. Please reverse any hairy-legged hexes you may have prepared and send gynoblessings his way instead. Thank you, the Mgmt.

Buy a diamond, support terrorism

Hezbollah Profiting From African Diamonds Hezbollah, in turn funds other militant Islamic groups like Al-Queda. Snips:

KOIDU, Sierra Leone - Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla movement is siphoning profits from West Africa's diamond trade, in part by threatening Lebanese diamond merchants, U.S. diplomats charge.

The allegations, supported by independent analysts, describe more pervasive, organized and coercive Hezbollah profiteering from West Africa's diamond trade than most U.S. officials have previously acknowledged.

"One thing that's incontrovertible is the financing of Hezbollah. It's not even an open secret; there is no secret," said Larry Andre, deputy chief of mission for the U.S. Embassy in diamond-rich Sierra Leone.

Many in the State Department and officials at U.S. embassies in West Africa have long played down any West Africa conduits to Hezbollah, saying any contributions to Hezbollah appeared to be voluntary donations by individuals.

Alex Yearsley, of London-based Global Witness, alleges that the CIA (news - web sites) and FBI long had tried to publicly minimize links between conflict diamonds and Islamic militant groups, including al-Qaida.

The U.S. security agents feared exposure of their own longtime links with Charles Taylor, the ousted Liberian leader who played a main role in West Africa's insurgencies and blood diamond trade, Yearsley said. Taylor received CIA payments until January 2001, Yearsley claimed in a telephone interview.

Here's a thought. In other wars, folks on the homefront have traditionally made personal sacrifices to support the war. Many people disappointed with how Bush is fighting the War on Terror (i.e. shanghai-ing our troops and resources to conquer Iraq) feel helpless, and victimized and would like very much to get personally involved in some way. So why not start with a boycott of diamonds? Hit 'em in the pocketbook, right where it counts! Now granted, many diamonds that hit our market are supposedly certified as "conflict free" and bloodless, but the truth is, overall consumer demand for diamonds (regardless of origin) bolsters the market value of conflict diamonds right along with the "safe" ones. So do your part! Quit buying diamonds!!!

So this is "Victory" in Afghanistan?

They're supposed to have their first democratic elections this fall. Here's what's happening to folks who are trying to register to vote:

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Taliban fighters killed up to 16 men after learning they had registered for Afghanistan U.S.-backed national elections, the deadliest attack yet in a campaign aimed at sabotaging the nation's first free vote, officials said Sunday.

This is a day after the Taliban (who Bush claims we've "defeated") bombed a bus full of female election workers and children outside Jalalabad trying to register women to vote. Two were killed.

Per Michael Moore in Fahrenheit 9/11, we've only got 14,000 troops in Afghanistan, compared to 140,000 in Iraq. That's less than the entire police force of New York City and they're supposed to be making an entire country just slightly smaller than the state of Texas, and which is still full of Taliban, Al Queda (and Bin Laden oh by the way... who is supposed to be Enemy #1) and other fundamentalist militia, safe for democracy.

Fuck you, Mr. Schwarzenegger.....

Schwarzenegger backs speedier killing of strays
Friday, June 25, 2004 Posted: 11:34 AM EDT (1534 GMT)

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to repeal a state law that requires animal shelters to hold stray dogs and cats for up to six days before killing them.

Instead, there would be a three-day requirement for strays. Other animals, including birds, hamsters, potbellied pigs, rabbits, snakes and turtles, could be killed immediately.

One more reason I'm glad I'm not a Californian.

The living room tableau was back last night so this morning I grabbed the camera on the way to work. "Emergency Broadcast System" was scrawled on the TV screen in grease pencil. The book on the sidetable is Jonathan Livingston Seagull. 

The screen is covered in deep thoughts like this. I think the whole piece is called "The Unexamined Life".  

The power of Pets

Friendly Dog Prevents Killing Spree. Snip: TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian man, driving a car packed with weapons and ammunition, was intent on killing as many people as possible in a Toronto neighbourhood but gave up the plan at the last minute when he encountered a friendly dog, police say...He had set himself up in an east-end park to load his weapons and then planned to drive around shooting. He later told police that a dog then approached and started playing with him.

The encounter melted the man's heart, and he then went in search of police to give himself up, police said. "He happens to be a pet lover, and decided that since there was such a nice dog in the area, that people were too nice and he wasn't going to carry out his plan," Detective Nick Ashley told reporters.

**sniff** Take that you heartless animal haters!

Got Milk?

Curt & I were discussing possible reality with baby the other day and got on the subject of breastfeeding. I mentioned that I plan to breastfeed but for some reason it still seems kind of odd to me, even though in my mind I know it's the most natural thing in the world. I guess the thought of life actually sustaining itself via "the girls" is kind of weird. Maybe because I wasn't breastfed as a child? Curt wasn't either. I then recalled my friend E. telling me how her 6 mo. old son took to it right away, and still will only accept a bottle if he's totally starving, whereas her daughter K. (now almost 3) basically weaned herself by 6 mos and didn't take to it well at all right away. I speculated that perhaps boys just have a boob fetish from day one and never get over it?? Anyway, as we were discussing the various specific health benefits of breastmilk Curt wondered if anybody had ever studied what would happen if an adult partook of it on a regular basis.

At first I thought "What a nightmare! That's all we need.. one more way for women to sell their bodies. I can see it now, breastmilk bars replacing oxygen bars as the new kooky trend. At best you'd have women making anonymous donations by breastpump... but at worst? I don't even want to think about *that*! The whole time I'm thinking, no worries - there are no self-respecting scientist who would even venture down that path.

But it appears I'm wrong. Swedish doctors have developed "A cream made from human breast milk and nicknamed Hamlet that can dramatically reduce, and often eliminate, stubborn common warts." So now I have visions of that controversial anti-genetic engineering billboard from last year becoming reality. Ugh. You know, say I'm a cynic but I can see where this is going. Before the resurgence of breastfeeding in the middle and upper classes in the last 25 years or so, and before baby Formula was widespread... wetnursing was a time honored profession. Poor, rural, and especially ethnic mothers would farm their mammaries out to desperate mothers, childrens' hospitals and orphanages. Your garment industry has their sweatshops.... how soon do you think it will be before pharmaceutical companies set up milkshops in the 3rd world?

Random Thoughts

I’ve been kicking myself lately for going the cheapo route when we got new cellphones and not forking out a little extra dough to get the one that came with the digital camera function. If I’d had one, here are some of the picts I would have taken the last two days for your blogviewing pleasure:

1) A strange little livingroom tableau some intrepid artist/prankster set up on a scrap piece of plywood in some greenspace next to Hwy 99E in Milwaukie overlooking the river this weekend. There was the requisite nasty 70’s era recliner (orange flowers and all); cheesy clunky lamp with oversized cylindrical shade; old TV of the rabbit-eared, knob-turning variety on a cheap faux-wood TV stand and assorted other clutter I didn’t get a clear look at as I drove past on my way to work. By this morning, it was gone.

2) Timeless raindrops literally captured by small spider webs in the ivy along the river trail at lunch today that made the green hillside look like Martha Stewart faeries had come along and nestled crystal bowls in the greenery. I wouldn’t have been surprised at all to see floating candles, too.

3) Goslings on the patio at the swanky office down the river trail where I ate my lunch today. There’ve been two Canadian Geese couples in the river below my office raising their youngins this spring – they’ve got about 18 babes between them. They’ve reached the awkward adolescent phase where they’re molting and their adult coloration & markings are beginning to show through the cute fuzzy yellow and black down. They’re about ¾ the size of Mom & Dad, on average with the exception of one adorable little runt who is still about half the size of his siblings. I sat out on the wrought iron table overlooking the green willows and sweep of the river, eating my sandwich. They were all busy stripping the grass and other landscaping of assorted grubs and slugs. It was kind of amazing.

Geese can be so damned aggressive & protective with their young. I was surprised the parents brought them right here in the midst of humans. But when a man walked over eating a bag of chips and the goslings all rushed him at the sound of the crinkling, I realized they were on a mission to mooch, and Mom & Dad were showing them how. I tried for quite awhile to resist the urge to feed but then another woman started and yes, I’m a little ashamed to admit… I gave in to the corruptive influence and started targeting my little runt with gently tossed handouts of crust and lettuce. It was quite a challenge, too – his brothers & sisters were determined to cut him out but my little buddy was quick! Then Mom & Dad (very BIG and kind of scary) decided to horn in on the action, and after seeing how one overeager gosling had pecked my fellow philanthropist when she didn’t produce fast enough, I made a break for it.

