Words Like Locusts Flew From Her Fingers

Human Decency

Va. House Approves Bill On Illegal Immigration – washingtonpost.com
The proposal, one of nearly 50 immigration-related bills under consideration by the General Assembly, could force such groups as the Salvation Army and the Virginia Association of Free Clinics to verify immigration status before offering assistance to those in need or risk losing funding.

The software I use for writing these blogs requires me to choose what category each post should be filed under. I chose “Politics” for this one, but really — had I created it — the more appropriate category would be “Human Decency” or, rather, the lack of it as demonstrated by this proposal.

So, if a man brings his very sick wife in to one of the Free Clinics, the doctors aren’t supposed to treat the woman if the man can’t prove she’s a citizen? That’s just charming. Sure, send them back onto the street. And what if a person IS a citizen but just can’t prove it because all of their “documentation” is lost? Tough luck for them, too, I guess. Hey, when we’re all microchipped like poodles, this won’t be an issue anymore, right?

The members of the Virginia House of Delegates who voted in favor of this bill are a bunch of assholes.

Responded Kitty Hardt, director of program operations at Commonwealth Catholic Charities: “We don’t stop services to look for documentation.”

Good for Kitty Hardt and good for Commonwealth Catholic Charities. This would be an excellent time for people to make a donation to their favorite charity — be sure it’s one that’s not going to go all Gestapo on people who are looking for aid. (“You must show me your papers! Where are ze papers!”)

Let me tell you something: We’d go a long way towards solving this “illegal immigration problem” if we’d just quit distinguishing between who’s legal and who’s not. They’re all just people — people looking for work, people looking for a decent place to stay, people looking to improve their lives. EVERYONE should be protected by fair labor laws. Everyone should have access to decent medical care. Everyone should have a warm and comfortable place to live.

Astonishingly enough, many of the people supporting proposals of this kind identify themselves as Christians. Do they honestly believe Jesus would approve of this sort of thing?

All The Best Purses Are Cheap

Virginia Men Face U.S. Trial In Peddling of Phony Purses – washingtonpost.com
“I said why would her husband quit his job when this is such a phony business and people could theoretically go down for selling knockoffs,” Stypula said. “I know you can’t get a Prada bag for $40 or $45, so you know these are hot from somewhere.”

In fact, handbags by Prada and some other designer labels, including Gucci, sell for anywhere from hundreds of dollars to more than $2,000 each.

You’ve got to ask yourself (don’t you?), what kind of loon pays hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a frigging purse??

While selling counterfeits is, yes, illegal — and shame on them for doing it — I have to admit that I’m a bit amused that these guys were able to profit from the ridiculous greed of the label-obsessed.

Purse Parties!

Ha!!

When The Techno-Illuminati Rule, Everything Will Be Different

Many thanks to Debbie Does Duluth for turning me on to this great song. It makes her think of her son. It makes me think of my husband and my nephews, techno-geeks all. And, yes, of myself too — a geekette who never had the opportunity to get into rocketry or warrior-robot-building until it was far too late to do it without being stared at and sort of pitied. Ah… to be young and geeky again!

Buy Stuff!!

I’m trying to lighten my load a bit — clear some space in the closet, get rid of stuff I’m never going to wear for whatever reason, uh…justify spending money on eBay to get new outfits. So, I’ve decided to see if I can’t sell some of my stuff. This nice looking shirt is just one example of what I’ve got.

This is all nice stuff. It’s all in great shape. My prices are reasonable. If you feel a little strange buying clothes from me, just consider: would you feel so weird if you were buying it from a stranger on eBay? Probably not, right? So why feel strange about buying it from me.?

If none of this stuff interests you, I hope you’ll tell your friends and relatives who might want one of my items.

Have a look! Just click on the “For Sale” button in the menu bar above.

Emboldening The Enemy

Bush Defies Lawmakers To Solve Iraq – washingtonpost.com
Declaring “I’m the decision maker,” President Bush yesterday challenged congressional efforts to formally condemn his Iraq plan, while Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warned that a proposed Senate resolution criticizing the deployment of additional troops would embolden the enemy.

Which enemy would that be, exactly? Would it be the Sunnis who want to control Iraq? Or the Shiites who want to control Iraq? Or would it be the Iranians who’d also like to see the Shiites in control? Or would it be those few who really don’t give a shit whether it’s the Sunnis or the Shiites so long as they can continue to profit from the chaotic state of things in Iraq? Or is Gates talking about any of the variously striped “terrorist groups” around the world who, as long as Iraq remains a fucked up mess, see opportunities for recruiting new members?

Is there anyone outside of the Bush administration who still believes our continued military presence in Iraq is doing anything other than perpetuating the unrest? The trouble is, we’ve made such a mess of things over there that now it’s no simple thing to leave. So what will adding more troops accomplish? We can expand the green zone. Yippee. That leaves more Iraqi civilians living in an American-run police state. It’s not hard to imagine how well that’s going to go over in the long run. What’s the old saying? Better the devil you know than the one you don’t? And do we honestly think strengthening our control over Iraq is going to make the rest of the Muslim world think more kindly of us? Please.

