Further thoughts on the topic of illegal immigrants

Before the Civil War, it was legal to own slaves. But hey, a slave could buy his freedom.

Before Martin Luther King Jr., it was legal to discriminate on the basis of skin color. But hey, all Blacks had to do was move north or 'back to Africa'.

Before suffrage, it was legal to discriminate against women on the basis of gender. But hey, women could just encourage their husbands to vote the way that they would like.

It is currently legal to discriminate against an individual based on his or her place of birth. But hey, immigrants might be able to come legally if they jump through the right hoops and are willing to wait indefinitely for permission - otherwise, they can just stay in their impoverished home communities.

None of the situations listed above are just.

-------------------------------------------------

It also really bothers me when we deport people who were brought to the United States as children, have grown up loving America, often not even knowing that they are considered illegal aliens, have become educated here, and have committed no crime other than staying in the country that has raised them.

There is currently a case pending for Tope Awe, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin. Below is brief summary from here:

Tope Awe, a third-year graduate student in the UW School of Pharmacy,was arrested last week and risks deportation to Nigeria.

What crime did she commit? She stayed in the United States with her family since she was three and grew up American.

...

Tope Awe is as American as any American citizen kid born and brought up here. She is a student leader and an avid contributor to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Whether being the co-chair of the African Student Association 2006-2007 school year, the co-president Multicultural Affairs Program in Pharmacy 2006-2007, or working for the Diversity Program in University Housing as the Multicultural Liaison she has been avid and insightful resource on this campus.

Even if you believe that Tope should be sent to Nigeria--a country that she does not know and does not consider her home--she should not be in jail or detention because she has commited no crime. Tope should be allowed to at least finish her education.

Edit - This blog post has been updated to add that Tope is no longer in detention. The battle is not over because this is just a temporary resolution. However, this demonstrates that gathering petitions and protesting ICE detentions of students does make a difference when it comes to some immigration judges so to all those that are fighting deportation, keep up the fight and let us know how to assist in your cause.

...

I came across this post over at Yahoo!:

About illegal immigrants and US army?

I have a friend and his shy to do this so im doing it for him. His 18 almost 19 the first time he came to US was in 1997 he was 8 i guess and he came back and forth a couple of times but he came as a visitor with a passport and a visa and he stayed here longer than he could now its his 3rd time here and his been here more than 5 years and he also finished middle school here and its finishing high school this year, he wanted to be legalized but he doesn't know if he can and also he wanted to join US army but he doesn't know if he can either.. His family own a house here and all his family work on US.

Ps: if anybody have any idea that can help we`ll be thankful


Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

He's going to have to get some sort of visa before the Army will take him. I'm not a professional on immigration, but I would assume that a workers visa would be the easiest to get. A recruiter might even be able to help him with paperwork and filing. That doesn't mean the recruiter will do it for him, or that he'll be able to pull strings and get it faster. It just means that he'll point your friend in the right direction.

Once he gets a Visa, then he can enlist and work towards full citizenship. Once in the military, immigrants can work towards full citizenship faster than civilians.

And other commenters need to chill. Just because he's an illegal immigrant doesn't mean he's a criminal. The poor kid is trying to prove to us that he wants to be here, and wants to be an American, by joining our military and risking his life in our war. He's wants to do what many of our peers and children are too cowardly to do. I say, let him enlist.

Fortunately, this response is fairly well balanced, but some of the other comments on the post are as follows:

First he is not shy...he is afraid of ICE !!!!

First talk to a recruiter...
Then he will have to return to his own Country
before he can obtain a GREEN CARD..
(Probably a Provisional 2 year Card)
After Serving 2 Years in the Armed Services
he is eligible to apply for Automatic US Citizenship...

At this point in time...you are aidding and abetting
a Crime !!!!

* 2 months ago

Source(s):
Retired Marine !!!!

And another:

he cant join the military without a green card, tell your friend that he is taking jobs from legal/citizens by willing to join the army.

And another:

Yes. Send his illegal @$$ back and have him come here legally.

You are aiding and abetting a criminal, and should go to jail.

By the way, this is EXACTLY how my in-laws feel. They came here legally 40 years ago and are now citizens.

I think that people who feel that illegal immigrants are criminals should take a moment to remember the last time that they bought something online without reporting the sales tax owed on their tax forms, jay-walked, exceeded the legal speed limit or blood-alcohol level while driving, tossed a cigarette out the window, threw away a battery in the normal trash or otherwise broke the law. How hypocritical! Illegal immigrants are illegal for arbitrary reasons that have nothing to do with any sort of violence or danger to society. (And don't tell me that illegal immigrants are violent offenders! Sure, some of them are, but so are many natural born Americans.)

