WHAT did she say?

"PALIN: We cannot repeat the Cold War. We are thankful that, under Reagan, we won the Cold War, without a shot fired, also. We've learned lessons from that in our relationship with Russia, previously the Soviet Union.

We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it's in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.

GIBSON: Would you favor putting Georgia and Ukraine in NATO?

PALIN: Ukraine, definitely, yes. Yes, and Georgia.

GIBSON: Because Putin has said he would not tolerate NATO incursion into the Caucasus.

PALIN: Well, you know, the Rose Revolution, the Orange Revolution, those actions have showed us that those democratic nations, I believe, deserve to be in NATO.

Putin thinks otherwise. Obviously, he thinks otherwise, but...

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn't we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help.

But NATO, I think, should include Ukraine, definitely, at this point and I think that we need to -- especially with new leadership coming in on January 20, being sworn on, on either ticket, we have got to make sure that we strengthen our allies, our ties with each one of those NATO members.

We have got to make sure that that is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today.

GIBSON: And you think it would be worth it to the United States, Georgia is worth it to the United States to go to war if Russia were to invade.

PALIN: What I think is that smaller democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us to be vigilant against. We have got to be cognizant of what the consequences are if a larger power is able to take over smaller democratic countries.

And we have got to be vigilant. We have got to show the support, in this case, for Georgia. The support that we can show is economic sanctions perhaps against Russia, if this is what it leads to.

It doesn't have to lead to war and it doesn't have to lead, as I said, to a Cold War, but economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, again, counting on our allies to help us do that in this mission of keeping our eye on Russia and Putin and some of his desire to control and to control much more than smaller democratic countries.

His mission, if it is to control energy supplies, also, coming from and through Russia, that's a dangerous position for our world to be in, if we were to allow that to happen."

OK, now wait just a darned minute... Vigilant? When the US has been, over the last decades, overwhelmingly the one nation that has "invaded smaller" countries. Oh, no, WAIT! It's only smaller "democratic" countries she is concerned about. Does this mean she is just fine and dandy with someone invading non-democratic countries? And what standard does she use to define "democratic?"

Wish someone would explain all that to me.

Anyone up for an experiment?

With fruit flies?

I have so many fruit flies that we could have all kinds of fun doing experiments concerning Mendellian genetics. Red eyes/dark eyes. Wing patterns. All the cool and interesting stuff.

Otherwise, I am getting some bug spray and killing them.

9 WORDS OR PHRASES WOMEN USE

(i stole this... LOL)

(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right, and you need to shut up..

(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)

(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says "Thanks a lot" - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say "you're welcome" ... that will bring on a "whatever").

( Whatever: Is a women's way of saying @!#$ YOU!!

(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking "What's wrong?" For the woman's response refer to # 3.

An Alaskan native speaks out

from OCA:

An Alaska Native Speaks Out on Palin, Oil, and Alaska

By Evon Peter

4 months

ago a very dear friend died, suddenly and unexpectedly.

Yesterday, as I finished up the last of his prize-winning salsa, I realized that I am still struggling to deal with his death. I had pulled the jar out of the fridge and, in doing so, noticed his handwritten label on the lid. For no reason and many reasons, I suddenly was in another place and time, laughing, talking, being bitten by his horrid dog, and eating his marvelous minestrone.

The memory was so clear, the voices so present, that it brought tears to my eyes. I smelled the soup, tasted the bread, heard the kids in the other room... I was there, once again, even if only in my mind and only for a short interval of time.

My dear friend, I don't know if you know how much we miss you. You were the very heart of a widespread circle of friends from many backgrounds and outlooks. You brought us together with your humor, your can-do attitude, and that marvelous food. Do you know that your mother took me under her wing at your funeral and brought me right into your family circle? She had never met me but treated me as one of her own, an Italian mama to the core, just as you always said. I know now from whom you learned your life-skills, to my delight. Also to my great regret for I find myself wishing I could have met her years ago.

