Godless Mom in the Bible Belt

VA Tech shooting

2007-04-16T11:28:00.000-05:00

I don't own a gun. I've never fired a gun. I grew up in a house that had several different hunting rifles but they sat mostly unused, on display as family heirlooms.

Obviously our Constitution guarantees us the right to own weapons, I don't want to take anyone's guns away from them. I have several dear friends who are hunters and I've no desire to eliminate their right to go kill animals (as long as they eat what they kill.)

What I want to know is why does this happen in the United States? Sure we own guns, but we're not the only country where people are armed. Occasionally you'll hear about this sort of event happening in other countries (Dunblane, Scotland and Erfurt, Germany come to mind) but mental-break, psychotic shoot-fests seem to happen predominantly in the United States.

Why do you suppose that is? Societal pressure, access to weapons, emotional disturbance, genetic predisposition, broken families, environmental toxins...all of the above? Regardless of the reason it is a sad, sad commentary on our society.

Hello? Hello? Is there anyone home?

2007-03-30T20:39:00.000-05:00

I started working again after a 6 year hiatus! Okay, so I don't actually have a job, I'm doing volunteer work for a friend who owns a very promising business.

I'm learning new things, I'm having a good time and I'm getting my butt away from the couch and the fridge....always a good thing. I'm thrilled to be doing something new, something that doesn't involve dishes and laundry. It is great to be part of something outside of my home and thrilling to think I am a part of something new and cutting edge.

Okay, so it doesn't take much to thrill me at this point in my life. But, for the first time in a long time I'm really excited to see what the new day will bring!

All the pretty ponies

2007-02-27T18:23:00.000-06:00

The smell of rich soil, crushed vegetation and crisp, fresh air. The feel of raw, untamed, powerful muscle coiled between your legs. A feeling of shared joy and shared exhuberance, shared freedom. The warm snuffle of a velvety muzzle pressed against your palm in affection. The well-earned sweat of physical exhaustion and the feel of fresh Timothy hay against your cheek. I love horses, I always have.

As a child my bedroom walls were papered with horses. I worked my ass off every year selling Girl Scout Cookies so I could spend two weeks every summer at horse camp. I convinced my parents to pay for riding lessons so I could spend more time with the beasts and when that didn't seem to sate my hunger they arranged for me to muck the stalls at a stable in the suburbs of Salt Lake City, hoping the dirty work would quell my passion. It didn't. My highschool friend Ginger introduced me to the beauty of show horses through her horse Taj Parada, son of the great stallion Gai Parada and I learned to love work horses through contact with my friend Judy from Southwest Equine Hospital in Phoenix, AZ.

I come from a long line of agricultural people. My mother was raised on a cattle ranch in Kansas and later in Wyoming, my grandfather was a farmer to the very core of his being. My Great Grandmother was raised on a horse farm in Kentucky and her father brought horses across the sea from Wales. The love of horses is in my blood and I have been feeling it's burn since I was a child.

Let's face it...little girls love horses, however most of them outgrow the obsession before they are teenagers. I've never outgrown it, in fact the hunger has grown progressively stronger as the years go by. I'm now 38 years old and I have yet to own a horse but I continue to feed my dream.

I live in the fourth largest city in the country and I married a city boy. I am surrounded by Old Navy and Olive Garden, Home Depot and Walmart. I drive my daughter to school on the HOV lane and my husband's office is on the 31st floor of a very tall building. I'm in the process of looking for land. I would love to find 10-15 acres just outside of town where I can have my horses and my husband can still have his professional sports and opera company. It may be wishful thinking but a girl can always hope.

They made their bed now they refuse to lie in it.

2007-02-03T07:04:00.000-06:00

I guess by now we all know that Mary Cheney is pregnant. We also know that both she and her father refuse to discuss the moral disconnect between her personal choices and the political bigotry they helped foster.

There is a brilliant post here by Dan Savage on exactly how screwed up their stance on this issue really is.

I personally don't believe Mary Cheney should be a parent and it has nothing to do with her sexual orientation. Where Mary is concerned, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and honestly I don't think we need any more people in this world who feel like they are above the rules which govern the rest of us. As far as her child goes, I hope he or she is healthy and can grow up happy and well balanced. Let's just hope the baby takes after the sperm donor and not the Cheney side of the family.

The Great Debate

2007-01-28T20:24:00.000-06:00

Check out this debate between Andrew Sullivan and Sam Harris on the whole existence of God/religion thing. Good stuff!

Becky

2006-12-29T10:07:00.000-06:00

My sister died last night.

She was 21 years my senior yet somehow I was always the adult in our relationship.

She had a cornball sense of humor, a deep love for classic sci-fi and an even deeper love of nature. She was much happier sitting on the floor with a dog than sitting at the table with the adults.

She had a somewhat tragic life. For whatever reason she made poor choices in her personal life. Her existence was a constant struggle to deal with the consequences of her decisions, some days were worse than others and as a result her naturally sunny disposition was always shadowed by a subtle sadness.

She was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago and between the disease and the damned cure her bone marrow shut down and quit producing healthy blood. He heart and lungs followed and she died in her sleep after two months in the hospital.

I loved her deeply, I always felt loved and whole when she was around and I can only hope I had the same effect on her. So, I raise my glass to my sister, I will miss her very, very much.

Now the work begins

2006-11-08T13:05:00.000-06:00

The puppy has been running around killing all the chickens.

Yesterday we put a leash on the puppy.

Now we have to teach the puppy to play nice. This doesn't mean we beat the puppy into submission. It means we behave like adults and work with the puppy for the benefit of all.

Our system has ways of dealing with corruption and abuse of power. Let's hope our newly elected officials do the right thing and act with the welfare of our country in mind.

So long and thanks for all the fish

2006-01-01T06:34:00.000-06:00

Hey All,

This will be the last post at Godless Mom in the Bible Belt.

I will be leaving the blog up for the rest of the week while I archive some of our more interesting conversations but after I finish that somewhat daunting task I will be pulling the blog down permanently.

Recent developments in my life have left me with very little free time and I need to make some changes in how that free time is spent. We all know how time consuming and addicting the whole blogging thing can be, so rather than continuing on in a half-assed manner I've decided the best thing for me to do is stop altogether.

I have really enjoyed my interaction with all of you. You have taught me a lot! Thank you all very much.

-Marsha

Those Who Walk the Walk

2005-12-31T08:51:00.000-06:00

If you support the war in Iraq it is really easy to smack a yellow ribbon on the back of your car. It is something entirely different to drop your own personal life and sign on to fight that war.

If you object to the war in Iraq it is very easy to blog about it or complain to your friends. It is something entirely different to drop your own personal life and camp out on the side of the road in Crawford or go to Iraq as a peace worker.

If you are afraid of the state of our environment it is simple to read articles about it and recycle your aluminum. It is something entirely different to drop your personal life and go out in the field to study, document, protect and hopefully make a difference.

If you are concerned about those less fortunate it is easy to put your old clothes in a bag and donate them to charity. It is something entirely different to drop you personal life to hold their hands, provide support and encouragement, share their joys and sorrows and help them stand on their own two feet.

This New Years Eve I'm raising my glass to those who put not only their money but their time, emotional energy and physical well being where their mouths are. Whether I agree with their ideology or not, I admire people who not only talk the talk but who also walk the walk.

Cheers!

Holiday movies!

2005-12-30T15:28:00.000-06:00

Scott and I have been fortunate enough to have grandmas available to Liz watch for the last couple of days. This has offered us the opportunity to see a couple of movies!

Last night we saw Syriana. I'm going to have to give it a thumbs down. The story and characters were interesting and I understand what the film was trying to accomplish, however there was too much time spent examining side characters and not enough time spent developing the story lines and weaving the plot.

On the other hand, I will give a big two thumbs up to Brokeback Mountain. I walked out of the theater with a broken heart. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal were amazing as a couple in love but forever separated by society and circumstance. I can't say enough good things about this film. The cinematography, the script, the soundtrack, the supporting cast were all spot on. If we don't see Oscars for this one it will be nothing short of crime.

Coming up against one's own conscience

2005-12-28T06:14:00.000-06:00

Anyone who reads my blog regularly knows that I love critters. I have devoted much of my personal and professional life to the care and welfare of non-human animals. I surround myself with them and encourage their presence in my yard, I can sit for hours and watch animals in the wild. I thoroughly enjoy every bit of contact I have with them (yes, I even enjoy the dirty work.)

So, it might surprise people to know that I spent three years working in medical research. The laboratory I worked for had two departments, Toxicology and Medical Implant and Device testing. The Toxicology department tested new medications mostly on rodents and lagamorphs, the Medical Implant and Device department tested new surgical techniques and (as the name implies) new implant technology. This department used cows, sheep, dogs and pigs.

Now, there is definitely some good that comes out of the type of work I did. Our lab was responsible for much of the research which resulted in the FDA pulling silicone breast implants. We helped develop a device that has helped many people who need portions of intestine removed. We did some remarkable work which has helped burn victims with skin grafts.

While I realized that my work was important to humans, it was difficult to go to work day after day and know that I was inflicting pain on one type of animal for the benefit of another. Now, I personally don't believe that the human species is anything special. I don't believe that we own the world, I don't believe we have any sort of elevated status. We are just one of many species indigenous to this planet, we just happen to be overly brainy. I constantly walked the emotional line, wondering if I was doing more harm than good.

I'm not a hard core animal rights person,I eat meat and I wear leather shoes. I understand that when I sit down to my chicken dinner I am consuming what once was a living, breathing being. As an omnivorous member of the food chain, I'm comfortable with that (although I am not comfortable with the huge industries that bring those chickens to our tables...That is a subject for another day.)

However, I don't feel that we have the right to treat our fellow life forms with complete callous disregard. The life of a cow is just as important to that cow as my life is to me. A tree that has survived decades is deserving of respect, as is the natural algae populations of a lake or stream. Let's face it, if all the humans disappeared off the face of the Earth tomorrow the world would continue without so much as a hiccup. On the other hand, if all the blue-green algae disappeared? We would be screwed! We humans are not nearly so important as we would like to believe.

So, I continued working in research with a conflicted heart. I did everything in my power to make certain that the animals in my care were comfortable and as happy as possible (I even made a point of letting the dogs out for play time on a daily basis...Something many of my co-workers thought was a waste of time.)

After three years I was presented with an opportunity to move to another city. I jumped at the chance, went back into private veterinary practice and have never looked back. I still don't know how I feel about those years I worked in research. Life is so full of grey areas, it would be nice if everything was clearly defined and every decision we make was obviously right or wrong but I guess we all must muddle through and do the best we can.

Mr. Pibb + Red Vines = Crazy Delicious!

2005-12-27T05:38:00.000-06:00

I love Saturday Night Live. Occassionally they hit gold with a certain character or sketch, I've been laughing about this one for a few days now. Check it out!

True that, double true.

Follow up to BG's 9/11 post

2005-12-26T07:38:00.000-06:00

BG has been kind enough to put together a follow up post to address some of the comments and questions raised in the comments to his previous post. I've read some of the information provided in his links and it is very interesting stuff. Check it out! So, once again, may I present BG!

GM

Rather than take my time and yours talking about how I'm in the main stream in so many ways (trauma on 9/11, disbelief, shock, horror, anger, blah, blah), I'll wrap up my appearance on GM Blog, which GM so graciously allowed, with the following:

The following is taken from

http://septembereleventh.org/

We are an action-oriented 9-11 website. Many good websites already exist offering research and analysis of the events of September 11th, 2001. Our purpose is not to duplicate these efforts, nor to prove or disprove what really happened. Rather, our goal is to support the 9-11 truth movement itself, led by the victims' families' efforts to obtain full government accountability for the suspicious and unprecedented intelligence and air defense failures that took place before and during the attacks. What you will find on this site are information and tools designed to help build this movement.

