Loki the Lush

I think it's safe to say that Loki has adapted well to his new home state.

Do we need to do this whole abortion thing again???

So, in response to my post about a ferret bed, I was asked (by a fundie) to justify some of my stickers on the side of the blog. I've decided to delete that comment there, but repost that little comment here:

Duane & Patricia said...

Hey, yeah, I was wondering how you reconcile two of your stickers to the right--
"prochild-prochoice" and "when we kill the innocent, we become the enemy"? Isn't that a contradiction?

9:27 PM, March 01, 2008

So, here's a bit of a response:

Well, this has nothing to do with the ferret bed, but I'll entertain it anyway.

Life may begin at conception, but I would argue that the little individual sperm and egg are already alive even before conception. Of course, so is every other cell in the body.

I'm pro-child. Children are great (just don't ask me to babysit). I'm also pro-choice, however, I would not characterize myself as pro-abortion. In the same way that I wouldn't call myself pro-amputation, I wouldn't make it illegal for someone to choose to have an amputation rather than suffer from a painful gangrenous death. I think that such a person should have a choice! I would expect that most people would not choose to have an amputation unless absolutely necessary.

Basically, I believe that most women would not choose to have an abortion. However, if a woman feels that she is unable to carry a baby to term due to such issues as danger to her health, incest, or rape, then I think that she should be able to make that decision. Ideally, in my mind, every woman would carry a baby to term if she is able, and then give it up for adoption if she doesn't want it / can't take care of it. On the other hand, I knew a woman who had been adopted, and she said that she would rather abort a baby than subject it to adoption. Wherever you fall on that issue, I think it is incumbent on the woman to educate herself about the options / repercussions of an abortion before making that decision. It should be her decision. However, I also would personally choose to limit abortions to only happening early in the pregnancy, before there can be argument that the fetus has any cognition / feeling.

As far as killing the innocent, this refers to killing people for no justifiable reason. In addition to being a crime against humanity, it just builds hate in those who remain and is bad for everyone. I think that there is a quantifiable difference between people who have been born, begun experiencing life; and a bundle of cells not yet capable of cognition.

Other people than me have made much better arguments about this than I am going to take the time to do now.

ferrets doing ferret things

Here we have Chaos hanging out in a pant leg, and Loki washing his face.

For better or for worse, Ahmadinejad is right.

Here's a clip from a BBC article:

Iran defiant over sanction threat

Iran's leader has called the UN report an historic victory

Iran's leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that no amount of UN sanctions will deter Tehran from its nuclear path.

"If they want to continue with that path of sanctions, we will not be harmed. They can issue resolutions for 100 years," he said in a TV interview.

His remarks came after a UN report said Iran was being more transparent - but had not given "credible assurances" that it was not building a bomb.

Tehran insists its programme is aimed purely at generating electricity.

He's right. UN resolutions don't really do anything.

Dinner in the comfort of your own crinkly-tube

James decided that rather than taking Chaos out of the tunnel to feed him, it would be easier to just transport the whole tunnel to the food dish.

An Epiphany

I just realized something! It's not that Chaos won't eat dry food. It's just that he won't eat the dry food that I'm offering him. He was more than willing to steal the dog's food, so that shows that "there's nothing wrong with the machine", to quote a previous veterinarian.

So, what I will do the next time that I get the chance, is to take Chaos to the pet store, where they have ferret food and kitten food in bulk bins and see if there are any that he'll eat.

All broadcast to be HDTV

So, the government has mandated that all TV broadcasts be in HDTV by February 17, 2009.

So, not knowing anything about these things, I can't help but wonder if it's easier to jam digital than analog. Anyone know?

Bush does something right and shows that he just might be human afterall

Apparently Bush put enough pressure on the Saudi king to get a rape victim pardoned.

(CBS/AP) A gang-rape victim who was sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes for being alone with a man not related to her was pardoned by the Saudi king after the case sparked rare criticism from the United States, the kingdom's top ally.
...
Earlier this month, Mr. Bush expressed his anger over the sentencing.

"My first thoughts were these," Mr. Bush said. "What happens if this happens to my daughter? How would I react? And I would have been - I'd of been very emotional, of course. I'd have been angry at those who committed the crime. And I'd be angry at a state that didn't support the victim."
...

So, maybe he could apply a bit more pressure to get his friends to treat women equally with men. *sighs*

On Obama per Shelby Steele

Here is an interesting take on Obama. You'll need to follow the link to hear what he has to say.

Word for Word from American Public Media
Race vs. presidential politics

February 1, 2008
Conservative intellectual, researcher and author Shelby Steele of Stanford University's Hoover Institution has written widely on race relations in American society. Now, Steele weighs in on presidential politics. In a Jan. 23 speech at the Commonwealth Club of California, Shelby Steele discussed his new book, "A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited about Obama and Why He Can't Win."