Gmail swap for RAWA drive continues!

I was graciously granted 6 more Gmail invites from the GoogleGods and have successfully swapped 2 of them so far for more donations to RAWA. This makes a grandtotal of $155 to date! Woohoo!! If anyone else is interested let me know.

Lollygagging can be hazardous to your health...

I relaxed so much this weekend I think I pulled a muscle! Laugh if you want but lollygagging requires a great deal of effort. In my case it required careful camoflouging of myself in the hammock under the pear tree, enjoying the balmy weather and light breeze, laying perfectly motionless in the hopes of enticing a chickadee to not notice me and partake of the elegant feast I'd laid out in the bird feeder, 3 feet away. It worked. Twice!! Then I think I pulled a muscle in my lower back tring to twist myself around in order to position my hands in prime belly-rubbing position for my calico kitty, who was busy napping in the grass beneath me.

Testing

I've been fighting viruses/ adware crap all day and apparently some of my innoculative efforts have also crashed my blogger uplink ability.... so this is a test

Head Scratcher of the Day

First Russian president Putin gave hope to the Bush administration today by revealing that even if the U.S. can't find credible evidence of Saddam's terrorist proclivities, they certainly had it (and passed it along). But they still don't think whatever information they gave us warranted the invasion. But now the State Dept. is saying, "you did? Funny we don't remember that..." So....if such information sharing occurred, it apparently went through non-state department channels. Curiouser and Curiouser. I mean, if this were a Tom Clancy novel the Russkies would have tipped off Jack Ryan directly but I'm at a loss as to how that situation translates into the current administration and intelligence beaurocracy. Did Bush, or Rummy or Condie get a personal phone call from the Kremlin??? If so, then why don't they just freaking *say* so??? Did they directly/indirectly "leak" information to a known CIA operative? OK then - they can blame Tenet once again. Better throw in some popcorn 'cuz I'm dying to see how this one ends....

Dueling Lie Detectors At Dawn

Here's an interesting conundrum. Joe Scarborough of the Scarborough Report picks up an accusation by Fred Barnes, Weekly Standard editor that's currently under heavy circulation in right wing media that Michael Moore totally fabricated an alleged 1988 interview he then went on to publish in his 2002 book "Stupid White Men". Right wing pundits across the board are using this to discredit Moore's upcoming Fahrenheit 9/11 movie. Michael, of course isn't backing down and posted his rebuttal where he wonders why Barnes is only *now* crying fowl when the ultra-conservative Washington Times (of Rev. Moon fame) also published his interview back in 1988. Even if Barnes himself didn't happen to pick up the Times that day, you'd think someone in the right wing journalistic circle would have seen it and informed him of it (if not someone from the Times, itself). I mean, Barnes' own Weekly Standard lists the Washington Times in their weblinks which implies that Barnes finds them a credible news organization.

I can see where less politically-minded folks would get very frustrated with all this "Liar! Liar! back and forth fingerpointing by the right and the left. I'm starting to get more than a little sick of it myself. But here's the difference I've seen lately in the wild accusation department. The left wing, like Moore (and Franken who I've been listening to a great deal) will actually back up their accusations of Liar! by going straight back to the source. They'll let the audio tape or publication speak for itself, and proves how the right wing takes that same information and takes it totally out of context (or pulled it out of thin air). The right wing, on the other hand will quote "so and so said they heard/read it on so and so... and that person surely wouldn't have run with it if they didn't think it was true". You can see exactly how this happens in Alexandra Polier's own account of how the right wing "journalists" (and yes, I use that term very, very lightly) took totally unsubstantiated rumors about her and spun it into a "known" affair with Kerry.

In this case, it doesn't look like there are any first hand sources to corroborate either of their positions. Unfortunately Moore, apparently didn't tape the interview or he'd have made the tapes available, I'm sure. Barnes, however can't be as certain the interview did *not* take place as he's leading his readers to believe or he'd have slapped Moore with a libel suit in a heartbeat. Isn't that's what you or I would do if somebody had totally made up something that we'd never said and made *us* look bad, then tried to make money off of that lie?? If you're wanting to discredit someone there's no better way than to sue their ass, right?

So that leaves us with one option as I see it. Dueling lie detector tests at dawn. You could have Rush and Franken as seconds. My bet's on Mike, though.... any takers?

I love you, you love me..we're a happy family

So we went to our first couple’s counseling session yesterday. Instead of a couch, he had two really cushy recliners. I liked Barny, our counselor though he seemed more intimidated by us at first than we him. Maybe because when I went to put my feet up in the recliner my left shoe flew off and landed in his lap. No, he wasn’t purple though after he regained his professional composure he did say “I can tell there’s a truly deep love between you two which was a "joy" for him to see. He seemed to have forgiven my militant Cinderella episode.

We gave him more than enough material to get an idea of our communication style. In fact, he had a hard time getting either of us to shut the fuck up, or as he put it in shrinkspeak: "I can tell you're both very hungry to be heard". We were a little disappointed he didn't start handing down the "you're right... he/she's wrong" directives on our miscellaneous issues right away. Apparently we'll get a chance to delve into the nitty gritty issues after we've learned some different communication techniques so we can do so in a constructive manner.

And while he did ask us about substance abuse, it was perfectly in context and not annoying in the slightest. After Curt's next job gets solidified we'll schedule another session.

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Asministrative Note: I finally figured out how to re-instate Haloscan comments with the new template and have disabled Blogger's comments accordingly. Some people were rather annoyed at having to "sign up" for an account to use it.

We're sorry.....

Now here's an interesting tidbit: Pope John Paul apologizes for Inquisition, witch hunts, Crusades and other assorted atrocities committed in the name of the church. Though apparently I'm woefully behind the times - it looks like he originally did this back in 2000 as part of Millenium celebrations but it's taken scholars until now to fully research the depths of the Church's transgressions (for which the apology was made) and they've written a book detailing their findings. Apparently, the Inquisition "wasn't quite as bad as has been believed" when it comes to final death toll. Wherever Galileo is currently residing in space and time, I'm sure he will be so "comforted" to know that! (in the finest Shrubian sense of the word).

Atlantis Revisited

How have I missed this? A scientist says he may have found remains of the lost city of Atlantis in southern Spain. Now there's a theory I hadn't heard.

Some Good News

It's not all gloom and doom on the horizon of global women's rights. Women's ENews reports this week that Saudi Arabia convened its third National Dialogue on Reform yesterday, focusing specifically on the future role and rights of women in the kingdom. They claim this is one sign of many showing the rather remarkable progress women have made in the 6 Gulf states in the last few years.

Back here on the home front, I was happy to see the AMA step up and support over the counter sales of the Morning After Pill. A rational person would think something that *prevents* abortions would be considered a good thing by the anti-choice zealots, but they'd be wrong - because it has nothing to do with rationality and everything to do with religious belief. I'd go into a rant but I'm trying very hard to focus on the positive for a few days at least.

Bear in Tennis Shoes

We had a lovely weekend. I finally put my feet in front of my mouth and did some canvassing for MoveOn on Saturday. I've never done anything like that before. For an introvert such as myself it was more than a little scary. Which was one reason I did it. Gotta face those fears & all...

There was one annoying young guy on the orientation team who reminded me, in a nutshell of everything I hated about summer camp (wherein lie the root of my irrational disdain for being any kind of a 'joiner', I swear). The sickeningly sweet & insincere attempts to build "excitement" by the fresh faced counselors in neon T-shirts; ridiculous role playing skits and lack of chairs in the meeting hall all took me back to my days at Silver Creek Falls where I had no friends and they made me sit around the campfire right next to an anthill and sing stupid songs.

But aside from that, it wasn't as annoying as I'd thought it might be. The canvassing was actually run by the League of Conservation Voters. MoveOn just provided more feet to pound the pavement. We were deployed to key swing precincts that have gone either way in the past to a) identify how voters in those precincts are leaning right now; b) find out what their top 2 issues are; and c) recruit more volunteers for Kerry. Then in the coming months, they'll go back and target undecided voters in these precincts with more direct mailings, phone calls and personal visits.

My 'buddy' was a 50+ yr old housewife from one of the more upscale bedroom communities. The last time she'd ever done anything like this was 25 some years ago in Texas when she'd manned the phone banks for Bush Sr. in his campaign against Reagan. "I was so uninformed back then...." she said. But like so many of the other regular folks I met that day (on both sides of the doorbell); she was just so pissed that she had to do something. I got 3 potential volunteers signed up and made good inroads on a couple of undecideds, I think.

