March 2003, Week 3

(I am trying a new format, I am putting all my political bile at the bottom of the page, if you are interested, be my guest, if you aren't... just shine it on)

Monday March 10 , 2003

My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can. That's almost $21.00 in dog money.
Joe Weinstein

Autumn is home sick with me, Christy went to Corona with Bonnie. Christy bought gas, $2.079 at Shell... she spent the extra money to take advantage of the Carwash... the SOB's upped the price of a carwash too... I have no idea what their motive for that was but it sure looks like they are twisting the screws... our gas prices are $.40 - $.60 higher than the National average [according to AAA].
 

Tuesday March 11 , 2003

Any fine morning, a power saw can fell a tree that took a thousand years to grow.
Edwin Way Teale, naturalist and author (1899-1980)

Nothing but bile today, I guess something really set me off... Autumn was sick and I didn't feel so damn fine either...
 

Wednesday March 12 , 2003

If you don’t think every day is a good day, just try missing one.

I have had a bad day, any day that isn't improved by walking out of the Dentist's office has got to be a real bummer... I got to the Dentist's office at 10:07 thinking I was seven minutes late, in reality I was one hour early... the little girl at the desk didn't bother to inform me so I was getting sort of impatient. I asked, "What time was my appointment for?" She looked at her book and said "11:00" ... crap. I got into the chair, my tooth was starting to hurt again so I took another Motrin, the little girl popped off the temporary cap and my tooth which hurt like hell and then she touched the tooth with a probe to remove some of the glue and I went through the ceiling, Marvin came in and gave me a couple of Novocain shots and I felt better in a few  minutes. He put on the cap, took it off and ground away put the crown on and took it off and worked on the tooth some more for about 35 minutes and finally said, we're going to have to re-do it... crap...  so at 1215 I finally left the office and I was back to square one... damn.

Christy went to a board meeting at the school where Calie and Christian go... she wasn't gone 10 minutes and Autumn poured milk on Christian and Christian went ballistic... Autumn had kicked Monica in the head and Monica went ballistic... they went too far and said stuff that really upset me and I went ballistic. "B" tried to add his two cents and punched Calie, I got in his face and he stormed out of the house... He went down the hill and fell asleep... I couldn't find him for about two and a half hours.

Tomorrow's another day...

Thursday March 13 , 2003

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it.

A picture is worth a 1000 words.... George is getting richer and richer... thanks George. Four little words "IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID"

Christy is teaching and taking Sandy to the County Hospital... She hopes to be able to pick her up again after teaching - get her back here and get back to Lancaster in time to get the lids. Today is a Teachers Seminar for the Acton Agua Dulce School System and all the Acton kids (Cindy, Monica and Autumn) stay home.

I took the kids down to McD's and to Wal-Mart then to the Bike shop, I saw a very nice bike, Suzuki 750 Katana... only 3600 miles

e-mail from Simon's Mom... very cool

I was just doing a search and your e-mail address came up.  Your kind words about them and best wishes struck me as so kind.  So much so that I have them printed out in front of me - I also liked your website - very interesting reading, so will be coming back to it.

Yours sincerely,
With Love
Valerie Newbound
Simons mother.

All the kids are in school, Christy is teaching, first day I have been alone since... I don't remember. Went looking at motorcycles, I am beginning to think I am too impulsive... I need to be a little more discriminating and really focus on getting what I want and not what looks good on the show room floor.

I went to the ROF had a good time, more girls than boys this time, I think that's a first ... I drank too much Iced Tea and had a hard time sleeping. Monica woke us up several times, her asthma is back... she doesn't feel well.

Friday March 14 , 2003

I got some pictures in the mail of the Shuttle blowing up, the e-mail said they were taken by an Israeli satellite I was suspicious because I have seen tons of pictures taken of the shuttle breaking up on re entry and none of the shuttle exploding in orbit... sure enough, look here.  Shuttle Pictures: Hoax

Christy took Monica to the Dr., she had an asthma treatment and got some medication for her eczema  

Mike has a dance tonight from 21:00 till 23:00 he bought a ticket, put the ticket in his wallet and lost the wallet...

I got frustrated with IE because the History log was not working and switched to Netscape and after using it for 5 days I deleted it... Netscape appears to have been overly influenced by AOL... it is so flagrantly commercialized it takes a lot of concentration to wade through all the ads. So I got desperate and I deleted the entire History log in IE, I hated doing that but as soon as I did it started working again... I must have exceeded some sort of limitation on size or something.

I went out and got the Suzuki... Pretty painless operation, I had a little trepidation about buying this one because it is a pretty radical departure from the bike I was riding. I was actually looking at a Honda 800VFR but I couldn't make a deal. I needn't have worried, it is an excellent handling bike and it really flies... It has been a long time since I have ridden anything that accelerates like this in a long time. I have ridden similar bikes before and it takes a little conditioning. There is more pressure on the arms and shoulders especially in town and traffic but at speed the forward lean of your body lets you sort of float on the air, it's actually quite comfortable.

