News Quickies

• Former Iraq POW Jessica Lynch is pregnant.  She and her boyfriend, Wes Robinson, are expecting their first child in January. (CNN.com)
• 43% of Americans believe the United States is now safer from terrorism than it was before September 11, 2001.  25% believe it is less safe.  Over half believe that an act of terrorism will likely happen in the US in the next few weeks, over half believe that the federal government is unprepared for any terrorist attack targeting any U.S. town or city, and over half believe that the federal government is unprepared to deal with the damage from a terrorist attack.  Plus, over 50% believe that the U.S.-led war in Iraq has made the country less safe from terrorism and almost 60% believe that the U.S.-led war in Iraq has made the world less safe from terrorism. (CNN.com)
• British budget airline Ryanair filed a £3m compensation claim against the British government yesterday due to losses from the new airport security restrictions incorporated two weeks ago that still are resulting in lines so long that they have “spillover tents” outside of two of the terminals. (Guardian Unlimited)
• “Research in 56 countries found that rates of asthma, hayfever and eczema increased more often than they decreased between 1991 and 2003.” (Guardian Unlimited)
• A geography teacher was placed on paid administrative on the second day of school for hanging several flags from other countries in his classroom.  Apparently, a Colorado law that makes it illegal to display foreign flags permanently in schools.  How stupid is that?  Why is that law even necessary? (TheDenverChannel.com)

Tags: Jessica Lynch, 9/11, terrorism, Iraq, Ryanair, airport security, stupid laws

This Is Airport Security?

O.K. Really I’ve been trying not to comment on the “Terror in the Sky” thing — this is the name Fox News has given the latest terrorist plot the U.K. foiled as of yesterday. I’ve been waiting for more facts to unfold before jumping to any conclusions or opinions, though I will admit that I have had my moments of cynicism like any self-professed liberal.

However, the obsurdity that this post points out…just couldn’t go by without comment.

O.K. I get that for security reasons the U.S. and the U.K. wants to ban liquids and gel-like substances on airplanes because the terrorst plot was to mix substances that could then become explosive. That makes sense though it doesn’t make me all too thrilled — as a slightish germaphobe, I like having my own little bottle of familiar diet soda in my backpack, which I’ve always happily put through the x-ray machine and I prefer to carry a small bottle of that hand gel stuff for germ killing and since my luggage is usually lost, I like bringing my toothpaste, but I’m really kind of o.k. with leaving that stuff at home for national security.

However, apparently, security in some locations has been having people not only throw away their liquid items but pour them out into trash cans… mixing the liquids with other liquids other people have already poured out.

Does anyone else see a problem with this?

I mean, if the liquids are too dangerous to bring on airplanes packed with people because if they’re potentially explosive when mixed with other liquids… how safe is it to be mixing them in a trash can in an airport packed with people?

Is this really logical? I mean, hello?!

Tags: terrorism, National Security, airport security, stupidity

Open Letter To Congress

Dear Congress,

The United States has more people in prison than any other country. We’re in debt nearly 9 trillion dollars. We have the second worst newborn death rate in the modern world. 2/3rds of young Americans can’t find Iraq on a map. The dollar is falling, falling, falling. Iraq is a mess. Our 15 year olds rank 24 out of 38 in mathematics and 26 of 38 in problem solving. We’re the fattest nation in the world! Hello, Iran? The number of uninsured Americans continues to rise. We haven’t found Osama bin Laden.. and yet,Congress is focusing its power and efforts on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Seriously?

And you wonder why the vast majority of Americans disapprove of the job you’re doing. [“Dear Congress” (Audacity)]

More

Tags: Congress, Iraq, Gay Rights, Iran, Osama bin Laden, national debt, stupid

Only Terrorists Are Financially Responsible

Well, it’s long been joked that credit card debt is the real American Dream just like Mom and Apple Pie. The government must think there’s some truth to it because apparently if you pay off or even just down your credit card debt, it sets off alarms in Homeland Security. Yup. You don’t have to even try to carry a lighter on the airplane or use your cel phone to call the “wrong” person overseas. All you have to do is try to be a responsible adult and Homeland Security could be investigating you, holding your bank account hostage, looking into your every little charge whether it’s at Publix or Fredrick’s or the place that mails you things in the brown packaging.

