Res Ipsa Loquitur

Too Old

My daughter & I stayed with the grandson last night until he finally fell asleep. We didn't get home until after midnight, by the time I got to go to bed, it was after one. Around one-thirty, Mike's pager went off so he had to call work. I'm not sure what that was all about. I just remember I kept waking up hearing Mike repeatedly yell "I'm telling you, I. Don't. Know. What. The. Password. Is!"

Then my son called from Japan sometime after two a.m. to see how badly his son was injured....took quite a while to get him calmed down. I can verify that he has indeed learned to swear like a sailor.

All in all, I got maybe 2 hrs. sleep. I'm too old for that. As my brother-in-law says, my eyes look like two little peeholes in the snow. And I'm desperately trying to get awake enough to make the 1+ hr. drive back to the hospital.

It's going to take a considerable amount of self-control to keep from bitch-slapping the fool that carelessly did this...and my grandson's mother for letting him stay with aforementioned fool.

I'm not sure I have it in me today. I'm not sure that I care.

Family Emergency

Sorry for the lack of posting, but my grandson was run over by a riding lawn mower after lunch today. He is expected to make a full recovery, barring infection. But as you can well imagine, he received several serious cuts, and is a pretty bunged up little guy.

I'm heading back to the hospital first thing in the morning, but right now I'm going to bed.

Plants of Death

It's finally gotten warm enough to move some of my bigger house plants outside for the summer. It struck me that my three favorites each came from a death. My amaryllis came from a big pot of bulbs that were always beside my maternal grandfather's recliner. He loved those flowers because they always bloomed right around Christmas. I got some of the bulbs a few years after he passed away in 1976.

My weeping fig tree came from the funeral of my only niece in 1994. My sis got so many potted plants and flowers that they filled an entire bedroom, and the overflow covered the carport. This is the only one out of all I took that survived.

And my huge peace lily came from the funeral of my paternal grandmother a couple of years ago. It's gotten so large that I can barely lift it, and it's still going strong. I like it best because it's so quietly beautiful...much like my grandmother was.

My daughter was old enough to be included in the ritual "womenfolk division of the funeral flowers" after my grandmother's funeral. She was kinda weirded out by it all at first, but I explained that it was a way of keeping a reminder of the deceased with you. Besides, I continued, you know what Granny would say if she was here...."Now you girls take all them flowers that you want cuz I ain't got no use for 'em."

And she would've too.

I Got Your Repression Right Here

I agree with Frank...except about that naked hot chick thing.

That really doesn't do a thing for me.

Morning Roundup

Da Goddess asks the intelligent question "Explain how Bush = Hitler" and gets an unintelligible answer.

James survived his daughter's wedding in style, and has also posted handy links to his series on his military experiences.

Tony, who is often right, says glue traps for mice are inhumane and therefore must've been invented by women. (At some point the direct link will work; until then, scroll down to the post "Build A Better Mousetrap, Please". Stupid Blogspot.)

And Adam is looking for bizarre comments to out-bizarre the weather ninja e-mails. (Again with the nonworking links. Look for the post "Weather Ninja Update and a New Contest!")

As for me, I gots to take my car in for a long overdue oil change. I hate doing that. It annoys me to pay someone to do something I can do better myself....not to mention explaining yet again to a mechanic how my lack of a penis doesn't impair my ability to understand the basic workings of an engine.

They're usually so surprised by that statement.

Kinda Mouthy?

Keith's site is back up & running. Yay!

He said I'm "alternately kind and mouthy". Shouldn't that have been "kinda mouthy"?

Seasons

Growing up on a farm, I measured seasons differently....no simple spring, summer, fall and winter. For example, it's soon to be strawberry picking season, which I always hated. (I still don't care much for strawberries) This was followed by tomato picking season in late June, then came my favorite. Haying season.

Yes, it's hot, tiring physical labor, but I've always enjoyed it. I think the primary reason was the incredibly antique haying equipment my dad always used. Cash money was hard to come by, so we made do with what we had. There was the horse-drawn mower (ours had a metal seat & rubber tires, but otherwise it's the same) and hayrake that he had converted to be used by the antique Farm-all tractor. (Yep, that's the first thing with a motor I learned how to drive.) But my favorite thing was the first hay baler we ever owned....looked something like this. As I remember, it was called a "peckerwood" baler. The plunger was much heavier, the flywheel was a little different, and the side guards were smaller, but the basic operation was the same. You pulled it up between two haystacks and pitched the hay in with pitchforks. The upright plunger pushed the hay down, a horizontal plunger inside the baler pushed the hay back. The triangular metal piece on the side of the upright plunger was used to push a wooden block down to separate the individual bales. There was a metal holder in which the block was placed which you flipped up whenever the bale was big enough. Eventually, the block would work its way back towards the end of the baler, where you would insert long wires & hand-tie each bale. (Usually my job).

Needless to say, you had to pay attention to what you were doing...if your timing was off by even a fraction of a second, the plungers would, at the very least, take your arm off. And the motor was started with a hand crank, which meant you had to put the belt that drove the baler on the big flywheel after the motor was running...a rather delicate operation to say the least. (OSHA? We didn't need no stinkin' OSHA.)

But the grownups would always tell the best stories while we all worked...and I made all kinds of interesting additions to my vocabulary when something would break. My paternal grandfather, who always helped us, had a well deserved reputation for being a little quick tempered and seemed to take it personally when something stopped working correctly. And the fact that no one cared how dirty I got (I was 10 or 11 at the time) and that there was a small creek nearby that I usually managed to sneak off to while we were waiting for the baler to start running again helped too.

We eventually were able to buy a baler that was a bit more modern, and haying was still fun....just not the same.

Definitely easier though.

"Scalia in a Skirt"?

The femi-nazis are calling some of President Bush's female federal judicial nominees "Scalia in a skirt".

"The women he is nominating are Scalia in a skirt," said Ms. Magazine's Eleanor Smeal, referring to conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. They "never saw a woman's legal right that they wanted to uphold."

Not to cast aspersions on Ms. Smeal's eminent qualifications to determine the proper qualifications for a federal judge, but lady, you're saying that like it's a bad thing.

"A group of well-qualified women and minorities are nominated to the court, but they're not women enough or minority enough," said Don Stewart, spokesman for Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican. "That borders on racism and bigotry."

Certainly does, doesn't it? Women differ in their political leanings just like everyone else. And I would assume minorities do also.

"The 1950s housewife era, when a woman had to think certain ways, are over," said Mr. Stewart, spokesman for Mr. Cornyn. Justice Owen is "a distinguished member of the Texas Supreme Court, and she should be judged on that, not on whether she conforms to some view that women are supposed to have."

Frankly, a judge's jurisprudence is more important to me than his or her political beliefs. It's a much better indicator of whether a judge will rule based on the law, or attempt to legislate from the bench. And I believe the latter is wrong, wrong, wrong....whether conservative or liberal.

But that's just my opinion....for what it's worth.

Needs or Wants?

Rodger needs a new computer, so if you've got a couple extra bucks, go contribute to the cause...cause the one he's using now looks as old as I am. And that's really old.

Mike's been trying to convince me that we need one of these, but we really don't. We didn't really need this either, but we bought one today. And we're talking about buying one of these for traveling.

But we don't really need it. Rodger does need a new computer. Go help him out.

Blogger Help

For those of you still on Blogger, help is on the way. The MT team is introducing TypePad, a free hosting service based on MT. (Link via Dean)

Just think...permalinks & archives that actually work. And you don't need HTML knowledge to use TypePad....so you have no excuse to not make the switch. It'll be available in May, but sign up now.

It's a good thing.

Semi-bi-monthly Meeting

We're off in a bit to a semi-bi-monthly out-of-office meeting at Hooter's of the No-Name group. It should be called Geek's Anonymous...I'm the only non-geek in the bunch. It's usually just us & one of Mike's friends, but sometimes others show up. A good time is always had by all.