I took Mike to his dance, there were two girls coming out and told him not to bother, "There was hardly  anyone there and the music sucked." He went in anyway and had a good time. I went to a movie and then came back and picked him up and took him to Mark's.

Just heard a fella on the radio say; "Dick Clark is so old that in a former life he was Dick Clark"

I saw "Hunter", I liked it, it was odd, and there was no character involvement for me. The director never really gave me enough information to find a reason to care about anyone in the movie... but the action sequences were excellent and the attention to detail was first rate.

Saturday March 15 , 2003

It's raining pretty hard... finally, the storm hit at about 0400, it was supposed to arrive yesterday afternoon.

Sunday March 16 , 2003

Two e-rumors today, both "Oldies but goodies" The one demonizing Madelyn Murry O'Hair (They called her Madeline Murry O'hare in the e-mail) and the one about never dialing 809, 284 & 876:

I won't bother you with all the details you can find information on these at any of the hoax-buster sites.

Example:

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/madelynmurrayohair-touched.htm

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/area809.htm

I got Mike to his Community Service, it seemed to take the PO an awful long time to get the lids into the vans... don't know what the trouble was.

"B" is upset, I told him I would take him out to buy him something at McDonalds... if the house was cleaned... He spent about 5 minutes cleaning off the dining room table and deemed his contribution to the cause then got angry at me for not taking him out that very minute...

I was listening to a lady who called a radio pastor. The pastor was a wise, grandfatherly gentleman who has that calm reassuring voice that can melt all fear. The lady, who was obviously crying, said, "Pastor, I was born blind, and I've been blind all my life. I don't mind being blind but I have some well meaning friends who tell me that if I had more faith I could be healed."

The pastor asked her, "Tell me, do you carry one of those white canes?"

"Yes I do," she replied.

"Then the next time someone says that hit them over the head with the cane," He said. "Then tell them 'If you had more faith that wouldn't hurt!'"

Monday March 10 , 2003

How much more is this country going to take before we get our heads out of our butts and start to see what's going on. Damn, the Economy is in the toilet... and it's George Walker Bush that put it there. The conservatives are going to say it was "All that damn Clinton's Fault." And, to be sure, they are right to some extent, in that the stupid jerk spent half his Presidential Career digging himself out of one dim-witted debacle after another and not enough time seeing what was happening in the business world.... but Bush has made every wrong move conceivable from deficit spending to bribing countries to support his Holy War. To stonewalling while ENRON and the rest raped their investors and employees, to ... aw hell... you've heard it all before and the folks that think the way I do will still say "Right On" and the folks that think I am a traitor to "the American way" will curse me to the Eternal Fires of Hell, they will never change their minds. GW can put on a KKK robe and snort Cocaine on CBS Nightly News and they will still kiss his ass.
 

Tuesday March 11 , 2003

Polls say Bush's Holy War has support from 3/4 of the population of the United States... of course it doesn't say what the questions were or which demographic was polled... but they rarely do. Interestingly, at the end of the article there were several other revelations that weren't suggested in the headline though...

The president's diminished political standing was suggested in an Ipsos-Reid poll done for the Cook Political Report. His overall job approval was at 53 percent, down from 65 percent in the early fall. His job approval was at 56 percent in the CBS-Times poll. His job approval has been in the low to mid-50s in several recent polls, near the levels it was before Sept. 11, 2001.
Only four in 10 in the Ipsos-Reid poll, 39 percent, said they would definitely vote to re-elect Bush, while 34 percent said they would definitely vote for someone else. A year ago, 54 percent said they would definitely vote for Bush while 20 percent wanted someone else.

Excellent article by Margolis today... America seems to be able to preach Democracy but it also appears to be incapable or unwilling to practice it on the World scene. America loved the UN when it supported them against Russia in the Cold War, was content to let the UN go it alone in Bosnia and Africa and bashes it when it won't support Bush's War in the Security Council. Instead of presenting a reasonable argument to support his War to rebut France's eloquent arguments to wait. He rants and raves and threatens... his reaction to Turkey was crude, insulting and embarrassing. Bush's brand of "My way or the Highway" diplomacy is going to come back to haunt all of America someday. His unrelenting, bullying, low-brow, attacks on anyone who opposes him defiles the office he sits in and the country he represents. He is acting like a man who believes he is on a mission from God. He may very well be the instrument for bringing about the apocalypse.