Feel safe yet?

(Hat Tip to All Spin Zone)

Tags: Terrorists, Homeland Security, stupidity

Is “Refugee” A Bad Word?

One of my co-workers was telling me that another co-worker (the one who is all into the conspiracy of black box voting fraud) had a complete meltdown Wednesday night when the first co-worker called the Katrina Victims “Refugees”. The second co-worker said that it is equivalent to calling a person “nigger”.

This is the first I’d heard of this particular comparrison. Is “refugee” a bad word?

Well, I knew that some people objected to using “refugee” to describe Katrina Victims because normally when you think of refugees, they are people in or from other countries, usually third world countries and certainly not super-power countries.

So, I looked it up and according to dictionary.com:

refugee

One who flees in search of refuge, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution.

an individual seeking refuge or asylum; especially : an individual who has left his or her native country and is unwilling or unable to return to it because of persecution or fear of persecution (as because of race, religion, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion)

an exile who flees for safety

So, “refugee” isn’t actually the appropriate word for this situation, I think. No one was at war on the Gulf Coast, there’s no political oppression (wheren’t they red states?), and no religious persecution. While they fled to safety, they were not actually exiles. So it’s technically better to use “victim” which to me sounds worse.

Meanwhile, a google search revealed no connection between “refugee” and “nigger” or other nasty words. I don’t know where he got that.

Tags: Hurricane Katrina, stupidity

“Red” Cross?

O.K. So, My mother works for the American Red Cross. I’m very proud of her because she’s nationally known and respected and they just offered her a real paying job. Well, she used to work on one of the city boards and now she’s running one of the city offices and she lectures at conventions and now they’ve offered to pay her to teach.

And that’s not even the tip of the iceberg for my mom’s accomplishments.

More

Tags: Red Cross, communism, paranoia, dysfunctional drama, stupidity

Cindy Sheehan: No More Taxes

So, here’s the deal. This has been bothering me for a couple of days.

There have been rumors circling the web about Cindy Sheehan announcing that she wouldn’t pay taxes to a government that sent her son to die. I haven’t seen this reported on CNN.com, Yahoo!News, ABC News, etc. O’Reilly mentioned it in passing last night and I’ve seen it mentioned on World Net Daily, which appears to be some sort of conservative tabloid-like propoganda e-zine. I even checked out her blog on Michael Moore’s website. The most “credible” is a transcript of her speech for Veterans For Peace’s 2005 convention earlier this month.

Another thing that I’m doing is - - my son was killed in 2004, so I’m not paying my taxes for 2004. If I get a letter from the IRS, I’m gonna say, you know what, this war is illegal; this is why this war is illegal. This war is immoral; this is why this war is immoral. You killed my son for this. I don’t owe you anything. And if I live to be a million, I won’t owe you a penny.

And I want them to come after me, because unlike what you’ve been doing with the war resistance, I want to put this frickin’ war on trial. And I want to say, “You give me my son, and I’ll pay your taxes.:”Veterans For Peace(Cindy Sheehan’s speach at the 2005 convention)”: http://www.veteransforpeace.org/convention05/sheehan_transcript.htm

As much as I respect what she’s doing in Crawford, as much as I respect what she’s become a symbol of, this is wrong.

Seriously, that’s just wrong.

I mean, that tax money goes to lots of things, not just the war.

Granted, I wish the IRS would let me select where I want my money to go like United Way does. I mean, if I had my way, my tax money like my United Way money would be going to Community Services, specifically to Food Banks and the like. Really, I think if the government let people specify the people in charge might be suprised what the people thought was worthy of spending money on.