I miss you, indeed I do. I suppose, in time, memory will fade, but for now... let it just be said that there is a large and empty place in my pantry where there should be a jar of a beloved friend's salsa.

Wanna live in the U.K.?

Best be careful what day you put your trash out...

The zeal shown by councils in enforcing their complicated rules about rubbish disposal, including the use of child informers to catch "bin criminals", is particularly oppressive. A woman in Manchester was fined £700 this week for putting out her rubbish on the wrong day - an offence known as "the advancement of waste". Her reason? To make more room in her backyard for her four-year-old daughter to play in.

That's approximately 1400 USD for the heinous crime of "advancement of waste." Uh, yeeeeeaaah.

If someone tried imposing something like that here, they'd be getting irate phone calls, being stopped on the street, and just generally would have their lives made miserable by irate, disgruntled, disgusted citizens, and rightfully so.

In the last year there was a big stink raised in one of the snooty suburbs of our little capitol about trash bins. There is a regulation that states no trash containers shall be seen from the street. Some poor schmuck left his beside his garage because he was already late for work. He then received a summons because someone, either a snoopy neighbor or a cop, noticed the bin and reported him. I don't know how the whole thing worked out but you can be darned sure I would be making an appearance at a council meeting and asking to confront my accusers...

Something to hide...

Check out this horrific video from the American News Project:

Palin's Hidden Base

"Sarah Palin has something to hide, especially from swing voters: her deep roots and thriving base of support among social conservatives who are thrilled at the prospect of overturning Roe v. Wade, among other things. Palin and the GOP leaders at the 2008 Convention avoid speaking frankly about the social conservative agenda, but ANP got an earful when we spoke with GOP delegates and anti-abortion activists at the convention. -Harry Hanbury"


Those people just scare the living daylights out of me. The only thing worse than their stupidity is their total earnestness and absolute lack of rationality.

From The Nation

"Lipstick on a Wingnut" by Katha Pollitt, September 10, 2008

"John McCain chose the supremely under-qualified Sarah Palin as his running mate partly because she is a woman. If you have a problem with that, you're a sexist. She talks incessantly about being a mother of five and uses her newborn, Trig, who has Down syndrome, as a campaign prop. If you wonder how she'll handle all those kids and the Veep job too, you're a super-sexist. "When do they ever ask a man that question?" charges that fiery feminist Rudy Giuliani. Indeed, Palin, who went back to work when Trig was three days old, gets nothing but praise from Phyllis Schlafly, James Dobson and the folks at National Review, who usually blame all the ills of modern America on those neurotic, harried, selfish, frustrated, child-neglecting, husband-castrating working mothers. Even stranger, her five-months-pregnant 17-year-old, Bristol, gets nothing but compassion and respect from Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and others who have spent their careers slut-shaming teens for having sex--and blaming their parents for letting it happen.

• Related
• Also By

• The McCain-Follieri Love Boat

  Presidential Election 2008

  Mark Ames & Ari Berman: What are we to make of a straight-talking maverick who spends his 70th birthday on the yacht of an A-list con man?

• Beauty and the Beast

  Sex & Sexuality

  JoAnn Wypijewski: The old warrior deploys sex as a central political weapon to recharge his potency, his party's fortunes and the cultural oomph of the right. Is there a trap here?

• Our Polar Bears, Ourselves

  Environment

  Mark Hertsgaard: Sarah Palin played a key supporting role in the Bush Administration's war on the Endangered Species Act.

• McCain and the Mortgage Meltdown

  Presidential Election 2008

  Robert Scheer: Sarah Palin doesn't know any better, but John McCain has no excuse: His fingerprints are all over our current financial crisis.

• Palin's Hidden Base

  Presidential Election 2008

  American News Project : It turns out Sarah Palin has something substantial to hide, especially from swing voters.

• Maverick to Nowhere

  Presidential Election 2008

  Talking Points Memo : Sarah Palin's record in Alaskan politics lays bare the myth of her maverick credentials.