So, Gates claims it “emboldens the enemy” when people criticize Bush’s policies. Isn’t it just typical of a Bush appointee to imply that a demonstration of how democracy really works — free people openly expressing themselves — is somehow a bad thing?

Santa Claws

I got these new pajamas at Target today. The pattern is so wonderful — lobsters dressed up like Santa with seahorses as reindeer and shrimp as elves. It’s really peculiar.

Come to find out, these PJs are often quite expensive depending on where you shop. I got ‘em on sale for — are you ready for this? — $6.50. (That’s including tax.) Such a deal. At the Fair Lakes Target store. They’ve still got more of them. And some in different patterns. If you’re in the market for PJs, it’s the place to go.

Pass Me That Doobie, Dick

Defending Iraq War, Defiant Cheney Cites ‘Enormous Successes’ – washingtonpost.com
Vice President Cheney said yesterday that the administration has achieved “enormous successes” in Iraq but complained that critics and the media “are so eager to write off this effort or declare it a failure” that they are undermining U.S. troops in a war zone, striking a far more combative tone than President Bush did in his State of the Union address the night before.

Bwhahahaha!!!!

Oh my… I honestly don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It’s not really humorous, but there’s definitely an aura of the surreal about this. Nineteen-eightyfour, anyone?

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

— Joseph Goebbels

Whole Foods

Cereal? Aisle 2. Seared Tuna? Have a Seat. – washingtonpost.com
“Americans love to shop, but not for food,” Sansolo says. “They do it as a chore.”

It’s strange that they should say so. It’s really just the opposite for me. The only kind of shopping I can really get into is food shopping. For the most part, other kinds of shopping just annoy me. There’s so much shoddy merchandise out there that I get pissed off because I can’t find, say, a reasonably priced pair of black leggings. I went to three different stores, for Pete’s sake! They’re not that exotic an item. Lots of people wear them. What I found were cheaply made leggings that were too thin and didn’t have enough spandex in them (you could tell they’d be baggy before you’d even worn them three times), or leggings that weren’t tight enough (again, probably a spandex issue). Or, one store had “leggings” that didn’t even have the bottoms of the legs finished! It looked like they’d just cut the feet off a pair of tights and stuck a label on them calling them “leggings”! What a rip-off! Finally, I found some leggings for thirty bucks. They’re nice — they’d damned well better be for that price — with lace around the ankles.

It just pisses me off, though…

But, anyway, I digress.

Food shopping I actually enjoy — probably because I usually do it during the day on weekdays when the grocery stores aren’t crowded. In fact — I’m sure that’s a factor. On the few occasions when I’ve shopped for groceries on a weekend, I quickly become irritated with how STUPID people are. Hello???? Could you move your fucking cart out of the middle of the aisle, please??? Jesus. People are such idiots.

When the store’s not crowded, though, food shopping is a real delight — especially in a store like Whole Foods (mentioned in this Washington Post article.) I stopped in the new Fair Lakes store they talk about just today, as a matter of fact, and it was very pleasant. They’ve got lots and lots of really good looking produce and all kinds of olives and cheeses and yummy fresh bread… mmmmm. They’ve got a decent selection of vegetarian foods, too. It’s a pretty swell place.

Good Food For Busy People

It Takes a Village to Cook Dinner – A Mighty Appetite
For households encompassing more than one able-bodied hungry person, cooking should be a shared responsibility. There’s no reason for one person to be the designated cook all the time. It’s an unrealistic proposition, even if one person is more skilled in the kitchen than the other. (…) Smaller household units or two or three: You guys are not off the hook. We all need to participate if we want to eat right and square.

Why… I do believe I was saying almost this exact same thing in a blog post comment a few days ago!

Hey, I know this ain’t easy. But the payoff is huge. Even a control-freak cook such as myself has to let go of the reins and recognize the power of sharing the kitchen load. So what if he can’t dice an onion as delicately as I can? And maybe those beans need more salt. It’s okay, she murmurs under her breath. Teach him.

Zow. Kim O’Donnel at the Washington Post understands. Much of it is a control issue. And a deeply ingrained belief that, as women, we’re supposed to be the one who does all the cooking (and cleaning).

I had planned to write a post (some time) with ideas for eating well when there’s little time to cook. Voila! I don’t need to write it! Kim O’Donnel and dozens of people providing follow-comments have already come up with more ideas than I ever would have. Read… then eat.

When Good Elephants Do Bad Things

Elephant News Thailand: Road closing at night to frustrate freebooting elephants
The road through Khao Ang Rue Nai wildlife sanctuary will be closed at night to stop wild elephants stopping and raiding cargo trucks.

Next thing you know, the elephants will be setting up loan sharking businesses.