I'm not saying this web site is authoritative or singular. Rather, I think a visitor to this site receives the overall impression in a variety of voices speaking for 9/11 Truth. Here, I think you see the heart and soul of those of us who believe sharing this information is the best hope for getting our Country back, or perhaps making the US what it should be, yet hasn't been in recent history.

Jack Anderson

2005-12-26T06:04:00.000-06:00

Every family has a scoundrel and every family has a shining star. This man was our shining star, a favorite and dear cousin to my father. He will be missed.

Merry Christmas to All

2005-12-24T07:34:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. If you don't celebrate Christmas I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

On Monday BG will have a post for us to address some of the questions and comments which have been posed. Stay tuned!

9/11 Re-examined

2005-12-22T06:51:00.000-06:00

On December 18, 2005 I did a short post titled Tinfoil Hat Time about some of the conspiracy theories out there surrounding the 9/11 terrorist attacks. That day Bill Giltner, one of our fellow travelers here at GM in the BB, took me to task for treating the subject in such a casual manner. Bill feels (and in retrospect, I agree) that to just throw out a "grab bag" of alternate theories to what happened on 9/11 really does a disservice to the serious nature of the subject and the quite compelling evidence that suggests we haven't been given the whole truth.

So in the interest of presenting all views on the subject, maintaining an open yet skeptical mind and hopefully encouraging some interesting discussion on the topic I've asked Bill to do a guest post here. Thanks Bill!

Godless Mom has offered me a guest post here. My name is Bill Giltner, and I normally blog at http://bgtruth.blogspot.com.

I apologize that I don't have my blog organized as a reference work/web page. That's a topic for another day.

As a way to manage a "9/11" search tag for blogging, I would encourage you to use the following technorati tag (09/11/2001) to access my recent work, and to include in your own 9/11 blogging activities.

I had envisioned a very long post (not ready yet) that I'd like to do. Wanting to get a quick entry out, I did this short one.

I'm interested in engaging with you, the reader, in the following somewhat limited way. I'll have no time for your comments if:

1) You have not studied the "anomalies" of 9/11 and don't realize the the 9/11 Commission was a Cover Up Commission.

2) You want to disparage, as kooky, questions about whether the one or more of the four identified passenger planes, did in fact crash on 9/11 as claimed.

3) You won't acknowledge the prima facie evidence that WTC 1,2, and 7 were brought down by something other than the impact of the planes and fire.

I'm not saying I know what happened with each plane and each deceased passenger, but the evidence is dubious. If you pick up any of the a hand-full of books in the mainstream, you can get up to speed in a few hours on the above.

If you follow this link, which leads to the book "9/11 Revealed", at Amazon, you'll also see how mixed (high approval / low approval) the reviews of books like this can be. I have several reasons to cite this example. I think the controversy shown is representative of the nature of disagreements among researchers. If you study this, and others like it throughout the Internet, I would submit that Godless Mom's original characterization of the debate about 9/11 as being evenly divided pro/con conspiracy stuff is just wholly misleading. Seeing the blog entry say that certainly irked me to comment.

Rather than evenly divided, it is the case that those who have studied what seems like the best evidence and commentary are firmly on the side that the US Govt. and 9/11 Commission is lying about a broad spectrum of the evidence.

In summary I would say that there's a fascinating world of characters, web sites, Truth Events, etc. out there in the 9/11 Truth World. Before I discuss further any of those details, I curious to see if we can get a broad agreement on the above.

Here's my short recommended reading list:

Webster Tarpley, 9/11 Synthetic Terror
David Ray Griffin, New Pearl Harbor
D R Griffin, 9/11 Commission: Ommissions and Distortions
Mike Ruppert, Crossing the Rubicon

I'm not so much of a Ruppert fan these days, but the book stands on it's own.

Thanks for sharing your space, GM!

The rising of the sun and the running of the deer.

2005-12-20T14:42:00.000-06:00

I love this time of year. I've always been an any-excuse-for-a-party kind of gal and the holiday season provides the perfect excuse to decorate my house, shower my friends and family with love, eat and drink until you have to roll me out the door and sing and dance 'til I'm ready to drop.

When I was a child, Christmas was about the birth of Jesus and gifts from Santa Claus (not necessarily in that order.) In my young mind I pictured the entire world sitting in cozy homes around tall trees with loving families, all singing Oh Little Town of Bethlehem. The lights made sense, the nativity scenes made sense, the reindeer made sense...It was a pretty picture.

Now, as an adult, things are a little different. This is a strange time of year to be an out of the closet atheist. When I go out caroling with neighborhood friends I always get weird sideways glances when we sing Silent Night and people seem to make a point of saying "Happy Holidays" to me instead of "Merry Christmas." I can understand their quandary, they are good folks who don't want to offend and I'm a bit of a curiosity. I try to let them know that I like to sing and be festive just like everyone else and they certainly don't need to change their celebration habits or religious observations because I'm around.

After we had Liz we decided that if we were going to raise her in a religion-free home we would need to help her make sense of all the different things she sees and hears during the season. We want to help her recognize the different celebrations that take place and respect and understand the beliefs that surround those holidays. I am very fortunate that Liz has friends of many different religions and cultures so she is exposed first-hand to families that observe Ramadan, families that celebrate Rash Hashanah and Chanukkah, families who take Christmas and run with it and families who don't celebrate at all. She is able to see that although Christmas is the holiday that dominates the stores, there are actually many different things going on during the latter months of the year.

Each year on the Winter Solstice I invite my loved ones over for a simple dinner and some quiet family time. I use the occasion to teach Liz about various holiday celebrations around the world and about the origins of many of our traditions.(I think this year she might be old enough to actually participate in the family discussion.) It has really turned into a beautiful and relaxing family tradition.

I always serve beef stew (slow cooked in the crockpot) a tossed salad, bread and wine. After dinner we sit down with a cup of wassal and enjoy each others company. This is my favorite day of the year!

So, I hope everyone has a lovely Solstice (it officially occurs today at 11:35 EST)I'll be drinking a toast to all of you!

"The Greater the Secrecy the Deeper the Corruption."

2005-12-19T06:59:00.000-06:00

This is the transcript of a wonderful speech given by Bill Moyers regarding the secrecy of the Bush Administration and the importance of independant media. (The title quote is taken from the text.)

It is long but well worth reading.

I (like everyone else) am busy, busy, busy this week so posts may be few and far between. If I don't catch you later, have a wonderful week!

Tinfoil Hat Time

2005-12-18T09:48:00.000-06:00

Today, I'm putting together a grab bag of conspiracy theories regarding September 11, 2001. Now, you can find as much evidence to discredit these theories as you can to support them. Obviously it is up to the individual to decide how far down the dark path they are willing to walk but it all makes for interesting reading/viewing none the less.

First we have a Flash presentation about the attack on the Pentagon.

Second, is a website dedicated to the theory that the WTC7 building was demolished using explosives rather than being destroyed by fire as is claimed in the official account of the attack. This one includes the rather credible evidence of the leaseholder of the building actually admitting to giving the OK to go ahead with demolition. (From an interview on a PBS special called America Rebuilds.) On the same subject here is a paper put together by BYU professor Steven Jones. The man is convinced we have been lied to. He doesn't stop with WTC7 though, he also questions whether the Twin Towers could actually have been brought down by the planes.

Here is a link to a list of the top three Bush administration crimes, scroll down a bit for the section on 9/11. (You can find a link to the actual video of the above mentioned PBS special.)

There are many more theories floating about the internet, one man's credible evidence is another man's La La Land. Just remember that in order for your tinfoil hat to fully protect you from the invasive rays it must cover not only your temples but also the base of your skull. Live long and prosper.

Victory for McCain

2005-12-16T06:22:00.000-06:00

I was happy to read this article.

As Dumbledore would say, "We must choose between what is right and what is easy."

Bible study according to GodlessMom

2005-12-14T12:45:00.000-06:00

My parents had a very difficult time with my education. The public schools in our area of Salt Lake City were dismal at best with class sizes out of control and teachers stretched to the limit.

Although Daddy was a mechanic and Mom was a secretary they managed to pull together enough money to send me to private schools. I was a middle-of-the-road student and I did my best to fade into the woodwork in whatever environment they placed me.

In fifth grade, at the age of ten, I was sent to Anchor Christian Academy. It was a funky place, each child was given an "office" (a small desk with walls which separated one child from the next...Kind of like the study desks in libraries.) If we needed the attention of a teacher we would place a colored block on the shelf above our desk. The teachers would then go around the room looking for blocks and answering questions. The work was largely self-directed. The curriculum consisted of "Pace" books which the student would study independently, moving ahead at their own speed. At the time I loved science and social studies and hated math, so by the end of the school year I was several grades ahead in my favorite subjects and a grade behind in the one I didn't like. Academically it didn't work out well for me.

However, there was one seriously cool perk in attending a funky Baptist school. These guys were REALLY big on memorizing Bible verse. At the beginning of each week we would be assigned a chapter of the Bible to memorize. I assume the chapters were chosen for their spiritually uplifting and morally educational qualities. However, this meant nothing to me. I was interested in the extra recess time I would earn by dutifully reciting the verse. Five minutes for the first third of the chapter, ten minutes for the first two thirds of the chapter and 15 whole minutes of extra recess time for memorizing the entire thing! While most kids took the entire week to memorize the first few lines, I would approach the challenge with complete determination and would recite the entire thing within 24 hours.

As a result I have large portions of the Bible committed to memory. I couldn't tell you exactly what chapters I have memorized, that information has left my brain under the crush of relevant information. However, occasionally I will hear a verse or read a bit of the book and the words will flood my brain with the familiarity of a well worn pair of jeans.

The exercise obviously didn't have the intended effect, I'm sure my instructors at Anchor Baptist would be sorely disappointed in the way I've turned out. However, one really cool thing did come of all that extra recess time. I got really good at shooting a basketball backwards over my head from the free throw line! A kid has to do something when they are the only one who earned extra recess time!

Furby Frenzy

2005-12-13T19:32:00.000-06:00

I spent the day looking for a Furby.

There were no Furbies to be found within a 15 mile radius of my home.

I think these little things are kind of creepy looking. Apparently they mimic emotional responses to various phrases. They also talk, apparently in several different languages depending on country of origin. I found this weird site dedicated to hacking furbies, some people have too much time on their hands.

They kind of remind me of Gremlins. Remember Gizmo?

Maybe they're related.

Tomorrow my quest continues. Sigh.

Brain drain

2005-12-12T06:25:00.000-06:00

I have absolutely nothing to say. How weird.

Imagine

2005-12-08T10:21:00.000-06:00

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say Im a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one

It would have been interesting to see where his life might have taken him had it not been cut short.

Family Fun

2005-12-06T07:44:00.000-06:00

I had a wonderful weekend. I was fortunate enough to spend some time doing fun things with those I love the most. I thought I'd share some pictures with you!

Our first stop was the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Here is Liz waiting for the Foucault Pendulum to knock over the next peg.

Santa vs. The Snowman was playing on the Imax screen. Outside the museum was this big blow-up snowman. Liz is poking him in the belly to see if he will giggle like the Pilsbury Doughboy. (Yes, it is December and yes I dressed my little girl in shorts. It was 82 degrees here on Saturday!)

Here are some of the butterflies in the Cockrell Butterfly Center.

After the museum we went to Amy's Ice Cream. It is hands-down the best ice cream I have ever had. I had and Irish Coffee malt, REALLY yummy! They actually put Baileys in it!

Amy's is a rather funky place; lots of writing on the tables, cool indie music, eclectic employees and this fellow sitting on the counter.

Our family also spent the weekend making holiday ornaments. I bought a craft kit to make these pretty little things. They really sparkle.

I also used recipe from Lucy's Frugal Living to make these gingerbread-ish ornaments. They are made from spices, applesauce and white glue. They smell terrific! (Thanks Lucy.) I painted them to look like our family. That's me with the glasses, Liz with the long hair and Scott is the bald one with the beard.

I hope you all have a wonderful day.

