Oh Lordy!

Ok... I read this story last night and it just blew me away.

I mean I realize that this is the sort of comment you should expect from the neo-cons, like Mama Bush saying that the black evacuees being shuttled from the Super Dome to the Astro Dome, where they were ACTUALLY given the basic human necessities and Babs says that since they’re poor, this is probably working out for them.

But at the same time I feel a need to say something, that the caller was an idiot; saying how much more the U.S.’s GNP would be if no one was allowed to have an abortion as more people= more workers. I think this is a stupid theory as if taking the idea that ‘abortion is bad’ and trying to apply this as an answer to everything; well social security is in trouble, abortion is bad so if you had more workers/ unaborted kids then you’d have more people paying into the system… So this goes back to abortion is bad.
So the caller is a one issue idiot but the host, Bill Bennett is just an evil creep. To imply that one race is responsible for all/most of the crime in America, is just reprehensible. The FCC wants to go after Howard Stern for saying ‘bad words’, well I think first they should go after right wing nut jobs who use ‘hate speech’ as a way to get listeners.

My Name is Earl...

I know I've mentioned a few shows that I watch (Monk, CSI, and Desperate Housewives) but wanted to just briefly mention the NEW breakout hit- My Name is Earl.
To me, it’s this season’s MUST WATCH show. I really feel in love with its season premiere and the second episode on Tuesday proved to me that NBC had something.
I liked everything about the show and am amazed that it’s only a ½ hour as in the first episode they accomplished sooo much, and the second episode moved at a pace that you don’t expect from a sitcom.

The premise is that Jason Lee’s character, poor white trash, wins money from a scratch ticket and then gets hit by a car and loses the scratch ticket. While in the hospital he has a ‘revelation’ as he hears Carson Daly talk about Karma. Earl ‘gets it’ and realizes that he was hit by the car because of all the bad he’s done and how he must balance it.
In the first show he decides that he belittle a guy and decides to help get him laid. Of course, it’s not that simple as the guy ‘bats for the other team’. In the second episode, he apologizes to a ‘friend’ for letting him go to jail for two years instead of him… The friend forgives him but not the mom, who ends up cold cocking Earl with a SUPER large print bible.

It’s a fun, fast paced show and Jason Lee is brilliant. I also love his brother (the other fat guy from Mallrats) and his ex-wife(Jaime Pressly from Not another teen movie) is also an hoot.

Color Quiz...

Got this from Adj

Drew took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Longs for tenderness and for a sensitivity of feel..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

It went on...

Your Existing Situation
This represents a barrier between the compensatory colors which precede it and the remaining colors

Your Stress Sources
Unfulfilled hopes have lead to uncertainty and a tense watchfulness. Insists on freedom of action and resents any form of control other than which is self-imposed. Unwilling to go without or to relinquish anything and demands security as a protection against any further setback or loss of position or prestige. Doubts that things will be any better in the future and this negative attitude leads him to exaggerate his claims and to refuse reasonable compromises.

Your Restrained Characteristics
Feels that he cannot do much about his existing problems and difficulties and that he must make the best of things as they are. Able to achieve satisfaction through sexual activity.
Feels trapped in a distressing or uncomfortable situation and seeking some way of gaining relief. Able to achieve satisfaction through sexual activity providing no turmoil or emotional agitation is involved.
Your Desired Objective
Longs for tenderness and for a sensitivity of feeling into which he can blend. Responsive to anything esthetic and tasteful.

Your Actual Problem
Does not wish to be involved in differences of opinion, contention or argument, preferring to be left in peace

Your Actual Problem #2
Disappointment at the non-fulfillment of his hopes and the fear that to formulate fresh goals will only lead to further setbacks have resulted in considerable anxiety. He is trying to escape from this into a peaceful and harmonious relationship, protecting him from dissatisfaction and lack of appreciation.


I thought it was interesting that *I* had two 'actual problems to adj's one... but then again I thought my 'existing situation' just sounds strange.
That said sorta matchs my depressed situation.

Crossing the Rubicon

One of the rules of the Roman Republic was that their soldiers were not allowed to cross the Rubicon, because they didn’t want Roman soldiers in Rome. The Roman Senate understood that it would be all too easy for a general to take over the Republic with a band of loyal centurions. They understood that the centurions were trained to follow the chain of command and were trained to attack/kill.
And that’s exactly what Julius Caesar did. He took his army and he disobeyed the senate and ‘crossed the Rubicon’, and took over Rome with his loyal army.

