Yearly Archives: 2005

Parallels

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  • Post category:Politics

“Reflecting on that time, The American Heritage Dictionary (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983) left us this definition of the form of government the German democracy had become through Hitler’s close alliance with the largest German corporations and his policy of using war as a tool to keep power: “fas-cism (fbsh’iz’em) n. A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism.”

Yeah.

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Fascinating article on religious extremism

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In the New York Times, Paul Krugman discusses the rise of religious extremism (what I like to refer to as “religious nujobs”) and how they are endangering democracy here in America and around the world.
How does one balance a desire to respect and protect differences of opinion, when some people’s opinions are intent on demolishing the democracy that protects us all?

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Uncyclopedia

I have found a new place to spend unearthly amounts of time reading and writing and amusing myself no end. Like I needed another place like that.
I love technology. Technology is the best. I pity the Amish. And people from the olden days. They had no technology. They must have been very sad. And bored. Maybe this is is why the Christians hate gay people. Because they don’t know how to use the technology, and therefore are bored and sad and have to take it out on someone. I recommend they get better computers, and take it out on the Amish, instead.

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Michigan Preparing To Let Doctors Refuse To Treat Gays

This is truly frightening. Not letting us get married is one thing, but refusing to provide health care to gay people is chilling, nazi-esque “load up the trains” behavior.

Doctors or other health care providers could not be disciplined or sued if they refuse to treat gay patients under legislation passed Wednesday by the Michigan House.

The bill allows health care workers to refuse service to anyone on moral, ethical or religious grounds.

The Republican dominated House passed the measure as dozens of Catholics looked on from the gallery. The Michigan Catholic Conference, which pushed for the bills, hosted a legislative day for Catholics on Wednesday at the state Capitol.

The bills now go the Senate, which also is controlled by Republicans.

The Conscientious Objector Policy Act would allow health care providers to assert their objection within 24 hours of when they receive notice of a patient or procedure with which they don’t agree. However, it would prohibit emergency treatment to be refused.

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Walmart Vs. Target

Rob at Cockeyed.com does a price comparison of numerous items at Walmart and Target. His conclusion — Walmart is slightly cheaper, but not by much. For the same 20 items, he spent $115.51 at Walmart, and $120.40 at Target, with Target being cheaper on 6 items.

And he isn’t factoring in the fact that Walmart is destroying America. Aside from killing independently owned mom and pop stores, Walmart is the single largest employer of people who qualify for welfare and other goverment support, because the company doesn’t pay adequate healthcare benefits, and they keep people under a certain number of hours to keep benefits down. On top of that, they ACTIVELY encourage their employees to seek out goverment welfare benefits by employing an advisor that helps their employees apply for those benefits. So if you’re paying too much in taxes, you have Walmart to blame.

And even more than that, they consistently keep women in lower paying positions in the company.

And when it comes to real estate, Walmart has a build-and-abandon policy of opening stores, closing them down, and then opening much larger stores in the same area, while refusing to sell the dead stores real estate.

Walmart advertises that all their products are made in America, and they even use an American flag in their advertising. But if you check it out, that’s not true. In fact, they buy $15 billion dollars worth of goods from China every year.

In all, I’d rather spend an extra $5 at Target and sleep better at night.

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Favorite Literary Characters

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  • Post category:Books

The Independent put together a list of well-known literati’s picks for their favorite literary characters. I’m sure I’ll think of more later, but here are mine, off the top of my head:
1. Anne Elliot, from Jane Austen’s Persuasion.
2. Rosalind, from Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
3. Auntie Mame, from Patrick Dennis’ Auntie Mame : An Irreverent Escapade.
4. Bertie Wooster, from the P.G. Wodehouse series of Jeeves and Wooster books.
5. Nick and Nora Charles (and Asta!), from Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man.
6. Sherlock Holmes from Arthur Conan Doyle’s four novels and series of short stories.
7. Miss Marple, Agatha Christie’s intrepid little old lady detective that knew human nature.
8. Nancy Drew, the girl detective creation of Edward Stratemeyer and Mildred Wirt Benson.
9. and of course, Curious George that adorable little monkey from the series of children’s books by H. A. Rey.

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Frustration

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  • Post category:Health

I think the thing that bothers me most right now is that there are so many things I’m not supposed to do. In any given day, I do probably 40 or 50 things that are now on the list of restricted activities that aren’t allowed lest they give me congestive heart failure and leave me in a Terry Schiavo-like state. From carrying groceries in the house to climbing out on the roof to replace the bulbs in my security lighting, stuff I do all the time is a big fat no-no. And it’s making me pissed off at life.

I know my house isn’t the cleanest house on the planet, or even the most organized, but I do have some pretty stiff routines and things operate like clockwork. And now the springs seem to be popping out of the clock and I can see stuff falling apart all around me.

I know lots of people have volunteered to help, (my girlfriend most of all) and I appreciate that a lot. But actually asking them to do that is hard. And when I do ask, sometimes it’s hard to coordinate getting the work done, because they have their own lives, too. And god love ’em, I don’t think some of them have any concept of the amount of stuff I do in a single day. I have a list of furniture that I need to move around to make my recovery more convenient, and one of the people I asked said, “oh that will only take a couple of hours.” Unfortunately it will take about 7 or 8, actually.

I have roughly 3 weekends left before surgery to accomplish everything I need to do. Stuff that’s an absolute must:
– going to court to testify against the guy who was stalking my girlfriend (April 4)
– a sleep study to figure out what to do about my sleep apnea (April 5)
– implementing all the recovery guidelines and recommendations, which includes…
– re-arranging furniture so I can sleep and so care-givers can help me
– cleaning the house a certain way to ensure sanitary conditions
– getting a living will
– getting my taxes done
– a weekend trip
– considerable work on my website since I won’t be able to touch it for awhile

The other thing that sucks about this whole deal is not just that my day-to-day routine stuff is disrupted, but my big one-shot projects are all on hold, too. It’s not just that I won’t be able to mow the lawn every week, it’s that I planned on aerating the lawn this spring and putting down 40 pounds of grass seed. It’s not just that I have to weed the flower beds each week, it’s that I need to put down 800 pounds of mulch on the flowerbeds.

Stuff I planned on doing this spring that I now will be delayed in doing, due to my stupid heart:
– aerating the lawn
– mulching the flower beds
– cutting the pipes out of the kitchen
– repairing the drywall behind the kitchen sink
– painting the kitchen cabinets and walls
– repainting the foyer in a different color
– jackhammering out the stairs at the side of the house and the useless stairs in back
– hauling the extraneous queen box springs to the dump
– refinishing the small book case and the large chest of drawers
– tearing the bathtub out of the working bathroom downstairs
– helping Stephanie cultivate and plant a garden at her house

GRRRRRRR.

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Fun Sites to Buy Stuff

Boys Stuff
dunno about the title, because there’s a lot of stuff girls like too. Lots of cool techie toys. PLUS: The best Monkey toy ever.
Archie McPhee
Always a classic, I’ve blogged about Archie McPhee before. I’ve ordered lots of stuff from them for myself and as gifts. This is where I bought my pirate flag, and numerous action figures.
Think Geek
Well, because I am one, after all.
Gag Works
A few fun things, but a lot more juvenile humor than anything else.

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