I will be away from the computer for a couple of days, I'll be back on Friday.

Follow that money to the corrupted absolute power

2005-12-05T10:14:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking for a while now that we are in need of a serious political toilet flush. It seems that every day brings new news of corruption, bribes, influence peddling and such and it leaves me wondering if the country has been placed on cruise control while all our elected officials are busy trying to keep themselves out of jail. I'm not pointing fingers either, there is corruption running through both parties starting from small local governments and running all the way to the top.

Connecticut just passed a pretty strict campaign finance reform law. While it is a step in the right direction, it seems that there is some question regarding whether it discriminates against 3rd party candidates.

I don't want those I elect to office to put the concerns of big business or big unions before the concerns of it's average citizens.

I'm also sick to death of having only two candidates to choose from every time I vote. This is a hugely diverse nation and yet we are constantly stuck with trying to choose the lesser of two evils. It makes no sense.

It seems like some sweeping campaign finance reform would do the trick. It would make our elected officials much less indebted to those who would put their own interests before the interests of the country and it would allow a more level playing field for third party candidates.

So, here is an idea (and I freely admit to being woefully uneducated about this subject, so if someone has more knowledge please chime in.) How about we make it legal for every citizen of the US to give a maximum of $200 per year and no more. No donations from PACs or corporations or unions or Santa Claus. Maybe even limit it to donating directly to the candidate rather than through the party?

What do you guys think? Are corruption and lack of choice problems which could be addressed by campaign finance reform?

One nation, under the intelligent designer.

2005-12-01T20:10:00.000-06:00

I wanted to do a full-on post about this subject, but time is not on my side this week so I will keep this short and sweet.

Earlier this week my niece sent me a link to this article . In it the author compares the testimony of Michael Behe in the Pennsylvania courtroom to an old Monty Python sketch, it is hilarious. Mr. Behe is the author of Darwin's Black Box (it's a bestseller that presents the argument for ID.)

You can find the actual transcripts from the trial here.

Hurricane season 2005. Goodbye and good riddance!

2005-11-30T12:33:00.000-06:00

Tropical storm Epsilon was named Tuesday, the day before the traditional end of hurricane season.

Named storms this season...26
Previous record...21

Hurricane strength storms this year...13
Previous record...12

We also had three storms hit category 5 this year, more than any previous year. Katrina and Rita pounded the Gulf Coast and Wilma (the strongest storm ever on record) hit the Cancun area leaving Mexico to clean up the same sort of damage we are dealing with here in the states. It remains to be seen whether the Gulf coast will ever fully recover, I have a feeling things have permanently changed in New Orleans.

Times they are a changin'

2005-11-29T06:28:00.000-06:00

I've noticed some really interesting developments in the news regarding Iraq. I can't quite figure out what it all means but I think it spells good news for our soldiers on the ground and their loved-ones here at home. However, it leaves a great big, ominous question mark over the Iraqi people and their country.

Now we all know that according to the Bush administration (and that caustic, venomous Schmidt) that any talk about pulling the troops out of Iraq makes you a spineless, unpatriotic coward. They made their opinion perfectly clear when John Murtha stood before the press on November 17 and called for a plan to pull the troops out of Iraq. But the administration is also facing an election in less than a year and the majority of Americans now feel that Iraq was a mistake and are unhappy and uncertain about our presence there.

So, here are some observations.

According to Juan Cole we have already pulled our ground troops out of Najaf and Karbala and seem to be in the process of turning over various administrative buildings and such. There seems to be plans to further turn over other cities prior to the upcoming election on December 15, 2005. The troops pull back to an encampment outside the city and if all stays quiet they pick up and leave.

November 17, congressman John Murtha put forward his opinion and was consequently attacked by Cheney. (Murtha held his own though, he delivered Cheney a seriously deserved smackdown.)

Then on November 22 in an interview with Fox News, Condeleeza Rice said that we would not need to maintain our current troop levels very much longer.

Then yesterday, in the wake of strong public opposition to the war and calls for withdrawal and/or drawdown of troops by many within the senate and congress, the White House jumped on the bandwagon and said that they too have a withdrawal plan. In fact, they said that not only do they have a plan, but it happens to be almost exactly like a plan put forth by Senator Joseph Biden on November 21.

So, here is what I think is happening...

In the face of public opposition to the war, approval ratings in the toilet and an upcoming election the White House has decided to cut their losses and do what has to be done in order to save face and maintain Republican control after next November. They will continue to do exactly what they have maintained they would never do, they will cut and run. They will present it to the public in such a manner that makes it seem like this is the "course" that we have been "staying." They will say that the Iraqis have "stood up" so now we can "stand down."

Now, I don't claim to know what the best course of action would be in Iraq, although I think John Murtha would certainly know better than any of the other bozos who are playing armchair quarterback with the lives of our soldiers. It seems certain to me that once our troops are gone Iraq will fall into complete civil war. The Sunnis have been bombing the Shiites for months now and recent news has shown that Shia militia are taking their revenge on the Sunni population. I can see the definite possibility of political and social chaos perhaps ending in a repressive Shiite government closely allied to Iran and Syria.

So, what was the original goal of this war? Let's throw out the BS about WMD, I think we've beaten that dead horse enough for now. Get rid of Saddam? Yeah, he is a brutal man who tortured people and used chemical weapons against those who opposed him. However, since we've done the same things I don't think we get to bang the drum of moral indignation anymore where that is concerned. Bring democracy to Iraq? Okay, now we're getting somewhere.

The Bush Administration wanted Saddam out and they wanted a democratically elected (read "puppet") government installed. Bottom line, they wanted to free Iraq from Saddam and install a government that would allow us to exploit their oil resources.

Mission Accomplished?

More Money, More Money!!!

2005-11-27T17:31:00.000-06:00

Lazy Iguana has an excellent post up on our declining values. He makes some great points about the moral crisis in the United States, check it out!

And Saur has posted about the diamond trade. Please keep her post in mind as you shop this holiday season.

Have a great weekend!

2005-11-25T18:39:00.000-06:00

I'm going to take a blogging break until Monday. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

My Very Dearest Guest Blogger

2005-11-24T11:17:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to my hubby Scott! He has generously agreed to be my guest blogger today!

Happy Thanksgiving!!
By Scott (GodlessDad)

Today is the one day of the year that I get to do a lot of cooking. I'm a big fan of cooking, I just don't have much time these days to spend hours in the kitchen. This morning I'm making three pies (mince meat, pumpkin and apple). This afternoon is the rest of the Thanksgiving dinner for the family including deep fried turkey. If you've never had a fried turkey for Thanksgiving, I highly suggest you don't unless you're ready to switch permanently. The difference is that big. You will never again want to eat baked turkey on Thanksgiving, or any other time for that matter.

This is in sharp contrast to a totally different taste experience I tried five years ago. It was the first Thanksgiving GodlessMom and I spent living in Houston. Not being a Southerner by birth, I have to admit I've developed quite a taste for much of the cuisine. I love cajun food. I love grits. I even like okra, be it in gumbo, batter fried, or with tomatoes. I'm a huge BBQ fan and I love Pecan Pie. So when a friend at work suggested I prepare another Southern taste sensation for my family's Thanksgiving dinner, I was intrigued.

Enter: The Turducken.

Now, if you live on either coast or up in the Midwest, land of beige food, you've probably never heard of a Turducken. I never had. Basically, it's a chicken in a duck in a turkey. I'll let that sink in and repeat it for dramtic effect:

A chicken.
Stuffed into a duck.
Stuffed into a turkey.

It's a simple concept really, although you have to wonder about the sanity of the person who first came up with it, let alone the circumstances surrounding its invention.

"Well here it is Thanksgiving. Ma likes duck. The kids like chicken. But I sure can't pass up on the traditional turkey for this special day. Dern, I'm plum short on cookin' space. If only there was a way to cook all them birds at once...."

A lightbulb moment that would have been best had it never occured.

GodlessMom was skeptical from the beginning but I was undeterred. I found a local butcher who prepared this bizarre contruction and pre-ordered one for about $80.

I started to get worried when I picked it up. It wasn't shaped like a turkey at all, it was in a plastic sleeve that looked like a sandbag - only it was heavier. The instructions said to bake it for 11 hours. Damn. Dinner was scheduled for 5:00, so you can do the math on that one. Upon inspecting the ingredients, I noticed that not only were there three birds crammed inside one another, but two different types of stuffing. One of them was cornbread, no problem there. The other was andouille sausage, a delicious cajun creation (pronounced An-Dew-Eee) but not exactly something I was expecting to find inside my frankenbird. I quickly scanned the rest of the ingredients, having decided to draw the line at four different animals in my Thanksgiving meal. Fortunately they had the sense to leave out the rack of lamb.

I dutifully woke up at 5:00 AM to load the birdcube into the oven. Further alarm bells began to ring as the aroma was not exactly what we were accustomed to. Gone was the comforting, traditional smell of roasting fowl. It was replaced with the not-quite-so soothing cocktail of boiling duck oil and fried sausage. It came out of the oven golden brown, but when it was time to carve it I didn't wind up with the perfect little three-layer slices of poulty promised by the packaging. It really just sort of fell apart as if the three birds had finally had enough of this horrific abomination.

Suffice to say it was a total disaster. The in-laws were very polite and nodded their heads before sneaking off to the other room to see if Domino's was still open. Everyone went after the turkey, looking for the pieces that hadn't been contaminated with duck oil. It was the first Thanksgiving on record with no leftover stuffing, potatoes or veggies. At least the pie was good.

So, yeah, go with the fried turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2005-11-24T00:01:00.000-06:00

Enjoy!

hHmmm, No surprises here.

2005-11-23T05:22:00.000-06:00

I always get a kick out of what people will do in the name of science.

Pride and Predjudice and Johhny Cash

2005-11-22T06:15:00.000-06:00

I love Jane Austen. I've spent many a rainy day curled up with her books, I never get sick of them! Pride and Predjudice is by far my favorite. I just love Lizzy Bennet, she is so feisty!

Keira Knightley is starring in the latest film adaptation of the book. (In fact you can enter to win a trip to London on the movie web site.) It hit the theaters this week and of course I will be seeing it as soon as I can cut out a couple of hours for myself (I seriously doubt Scott will want to see this one with me, it being a chick flick and all.) I like Keira Knightley, but I have doubts that this entire story can be faithfully told in only a couple of hours. I will give it a chance though!

My favorite film adaptation of Pride and Predjudice is the 1995 A&E mini-series starring Jennifer Ehle as Lizzy Bennet and Colin Firth (sigh) as Mr. Darcy.

The supporting cast is remarkable, particularly Alison Steadman who plays Lizzy's mom, Mrs. Bennet and Crispin Bonham-Carter who plays the delightful Mr. Bingley. You can rent this film version at Netflix, it is a two disc series so it can provide wonderful evening viewing for at least a week!

On a slightly different note, Scott and I saw Walk the Line yesterday afternoon and I'm already chomping at the bit to see it again!

Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon were absolutely incredible. I can't recall the last time I was so completely convinced by a performance, let alone by two performances in the same film. Phoenix absolutley channels Johnny Cash, (it's almost creepy) and Witherspoon's portrayal of June Carter Cash is absolutely dead-on.

I can't comment on this movie without mentioning the music. Both actors did their own singing in the film and I was nothing short of stunned by their abilities. We've seen some actors turning to music in their films over the last few years but nothing compares to what you will see with the Phoenix/Witherspoon combination! They positively sizzle!

The supporting cast is strong, the pacing is good and although the story is familiar it is powerful and interesting.

Definite 5 star movie here. Oscar alert!

The reason we have Freedom Fries (HP, you can skip this one.)