By the end of the day my feet were killing me and I had mild sunstroke, I think but it was worth it. I was so wiped at the end I just dropped off my teammates and results at the meeting hall and didn't stick around for the chorus of "Cumbaya" (or whatever the post-event wrap up entailed). One thing I learned, though. There's a definite correlation between level of political enthusiasm and comfort of toes. As the latter declined throughout the day I saw a definite drop in the former. Next time around I think I might be much more effective on the phones.

But if I do agree to hit the pavement again I'll be taking my cue from that old bear in the campfire singalong who wore tennis shoes. Smart bear.

Sunday we let Grumblema take us to Chinese food for lunch. She could just fit us in before the big NBA game. We took her a jar of the yummy cherry jam Curt made while I was out agitating. If she keeps up with her "go-go-joy-joy" pill regimen (as she calls her Zoloft) we might have to come up with a new nickname for her. It is amazing what a difference it's made. The negativity factor drops by about 70%.

Dammit.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that California atheist Michael Newdow lacked the right to bring a constitutional challenge to the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance on behalf of his daughter, since her mother has legal custody during the week when she's in school and the pledge is recited (and her Mom, a born-again Christian supports her saying the pledge).

So a new guinea pig is needed. One who has a more ironclad case.

Ah, the sanctity of marriage...

Rush Limbaugh announces end of 3rd Marriage. Does this finally earn him a masters degree in Hypocrisy?

It’s a modern Ethiopian love story

Boy & friends hack down front door with machete, abduct the 13 year old object of his obsession, named Woineshet - rape & beat her for two days. Police show up, girl escapes covered in blood, badly bruised. Attacker is arrested. Girl must wait 2 days for bus to clinic. Nurse wonders why the wounds are “old” and notes "She is no longer a virgin. Not sure of date of penetration, could be recently. Many bruises and scratches around vagina."

Woineshet's family comes from the Oromo tribe, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group “In the green hills of southern Ethiopia, the tribe's men hold a firm upper hand in society and women are often treated as servants. Marriage by abduction, a common practice, occurs when a man and his friends kidnap a woman or girl he has been watching, rapes her and then pressures her to sign a marriage contract…Ethiopian law absolves abductors of their crime if they marry their victims.”

Story continues: Girl goes home, judge who thinks "I don't think she was abducted or raped. The health report did not specify that she was a fresh virgin. No one wants to rape anyone who is not a virgin. Maybe they were just in love. This case has no evidence” despite many witnesses, lets her attacker go on bail. Even her state-appointed lawyer says "I think Woineshet was like, 'Please rape me.' Maybe he couldn't afford the dowry and they wanted to be together without a formal marriage," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Culturally, no one rapes a non-virgin.”
Days later, Boy abducts girl again. This time raping and beating her for 15 days at brother’s house. She escaped again running bruised and bloody through the village and farms. Family of her attacker track her down and beat her until she signs a marriage contract. This time, kindly police officer takes her in to protect her. So she ends up in a jail cell at her own request. Case goes to trial. Attacker is somehow found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in jail, despite the bias of the judge (same as above) , who asked Woineshet, “He wants to marry you. Why are you refusing?” and remarked to the courtroom that “After 13 years, after 15 years, the lady she can be happy. She can be okay.” One month later, same judge just lets attacker out of jail, saying there were not enough witnesses and that Woineshet was most likely in love with Negussie and ready for marriage. "This family is only out for revenge," Ukie said in an interview. "Maybe they don't want her to marry him. So they accuse him of rape." Later, when he was asked about a health report showing severe abuse during the second abduction, Ukie said: "Look, a marriage contract had been signed, and I think we should find it. If she wanted to marry him, then if there was a rape that makes it legally okay."

How does this logic make any sense? If she had *wanted* to marry him, if she'd loved him, he wouldn't have had to abduct, beat and RAPE her.

Moral of the story: Kidnapping, Rape and Assault of women are all hunky dory so long as the woman is enslaved by a marriage contract after the fact. Oh, and non-virgins cannot be raped.

I used to be somewhat of a cultural relativist. I respected the culture & traditions of other cultures, and felt it would be arrogant beyond measure to impose my imperialist morals on other people. But when a culture internalizes violence against women and rejects respect for basic human rights to this extent I'm sorry, but I just can't respect it and let it go. It's not marriage, it's trafficking in sex slaves, pure & simple and really needs to be recognized by the international community on that basis. They'll boycott South Africa for denying huge segments of their population basic human rights based on race, but we do NOTHING to pressure countries that deny HALF their population basic human rights based on GENDER.

In fact, Shrub would deny these women any aid at all on the pathetic grounds that the people providing that aid might, just might talk about or god-forbid actually PROVIDE birth control or abortion. These girls are being raped with the tacit approval of their own communities and forced into abusive marriages, forced to LIVE WITH THEIR ATTACKER, be his servant, bear his children for the rest of their lives. But they call this brutal custom 'marriage' so Bush feels it's his God-given responsibility to PROTECT this institution.

Unfuckingbelievable.

And to most Americans, unbelievable. This kind of institutionalized violence, like the Rwandan genocide and Nick Berg murder is so totally alien to us that when we hear these stories, we think it MUST be an aberration. They look like normal people on TV - how could they not only allow, but tacitly encourage this kind of brutality?? So we shut it out - ignore it and go about our vanilla, safe little suburban lives where in the rare event a child is abducted by a raping stalker, there's an Amber Alert issued and the entire community moves heaven and earth to find them before it's "too late". Failing that, we move heaven and earth to track down the son of Satan that did it and make 'em fry for it. It's simply beyond mainstream America's comprehension that in other parts of the world, the opposite is true.

Fly, Monkeys....Fly

Rivka has a great overview of the implications of the pro-torture Justice Dept. memo, but there’s one aspect I haven’t seen anybody really address yet. It appears there’s a totally different set of rules for the executive under Republican and Democratic presidents. Or maybe the difference is with executives serving during peace time and war time, I don’t know - but every time I compare the reaction Clinton got to what Bush is getting it blows me away. During Clinton’s tenure, the Supreme’s felt so strongly that the President is not above the law that they voted unanimously to allow Paula Jones’ trial to go forward while he was in office. And that was a civil suit. That ended up in his impeachment. (No, I’m not blaming the Supreme’s for Clinton’s idiotic lying under oath – I’m fully aware he did it to himself). So now Rummie & company in the Attorney General’s office are trying to say the President is *above* the law??? Were they in a drug-induced coma during the Clinton Presidency or something? Maybe that was Clinton’s mistake. Maybe if he’d declared war on Osama after the first World Trade Center attacks the Repubs wouldn’ve given him more leeway in the “executive privelege” department. Yeah right. And monkey's are currently initiating their pre-flight sequence in my colon !!

Looky-Loo Neighbors

Dear Neighbors:

I know this evening you saw Curt emerge from the HoneyPot at the construction site next door that you're building your house on, roll of personal TP in hand. No, he doesn't have some freaky portaletophilia. We are a one bathroom household and I was in the midst of a much-needed, highly anticipated bubblebath. We're pretty comfortable with one another's bodily functions but a girl's gotta draw the line somewhere. 'Nuf said.

Got your Tin Foil Hat??

Last week Pres. Bush pays a state visit to Italy ( & visits the Pope!). Today, Coalition special forces free the 3 Italian civilians held hostage in Iraq since April 12. Just in time for Bush to report "mission accomplished" when the Italian PM arrives at the G-8 summit where Bush has a chance to repair his abysmal foreign relations record before the elections.

I'm thrilled they were saved, but the timing of the operation - it is quite suspicious. But then, it seems like the Republicans have always had a knack for cashing in on hostage situations for political gain.

Trickle Down, Mr. Reagan - Trickle on Down

My sincere condolences to the Reagan family. Not just for the death, but for the what, 10 years of decline and agony of his not being able to recognize them? I wonder - did his daughter ever reconcile with her parents?

I see the obits on every station on TV and some of them are calling him one of the greatest presidents of all time - right up there with Washington and Lincoln. That's a huge stretch. But I'm trying to look at his tenure objectively, in a charitable fashion and I've been pouring over article after article summarizing his time in office in an attempt to try to see why he was so well-loved and popular. Here's what I've found.