Good friends, marginally edible food and a plethora of flat-chested chicks in water bras to make fun of. What more could you want?

Variations on a Theme

Here's a few thoughts continuing my theme of boreblogging this morning:

1. Lileks is now working, so I got my fix before the weekend.

2. The cat tried to steal the shortcake I was eating. She got all pissy when I scolded her & wanted outside. I obliged her. It is raining. I hope she enjoys it.

3. This and this by Phillip Coons made me cry, for several reasons. (Found via Acidman)

4. I have totally wasted the entire morning...didn't accomplish one thing. Now I think I deserve a nap.

The Five

Today's Friday Five:

1. What was the last TV show you watched? If you mean the last one that I watched to the end without falling asleep, Boomtown, I think. Mike was watching some Discovery show last night about the WWII plane some guys got out of an iceberg & restored...but I'd already seen it, so I went to sleep.

2. What was the last thing you complained about and what was the problem? Not being able to get to Lilek's. I think he's having DNS problems.

3. Who was the last person you complimented and what did you say? Mike, for only missing 11 on his 80 question CISSP pre-test....amazing since he has little formal security background. I told him he was a genius. And he is.

4. What was the last thing you threw away? My used teabag. And before that, a dryer sheet that had stuck to the inside of my sweatshirt. Isn't that exciting?

5. What was the last website (besides this one) that you visited? BBC. Unlike the popular conservative stereotype, I like to read a wide range of media reports so I can get a better idea of what's really happening in the world.

Not that there's media bias or anything. Right?

Gauche Americans

The US is allegedly planning to exclude France and emphasize Italy & Spain's involvement in future NATO decisions. How typically gauche that the Americans are insisting on negative consequences for French actions.

Let's all cry for France now. [/sarcasm]

Yucky Day

So far it's looking to be a yucky day....cloudy, damp. Awoke this morning feeling like I'd been in a car wreck. April showers are causing Mike & me to hobble around like, well like the old people we are. Arthritis & damp weather is not a good combination, trust me.

I have billing to do today, which I hate...and worst of all, I can't get to Lileks this morning.

[/whine]

On a brighter note, we will finally be able to get digital cable on May 20th. Since they ran the cable & got our house wired for it two years ago, all I can say is "About Damn Time."

I want my TCM.

New Installment

The latest installment of Sgt. Steele is up. (No permalink yet...you know the drill)

This one's my favorite so far. I would've liked to have made the same speech to some of my law professors.

She's Back!

Miss Vicky is back amongst us lesser mortals!

O frabjoyous day!

Not the Question

North Korea has admitted it has nuclear arms. Well, duh. We already knew that.

What remains to be seen is whether Kim Jong Il has shit for brains.

Court Notes

I've been in court all afternoon...transferring cases to other attorneys, winding down others that should end before summer school starts. One of my colleagues asked me to check my calendar for my last day there, so they could plan a going-away party. "You would like a going-away party wouldn't you?" she asked.

"Only if you all are that glad to get rid of me," I replied.

Without missing a beat she said "In that case, we want to make sure you won't be back." Do I work with some great people or what?

I really hope they don't do that. I'm going to cry all the way home on my last day as it is. And like baseball, there's no crying in court. By the attorneys at least. Defendants try that all the time for all the good it does them. Saw one today (not my case) start with the tears because she couldn't understand why no one would bring her kids for visitation with her in the jail. Perhaps she should've thought about that before she got arrested...again.

I'll never understand these people.

Important Tourist Info

Everything you need to know about Arkansas, but were afraid to ask.

• Possums are born dead along the highways and sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.
• There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in Arkansas, plus a couple no one's seen before.
• Squirrels will eat anything.
• Unknown critters love to dig holes under tomato plants.
• Raccoons will test your crop of melons and let you know when they are ripe.
• If it grows, it sticks; if it crawls; it bites.
• A tractor is NOT an all-terrain vehicle. They do get stuck.
• "Onced" and "Twiced" are words.
• It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy.
• People actually grow and eat okra.
• Fixin ta is one word.
• There ain't no such thing as "lunch". There's breakfast, dinner and then there's supper.
• Tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're 2.
• Backards and forwards means I know everything about you.
• Jeet? is actually a phrase meaning "Did you eat?"
• You don't have to wear a watch because it doesn't matter what time it is.
• You work until you're done or it's too dark to see.

Ma's Good Boy

Clarification

No, I'm not quitting (but hey, thanks to all one of you for asking)....just this is becoming a real pain in the ass. See, I worked most of the weekend getting the disappearing link problem fixed so it would work in the Opera OS. It worked fine for me in IE. It worked in Opera. But apparently it still doesn't work for everyone, even though the stylesheet kindly provided to me by Craig was validated, meaning it should work just fine in any browser.

So I completely changed the stylesheet back to a default MT stylesheet, completely different template and color scheme. If the links still disappear for you, I don't know what to tell you except

One size fits most.

See Ya Around

You know what, this is starting to be way more trouble than it's worth.

Memories

AMCGLTD has a interesting post about the five worst wines in the world...brings back a lot of memories. No, I didn't used to be a wino. My ex and I ran a liquor store for the 13 yrs. we were married. We carried 4 out of those 5 wines...the best seller by far was the "Mad Dog" 20/20.

Our customers had the funniest nicknames for stuff. Camel cigarettes were called "humps", as in "Give me a pack o' humps". One guy always called Fighting Cock whiskey "Fighting Rooster" because he didn't want to say cock with a lady present. I've heard more mispronounciations of Hiriam Walker than I can count...my all-time favorite is "Hymen Walker." And I'm sure you can imagine how badly a drunken hillbilly could mangle "Blue Curacao". "Caracas" is as close as anyone ever got.

It was really hard not to burst out laughing sometimes. And then there was this one poor guy....a really nice guy who stuttered quite badly. The problem? He always asked for a pint of A & A (Ancient Age whiskey).

That was painful.

Gun Maker Liable

An Oakland, CA jury has found a gun manufacturer partially liable for an accidental shooting of a 7 yr. old boy. Now before you start foaming at the mouth, there's a twist.

The gun manufacturer. headed by Mr. Jennings, had made certain modifications to the gun's design.

In Brandon's case, Ms. Ni said, the crucial issue was that the .38-caliber Bryco semiautomatic was designed in such a way that it could be unloaded only when the safety was turned to the "off" position.

During testimony, it was shown that Mr. Jennings had changed the design of the gun to make it operate that way.

What kind of freaking moron designs a gun so you have to take the safety off to unload it? How stupid is that?

I hope the punitives break your company, you moronic asshat.

Grow a Set

Sen. Santorum is trying to dance a little sidestep around his comments on the Texas sodomy case.

Santorum told Fox News that he was not equating gay couples with polygamists, adulterers and the like.

"I was not equating one to the other. There is no moral equivalency there. What I was saying was that if you say there is an absolute right to privacy for consenting adults within the home to do whatever they want, this has far reaching ramifications, which has a very serious impact on the American family and that is what I was talking about."

Beg pardon? Then what exactly was else could these comments mean?

"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual [gay] sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything."

Stupid comments aside, Senator, if you'd actually Read the Damn Case, you might realize that this isn't even close to what this case is about. As I've said before here and here, this case is about the Texas sodomy statute that prohibits certain sexual conduct between homosexuals....but the same sexual conduct is permitted between heterosexual couples.

Now, as far as I know, bigamy, incest, polygamy and adultery is prohibited no matter what the gender of the participants. (Adultery? Is that still a crime somewhere?) Equating these with prohibiting sexual conduct based solely on the gender of the participants is at best intellectual dishonesty.

And yes, Senator, your comments are moral equivalency. What you are really saying is that homosexuality is morally wrong and should be prohibited because it undermines "family values". You have a right to your opinion, whether I agree or not.