2005-11-21T07:13:00.000-06:00

Lately George Bush has been showing deep disdain for those in Congress who have (finally) dared to come out against his policies in Iraq. He keeps playing his same old song, saying that our senators saw the same intelligence he saw and that the intelligence from around the world showed the same thing. He claims that it is the anti-war folks who are re-writing history and that by doing so they are dishonoring our soldiers. So, in the interest of calling him on his bullshit I would like to reprint a segment of a speech given by the French Foreign Affairs Minister, Dominique de Villepin to the UN Security Council on February 14, 2003.

"Then there are those who believe that continuing the inspection process is a kind of delaying tactic to prevent or avert military intervention. That naturally raises a question of how much time is allowed Iraq. And this brings us to the heart of the matter. What is at stake is our credibility and our sense of responsibility.

"Let us have the courage to see things as they are. There are two options. The option of war might seem a priori to be the swiftest, but let us not forget that having won the war, peace has to be built. Let us not delude ourselves. This will be long and difficult because it will be necessary to preserve Iraq's unity and to restore stability in a lasting way in a country and a region harshly affected by the intrusion of force.

"Faced with that prospective, there is an alternative -- inspections -- which allow us to move forward day by day with the effective and peaceful disarmament of Iraq. In the end, is that choice not the most sure and most rapid?

"No one today can claim that the path of war will be shorter than the path of inspections. No one can claim that it would lead to a safer, more just, more stable world, for war is always the sanction of failure. Would this be our sole recourse in the face of the many challenges at this time?...

"Ten days ago, the U.S. Secretary of State, Mr. Powell, reported alleged links between al-Qaida and the Baghdad regime. Given the present state of our research and intelligence in liaison with our allies, nothing allows us to establish such links. But we must assess the impact that disputed military action would have on this level.

"Would such intervention today not be liable to exacerbate divisions between societies, cultures, peoples; divisions that nurture terrorism?"

In return, a wave of intense French hatred swept through our country. We even went so far as to rename French Fries, how pitifully childish is that?

Let's not forget the way things actually went down.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (no real spoilers.)

2005-11-19T19:22:00.000-06:00

We saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire yesterday. I enjoyed the film but it wasn't quite as good as The Prisoner of Azkaban.

There was plenty of excitement and several great scenes with incredible special effects. However, this film lacked some of the heart and emotion which has been so present in the other films. Up until now the films have definitely made the viewer feel the progression of the Hogwarts school year and hence the progression of the interpersonal relationships of the characters over that time period. Goblet of Fire lacks that school-year feeling, instead the focus is on the adventure of the Tournament. As a result there are times in the film when the relationships between the characters seem ham-handed and plastic.

It is definitely worth seeing. Emma Watson has really grown into quite a young beauty, Daniel Radcliffe has lost the rounded cuteness of youth and now possesses very chiseled good looks, Rupert Grint has left behind any adolescent gawkiness and has become a very handsome (and very tall) young man (I admit it...I'm a sucker for that red hair!) For some reason I've gotten a big kick out of watching these kids grow up! Once again the supporting roles really flesh out the movie (Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith are great.) If you like dragons you won't want to miss the special effects in this one!

Let me walk with my brother, in perfect harmony.

2005-11-18T04:55:00.000-06:00

My brain has been in a really heavy place this week. I've spent the better part of my free time thinking about things like chemical weapons and bombs in hotels. As a result, my heart is in a heavy place too.

There is a fine line that we walk between being informed and being obsessed. I think that line is different for each of us. Some people can read the daily news and then go on with their day, better off for knowing but still capable of going through the motions of daily life. Others can't read the news at all, it weighs too heavy on their soul so they prefer to go through life blissfully unaware. Then there is the category I fall into...The grab-onto-a-subject-and-gnaw-at-it-until-you-bleed group.

My bulldog approach to news has served me well on occasion but just as often it leaves me feeling depressed and hopeless. I'm really a rather optimistic,upbeat person by nature, it isn't in my character to dwell on things beyond my control. My problem is that I can't convince myself that things like chemical weapons and bombs in hotels ARE beyond my control. I keep thinking that if I write enough letters, talk to enough people, protest enough injustice I WILL make a difference. It doesn't always happen but I like to think I've made at least a little dent here and there.

I am really fortunate, for the next nine days I will have both Liz and Scott at home with me. My parents and mother in law will be joining us for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and I will be putting up the holiday decorations next weekend. So, for the next week I'm going to take it easy on the heavy stuff and just let myself soak in the beauty of my life.

In the interest of peace, harmony and happiness I'd like to show you a picture of the interspecies harmony that exists in my house. I took this picture yesterday morning after I dropped Liz off at school. That is Echo, my 15 year old poodle mix, on the dog bed to the left of the fireplace. In the center of the photo are Stuey, my 7 year old cat and Savvy my new puppy. Maybe the whole world needs to lay down in front of the fireplace on a chilly morning!

Technical Difficulties

2005-11-17T09:55:00.000-06:00

Hi all. Scott here (aka Godlessdad).

I'm having some technical issues with the picture hosting server we use. As a result you'll see the annoying red Xs in place of images until I can get it fixed, probably this weekend.

Sorry to hijack your blog honey.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

*** Update ***
All fixed!

Clear Skies Initiative and WMD

2005-11-16T05:16:00.000-06:00

Cheney met with big oil and shut out environmental groups while developing his energy policy, some of which has been passed into law. No surprise there, but now we've got proof.

The US government admitted to using White Phosphorous (a chemical that ignites when exposed to oxygen) against insurgents in the Fallujah battle last year. It says that civilians weren't targeted. I don't know if you've seen the post mortem photos of the victims of this weapon but it is unbelievably gruesome, the flesh is literally burned and melted off the skeleton while the clothing remains completely intact (Doug posted some of the photos on his blog, I'll put the link here but be warned, it is difficult to look at.) From what I understand it is a sent up in a missile where it explodes and the White Phosphorous is released. The chemical ignites and falls to the ground destroying any flesh it happens to touch. How in the world could you possibly know if that type of weapon is only going to hit insurgents? Sure, many folks had evacuated Fallujah prior to the offensive but (just like New Orleans) there were plenty of folks who couldn't or wouldn't leave. I'll spare you the full force of my soap-box righteous indignation, I think the situation and pictures speak for themselves.

Out to lunch

2005-11-15T06:51:00.000-06:00

Hey All, I have once again overscheduled myself so I'm going to take a blogging break for a couple of days.

If you get a chance, check out this article from the Los Angeles Times by Jimmy Carter.

Walnut Grove in Houston

2005-11-11T09:12:00.000-06:00

I've spent the better part of the week sewing a pioneer costume for Liz. Her school is doing a play titled How the West was REALLY Won and she is supposed to dress like Laura Ingalls. Have you ever tried to make a bonnet? It sucks...Really difficult for someone of my limited sewing abilities.

The play is Tuesday so I thought I would have the weekend to finish this project. Silly me, they announced yesterday that they want all the costumes for the play ready and hanging in the wardrobe room by this afternoon. I know what I'm doing today. Blah!

Have a great weekend! I'll be back Monday.

Look! A room full of atheists!

2005-11-10T09:11:00.000-06:00

Houston has a rather interesting atheist/humanist/freethought community.

There are the Asimov Humanists, The Houston Atheist Society, The Humanists of Houston, the Houston Church of Freethought and many others.

Each group has it's own focus, some are merely social groups while others are very active in political and charitable causes. Basically, there is something for everyone!

Each year the groups all get together for a Solstice party at the Museum of Natural Science. Scott and I attended last year and really had a great time. You will never meet a nicer, more eclectic and diverse group of people!

My only issue with the group is the fact that most of them are a generation or two older than Scott and me, I was hoping there would be more young people. I would like very much to introduce Liz to other children from non-religious families. I'd like her to know that we aren't the only non-believers in the world. I want her to have friends from all over the theological spectrum and while we have many friends from many different religions I haven't found any other young atheistic families here in Houston whom I can befriend.

So, we are going to the party again this year. With any luck we will meet some kids! The party is open to all freethought people in the Houston area, so if you are interested in attending let me know and I'll give you the details! It is a potluck affair and last year the food was incredible!

Bible Belt Blasphemy

2005-11-09T06:36:00.000-06:00

Well, Prop 2 passed with flying colors. The Texas State Constitution will be amended to make damned sure that homosexuals never get the same rights the straight community takes for granted every day.

I'm so glad I live in Texas, I'm surrounded by such love, acceptance and understanding. It is good to know that my marriage and my child are safe from such a dangerous influence.

God bless Texas.

Assholes.

Get Out and Vote!

2005-11-08T04:37:00.000-06:00

Fellow Texans,

Today we have the opportunity to go to the polls and save Texas from the vile clutches of them homoseckshulls. The Powers that Be here in Texas (under the divine guidance of the Lord) have put forth Proposition 2.

Prop 2 will ensure that them gays will never drive our society into ruin by getting married. It will also make certain that they are not encouraged in their sinful ways by the promise of a "Civil Union" and that they will never get any domestic partner benefits.

We must stop the homoseckshull agenda in it's tracks. If we do not amend our state constitution who knows what these people will do? I've heard rumors that they will actually infiltrate society, they will want to work with us, eat in the same restaurants, shop at the same stores and even teach in our schools.

It is our duty to protect our lives, our children and the sanctity of marriage from these people. You know how to vote!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Persnickity Tightwidget

Seriously folks, Prop 2 is nothing more than government sanctioned bigotry. Why do these people feel the need to take away a privilege that the gay community here in Texas has never had in the first place?

The Face of Evil

2005-11-07T09:09:00.000-06:00

Alright, it's a melodramatic post title but it fits.

Check out this link. It is an article regarding Cheney's attempts to keep Congress and others from passing more restrictive rules regarding how we can treat prisoners and detainees. The man is doing everything he can to maintain his right to torture people.

I don't know how much Bush knows about what Cheney and his cohorts are up to. If Bush doesn't know then he is incompetent and out of touch. If he does know then he is as guilty as the rest of them.

This is not the America I love. This is not the will of the people. These people have got to go.

New Orleans Now

2005-11-02T07:17:00.000-06:00

I've been experimenting with a new blog template and I somehow lost all of my links to my favorite blogs. I'm going to have to go through and re-enter them again and probably won't get around to that until this weekend so please don't feel slighted if you don't see your blog name in my links! I'll get them all back up!

My hubby Scott was in New Orleans for a couple of days last week and returned with some great, if somewhat disturbing, photos and some really interesting thoughts on what remains of that great city. First, the photos. They are thumbnails, so you can click on them to see a larger image.

This is a typical sight in the city. You can see the high water mark on the building and the red pickup. You can also see marks left as the water receded. All the lawns are dead and the trees are all dying.

Here is a photo of two houses that were under water. Note the water marks on the white house on the right side of the photo. The signs in front of the homes have been posted by various people who are trying to make money off the whole deal, real estate investors, photographs for insurance purposes...That sort of thing.

Here is a home that is beginning to go through the gutting and salvage process. All the homes have these codes painted on them in orange spray paint, the codes were painted their by search and rescue personnel to indicate that they had searched the premises and tell recovery teams whether or not they had found bodies inside. Rather macabre.

A small private deli/restaurant. I don't imagine it will be open for business any time soon.

Structurally this one looks okay but it will obviously needs to be gutted. It's interesting that the flag is still hanging on the porch. All the cars are covered in this grey/brown gunk. Note the power lines laying on the ground.

There are huge piles of garbage everywhere. There is a huge median on the street by Lake Ponchatrain which is now a garbage dump. I guess they have plans to bring a garbage barge into the lake and truck it out at some point.

A big boat in the middle of the street.

This area used to be quite the happening place. There were sand volleyball courts, a bar, a great restaurant. Nothing remains except one volleyball net and a bunch of debris.

More boats sitting where boats don't belong.

All of these photos were taken in the Lakeview and Gentilly areas.

Cafe Du Monde has re-opened. They are serving soft drinks, cafe au lait and beignets and they are swamped with business. Cafe Du Monde is on Decatur near the French Quarter. Scott didn't see any souvenir shops open and many small businesses had For Sale or For Lease signs in their windows. A couple of fast food places were advertising big sign on bonuses and $10.00/hr. However, even if you get a job there you will have a really hard time finding a place to live.