I mention this because in the aftermath of Katrina, I was somewhat disturbed that W., instead of sending the National Guard to help flood victims, sent the Army. I do not think that the Army should be operating on American soil. Training- yes; keeping the peace- no. The Army is trained not to help, but to kill and ‘protect at all costs’. The Army is trained to shoot dissenters, while the National Guard and local police are trained in crowd control. I fear the Army operating in the United States, because they are more concerned with following orders then public safety.
And I feel that the history lesson of Caesar still applies. If you look at most 3rd world countries, the dictators are ex military or have the backing of the military. I think it would be all too easy for a general with ‘boots on the ground’ to decide that HE knows better then elected officials what’s best for America….
I feel that W. is making (another) huge mistake by seeking an easy answer and deciding that rather then have FEMA or the National Guard do what they have been trained to do, he’s asking the Army to step in… because W. feels that the Army will better follow HIS wishes. Which is another scary thought. We don’t need a general abusing the military, just a politician that the military will follow- a politician who thinks he knows better then the people what’s good for the people of the United States.

Holiday Blues

So I was talking to two people today( my step sister and a good friend) and I mentioned upcoming New Year’s ‘celebration’ and I thought it was funny how I had to explain to both that I was talking about the JEWISH new year aka Rosh Hashanah

I don’t like most holidays because they deal with the passage of time and my family. I don’t like either. I might’ve mentioned hear that my dad has a morbid streak, and because of that I see many holidays- especially both New Years( and birthdays) as markers on the road of life. Markers reminding me of what I haven’t accomplished in my life.
Depressing stuff.
I also find my family depressing. My mom 90% of the time seems to have a need to remind me that I’m overweight. Like I’ve told my friends while at the time I find it annoying as all heck, after I’ve sometimes found it amusing… That she feels a need to remind me that I’m fat, as if I’ve forgotten since the last time we talked that she thinks I’m fat.

She also thinks I should go to a shrink because I get depressed often these days. I know my older brother is on drugs. I’ve tried to explain to her, my depression is not from chemical imbalance BUT due to not having an f’ing job and having her and my dad constantly complaining about my weight. I figure money to a shrink would be better spent joining a gym and paying my bills, especially as my father has offered to foot ½ the bill for a gym.
So she’s sending me a check for the gym. She’s still gonna get on my case for a shrink.
Which vexes and depresses me.

See I tell her too many times that I’m depressed because a) I find this stupid job search depressing and b) I find talking to her about my life even more depressing then actually living my life.
However I think that if I actually lose a couple of pounds and ACCOMPLISH something this ‘Gregorian’ year, I’ll feel better… the Jewish New Year starts next Tuesday so I doubt I’ll have a job or lose any weight or accomplish anything other then another level in a video game.

hmmm

Ok.... I read this story and I gotta say I was of two minds....

On the one hand I believe that peoples should NOT be discriminated due to race, color, religion, or sexual orientation… And one shouldn’t be judged by one’s parents.

On the other hand, to be honest, that’s what you get for sending your kid to a Christian school if you’re gay. I also want to add, that if I were the parent- I’d rather my kid get kicked out of the school then come home and tell me that I’m going to HELL! because I’m not a good Christian.

I think that if this was a PUBLIC school, I’d feel very differently, but the name of the school has Christian in it.

Monk V. CSI

Ok... without going into any 'creepy' slash tmi on Thursday after watching the season opener of CSI, I was puttering around my apartment and I started thinking... Why doesn’t any of the CSI crew have Obsessive Compulsive Disorders?
I mean I know I often have regretted having dinner while watching it on Spike, so why doesn’t any of the crew have problems? I know that they are suppose to be made of ‘sterner stuff’, but at the same time they know more about the icky stuff that’s out there. I’d just like to see one of them get creeped out.
I say this also because on Thursday as I was puttering around, I started thinking about how dirty/unclean my place is… Not from the ‘your place is a pig pen’ perspective but from a ‘gee what would the CSI crew find here?’

Though for the record, I do think it would be darn funny if there was crossover between CSI and Monk… yeah it might make as much sense as the Archie/ Punisher crossover, but I really like Monk and it would be fun to show that you can solve a case sometime without the millions invested in the CSI lab.