So why don't you grow a set and just say what you really think? And stop misinterpreting this case to fit your own agenda.

Idjit.

Youngun's

I was sitting in the courthouse hall visiting with an attorney friend prior to conferences and watching a little girl play in this guy's lap. She looked like she was about 6 or 7 months old...a real cutie. Next thing I know, she starts having a seizure. The guy (her dad??) said "Oh no!" and holds her carefully until the seizure stopped. Apparently happens all the time, she's on medication that controls them, just doesn't stop them.

And I start thinking, Goddess, I don't know how you do what you do so well. Watching that little sweetheart go through that and knowing what her life would be like just about broke my heart.

If I had one, it would've.

It's A Trap!

Take the "Which FARK Cliche Are You" quiz!

(Link via the Other Tony)

Clients in my Yard

Sollie & I had just gotten back from getting the mail....heard tires squealing & looked around just in time to see a 4 car pile-up right in front of our mailbox.

And no, I didn't go hand out my business card to all the drivers.

Jeez, what kinda lawyer you think I am?

Busy Day

I'm off in a bit, busy day ahead. First, I have to go to the community college to see if I can talk my way into an algebra class with my 1989 ACT scores. (It's not like I've gotten more stupid in the interim, right?) Then lunch with my handsome husband...then to Jay for an afternoon of conferences, getting orders signed by the judge and more fun work stuff.

Y'all behave yourselves...or not, whichever's more fun for you.

Bad News

We were horrified to learn this morning that our own sweet Miss Vicky has been viciously mauled by a slack-jawed mouth breather's neighbor's Rottweiler.

Go leave her your best wishes here.

Now where did I put that 000 buckshot....

Zen of Mowing

I've just finished mowing...which I enjoy. It's the Zen thing....grass tall, grass short...of a routine job well done. Plus in our yard, there's the added excitement of can I mow this bank or this one without tipping over & killing myself? (Yes, so far) Will the mower fit between the Jeep & the storage building? (No as a matter of fact Michael dear, it won't)

It's the perfect escape for an hour or so. I don't have to talk or listen to the dogs & cat fight or be lawyer/mom/wife/chief cook & bottle washer...I can just mow. And BTW, a big thanks to our neighbor to the west for leaving the tree that fell out of his yard into ours. I enjoyed that extra 30 minutes cleaning up your mess out of our yard. At least now I don't feel so bad about laughing when the Bradford pear you mangled with your half-assed pruning last year blew over & took out your phone line the other day. No wonder our dogs always bark at you...you're an asshat.

Now I'm on to the Zen of cleaning the kitchen & washing dishes...somehow that's not as much fun as mowing the lawn. Probably because there's no motors involved.

Repressed Again

Tony sez Susan Sarandon's TV movie tanked last night. (*sigh* Scroll down. As usual on the new & improved Goo-Spot, permalinks aren't working)

We were flipping channels looking for something that wasn't a re-run last night & ran across her movie. She was doing a soliloquy about "I discovered the power of...." I said "I discovered the power of the remote" and Mike changed the channel.

Just doing my duty as a member of the VRWC.

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday, Miss Rachel, my official Blogmommy! And many, many more.

Now go celebrate by shooting something!

Rainwoman?

According to this, I have the same brain as an autistic male. (Link via Sir Tim. Direct link not yet available via Bloody Blogspot)

Cool. But if that's true, then why the hell didn't we win more money in Vegas??

Lovely Rita

This is as close to a photo of me as you'll ever see, courtesy the Amazing Rodger.

Lovely Rita, Cherokee squaw hillbilly attorney.

Easter Visitor

I had an Easter visitor this afternoon...no, better than the Easter bunny. My all-time favorite aunt stopped by on a whim. We don't get to see each other very often these days, but make the most of the opportunities we get. We used to have some wild times together back in the day. It was great to get to spend some time with her.

BTW Rodger, I showed her the Photoshopped pic you did for me and she _loved_ it. She said that fit me to a T....and she knows me better than anyone.

I'll post it for everyone else when I get a few minutes.

Just a Hint

Today is a really bad day to go grocery shopping in Fayetteville if you're violently allergic to bad perfume. Overapplication of bad perfume is an Easter tradition of which I was previously unaware.

It was bad....I spent most of our time in the store with my sweatshirt pulled up over my nose in self defense.

Next time I'm taking a gas mask.

Happy Easter

My son just sent me a twisted Easter e-card. You can view the original here (I think).

Tying the kids to the ceiling fan to decorate Easter eggs...now why didn't I think of that?

Hand Up Not Handout

Charleston, South Carolina's got the right idea to combat the problem of deadbeat parents. It's called "Project Restore".

During the week, it's life-skills classes and training on construction sites; on Tuesday and Thursday nights, it's college classes; on Saturdays, it's work with Habitat for Humanity.
Project Restore pays the men $7 an hour or $224 a week. About three-quarters of these earnings go to their child-support debts. The men keep $8.50 a week, which isn't much, but it beats the $1-a-day they could earn working in jail. The rest of the men's earnings go toward paying for meals and other program costs.

Participants must abide by the rules. Stealing, substance abuse and unauthorized visitors are cause for dismissal.

The faith-based program, which is voluntary, lasts for 16 weeks. Successful participants are then eligible for jobs with the program's construction company, and if they stay with the company, can become part-owners. The program also has had a low recidivism rate...since 1997, only 15 out of 81 graduates have been re-arrested for nonpayment of support.

This is an excellent idea as it addresses the related problems of poor parenting skills and lack of marketable job skills. Obviously, it wouldn't work for everyone. But it would help a significant number of non-custodial parents (NCPs) that get caught in the Catch-22 of can't pay support for lack of a decent job and can't get a decent job because he or she's been incarcerated for not paying support.

And best of all, it re-establishes the relationship between the NCP and their children....which is what suffers most in these situations.

I wish there were more programs like this.

Future Hacker?

While we were at Cracker Barrel yesterday, Bubs was playing with one of those peg puzzles. You know the ones, 14 multi-color pegs, triangular peg board with 15 holes. The object of the game is to sequentially jump the pegs over each other (like checkers) until there's only one peg left.

Of course, he's only 2, so we were making up games to play with the pegs. Once, I took all the pegs out of the board. He started picking the pegs up one at a time & handing them to me to put back in the holes of the board. Halfway through the second row, I noticed that no peg was immediately adjacent to a peg of the same color. And he wasn't picking them up at random, there were several he would pick up, look at the board, then get a different color. By the time we got to the last two rows, he only had two colors left, 3 yellow and 2 orange. So he made one row entirely yellow, and the last entirely orange....he studied it for a minute, said "Done!", and started doing something else.

Is that freaky or what? We may have a future hacker in the family.

White hat, of course.

Many, Many Thanks!

I'm happy to announce that the Opera 7.0 site display problem has been corrected.....thanks to the tireless efforts of a couple of great guys.

Many, many thanks to you both! I could never have fixed it on my own.

Youse guys rock!

Middle Earth Person

Rohirrim


To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

Uhhh, they're around here somewhere....honey, do you remember where I put my horse??? No No Sollie! Bad Dog! Drop my hauberk! (Link via the dignified Bigwig)

Compliments

My beloved just informed me that my hair looked just like this.

I replied that that was appropriate, seeing as how I sing just like him too.

Ain't love grand?

Shameful Behavior

Some of the anti-war idiots have been harassing military members.

In the first incident, two males on San Antonio's northeast side made threatening gestures and pounded on the windows of a car driven by an Army drill sergeant. The sergeant's wife was a passenger in the car. The two were returning home from work.

Now there's a mature way to express your opinion, isn't it? Terrorizing some poor sergeant's wife.

Gen. Porr said the second incident involved two sailors in uniform, who were "accosted" as they left a River Walk restaurant by several males who said, "You'd better not go to war."

"The matter was then taken care of by combined military action," said Mr. Reidinger, who would not elaborate.