» More

• Lipstick on a Wing Nut

  Presidential Election 2008

  Katha Pollitt: Ten tough questions for Sarah Palin. Really tough.

• Hillary Does the Right Thing

  Convention 08

  Katha Pollitt: Will the Hillary diehards follow her lead and support Barack Obama?

• Flocking to Faith

  Religion

  Katha Pollitt: Obama's incredible faith-based initiative.

• Who's Afraid of Judy Maccabee?

  Religion

  Katha Pollitt: Women increasingly are taking leadership roles in Jewish life--and that's a problem?

• Feminists for McCain? Not So Much

  Katha Pollitt: NARAL and Planned Parenthood give him a big fat zero. What else do you need to know?

• Iron My Skirt

  Hillary Clinton

  Katha Pollitt: Once the bitterness of the present moment has faded, people will recognize they owe Hillary Clinton a standing ovation, even if they can't stand her.

• Déjà Vu in South Dakota

  Reproductive Rights

  Katha Pollitt: It's going to take a concerted national effort to defeat the state's latest anti-choice ballot initiative.

Share this article

• 
  
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

If there were an Olympics for hypocrisy, the Republican Party would have more gold medals than Michael Phelps. And Palin would be wearing quite a few of them. It takes chutzpah for a mother to thrust her pregnant teen into the world's harshest spotlight and then demand the world respect the girl's privacy. But then it takes chutzpah to support criminalizing abortion and then praise Bristol's "decision" to have the baby. The right to decide, and privacy, after all, are two of the things Palin wants to deny every other woman, and every other family, in America. Palin's even said she would "choose life" if her daughter was pregnant from rape. Can't you just hear Bristol groaning, "Mo-om...!"

The Republicans bashed Barack Obama as a "celebrity," but now they've got a star of their own, so naturally the rules have changed. Nothing would suit them better than for the media to spend the next two months spellbound by the wacky carnival on ice that is the Palin family: Todd, aka the First Dude, the kids, Levi the hunky bad-boy dad-to-be--well, maybe not him so much after his expletive-adorned MySpace page briefly came to light ("I'm a fuckin' redneck"; "I don't want kids"--whoops). The snowmobiles, the moose burgers, the guns, the hair, the glasses that are flying off America's shelves (starting at $375 a pair, and she has seven). Fretting over the work/family issue alone should take up enough column inches to employ all the female journalists in America from now to next Mother's Day. And don't forget that op-ed staple, What Does This Mean for Feminism?

Well, I'm not playing. I don't care about Sarah Palin's family. I don't care if she's a good mother. I don't care if she's happily married, or who shops and who vacuums, or who takes care of the kids while both parents are at work. I don't want her recipe for caribou hot dogs, either. Life chez Sarah and Todd might make an adorable sitcom (Leave It to Jesus?) or a scathing tell-all a decade or so down the road (Governor Dearest?). Either way, so what? This is an election, not The View. As for feminism's meaning, what can you say after you've said that her career shows that even right-wing fundamentalist women have taken in feminism's message of empowerment and that's good, but that Palin's example suggests women can do it all without support from society and that's bad?

Count me as a feminist who never believed that being PTA president meant you could be, well, President. The more time we spend on dippy ruminations--how does she do it? Queen Bee on steroids or the hockey mom next door? how hot is Todd, anyway?--the less focus there will be on the kind of queries that should come first with any vice presidential candidate, and certainly would if Palin were a man. Questions like:

§ Suppose your 14-year-old daughter Willow is brutally raped in her bedroom by an intruder. She becomes pregnant and wants an abortion. Could you tell the parents of America why you think your child and their children should be forced by law to have their rapists' babies?

§ You say you don't believe global warming is man-made. Could you tell us what scientists you've spoken with or read who have led you to that conclusion? What do you think the 2,500 scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are getting wrong?

§ If you didn't try to fire Wasilla librarian Mary Ellen Baker over her refusal to consider censoring books, why did you try to fire her?

§ What is the European Union, and how does it function?