Imp of the Perverse

Ok, I’ve been meaning to blog this ALL summer but never got around to it, so this morning I’m making the time.
I live in the metropolitan city of Boston, and grew up in the Big City of NYC, and in both cities in the summer they set out tables on the street. So as you walk down the street, you see a bunch of tables with food and condiments on them.
Now, while I consider myself pretty upstanding and law-abiding… sometimes I get these ideas in my head- the imp of the perverse. I often don’t have ketchup in my apartment- relying on the ketchup packets I get with my take out… so I think about taking ketchup off the tables. Or better yet to take some of the food from the diners. I especially think of the food when I see bread baskets or those puddles of olive oil on a plate to dip said bread.
Yum!

I tried to explain this ‘desire’ to my father’s first (my mom) and third wife. Neither of them understood this. Now I’m not sure if this is because I’m wired a bit different or they have more money in their bank accounts so can eat at the places I pass if they wanted…

So if any of you have passed diners on the street- and thought about stealing their food, let me know. Heck I’d love to hear if someone had actually done just that. I’d just like to know if it’s just me or if it’s just my father’s wives can’t think outside of the box… or maybe it’s because I like food better then them.

Let's annoy more Muslims....

I read this in the Globe yesterday and just felt I had to bring it to everyone’s attention. As most people know Mitt Romney wants to be president, as such he doesn’t care about the people he governs but the ‘republican base’ of the country. That’s really the only way I can explain his latest news conference.
Mitt, in his infinite wisdom, said in a press conference that we should be bugging mosques and that we should keep an eye out on ‘foreign’ exchange students. Now my first thought was, ‘gee, yeah… Let’s piss off MORE Muslims, because I don’t think they’re really annoyed at us as much as they should be.’ By singling out Muslims and treating them like second class citizens, you make them angry and MORE likely to want to do something bad to you.
When I talked to a friend, he took the story to another level. See maybe Mitt’s on to something… but just isn’t going far enough. Yeah, we let him bug mosques, but then he has to bug churches and temples. Imagine how easy it would’ve been to charge Cardinal Law with ‘adding and abetting’ if we had tapped HIS office. And think of the kids that might still be kids if the state had stepped in and protected them from the predatory priests.
So maybe Mitt’s on to something, but just didn’t go far enough….

Naw . I really don’t think so. I believe in privacy and I don’t trust these nut jobs with ‘free wiretapping’ privileges. But I did think people should know about this story... as Mitt is going to run for President in '08.

The $ Cost of Katrina.

When I first blogged about Katrina, I mentioned that my second thought (after the loss of life) was how this was going to affect the national debt. Well since then I’ve come to realize that the burden of the hurricane damaged might end up being paid by the poor and by the nice instead by the government and big business.

Yesterday I saw on CNN that several insurance companies have decided NOT to pay out the victims of Katrina. Now insurance is ‘betting’ but all dressed up. Basically, you pay the insurance company x amount a month in case you have an accident. You figure that if something bad happens, you’ve paid into a system and the insurance company will pay your bills. On the other side, insurance companies hire lots of bean counters and like Vegas make sure that odds are in their favor. The companies set your rates based on all sorts of math and work the math in their favor, like a gambling joint in Vegas.
Now with the odds in their favor, you expect insurance companies to ‘play fair’. You’ve given them money, and if nothing happened to you the companies get to keep the money; so you expect them to pay up when something does happen.
That’s not what’s happening in LA., the insurance companies are saying that the damage was ‘flood’ damage- as the damage occurred by water after the levees broke. And most of the people didn’t have flood damage- as that’s an ‘extra’ that few poor people can afford and besides that could be considered a ‘sucker’s bet’, as who would expect a house in New Orleans to be ‘flooded’?
This made my stomach churn more as I heard that the state was going to sue to get the money back. Now I’m all for people suing to get their money back, however with tort reform and lawyer fees, I figure the people who are actually hurting aren’t going to get nearly enough of the money they need.

This brings me to another interesting tidbit that I found on the internet, the idea that our government and not the American people should be helping the victims of Katrina. The Red Cross should be helping countries that can’t afford to help themselves; they shouldn’t need to help America (one of the richest countries ever). Rather then ask the American people for handouts, our government should be rolling back tax cuts. Rather then ask ‘average’ Americans to ‘share the burden’ of the victims- Red Cross( and news media) should be asking companies like Exxon to step up. I mention Exxon as they have just posted the best quarter EVER. Exxon has done better in this quarter then any company has EVER done in the history of America. You’d think after posting the best quarter EVER, they’d be able to spare a ½ billion or so for others who aren’t doing so well.

Small (but good) victory!