Ahem. I'm sure it was. And quite appropriately too.

Gen. Porr also has advised military personnel to "not get involved" in situations where people voice their opposition to the war in Iraq, not talk about their work or "military operations in general" and always practice the "buddy system" when traveling.

That this policy is necessary is understandable. That "protesters" believe they should harass the very people who risk their lives to protect their freedom to protest is shameful.

And absolutely unacceptable.

Freaky Friday

When I stopped to pick my daughter up this morning, her roommate noticed that all three of us were dressed almost identically...bright red shirts & jeans. Only our shoes were different. Then, on our way to I-540, my daughter & I saw a guy walking beside the highway...dressed in a bright red shirt & jeans. Very bizarre.

I may never wear this shirt again....after we get back from eating a big chunk of dead cow that is.

Lunch Funny

I'm back, but I'll be mucking about with the template trying out a few suggestions to fix the link display problem.

But so you'll have a giggle while you wait....while we were having lunch, my 2 yr. old grandson gave me the "talk to the hand" hand, then did the same with his other hand to my daughter. In my best falsetto, I started singing "Stop! In the name of love..." My daughter shot iced tea out her nose....and she couldn't stop laughing even though there was still iced tea in her mouth. I thought she was gonna drown.

I laughed so hard I cried. My grandson thought we were both nuts. He started shushing us, which made us laugh even harder.

We have fun wherever we go.

Gotta Go...

Gotta go pick up the grandson at his mom's.

Later.

Suggestions Please

A kind reader let me know this morning that my site isn't displaying properly in Opera...the links are invisible. I think I know the problem, they're displaying white instead of navy & fuschia like I told them to...but I don't know how to fix it.

I'm assuming taking a big hammer to my laptop is not the answer, though that's what I'm feeling like doing at the moment. It is _really_ bugging me.

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hollywood Intellegentsia

R. Emmett Tyrell, Jr. has a most excellent discourse on Hollywood's intelligentsia in this morning's WashTimes. Here's an excerpt:

Of all the gifted Hollywood philosophes, probably the greatest are the actors. I am not talking about those who have recently been arrested for shoplifting or for holding overnights with little boys. Those are the Hollywood ethicists, and their area of intellectual activity is too narrow for the general audience of this paper. Their knowledge is of the recondite sort that is best put on display at the Harvard Law School, as Ms. Joyce Brown once did. Ms. Brown, you will recall, was the Manhattan bag lady invited to lecture at the Harvard Law School in the 1980s between stints in various New York state institutions. No, the Hollywood intellectuals I have in mind are the actors who speak so eloquently to Mr. Bush's World Crisis.

An excellent example of the proper use of that popular literary device we fondly know as sarcasm. (Dean, this is especially for you.)

Go read.

Naughty, Naughty

The University of Arkansas' Athletic Department was just placed on NCAA probation for 3 years.

The University of Arkansas Athletic Department was placed on three years probation by the NCAA Thursday for violations by former booster Ted Harrod Sr. involving the overcompensation of Razorbacks student-athletes at his Dallas-based trucking firm.

No further penalties were imposed on the basketball program, which reduced official visits from 12 to eight in 2002-03 and cut a scholarship in 2003-04.

Tsk, tsk. I am so shocked. [/sarcasm]

Lunchtime Thoughts

You know, if I ever happened to see a mermaid, I think asking "What's the best tuna?" would be the farthest thing from my mind.

Museum Looting Inside Job?

According to UN cultural agency experts, it appears the "looters" had keys to the Baghdad museum vaults and that the "looting" was pre-planned.

Although much of the looting was haphazard, experts said some of the thieves clearly knew what they were looking for and where to find it, suggesting they were prepared professionals.

"I have a suspicion it was organized outside the country, in fact I'm pretty sure it was," Gibson said. He added that if a good police team was put together, "I think it could be cracked in no time."

Not exactly your ordinary citizens running amok unrestrained by the evil US troops, now is it?

Of Chickens & Eugenics

While doing some research this morning for a future post, I ran across the interesting case of Skinner v. Oklahoma, 316 U.S. 535 (1942)...aka the chicken thief vasectomy case. I've often heard this case cited in support of the proposition that states do not have the power to force a person to undergo sterilization. But after reading the case, I'm not so sure that's an entirely accurate statement.

Mr. Skinner was a habitual thief. He had been convicted in 1926 for stealing chickens; in 1929 & 1934 for armed robbery. In 1935, Oklahoma passed the Habitual Criminal Sterilization Act, which allowed for involuntary sterilization of persons upon their third conviction for felonies involving "moral turpitude"...a "3 strikes and you're cut" law, you might say. And so in 1936, the State instituted proceedings to have Mr. Skinner sterilized...Mr. Skinner not surprisingly objected, primarily on 14th Amd. grounds. (Curiously, no one seems to have raised the issue of the ex post facto application of the law.) However, the jury found that he should indeed be sterilized, and their decision was affirmed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Mr. Skinner's appeal then made its way through the Federal system to the U.S. Supreme Court, who rules that the state of Oklahoma can't do this. But the majority opinion, written by Justice Douglas, is based on some rather interesting grounds.

The Supremes don't hold that states can never do force a person to undergo involuntary sterilization. As a matter of fact, they dodge this issue quite adroitly.

Several objections to the constitutionality of the Act have been pressed upon us. It is urged that the Act cannot be sustained as an exercise of the police power in view [316 U.S. 535, 538] of the state of scientific authorities respecting inheritability of criminal traits. 1 It is argued that due process is lacking because under this Act, unlike the act2 upheld in Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 , 47 S.Ct. 584, the defendant is given no opportunity to be heard on the issue as to whether he is the probable potential parent of socially undesirable offspring. See Davis v. Berry, D.C., 216 F. 413; Williams v. Smith, 190 Ind. 526, 131 N.E. 2. It is also suggested that the Act is penal in character and that the sterilization provided for is cruel and unusual punishment and violative of the Fourteenth Amendment. See Davis v. Berry, supra. Cf. State v. Feilen, 70 Wash. 65, 126 P. 75, 41 L.R.A.,N.S., 418, Ann.Cas.1914B, 512; Mickle v. Henrichs, D.C., 262 F. 687. We pass those points without intimating an opinion on them, for there is a feature of the Act which clearly condemns it. That is its failure to meet the requirements of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Oklahoma Act contains an exception for 'offenses arising out of the violation of the prohibitory laws, revenue acts, embezzlement, or political offenses'. Such offenses are arguably, as the Supremes point out, felonies that involve moral turpitude, yet are treated differently under the Act without justification.

Sterilization of those who have thrice committed grand larceny with immunity for those who are embezzlers is a clear, pointed, unmistakable discrimination. Oklahoma makes no attempt to say that he who commits larceny by trespass or trick or fraud has biologically inheritable traits which he who commits embezzlement lacks. Oklahoma's line between larceny by fraud and embezzlement is determined, as we have noted, 'with reference to the time when the [316 U.S. 535, 542] fraudulent intent to convert the property to the taker's own use' arises. Riley v. State, supra, 64 Okl.Cr. page 189, 78 P.2d page 715. We have not the slightest basis for inferring that that line has any significance in eugenics nor that the inheritability of criminal traits follows the neat legal distinctions which the law has marked between those two offenses. In terms of fines and imprisonment the crimes of larceny and embezzlement rate the same under the Oklahoma code. Only when it comes to sterilization are the pains and penalties of the law different. The equal protection clause would indeed be a formula of empty words if such conspicuously artificial lines could be drawn.

Now, the holding of the case pretty much falls into the interesting, but not very category....basic application of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amd. It's their basis for examining the case with strict scrutiny that's really interesting.