This is the book description posted at Amazon.com:

Book Description
In Shelby Steele's beautifully wrought and thoughtprovoking new book, A Bound Man, the award-winning and bestselling author of The Content of Our Character attests that Senator Barack Obama's groundbreaking quest for the highest office in the land is fast becoming a galvanizing occasion beyond mere presidential politics, one that is forcing a national dialogue on the current state of race relations in America. Says Steele, poverty and inequality usually are the focus of such dialogues, but Obama's bid for so high an office pushes the conversation to a more abstract level where race is a politics of guilt and innocence generated by our painful racial history -- a kind of morality play between (and within) the races in which innocence is power and guilt is impotence.

Steele writes of how Obama is caught between the two classic postures that blacks have always used to make their way in the white American mainstream: bargaining and challenging. Bargainers strike a "bargain" with white America in which they say, I will not rub America's ugly history of racism in your face if you will not hold my race against me. Challengers do the opposite of bargainers. They charge whites with inherent racism and then demand that they prove themselves innocent by supporting black-friendly policies like affirmative action and diversity.

Steele maintains that Senator Obama is too constrained by these elaborate politics to find his own true political voice. Obama has the temperament, intelligence, and background -- an interracial family, a sterling education -- to guide America beyond the exhausted racial politics that now prevail. And yet he is a Promethean figure, a bound man.

Says Steele, Americans are constrained by a racial correctness so totalitarian that we are afraid even to privately ask ourselves what we think about racial matters. Like Obama, most of us find it easier to program ourselves for correctness rather than risk knowing and expressing what we truly feel. Obama emerges as a kind of Everyman in whom we can see our own struggle to accept and honor what we honestly feel about race. In A Bound Man, Steele makes clear the precise constellation of forces that bind Senator Obama, and proposes a way for him to break these bonds and find his own voice.The courage to trust in one's own careful judgment is the new racial progress, the "way out" from the forces that now bind us all.

New "The Princess Bride" cover

So, I saw this new cover and thought that it was annoying that they'd changed the font.



And then I turned the case upside down - and it blew my mind for a few minutes anyway! ;) I was kinda annoyed that the "princess" face looks nothing like the face of the actress. Just thought I'd share. Now I should get back to something more serious.

ferret update

I took the ferrets to the pet store and Chaos picked out a new toy, so I got it for them. Chaos also had surgery yesterday to remove a growth from his paw; some sort of cyst or something. Now he has three little stitches that will come out February 10th. His blood-sugar level also came in somewhere in the 20s...(70ish is low).

Chaos is a social eater

I think that the reason for Chaos not eating is that he gets bored. He'll eat a bit and then wander off. However, if you hold him by the food, he'll start eating again, and eat at least as much as he did the first time around.

Bush calls for more foreign language learners

I got this in an email (it's also online here):

Bush Says Foreign-Language Study Key to Spreading Democracy

Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said the U.S. must promote the study of foreign cultures and languages and encourage students from overseas to attend colleges and universities here as part of the strategy against terrorism.

The U.S. government needs diplomats, soldiers and intelligence officers who are fluent in the languages of the Muslim world in order to promote the spread of freedom and fight the battle against terrorists, he said.

Language skills are ``part of the strategic goals to protect this country,'' Bush said today at an international education event at the State Department in Washington that brought together university presidents from around the country.

Bush also told the education leaders that he wants to adjust visa policies to allow more students from overseas to study in the U.S. He said he understood the ``frustration'' of higher education leaders with the visa restrictions imposed by the federal government after the Sept. 11 attacks.

``We want young kids coming from around the world coming to our universities,'' he said.

There were 565,039 students from overseas at U.S. colleges in the 2004-2005 academic year, a drop of 1.3 percent from the year before, according to the Institute of International Education in New York. In 2003-2004 the number declined 2.4 percent from the previous year.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in introducing Bush at the gathering, said the U.S. needs to give as much attention to the study of Arabic culture and language now as it did to Eastern European and Russian culture during the Cold War.

Investment

``This country made a huge intellectual investment in winning the Cold War,'' said Rice, who holds a doctorate in international studies and is a specialist on Russia. The nation hasn't made a similar investment in the current struggle, she said.

Bush is planning to ask Congress for $114 million in fiscal year 2007 to help U.S. grade schools increase the number of students learning ``critical'' foreign languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi and Farsi.

The plan would build upon existing efforts, including a Pentagon-funded program, and create a new National Language Service Corps through which volunteers would promise to work for the federal government in exchange for language training.

Language skills will help U.S. representatives ``convince people of the benefits of a free society,'' Bush said. ``You can't convince people unless you can talk to them.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Washington
at hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 5, 2006 17:01 EST

The government needs to be careful to not just throw around money. I'm certainly a proponent of foreign language education; my job depends on it; however, I think that the government needs to have some sort of standards for the programs that it funds. I got funded for Arabic, but the courses available to me had very little to do with the practical skills necessary for everyday conversation, let alone intelligence work! It prepared me for beginning a course of study in Arabic literature, but not for just interacting with folks!

Reverend Doctor Joseph E. Lowery

If you ever get the opportunity to hear Reverend Doctor Joseph E. Lowery speak, be sure to attend. He is excellent! His message is one of social justice for everyone, not just based on race or color. His delivery carries all the power from his background as a Southern preacher. It's also refreshingly interspersed with humor. I highly recommend him.