French bashing is becoming a little crazy. America loved France when she bailed us out in the Revolutionary War. We loved France when it supported us in the Cold War. France had lost 1.4 million men in WWI fighting an attack by Germany that no one expected, they were about as prepared as Brazil would be if America attacked it today. When WWII came around they had no real Army to throw against the might of Germany, If Germany had attacked us we would not have survived either... France lost another 600,000 men mostly old men and boys and still America didn't join the fight, America didn't get involved until after Pearl Harbor and after Russia destroyed 100 German Divisions. Germany put up a hell of a fight and we lost a lot of guys but France was decimated. Europe knows about War... War is horror, would Bush be as adamant about the righteous of this massacre if Iraq posed a real threat? Like Korea... or China. There will be no honor in annihilating Iraq any more than there was in Grenada or Panama. It's a no-win situation. Lest someone think I don't support the kids in the military, I do I always will, I don't support their leaders... I am against anyone that that supports this War until I am convinced that Iraq is an immediate threat... Saddam is a threat to his people... his people will take care of him eventually.

Wednesday March 12 , 2003

It seems like every thing I read on the Net today upset me and so did several e-mails... someone sent me a "Have you forgotten 9-11!!!" e-mail about how dare anyone be against the war with Iraq, we have to stop those damn terrorists ... uh... excuse me... Iraq didn't destroy the WTC... after almost 2 years the bottom line is that we think we know the names of the men that perpetrated the attack... and we think that none of them were Iraqi... we think that they were members of a splitter group trained by Al Qaida. We think that the money to finance the operation came from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan... We have spent Billions, killed thousands, wiped out Afghanistan, Alienated 80% of the world and we don't know a damn thing. ...but wiping out another defenseless country will fix the problem and make America safe again... what a bunch of bullshit.  I also received  something called "Charlie Daniels Open Letter to the Hollywood Bunch" Charlie wrapped himself in the American Flag again and sent out a diatribe against Sean Penn and Barbra Streisand saying he wouldn't go see any more of their movies... Sean Penn went to Iraq... he talked about what he saw there... Charlie Daniels watched Fox TV and decided that he was sufficiently informed to pass judgment... This is America god damn it... we are allowed to form our own opinions as long as we don't yell "Fire" in a public building when there is no fire, as long as we don't incite to riot we can say any damn thing we want. It is possible to love America and protest what you believe to be unjust... Charlie can say what ever he wants, so can Sean Penn... so can I. I even got two more French Bashing e-mails...

Thursday March 13 , 2003

I read (A report on) George Bush Senior's speech today... it is the most encouraging breath of sanity I have heard in 2 years from the Bush Family... WOW. At the other end of the spectrum, I read John McCain's OP-ED column in the New York Times... to think I would have voted for that guy... Some of the lamest arguments I have ever heard for going to war;

"...critics also object because our weapons do not discriminate between combatants and noncombatants. Did the much less discriminating bombs dropped on Berlin and Tokyo in World War II make that conflict unjust?"

Can it be that he is unable to distinguish between countries that were actively attacking us and our allies and a country that has been soundly defeated for 12 years with no viable Military force, a virtually non existent air force and no Navy. That has not attacked us or any of our allies. If Iraq attacks, wipe 'em out, if they don't, investigate, isolate... do what ever... why kill people?

 Iraq May Try to Jam Satellite Feeds CIA - Iraq doesn't have the technology, and the CIA says it would have no affect because there are backup systems of the backup systems.

Warns of al-Qaida Plot on U.S. Forces - No names places dates or any details what so ever.

Iraqi Drone could spread chemical Weapons... Drone is made of Balsa wood and Duct Tape and powered by Weed Whacker motors. It's an RC plane that has a range of about 5 miles... do you feel threatened?

Terrorist Threat Level raised to Orange - some wing-nut in Canada trying to get out of trouble told stories and gave Ashcroft an excuse to raise the anxiety level.

U.S. May Revise Draft Resolution on Iraq

Keep the populace in a heightened sense of fear... damn... Goebbels had the same philosophy:

Josef Goebbels, quoted in L.P. Lochner, ed., The Goebbels Diaries (London, 1948), p. 22: "[T]he rank and file are usually much more primitive than we imagine. Propaganda must therefore always be essentially simple and repetitive. In the long run basic results in influencing public opinion will be achieved only by the man who is able to reduce problems to the simplest terms and who has the courage to keep forever repeating them in this simplified form, despite the objections of the intellectuals."

Weapons of mass destruction - Terrorists - Saddam is Evil - War is inevitable - Weapons of mass destruction - Terrorists - Saddam is Evil - War is inevitable - Weapons of mass destruction - Terrorists - Saddam is Evil - War is inevitable - Weapons of mass destruction - Terrorists - Saddam is Evil - War is inevitable -

 

Friday March 14 , 2003

I tried to transcribe a personal commentary by Peter Freundlich that I heard on "All Things Considered" I call it:

"Alice in Washington"

We are preparing to Ignore the United Nations in order to make clear to Saddam Hussein that the United Nations can not be ignored.