We are dealing here with legislation which involves one of the basic civil rights of man. Marriage and procreation are fundamental to the very existence and survival of the race. The power to sterilize, if exercised, may have subtle, farreaching and devastating effects. In evil or reckless hands it can cause races or types which are inimical to the dominant group to wither and disappear. There is no redemption for the individual whom the law touches. Any experiment which the State conducts is to his irreparable injury. He is forever deprived of a basic liberty. We mention these matters not to reexamine the scope of the police power of the States. We advert to them merely in emphasis of our view that strict scrutiny of the classification which a State makes in a sterilization law is essential, lest unwittingly or otherwise invidious discriminations are made against groups or types of individuals in violation of the constitutional guaranty of just and equal laws. The guaranty of 'equal protection of the laws is a pledge of the protection of equal laws.' Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356, 369 , 6 S.Ct. 1064, 1070. When the law lays an unequal hand on those who have committed intrinsically the same quality of offense and sterilizes one and not the other, it has made as an invidious a discrimination as if it had selected a particular race or nationality for oppressive treatment.

Notice these two sentences: "We mention these matters not to reexamine the scope of the police power of the States. We advert to them merely in emphasis of our view that strict scrutiny of the classification which a State makes in a sterilization law is essential, lest unwittingly or otherwise invidious discriminations are made against groups or types of individuals in violation of the constitutional guaranty of just and equal laws." They don't say that states can't do this. They only say that under the Equal Protection Clause, states better have a damn good reason to do this.

Nice dodge of the real issue. Now I'm aware that since Skinner the theories of the inheritability of criminal behavior have been discredited. I know of no legitimate basis for involuntary sterilization...though I sometimes wish it were that simple. It's clear to me that the problem with the families I see who have a disproportionate number of criminals is not due to genetics...it's a learned behavior, which can be much harder to correct.

Still, I found the Court's reasoning interesting....and yet another example of one of those well-known cases that everyone cites that doesn't really say what everyone thinks it does.

I Don't Think So

An American psychologist claims ADHD is just bad behavior, not a disease. (Link via Fark)

Dr Jacobs says he is yet to see proof that ADHD is a disease.

"There's no proof, no-one has ever presented any evidence of a condition called ADHD, except to say 'all these children are hyperactive, all these children are inattentive and therefore they all have a disease'.

With all due respect, Dr. Jacobs, you are an ignorant asshat.

My son has ADHD. I've witnessed this "non-disease" up close and personal for over 24 years. It's not a behavior problem, it's a brain problem. Their brains do not work like non-ADHD kids'. And the behavior isn't just their inability to sit still. It's poor impulse control...like shooting your sister with a BB gun to see what will happen. Or taking poison ivy leaves and rubbing them all over your arm to see if you're allergic. (He was, good Lord was he ever!) We were well known at the emergency room, believe me. He was constantly in trouble, at school as well as at home because he was unable to follow basic rules consistently. It was incredibly frustrating for him, because he desperately wanted to "be good", he just couldn't.

And then there's the obsession with knives and fire. And insomnia. And the learning problems associated with the inability to concentrate long enough to write answers on a test....even though he often understood the material better than the teacher. For example, my son unofficially tutored over half his trigonometry class because the kids found out he could explain it better than their teacher. Yet he barely passed the class because it was such a struggle for him to write out the answers on the tests....and was always losing his homework or forgetting to do it or turn it in.

If it hadn't been for Ritalin, I don't think he would've made it. (ADHD kids are at high risk for drug abuse & criminal activity.) In the 2-3 years that he was on it, he was able to learn the coping skills necessary to deal with the effects of his ADHD. Would he've done better if he'd stayed on Ritalin? Probably. But he was embarrassed by his need for daily medication...and he required such a high dose that it affected his eating & potentially his growth. So we agreed that he could have a trial period without it when he was about 14 or so. He did pretty well...he'd matured & learned enough coping skills to deal with his ADHD fairly successfully.

From watching his struggle over the years, and dealing with many other ADHD kids & grownups at work, I suspect the problem with the ADHD brain is that parts of it are hyperactive as well. It's like the "what if" part of the brain runs like a Pentium 4 chip...while the "stop & consider the consequences" part runs like a Commodore 64. Ritalin, Adderol and the like seem to cut the lag time between the two....so does caffeine, surprisingly. (Chocolate milk BTW is a very bad thing, trust me. The only dietary change that ever had any effect on my son.) But this hyperactive brain isn't entirely a bad thing...ADHD people are some of the inventive & creative people I know. They never consider that something won't work before they try it.

So, Doc, the question isn't why are doctors prescribing Ritalin, et al, so much? That answer is obvious. It works, that why. The real question is why are you so opposed to medication for children who obviously need it? Let's see.......isn't it true, Doctor, that psychologists don't usually prescribe medication, but rather primarily use therapy and/or behavior modification?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Got Another One

U.S. forces have captured another of Saddam's half-brothers, Barzan Ibrahim Hasan.

Hasan was a presidential adviser to Saddam and had "extensive knowledge of the regime's workings," said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks...."We are currently asking a number of questions... finding out whatever we can from this capture," Brooks said.

Something tells me the questions are a bit more involved than "What....is your name?" "What...is your quest?" "What....is your favorite color?"

VB Day

I've been playing with teaching myself Visual Basic today. I made a box with a happy face button on it, and a password box where if you entered the correct password, the phrase "Show me the money!" and a picture of coins were displayed. Then I made some drop down menus that would change the color of the text box & make different messages be displayed.

The happy face box was too cheerful, so I changed the colors to Pepto-Bismol pink & puke green. When I get a chance to download some photos, I'll change the password one to "Show me something completely different!"

Heh heh. Mike's creating a monster.

A Bit Windy

The wind gusts are so strong here today (30+ mph) that the poor little birds are having a hard time staying on the hanging bird feeder....just in case you were wondering. Not that you would be, but just in case you were.

Sorry, it's another Costanza day so far.

I got nothing.

Repression

mtpolitics has a great post on the repression of Tim Robbins...at least, the way it's portrayed by Tim in the media.

I think Timmy is confusing his movie roles with reality.

In Your Dreams

The Palestinian Authority is demanding the release of Abu Abbas because his detention violates a 1995 peace accord signed by Clinton.

``The Palestinian-Israeli interim agreement signed on September 28, 1995 stated that members of the Palestine Liberation Organization must not be detained or tried for matters they committed before the Oslo peace accord of September 13, 1993,'' [cabinet minister] Erekat said.

Interesting, but not very. Abbas was convicted in absentia by Italy for the Achille Lauro highjacking. And there's no reason we can't hold him for any "matters" he committed since 1995....like helping Saddam provide money to Palestinian terrorists.

So sorry, you lose.

Looky What We Found

Abu Abbas, responsible for the Achille Lauro highjacking and leader of the PLF, was captured in Baghdad by U.S. troops today.

Well well well, how did all those terrorists end up in Iraq? No telling what other vermin we'll find as we keep turning over rocks.

Nicknames

Zander has a funny post about kids & nicknames...much like him, I never really had much of a nickname, though my family & close friends sometimes call me "Reet". My kids, however, are a different story.

In their dad's family, almost everyone has a nickname. Their dad's name is "Be-bo", because his sister couldn't pronounce "brother" when she was little. My two remained nickname-less....except my son, who got a cutesy little nickname when he was a baby that I have been forbidden to disclose to anyone....him being a big tough sailor and all.

Anyway, when they were about 6 or 7 they got together & decided to make up their own nicknames, based on their dad's nickname since I didn't have one. My daughter henceforth was to be known as "Beeble" and my son as "Booble". They still call each other by those, except now they've been shortened to Beeb & Boob. And my grandson is called "Bubby" or "Bubs", a derivative of "Booble".

They've given every pet we've had nicknames. Sassy is "Blankethead", Sollie is "Pups". Before that, there was Beau the boxer aka Gooby, and Stormy the pug aka Tootie. And the pet duck named Dibble-Dab, aka Dibs.

My kids are weird.

Special Day!