§ Forty-seven million Americans lack health insurance. John Goodman, who has advised McCain on healthcare, has proposed redefining them as covered because, he says, anyone can get care at an ER. Do you agree with him?

§ What is the function of the Federal Reserve?

§ Cindy and John McCain say you have experience in foreign affairs because Alaska is next to Russia. When did you last speak with Prime Minister Putin, and what did you talk about?

§ Approximately how old is the earth? Five thousand years? 10,000? 5 billion?

§ You are a big fan of President Bush, so why didn't you mention him even once in your convention speech?

§ McCain says cutting earmarks and waste will make up for revenues lost by making the tax cuts permanent. Experts say that won't wash. Balancing the Bush tax cuts plus new ones proposed by McCain would most likely mean cutting Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Which would you cut?

§ You're suing the federal government to have polar bears removed from the endangered species list, even as Alaska's northern coastal ice is melting and falling into the sea. Can you explain the science behind your decision?

§ You've suggested that God approves of the Iraq War and the Alaska pipeline. How do you know?"

Army Life

This was sent to me by DD who is an Army vet. It was originally written about Australian army life but applies worldwide.

"

FIELD LIFE (life on exercise in the bush simulating war)
Surround yourself with people who smoke like chimneys, drink like fish, bitch/whine/complain about EVERYTHING, and use foul language that would make a shearer blush.

Pack three days worth of clothes and toiletries. Live in your backyard for two weeks. Go into the house only once in those two weeks to shower. Dig a hole in your back yard and live in it. Allow no direct contact with your family. Your only means of communication should be with letters that your neighbours have held for at least three weeks, discarding two of five.

Every two days, fill in the hole, move to another part of the yard and dig another hole. Every time you are approximately half-way through digging the hole, have somebody come buy, compliment you on the fine hole you've dug and tell you to fill it in and dig it somewhere else.

Always dig a hole next to the hole you're living in. This is your toilet. Re-dig the hole every time your move your living hole. Fill in the old hole and mark it with a "Foul Ground" sign. Have somebody remove the sign while you're not looking. Dig in that exact space in 1 month's time.

Collect a jar-full of ants, dirt, various bugs and mosquito’s. Pour them down the back of your shirt.

Have week old fruit and vegetables delivered to your back yard and have your neighbour give you one per day until they all go rotten and have to be thrown out. Watch your neighbour eat as many as he wants, because he's on a “non-tactical” exercise.

If it doesn't rain, turn on the sprinklers.

If you're incredibly tired and fed-up one night, stand guard duty in your hole from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. Don't sleep at all that day, even though there's nothing to do.

Sleep for only twenty minutes at a time. No matter how tired you are. Even though there's nothing to do.

Cook your meals in your shaving mug. Eat everything cold. Buy food with instructions in Yiddish, so it never turns out how it should.

Eat everything in three minutes. After eating, sit around for two hours, glad you ate everything in 3 minutes.

Buy two rolls of toilet paper. Ensure one of these two rolls is wet all the time.

Run around your yard, periodically throwing yourself to the ground and crawling for at least 20 meters -- or smack your shins, knees and elbows with a hammer to gain the same effect.

For two days in a row, walk 10 kilometres without stopping. Wear a poorly fitting back pack with fifty-five kg of weight in it. Bitch and whine the whole way.

When making sandwiches, leave the bread out for six days, or until it is hard and stale. Alternatively, put grated carrot, pineapple and tomato on everything so your bread runs down your arm like a liquid.

Have one meal a week served to you floating in its own grease in a large cooler or similar insulated container. Serve coffee, juice and other beverages the same way.


GARRISON LIFE (life in the Barracks)
Surround yourself with people who smoke like chimneys, drink like fish, bitch/whine/complain about EVERYTHING, and use foul language that would make a shearer blush.

Wear only military uniforms. Even though nobody cares, clean and press one ceremonial uniform and wear it for 20 minutes on the whim of some crusty old guy who yells at you.

Ask for equipment or articles of clothing you really need, have somebody tell you that you're not entitled to it. Walk away without recourse.