Then again, it might be like college all over again. Alumni, you know, are more likely to donate to the athletic program of most colleges than new buildings for educational purposes. Maybe if people got to pick where their money went when they did their taxes, I’d be surprised.

Anyway, the point is that not paying taxes isn’t like withholding your rent because your landlord won’t fix the radiator — though I think you can still go to jail or get fined for that too. That money is necessary for the government to run and you may think that your piddly amount won’t be missed but schools, social services, etc. are seriously underfunded. Even the war apparently is underfunded…at least the part where our troops are well-outfitted and their vehicles are properly armored. Every cent counts.

Granted, I still have some admiration for her, but she’s a little more tinged today than yesterday in my eyes.

Tags: Cindy Sheehan, stupidity, protestors

The Audacity of Stupid People

I don’t know how much national attention this got. It’s been all over the news here in Maine.

On July 29th, Scott Hewitt, a trucker, crashed into a car driven by Tina Turcotte. While the police are still trying to determine the exact cause of this particular accident, it’s important to note that Hewitt, whose driving record includes at least 44 previous convictions and another fatal accident, was driving with a suspended license at the time of the crash and had no business being on the road. His license had been suspended 19 times.

Tina died of injuries from the accident later.

This morning I heard on NPR that Scott Hewitt was arrested Saturday as he was again driving with a suspended license. He is now in jail.

Too bad he wasn’t in jail for one of his other previous driving infractions. Possibly Tina would still be alive.

I just have to wonder how stupid he is that he got behind the wheel of a vehicle at all after the accident, especially without a license. What was he thinking? What set of logic put him there?

I’m befuddled.

And yet, apparently this is a growing epidemic nationwide:

Driving after suspension is becoming recognized as a serious national problem. People without a valid license are involved in more than 20 percent of fatal accidents, even thought they make up less than 8 percent of drivers, according to a report commissioned by the AAA Foundation of Traffic Safety.

“Suspended drivers are over-involved in fatal crashes and we think they may be causing them,” said Robert Scopatz, a Texas-based data analyst who co-authored the report. “Right now, it’s second to alcohol, but there is some evidence that it is growing.”

Quopte from Portland Press Herald

I don’t know, maybe I’m a little bit biased due to my own recent car accident, but these people need to be taken off the road permanently. I don’t know how else to do it than to put them in jail since there seems to be no logical way to keep them out of a car. Obviously the Honor System isn’t working.

I must say even as the victim of the car accident, I am much more aware of following the letter of the law to a “T”.

Tags: stupidity, suspended driver's license

I don’t get people sometimes

One of the things I’ve picked up on message boards, mailing lists, and even blogs is that there are people out there who are just mean and snarky for no apparent reason. In most cases, these people have never met in person nor will they ever and this somehow gives them the permission to be a complete bitch or asshole to a total stranger on a fairly regular basis.

I just don’t understand it. I don’t understand what people are thinking when they latch on to some total stranger and hack away at them with unkindness.

Oh, I understand debates between ideology and politics and even on the right or wrong way to raise a child. I understand intellectual discussion.

What I don’t understand is people who’s only responses to posts in blogs, on mailing lists, or on message boards is one or two lines of snide insult that contribute nothing and really are meant only to pick at a strangers self-confidence.

For example, there is a woman on a message board who for some reason doesn’t like anything I write, which is unfortunate because politically we have somethings in common, but no matter what I write, on topic, off topic, similar to someone else, joke, complaint, random thought, she has something snide to type. Her obvious intent is to make me go away. It’s very childish and quite frankly, I have no idea what I may or may not have done that has started this. Her little clique followers join in like jackels some times and I often wonder to myself how old these people are. I mean, I’m in my 30’s. I admit to being immature from time to time, but high school pecking orders are something I have no desire to relive or participate in. I’m too old for those kind of drama games. I don’t watch those silly soap opery WB & FOX teen obsessions that everyone seems addicted to because, quite frankly, I’ve already lived that part of my life and I have no desire to escape backward to it.