Don't forget, today is a special day. No, I don't mean Tax Day, though it's that too. More importantly, it's Buy a Gun To Spite Michael Moore Day. With it being Tax Day and tuition coming up, all I can probably afford is a new squirt gun for the grandson. But I bet I could take out Michael Moore with a squirt gun....high powered Super Soaker, mix a little ammonia in the water...works on stray curs, so should work on him. I bet I could chase him all the way out of town. He'd be all crying & blubbering, begging me to stop but I'd just squirt him again & again & laugh....uh....ahem.

Anyway, go see Aaron for details, and while you're there, contribute to his Buy-A-Gun fund. The highest donor gets a genuine Bill Clinton Dog Chew toy.

You know you want it.

NOOOOOO!!!!

If this is a joke, it's not funny. (Via Andrea)

I can't decide whether to slit my wrists in a hot tub of water or just pluck out my eyes with cocktail forks.

This is just wrong. They must be stopped.

UPDATE: Not a joke...Sky News has the story. Pardon me while I go vomit.

Many Happy Returns

Yesterday was Rodger's 1st Blog-versary...go wish him a happy belated one.

Monday Morning Musing

The previous post made me remember a discussion one day in one of my Honors classes. We were reading Bertrand Russell, his last work I think...you know, after he'd gone completely loony. I don't remember the particular essay we were discussing, but I do remember thinking it was the most unmitigated bunch of insane ravings I'd ever read....complete and total B.S. I was asked by the professor (Princeton grad don't you know) what I thought. Though I'd learned how the game worked by then, regurgitate the opinion of the professor on the exams & keep my opinions to myself, I couldn't help it. I said "I can't believe we're even discussing this...the man was crazy." Big mistake.

I was treated to a lengthy lecture by the professor about how the fact that Russell was insane didn't mean he didn't have something to say....and then ignored for the remainder of the semester. (Big lesson in how liberals only want their voices to be heard and in the futility in trying to teach a pig to sing. I got better at keeping my mouth shut.) I've thought a lot about the professor's statement in the intervening years, and I still disagree.

I believe ideas, theories, etc. should be useful...I'm just lower-class practical like that. Ideas that are not useful may still be interesting, but spending time discussing them is basically an exercise in mental masturbation. Fun occasionally, but you don't really accomplish anything satisfying. And the ravings of the seriously insane, like Russell, may be accurate, but aren't particularly useful.

Here's an example. Years ago, I was watching a documentary on PBS on paranoid schizophrenics. One young man was ranting and raving at his parents, having gone off his medication. He stopped halfway through his rant and mentioned that "there was so much tension in the room that even the pictures had headaches." A highly accurate description, but hardly useful. IMO, Russell's material was a lot like that.

And a big fat waste of my time.

Texas Multiculturalism & Gender

A Texas state legislator is sponsoring a bill to add at least one multiculturalism or gender studies class to the college required classes. (Scroll down about halfway, there's no direct link sorry.)

I have mixed feelings about this. I was required by my minor (Honors Interdisciplinary Studies, aka Honors College) to take several of these classes. The multicultural classes were pretty interesting, but I tended to zone out during the liberal propaganda parts....like the repeated discussions of how "all voices should be heard" and how all cultures were equal, blah blah blah. Sorry, but a culture that believes in witchcraft and that sleeping with a virgin will prevent AIDS ain't equal. And all voices should have an opportunity to be heard, but if no one wants to listen, then tough cookies. If a tree hugger spouts their rhetoric in a forest and no one wants to listen, are they being repressed? No.

And the gender studies were a hoot. Here's everything you need to know about gender studies:

Men are evil because they are not women.

Now I happen to be glad men are not women, not being a lesbian and all. So I found most of that class pretty funny. But entertainment value aside, I did learn a few things, like the difference between sex and gender. I primarily think like a man, and have the gender test scores to prove it. (No big surprise there, though it was hilarious that the professor stated that a counselor was available for anyone who was upset over their "mixed gender" results) And I got to do some in-depth research into gender roles in the Cherokee tribe, which has proved pretty useful. For example, I understand why we have so many problems collecting child support from traditional Cherokee fathers....they believe children belong to the mother & her family.

So it wasn't a total waste of time for me. But I often shuddered watching the younger students soaking it all in without questioning. But I am a reformed feminist, I grew up...maybe they will also.

Baghdad Bob Site Back Up

We Love the Iraqi Information Minister is back up and running now. They have t-shirts, etc., as well as favorite quotes. My favorite:

"I NOW INFORM YOU THAT YOU ARE TOO FAR FROM REALITY."

Indeed.

New Toy

We didn't make it to the "Support the Troops" rally....we've been taking turns today spring cleaning with Mike's new cleaning toy tool...the Euro-Pro Ultra Steam Shark.

I was skeptical, but I have to admit it really worked well on the fridge, shower & baseboards. It tired us out pretty quickly...you have to spray steam then wipe with a dry towel. So I have an extra load of really grungy towels to wash, but the fridge hasn't been this clean since we bought it.

It was worth it....and as soon as I recover in a couple of days, I'll use it some more.

More Advice from France

Dominque de Villepin (who is allegedly a man) advises that we should stop pressuring Syria and focus our efforts on rebuilding Iraq.

"The time is not correct. The time is to work together," Villepin told a news conference in response to a question on France's position over the U.S. accusations against Syria.

"The time is for consultation, for dialogue, and we should be very careful in putting all our energies to try to find solutions because we do have enough problems," he said before heading for Saudi Arabia, his last stop on a Middle East tour.

I'm sorry, I was unaware that we were now soliciting comments from the peanut gallery. France does have enough problems...of its own making. Here's some advice for them:

You made your bed, now lie in it.

Rally Today

Don't forget the "Support the Troops" rally today at the intersection of 71B & Joyce at 2 pm. (Just head towards the NWA mall, you'll see it.)

I mentioned all the rallies when I was talking to my son the other day, who's stationed in Japan. He'd not heard about them (not much Arkansas news available there), but was glad to hear that there were local people showing their support.

Weather looks to be very nice today, so there should be a huge turnout. I'm hoping to post photos afterwards if Mike hasn't used up all our storage space, so check back later in the day....and I've promised Miss Vicky to behave myself and not get arrested.

It'll be fun anyway.

Missing Troops Found

AP is reporting that 6 missing troops have been found and appear to be healthy. General Franks isn't releasing any further details yet, but reaffirmed the military's commitment to finding the remaining missing or captured troops.

UPDATE: There's 7, not 6, troops that have been found....Marines were given a tip by an Iraqi that they would be in contact with the missing members shortly. They were apparently picked up on the road between Baghdad & Tikrit.

Foster Care Records Law Change

Act 1157 (formerly HB 2306) was signed into law yesterday by Gov. Huckabee. The new law modifies the rules about who can or can't have access to foster care records. It was originally aimed at allowing legitimate access by judges in certain instances that had been stupidly prohibited under the old law. But there's been an addition along the way that I don't understand.

The new law also prohibits access to foster care records by certain parents.

The law will also prevent personal information of a parent who may have received services during their child's stay in foster care or other protective services from being obtained by the other parent.

Why shouldn't the other parent have access to this information? I understand that this information is often used as ammo in custody disputes. As well it should. If a custodial parent has undergone drug rehab, I think the non-custodial parent has a right to know what's been going on in the home where their children are living. After all, I have seen non-custodial parents charged with failure to protect for allowing their children to live with a drug-using parent, when they didn't know what was going on in the custodial home. They have a duty to find out and remove the children themselves.

If the custodial parent has successfully completed treatment and corrected the conditions that led to the children being removed, there's no basis for a change in custody. And if they haven't, then custody should be changed.

I don't get it. What am I missing?

10,000 Visitor

According to Site Meter, the 10,000 visitor visited at 8:59:27 a.m, lives at on.ca, and came here on a Google search for "baghdad bob shirt".