As I blogged several weeks ago, I thought I had lost hundreds of megabytes of information for Sims 2. This greatly crushed me as my favorite family consisted of Harley and her ‘husband’ Lilith (Lilith clearly wears the pants in the family), both had skin tones that were ‘lost’. Likewise a couple other families had a problem with their hair tones and everything was out of wack in my Sims town.
This week I had started to download stuff from a free site, though I knew if I wanted the skin tones I’d have to go to a pay site… and most of the hair styles came from another pay site. I had investigated it last week and found it would cost me $30 (slightly less then the new expansion) to sign up to both sites long enough to get everything back in order. SO before I put up the money I talked to two of my friends today who know computer geeks… I figured they might be able to ‘find’ the information that was supposed to be on the computer disk. Basically the disk was supposed to have about 700 megabytes of info and only had about 100 when I used it a couple of weeks ago. As I was about to email both people to ‘remind’ them to help me… I decided to look at the disk. I had put this plastic ‘disc cover’ that was suppose to save the disk from scratches, so I figured I'd look to see if the disk was scratched regardless of the disk cover… and I looked at the disk and I wondered ‘gee what if I remove the plastic cover before I put the disk in the computer?’
Eureka! That worked perfectly. After weeks of stress over not being able to play the Sims, and burying myself in Champions of Norrath, I have ALL my Sims back. I’m very happy. I have destroyed the disk cover…. And I intend tomorrow to back up my Sims info on NON re-writeable CDs [or maybe a single DVD] before I do anything in the game.
I’m very HAPPY. I don’t have to pay to re-download things… and further am glad that I don’t have to put in the hours/days it would take to download all the files.

Right now I don’t plan to buy Nightlife, which came out today, until December for three reasons. The first is, of course, money. I don’t have a lot of money and Nightlife is not needed for me to enjoy Sims 2. The second is, I promised myself that I wouldn’t buy Sims Nightlife until I had started sending my Sims teens to college (aka Sims University). See I had bought Sims U. the first day as I was DYING to have the items in it… But as I haven’t played Sims 2 a whole lot and tried to balance my families, none of my kids have gotten to the point where I wanted to send them off. I feel that before I get the second expansion, I should be taking FULL advantage of the first expansion. The third reason, is to be frank, if I had money for a video game- I want X-Men Legends 2 more. As I have little money, I think it’s important for me to decide what I want to buy… and Legends 2 beats Sims 2, part 2.
But again, I’m happy I have Sims 2 up and working again. And I plan to play it this weekend, after I make sure everything is backed up… again.

Not 'exceptional'

So about a week ago I had an interview for a part time job at a used bookstore. I thought I had aced the interview. The interviewer was a few Simmons Alumni, I have worked in bookstores before, and knew enough to answer ‘what do you do when the store is empty?’ with “ First I clean up, then I do other chores that might have been overlooked when we’re busy and finally, get to know the product/ inventory better.”
I was told that I was the first interview and as such I was ‘setting the bar’ for all the interviewers after me. So, again, I thought the interview went well. My mother suggested on Tuesday that I call them, just to make sure they know how interested I was. Sadly I was busy working on Wednesday, cleaning on Thursday, and I left to go with my older brother to go to the Cape on Friday…. Calling them was in the back of my mind but I felt that I had a really solid interview and that I would call them today.

So, after being with family on Friday and Saturday, I came back to Boston to work at the game store on Sunday. So I was dead tired when I listened to my messages on Sunday, I had gotten a call from the used bookstore on Friday afternoon. The manager mentioned that he had just interviewed someone who was exceptional (his word not mine) and hired them on the spot. He went on a bit more saying that as such the job was filled. But it really bothered me and took a little bit more of my ego to hear him refer to someone else as exceptional.
Yes, I’ve felt that I would prefer the interview process was a bit more honest and that people tell me why they’re hiring someone else instead of me- more experience, thinner( my parents are very big on fat people not getting hired), or just nicer… But how do I try to compete with someone who’s exceptional?

*sigh*

Super Quiz

I was VERY happy when one of my MANY legion loving friends sent me this- Which Legionnaire are you? quiz.

I, of course, feared that my favorite Legionnaire wouldn't be on the quiz.

But she wuz... and the quiz was smart enough to make me her...


You're Jenni Ognats, XS!


Which Legionnaire are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

And according to my mail, most of my e-friends got their favorites as well. So good quiz for comic geeks... like me.
;-)

You get what you bring.