Scott has agreed to be a guest blogger here at GM in the BB. He will be discussing what he saw, the feel of the place and his thoughts on what the people of New Orleans really need at this point.

From Abu Ghraib with love.

2005-10-29T20:14:00.000-05:00

My brilliant hubby managed to switch out my defective keyboard with one he scavenged from an old laptop and now I am back in business!

I'm sure everyone is sick and tired of talking/reading about the Libby indictment and the Fitzgerald investigation so I'm going to completely leave that one alone for now. There is something weighing very heavy on my heart and I'm in the mood for a bit of a rant.

I was raised to believe that the United States of America is a pretty cool place. As I've grown older I've seen and understood the flaws in our system and I've tried to do my part as a citizen to remedy those flaws. I hold no illusions that the USA is the best country in the world, there are several areas where we fall short and need to strive harder. However, I love my country and I'm happy to be a part of this great social experiment. While I love the rest of our planet and I want to experience and enjoy every inch of it, I don't want to live anywhere else.

Call me a Pollyanna, but there are some myths from my early childhood propaganda experiences that I truly want to believe. I want to believe that while individual human beings might have failings, as a whole we are a noble species. I want to believe that our country is set up in a manner designed to make the most of that nobility while striving to suppress those tendencies which draw us in the other direction.

Like most everyone in the world I was mortified when I first learned that American troops were torturing prisoners at Abu Ghraib. I was shamed at the thought of the name of the United States being associated with such a thing, I was heartbroken at the thought of our troops (these men and women who are our friends and family) being reduced to such an animalistic level that they would conduct themselves in such a manner. I was terrified of the repercussions which would inevitably be felt by our country, our troops and our citizens as the wrath of our victims manifested itself in revenge.

As I looked into the issue more thoroughly and discovered that Abu Ghraib was merely the tip of the iceberg, my disgust and shame only grew. Here we were on this supposed noble mission of bringing democracy to Iraq yet we were treating our prisoners and "enemy combatants" in a manner so far removed from that nobility of purpose that the entire notion of our actions being justified was rendered not only laughable but pitiable. This was not the United States of America I had been raised to believe in, my country couldn't possibly be guilty of such things.

Then came the investigations and trials. We were handed a scant handful of people and blame was laid entirely at their feet. Janis Karpinski, Lyndie Englund...They were set forth as the those who were to blame. Yet after both women were removed from the situation the abuse continued, reports surfaced from Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and other prisons in Iraq. Citizens of the UK and Canada came forward to tell their stories of mistreatment at the hands of American soldiers. It became plain that Alberto Gonzales and Donald Rumsfeld were not only aware of the torture but were instrumental in making it happen. And still Bush claimed that it was the work of "A few bad apples."

Well, John McCain has attempted to put forth a bill that would make it illegal for anyone acting on the behalf of the United States to mistreat prisoners or detainees in any matter. Basically it makes the Geneva Convention rules into national law. The bill passed with a huge majority of 91 votes. Yet Bush, who has never vetoed a bill in his entire term as president has threatened to veto this one. Dick Cheney went to McCain and said that Bush would sign the bill if an exception were made for the CIA. Basically, the Bush administration (who still insists that we don't torture people) is looking to make a nice little loophole for itself.

Now, the Bush administration is attempting to claim that while it is illegal for us to torture anyone on our own soil, it is okay for us to do so when in other countries (Guantanamo Bay is a prime example.) And still the buck has traveled no higher than Karpinski.

I have written emails and letters and dialed the phone until my fingers are ready to fall off. I'm quite certain that all my elected officials think that this and election reform are the only things I think about. But you know what? These guys have dragged my country through the mud and they continue to do so with every prisoner they mistreat and each time they deny due process to the "enemy combatants." I understand that, for better or worse, we are at war. I know that many of our prisoners would as soon kill us as breath but I refuse to believe that we can accomplish any noble goal while our actions have been reduced to this level.

I think this administration is guilty of crimes against humanity. I am constantly floored by the fact that they still try to claim the moral high ground. I can only hope that the nobility which I know exists in the heart of my country will eventually see justice served.

Experiencing-Technical-Difficulties

2005-10-28T11:23:00.000-05:00

The-space-bar-on-my-computer-isn't-working-and-I'll-be-damned-if-I'm-gonna-do-a-whole-post-using-the-hyphen-key-to-separate-my-words.

I've-got-some-new-pictures-of-New-Orleans-to-post-as-soon-as-I-can-get-some-time-with-a-keyboard-that-works.

Stay-tuned!

Puppy time!

2005-10-24T10:31:00.000-05:00

Hey all! I'd like to introduce you to our new puppy, Savannah. We're calling her Savvy for short. She is an eight week old tri color Sheltie. We found her in La Grange, TX (yes, the same La Grange that ZZ Top sings about.)

Unfortunately the puppies in Arkansas both died from Parvo and I was forced to look elsewhere. Lucky for me I found this little girl a lot closer to home. (La Grange is about 95 miles from Houston.)

Scott and I usually put a ton of thought into the names we give our pets, it is something we mull over and talk about until we are certain we have found the right one. However, this time there was a four year old in the mix and she was determined that the pup be called Savannah. I have no idea why. The name is too long to be effective for training purposes, hence the nickname Savvy.

Okay, now on to political stuff. Boy there is a ton to talk about, isn't there?

I don't know about you but I've actually got butterflies in my tummy while I wait for the possible Rove/Libby (and Cheney?) indictments. I suppose we will know by Friday.

Did you hear about Brent Scowcroft? Apparently he will be publishing an article in the New Yorker today regarding the Bush administration's policies. I don't think he will be saying nice things. Rumor also has it that Bush 41 has a few things to say about his son's presidency.

It looks like Miers is going to go down in flames.

This ought to be an interesting week.

Still breathing

2005-10-19T21:59:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry I've been so absent from the blog world lately. I've seriously overcommitted myself lately and have had very little time or energy left at the end of the day. Silly me, I thought that I would have MORE time after Liz started kindergarten.

I'm going to take the rest of the week off and try to get back to blogging next Monday. Scott will be going to New Orleans to (hopefully) reopen the office there so I may have some interesting photos to post when he returns.

Take care and have a wonderful weekend.

Ho hum

2005-10-17T19:55:00.000-05:00

Hmmm. How odd. I have absolutely nothing to say and very little energy to say it.

So, here are my feeble thoughts for the evening.

Woo Hoo Astros!
I hope Wilma isn't as big a pain in the neck as Rita and Katrina.
My little girl is having trouble adjusting to the long hours at her new kindergarten, it breaks my heart.
I'm really curious to know what Fitzgerald is going to do about Rove and Libby.

Okay, that's it. I'm going to bed now and it isn't even 8:00. How sad is that?

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens

2005-10-14T18:11:00.000-05:00

Some of my favorite things.

Puppy breath
My daughter's hair
Fresh coffee in the morning
Watching caterpillars eat leaves
The smell of line dried sheets
Geckos
The constellation Orion
A cat in my lap
My daughter's smile
Painting walls
Gingerbread trim on Victorian houses
My husband's wrists
Turtles and Tortoises
A good book on a rainy day
Wild columbine
Koi ponds
My husband's eyes
My daughter's eyes (they are just like her daddy's)
Ben and Jerry's Phish Food
My piano
My mom's biscuits and gravy
The smile lines around my eyes

My puppies in Arkansas aren't doing so well. One pup in the litter has died and the little girl I was going to adopt is pretty sick. I may have to look elsewhere for my therapy dogs.

I'll be back on Monday. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Real Time with GodlessMom

2005-10-12T05:47:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy watching Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday nights. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with the program, Bill Maher hosts a program where political and social issues are discussed in a no-punches-pulled kind of way. He usually does a personal interview with someone famous and then has a round table discussion with a panel of three guests. Current events and current topics are bantered about and I usually walk away having learned something.

Now, I don't always agree with Bill. He is a far Left kind of guy with some extreme ideas but I respect the way he calls it like he sees it. He stirs up controversy and gets people thinking. I like that.

Last Friday's show was a really good one. First off, he interviewed Ann Coulter. Now, for reasons too obvious to go into, I don't much like Ms. Coulter. I think she is evil. During the course of the interview I got to see Ann Coulter back step on her support of George Bush due to her dislike of his recent Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers. That made me smile. Annie dear, you made your bed, you lie in it.

However, the point of this post is not Ann Coulter. What I would like to discuss is a comment Bill Maher made and the resulting conversation on his panel. His panel was made up of conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan, actor Ben Affleck and author Salman Rushdie. I've cut some of the text out for the sake of brevity (and by brevity I mean I didn't transcribe the entire hour...grin.)

Bill Maher: There is no diversity of religion in the country. George Bush does have a diverse cabinet when it comes to race, they've done a pretty good job: Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, so forth. But, you know, I don't think race makes someone as diverse nowadays as how you think about religion and there is no secular voice, there's no voice of Me in this cabinet. Everyone who gets appointed has to be not just Christey but Super-Christey; Double-dog Christey. Twice-born Christey. But you know what? People of faith, and when I hear "people of faith" I think "Well those are people who suspend rational judgment for nonsensical bullshit that they believe." Where is the diversity of the people who think like myself and perhaps like you [points to Rushdie.]

Ben Affleck: I think that's oversimplifying and perhaps a bit insulting.

Andrew Sullivan: Thank you Ben.

Ben Affleck: People of faith aren't stupid [just because] they're people of faith. I mean, I just disagree. I think that's stupid, in fact, to suggest that. I think that ultimately-

Bill Maher: What they have is a mental block.

Ben Affleck: Well there may be on the edge of whatever religious extreme of whatever religious spectrum you want to look at, but there is certainly a gamut, and just saying well someone who is religious whether they are Jewish or an Orthodox Jew or a Christian who goes to church once a week or four times a week or believes that every word that is in the Bible is literal. Or, like the president thinks, well it isn't all literal but I believe in it. [Their belief] Doesn't inherently make them stupid.

Bill Maher: Really? If you believe the word of the Bible literally, if you believe the world is five thousand years old, that's not stupid?

Ben Affleck: I think most religious people, like, don't think that Jonah lived in the belly of a whale for two hundred years-

Bill Maher: In America they do-

Overtalk regarding how many Americans believe in Biblical inerrancy.

Andrew Sullivan: Bill, I'm a person of faith and I rather resent being called stupid.

Bill Maher: I'm not calling you stupid-

Andrew Sullivan: Yes you did-

Bill Maher: No, I'm saying it's a mental block.

Andrew Sullivan: I'm saying you have a mental block when it comes to people of faith.

Bill Maher: No, I had a mental block when I was a child, when they taught me this nonsense and when I got to be an adult I got over it.

More overtalk.

Salman Rushdie: A couple of years ago before the Iraq nonsense began I was invited to Washington and I got to speak to a group of senators of both parties and the thing that was most obviously different between the Democrats and the Republicans was that the Republicans exclusively used religious language. Exclusively. And the Democrats did not. That really scared me. There was one of the Senators, which I guess I shouldn't name, who asked me why it was that Osama Bin Laden said that America was a Godless country? He was really offended by that, he said, "We're not Godless, we're very Godly." And I said, "Well, I guess Mr. Bin Laden doesn't think so."

Bill Maher: If only he knew us better, he might like us better.

Salman Rushdie: Yes, [there is] a lot in common.

Andrew Sullivan: People of faith are not talking about what is known, they're talking about what is not known and what we cannot know. And genuine people of faith are not going to make these asinine statements like Franklin Graham or these nutcases that you point out. They are going to be humble in front of God, they are going to recognize that there are some things science cannot tell you: The meaning of the universe, the point of our lives, what morality is, what happens to us after death, how we should treat our fellow human beings. Those questions, I think, in true people of faith who don't seek to impose on other people, who are just trying to find a way to live their lives in a good way. By demonizing all people of faith what you are doing is playing into the hands of these fundamentalists. The United States is based on a separation of church and state and that is why religion is so strong in this country. The Republican party has betrayed that tradition and you're right to call them on it, but don't, DON'T conflate that with the greatness of many religions and the greatness of many people in them.