Humans are humans and it is wrong to discriminate against them, just because they happen to have been born on the wrong side of an arbitrary line!

On illegal immigrants and social security

I recently got this in an email forwarded to me by my parents, forwarded to them from my uncle:

>> Subject: Social Security Changes--- Important ! ! ! ! ! !
>> SOCIAL SECURITY CHANGES
>>
>>
>>
>> It does not matter if you personally like or dislike Bush. You need to
>> sign this petition and flood his e-mail box with e-mails that tell him
>> that, even if the House passes this bill, he needs to veto it. It is
>> already impossible to live on Social Security alone. If the government
>> gives benefits to 'illegal' aliens who have never contributed, where does
>> that leave those of us who have paid into Social Security all our working
>> lives?
>> As stated below, the Senate voted this week to allow 'illegal' aliens
>> access to Social Security benefits.
>> Attached is an opportunity to sign a petition that requires citizenship
>> for eligibility to that social service.
>>
>> Instructions are below. If you don't forward the petition and just stop
>> it, we will lose all these names.
>>
>> If you do not want to sign it, please just forward it to everyone you
>> know.
>>
>> Thank you!
>>
>> To add your name, click on 'forward'. Address it to all of your email
>> correspondents, add your name to the list and send it on.
>>
>> When the petition hits 1,000, send it to comment@whitehouse.gov
>>
>> PETITION for President Bush:
>>
>> Dear Mr President:
>> We, the undersigned, protest the bill that the Senate voted on recently
>> which would allow illegal aliens to access our Social Security. We
>> demand that you and all Congressional representatives require citizenship
>> as a pre-requisite for social services in the United States .
>>
>> We further demand that there not be any amnesty given to illegals, NO
>> free services, no funding, no payments to and for illegal immigrants.
>>
>> We are fed up with the lack of action about this matter and are tired of
>> paying for services to illegals.

[944 signatures]

This sort of attitude bugs me.

Actually, many illegal aliens are paying into the system every day. If they work at Burger King, for example, they have either a legit Tax ID number or an illegally acquired social security number. Either way, money is taken out of every paycheck for social security. Many of these same illegal immigrants don't realize how many services are in fact available to them or are afraid of being turned into the ICE, so they often don't take advantage of social services.

These same illegal immigrants are also paying into the economy. Regardless of how they acquire their money, they are purchasing groceries, clothing and other goods just like everyone else. They pay the same sales tax as everyone else.

So, whether you like the idea of illegal immigrants or not, it's important to realize that they, as a group, are not just leeches on our society (though there are certainly those who abuse the system, just like there are many natural born Americans who do so).

And frankly, they are human beings too. It's not their fault that they were born on the wrong side of the border. Also they aren't coming with guns to systematically murder the current inhabitants as most Americans' ancestors did! I think I prefer the current pattern of immigration to that of the Europeans of the first century and a half of this country!

Les Misérables

I just finished watching Les Misérables (1998) on DVD. It was pretty good, though I wasn't overly impressed until it got to the part of the story in Paris.

I found it noteworthy that being that this movie is set in France, while it did not have Gérard Depardieu, it did have a similar looking actor Liam Neeson. Had the movie been done in French, it's almost certain that Depardieu would have had the part!

Oh...what a surprise! Further websearch finds a 5 part miniseries (2000) indeed staring Gérard Depardieu!

100 Calorie Packs...not so good...

Rating: chewy cardboard

If I eat cheesecake, I want something sweet and creamy. This ain't it.

Iraq update

In case anyone is wondering, from the perspective of my Iraqi friend in Najaf, things have gotten better.

Karen: do you feel safer this year than you have in the past?
Jassim: yes
Karen: why is that? What has changed?
Jassim: since Americans made arrangement with Sunnies powers
Jassim: things changed

Books

I've decided to just note the three most recent books I've read.

1) A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.

This is a very amusing book. It took a bit to get into, but was incredibly satisfying by the end. I also really enjoyed the political commentary interjected about the Vietnam War and the Reagan administration. Despite having been first published in 1989, the commentary on foreign affairs is eerily similar to what many are saying about the escapades of the Bush administration today.




2) War Journal: My Five Years in Iraq by Richard Engel.

This is a chronicle of an NBC reporter's experiences throughout the Iraq conflict. He is uniquely situated, since he lived in Cairo and learned Arabic and the culture of the Middle East before the war began. He arrived in Iraq before hostilities began and has been there more than anywhere else ever since. He is able to share both personal experience and make larger observations on the political / social situation of the country. His observations seem to be in line with what my Iraqi friend has told me over the last few years. I highly recommend this book as a primer into the war(s) in Iraq.



3) War for the Oaks by Emma Bull.