One of the things that he emphasized was the connection between privatizing prisons and the increasing rates of incarceration. If prisons are a business, then they need 'clients' to grow. He also pointed out that budgets for Corrections (but do they really correct anything?) are much higher than those for education.

"You work three jobs?...Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that"

After following the link trail from a post on Anomalousdata.com, I found this lovely bit of banter between the President and a working woman at PR Newswire:

Remarks by President Bush in a Conversation on Strengthening Social Security

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The following are remarks by President
Bush in a conversation on strengthening social security:

Qwest Center Omaha Arena

Omaha, Nebraska

8:40 A.M. CST
...

...Mary is with us. Mary Mornin. How are you, Mary?

MS. MORNIN: I'm fine.

THE PRESIDENT: Good. Okay, Mary, tell us about yourself.

MS. MORNIN: Okay, I'm a divorced, single mother with three grown, adult children. I have one child, Robbie, who is mentally challenged, and I have two daughters.

THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic. First of all, you've got the hardest job in America, being a single mom.

MS. MORNIN: Thank you. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: You and I are baby boomers.

MS. MORNIN: Yes, and I am concerned about -- that the system stays the same for me.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

MS. MORNIN: But I do want to see change and reform for my children because I realize that we will be in trouble down the road.

THE PRESIDENT: It's an interesting point, and I hear this a lot -- will the system be the same for me? And the answer is, absolutely. One of the things we have to continue to clarify to people who have retired or near retirement -- you fall in the near retirement.

MS. MORNIN: Yes, unfortunately, yes. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don't know. I'm not going to tell your age, but you're one year younger than me, and I'm just getting started. (Laughter.)

MS. MORNIN: Okay, okay.

THE PRESIDENT: I feel great, don't you?

MS. MORNIN: Yes, I do.

THE PRESIDENT: I remember when I turned 50, I used to think 50 was really old. Now I think it's young, and getting ready to turn 60 here in a couple of years, and I still feel young. I mean, we are living longer, and people are working longer, and the truth of the matter is, elderly baby boomers have got a lot to offer to our society, and we shouldn't think about giving up our responsibilities in society. (Applause.) Isn't that right?

MS. MORNIN: That's right.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, but nevertheless, there's a certain comfort to know that the promises made will be kept by the government.

MS. MORNIN: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: And so thank you for asking that. You don't have to worry.

MS. MORNIN: That's good, because I work three jobs and I feel like I
contribute.

THE PRESIDENT: You work three jobs?

MS. MORNIN: Three jobs, yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that. (Applause.) Get any sleep? (Laughter.)

MS. MORNIN: Not much. Not much.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, hopefully, this will help you get you sleep to know that when we talk about Social Security, nothing changes.

MS. MORNIN: Okay, thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: That's great...

No, Mr. President, it is not fantastic that she works three jobs. It may be fantastic that she has the option of working three jobs, but it definitely is NOT FANTASTIC that SHE HAS TO WORK THREE JOBS! Just because it's uniquely American doesn't make it good!

Humans are so rude!

Loki

So, Loki is an intrepid explorer. In fact, there's nowhere he can't get. He can get on the desk, pull stuff off of the coffee table, and climb up onto the kitchen chairs...it's only a matter of time before he gets on to the kitchen table.

He's a very happy little ferret. He's always making little happy ferret sounds (technically known as "dooking"). If you pick him up, it's quite likely that he will wash your wrist/face for you.

He also enjoys rolling around in the plastic bags under the TV stand and playing in the kitchen by the litter boxes, just like Fuzzball.

Unfortunately, he's still domineering when it comes to Chaos. I think that he might be mellowing out a bit, but Chaos has already been turned off to him. I don't know if there are any steps that I can take to help them reconcile or not.

child endangerment

NEVER EVER ENDANGER A CHILD! My God! Can you believe this??? Some guy left his baby in the car for three hours, in the winter, in Houlton, Wisconsin, so that he could go watch strippers. WTF? I suppose that having his baby on his lap might have impeded his enjoyment of the show. He had told his wife that he was going out for milk.

Why take the baby to a strip joint in the first place???

Anyway, this guy should probably not be permanently removed from the family. That would probably harm the kid even more. However, something needs to be done to make him think good and hard before ever pulling a stunt like that again. I don't know what. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to spend a month in jail or something...long enough to let the father know that it's not OK, but short enough that the baby won't have lasting memories of his absence.

hat tip: Anomalousdata.com

Ferret IQ

Your Score: VERY FERRETY!

You scored 82 ferrety-ness!

You obviously have ferrets, you're very ferret-savy. Give your fuzzies a kiss and a raisen for me!

Link: The Ferret IQ Test written by Safia0323 on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(Safia0323)

I could be home cleaning my apartment...

...but instead, I'm sitting in a coffee shop chatting with James (who desperately wants to mentioned more in my blog) online and filling out silly tests like this one:

Your Score: The Cat

You scored 51% domestic, 39% gregarious, 21% trickster, and 70% intellect!

Domestic, Solitary, Serious, Intelectual: you are the Cat!