Whenever you're bored, get drunk. (Be bored often)

Study the owner's manual for all household appliances. Routinely take an appliance apart, clean it and put it back together, even though it hasn't been used.

Start a project, any project. Have somebody continually stop by and make stupid suggestions to make the job "easier". Say "yes sir" and do it the way they told you to do it. After they leave, go back to doing it the right way.

Repaint your vehicle every month, whether it needs it or not.

Move every two years. Whether you want to or not. When you get to a place you really hate, stay there for fifteen years. When you get to a place you really love, pack up and move again within 6 months (or less)

Replace all your appliances and furniture with those which are outdated, in need of constant repair or dangerous to use. Do more with them than you would if they were new.

If you have nothing to do, clean something that doesn't need cleaning.


TRAINING ENVIRONMENT (learning establishments like recruit training and promotion courses)
Surround yourself with people who smoke like chimneys, drink like fish, bitch/whine/complain about EVERYTHING, and use foul language that would make a shearer blush.

Run. Run a lot. Run once in the morning, once at noon and once before supper.

Run at least five kilometres each time, pretending you really want to do this because you want to appear 'hard'.

Stand to attention in a parking lot in the hot sun for five hours, or until you pass out and fall face first into the asphalt. Have somebody yell at you the entire time. Have this same person nitpick at you incessantly and then fine you $650.00 and confine you to your room for a week, coming out only to go to the bathroom, shower, eat and march with a pack on in your free time.

Have somebody yell at you every time you're stupid enough go outside without a hat on, slouch, or put your hands in your pockets.

Cut your hair weekly, making it shorter each time, until you look bald or look like you lost a fight with a demented sheep shearer.

Give yourself twenty minutes less than you need for lunch. Eat so fast you don't taste the food.

Clean and shine everything to perfection. Have somebody yell at you and call you a filthy pig. Pretend to clean and shine everything to perfection again (changing nothing), Have the same person inspect it and say "good turnout".


INTERACTION WITH CIVILIANS (pretty self explanatory)
Leave the people behind who smoke like chimneys, drink like fish, bitch/whine/complain about EVERYTHING, and use foul language that would make a shearer blush.

Whenever civilians say or do anything stupid (it happens a lot) shake your head and mutter in your most contemptuous/condescending voice; "f......g civvies".

Use copious amounts of acronyms, NEVER explain them. When asked to explain shake your head and mutter in your most contemptuous/condescending voice; "f......g civvies".

Have other people say ridiculously stupid things to you like: "you don't pay taxes, do you?", "you get free housing", "man, you must get paid a lot". Shake your head and mutter in your most contemptuous/condescending voice; "f......g civvies".

*ROFL, I have been a civvie for sometime now and I still say "f**king civvies" under my breath on a regular basis!*"

More Republican dumbassery

Check this out:

Michigan Messenger


"The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP's effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.

"We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren't voting from those addresses," party chairman James Carabelli told Michigan Messenger in a telephone interview earlier this week."

You dishonorable jerks! You meretricious, scandalous, vile ugly-mongers! Will you sift through a let your registered Republicans with foreclosed homes vote?

There is the point that just because someone is in foreclosure, it doesn't mean that the property in that process is no longer the person's legal residence. Sometimes if a bank or mortgage company can't sell the property they let the residents stay. Sometimes a person in foreclosure proceedings has worked out an agreement with their lender. It can take a month, sometimes more, for a sheriff's sale to proceed.

Part of the problem is that many of those who are being targeted by this caging won't understand what they need to do to prove that the foreclosed property is still their legal residence.

I really don't think we need another Republican in office. Anywhere. Not local. Not county. Not state. Not national. No Way.

Some thoughts on rules& (WIP)

In regards to the previous post....

I grew up in a small town where things were not explained, they just were. At each stage of your life there were unspoken societal expectations of every aspect of behavior, right down to personality.