I just don’t understand the need to pick people apart — particularly grown ups. I don’t get what sort of pleasure the person doing the pecking must feel, the euphoria, the momentary superiorness.

And the few times that I’ve dropped to that level, I’ve found it distasteful and pointless.

Yes, I admit it, I would prefer if the whole world liked me, but to be honest, I’m too old to make too much effort in that direction now. Like me; don’t like me. I don’t particularly care, but I do wonder why you feel the need to expend the energy to lash out at someone you don’t know. What a sad, boring life you must lead that you need to feel superior to me — a single, opinionated, overweight, independent geek.

Tags: stupidity

Powerful Poem

I found the following on The Daily Blatt. This is a news story that has deeply bothered me for days — enough to make me speachless, even with my fingers. I cannot even begin to express in words the horror and sadness and dispair for humanity I feel when I hear stories such as this. I don’t know why every story like this seems to surprise me at the depravity and hatred and fear of “civilized humans”.

I Saw the News Today by Loyal F Ramsey

On the screen the words read
A FATHER BEAT his 3 year old SON to DEATH because he THOUGHT he might be GAY.
I’m still trying to grasp these words.

Father. Beat. Son. Death. Thought. Gay.
The words don’t parse even when I type them myself.

Father: v. tr.

• To be the male parent.
• To create
• To acknowledge responsibility for.

Father: n.

• A man who begets or raises or nurtures a child.
• I cry for this child I did not father and know that it means nothing.

Father. Beat. Son. Death. Thought. Gay.

Beat: v. tr.

• To strike repeatedly.
• To subject to repeated beatings or physical abuse; batter.
• To punish by hitting or whipping; flog.
• To strike against repeatedly and with force; pound:.
• To shape or break by repeated blows;
• To make by pounding or trampling:
• To defeat or subdue

Beat: n.

• A stroke or blow, especially one that serves as a signal.
• A pulsation
• A throb.
• The sound of the human heart

How can this be counted as human?

Father. Beat. Son. Death. Thought. Gay.

Son: n.

• One’s male child.

How could one so damage one’s own?.

Father. Beat. Son. Death. Thought. Gay.

Death: n.

• The termination of life
• The state of being dead
• Bloodshed
• Murder
• Termination
• Extinction
• Execution.

How could the progenitor so quickly become the executioner?

Father. Beat. Son. Death. Thought. Gay.

Thought: n.

• The action of thinking
• Cogitation
• Consideration
• Reasoning
• Intention
• Plan

Do you think this father planned to kill?

Father. Beat. Son. Death. Thought. Gay.

Gay: adj.

• Showing or characterized by cheerfulness and lighthearted excitement
• Bright or lively

Gay: n.

• A man whose sexual orientation is to men

A man child killed for something he had not a glimmer of understanding.

Father. Beat. Son. Death. Thought. Gay.
And still I cry for this child, this son, this bright and lively boy that his destroyer fathered.
Father. Beat. Son. Death. Thought. Gay.
I try, but the words on the screen still do not make sense.
Father. Beat. Son. Death.
I refuse to believe that this is human behavior
Father. Son. Death.
And I remain ashamed of being a man.
Father. Death.
I ask myself again, how can the progenitor be the executioner?

Beat. Death.
Beat. Death.
Beat. Death.
Death.

Tags: stupidity, evil, blogs

UPS Won’t Deliver to The UPS STORE?

So, I finally ordered myself a dehumidifier/humidifier combo for the new apartment. I needed the dehumidifier for the downstairs of the apartment for summer and the humidifier for the piano and other wood stuff for winter. So, I could have spent almost $200 on each or bought this one that did both for $300. The combo seemed logical but I had to special order it. It is coming via UPS.