Cat represents a balance of strength in both physical and spiritual, psychic and sensual powers, merging these two worlds into one. Curious, intelligent, and physically adept, cat people tend to live in a world all their own.


This test categorized you based on four different axes of personality, which were then associated with a different animal. The four axes, as well as all possible results are explained below.



Wild/Domestic: This first axis categorizes you based on how much you are drawn to the outdoors, versus how much you are drawn to civilized situations. Domesticity has many shapes and forms, and varies from the joy of dolphins leaping next to a ship to the steadfast loyalty of a family dog.



Gregarious/Solitary: This axis measures how solitary you are. If you scored high, it means that you enjoy the company of other people, while a low score indicates that you prefer a more solitary lifestyle.



Trickster/Serious: This axis measures how well you line up with conventional trickster archetypes. People who fall into this archetype have a sense of humor and an excitable, highly chaotic streak. Scoring low doesn't mean that you don't have a sense of humor; it just means that you probably don't think dynamite is very funny.



Intellectual/Emotional: This last axis determines whether you are more emotional -- acting based on feelings and instinct, or rational and intelectual -- acting more on thought than on your gut feelings.

Wild	Gregarious	Trickster	Intellectual	The Hyena
Wild	Gregarious	Trickster	Emotional	The Otter
Wild	Gregarious	Serious	Intellectual	The Antelope
Wild	Gregarious	Serious	Emotional	The Wolf
Wild	Solitary	Trickster	Intellectual	The Weasel
Wild	Solitary	Trickster	Emotional	The Coyote
Wild	Solitary	Serious	Intellectual	The Raven
Wild	Solitary	Serious	Emotional	The Frog
Domestic	Gregarious	Trickster	Intellectual	The Fox
Domestic	Gregarious	Trickster	Emotional	The Dolphin
Domestic	Gregarious	Serious	Intellectual	The Horse
Domestic	Gregarious	Serious	Emotional	The Dog
Domestic	Solitary	Trickster	Intellectual	The Rat
Domestic	Solitary	Trickster	Emotional	The Ferret
Domestic	Solitary	Serious	Intellectual	The Cat
Domestic	Solitary	Serious	Emotional	The Squirrel

Link: The Animal Archetype Test written by crumpetsfortea on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(crumpetsfortea)

Stop looking for war with Iran!

My God! Do we really have to go to war with another country???

The coffee table is no longer safe

Chaos is not at all interested in what's on top of the coffee table. Loki, on the other hand, actively reaches up and pulls down anything that he can reach. He hasn't managed to climb up onto the coffee table, but no magazine, binder, book, or paper is sacred. He grabs it with his teeth and pulls it (and anything on top of it) down onto the floor.

More from Iraq through a conversation with Jassim

I asked my Iraqi friend, Jassim (not his real name), what America's role is in Iraq. We also talked about various roadblocks to peace within Iraq and possible scenarios for if the USA were to pull out now. Probably the most surprising thing he said was that he is more afraid of being attacked by the authorities than he is of the insurgents.

Karen: so, shall we talk politics? What should the USA do with Iraq now? Some candidates want to pull out all the troops now. Some want to stay in Iraq forever.

Jassim: well, I believe that USA will never withdraw from Iraq whatever happened politicaly

Karen: what do you think I should tell my government to do?

Jassim: , I don't know really

Jassim: may be the first step is to fighting curroption

Jassim: stop wasting all this money for only pretending

Jassim: billions of dollars went only for thieves pockets while they tell American people it been spent to rebuild Iraq

Karen: how do you think that the corruption can be stopped?

Jassim: it become more and more complecated evry day

Jassim: all what change for all this time is replacing Saddam rejiem in other dectatorian rejiemes

Jassim: corruption can not be stopped in one or two steps

Jassim: it's a hard and long way

Karen: you're saying the current regime is another dictatorial regime?

Jassim: yes

Jassim: specially the regimes in governorates

Jassim: as an example

Jassim: here in Najaf AlHakeem family is controling every thing

Karen: Do you think that it is possible to take the power away from such powerful families?

Karen: Would the Iraqi people support a government, in which the tribal leading families were not in control?

Jassim: Muqtada is another side but he have no power in official foundations as AlHakeem family

Jassim: I'm not quite sure but what Iknow is that people here got sick from them

Jassim: they are steeling and controlling every thing

Jassim: who resiste will die

Jassim: they have a powerful militia

Karen: what would need to happen to take control away from such families as the AlHakeem?

Jassim: I don't know

Jassim: I always assume that it's in people hands and not a resposibilty of Americans but it seems that people are very tired and afraid to resist

Karen: do the individual ruling families in the provinces have more power, or does the central government have more power?

Jassim: parties

Jassim: when I said AlHAkeem family I meant the party they lead, which it the superior islamic council

Karen: ok

Jassim: so in fact, nothing changed

Jassim: we replaced Saddam in other murders

Jassim: I still can not express my openion

Karen: if the leaders of those parties were to "disappear", do you think that others would simply assume leadership of the parties, or do you think that the Iraqi people would insist on change?