He did help end the Cold War. I'll say Gorbachev had a hell of a lot more to do with that than Reagan did but to Reagan's credit, he wasn't so blinded by ideology that he couldn't ratchet down the "evil empire" rhetoric and give Gorby a chance to forge a genuine partnership to end the arms race. He didn't, for instance take advantage of the fall of the USSR to invade Cuba which a more gung-ho cowboy type of president might have. As offensive as his campaign rhetoric promising a conservative revolution was to the Left - in reality, he ended up not living up to that rhetoric. According to "Reagan's Liberal Legacy" (thanks to PinkDreamPoppies on Alas, A Blog) When push came to shove - he did prop up social security, expand the earned income tax credit, and appoint the first female supreme court justice. Despite all promises to the contrary, he ended up raising taxes after realizing his initial attempts to cut them were proving disastrous.

I've been doing quite a bit of soul searching and have realized that in the light of the current president, Reagan looks pretty damned good - and that's what's so scary. I came of age under Reagan. Loved to despise Reagan for his callous disregard for the plight of the working class/in poverty and those dying of AIDS; for his irrational confidence in the miraculous properties of the free market; for his high handed hamstringing of organized labor. As and rancher or farmer in the West will tell you - "trickle down" models only work so long as the folks upstream are prohibited by law from damming the water up completely or diverting it from its natural course. But mostly, I've hated Reagan for being the charismatic leader who started out a Democrat, then became the lightning rod that revitalized the Conservative movement. Without him, we wouldn't have had Bush Sr., wouldn't have had Newt & a Republican-controlled congress, which means we wouldn't have had Ken Starr, and wouldn't have the Shrub.

But you know what? I'd take him back in a heartbeat if it meant getting rid of Bush Jr. I'll take a President consulting astrologers over one who thinks he's the mouthpiece of God any day. I never questioned that Reagan understood that our constitutional right to freedom OF religion also means freedom FROM religion. I'll take a Republican President who turns mortal enemies into fast allies and not the other way around. One who admits their mistakes, learns from them, and is big enough to change their mind when the facts don't end up supporting their preconceptions.

But probably most importantly - I'd take one who, even though *I* didn't vote for him, was overwhelmingly voted for *twice* by a majority of Americans over one who, was NOT elected by the majority and with every subsequent word and deed screams "IMPOSTER!!!" to me. I didn't like Reagan, but I did respect the man. And I respected the fact that he WAS the President, was MY President by democratic process. I'll never have that confidence in the Shrub.

Reptilian Refugee Camp, Now Open for Business.

Echidne, I hate to say this but you need to keep a closer eye out for some of your children. We got up this morning to find shed snake skin where the cats had deposited it in the night. This is good, I thought. Much better than their other recent deposits of a couple of actual, live garter snakes they'd made in the last couple of weeks. The skin is a sign from the gods of renewal and rebirth. Good luck!!!

But then when I get home tonight, I find the Kittlin terrorizing another one of your kids in the backyard. I rescued your progeny and confined the Kittlin to quarters for 30 minutes to give you kidlet time to escape. But then, THEN I head to the front yard and Ozzie is loudly announcing his capture of a pint sized sister to the snakelet I'd just rescued. I facilitated her escape to the half wild flower/weed bed in the middle of the yard which I really don't mind turning into a reptilian refugee camp. I know they've all been rudely displaced from the lovely lot next door which used to be a wondrous paradise until those nasty construction people showed up with their back hoe and destroyed all the knee high grass and snug underground warrens, where your kidlets could easily elude the ferocious felines of the neighborhood. They're welcome to all the slugs they can eat. The robins might take offense at their slithering in and helping themselves to the worms, but they're greedy gluttons anyway and I'm sure there are plenty for everyone. I doubt they'll find many frogs or salamanders, though. For those they may want to head *down* the hillside towards the river instead where I hear the amphibious population is booming. If it gets too crowded in there just let me know and I'll organize a relocation to another empty lot in the neighborhood a couple of blocks away that has a nice creek running alongside it.

But please, whatever they do tell them to stay out of sight when my mother comes to visit. It's very unfortunate but she's quite specist and doesn't take kindly to reptiles, even those as adorable as your children. She has this tendency to climb on the back of whomever is closest whenever she spies one, shrieking like a car alarm. She's not that heavy, but I'd like to save her that indignity if I can.

So please, I offer as many fruit, nuts & berries or small rodents as you'd like to please intercede on my behalf. Your children need you!

Friday Night Trivia

Ever notice how the whole breakroom/dish dynamic in offices is always so weird and awkward? Case in point: There's always a cupboard of coffee mugs in the employee kitchen, but no discernible way to determine ownership of said coffee mugs. Are you just supposed to use yours? Or is it understood that there's a general office mug 'pool' that everyone is welcome to draw from. If the former, then why is it I haven't seen my personal mug back in the cupboard since the day after I started? It's very cute - one of those Starbucksy Tuscan-style ceramic latte mugs. Kind of a sage green with light leave & flower buds entwined all over it, and a red and yellow checkerboard rim. I see my co-worker using it all the time and don't know if I should say anything about it or not? Demand it's return?
*****************************************************

In other news Curt & I are having one of our periodic not-quite-fight "disagreements" that is resulting in the dreaded "state of the relationship" address. We've gotten much better at this, I must say. We no longer rush to take the absolute worst possible interpretation of what the other is saying (resulting in all night sobfests) but we're still not giving one another the benefit of the doubt when it comes to selfless motive. We're pretty good at identifying problems in our relationship but fall miserably short in a) agreeing on what those problems are; and b) finding ways to fix them.

I think we need a couple's coach/referee but Curt's skeptical of counselors. My only experience with the mental health industry isn't that great either. A couple of years after my parent's divorce I went to my company sponsored employee counseling service to try to work through some issues I was having that negatively affected my relationships with them. As Richard Gere said "I was very ANGRY at my father". The entire first session was devoted to answering a huge list of required questions regarding my non-existent substance abuse habit. How many times do I have to say "I am a social drinker and a second hand smoker. I do not currently, and have never taken any kind of illegal drug"??? The second session was devoted to required follow up questions about the emotional triggers and people in my life who contributed to my non-existent substance abuse habit since the previous session. I got to talk about my Dad for about 5 minutes in the context of "I've never done drugs, but I did recently discover my father occasionally smoked joints in the basement. I always thought it just smelled moldy down there. Oh, and he says one of the reasons he left my mom was because he couldn't stand making love to a woman who smelled like an ashtray". Needless to say, I didn't go back for my final, 3rd free session.

But I think an experienced couples counselor could be helpful at this point. So long as they're not "faith based" or any of that bullshit. Though it might be amusing to see what someone like Dr. Laura would do with our relationship where just about every gender-based stereotype she assumes is totally flipped in our case. Curt's the stay-at-home spouse and the one who wants to "talk about us" all the time and I'm the one who blithely sails along bringing home the bacon thinking as long as we're having sex, everything *must* be OK. I'd like to see her confronted with all the happy, successful couples whose relationships don't conform to her rigidly narrow view of "ideal" gender roles.

Note to self: Validation through Tree Killing

Don't feed the trolls, don't feed the trolls... Damn. Sometimes it's hard to tell the trolls from the people worth wasting a breath on, though. So now I've wasted all fucking day responding to people who imagine "knife wielding feminists" around every corner bent on castration (really - the only huevos they're after are those in a Spanish omelet, folks - go visit and see.) Forget dead people. "I see feminists!" is the new horror phrase in blogdome.

I barely had time to finish my letter to Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer giving him props for his appearance on CSPAN yesterday during the House International Relations Committee meeting on the status of US policy in Afghanistan; and then launching into my favorite "why doesn't the administration support RAWA?" diatribe. But then, according to Matt Yglesias all of this activity doesn't "count" as any kind of interest in politics. Because you know - I don't waste my hard earned cash subscribing to worthless political periodicals. In hard copy, no less (true political junkies gotta kill those trees, you know).

One down, how many to go?

Tenet Resigns as Head of CIA

Miss Modesty?

What's wrong with this piece? I'll give you three guesses. Give up? It's the statements by the editor at Seventeen:

"We like to call this new girl Miss Modesty," said Gigi Solif Schanen, fashion editor at Seventeen magazine. "It's such a different feeling but still very pretty and feminine and sexy. It's just a little more covered up....It's kind of like a sexy take on a librarian," she said. "I think people are tired of seeing so much skin and want to leave a little more to the imagination."

Maybe, just maybe she might be missing the point, oh... completely? Notice, if you will that the thought that perhaps a great many teen girls don't LIKE being turned into sex objects doesn't even cross her mind. Oh, no. The *obvious* conclusion is that these girls are just going for that "sexy librarian look". Yep - that's it alright!!. Their primary purpose is *still* to be the living embodiment of every hot blooded heterosexual male's sexual fantasy (phew!)- they're just changing *which* fantasy that is. Whore is out. "Hot for teacher" is in. See it here first, folks - fashion forecast for next year - plaid schoolgirl uniforms will be out, nurse and maid uniforms will be all the rage in the Junior Miss departments across America.