UPS tried to deliver it Friday around noon but of course I wasn’t home. They won’t leave it at the apartment like they do everything else — just sitting on the doorstep, you know. Apparently it needs an adult signature and just signing the notice and leaving it for the next attempt won’t do. I must be there in person. So, I asked if they could perhaps give me a projected arrival time as I can’t take a whole day off at work to sit around and wait on it. Nope. Won’t give me a general idea of when. Which is interesting since every other package they delivered was after 5pm and I thought that was their policy for the complex. Guess not.

So, I suggested an alternate address — my UPS Store address. You know, The UPS Store provides that service of receiving packages for you…that’s one of the things you pay for. They accept USPS and FedEx and have in the past for me. However, I was told by the rep on the phone that they won’t accept UPS shipments. I told her I probably wouldn’t renew my account then because what good were they?

Anyway, now I have to have this giant box delivered to work tomorrow. Ironically, I bet it isn’t delivered until after 5pm which will leave me sitting around waiting for it…

Tags: UPS, stupidity

No Such Thing As Friendly Politics

Normally, I try to avoid conversations about politics with Peter and BJ as a rule. They are both just a bit too intense regarding their political beliefs and I would sometimes say they seem a bit fanatical. When I was dating BJ, back during the last Presidential election, it was downright scary some of the things he said in his political ferver supporting Bush. Mind you, I did vote for Bush in the last election. I was a supporter, but I never outright said that anyone who voted against him was stupid or somesuch. He seemed to believe that the country would go to hell in a hand basket if Bush wasn’t President.

Ironically, in the last 2 years, I have felt that the country has gone to hell in a hand basket. But looking back over my voting history, I’ve never voted to keep a war president in power, though Iraq isn’t my only concern in this year’s campaign.

For some reason, the other night while talking to Peter I kind of initiated the political discussion though I did try to skirt the major issues. Some of the things that he said really bothered me. Not bothered me in the way that I wonder if my political views might be questioned but bothered me in the way that I’m afraid of some of the silliness that came out of his mouth. I honestly believed that despite the fact that he does seem to be one of those voters who picked up his parent’s political views by tradition and ran with them, he is an intelligent person who has found serious facts to declare his allegence to the Republican party for.

It scared me that he said that between 1988 and 2000, the colors representing the parties in the media (the red and the blue) have switched sides, meaning that when showing the map with the voting results, the republicans (he said) used to be represented by blue and the democrats were red, but now it’s reversed. Not only do I not know how true this statement is because I’ve not particularly researched it but I didn’t understand why the color itself was important. When I asked about the importance, he basically said that the Republicans can’t be red because they aren’t communists. When I asked if he really thought that the Democrats were communists, he said their doctrine read as if it was. I’m really offended by that and I’m not a die-hard democrat. If I were a republican, I think I’d be embarrassed.

I did ask around on a message board about this and was told that Reagan’s color was red. I wonder where I could look this up.

To me, all of that may be akin to someone saying they are voting for a candidate because he looks better. Would you pick your surgeon based on his good looks or his experience and reputation?

He also insisted to me that the media does not respect Bush, but did respect Clinton and Carter. Really I have to laugh at that and everyone I’ve questioned about this has thought it was ludicrous. The media certainly did not respect Clinton. After all, they crucified him over an affair that was no one’s business but his and the intern’s. They humiliated him in the eyes of the world. However, Peter insists that the media, particularly the liberal left-winged media, never calls him “President Bush,” only “Mr. Bush.” I’ve been very attentive to the news since this conversation, particularly when I listen to NPR, which Peter claims is very liberal (I don’t see it, but hey). I have only ever heard the news on any channel (including a right-wing fanaticist I heard last night on the radio) call him “President Bush” or “Bush”. I don’t know where he’s hearing this. *shrug*

Our conversation did make me wonder, however, does the media we listen to shape our politics or do we choose media that fits our politics? For example, he thinks Fox news is the least biased news source and thinks NPR is the most liberal-skewed (next to Air-America, I’m sure). I think Fox news is a right-wing sensationalist tabloid-style news source and NPR is less skewed than most news sources — I admit I don’t care for the fanatacism of Air America Radio.

