Monthly Archives: October 2007

J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore was gay.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald:

Harry Potter fans, the rumours are true: Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay.
JK Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series, outed the beloved character today while appearing before a full house at Carnegie Hall in New York. After reading briefly from the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, she took questions from audience members.
She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds “true love”.
“Dumbledore is gay,” the author responded to gasps and applause.
She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. “Falling in love can blind us to an extent,” Rowling said of Dumbledore’s feelings, adding that Dumbledore was “horribly, terribly let down”.
Dumbledore’s love, she observed, was his “great tragedy”.
“Oh, my God,” Rowling concluded with a laugh, “the fan fiction.”
Potter readers on fan sites and elsewhere on the internet have speculated on the sexuality of Dumbledore, noting that he has no close relationship with women and a mysterious, troubled past. And explicit scenes with Dumbledore already have appeared in fan fiction.
Rowling told the audience that while working on the planned sixth Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, she spotted a reference in the script to a girl who once was of interest to Dumbledore. A note was duly passed to director David Yates, revealing the truth about her character.
Rowling, finishing a brief “Open Book Tour” of the United States, her first tour there since 2000, also said that she regarded her Potter books as a “prolonged argument for tolerance” and urged her fans to “question authority”.
Not everyone likes her work, Rowling said, likely referring to Christian groups that have alleged the books promote witchcraft. Her news about Dumbledore, she said, will give them one more reason.

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Holy crap, that’s a cute dog! (lol version)

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A couple weeks ago, I was reading articles on line about dog food for Spike, and one of them was on the petfinder.com site, where there was an ad for an adorably cute dog named Chip who needed a home. I twittered “holy crap, that’s a cute dog!” with a link to his page, and three days later the shelter emailed me, saying that they had received over 30 applications from people who came to their site either through my twitter post or through my site.

Oh, the power of the internets. They are lovely, aren’t they? I figured since Chip has a nice home, some other dogs should get one, too. Like Pedro.

Pedro sez:

And Biscuit, a pomeranian/chihuahua mix who lives in Marion, Indiana with his sister Flower, who also needs a home:

Petfinder.com works with animal shelters all over the country to post pictures and bios of adoptable pets who are in shelters and need loving homes. It’s a great way to find a loving animal without going to a puppy mill or irresponsible breeder.

I have to say I really prefer mixed breed doggies like my own adorable sweet dog Spike.

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links for 2007-10-19

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Bush was spying on U.S. Citizens Before 9/11

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From the Washington Post:

Former chief executive Joseph P. Nacchio, convicted in April of 19 counts of insider trading, said the NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to court documents unsealed in Denver this week.
Details about the alleged NSA program have been redacted from the documents, but Nacchio’s lawyer said last year that the NSA had approached the company about participating in a warrantless surveillance program to gather information about Americans’ phone records.

I have to admit this is one that did shock me – I’ve long thought that they were simply opportunistic with their unconstitutional actions, but finding out they were doing this long before they had any “official” reason (or excuse) to do so…

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Former Top General in Iraq Faults Bush Administration

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From the New York Times (presented to you without comment on my part):

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12— In a sweeping indictment of the four-year effort in Iraq, the former top American commander called the Bush administration’s handling of the war incompetent and warned that the United States was “living a nightmare with no end in sight.”
In one of his first major public speeches since leaving the Army in late 2006, retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez blamed the administration for a “catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan” and denounced the current “surge” strategy as a “desperate” move that will not achieve long-term stability.
“After more than fours years of fighting, America continues its desperate struggle in Iraq without any concerted effort to devise a strategy that will achieve victory in that war-torn country or in the greater conflict against extremism,” Mr. Sanchez said, at a gathering here of military reporters and editors.
General Sanchez is the most senior in a string of retired generals to harshly criticize the administration’s conduct of the war. Asked following his remarks why he waited nearly a year after his retirement to outline his views, he responded that that it was not the place of active duty officers to challenge lawful orders from civilian authorities. General Sanchez, who is said to be considering a book, promised further public statements criticizing officials by name.
“There was been a glaring and unfortunate display of incompetent strategic leadership within our national leaders,” he said, adding later in his remarks that civilian officials have been “derelict in their duties” and guilty of a “lust for power.”
The White House had no initial comment.

Okay, I gave in and highlighted things.

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Spike’s Birthday Fence

We’re having the backyard fenced in for Spike for his (belated) Fifth birthday present, since I promised him when he was a puppy that he could have a fenced in yard. I called around a few months ago and got estimates from a surveying company to do a boundary survey, and we eventually hired Site Line surveying, who just finished up setting the corner markers on Friday.
Of course, Saturday our neighbor came over to point out my flowerbed edging was encroaching on his line and he was planning to remove it. I immediately dug it out and filled in the edge. The surveying company noted to me on the phone this morning that part of that same neighbor’s sidewalk is encroaching on our yard in the back. I will choose not to be a dickhead in return for his jerkish behavior. Although I did move his trashcan off our side of the line. “Now that we’ve established the boundary lines” as he noted to me. Yes, lets establish some boundaries.
We also got estimates from several fence companies, and Glidden Fencing is coming out to begin the work this week. We have to do a wood picket fence because of the historic neighborhood, so we chose a “gothic” style with pickets set fairly close together so he can’t squeeze out between them. So Spike will finally have the fence I promised him 5 years ago.

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