Why the fuck can't they just let little girls BE little girls???? Modest clothes and all?? Teen girls are naturally self-conscious about their bodies. Sure some are curious, too to see what kind of power they can wield with their newfound sexuality. But many aren't comfortable with the weird new reactions they get. Many don't like that new look in the eye they start getting from boys and men. That's what puberty is FOR - getting used to your new body. Why won't the media give them that time, and the clothes that make them comfortable in their new skins??? (Yes, that is a rhetorical question).

Memorial Day Undercurrents

I’ve started about 3 different entries for today but as soon as I get about a paragraph in I lose all interest. I’m feeling particularly apathetic. I think it has something to do with all the war movies my step dad insisted on watching on Memorial Day. It’s just – when you’re actually in the MIDDLE of a war and people are *actually* bleeding and dying for some ridiculous reason (or no reason at all); it makes it really hard to stomach the Holloywoodified dramatizations of the same thing. In times of peace it’s just so easy to shrug all the violence off as so much make-believe; with all the realism of a video game.

(***may trigger***)

Looking back, maybe it started when the conversational subject somehow landed on the Nick Berg video. My stepdad hadn’t seen it but Curt had watched it, in full technicolor and stereo sound. This I did not know. My dear husband was smart enough not to tell me about it. I’d seen the stills and brief snips of the video (but no sound) but thought I knew, from reading other’s accounts what it entailed. A couple of local DJ’s had, in fact recently been fired because they played the audio of the tape on air, “gurgles & all”. For some reason I was under the impression that it had been a relatively quick, clean execution (not that that matters & all but for some reason it helped to think he didn’t suffer). Maybe it was the recent viewing of “Kill Bill vol. 1”. If petite women like Uma Thurman can decapitate an adversary with a single sword stroke then it should be an easy feat for a strong, burly terrorist. But as my stepdad grilled Curt for details my naivete was quickly shattered. No, it wasn’t a curved scimitar of razor-edged Syrian steel that was used (as I’d thought). But a dull knife, possibly serrated about a foot long. It wasn’t a quick stroke. They basically sawed his head off – ALIVE while he screamed with every stroke. That’s about as far as Curt got before he finally took my “that’s enough!!!) pleas seriously and cut short his narrative.

You may think I was trying to bury my head in the sand to spare myself the “unpleasantness” , but you’d be wrong. Sure, I’m one of those people who covers their eyes during the scary parts of horror movies. I have an overactive imagination as it is - I already imagine the worst so I don’t need it spelled out for me in kodachrome. But that wasn’t it. I caught a hint - just a hint of eagerness in my stepdad’s voice as he asked where he could find the video to watch himself and that did it. In that instant it suddenly clicked for me why the video was one of the top most googled items on the internet in the week following the murder. It wasn’t because so many folks are outraged - it’s a snuff film, pure and simple and people are getting a perverted voyeuristic thrill out of watching this horrendous atrocity. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that wasn’t his intent at all – I think he was honestly wanting to see what all the fuss was about – to witness the “awful truth” himself, free of the censorship of the cable news networks. But in that moment it just felt so very, very wrong for us to sit there, safe & sound in the living room describing this man’s death in grisly detail.

Over the River and Through The Woods

To Grandmother's House We Go!! Yep, we're down in lovely Florence at my Mom's this weekend. Been to the beach *twice*. Even flew a kite! Jinx has such fun down here. Of course we can't keep her out of the water - but what's more entertaining is her need to be the unofficial North Jetty Beach Welcome Hound and greet each and every single person, kidlet or canine in person. She's very polite about it - not at all cheesy or cloying. A simple tear by at full speed within a foot or two will suffice. She's intrigued by the kidlets but thanks to her experience with my friend E's daughter keeps her distance - she knows some of the small two-legged's can be a mite intimidated by 50 lbs of midnight black hounddog charging them at Mach 1. If anyone seems friendly or inviting she stops and allows them to worship her beauty, but is respectful of the sand castles and miscellaneous beach toys of others (though she was sorely tempted by an unattended soccer ball). She reserves the ass-sniffing for her fellow four leggeds, of which she typically finds at least a half a dozen willing playmates. Yesterday there were two corgie mixes, a border collie, a greyhound and some kind of shepherd retriever mix. I think the rolling in dead stuff compulsion must be passed on the short-legged gene, beccause Jinx, thank Maude seems unaffected. Not so the corgies. Our darling girl inherited the swimming compulsion instead. She's very obedient, and came right back after the greyhound smoked her ass during the 1/4 mile packed sand sprint event. But NOBODY beats her in the swimming events, man - it was all we could do to keep her out of the surf, then out of the river (the beach in question is right at the Siuslaw River bar).

What He Said!

I finally heard Gore's speech calling for the heads of the Bush defense team on Franken today. Wow.

Just to tie up some loose ends. You'll be happy to know that the Great State of Texas has finally come to their senses and ruled that yes, Virginia the Unitarian Universalist church is a real, honest to *insert object of worship here* religion. I was.

And the consensus on a feminist bulletin board I occasionally visit is that we shouldn't worry about a draft in 2005. Just because a bill has been introduced does not mean, by any stretch of the imagination that it will survive to become law. Shame on me for not remembering my Schoolhouse Rock lessons from Saturday morning cartoons!! - especially "I'm Just a Bill". I'm thinking Shrub & Co. could use a brush up, too - starting with The Preamble.

Pending Draft legislation will include women

The Draft – including women - will Start in June 2005 From Here Be Hippogriffs

I don’t know how I feel about this. I’ve always been a bit rabid on the issue that if boys are required to register for the draft then girls should be too. Wherever men go, women should be there to - evenunto the trenches of the front lines. And vice versa. I’d always planned, if there ever was a draft called to try to register myself as a matter of principle. I had just as much of a right to fight & die for my country as my brother, I thought. Not that I’d want to, of course - and especially not in a war whose justification was morally suspect. Though – in the event of a morally just war (only being the defense of one's friends & family, such as an invasion by aliens or Cuba – that’s about it) I’d have volunteered anyway so the draft wouldn’t have been necessary. So I guess I was arguing for my right to become cannon fodder for rich, old fatcats in Washington in an unjust war, just like young men have been for millenia. Sounds ridiculous, I know. But I so strongly believed in the equality of the sexes that it made perfect sense. If I wanted full equality with my brother that meant I had to accept both the privelege and the sacrifice. Though ideally, I don’t want either one of us to be fed to the Gods of blood and money.

But now that I'm 32 and well past the age of having to register, and it looks like younger women *will* have to take my place on the front lines, I don't know how I feel. Do I have the right to insist they be sent off to die on my behalf? Especially given the high rate of sexual assault in the military? Ideally? I want a world where there's no need for a military at all. Short of that, I want a military where men accept women as equals, and honor them as comrades in arms - not interlopers. But that can't be accomplished if there aren't any women there in the first place.

I’m sure I’ll be writing my representatives about this but right now I’m damned if I know what to say.

Oregon Assisted Suicide Law Upheld!

snip:

“The attorney general’s unilateral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically entrusted to state lawmakers interferes with the democratic debate about physician assisted suicide,” wrote Judge Richard Tallman in the 2-1 opinion by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He said Ashcroft’s action “far exceeds the scope of his authority under federal law.”

Maybe there’s hope for journalistic integrity, yet

(From Atrios) The New York Time is fessing up in some cases to giving information provided by Iraqi exiles more credibility in the ramp up to the war than they should have, and not independently confirming that information which, in hindsight they should have recognized as being biased.

Over the last year this newspaper has shone the bright light of hindsight on decisions that led the United States into Iraq. We have examined the failings of American and allied intelligence, especially on the issue of Iraq's weapons and possible Iraqi connections to international terrorists. We have studied the allegations of official gullibility and hype. It is past time we turned the same light on ourselves… we have found a number of instances of coverage that was not as rigorous as it should have been. In some cases, information that was controversial then, and seems questionable now, was insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged. Looking back, we wish we had been more aggressive in re-examining the claims as new evidence emerged — or failed to emerge.

They also admit subsequent burial of information in back pages that came to light afterwards that appeared to contradict that information – when it should have been given more prominence.

It’s a start.

Kittlin's shoe fetish, exposed!

You thought I was kidding about the Kittlin's weird popsicle stick/ shoe fetish habit, didn't you? Here's photographic proof. Though he prefers the aroma of the Teva's, the old knock-around-the-house shoes next to his head are the usual recipient of the popsicle sticks (on hearth). Though what they're doing there I don't know - Curt's supposed to be saving them for me so I can start using them to flag my perrenials, in hopes of differentiating them from the weeds next spring. 