This is a whimsical fantasy novel set in Minneapolis. Looking back in my blog, I see that I read it back in December of 2006, so this is probably my 3rd reading of it. Although it starts out slow, the characters draw the reader in by the end of the novel, making the reader grieve for their losses and rejoice in their victories.

How is that comfortable???

Fat ferret!

OK, Loki isn't really fat, but he's much heavier than Chaos. Loki weighed in at 1.54 kg (3.4 lbs) yesterday, and Chaos at only 1.22 kg (2.7 lbs), which is down from his previous weight.

Internal Monologues

Chaos: I'm soooooooooooo tired. I need a nap. Here's good.

James: Hmm....ferret. Oh! I got a call!

violence in strike-breaking is bad

I've been listening to some old union songs.

OK...I can understand that the business owner wants his business to keep making him profits.

However, killing a striking worker is ridiculous! I hope that this doesn't still happen. Let's take a moment to think of the 'unnamed strikers', gunned down while picketing.

Regardless of where you stand on the labor union issue, please value human life over profits!

Huntington Bancshares needs to protect its employees

I was reading an article about a bank teller, who was shot in the abdomen during a bank robbery, leading to the loss of her twin fetuses. This is horrible. What makes it even worse, though, is this:

Katherin Shuffield said that she started working at the bank branch in March 2007 and that since then it had been robbed three times, including the April 22 holdup.

Both she and her husband strongly criticized the level of security at the branch, saying it was insufficient to protect the staff from the threat of violence during a robbery.

"You never get the security you deserve," she said.

I would encourage anyone with ties to Huntington Bancshares to demand that they provide more security for their branch employees!

Chaos the not so great

Well...the little man is still alive and kicking, but he's very weak. He did one short sprint up the hall and spent the rest of the time lying on the floor. The boy just has no stamina for anything except rolling around in his crinkly tube. I'm afraid that he probably won't be with us that much longer.

Naptime for the Chaos boy

I was lying on the couch, reading some articles that I need to summarize before tomorrow and Chaos decided that my foot would make a nice pillow.

He didn't seem to notice when I got up after I'd finished reading.

Loki loves his toy

So, I found this toy in the stuff that I got with Loki from his previous family. It had been in a box since January.

Well, let's just say that Loki loves this toy. I think that just about any definition of love might fit. Let's just say that he spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 hours of quality time with it this morning. That's the longest by far that I've seen him in any one location before, except for when he was asleep.

Loki's not feeling so hot

Loki: Dammit! *cough* Doesn't Mom realize that I'm not feeling well??? Why did she insist on taking me out of my cozy bed *cough* and taking me to that horrible place with all the barking dogs *cough* and whining cats, where they poke and prod? I hate that place! *cough* And then, when we get home, she pins me down and forces this cold banana flavored stuff into my mouth! *cough* It's so nasty! She's done it morning and night since then! *cough*

Walmart stops trying to get money from brain-damaged former employee

Remember Deborah Shank, the lady who worked for Wal-Mart, was in an accident and got brain damage - and then Wal-Mart wanted to get her settlement money from the trucking company, leaving her with no money for her continuing care? Well, Wal-Mart finally backed down.

Reposted from Wal-mart Watch:

WAL-MART DROPS SHANK FAMILY’S DEBT

Wal-Mart Drops Injured Worker Claim [Associated Press via CNN Money]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is dropping a controversial effort to collect over $400,000 in health care reimbursement from a former employee who is confined to a southeast Missouri nursing home since she suffered brain damage in a traffic accident.

The world’s largest retailer said Tuesday in a letter to the family of Deborah Shank it will not seek to collect money the Shanks won in an injury lawsuit against a trucking company for the accident.

Wal-Mart’s top executive for human resources, Pat Curran, wrote that Shank’s extraordinary situation had made the company re-examine its stance.

Deborah’s husband Jim Shank welcomed the news. Family lawyer Maurice Graham of St. Louis said Wal-Mart deserves credit for doing the right thing.

“It’s a good day for the Shank family,” Jim Shank said in a statement.

Wal-Mart has been roundly criticized in newspaper editorials, on cable news shows and by its union foes for its claim to the funds, which it made in a lawsuit upheld by a federal appeals court.

Insurance experts say it is increasingly common for health plans to seek reimbursement for the medical expenses they paid for someone’s treatment if the person also collects damages in an injury suit.

The practice, called “subrogation,” has increased since a 2006 Supreme Court ruling that eased it.

Wal-Mart’s Curran said the retailer was required by the rules of its plan to seek reimbursement from the Shank’s settlement. But she said the case has made Wal-Mart revise those rules to allow for flexibility in individual cases.

“Occasionally others help us step back and look at a situation in a different way. This is one of those times,” Curran wrote in the letter.