I feel much like I did back in the early 90's when my little Geo Metro's odometer rolled over 100,000 miles....totally surprised that the cheap P.O.C. held together that long.

And very grateful that it did. Thanks, whoever you were.

War Ripples

The fallout from the Iraq war has begun. North Korea is beginning to retreat from its demands for bilateral talks with the U.S.

North Korea said on Saturday it would consider any form of dialogue with the United States about its suspected nuclear arms ambitions if Washington was prepared to make a "bold switchover" in its policy toward Pyongyang.

Would that "bold switchover" be something along the lines of "please don't kick our ass, we'll try to behave"? Time will tell, but sounds promising. Why the change in rhetoric?

The dramatic shift from a rigid insistence on bilateral talks came in comments from North Korea's foreign ministry just days after U.S.-led forces unseated Iraq's President Saddam Hussein in a war the South Korean president said had "petrified" Pyongyang.

There are many benefits in having a President who says what he means and means what he says.

Baghdad Bob T-shirts

Steve proudly announces his new line of Baghdad Bob t-shirts & coffee mugs. Just click on the pic on the left....or go here to buy direct.

Amish Move

Laurence has loaded up his buggy and moved...update your links accordingly or whatever.

All part of Matt and Vicky's plan to take over hosting of the blogging world. Remind me again which one of you is Pinky?

Narf!

Getcha T-Shirts Here

Don't go there right now, server's down for the next 24 hrs., but here's the place to get al-Sahaf t-shirts. (Thanks to Clubbeaux for the link!)

And Steve's toying with an idea for an al-Sahaf t-shirt of his own.

Lazy Afternoon

Just got back from visiting the new baby with my daughter...her friend & baby are doing very well. Baby seems huge for a newborn...my arm hurts & I only held him for 10 or 15 minutes. My daughter & I met at the mall & had lunch first so she could leave her car there while we visited the baby. I can verify that there are rules prohibiting offensive clothing, bad behavior, harassing customers, etc. posted at the mall entrance. So there, Daniel Vaught, you big poopy head. Take your "protest" somewhere else.

On a totally unrelated note, my daughter & I compared class schedules and it looks like we'll be able to carpool to class next fall at least a couple of days each week. Now if I can just talk her into buying matching mother-daughter backpacks, we can look like total dorks.

Heh heh...she gets so annoyed when I say that.

It's Magic

Take the "How Do You Use Magic?" test! Written by Brimo

I'm an Elf? Well, ok, but I'm not blonde. (Via Andrea)

10,000?

From the looks of the count on the Site Meter, I should pass the 10,000 visitor mark in a day or three. I'd be more impressed if that was an accurate count. Since we have a dynamic IP, sometimes Site Meter "forgets" to ignore my visits. So the count is really pretty meaningless.

But still, there're not all me. I'm amazed that I have as many regular readers as I do....from all over the world.

Thanks!

New Baby Update

My daughter's friend had a bouncing baby boy....9 lbs. 4 oz. She reportedly told her husband from now on they would adopt. Heh heh.

A new baby to spoil rotten, yippee!

Kitty Blogging

Keith has posted photos of his new kitties, Ted and Rose....very pretty kitties both. Rose looks like a snuggler, bet they'll be kitty blogging before long.

Our kitty, Samantha aka Bitch Kitty, has decided that since I won't let her sleep on our bed, she'll try out kitty blogging this morning and is sitting in my lap....complaining every time I move. Her experiment isn't going to last much longer, I'm sneezing my head off (I'm allergic to cats which is why she isn't allowed to sleep on the bed). Now she's decided blogging is boring (I won't let her type), buttering me up isn't working (the bed is still a kitty no-no) so she wants outside.

Excuse me while I go get rid of some cat hair so I can breathe again.

Heinous Behavior

There are more and more reports of military wives receiving "prank" phone calls saying that their spouses are dead, the latest at Camp Pendleton.

Wives of Camp Pendleton Marines involved in the war in Iraq have been receiving crank calls from individuals claiming to work for the Red Cross who regretfully, and falsely, inform them that their spouses had been killed in action.

I am speechless. What kind of sick bastard does something like that?

Incoming!

My daughter just stopped by to tell us that her best friend was in the hospital....baby expected shortly. This girl and my daughter have been best friends ever since they first met in kindergarten. She spent about as much time with us as she did at home. My clearest memory of this kid was when she & my daughter were playing the girl equivalent of Little League. I had to break up a fist fight between this kid & a much older, much bigger girl. This kid was a little buzz saw....took me a good ten minutes to pull her off that girl. Heh heh. And now she's gonna be a mommy.

I'm getting so old.

No Problem

I use this local weather/news thing called "I-Warn" that pops up with weather warnings, news and alerts. Just sat down at the laptop after getting dinner started and saw this pop-up alert:

There is no chemical spill
The earlier warning was a test of the nationwide alert system. It should have been labeled as a test. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Ooopsie! Just a small screwup....if I'd noticed the earlier warning, I'd have probably been a little inconvenienced.

Off Again

I'm off to juvie court shortly. After making the trip 3 or 4 times a month for so many years, I usually drive on auto-pilot and think deep thoughts. One of the things I'll be pondering on the drive up today is for what possible reason could parents name their child "Amaretta"? Is it a tacky way to commemorate the events leading to its conception? Or did they just think the name sounded "pretty"?

Either way, it's misspelled.

Excuse Me?

Britain's appeals court is going bonkers over privacy rights. No, I don't mean the upcoming case over whether the illicit wedding pictures of Michael Douglas should've been published. I'm talking about the request for a life-long injunction against releasing the new names of Mary Bell & her daughter. Mary Bell was convicted at age 11 for killing 2 kids...and took a new name after serving her sentence. The court has previously granted a similar request from two other juvenile murderers.

Excuse me, but aren't they going about this ass-backwards? How about protecting the identity of the juvenile offender by prohibiting releasing their name from the beginning? Then you don't have this problem....or problems like this:

And then there was the extraordinary case of Geoffrey Peck, a man suffering from depression, who was filmed carrying a kitchen knife in a town centre just before attempting to cut his wrists. Closed-circuit television pictures recorded by the local council were subsequently published and broadcast.

Mr Peck, 47, complained to the European Court of Human Rights that he had been denied an effective remedy for this interference with his private life. In January, the court found in his favour and awarded him £7,820 damages, plus costs.

I fail to see how performing such an act in a public place is part of one's private life. If you don't want people to see you acting like a jackass in public, then don't act like a jackass in public.

Next thing you know, the police department will start writing letters to criminals politely asking that they please stop breaking the law. Oh wait, they already did that.

More of the Story

Our local ACLU chapter is investigating the recent arrest of the guy wearing an anti-war t-shirt at the mall. More details of his arrest are being released.....guess what, he wasn't arrested just for his t-shirt.

Alice Church, the senior property manager of the Northwest Arkansas Mall, said in a statement Monday, "Daniel Vaught was asked to leave Northwest Arkansas Mall on Saturday because of disorderly conduct. He initiated loud and aggressive exchanges with other mall visitors and was asked repeatedly to leave the property.

"When he refused to do so, we contacted the proper authorities," Church continued. "We support the right to freedom of speech. At the same time, we aim to provide a safe and peaceful environment for all of our visitors."

The mall has rules about no offensive clothing, no loitering and such posted around...I've seen them. It's private property, they have a perfect right to exclude or admit, permit or prohibit activity.

It never ceases to amaze me how those who most loudly proclaim they're exercising their Constitutional rights have such little understanding of what those rights actually are. Property rights trump your "right" to run your mouth most every time. Protection of private property is one of the primary foundations of our county's system. Read a little history now & then, you'll find it most instructive.

So go spout your propaganda on a street corner all you want. But stop your damn whining when a property owner exercises his rights to protect his business by throwing your butt back on the street.

You're not being repressed.