Cheeky Monkey, or Immaculate Conception??

Chimp Give Zoo Twin Surprise

Something fun

I know I've been a bit heavy on the politics lately.

So, to make amends I offer this fun little bit of brain candy as a distraction. Experience the Wheel of Reincarnation (thanks to Going Dutch).

Curt, I'm sure is a bit annoyed that I'm letting them "get" to me. His philosophy is, if you can't change anything why let it affect your peace of mind? But that's where we're different. I never underestimate my power to effect change. I know I *can* make a difference, even a small one. I think he's accepted that until the election, I'm going to be more than a little obsessed with politics. Then, if Kerry wins I'll be thrilled and able to go about my boring daily life again, confident that the country is in good hands. If Bush wins, though - it might just get worse. After a suitable mourning period I may feel the need to get even more active, in order to counter what will surely be 4 more years of Hell (and emigration to Canada isn't really an option). Bush will move forward with even *more* of his idiotic policies under the impression that this time around, he was actually given a moral mandate by voters.

Coalition governement.... hmmm now there's a thought!

These are my new best buddies: WeCount.org.They've just launched this wonderful "Tell Kerry What You Think" survey to give folks disenfranchised with the Democratic party a voice.

They're calling for a coalition of Democrat/Green/Independent/anti-Bush republicans to unite together under Kerry to defeat the Shrub. This would entail, of course Kerry reaching out to them and including members of those groups in his administration. In other words - a real, living, breathing, effective multiparty democracy!!! How cool would that be?

Spinning Class, Republican style

My conservative co-worker, E. was a bit gobsmacked by this article on the Drudge Report today – “Kerry pokes fun at Bush mishap” they give Kerry crap for making a comment along the lines that maybe the President forgot his training wheels.

Now, I don’t know if Kerry said that or not, but given the context: I wouldn’t hold such a comment against him. As a lot of folks over at Atrios noticed, the irony was just too thick to ignore. If the man sets himself up as a laughingstock is it our fault for laughing? You'll notice that Drudge doesn't make any mention of Bush's earlier "training wheels" comment, leading the reader to believe Kerry pulled the comment out of his ass completely out of spite, in an effort to infantize the President. Sure, he may have been taking the opportunity to rib Shrub a little bit, but if you want to play the "who's infantizing who" game - just remember who originally brought up the phrase, and in what context. So it's OK to infantize a 2000+ yr. old civilization of millions, but not someone who took a spill from a bike???.

Oregon Strawberries. Sweeter. Redder. Simply Better

Strawberry season ripens early in Oregon What sucks is we're losing market share to California and Florida berries, that taste like plastic - but look prettier! You can't even get Oregon berries in local grocery stores. Though, I'm wondering if more upscale places like Zupans, Hayden's or New Seasons might have them....

How to win the heart of an ex- waitress

In today's Oregonian columnist Margie Boule gives us the details of John Kerry's recent suprise dinner at a local restaurant following last week's rally in Pioneer Courthouse Square. You knew I was voting for him before, but now I feel less like it's an "anything but Bush" vote and more like I'm voting for a candidate I can genuinely admire.

At the end of the dinner (where he enjoyed some great Oregon wine), Kerry

"...rose and headed to the "dish pit," surprising dishwasher Cesar Juarez. "He just walked in on his own accord, said hello to Cesar, thanked him and shook his hand," John says. No one is sure if Cesar got much out of the brief conversation, "since he doesn't speak English," John explains. Nevertheless, all agree Cesar appeared to be charmed."

And perhaps more importantly, he tipped very well. Would he have thanked the Mexican dishwasher had he not been running for President? Does he do this at every restaurant he eats at? I don't know. But there weren't any cameras rolling at Higgins' that night so I don't think it was staged. But as someone who worked their way through college in the restaurant business, it really showed me that the man can identify with me and what my personal issues are in life (or were at one time). He was a good customer, didn't give the staff any grief, and showed that he appreciates those who make his priveleged lifestyle possible. I think it's genuine. I doubt the Shrub has ever thanked a dishwasher in his life.

Armchair Activist, at your service

Finally found some worthy gmail seekers (must scroll down)to give my invites to. Anything to support the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). I was very pleasantly surprised by the 2nd guy. I'd originally replied to his original offer giving him crap about his "hot chicks" comment, and he emailed me back:

Seeker: "whats wrong with hot chicks? we can all use some eye candy while we live thru our daily lives, nothing makes a day better then seeing a really hot girl walk by, makes you forget about work, school, etc, it kind of frees your mind"

Moi: "Because every woman's goal in life is to make some horny strange man smile?? Come on, I thought you were deeper than that. Do you realize there are women committing suicide by the hundreds in Afghanistan today because they are still held enslaved by their abusive husbands and families in dire poverty with no access to healthcare or education. They WISH they had you're freaking problems at work, and school - any semblance of a "life" as you know it outside their 120 degree tents. All they have to look forward to in life is dying in childbirth or from some easily cured illness after being sold into marital bondage to the highest bidder. They can't even walk down the f*ing street without a male escort. Bet you didn't see that soapbox rant coming did you? Tell you what - if you want to match this guys offer (above link) I'll give you my second invite."

Seeker: "hey thats actually a good idea. I lived in Bosnia till 1996 and lived thru the war so I do know how Afgan women and people feel. Sure I can donate its for a good cause. Any particular fund? health? education? let me know and thanks for a good idea"

And then he posted back to the original post, encouraging others to do the same, and promising to use his invites for the same cause. How totally cool is that!!!??? Just goes to prove that anyone *can* make a difference; and most seemingly sexist jerks are perfectly redeemable.

**Update: The first guy finally got back to me. He was so impressed with RAWA that he upped his donation to $50! So I've just raised $75 for them!!! I'm so thrilled! Hmmm... what *else* could I do to raise funds? This is fun!

Note to Reuters headline editors

When reporting on Iraqi prison abuse you may want to refrain from leading off with the phrase "US probes 8 more..." You're making Leno's job too damned easy and it's not something that should be made funny.

Got GMail?

Who knew GMail accounts were such a hot commodity? (via Defective Yeti) Though I'll admit I wanted to get in on it early just to get my preferred user name with no #'s or underscores. But I certainly didn't think I'd be able to until the gods of Blogger game me the opportunity. They're owned by Google, don'tyaknow. Then I didn't think it was such a big deal anymore. But I guess it still is, because once you've been blessed with your gmail account you are given the privelege of inviting a certain number of friends to join up, too. Psssst - all you active Blogspot bloggers - join up and secure bragging rights (and cool bartering leverage) now!! There are a few folks offering to trade their vote for an invitation. I'm sorely tempted. Fucking ethics!

Hmmm... which one to take?? Chocolate covered Macadamia nuts & Kona coffee from Hawaii? Someone to make me their deity of the week? I mean, a daily sacrifice of fruits & berries would be nice but my hubris might piss off my favorite personal deity, HanaHanaNui, The Great Parking & traffic God. Some of these offers are rather disturbing. More "Date with my Wife" and "Pair of my wife's worn underwear" and "pictures of my wife" then I care to see. I'm leaning though to the customized blog template. I mean, I'm liking mine now but it's still a bit blase.

**Note: I may give one to this guy for pure creativity: My Inbox is too small for alien secrets

Yes, it's a hoax

per snopes. I kind of figured that out quickly after the link he provided for The Drudge Report turned out to actually link to the Drudge Retort and not the real thing.

He Has Returned

Managed to work all day yesterday. Woohoo! Monday & Tuesday I could only work about 3 hours before the pain between my eyebrows sent me home screaming for painkillers. I still feel a bit crappy - maybe I picked up a bug in the hospital and 3 days of no sleep lowered my immunity enough to give the critter a toehold on my respiratory system.

In case you missed it, the 20th anniversary of Andy Kaufman's death was Sunday - and someone is already capitalizing on the publicity, claiming to be Andy returned, just like he promised - and launching his own blog.

Maybe Andy should buy the Oregon Vortex. Seems like it'd be right up his alley. It's one of those mystery spots where gravity seems to go backwards and weird things in general happen. I've never been - but keep meaning to go.