Bill Maher: I'm sorry, but they are your fellow travelers-

The conversation breaks down a bit, some argument regarding the beauty vs. darkness of organized religion.

Andrew Sullivan: The people who take their faith seriously I think are also respectful of people of other faiths and also respectful of people with no faith at all.

Salman Rushdie: That's not true. That's not true at all.

Andrew Sullivan: I'm not saying that everybody is, I'm saying that people who really, for example, listen to the words of Jesus and the Gospels are not going to try and depress other people. The message of Jesus, if you listen to it, is of compassion and tolerance of people.

Bill Maher: I love Jesus, I just don't like the Christians who don't believe in what he says.

Ben Affleck: See, now you're making a good point. If you look at the Old Testament, the New Testament, The Quran, the practices none of this is explicitly preaching violence or oppression. There are idiots and assholes in all walks of life. They're everywhere.

Salman Rushdie: They do seem to be in charge.

End transcript

This is the type of conversation that plays out over and over again when we speak about religion in our country and the roll it plays. I think that this conversation with this panel had the potential to really go some wonderful places. Unfortunately Bill opened the whole thing by being unnecessarily inflammatory which set the whole thing off on the wrong foot.

Bill has a good point, it is hard to know the exact numbers but it is estimated that between 10 and 16% of our country would fall into the atheist/agnostic category. Granted, it isn't even close to a majority, but it isn't a percentage to sneeze at either. Yet, you see virtually no secular people in our government, particularly in the Bush cabinet. I would like to hear a discussion on that matter as it is one close to my heart. However, Bill had to go and make the "nonsensical bullshit" comment which sent the whole conversation in the wrong direction.

Ben Affleck also makes some good points. People of faith in our country really do run the gamut, there is a whole spectrum of beliefs out there ranging from quiet personal spirituality tempered by logic to wild-eyed zealots who wield their beliefs like a sword and accept no disagreement. It is unfair and wrong to judge all religious people by those who make the worst impression.

Andrew Sullivan is absolutely correct when he says that the teachings of Jesus are about love and tolerance and Bill Maher echoes my sentiments exactly when he said, "I love Jesus, I just don't like the Christians who don't believe what he said."

I also think Andrew Sullivan makes a very good point when he tells Bill that by demonizing all people of faith Bill is playing right into the hands of the fundamentalists.

I think Salman Rushdie sums up the entire thing though when he said, "They (the assholes) do seem to be in charge."

I like Bill Maher, I think he serves an important role in a society where the media is lame and all but useless. His confrontational nature serves to cut through bullshit and put the real issues front and center. However, like any other pundit he is extreme. It is unfortunate that his is the lone voice of atheism in news/entertainment media. Almost like Jerry Falwell being the lone voice of Christianity and Osama Bin Laden being the lone voice of Islam...Okay, maybe he's not THAT extreme but you get my point. Sigh.

Bit of bad news

2005-10-11T05:49:00.000-05:00

Well, last night as I was getting ready to leave for Arkansas I received a phone call from the Humane Society. One of the pups I was scheduled to adopt has come down with Parvo Virus so now my pup and all the other young-ens at the shelter are under quarantine and won't be able to leave for at least another week.

Parvo is a really weird virus. It likes cool air so you see it more in the spring and autumn, (although some seasons it will go straight through summer and winter too.) It also changes from season to season. Some years it is VERY virulent and will plow through like a freight train in a really nasty way, killing almost every pup who comes into contact with it. Other years it is a little more benign, merely making pups sick for a few days and never really spreading like wildfire. Even the less evil strains of the virus are still difficult to deal with though. There is always severe bloody diarrhea and vomiting, dehydration is a big issue. Some years there is horrible fever that accompanies the virus, other years not so much.

Apparently, the strain going about Arkansas this season isn't too bad so I'm hoping that my sick pup will survive and my other pup will escape infection. Unfortunately these pups didn't get to nurse from their mother for very long so they don't have the maternal antibodies that would normally boost their little immune systems.

So, needless to say I won't be going to Arkansas after all, at least not this week. I'll post if I get any new news.

Happy Birthday Dear Echo!

2005-10-10T01:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Echo's 15th birthday. Echo is my little white poodle mutt. I love her dearly! She is blind, deaf and arthritic but the tail still wags, she still loves to cuddle and her overall health is very good. She is such a wonderful being!

I've also been approved as an adoptive home for the sheltie pups, so I will be driving to Beebe, Arkansas to pick them up tomorrow! Beebe is just a bit north-east of Little Rock, about a 10-11 hour drive from Houston (I'm glad I have my Civic...Gas prices being what they are!) so I will be out of the loop for a couple of days. I'll be adopting a little girl and a little boy, they are nine weeks old. These are the pups that Liz will grow up with, the ones who she will share her childhood with. I'm so looking forward to watching their relationship develop. I'll post pictures as soon as I get a chance!

It will also be interesting watching the pups around Stuey, my cat. He is a really cool, laid-back animal. I'm sure he'll take the whole thing in stride and will eventually develop a great friendship with the new little ones but the first couple of weeks ought to be interesting.

By the way, fellow Houstonians...What a game, huh? Yeah Astros!

I'll be back on Thursday after I get home from Arkansas.

This is what it has come to.

2005-10-08T09:01:00.000-05:00

I'm posting a link to Cyberpols today which I feel is incredibly important. Doug has an excellent post regarding a House vote which took place yesterday on an energy bill. Basically the vote went through and the Republicans were not happy with the results, so they kept the vote open while Republican leaders went around the room and pushed some of their Republican colleagues to change their votes and toe the party line. A vote which would normally have lasted 5-10 minutes was still being "discussed" after 40 minutes. The vote was not closed until after the Republicans (DeLay was among them) "convinced" enough people to change their votes.

The Democrats were very angry and were shouting "Shame, shame, shame!" But this obviously doesn't mean a damned thing to the Republicans and their "Hammer." They have no shame.

The most disgusting thing about the situation however is the MSM coverage of the event. Doug has links in his post to the CNN coverage with Wolf Blitzer and to the C-Span actual footage. He makes excellent observations regarding the spin put on the situation by Blitzer versus what really happened. CNN has been turning into a FOX wannabe for a long time now and this is another prime example of how the myth of the media liberalism is a bunch of bullshit.

Huh?

2005-10-07T18:22:00.000-05:00

I was born in Utah. I'm a Utahn.
My daughter Liz was born here in Texas, she is therefore a Texan.
Scott is originally from California so he can be called a Californian.

What do you call someone from Connecticut?

Insomnia

2005-10-06T01:53:00.000-05:00

I hate it when I can't sleep.

Here I am at 2:00 in the morning, sitting in the living room listening to the faucet in the kitchen drip. I've got to fix that. Why does it sound so much louder now than it does during the day?

I still haven't heard from the shelter regarding the puppies, I'm disappointed but I suppose I still might hear from them later on this week.

Last night's episode of Lost was really weak. They tried to make out this huge conflict between the man of faith versus the man of science. All they succeeded in doing was to make both characters look like fools by putting them in a stupid situation and having them act in totally illogical ways. I like Lost very much, the characters are very well written and complex. All shows have bad episodes but last night's was especially bad because the bar has been set so high by all the episodes that came before.

I found something that cracked me up. It is a sarcastic bit of bile toward Christian fundamentalists, so if you don't like that sort of thing you might want to skip the next bit. I found it at a site called evilbible.com. I'm not endorsing the site, I haven't spent enough time there to know what it's all about...I'm just tellin' ya where I found the following list. (Number four is the one that really gets me!)

You know you're a fundamentalist Christian when...

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.

GodlessMom Disclaimer...No, I don't believe all Christians are like the above mentioned Christians. No, I'm not slamming the religion, I'm simply slamming the zealots. I don't like zealots, they bug me.

Okay, I'm kind of grumpy so I'm going to try to go back to bed now.

There's one in every family

2005-10-04T06:04:00.000-05:00

My great grandfather was a sonofabitch. A huge red-haired man with eyes like ice and fists like meat mallets, he plowed through life with little thought to the consequences of his actions leaving misery and scores of children in his wake.

He immigrated to the US from Denmark as a child, finding his way to Utah where his family joined the community with gusto. At the age of 19 he returned to Denmark to serve his mission for the LDS church. He served the mission without incident (as far as we know) and on the ship ride home he met great grandma. She was young, petite and beautiful, a heart shaped face and enormous blue eyes framed by pale blonde hair. She was immigrating with her family to the United States but had no idea where they would end up once they arrived. I guess grandpa was still in mission mode because he had converted her entire family before the ship docked and convinced them all to join him in Utah.

They were married five months later, within six years they had five children. At this point he became bored with his Danish bride and he left her for her sister. He fathered eight children with my great aunt then left her and returned to my great grandma who gave him three more children. Eventually he died and left both women without a cent to their names. Rumor followed his death that he actually had another wife somewhere south of Salt Lake, I'm sure there were plenty of children involved in that relationship too.

I don't know if he had delusions of following the traditional Mormon doctrine of polygamy but couldn't manage to bring himself to openly defy the law or whether he was just a scoundrel who couldn't keep his unit in his pants. Whatever the reason, I share DNA with a whole lot of Utahns because of that man.

My grandma was asked if she remembered anything about him. The only story she could remember was watching him carry a Shetland Pony across a bridge on a bet. So aside from being very fertile he was also very strong. It's sad that she couldn't remember anything better.

My grandma grew up without her father and married my grandpa when she was 14 years old. She had my father when she was 16. My daddy's eyes are ice blue too. That is where all similarity ends between him and his grandfather.

Bush, Serenity and Puppies!

2005-10-03T06:35:00.000-05:00

Well, we saw Serenity on Friday. I really, really enjoyed it! It was exciting and funny and everything I had hoped it would be. I had to drag Scott along, but he actually enjoyed it as much as I did. In fact he even said he wouldn't mind seeing it again and he almost NEVER wants to see a movie more than once.

I may be getting a new puppy soon. I've put in an application to adopt one or two sheltie pups that are currently in a rescue shelter. I've wanted to get a pup to train for therapy work and agility competition for a long time now. Since Liz is in school now I have the time to devote to a new little canine (or two.) I'm also really interested in training for search and rescue work but I don't think I'm quite ready for that kind of time commitment yet.

I'm hoping I hear from the shelter this week!

Okay, now here is the Bush part, if you don't feel like reading political bile you may want to stop right here. I love reading Juan Cole. If you're not familiar with his blog, he is a professor at the University of Michigan, he is very knowledgable about the Middle East and writes a daily post about what is going on in Iraq and the US policies that effect that region. He leans left so there are a lot of people out there who don't like him but he calls it as he sees it and frankly his analysis of the situation has always been dead-on. This morning he posted about about where the buck stops regarding the leak of the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame. It is easy reading and not too long. If you have the time I highly recommend reading the whole post.

Basically, the implication is that we are foolish if we believe that the entire leak took place as something between Rove and Libby. Rove, the right hand of Bush and Libby, the right hand of Cheney must have had approval of their bosses to do something as severe as outing an agent. Now, I'd be really surpised if Cheney didn't know about this, but Bush? I'm not so sure. It depends on how stupid he really is and that is always an issue which is up for debate. If he didn't know, he should have.

I'd be interested in your thoughts.

My Ugly Little Secret

2005-09-29T10:24:00.000-05:00

Alright, I admit it, I watch TV.

"Reality" TV has never done anything for me, I quit watching reality shows after the second Survivor. I've never really been interested in dramas like ER or Law and Order. Sitcoms have never really done much for me either, although I will occasionally watch a re-run of Friends I can honestly say I've never seen an episode of Seinfeld.