Children were allowed to be children because, after all, they were too young to "know better." That isn't to say there were not absolute standards and expectations in place. There were. Better have mercy on the kid that swore, even something as harmless as "fart." If a kid dared ask about subjects that, by implication, called adult's absolute authority and expectations into question? Might as well kiss your ass goodbye, kid, you're done for.

By the time adolescence was well in sight, the rules, expectations, and behavioral standards were becoming a heavy burden. Manifested in the school dress code, such things as proper and modest apparel, proper application of makeup, proper classes to take, proper demeanor with classmates and faculty, proper "sportsmanship," were all unspoken requirements of small-town society. Not codified, not in written form, but absolute just the same.

For adults, a proper public persona was absolutely vital, especially for those in business.* As long as the persona was preserved, the fiction could be maintained. This was true, in particular, for females.

Women and young women were held to a standard that was well-nigh impossible to achieve without shutting the mind and logical facilities off completely. Things simply were the way they were and it was not necessary to ask why they were that way. The unspoken rules were obeyed for no other reason than they were the rules.

This has always confused me. If there is no good reason for making sure you don't show your knees when you sit down in church, why is the rule in place? Does God care? If showing your knees is disrespectful, who is being disrespected? Your neighbor in the pew? The pastor? The choir? Who? Same thing applies to gloves and hats. It didn't make any sense to me then and makes no sense to me now.

Hard and fast rules of "modesty" were also strictly enforced. No cleavage, no short skirts, no spike heels, no pierced ears, no large jewelry, no flashy hairstyle or colors, no bright red lipstick... (mind you, there were very few expectations of males) I can't say I consider some of that stuff to be in very good taste but that begs the question as to why? Why no cleavage? OK, it offends some female who hasn't got any? It inflames those poor, foolish males beyond rationality? If someone wants to wear bright red lipstick, spike heeled shoes and have 2 inch, painted fingernails, what business is it of anyone else? Just because I don't like how it looks is not a good enough reason to tell someone they aren't suppose to like it themselves. Same thing applies to anyone else who objects. Just because YOU don't like it, for whatever reason and as a general rule you don't actually know why, doesn't mean that person shouldn't do or wear what they want. It isn't as if they are yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre, is it? That old lady from town who wears animal prints, gold mylar, sprayed-on makeup, dyed beehive hair, and all that stuff is certainly free to do that, even though I think she looks like an idiot. That doesn't mean she's wrong, it just means that what I think personally.

There must be some agreement on rules of behavior. It is the only way a society can function. The problem comes when that society goes beyond the main guidelines of public safety and begins the policing of people's personal choices in nonessentials. A responsible adult isn't likely to incite riot just for the hell of it. A responsible adult isn't going to drive like a total madman for his sake as much as every one else's. Closing off options, personal freedoms, in the name of lockstep conformity is one hallmark of a degraded and dying culture. I, for instance, choose not to swear in front of my elders (in most situations,) or in front of minors. That does not mean that I'm going to berate someone who does so.**

I don't know how all the expectations evolved and I don't suppose I ever really will. What I can state, unequivocally, is that it takes many, many years to work through those rules that were ingrained. They are somewhere down there, under the layer of conscious thought. They nag, murmur, and chatter in the quiet places of the mind. "you should wash the windows." "you can't go out in sweats." "ladies don't swear." "the house must always be spotless." "go to church." The list seems to be almost endless. The list also seems to have absolutely no point except that of mindless conformity.



& also called "life's terms of service."
* The "lower classes" (don't yell at me, that was the unspoken label) were not expected to uphold the same standard of public behavior. They could go to bars for hours, dress sloppily, drink or smoke to excess, and nobody expected anything other than that.
** I should clarify that we do have some expectations of words. Himself is famous for dropping the eff-bomb with frequency. He is working on it, though, by his own choice. It really doesn't bother me but he feels, as a personal choice, that he isn't right to use it so frequently. There are some words that carry a heavy emotional weight that we absolutely do not use in any context.

Nothing make me want to break the rules more than this kind of thing:

From a website I used to frequent...