I admit I trust Bush less than I trust Kerry. However, I don’t buy completely into everything Kerry says either. I do know that I don’t like the way Bush is running the country. Kerry is saying all the right things. I’d rather vote for someone who at least is recognizing that there’s something wrong going on and that something needs to be done than someone who mistakes stubbornness for strength. President Bush has alienated us in the world and made it a more dangerous place for us. We cannot fight the war on terror alone. The war on terror will only stop when presented a united front and President Bush seems to think that the world will either do it our way or we will do it on our own. This is too extreme. Not to mention that we are spending Billions to rebuild other countries when our own country cannot afford to keep open it’s own schools and fire houses and other necessities of civilization. Our jobs are going to other countries and the new jobs the Republicans say they’ve created don’t financially equal the ones lost. Cost of living is increasing while jobs are lost and people are having two jobs just to make enough money to put gas in the car and food on the table. And President Bush only seems interested in butting his nose into the affairs on this continent when it’s a so-called “morale” issue like discriminating against a class of people or a whole gender.

My conversation with Peter was like so many other conversations with fanatic political-types. Strange rhetoric and claims and nothing to do with the issues. Maybe if I’d spoken to him longer we would have discussed the real issues, but I think it’s best to draw the line at politics because I know he and I will never see eye-to-eye and it will just frustrate us both because we each know we are right and the other is wrong and why can’t the other see how illogical he/she is being.

I suspect this is going to be a close election again…and it scares me.

Tags: politics, dysfunctional drama, George W. Bush, stupidity, 2004 election, Democrats, Republicans

Have Your Own Opinion

I was examining the polls on CNN’s website today. I find it interesting that 50% of Americans still think it was worth it to go to Iraq and 47% say no. Usually polls aren’t that close either with only 3% not having an opinion.

Also to note, something like 62% don’t think Bush is doing a good job handling Iraq.

I remember a year ago, watching in horror as over a few months time the polls changed drastically from few people thinking we should go to war with Iraq to the majority thinking it was a grand idea. I remember how it seemed that everyone got on the bandwagon and cursed the French for not agreeing with the high-and-mighty U.S. popular opinion that Iraq needed a beating. I remeber the stupidity of boycotting French wine and French imports — even more stupid were the people who bought the expensive French wines to make public spectacles of themselves pouring it out in the streets. I remember that having an opinion that wasn’t popular could get you verbally abused, even from people who are supposed to be your friends. In fact, only a few months ago, I made an offhand observation about the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq (one of which I agreed with for the most part) and was verbally battered by someone who is supposed to be a close friend.

We are a fickle lot, we Americans. We are proud and stubborn, but we do tend to form our opinions based on what the media, our parents, our friends, and the people we respect as leaders tell us should be our opinions. Many of us vote the way our parents vote (I haven’t), are in the same political party as our parents (I’m not), have the same beliefs as our parents. (My father and I agree on many political things but this may be the first year we’ve voted the same in a decade.) Many people vote the way their spouses vote too.

So many of us don’t really have opinions of our own and that’s such a sad thing, because when we allow ourselves to get caught up in the rhetoric, in the propoganda, in the popular opinion, we cheat ourselves and we lose our identities. Indeed, there’s a truth that mob intelligence isn’t the brightest — in fact, mob intelligence usually means that the least intelligent is the influencing member. Stupidity usually comes out of such things — like rioting, looting, hysteria.

It’s one thing to stand up for what you believe in; it’s something entirely when you’re just standing up to be part of the crowd, whichever crowd it is that you want to be a part of.

Tags: poll, CNN, Iraq, politics, stupidity