I like my TV with a bit of a supernatural twist, add in a side order of sci-fi and I'm hooked! Star Trek had me from and early age and I was weaned on Twilight Zone. As I grew older I continued to follow the Star Trek spin-offs and I loved X-Files. One of my deepest TV loves was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I know, I know...the movie sucked but the series was prime GodlessMom viewing!

This last year has seen some seriously great supernatural/sci-fi type stuff on the tube. The new Battlestar Galactica on Sci-Fi channel is awesome (Sci-Fi also shows Stargate...Another great one!) , ABC's Lost is fabulous, Smallville on the WB can be counted on for a Thursday night diversion and we have the new offerings of Invasion and Supernatural on ABC and WB respectively which may prove to be worth a look-see. I'm in sci-fi geek heaven!

Now the biggest problem is deciding which programs are actually worth devoting my limited TV time to. I have TiVo, so I don't have to watch them when they are actually broadcast but I don't want to spend my days watching sci-fi the way some women spend their days with soap operas! Decisions, decisions.

Incidentally, if you are a Buffy fan you may be interested to know that today Joss Whedon's new feature film Serenity will premiere in theaters. Also, James Marsters (Spike from Buffy) is playing a supervillian on Smallville this season. The bleach blonde curls are gone but the chiseled jawline remains! Also, David Boreanaz (Angel) has a new series called Bones...Basic FBI/forensic scientist stuff (no supernatural or sci-fi) but it might be worth checking out too.

I'll be back on Monday, happy weekend everyone!

Telling it like it is

2005-09-27T19:39:00.000-05:00

I have something I'd like you to read, I'd be interested in your thoughts.

This is the transcript of a speech given by a gentleman named Etan Thomas at last weeks anti-war rally in Washington DC. Mr. Thomas is an NBA basketball player, he plays Center and Power Forward for the Washington Wizards. He is also an author and outspoken critic of the Iraq war and the Bush administration. His words really struck a chord with me.

"Giving all honor, thanks and praises to God for courage and wisdom, this is a very important rally. I'd like to thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts, feelings and concerns regarding a tremendous problem that we are currently facing. This problem is universal, transcending race, economic background, religion, and culture, and this problem is none other than the current administration which has set up shop in the White House.

In fact, I'd like to take some of these cats on a field trip. I want to get big yellow buses with no air conditioner and no seatbelts and round up Bill O'Reilly, Pat Buchanan, Trent Lott, Sean Hannity, Dick Cheney, Jeb Bush, Bush Jr. and Bush Sr., John Ashcroft, Giuliani, Ed Gillespie, Katherine Harris, that little bow-tied Tucker Carlson and any other right-wing conservative Republicans I can think of, and take them all on a trip to the 'hood. Not to do no 30-minute documentary. I mean, I want to drop them off and leave them there, let them become one with the other side of the tracks, get them four mouths to feed and no welfare, have scare tactics run through them like a laxative, criticizing them for needing assistance.

I'd show them working families that make too much to receive welfare but not enough to make ends meet. I'd employ them with jobs with little security, let them know how it feels to be an employee at will, able to be fired at the drop of a hat. I'd take away their opportunities, then try their children as adults, sending their 13-year-old babies to life in prison. I'd sell them dreams of hopelessness while spoon-feeding their young with a daily dose of inferior education. I'd tell them no child shall be left behind, then take more money out of their schools, tell them to show and prove themselves on standardized exams testing their knowledge on things that they haven't been taught, and then I'd call them inferior.

I'd soak into their interior notions of endless possibilities. I'd paint pictures of assisted productivity if they only agreed to be all they can be, dress them up with fatigues and boots with promises of pots of gold at the end of rainbows, free education to waste terrain on those who finish their bid. Then I'd close the lid on that barrel of fool's gold by starting a war, sending their children into the midst of a hostile situation, and while they're worried about their babies being murdered and slain in foreign lands, I'd grace them with the pain of being sick and unable to get medicine.

Give them health benefits that barely cover the common cold. John Q. would become their reality as HMOs introduce them to the world of inferior care, filling their lungs with inadequate air, penny pinching at the expense of patients, doctors practicing medicine in an intricate web of rationing and regulations. Patients wander the maze of managed bureaucracy, costs rise and quality quickly deteriorates, but they say that managed care is cheaper. They'll say that free choice in medicine will defeat the overall productivity, and as co-payments are steadily rising, I'll make their grandparents have to choose between buying their medicine and paying their rent.

Then I'd feed them hypocritical lines of being pro-life as the only Christian way to be. Then very contradictingly, I'd fight for the spread of the death penalty, as if thou shall not kill applies to babies but not to criminals.

Then I'd introduce them to those sworn to protect and serve, creating a curb in their trust in the law. I'd show them the nightsticks and plungers, the pepper spray and stun guns, the mace and magnums that they'd soon become acquainted with, the shakedowns and illegal search and seizures, the planted evidence, being stopped for no reason. Harassment ain't even the half of it. Forty-one shots to two raised hands, cell phones and wallets that are confused with illegal contrabands. I'd introduce them to pigs who love making their guns click like wine glasses. Everlasting targets surrounded by bullets, making them a walking bull's eye, a living piñata, held at the mercy of police brutality, and then we'll see if they finally weren't aware of the truth, if their eyes weren't finally open like a box of Pandora.

I'd show them how the other side of the tracks carries the weight of the world on our shoulders and how society seems to be holding us down with the force of a boulder. The bird of democracy flew the coop back in Florida. See, for some, and justice comes in packs like wolves in sheep's clothing. T.K.O.'d by the right hooks of life, many are left staggering under the weight of the day, leaning against the ropes of hope. When your dreams have fallen on barren ground, it becomes difficult to keep pushing yourself forward like a train, administering pain like a doctor with a needle, their sequels continue more lethal than injections.

They keep telling us all is equal. I'd tell them that instead of giving tax breaks to the rich, financing corporate mergers and leading us into unnecessary wars and under-table dealings with Enron and Halliburton, maybe they can work on making society more peaceful. Instead, they take more and more money out of inner city schools, give up on the idea of rehabilitation and build more prisons for poor people. With unemployment continuing to rise like a deficit, it's no wonder why so many think that crime pays.

Maybe this trip will make them see the error of their ways. Or maybe next time, we'll just all get out and vote. And as far as their stay in the White House, tell them that numbered are their days."

Hurricane Rita

2005-09-25T20:07:00.000-05:00

Sept 24, 2005

There is beauty in the power of nature. As I walked out onto my back porch this morning, coffee in hand, I looked into a crystal blue sky completely devoid of pollution. I breathed in air that was fresh with the smell of rain and wet vegetation and watched the doves lazily mill about my lawn looking for fallen seeds.

If I didn't know better I would think I was standing on top of a mountain in Montana or laying on my back in the red sands of my beloved desert, so clear was the air and so blue was the sky. But I'm not in Montana nor am I in Utah. I'm in Houston, Texas, the fourth largest city in the United States.

Over the course of 72 hours the city had undergone a massive change. A huge percentage of the vehicles which normally crowd it's streets had been driven off to parts unknown and the winds and rain of Rita had come through like a freight train, blowing away the pollution, washing clean the stench and sending the human population scurrying into their closets. Mother nature had done in two days what the Department of transportation and the EPA have been trying to do for decades...Reduce the amount of traffic on the streets and clean up the air.

As hurricanes go, Houston was very lucky. Most of us had to deal with fallen branches and power outages, I'm going to have to replace the gate into my backyard, but these things are easy to deal with and seem less than trivial when compared to the massive damage done just east of our city. I've seen different maps breaking down the intensity of the storm, but it seems that my area of town had sustained winds between 50 and 75 mph. We had very little rain, a fact that truly surprised me.

By far the most disastrous thing to happen to Houston was the evacuation. I live less than a mile from one of the main highways out of Houston, Interstate 290. It was a parking lot from Wednesday at 3:00 pm until Friday afternoon. During the peak of the exodus it was taking almost 30 hours to drive from Houston to Austin, normally a 3-4 hour trip.

We had originally planned on sheltering a family of five in our home. However, as it became apparent that many people wouldn't be able to get out of town before the storm hit the population in our house grew, we directed family and friends to our house and made up beds on couches and floors. By the time the storm hit we had thirteen people in our home, all of us waiting and watching. Each time a new report would surface regarding the projected path of the storm it became more and more apparent that our decision to stay put had been a good one and by midnight everyone had gone to sleep.

Everyone but me that is. I knew the storm wasn't going to hit hurricane levels near our home, but the wind was incredible. It was coming from all directions, battering our trees and whistling around the roof and between the house and garage. I stayed awake all night, ready to raise the alarm should the storm grow to dangerous levels. (truth be told, I'm a really light sleeper and couldn't have slept through the noise anyway.) Fortunately I didn't need to awaken anyone and as the sun came up on Saturday morning I breathed a sigh of relief, made a pot of coffee for my guests and went to bed.

The stores are still closed, the gas stations are still out of gas and Liz won't go back to school until Tuesday. Other than that, all is well and Interstate 290 is once again crowded with people coming back into town. I'm sure the pollution will be back by this evening.

We are well

2005-09-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

We survived! My internet connection is down so I'm borrowing a dial-up for this post. We have power and water, at this point we are just staying in our home and out of the way of people who are trying to get back into Houston. Once my internet service is restored I'll post about my experience. Take care everyone! I'll be back ASAP.

The calm before the storm

2005-09-22T19:48:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd be running around like a wild woman tonight but as it happens all is calm here on the home front. We are as ready as we are ever going to be. Food, water, radio, batteries...We've got it all.

We have five people who are staying with us, they have evacuated from an area closer to the coast. It took them over 12 hours to drive the 40 miles between their house and ours. The mass evacuation from the Houston area has been very difficult but things are starting to look much better, most of the areas near the coast are ghost towns now.

I know a few people who are being stubbornly stupid and refusing to evacuate from areas that are in danger. Hopefully they will be the exception and not the rule. As of now it looks like the eye of the hurricane will be passing east of us which puts us on the clean side and in less danger of tornados and horrible flooding. Unfortunately all of that damage will be happening in our ship channel near our refineries...Not a good thing for the price of gas over the next few months.

I'll post when I get a chance. Thank you all for your kind thoughts, I'll let you know how things go! Meanwhile, check out this article.

Allison and Rita

2005-09-20T21:40:00.000-05:00

June 6, 2001

We had been warned that a tropical storm was headed toward Houston but the winds were well below hurricane strength and no one was particularly worried about it. Houston gets a lot of rain on a regular basis so we don't really get our panties in a bunch when rain is in the forecast. Tropical Storm Allison really looked like just a big rain storm and so it was business as usual in Houston.

She came, she went, we had a little bit of flooding but nothing unusual, life went on.

Then Allison pulled a fast one. On June 8, 2001 she made an unexpected turn and headed back toward Houston. Then, rather than moving on she decided to stay a while. The storm stalled out over the city and in a 24 hour period there were parts of Houston that received almost 38 inches of rain.

It was unbelievable. Scott was stuck downtown, he and a couple of co-workers had managed to find a hotel room but the roads were flooded and he was unable to come home. I sat alone in the dark with my 10 week old baby wondering if I'd ever see my husband again. I live on a cul de sac and the circle out in front of my house was a lake. I have to give credit to the engineers who designed the drainage for my neighborhood though, when the sun came up on June 9 there wasn't even a standing puddle in my yard. Scott managed to get home late that afternoon.

His building, one of the main highrise office buildings in downtown Houston, was closed for two months due to flood damage. The total damage exceeded 5 billion dollars. Allison has the dubious honor of being the only tropical storm to ever have her name retired without ever hitting hurricane strength.

No one expects Rita to drop anywhere near as much rain as Allison. However, we will have hurricane force winds to contend with. They are already evacuating Galveston, as of tomorrow morning it will be mandatory, the areas near the bay and shipping areas will be evacuated tomorrow and several school districts have announced school closures for tomorrow through the end of the week.