Jassim: you can say nothing been achieved from what USA promiced

Jassim: if they dissapear then some one else will take place instead

Karen: do you think that American style democracy is possible in Iraq, or will the Iraqis continue to prefer the tribal system?

Jassim: it still possible but it needs long time

Jassim: like step by step

Jassim: with remarkable achievments during it that encourge people to continue

Karen: can you give some examples?

Jassim: enhance civil socities

Karen: how?

Jassim: like Human Rights organization

Jassim: we don't have one yet

Jassim: it must be a one with a powerfull intervention that prevent any unjustice actions might authority take against people

Karen: does any country have such a strong humanitarian organization?

Jassim: in addetion to spread human rights culture between people so you don't find some one afraid from claiming his rights

Jassim: yes

Jassim: USA

Karen: I don't know...our human rights organizations haven't had to stop atrocities within the United States, and they don't seem very effective with stopping it abroad

Jassim: people still carrying the fair that they learned during Saddam age

Karen: I don't understand that last sentence

Karen: oh....fear?

Jassim: but it's achievable right ?

Jassim: fear yes sorry

Karen: I think that education is key

Jassim: yes

Karen: probably, peace won't come in this generation

Karen: but there needs to be a way to teach children and youth to respect each other

Jassim: I don't care about peace itself

Jassim: it would not be usefull it self only

Jassim: I want peace with full rights

Karen: *nods*

Jassim: the most thing that concerning me now in Iraq is the grwoing culture of violance the human rights

Karen: *nods*

Karen: what are the women doing?

Karen: the insurgents are mostly male, right?

Jassim: either by authority or by indevisioal

Karen: In Ireland, it was finally the women who told the men that they wouldn't accept the violence anymore

Jassim: there is no remarkable part for them as well as men

Jassim: yes mostly men

Karen: I heard someone on the radio asking where the families of the terrorists are. Don't the families have any influence?

Jassim: Irland is a differant story

Karen: is it? It's civil violence in the name of religion, cloaking politics and greed

Jassim: they have no power to say no

Jassim: not only families but also all arround ppl

Karen: well, until the community stands up to the insurgents, it won't get better

Karen: people need to stop helping the terrorists. They need to turn them in to the authorities

Jassim: insurgents are not the only problem, there are the people who use power, authority and government and even relegioun to do what they want

Jassim: I'm concerning mostly from autority not insurgents

Karen: I see

Karen: are you more afraid of being killed by the authorities or by insurgents?

Jassim: both but authority more

Jassim: much more actually

Karen: that's horrible!

Jassim: yes

Jassim: look

Jassim: any police man now can send me to hell if I just said a word that he would not like

Jassim: I barely avoid that

Jassim: this is why I wanna leave

Karen: I can see that oversight is a problem

Karen: *hugs*

Jassim: I'm sure one day and may be so soon I might be killed or jailed because of that

Jassim: the problem is that I can't shut my mouth

Jassim: I have a big mouth you know

Karen: I don't know what to say

Jassim: me too

Jassim: I appreciate my lebirity very much

Karen: yes, liberty is important

Jassim: I cannot replace it with good life

Jassim: it comes first

Jassim: I wanna say and do what I want

Jassim: no one can forbid me

Jassim: and this will not change for next term

Karen: are the Americans in Iraq helping at all? Would it be any worse now if they left?

Jassim: they not helping at all

Jassim: they are some thing like the dommy in the field that terrefy berds

Jassim: I'm sorry to say that

Karen: oh, the dummy in the field that terrifies birds; a scarecrow

Karen: is there any reason for the Americans to stay in Iraq, then? Should they just leave so that the soldier will stop being targets?

Jassim: I believe that soldiers doing a good job in fighting the rest of insurgents in hot areas but politically , the americans are doing nothing for this growing bad parties

Jassim: if they left then it will be a disaster waiting for Iraq

Jassim: this is my openion and not sure about it

Jassim: I think every body will attack every body else if americans left

Karen: *nods*

Karen: worse than they are already?

Jassim: I don't understand

Karen: there is already a lot of fighting. Do you think that there would be more fighting, or that it would just be the same fighting that there is already?

Jassim: more

Jassim: most of them are afraid from american

Jassim: in my openion when americans leave

Jassim: first

Jassim: Kurds will seperate

Jassim: establish their own country

Jassim: and trying to bite as much as they can from rest of Iraq like Kirkuk city which it rich in oil

Jassim: AlHAkeem family will take all south and establish an independant region supported directly from Iran

Jassim: this is an estimated senario to what would happen

Karen: is that الحكيم

Jassim: yes

Karen: ok

Karen: Do you have any idea what would be needed to pacify (make peaceful) the insurgents?

Karen: what would make them stop killing?

Jassim: they are leading: المجلس الاسلامي الأعلى

Jassim: only killing them

Jassim: !!!

Jassim: creating jobs, better services

Jassim: stuff like that

Karen: jobs and services would probably be better than massacring so many young men!

Jassim: yes

…

Karen: I have a religion question for you.

Jassim: ok

Karen: I heard someone say on the radio, that the Prophet said that there would only be peace in the Middle East if Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalum were controled by Muslims. Is this true or part of your understanding of Islam? My Morrocan friends wasn't familiar with this.