I spent a long two days with my family and I spoke to my dad about how I had read Fast Food Nation and thus hadn’t eaten at a Burger King, Wendy’s, or McDonalds since I finished it. My father was happy and was glad I understood what this junk was doing to my body and how fries were ‘empty calories’. I looked at him and I told him that I didn’t really remember the dietary part of the book; I came away from the book with a better understanding of the socio-economic repercussions of the fast food companies, and that the meat packing segments made me very glad that I wasn’t eating beef.
He told me how shocked he was that I didn’t come away from the book with a better grasp of what the food was doing to me/ the public.

I told him that I found the socio-economic stuff more interesting then the nutritious value of a happy meal, and so that’s what I came away with. For a guy who told me as a kid to try and see all sides of an issue… my dad only seems to see one side. I came away from Fast Food Nation the tidbits I found interesting- and he came away from the book with the stuff he enjoyed. It’s like my intro to philosophy teacher told us, if you drive through a town hungry, you’re going to see a different street then if you drive down the same street and you need gas for your car.

Oh Thanks Canada!

I just wanted to thank our neighbors to the North, for being down right neighborly.

I want to thank them for being WIILING to send people down to LA. to help out....
Too bad they weren't allowed to actually HELP.

I read the following on several sites; though I think they were feeding off one another.

On tonight's news, CTV (Canadian TV) said that support was offered from Canada. Planes are ready to load with food and medical supplies and a system called "DART" which can provide fresh water and medical supplies is standing by. Department of Homeland Security as well as other U.S. agencies were contacted by the Canadian government requesting permission to provide help. Despite this contact, Canada has not been allowed to fly supplies and personnel to the areas hit by Katrina. So, everything here is grounded. Prime Minister Paul Martin is reportedly trying to speak to President Bush tonight or tomorrow to ask him why the U.S. federal government will not allow aid from Canada into Louisiana and Mississippi. That said, the Canadian Red Cross is reportedly allowed into the area.

Canadian agencies are saying that foreign aid is probably not being permitted into Louisiana and Mississippi because of "mass confusion" at the U.S. federal level in the wake of the storm.

So I guess it's more imporntant to W. that we AMERICANS take care of OUR own... then allow OUTSIDERS to cross our borders...

I bet W. will however take any Oil that Canada has been nice enough to offer. And I find it ironic that Chavez has, in a good Christian manner, also offered to help the U.S. with some sweet sweet Oil. Personally I think W. would rather have us pay $5 a gallon then allow Chavez or Cuba to help us.
Yes, Cuba has offered to help.

So thank you Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, China, Columbia, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, the European Union, France, Germany, Guatemala, Britain, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, NATO, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Organization of American States, Paraguay, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Sweden, Venezuela and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

New Orleans.,...

Ok... I've been thinking about what happened in New Orleans...

I've got to admit that alot of my thoughts have been political. And I feel that the reason I've thought of it as politics is because- well I think the reasons that things are so bad there is because of politics.
Media Matters records how FEMA[ Federal Emergency Management Agency] was folded into Homeland Security. This marginalized FEMA and it's been mentioned in several places like the san francisco chronicle that "The Bush administration routinely provided less than half the money the Army Corps of Engineers requested for New Orleans flood prevention."

To be honest my second thought about New Orleans( after being sorry about the deaths involved), was 'what is this going to do to the national debt?' I mean we're already spending BILLIONS on Iraq. How much of that money could've been used to prevent this damage... or help with repairs? That thought lead to the idea that others I've read have already mentioned, which is if the National Guard soldiers were HERE instead of Iraq, they'd be able to help New Orleans and the surrounding areas. I say this as it's clear that after several days, the people in New Orleans don't have their basic human needs being meet.

The Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, talks about things on this link

I found this interview on another blog and it just moved me. About two thirds of the way through... My mind just got blown away. The reporters mention that one of the problems with relief work might be the fact that the 'proper paperwork' hadn't been done- that the Mayor or Governor has to 'officially' declare Martial Law. The mayor points out a) he's already declared Martial Law and B) did Iraq fill out the 'proper paperwork' to get W. to spend billions over there.
He mentions that he feels that NOBODY should hold a press conference until New Orleans gets what it need. That he doesn't want to HEAR that 40,000 troops are on their way, he wants them to be THERE already.

And it makes me wonder how Congress and W. were able to move SOO fast to 'help' Teri Shivho but aren't matching that speed with the help for New Orleans.

Sweet Sweet Oil

I saw this t-shirt on Attack of the Show today and laughed my @$$ off.





I thought of trying to say something MORE but I think the shirt says it all.... So the only thing that I really will add is that 'It must be mine!"