Consequences

Page Six reports that "ABC has been deluged with calls and e-mails from patriotic types threatening to boycott the network and its advertisers" if it runs Janeane Garofalo's new sitcom. And Lipton is considering canning its ad by the Dixie Chunks for its Brisk iced tea...filmed appropriately enough at the "former Spahn Movie Ranch outside L.A., the infamous Manson family hangout."

Censorship? Nope....simply actions have consequences. It is my choice & right as the customer to not give my money to entertainers whose message I find offensive....which is why I don't buy rap or neo-Nazi crap or Michael Moore's book. Censorship would be if those things were banned by the government; they are not. I am free to buy or not buy as I choose. Ms. Garofalo is free to perform in whatever market she can find for her material. If that market is no longer as lucrative as she is accustom, tough cookies sister.

That's show biz.

Run Outta Town

Fox News is reporting that some of the Al-Jazeera reporters were chased out of town by some of the locals who were angered by their war reporting....they chased 'em all the way from Basra to the Kuwaiti border.

That cracks me up.

Chick Rocks!

Mike & I were amazed by some photos he found the other night of a heavily damaged A-10 Warthog that still managed to land safely. Now I've learned, via Susanna, that the Warthog was piloted by Air Force Captain Kim Campbell, who made the "nearly perfect" landing with only manual controls after taking considerable enemy fire over Baghdad. I'm no pilot, but I'd say that took some damn fine flying.

Captain Campbell is better known to her military teammates by her call name, K.C....which she explains stands for "Killer Chick".

Our chicks kick ass!

School Time

My colleagues & co-workers (and judge) were shocked yesterday when I disclosed that I was quitting to go back to school to get a degree in computer network systems. And I have to admit going back to college (again!) at my age doesn't exactly thrill me. But there's a method to my madness.

There's two areas in which I'm interested. One is digital discovery. Why? Because I relish the writing & research side of the law. I am the Research Queen. I am a obsessive/compulsive reader. I love words. And then there's this:

Some recent surveys have concluded that more than 90 percent of business documents at major companies now are created electronically.

In order to make you give me the rope with which to hang you, I have to know where & what to look for. And in today's world, that means I need computer knowledge. Now this doesn't mean that I need to become some "white-hat" or computer forensic specialist. But it does mean I need to understand the basics of how computers store things. After all, as Mike says, those who know how will always work for those who know why. And I intend to learn why.

The other area in which I'm interested is HIPAA compliance for large corporations. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996) , has among other things, several requirements for protecting the privacy of your healthcare information. And like most Federal legislation, it can be pretty tricky in its application...and a substantial penalty for violation, or so I hear. And such companies need people who are trained in the law...and in computer security to insure compliance.

I figure I could do either for a few years until we've enough socked away to retire....then who knows? We might start our own consulting company & travel all over working here & there. Or I might just go back to children's law. Just think, by then I'd be computer savvy enough to track down pedophiles online and kill them like the sorry dogs they are help put them in prison forever.

Pretty good plan, right?

"The Game Is Over"

Iraq's UN Ambassador al Douri just told a Fox news reporter:

"The game is over....The war is over....I have no communication with Saddam....I have no communication with Iraq....The war is over....At the end of the day, I wish for the Iraqi people to have peaceful lives."

Now if Al-Jazeera will just run that so the rest of Iraq will know.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the story.

...And There Was Much Rejoicing

Just saw a video clip on Fox News of celebrating Iraqis dragging the Saddam statue head through the streets of Baghdad....and beating on it with their shoes....which is said to be the worst insult possible in their culture.

Meanwhile, in London, exiled Iraqis have taken over the former Iraqi Embassy.

"They had to force entry but it was a peaceful takeover," Zuhair Al-Maher, a member of the Iraqi opposition and one of the organizers, told Reuters.

"There are about 60 of us and our intention is to publicize our relief and jubilation at the downfall of Saddam's regime."

Coalition troops are continuing to expand their hold on Baghdad, as well as continue the fight to the north. Tikrit appears to be next in line. It ain't over yet, but we're getting there fast.

Arab Street Speaks

After recovering from viewing the real "Shock and Awe" this morning, the so-called Arab Street has regained its voice....and changed its tune. Here's a few examples:

"It's like a movie. I can't believe what I'm seeing," said Adel, a lawyer in Beirut. "Why didn't he just give up to start with if this was all the resistance he could muster? Instead of wasting all those lives for nothing."

Don't feel bad, Adel, we've all been wondering that for the last 3 weeks.

"Saddam is not an Arab champion. The war is practically over, did he win? No, and Iraq is destroyed," said Ayman Abdel Rahim, a Cairo butcher.

"Saddam Hussein is proving for the thousandth time that he is stubborn, stupid, idiotic and a terrorist. He is more like the head of a gang and not the president of a respectable state like Iraq," said Sultan Nasser, 49-year-old Saudi bank employee.

Welcome to the bright light of reality, gentlemen.

"It is irrelevant whether Saddam is dead or not. His memory will live on to inspire many Arabs to stand up against all the injustices committed by the U.S. and its friends in Israel," Belqees Hamood, a university student, said.

"Saddam was not an angel to his own people but he will be missed since many Arabs see him as a leader who was not afraid to challenge the American and Israeli aggressions over Palestinians," said Juma Backer, a businessman.

Or stay in the shadows of denial...whatever.

Adel in Beirut disagreed. "So he was the only Arab leader to stand up to the Americans. Look what happened, no one else will dare try that again."

Glad to see you got at least one of the points we were trying to make, Adel.

"My hope is that Saddam falls fighting with his own gun. If he flees or surrenders, as many people believe, then he is like other Arab leaders who do not care about honor, it would be a total shame," said Sellami Hidoussi, a Tunis car garage guard.

How about if he's blown to bits while plotting his escape with his slimy sons? IMO, Saddam was a craven coward who couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag....but hey, that's just my opinion.

For what it's worth.

Congratulations!

Michele has just received an e-mail from the Library of Congress requesting permission to include The Command Post in its permanent collection of 2003 Iraqi war internet materials.

Congratulations are in order for Michele & Alan, and for all their numerous contributors for a job well done!

Legal Innovation

Texas & Microsoft are implementing a system that would allow attorneys to e-file documents with the courts. The system is presently being tested in the counties in which Houston & San Antonio are located, and would allow 24 hour filing access for attorneys.

Guess you'll soon have to have ADSL or a T-1 line to win the race to the courthouse.

More....

The M-88 has now extended a crane arm, a Marine has climbed up & is covering Saddam's face with an American flag. The crowd liked that touch. He's now attaching a cable around the neck of the statue. Speculation is that the tank crew will try to break the moorings of the statue so the Iraqis can then pull it down themselves.

The American flag has been removed, BTW. An Iraqi on top of the M-88 is now waving the Iraq flag....now the Iraqi flag is being attached to the statue. The crowd is cheering wildly.

They're moving the crowd back again. The M-88 is moving...a big cheer from the crowd. The Fox commentators are cracking bad puns & even worse jokes.

And there it goes...that's kinda ominous. The statue is stubbornly hanging on...ok, now it's down & the crowd's swarmed over it. They'd been throwing rocks & shoes at it as it fell.

Bret Hume wonders what Dominque de Villepin (who is a man) and Chirac are thinking right now.

Heh heh

Saddam Falling

The Iraqis have been whaling on the statue of Saddam for over an hour with a sledgehammer without much result. They've now enlisted the help of one of our tank crews & are attaching a cable to the statue. They're now clearing everyone away....ok so it's not a tank, it's a M-88 tank retriever, whatever that is. Bret Hume is describing what the M-88 does...sounds like it's basically a tow truck for tanks.

Tank crew is now handing out MRE's to the crowd. Fox News is also reporting that the "Arab Street" is being very quiet as live feed worldwide is shown from Paradise Square where the statue is being toppl