Jassim: you mean Prophet Muhammed ?

Karen: yes

Jassim: well in that time there was no use of the term "middle east"

Jassim: I think the say is that Mecca must be controlled by Muslims and it's forbidden for other than Muslims to control it

Jassim: Mecca and Madina actually

Jassim: I can say that I'm not familier with this say too

Karen: and Jerusalem (القدس )?

Jassim: I think there is no saying about it

Jassim: actually there is a say in Islam

Jassim: كافر عادل خيرٌ من مسلمٍ جائر

Jassim: you can understand much from this say I assume

Karen: very little, actually...how would you translate it?

Jassim: ok wait plz

Jassim: equitable infidel better than inequitable Muslim

Karen: oh...now it all makes sense

Karen: so, basically, it's better to be a good human being than a bad "believer"

Jassim: ok I need to go now

Jassim: yes

Karen: ok. *hugs* Take care, Jassim!

Jassim: may be this close

Jassim: generator is out of fuel now

Jassim: see you tomorrow dear, !!

Excellent Quote

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, From a speech before the American Society of Newspaper Editors, April 16, 1953
34th president of US 1953-1961 (1890 - 1969)

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/9556.html

John Pinette

OMG!!! This guy is friggin hilarious! You should check him out! I have watched a couple of clips so far, and I've yet to find one that didn't have me rolling on the floor!

Better than the one below is the one here or here, which unfortunately aren't enabled to be embedded.

maybe it is bedtime

Karen: I suppose that I get the full cooling force of the wind on my wall/windows in the winter and the full heat of the sun in the summer

Karen: can't win

Karen: but at least I have a bit of a view

Karen: if the parking lot and trees count

Karen: and the dumpster; mustn't forget that

James: oh yes

Karen: "dumpster" is kind of a funny word

James: the view

James: maybe its bed time

James: lol

James: lol

Karen: how many words end with -ster?

James: yep sounds lilke bed time

James: lol

Karen: the dumpster is the recipient and not the agent (one doing it) unlike, say a spinster

Karen: or a barrister

James: dammit

James: now im thinking about it

James: lol

Karen: I know...you don't care!

James: lets see

James: monster

James: canister

Karen: hamster is in a clas by itself

Karen: or maybe it's like monster

Karen: is there a verb form for canister?

Karen: is a canist something?

James: idk

James: lol

Karen: aren't you glad you have a linguist friend?

If I were really going to find out, I'd check the etymologies of these words. But, when it comes right down to it, I just don't care enough.

Chaos in da hood!

ummm...sleeve.

Ivanhoe

I just finished reading the TOR mass market paperback edition of Ivanhoe (ISBN 0812565657). I must say that there were typos to distraction.

It was an amusing little story; doesn't have much to do with Ivanhoe, though. *shrugs*

I really don't get the animosity expressed towards the Jews. Just don't get it. Talk about ignorant! How can you see someone as less than human, just because of race or religion? I was never raised to hate or despise anyone. Sure, I have the prejudices common to the region, but I would never consciously act on any of them to be cruel to someone for no reason other than their race or religion.

Ratboy Napping

pic 1) That's it! I'm done! I'll go no further!

pic 2) Cozy.

Sicko reprise

I got this link from Anomalousdata.com.

Employers grab accident victims' cash

Wal-Mart's health plan sued an ex-worker, brain-damaged in a crash, to collect money from a settlement she'd received. It's part of a trend in which companies aggressively try to recoup insurance costs.

A collision with a tractor-trailer seven years ago left 52-year-old Deborah Shank permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Her husband, Jim, and three sons found a small source of solace: a $700,000 accident settlement from the trucking company involved.

After legal fees and other expenses, the remaining $417,000 was put in a special trust. It was to be used for Deborah Shank's care.

Instead, all of it is now slated to go to Deborah's former employer, Wal-Mart Stores.

The woman stocked shelves for a few months and because of signing on to the health care plan, she's lost out on all of the settlement money that was meant to go towards her continued care.

Well, that is just one more reason for needing some variety of universal health care! I'd rather be paying more in taxes and be assured that I will be taken care of, should something horrible happen, than be paying insurance premiums to an insurance company that will do everything in its power to avoid paying out, and then seek reimbursement after the fact!

And more: Walmart takes out life-insurance on its employees.

I'm definitely tired...

I decided to put on the classic White Christmas to run in the background and keep down the monotony of counting prepositions.

I must be tired! I started getting all teary-eyed at the scene where all the old soldiers have come together to honor the old general. I'm usually not so sentimental!

I highly recommend this movie for those looking for a simple musical comedy, without any sex or violence (except for when the guy's are smacking each other with the feather fans).

On a side note, I'm in just such a mood as to feel sad that the folks all young, alive and well in that film are all either old or dead now. They live on in the film, but are never to be known in person again. Such is life.

OK...back to working on my paper...which movie shall I put in now?