[quote][quote]I went to the library the other day and do you know that every kid on the computer had it on ****? not!!! if I was a kid (and somtimes I am) I would be on facebook,myspace,cartoonnetwork and or nickelodeon not a **** site with a forum call "****" I mean do kids frequent "****" where mostly adults go to converse and mingle? (I don't think so) how about a forum for kids. you can call it ***kids. and I bet they would be more out of line than this forum.[/quote]

It does not matter, the rules are the rules.[/quote]

That's like waving a flag in front of a maddened bull...

Sorry, folks, I am a diehard miscreant, tortfeasor and general all-around rebel. It pisses me off when someone says, "It does not matter, the rules are the rules." Great logic, there, dude. I have battled against that kind of obfuscated fuzzy thing since childhood. Just because "it;s the rules" or "that's the way it is" doesn't mean there is any reason for it. Give Me A Logical Reason!!!

OK, no adult content. That's fine but it is not clear what is considered "adult content." What? Give me some clear boundaries. Not like I'm likely to post anything lewd or whatall anyway, but the question about definition is valid.

OK, no political topics. God, no. Not there. If I'm going to post something political I will do it someplace where I would get a good debate or, at the very least, some intelligent replies.*

It has become impossible to carry on anything that resembles an intelligent conversation at that site. Their TOS have become restrictive to the point of being draconian. For instance, claiming copyright on recipes. The only copyright (at least to my knowledge) that applies to recipes is a text introduction and the specific procedures and there is some considerable debate about that. For the site to "claim" recipes is just stupid. But, and here's a BIG rub, to use the site you must agree to the TOS which includes this:

BY ACCESSING AND/OR USING THE WEBSITE (OTHER THAN TO READ THESE TERMS OF USE FOR THE FIRST TIME) YOU ARE AGREEING TO COMPLY WITH THESE TERMS OF USE, WHICH MAY CHANGE FROM TIME TO TIME AS SET FORTH IN SECTION 18 BELOW. THESE TERMS OF USE REQUIRE YOU TO AGREE TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES RATHER THAN GOING TO COURT, GRANT US CERTAIN RIGHTS AND LICENSES, PROVIDE US CERTAIN INDEMNITIES, WAIVE CERTAIN OF YOUR RIGHTS AND REMEDIES, AND LIMIT OUR LIABILITY AND OBLIGATIONS TO YOU. READ THEM CAREFULLY AND DO NOT USE THE SITE OR PURCHASE OUR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES IF YOU DO NOT AGREE.

It goes on, though....

The Website and included content (and any derivative works or enhancements of the same) including, but not limited to, all text, illustrations, files, images, software, scripts, graphics, photos, sounds, music, videos, information, content, materials, products, services, URLs, technology, documentation, and interactive features (collectively, the "Website Content") and all intellectual property rights to the same are owned by us, our licensors, or both. Additionally, all trademarks, service marks, trade names and trade dress that may appear on the Website are owned by us, our licensors, or both. Except for the limited use rights granted to you in these Terms of Use, you shall not acquire any right, title or interest in the Website or any Website Content. Any rights not expressly granted in these Terms of Use are expressly reserved.

Nobody has attempted, up to this point, to dispute the discrepancy between the long-held legal opinion that, unless a photographer or originator, signs over copyright to a third party, that original material belongs, in perpetuity, to the original artist and the site owners "claim" to all those materials.**

I, for one, will not stop using my own photographs and text content for my own purposes. I suppose there will be a lawsuit filed by the site owners some time in future, but by that time I will be long gone.

Further, any site that feels it necessary to impose truly bizarre and legalistic TOS conditions on members is swatting flies with an M1 Abrams tank cannon.