Shank, 52, lost much of her memory and ability to communicate or walk in a crash between her minivan and a tractor trailer in May 2000. Her family sued the trucking company and won $700,000. Court records show that after attorney’s fees and costs, the remaining $417,477 from the settlement went into a trust to care for Shank.

The fund now has about $270,000, the family said.

Shanks’ health insurance was through Wal-Mart, where she worked nights stocking shelves. After the Shanks won their lawsuit, Wal-Mart sued the Shank family to recover medical costs totaling about $470,000.

Wal-Mart won its case and subsequent appeals by the Shanks that went as far as the Supreme Court, which closed legal avenues this month by declining to hear the case.

During the case, the Shanks also lost one of their three sons when Jeremy, 18, was killed in Iraq last year while serving in the Army.

The case put a spotlight on the growing use of reimbursement claims by health plans, experts say.

Roger Baron, professor of law at the University of South Dakota and a specialist in health-plan law, said health plans have become “very aggressive” about subrogation since the 2006 Supreme Court decision.

“It’s free money. They want the free money,” Baron said.

Lynn Dudley, vice president for policy at the American Benefits Council in Washington D.C., said the negative publicity around the case was beginning to draw the attention of lawmakers who might want legislation to stop or limit subrogation.

“Capitol Hill is paying attention,” Dudley said.

Baron said Wal-Mart’s size _ it is the nation’s largest nongovernment employer, with over 1.3 million workers _ means that its willingness to compromise in an individual case may have a wider impact on reimbursement practices by other health plans.

“I’m so pleased to see an element of reason because so much of this subrogation has been about just blindly going after the money,” Baron said.

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Caught in the Act!

I took a break from grading papers to locate a ferret.

Ferrets are simply the easiest to photograph when they're napping.

Man has to learn about his partner's death from the news

This situation is not OK! This is a really short video about a man whose life partner of 6 years died in a plane crash, but they wouldn't tell him about it. He had to find out from the news.

Eric Breidenbaugh knew something was wrong.

His partner and his partner's parents were all missing – hours overdue from a family flight aboard a small private plane.

Eric called his local airport, near Pinellas Park, Florida, to see if they had any information. They did, but they wouldn't give it to him. They said he was "not an actual family member," so they couldn't tell him whether his partner was alive or dead.

He searched the TV news, where he soon saw footage of the plane he himself had ridden in many times. That was how he found out that his life partner of six years, Joseph Bellamy, had been killed with his parents in a plane crash. (HRC)

It doesn't really matter where you fall on the moral issues of the gay marriage debate. I think that if someone has demonstrated this kind of commitment, then they should be allowed access to each other's information. Each individual should have the right to grant access to his or her information to someone who they trust, regardless of sexual orientation!



If you are interested, the Human Rights Campaign is trying to raise money to help keep this type of thing from happening to others in the future.

Exhibit A in the case of the State vs. Loki Fuzzbutt

I give you Exhibit A in the case of the State vs. Loki Fuzzbutt.

The prosecution's star witness maintains that both the purple food dish and the red water dish were on the blue mat, with their contents inside, at the time that she got into the shower. Returning from the shower, she found the food dish upside-down and the water dish at a distance of approximately 4 feet from said blue mat.

Photographic evidence shows the aftermath of this heinous crime. The suspect is seen fleeing in the bottom left corner of the photo over the blue mat, upon which the dishes had previously been located.

Investigators suspect that Mr. Fuzzbutt nosed his way under the blue mat, pushed it up against the cupboard and spilled the contents of the food dish. He then moved the water dish to a different location in order to avoid suspicion.

Mr. Fuzzbutt could not be reached for comment.

He's eating! All by himself!!!!

I woke up from my nap to the sound of a ferret eating kibble. I assumed it was Loki. Imagine my surprise, when I walked into the kitchen and found Chaos crunching away! This is such a relief! Now I know that he'll eat without me having to be there to feed him wet food! I thought I saw him eating in the cage in the car on the way back from my folks' place yesterday, but the light was bad and I was cruising down the freeway, so I didn't get a good look.

I think it was good for Chaos to be away from Loki for the couple days while we were in ND for Tom's wedding. He seems to have come out of his funk. Hopefully, he'll continue to feed himself!

Loki - Interior Designer

Loki likes to rearrange the layout of the apartment. He often repositions litter-boxes between 2 inches and two yards away from their original locations. He also redistributes his toys. If this whole cute and fuzzy house pet thing doesn't work out for him, he just might have a future in interior design.

Note: Typing in fuzzbutt.com will take you to a porn site, and not a collection of ferret pictures. Loki assumes no liability for the actual contents of fuzzbutt.com

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.