Wrestling with the squeaky toy

Chaos was rather energetic today. We spent a good ten minutes running (well...I walked, he ran) back and forth in the building hall. We got back to my apartment door and he sniffed at it, so I opened it and took off the leash. The little brat ran back down the hallway. I caught him at the first doormat that he stopped to investigate and put the leash back on him. He ran until he was done, and then he lay down in the middle of the hall, determined not to move a paw further. I carried him back to my apartment and fed him. When I went out to visit my neighbor, Chaos was ready to run back out into the hall again.

Most recently, he has been teaching the squeaky toy a thing or two about who's boss.

Just what happened to Izzy

Well, it wasn't just that she go wedged between the wall and the bookcase. It was one of those self-assemble bookcases with the paperboard back on it. The books on the bottom shelf were pushed back in such as way as to pop out the bottom corner of the back. She got stuck on that and it worked like a barb, preventing her from going forward or back.

Izzy died

I'd been having to force feed her the last few days. Then she got caught between the wall and the bookshelf and went into hypothermia, likely from low blood sugar and the draft from the window. I took her to the vet and he tried to save her. He gave her glucose and subcutaneous fluids. He also wedged her between a couple of socks full of microwaved dry rice to try to get her temperature up again. She started to warm up and it looked like she was coming back. Her heartbeat got stronger. And then she stopped breathing at about 7:30, about an hour and 45 minutes after bringing her in.

Sicko

Man...my neighbor and I are watching Sicko. Our country sucks. Even 9-11 rescue workers aren't getting covered.

If Canada, Britain, and France and CUBA can pull it off to cover everyone, why can't we???

WTF???

Let's hear it for socialized health care now!

On Ferrets in Arabic

This is my Arabic presentation. Exciting, isn't it??? There are probably some mistakes in it, but I think it's pretty good for only having known any Arabic since the summer.

Step 1 to cut energy consumption: Cut the Christmas lights!

So, there's all the stuff about being environmentally aware. People drive the Prius in droves now. They turn off the light in the hall when done and even shut down their computers at night. However, many can't part with their Christmas lights. And Christmas is coming earlier and earlier, so lights are on longer and longer. The next time you think about giving back to the world during the holidays, switch off your Christmas lights. Some people don't even have electricity to heat or light their homes!

Does anyone out there have figures on how much electricity could be saved if everyone turned off their Christmas lights for a day?

I'm not saying that folks should completely give up the lights; that just isn't likely. However, how about waiting to turn them on until mid December, instead of a month or two before?

Izzy and Chaos are playing!

They're playing! Yay! Chaos isn't afraid to play anymore!

WTF??? When you're done bleeding , we want that money back.

The Pentagon is apparently demanding back signing bonuses from injured soldiers, because they didn't serve out their tour, even though they were wounded in battle.

I'm sorry, but if someone gets shot because they're fighting in the military, then the military shouldn't be able to take back any money. It would be different if the guys had just up and left, but they were wounded! What more could they have done to fulfill their obligation???

I've also heard that widow(er)s don't receive nearly enough money.

If you're going to ask someone to go to war, then you should provide for their orphans and widow(er)s!

Uncannily like Fuzzball.

Izzy likes carrying around balls of cotton string just like Fuzzball, and sleeping in the blankets by the litter box (though Fuzzball concentrated on the ones by the fridge and Izzy prefers the front hall)

Unlike Fuzzball, Izzy took the stringball into the cage and up a level.

Success!

When I got out of the shower this morning, Chaos and Izzy were wrestling! Yay!

You're in America! Speak English!

Señora Gomez* hobbled into the social security office in Arecebo, Puerto Rico, supporting herself on her grandson's arm.

She is an elderly middle-class woman, born and raised on the island. She's done her best to do right by everyone and has slowly sold off her land to cover her daughter's expenses and to pay for her grandson's education in the continental United States.

Upon approaching the window, she was informed by Juan Gonzales*, speaking in heavily accented English, that all official business of the United States Social Security Administration will be conducted in English.

Is there really any good reason for a Spanish speaker to demand that a Spanish speaker speak English, in order to get her Social Security check, which she's contributed to all her working life?

Puerto Ricans are often informed that they are in America and should speak English. However, what the Anglophones tend to ignore, is that the Puerto Rican's were speaking Spanish before the island was obtained by the United States and that most generations since then have been born, raised, and died with their native Spanish language. Why should they have to change?

Bilingualism is a tool for success. Ideally, everyone would be bilingual, but this is not possible, at least not at this time. Even if all of the children in school are taught, and learn, sufficient English, the older people would not be able to change, due to age related issues. Using the language as a barrier to services is reminiscent of the literacy tests imposed in the Deep South after the Civil War.

Also, if we take an example from Russian education in the Eastern Bloc countries, we can see that although all of the school children were required to take Russian, most hated it because of it being the language of the colonizer and never learned it well. Who are we to impose our language on others?

English Only is a bad idea.

*These are not really their names.

USA not founded on Christianity

This just in at Northern Sun:


If you can't see the picture, it's a portrait of George Washington on a T-shirt, with a quote:

"The United States is in no sense founded upon the Christian doctrine." George Washington

That's pretty definitive; he would know.