Not only do I object strenuously to "waiving certain of my rights,"*** I remain a rebel and here's a big bronx cheer for you, ******* ********:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PPPPPPPPPPPPPP~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



* This is NOT to say that everyone posting there is a moron. Only a large percent are morons.
** The site is owned by a huge multinational entity so taking them to court would do nothing but bankrupt the plaintiff.
*** To those who would say, "You knew what the TOS were when you signed up. If you don't like them you are free to leave." I say, "I was a paid member of that site long before those TOS were put into effect. I have MY content here, MY text, it's MINE, not theirs. I object to your mindless natterings more than you can possibly imagine. Anyone who claims to be an intelligent adult shouldn't be putting forth stupid non-arguments like that. You can bend over and clutch your ankles, I won't. Not for you and not for them."

Did you say dumbassery?

Honestly, and these people expect us to VOTE for them?



Speechless, just speechless.

More obfuscations by the veep nominee

Interesting story, indeed...

Phone interview Tuesday

Well, everyone, wish me luck! I have a phone interview the 9th at 2:20 central time.

This is for a customer service telecommuting position. Will work 5 days a week for 4 hours a day, including alternating Saturdays and Sundays. This position will last until the project is done which may be after the beginning of the new year. Hours are likely to be 9 to 1 or 1 to 5, will see.

I opted out of some things I could have done. Didn't want to go back into the "real world" and deal with commuting, clothing costs, dry cleaning, stress of interoffice politicking and so forth.

I don't think this will be an easy job, either. CS work is stressful and fast-paced. It takes problem solving, patience and an ability to defuse potentially messy situations. I have passed a whole battery of pre-testing and am hoping for the best. I will be judged on my voice, presentation of myself as able and willing and knowledgeable. My only concern is presenting myself as being an asset to the company. Then there is the fact that I haven't been out in the real world for 7 years...

Will keep everyone up on how this goes.

crossing fingers!

Well, well, well....

Imagine ole Meggie being a Republicrat bigwig...

"Former eBay chief Meg Whitman is one of the fastest-rising stars in the GOP universe, and her stature as national co-chair for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign was highlighted Wednesday with her speech on economic reform at the Republican National Convention.

Whitman, who lives in Atherton, regularly travels with the campaign and has done nothing to discourage talk that she's interested in running for governor of California in 2010. But a year ago, Whitman was a decline-to-state voter who hadn't cast a ballot in some of the state's most important elections.

Records from San Mateo County show that the billionaire businesswoman became a Republican last September and did not vote in more than half the federal, state and local elections since she registered to vote in the county in September 2002. "

Whole story here.

IMO, considering the fact that she seems to be a greedy opportunist she fits in very nicely with her choice of political parties.

bills bills bills

Since Himself changed jobs (they held his first check for 2 weeks,) I have been juggling bills. It will take me a while to get caught up, too.

It's not that he wasn't making any money but paying for registration for the vehicles was much more expensive this year than last, then school expenses, then fixing my car... etc etc etc.

I am hoping to be up to speed by the end of this month, when we get whomped by property taxes. (Which have also gone up. Again.)

I spoke to a customer service person at the cell phone company and she said she has been dealing with people who have lost jobs, their homes, all kinds of horror stories. Makes me darned thankful that we own our home and Himself has a steady job.

As the csr says, "It's not a matter of waiting for the storm to pass. It's a matter of learning to dance in the rain."

She is so right!

stamps stamps stamps stamps stamps stamps

OK, I have stamps. As a matter of fact I have thousands of stamps. Thousands and thousands and thousands...

Some of the stamps are in albums.

Some of the stamps are in notebooks.

Some of the stamps are in boxes.

Some of the stamps are in envelopes.

Some of the stamps are just laying around loose.

What am I supposed to DO with all these stamps?

I have contacted several national philatelic organizations and nobody wants anything to do with any of this mess. There is simply too much, too many...

My Dad collected stamps his whole 93 years and he inherited a bunch of them from other family members. Now I have the whole lot and don't know what to do with any of them. I suppose stamps fascinate some people but they don't do a thing for me.

I'm trying to get rid of stuffage around here but keep running into this kind of problem. What is it? What do I do with it? Is it worth anything? Would someone want it?

If anyone knows a kindly philatelist who would like some stamps, you know where to find me.

mercy...