We're going to wage war to preserve the UN's ability to Avert War.

The paramount principal is that the UN's word must be taken seriously and if we have to subvert it's word to guarantee that it is, then by gum we will. Peace is too important not to take up arms to defend.

Further, if the only way to bring democracy to Iraq is to vitiate¹ the democracy of the Security Council then we are honor bound to do that too because, Democracy as we define it is too important to be stopped by a little thing such as democracy as they define it.

Also, in dealing with a man who brooks no dissention at home we can not afford dissention among ourselves, we must speak with one voice against Saddam Hussein's failure to allow opposing voices to be heard.

We are sending our gathered might to the Persian Gulf to make the point the might does not make right as Saddam Hussein seems to think it does, and we are twisting the arms of the opposition until it agrees to let us oust a regime that twists the arms of the opposition. We can not leave in power a dictator who ignores his own people. And if our people and people elsewhere in the world fail to understand that than we have no choice but to ignore them.

I think that it is a good thing that members of the Bush Administration have been reading Lewis Carroll, I only wish that someone had pointed out that Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass are meditations on paradox, and puzzle and illogic and on the strangeness of things... not templates for Foreign Policy. It is amusing for someone like the Mad Hatter to say something like "We must make war on him because he is a threat to peace"; but not so amusing for someone who actually commands an army to say that.

¹I had to look this one up:

vi·ti·ate   (vsh-t)
tr.v. vi·ti·at·ed, vi·ti·at·ing, vi·ti·ates

1. To reduce the value or impair the quality of.
2. To corrupt morally; debase.
3. To make ineffective; invalidate. See Synonyms at corrupt.

[Latin vitire, vitit-, from vitium, fault.]

viti·a·ble (vsh--bl) adj.
viti·ation n.
viti·ator n.

 

Saturday March 15 , 2003

An interesting coincidence, Doonesbury is pretty much paralleling the remarks made above... I put all the cartoons together here...[Doonsbury] The page is pretty big so it will take over a minute to open.

I decided to try to find out a little more about the man who wrote the "Alice in Washington" commentary above I couldn't find a Biography but I found this:

"As the son of a woman who was changed forever by her time in a concentration camp, I am wary of flags, wary of national pride, wary, frankly of god. Six days out of seven, I am an atheist. On the seventh day, I am an agnostic.

I believe in holy writ in any language because I believe in poetry, and the power of myth and allegory to express idea that ordinary narrative cannot express. But organized religion makes my chest tighten.

I freely grant it produces more figures like Mother Teresa and Saint Francis than it does Torquemadas and Hitlers and Osama bin Ladens, but I fear the scars left behind by the latter are beyond the healing balm of the former. Between Crusades, jihads and pogroms, the great religions have muddled their missions - and their messages - in ways that are impossible to explain away"

- Peter Freundlich, Washington Post, October 7, 2001

Just as a personal note/ observation. while searching for information on him I noticed a site that deemed him to be Anti-Israel because he wrote a piece about the walls going up on the West Bank.

July 1, 2002
The Wall=
Writer Peter Freundlich reflects on the despair beyond the notion of Israel
building a wall along the West Bank. Freundlich points to the history of
walls, and the sad irony of a people once terribly walled in who now must
resort to a wall. (3:00) (VERY DEMEANING TO ISRAEL)
 

I read more.. and it became obvious, to me at least, that the site was putting a rant on anything that even remotely disagreed with the precept that Israel can do no wrong and even the truth is unacceptable if it sheds a bad light on Israel. I have seen it here in America too, "America Right or Wrong!", "America, Love it or Leave It", "You are either with us or you are against us."

I think Israel had an opportunity to take the high road and could have resolved this 15 years ago. I think that people like this who keep the anger and emotions high, and refuse to believe that what Israel is doing is actually making things worse. They are pushing the Palestinians into a corner and even a cornered mouse will defend himself... at the rate they are going they will have to kill every man woman and child in Palestine and then hunt down all their relatives where ever they are in the world and then prepare to defend themselves from every Muslim in the world. What Israel is doing is just as insane as what the Palestinians "Freedom Fighters" are doing. If you were Palestinian, and you had never raised a finger against the Israelis but you had no work, you had no money, your homeland was being systematically bulldozed, your neighbors were being killed, your family members had been beaten and killed... would you fight back? If your son was killed by an Israeli soldier for throwing rocks are you going to be any more impassioned than if you were an Israeli and your son killed was by an Palestinian sniper? It's crazy... both sides are using the different tactics but the results are the same. I doubt that even if both sides backed down today that the violence would end, too many atrocities on both sides... to many dead children and mothers and fathers... how do you forgive anyone for that.