One-time Republican hero Kevin Phillips dares to speak up against the Walker-Bush oligarchy that rules the American state through oil, intelligence, big money and the power of the Christian right in his new book: American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush. It should be noted that Phillips is not a Democrat — just a Republican who is unhappy with the current administration.
I finished sanding the edges of the floor in the living room, and did the full-scale cleanup of sawdust required. I hoped that I’d have enough time to start staining the floors, but that was overly ambitious. The edger sander was really hard to control — I was exhausted when I finished Saturday, and today I have stiff sore muscles all over my body. But the floor looks great. I’m hoping to put a coat of stain on the floor tonight. If I can come up with a strategy for keeping the cats out of the room while it’s drying.
Other than that, I didn’t do much. I’ve been trying to read the Ramayana, but I haven’t got very far. It’s not boring, but it’s very complex with lots of characters, places, geography that all sound somewhat alike, so you have to pay attention or you get lost easily. It’s a book that requires an uninterrupted Saturday, not one that you can pick up for an hour or two and put down again. And lately the only free time I’ve had to read is an hour or two at a time snatched from here and there around the other things I’ve been doing. It’s frustrating, because I miss being able to sit down and get completely mesmerized by a book.
I caught an interesting show on BBC America called “Life Laundry.” It’s a home improvement type show similar to HGTV’s “Clean Sweep” where they tackle helping people with severe clutter problems get organized. What’s better about the BBC show is that they take everything out of the house and put it on the lawn. Then the homeowners go through every scrap of paper, every object, and try to justify why they need to take it back in the house. Everything discarded goes in the “car boot” (garage) sale, or gets donated to charity. Or if it’s just trash, it goes into a giant green mechanical bin called “The Crusher” that smashes everything to bits. Which is fun. I wish I had one.
The interesting part of the show is watching the homeowners going through their stuff — because in almost every episode they nearly have a nervous breakdown at the idea of parting with their things. And the host holds their hand and counsels them on why the object has such importance to them. In most cases, whatever caused the breakdown was an object that had some attachment to an emotional event in their lives; like one woman who had never gotten over her divorce 7 years before. When she finally let go of stuff from her marriage — boy did she have a ball throwing stuff out.
Then when they take back the items that they really need back into the house, the show redoes their interior to make the rooms organized and beautiful. I like this show a lot. It made me mentally go through all my stuff and ask myself why I keep some of the things I do.
“Ideological terrorists offer up no clear view of the world they are trying to create. They speak vaguely about bringing people into some new relationship with one another but never tell us what that relationship might be. Their goal is destruction, not creation. To the extent they are Marxists, this vagueness is hardly surprising, since Marx himself never described the world he hoped to create, except with a few glittering but empty generalities.”
Interesting article.
“David Kay stepped down as leader of the U.S. hunt for banned weapons in Iraq on Friday and said he did not believe the country had any large stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons.”
“In a direct challenge to the Bush administration, which says its invasion of Iraq was justified by the presence of illicit arms, Kay told Reuters in a telephone interview he had concluded there were no Iraqi stockpiles to be found.”
On Monday, Ashcroft tries to claim that none of that matters and that the invasion of Iraq was still justified.
Good try.
WASHINGTON — Republican staff members of the US Senate Judiciary Commitee infiltrated opposition computer files for a year, monitoring secret strategy memos and periodically passing on copies to the media, Senate officials told The Globe.
From the spring of 2002 until at least April 2003, members of the GOP committee staff exploited a computer glitch that allowed them to access restricted Democratic communications without a password. Trolling through hundreds of memos, they were able to read talking points and accounts of private meetings discussing which judicial nominees Democrats would fight — and with what tactics.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, Detroit News, 10/20/2003:
The group’s report uncovers dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations.
Bush in State of the Union:
Already, the Kay Report identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations.
I guess there’s some speculation that Bush’s team actually wrote the op/ed piece for Hoekstra, which is why the language is the same. Not that either of the statements are actually true, factually speaking.