If you are in Minneapolis, you could swing by their store on Lake to pick it up, or just order it online. http://www.northernsun.com/n/s/8122.html

More on the Writer's Guild strike

Let's all support the Writer's Guild. It sounds like a good cause. Here's a page on how: http://www.wga.org/subpage_member.aspx?id=2544

Reminiscent of Kafka's The Trial

This experience of a Minnesota woman reminded me of Kafka's The Trial (Der Prozeß).

Is anyone regulating the TSA?

For more info on proposed rules requiring having to ask the TSA for permission to fly ANYWHERE to, from, through, or over the United States, read here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/12/flying_into_data_hell/

And here is a link to the Justia Regulation Tracker.

Robert F. Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968)

I haven't heard this message from any of the front-runners lately.

On the Mindless Menace of Violence

City Club of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio April 5, 1968

Mr Chairmen,Ladies And Gentlemen

This is a time of shame and sorrow. It is not a day for politics. I have saved this one opportunity, my only event of today, to speak briefly to you about the mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives.

It is not the concern of any one race. The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. No one - no matter where he lives or what he does - can be certain who will suffer from some senseless act of bloodshed. And yet it goes on and on and on in this country of ours.

Why? What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr's cause has ever been stilled by an assassin's bullet.

No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero; and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of reason.

Whenever any American's life is taken by another American unnecessarily - whether it is done in the name of the law or in the defiance of the law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response to violence - whenever we tear at the fabric of the life which another man has painfully and clumsily woven for himself and his children, the whole nation is degraded.

"Among free men," said Abraham Lincoln, "there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet; and those who take such appeal are sure to lost their cause and pay the costs."

Yet we seemingly tolerate a rising level of violence that ignores our common humanity and our claims to civilization alike. We calmly accept newspaper reports of civilian slaughter in far-off lands. We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment. We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire whatever weapons and ammunition they desire.

Too often we honor swagger and bluster and wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others. Some Americans who preach non-violence abroad fail to practice it here at home. Some who accuse others of inciting riots have by their own conduct invited them.

Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.

For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is the slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter.

This is the breaking of a man's spirit by denying him the chance to stand as a father and as a man among other men. And this too afflicts us all.

I have not come here to propose a set of specific remedies nor is there a single set. For a broad and adequate outline we know what must be done. When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs or the policies he pursues, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies, to be met not with cooperation but with conquest; to be subjugated and mastered.

We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. For all this, there are no final answers.

Yet we know what we must do. It is to achieve true justice among our fellow citizens. The question is not what programs we should seek to enact. The question is whether we can find in our own midst and in our own hearts that leadership of humane purpose that will recognize the terrible truths of our existence.

We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of others. We must admit in ourselves that our own children's future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others. We must recognize that this short life can neither be ennobled or enriched by hatred or revenge.

Our lives on this planet are too short and the work to be done too great to let this spirit flourish any longer in our land. Of course we cannot vanquish it with a program, nor with a resolution.

But we can perhaps remember, if only for a time, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek, as do we, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and in happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.

Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men, and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again.

- Robert F. Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968)

Gratuitous Ferret Photos

Screenwriters going on strike

Screenwriters are scheduled to be on strike starting on Monday.

Per NPR:

All Things Considered, November 2, 2007 · Unless Hollywood writers and studios reach a deal over the weekend, the Writers Guild of America will strike just after midnight next Monday. That could mean many TV shows will have to revert to re-runs.

Ghost Rider - review

James and I watched Ghost Rider with Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes this evening. Our recommendation: Run, save yourself!

We give this movie a cheese factor of 373 out of 100. Contributors to this rating include: The goat-like shadow cast by the devil in human form, the use of the Johnny Cash melody "Ghost Riders in the Sky", the judgments of "you guilty!!!...you innocent., the wild west opening sequence, the wild west closing sequence, the kiss of the doomed lovers at the end of the film by the same tree that they'd kissed under as kids, the whistling for the bike, the morphing of the chopper into a demon bike, the flashes of skeletal jawbones, etc...

Pretty chic. Stupid movie.

Danger in rechargeable batteries?

There is a warning on my new Weazel Ball that says "Do Not Use Rechargeable Batteries". Why is that? The only thing that I can think of is that rechargeables aren't meant to be jostled around vigorously. Does anyone know anything about this?

A dollar, eh?

The US dollar now is valued the same as the Canadian dollar. Remember all of those Canadian pennies you were disappointed to get back in change? Well, start saving them!

XE.com tells us the following:

1.00 USD	=	0.706890 EUR
United States Dollars		Euro
1 USD = 0.706890 EUR		1 EUR = 1.41465 USD

1.00 USD	=	0.980897 CAD
United States Dollars		Canada Dollars
1 USD = 0.980897 CAD		1 CAD = 1.01948 USD

1.00 EUR	=	0.692830 GBP
Euro		United Kingdom Pounds
1 EUR = 0.692830 GBP		1 GBP = 1.44336 EUR

1.00 USD	=	7.63645 BOB
United States Dollars		Bolivia Bolivianos
1 USD = 7.63645 BOB		1 BOB = 0.130951 USD