Welcome to the Theocracy of the United Christbots of America

In honor of my Lone Star residing in-law's I’ve vowed to not engage in any knee-jerk Texas bashing, though I’m sorely tempted after reading that the Texan comptroller has denied the Unitarian Universalists tax-free religious status (thanks Rivka and others) , because they don’t have a common “unifying creed” to which members must avow belief in order to be considered members. According to the Texas state government (an obvious authority on theological matters), an organization’s members must share a belief in “God, gods or a higher power” to be considered a religion. For the sake of familial harmony I'm determined to believe this idiocy is not shared by most independence-loving Texans (of whom I'm told "live & let live" is the unofficial state motto). It wouldn't be so tempting to believe these views aren't representative if they didn't keep electing people to public office whose agenda is so clearly evangelical.

Random Rant with Bad Analogies & Cliches

Hindsight may be 20/20 but I think I can honestly say that Seymour Hersch’s account of how the atrocities at Abu Ghraib were allowed to go down pretty much matches exactly what I had assumed.

First Shrub OK’d Rummy’s “take the gloves off” policy regarding the Al Queda-ish prisoners in Cuba. (Which most Americans would probably say was justified at the time. These people didn’t conduct themselves by basic humanitarian rules of warfare like the Geneva Conventions, so your average non-bleeding heart citizen would say we don’t owe it to them; and we desperately needed the intelligence – they were preparing to strike again on US soil at any moment).

Then Shrub somehow equated Iraq with Al Queda – in error, as it turned out, and what started out as a non-conventional war against terrorists (where there are no rules) morphed into a conventional war against a sovereign nation and their innocent civilian population (where there are definite internationally accepted rules of engagement). But Shrub et.al. didn't stop and think "hey - we've opened a new front. Let's stop and evaluate the new operating environment and think about how this might change our existing strategy".

As a result, Shrub & Co. grossly miscalculated our welcome in Iraq and bit off more than they could chew, and in a pathetic attempt to fix the situation just made it 100 times worse by trying to extend the rules they were applying(successfully) against the Al Queda prisoners to a totally different environment – a group of mostly innocent and wrongfully detained Iraqi civilians. This is where ignorance can be fatal. It’s like thinking “hmmm. Here’s a tough stain. I know bleach works well on stains, and so does ammonia. So using them *both* will be doubly effective!” then dumping it all in a bucket together without bothering to read the warning labels, which clearly say “DO NOT MIX BLEACH & AMMONIA. DOING SO WILL CREATE POSSIBLY FATAL CHLORINE GAS” (which happens to be one of the original chemical warfare weapons introduced by the Germans in WWI. But I digress)

The minute they invaded Iraq they should have put the kid gloves back *on* to protect what tiny vestige of moral authority we still had. They should have thought back to their Basic Western Civ 101 course taken their Freshman year in college and at least tried to recall the basic recipe for terrorism. They should have stopped and reassessed; solicited advice from the expers, and re-thought, period. But no. Rummy instead doggedly ignored every warning his intelligence community and military command gave him and put this inept Cambone character in charge of interrogations. The same guy whose own right hand man happens to be Army Lieutenant General William G. (Jerry) Boykin, the same guy who called all Muslims the spawn of Satan. Not a team very well suited to instilling trust and warm fuzzy feelings in the bosom of the Iraqi people, is it?

Apparently the administration, caught up in the excitement of going to war in order to “Make America safe from terrorists” totally forgot that besides identifying and neutralizing current terrorists (i.e. Al Queda operatives); the only way to stop the spread of terrorism is to win the hearts and minds of moderate people (read “Arabs”) who might otherwise become the next generation of suicide bombers. It’s much easier to do than you’d think. Mickey Mouse has already done most of the work for you. People around the world want to like Americans – but more importantly, they want just a little of what Americans have. A high standard of living. Opportunities to work and get an education. A good economy. Physical safety while going about their mundane lives. Real power and a voice in their government. Freedom to practice their religion. Until now, Americans have had a knack for turning occupied populations into allies. Shit, we dropped two nuclear bombs on the Japanese after THEY attacked US and they still managed to worship us.

And the sad thing is, Bush had the power to give them some of that. But he didn’t. Because at heart he doesn’t believe in spreading the wealth. If he can’t even be convinced to spread some of it to middle and lower class Americans do you honestly think he’d think to give it to the “infidels”? If he cared at all about helping the Iraqi people, he’d have offered the carrot instead of the stick. Instead of blackmailing the nice, innocent people of Iraq into helping us why not bribe them with, oh I don’t know – a generator to make their A/C run? An armed escort for their daughters to go to school? Reliable internet access? New diagnostic equipment and supplies for the local hospital? Plum construction sub-contract?? Hell, howsabout a scholarship to Yale?

But neither he, nor Rummy thought of that. Because at heart, they're not givers. They're takers - simple schoolyard bullies. "Give me what I want and fuck the rest of you non-corporation and/or non-Christian peons" is the only diplomatic language they understand.

Jack's Place

I like Big trucks & I cannot lie... you other cats can't deny... . You've got to know Jack to understand why this is so funny. He's a big huge orange marmalade stray we adopted who is the biggest wuss kitty you'll ever meet. He even let the 2 month old Kittlin kick the crap out of him. But for some reason he *really* has a thing for big trucks. He usually hangs out on the hood of Curt's decrepit old '66 Ford Pickup - but I think he just couldn't resist big Orange Daddy here (the excavator being used by the construction crew next door).  

A Plague of Locusts

They do Freak People Out. Thank Maude we don't have these around here. The brown hobo spiders are certainly bad enough (a smaller cousin to the Big Mama mentioned last week decided to take a shower with me this weekend). It's an easy bet I'd be one of those who lands in the ER from trying to outrun the critters.

Is it time to go home yet?

Back at work today, though I don’t know for how long. It feels like someone is wielding a rock hammer right between my eyes, and a little of the nausea has come back. Once they pulled the packing out on Friday (a most unpleasant experience that unfortunately embodied every one of my Total Recall nightmares) I was able to breathe a little through my nose, and by Sat could actually sleep. And sleep. And still want to sleep some more. Cleo fulfilled her duties as nursecat admirably – quietly lying on my tummy emitting soothing lullaby purrs to keep me abed. She somehow managed to draft Jinx into taking up a semi-permanent post at my feet, too – temporarily suspending all thoughts of flying nylon ducks that typically occupy our wonderpuppy’s cognitive existence.

This had better be worth it.

Serious. The surgery went fine, but thanks to the PPO gods I was kicked to the curb just 2 hours post op still "leaking" or as most people would say "bleeding like a pig" and nauseous as hell. The bums waiting for the bus on Burnside got a treat on the way home - watching me barf blood into a bag I was given especially for that purpose while we were sitting at a red light in traffic during rush hour. Curt had to pull over once just to change my sodden bandage. I think I ruined my shirt and one of his that he happened to have in the trunk while mopping up.

But for the short time I was at the hospital they were all very nice and comforting and caring. And at the time I was pretty happy to get out of there. I hate hospitals. Hate sick people. Most of all hate being one of 'em. My nose itself doesn't hurt that much - I've just got one hell of an overall headache the nurses chalked up to caffeine withdrawal, but I think it's anesthetic hangover. What's really shitty is having to breathe out of my mouth nonstop. My throat was so damned dry after the surgery from the tube, I felt like an icechip whore. But my throat seriously kept closing up from the dryness. It's worse when I try to sleep. I'm totally exhausted but have to keep my head elevated to keep the blood and crap from draining into my stomach - but everytime I drift off my throat softens, I start to snore and choke myself. I'd better be able to at least breathe a little through my nose tomorow. Getting shaky - must go.

Going' Under & stuff

I kept telling myself it's just a minor procedure - outpatient and all, even if I will be totally under. Tried to not think about it at all until the day of, but it didn't work. The apprehension and anxiety got to me last night. Didn't sleep well at all last night. Finally picked up & moved to the couch to let Curt get some rest, at least. I guess it's natural once you hit 30 to start feeling your mortality. I should have mentioned it on the boards before so I could get all the good advice I know the other members would give me. Take care of yourself. Take a hot bath before bed, listen to soothing music. But I didn't do any of that stuff. We watched the Last Samurai instead. Fantastic movie, by the way but in hindsight I probably didn't need to see thousands of healthy men dying in gory detail by the sword when I was about to go under the "knife" myself.

On top of that, we've got a couple of hot personal opportunities we're persuing this week, too which have my mind racing. I was just hanging out in the reception area of work earlier this week and a headline in the local business paper that was sitting on the table caught my eye. It was about a woman who was selling her plant shop. Now, this wasn't just any old plant shop - it's one of two I used to drive by all the time (but never went in for some off reason) and think "I had that idea! A shop in the inner city devoted to houseplants! That would just be the coolest ever!" Only my vision included a plant hospital and babysitting service. As it happened, Curt had a similar idea before he'd ever met me. Only his involved having a wheel & kilns there and making his own pottery to use as planters. Our love of houseplants is one of the first things we discovered we had in common. But anyway - he's doing OK as a loan officer and likes it OK (the hours and freedom are great) but he'd really like to get out of finance and find something more stable. And we've always talked about how he'd probably be happiest owning his own business. So when I saw this article, it seemed like fate.