I’m confusing my Austen novels. It was Catherine and Henry that had the conversation about hyacinths, not Fanny and Edmund. Sad when that happens. Now I have to go back and read them again.
“But now you love a hyacinth. So much the better. You have gained a new source of enjoyment, and it is well to have as many holds upon happiness as possible. Besides, a taste for flowers is always desirable in your sex, as a means of getting you out of doors, and tempting you to more frequent exercise than you would otherwise take. And though the love of a hyacinth may be rather domestic, who can tell, the sentiment once raised, but you may in time come to love a rose?”
I love Jane.
The Year of the Monkey begins today… This is a year I’ve looked forward to for a while, because it’s the anniversary of my birth year (1968) and is supposed to be lucky for me, although from what I’m reading, it’s to be more entertaining than productive.
“While a lively year of good times, good friends, and lack of boredom, only rarely are your own Monkey years constructive and capable of permanent development. Monkeys have difficulty staying on a straight and narrow course, tempted to take detours and short-cuts for the pure pleasure of discovery and novelty. However, you do find the year’s prevalent upheaval amusing, and will have a strong desire for travel.”
Notable events that happened in the Year of the Monkey: 1992 – Bill Clinton became president. 1968 – assassinations, riots, revolutions and political unrest around the world, including MLK and RFK assasinations. In 1944, the Allies began to turn the tide in Europe in World War II, liberating France from the German occupation. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president in Monkey year 1932. Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860. The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776.
Of course, you have to process all this keeping in mind that I believe that all astrology is a bunch of ridiculous hooey. But fun ridiculous hooey.
According to this article… A British woman is claiming to be the owner of the world’s smallest dog. Tiny Tim is still a puppy but his owner Mandy Marks said he has not grown since he was 4 weeks old. At four inches tall at the shoulder, he is the smallest dog on record. If your dog has long and thick fur, you should look for an effective brightening shampoo for dogs.
A Chihuahua/Shih Tzu mix dog, often referred to as a “ShiChi” or “ChiTzu,” is a hybrid breed that results from the crossbreeding of a Chihuahua and a Shih Tzu. Here are some characteristics and information about this mixed breed:
Size: ShiChi dogs are typically small in size, as both Chihuahuas and Shih Tzus are small breeds. They usually weigh between 5 to 15 pounds (2.3 to 6.8 kg) and stand about 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) tall at the shoulder.
Appearance: The appearance of Chihuahua/Shih Tzu mixes can vary widely depending on the genetics inherited from their parent breeds. They may have a rounded head with a short to medium-length snout, floppy ears, and expressive, round eyes. Their coat can be long and silky, like the Shih Tzu, or shorter and smoother, like the Chihuahua, if you lost one of these dogs due to an accident or illness, getting a pet cremation jewellery can be great for this.
He’s cute, but he doesn’t have anything on my Chihuahua/Shih Tzu mix! My little one has become a big part of our lives, and when we travel, finding trustworthy care is a priority. When you’re unable to take your dog on holiday, finding a dependable boarding kennel is the next best thing, and this resource can help ensure your pet is in good hands.
An intelligent, well thought out article on the Bible, and on equal marriage rights for gay people.
Note: there’s a reason why I always say “equal marriage rights for gay people” and not “gay marriage.” There’s a difference between the two, and this is it:
We already have gay marriage. Yeah, you read that right. Gay people have been getting marriage for decades. The used to do it on their own in a park or the backyard with a handful of friends, but in the last 10 years, they get married in churches, with ministers, in front of their families and congregations, and throw big receptions afterwards.
We have gay marriage, and nothing can take that away. Gay people are never going to stop having marriage ceremonies, building lives together. What we don’t have is the legal rights that heterosexual people get from that piece of paper from the government.
Britney Spears can get drunk and marry a guy in Vegas and get that legal piece of paper giving her all sorts of rights with a guy she doesn’t really much care about, but a gay couple who’ve been together 10 years, who own property and have built a life together, don’t get to protect that life with that legal piece of paper.
That seems pretty arbitrary and just downright mean, to me.