Besides just selling plants, she rents them (for events & such) and has maintenance/ delivery service. Been in business 15 years - 8 at the current location. Curt called the broker and for $30k down, she might carry the contract on the rest. It could be that easy - one huge dream come true. He's trying to raise the capital from a family friend (the same one that had the house in Port Townsend we thought about buying) and it's looking like it might, just might all work out. So keep your fingers crossed.

Then there's a whole other thing that I don't have time to get into right now. Maybe later.

I keep forgetting to mention

(though maybe I'm in denial) that I'm going in for sinus surgery on Thursday. Technically, it's "Bilateral Endoscopic Ethnoidectomy with Maxillary antracamies" or something like that. Sounds a bit like a Star Trek episode where they implant something in your head in some sci-fi version of an anthropology study, doesn't it? It's an outpatient thing but I'll be under general anesthetic. Which is a good thing - because it will go something like that scene in Total Recall where Arnold pulls the homing signal out of his head through his nostril. Twice. Four days of recovery, then, they say. But it will be so nice to not have this constant pain in my face. I'm trying to focus on the results, not how much it will hurt while I'm getting there.

Get your Irk On...

So according to the Red Cross' report given to the Bush administration last year, coalition military intelligence officers estimated that about 70 percent to 90 percent of the thousands of prisoners detained in Iraq had been "arrested by mistake,". And according to the Franken Report this morning, one of the prison administrators *refused* to release people whose names were actually cleared.

And per this LA Times article, we'll probably never know what really happened to female detainees, because if their families ever find out they were raped while in American custody they may be as good as dead - victimized a second time to satisfy the family's honor.

You know, I've gone beyond the weepy "It didn't have to BE this way!!" phase and am quickly moving through red, blind outrage to the white hot "this fucker's gotta go down" phase. I've mostly been an armchair activist my entire life. I get outraged, sign petitions and vote but very rarely volunteer or give any $$ to my pet "causes". That's about to change. For the first time in my life I actually sent $$ to the DNC last week, and I've just signed up to volunteer with MoveOn.org.

!

Castle for sale, cheap!

Spider Friends

I was cleaning house yesterday and found this monster spider in a towel that was laying on the bedroom floor (Go to the RiverRocks album). I'd found her twin, I think last weekend in the gardening chest you'll see Cleo lounging on later in the album. I was a bit concerned that it might be a brown recluse - which I've heard we have in Oregon (and which can be deadly). But according to all the websites, we actually *don't* have any brown recluse here in the NW - the only confirmed sighting came from some household goods that had just been moved up from Kansas. What the experts say is, people & physicians are actually confusing nasty bites from the Hobo Spider (or Aggressive House Spider) for that of the Recluse. Like a good Buddhist I was going to let the little critter go, much as she creeps me the hell out. But after reading how dangerous they can be (and remembering that my uncle ended up in the ER last month from a spider bite); I made Curt dispose of her. If the one in the chest was a male, I don't want any more of these lovelies running around the house. The Kittlin was fascinated enough with the one I found in the towel. The little shit has no fear and I can't afford any huge vet bills right now.

Wanna know what kind of folks are imprisoned in Abu Ghraib?

These kind. Real threats to U.S. security, aren't they? The terriblely sad thing is - if they weren't before, they just might be now (or 5 years from now). We're just making friends in the Arab world left and right, aren't we? Think about *your* neighbors for a minute. What if they only had to mention your name in someone's ear to land you in a place like that? Bet you'd think twice about letting your dog bark all night and piss on their azaleas, wouldn't you?

Define Moral Authority for me again??

I think this is the first thing anyone in our current administration has done that’s made me at all proud to be an American. Though the hypocrisy, its stench is overpowering.

Wash and wear, my ass!!

You'd think with all the billions of dollars they sink into the women's fashion industry they'd manage to come up with products that come even halfway close to the quality of menswear. Case in point. I bought a shirt for my husband recently for $25 that was a beautiful sueded silky fabric - a material I'd love to see in a shirt of my own. He insists on washing every new piece of clothing *before* he wears it. We wash it, and throw it in the dryer - and even dried on high it comes out completely wrinkle free. He has a complete closet full of such clothes that will never see the bottom of an iron. His dress slacks come out just as nice, are stain resistant as well and still have the original pleat in the legs as the day they came off the store hanger. And they still fit just like they did in the dressing room.

I, on the other hand spend the same amount of money on a shirt, or a nice pair of pants... and then do my absolute level best to get as many wearings out of those clothes as possible before I *have* to wash them. Because I know - the minute Maytag gets ahold of them they will NEVER, EVER look the same. I can wash them on delicate, even line dry them and they still come out shriveled, wrinkled and faded. Why???? Why?? Is it the same laundry gods that allow dry cleaners to get away with charging women twice as much for similar items of clothing????

No, I think not. I think it's the fashion industry that counts on women being brainwashed into wanting the newest, hottest "look" so they quit wearing clothes that have supposedly gone out of style long before the shoddy material and design manifest themselves via regular wear and tear. You know, maybe the genderfied gap in income wouldn't be so apparent if women didn't have such high expenses. Yeah, sure it's all a choice - but there's no denying that men who conform to societal standards of personal appearance get off a hell of a lot cheaper than women who do the same. Besides just the quantity of clothes, shoes, accessories and jewelry a woman needs to appear "stylish"; there's cosmetics, nailcare & that sort of thing - which women spend hundreds of dollars on a year; haircuts that cost 3 times as much as a man's (nevermind color & perm if that's your thing); and pantyhose (don't EVEN get me started on pantyhose!!!). What have men got? Hmmmm... shaving cream and razors. That's about it.

Truly, that's one reason I love living in the Pacific Northwest, where the "natural" look, hairy legs and all is quite the norm. Let's me spend my money on truly important things - like cool plants for my yard.

How Does Your Garden Grow??

Today we went to a great Spring Plant Fair at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds. I'd read about it here and had mentioned it to Curt; then he saw a live news broadcast this morning from the fairgrounds and that clinched it. I honestly didn't think there'd be that many people - I mean, after all it was just a little plant sale put on by the Master Gardener's Association, I thought - not one of the big garden & patio shows at the convention center or anything. The traffic jam we hit a mile from the fairgrounds quickly corrected that assumption. Obviously, we didn't understand the allure. Apparently this event is an annual tradition for most serious gardeners in the area. They'd brought their own wagons.... everything from bright red Radio Flyers to homemade contraptions crafted out of recycle bins and garbage can lids strapped to luggage carts. Once we were inside, it all made sense. Sooo many neat & wonderful plants and garden art & stuff - and everybody so helpful & nice & eager to tell you how to care for your acquisitions. We went with a contrarian strategy - starting at the back row and working our way forward. We were looking for just 3 things, specifically - something(s) shade loving for the built-in planter in our covered porch; a golden chain tree (which we'd had at my childhood home & I've wanted since the day we bought our own house); and maybe some water hyacinth for the birdbath (which Curt's sister had suggested as a way to keep the water clean). By the third row we'd navigated we'd gotten all that and more - including this amazing angel trumpet with variegated leaves (for the shady spot). The guy we bought it from only had 3 plants - we must have had 12 different people stop us afterwards begging to know where we'd gotten it. At $15 for the 6" plant (maybe 2" tall?) we were feeling pretty pleased with our purchase - we'd wanted a conversation piece for the porch and we sure got it! The blooms are supposed to be wonderfully fragrant in the mornings &/evenings; too! I also came across these really cool stepping stone molds that I couldn't bear to leave without. We've got a couple of areas where we want to put in stepping stones and I've been trying to figure out how to make my own; more decorative ones for awhile so it felt like fate. We got the Fleur de Lis mold and a border mold (of grape leaves). Each mold takes 48 to set and a week to cure - so we might have enough to complete our projects by the end of the summer. So arms full (since we hadn't thought ahead and brought a wagon) we beat a hasty retreat to save our checking account, even though we'd only seen about a tenth of the show. Neither one of us has much willpower when it comes to plants.

Tomorow we're heading down to the Oregon Garden - which we've been trying to get to for about a month; but our own home improvement projects have kept us at home every weekend lately.