I've got a family of five who will be staying with me for the duration (starting tomorrow night.) A man, his wife, their two children and their 96 year old grandmother. I'm concerned about keeping grandma cool enough if the power goes out. My parents will be leaving the city tomorrow morning, Daddy has to sleep with a C-PAP machine so he HAS to have power available to him. This ought to be interesting!

I probably won't post until after this is over. Fellow Houstonians, please let me know if I can help in any way. I hope everyone has a great weekend with minimal storm damage.

Thar she blows! (done in my best Mr. Krabs voice)

2005-09-19T14:08:00.000-05:00

Well it looks like Rita might be headed this way. It will be a couple of days before we know for certain but I'll be watching it closely.

My posts are going to be very sporadic and lame this week (as they have been for most of September.) Life is pulling me in multiple directions right now! Hopefully I can get back to regular blogging by next week (providing my house hasn't been blown down.)

Those who share my DNA

2005-09-16T21:05:00.000-05:00

The first week of kindergarten went very well for Liz. She seems to be adapting well and has made a few new friends. Her teachers enjoy her and she seems to really like the school campus. She did have a bit of an emotional melt-down on Thursday morning, I think it was sinking in that she would have to do the school thing every day. She recovered nicely though and has been happy and positive since. Overall I'd say that it has been a rousing success.

My sister was with me for the better part of the week, visiting from Denver. She has leukemia/lymphoma and is in remission. However, she has to do maintainence chemo every 6 months. I was amazed at how it drained all the energy from her body. She would go to bed by 9:00 in the evening, sleep until 7:30 or 8:00 and then take a 3 or 4 hour nap during the day. She seemed to really enjoy her visit though. We just played the veggie game, talking, reading and watching Lord of the Rings. It was nice and relaxing and it was really good to see her.

My father's mind seems to be slipping a little more each day. My mom has made him do the dishes since she had surgery on her shoulder in July (Mom is still in a sling.) Daddy will wash and dry the dishes but he can't remember where the clean dishes go, even though he puts them away two times a day. He keeps trying and has a good attitude about the whole thing but it is difficult to see him fading like this.

My family is wonderful. I'm very, very lucky to be surrounded by so much love.

I'll be back Monday. Have a great weekend!

Feeling Helpless.

2005-09-15T06:49:00.000-05:00

I have a very dear friend in Utah who is one of the finest human beings I have ever met. He is super intelligent and has a phenomenal sense of humor, he is interesting and compassionate and has a deep love for the world around him. He is dedicated to his family and is one of those people you know you can count on to help in a pinch.

I've known him since we were eleven years old, so I've watched him grow from a boy into the man he is today and I can honestly say I've never seen him do anything that would ever put his good character into question. He is a teacher and he is wonderful with children and animals, he's attractive too, not in a GQ sort of way but in a solid, masculine, accessable way.

The tragedy of my friend is that he is alone. He wants to marry and have children, he wants to share his life with someone. Unfortunately my friend suffers from terrible depression and it has severely handicapped him. He is incapable of mustering the energy it takes to socialize and when he does manage the energy his thoughts saboutage all his encounters before they ever occur.

Medication and therapy haven't helped him at all. In fact his body reacts to medications in a very negative way. It breaks my heart.

He frequently talks of killing himself and I don't know what to say to him. I try to help him see the positive things in life and I let him know that I love him and my life is richer because I know him. Unfortunately, the longer we go the less weight these arguments hold for him.

I so want him to be happy and fulfilled. I so want for him to experience the joys of life. I love him so much and I want to keep him safe from himself. I just don't see any way that I can do it.

To Liz on her first day of Kindergarten

2005-09-14T05:20:00.000-05:00

My Dearest Liz,

Yesterday I sent you off into the world. I watched you wipe silent tears from your eyes then straighten your back and bravely march off into the unknown. I felt such a swelling of pride as I watched that beautiful head of blonde hair disappear through the doorway. I also felt a tiny bit of sorrow as I realized that my baby is truly gone, she has been replaced by a bright, vivacious, sweet-natured little girl.

I feel confident that you possess the skills necessary to take this next step. You have always made friends so easily and your curiosity serves you well. I won't lie to you, there are some painful times ahead. School can be a lot of fun but it is also a place where you will inevitably learn a few tough lessons.

There are a few things I'd like you to try and remember as you enter this new phase of your life.

First, always try to be friends with the kid who needs friends. The popularity game is vicious and pointless, please try to rise above it. Look for the children who fade into the woodwork and do your best to include them and make them feel loved.

Second, listen to your teachers and they will open the door to a whole new level of understanding, be polite and considerate and don't be afraid to ask questions. Aside from your family, these are the adults who will influence you most. Give them the opportunity to earn your respect and you will earn their respect in return.

Third, always perform to the best of your ability. Like your mother, you have a tendency to let things slide on occasion. I have some good qualities, please don't emulate my bad ones!

Fourth, (I can't say it any better than Shakespeare) "This above all, to thine own self be true." I know that you are a kind hearted and generous person. I also know that you have a keen sense of justice and a healthy amount of pride, these qualities will serve you well if you listen to your heart and always take the noble path.

Fifth, while most people you meet will be kind and decent folks, you will occasionally run across an asshole. Don't be afraid to stand up for yourself and don't be afraid to come to the defense of someone who is being bullied. Seek out the assistance of an adult if necessary but do not tolerate unkindness. You have my permission to tell the assholes of the world to go to hell.

Lastly and by far the most important, please remember that Daddy and I are always, ALWAYS here for you. When you are sad, we will dry your tears and help you through your tough times. When you are afraid we will be there to help you confront your problems. When you are happy we will share your joy and when you are angry we will work together to come to terms with life's frustrations. Occasionally you will make mistakes and we will be here to help you learn from them. Whenever you need us we will be here.

I love you very much,
Mommy

I see your true colors shining through

2005-09-10T19:09:00.000-05:00

Okay, I know I said I wouldn't be back until Wednesday but I found these two articles which I think speak volumes about the priorities of the Bush administration.

Firms with White House ties get Katrina contracts.

Bush lifts wage rules for Katrina.

So, Haliburton subsidiaries get the big contracts and then Bush makes certain that the federal money stays in the pockets of the suits rather than being passed on to the people who actually do the work. Can someone explain to me how he can possibly justify this action to himself, let alone to the American public?

I'll be back on Wednesday

2005-09-10T15:30:00.000-05:00

I've been experiencing technical difficulties. My internet connection has been very unreliable for the last few days and out completely for the last 24 hours. Hopefully they will get things fixed soon.

I've got guests in my house until Tuesday and Liz will be starting Kindergarten at her new school on Monday so things are a bit hectic around here. I'm going to take a blogging break until Wednesday. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Welcome to Houston, now go away!

2005-09-08T06:13:00.000-05:00

I've noticed a rather alarming trend here in Houston regarding the Katrina survivors who have joined our population. I don't know if it is just my area of town (Cypress/Copperfield) but I'd sure be interested in the thoughts of other Houstonians on this one.

I woke up yesterday morning and put on the local news (Channel 2) while I made my coffee. The first story was regarding rumors that are spreading around the city concerning a dramatic increase in crime in the area surrounding the Astrodome since the evacuees arrived. The police actually had to hold a press conference to tell everyone that it isn't true. There has been no increase in criminal activity at all since these folks arrived, yet the rumors persist.

There seems to be a fear of what the survivors represent. I'm continually hearing about how this is the criminal element, the welfare/social leach element from New Orleans. The general consensus seems to be that while what happened is unfortunate and these Americans who have lost everything are to be pitied, the fact that they are now in Houston will only tax our social welfare system. It doesn't seem to occur to anyone that along with the elderly and disabled there are also entrepreneurs and skilled workers, educated professionals and artists. I'm not saying there aren't lazy people in the group, of course there will be. I'm just floored by the attitude that ALL of these people are like that.

I first noticed this attitude in my social group last Thursday when the first of the survivors arrived in our city. A few of the ladies in my neighborhood expressed their shock at the situation and their dismay at the fact that these people would be joining our population. I even witnessed outright verbal hostility regarding the fact that the children from Louisiana will be joining our schools. One lady went so far as to suggest that these children will bring disease into our schools and infect our children, as if Louisiana doesn't require the same childhood immunizations as Texas. Ironically enough, these same ladies are out busting their butts getting donations for their church and school water/food drives. They will pile tons of donations together and go out of their way to make certain the donations reach those in need, yet the don't really seem to want to actually welcome these people.

It's easy to assume this is a racial issue, and I'm sure that race plays a significant role in this attitude. However, I think the more insidious cause of this hostility is social class difference. For some reason I cannot fathom, these folks I've been listening to seem to equate poverty with laziness and criminality. It seems that this attitude is extremely pervasive, enough so that the police force felt it was necessary to hold a press conference in regards to the issue.

Have you guys noticed the same attitude in your various parts of town? Is there any solution to this inherent distrust? Does this type of attitude turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy, the pre-conceived ideas working to fuel prejudice which in turn fuel the racism and poverty?

In the immortal words of Barbara Bush, "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway. This is working very well for them."

I don't mean to say that all of Houston feels this way. There has been an amazing and heartwarming outpouring of kindness and generosity here that I feel is truly genuine. It's the undercurrent of distrust that worries me.

One man's story.

2005-09-07T03:07:00.000-05:00

Eric bought a new house two weeks ago. A beautiful thing, almost 160 years old. The quality of the construction was remarkable, it was framed out of hardwoods which were salvaged from old ships. Eric and his wife Lynn were out shopping for a new stove for their new home when he received a call on his cell from his mom. She was wondering if they were going to evacuate the city. Eric's new home sat on some high ground at the edge of New Orleans, it was Saturday morning.

By Sunday morning it was evident that Katrina (which had become a category 5) was going to hit New Orleans. Anyone with half a brain knows that a category 5 hitting New Orleans IS the worse case scenario and by mid day Sunday Eric had packed up his pickup and sent Lynn, their son and their dogs to Houston. Eric chose to stay in their new home and try to protect their investment.

The storm hit Monday morning and the old house weathered it beautifully. By Monday evening Eric's power was still out but his water and gas still worked without problem, he even took a bath and cooked some dinner. Tuesday morning came and he went out into his neighborhood to help begin clearing some of the fallen trees and talk to the neighbors, they were able to listen to the news on a battery powered radio and it was evident that the nightmare scenario had taken place overnight. Unable to contain the water from the hurricane the levees had broken and New Orleans had flooded.

Tuesday night the looting started, Eric slept in front of the main door into the house and watched all night as people came onto his porch and shined flashlights into his house, looking for houses that were unoccupied. Once they realized that there was someone on the premises they would quickly move on to the next house. By Wednesday their good manners had passed. People were hungry and thirsty and were looking for shelter and things were getting very ugly. Gangs roamed the streets carrying guns and shots rang out all over the city. Erik hooked up with two of his neighbors, two strong and healthy men, and ventured out of the neighborhood for supplies. They heard rumors that Walmart was being looted so they walked over to take a look. There were police there but they weren't acting like police, they were beating the crap out of everyone who ventured into Walmart, including little kids.

They made their way to the Convention Center because they heard it was being used as a shelter. They took turns guarding their shopping cart full of possessions and looking for water. Erik helped an old man who was sitting on the sidewalk in a folding chair, after he returned from a water finding trip he went to give the man some water and found that he had died. Someone had put a blanket over him and left him there. The bathrooms were unbelievable, the water had quit working on Monday night yet people continued to try and use the facilities, there was a dead body sitting in the corner of the room.

After a few hours at the Convention Center it became obvious that no help was coming. Erik and his two neighbors decided that if they were going to survive they had better start walking. They had heard of a way out of the city, toward Hammond, Louisiana around the western edge of Lake Ponchartrain. They managed to find fresh water in an office building water cooler and managed to disguise it by filling up several coffee cans. Chances were good at this point that if you had water you would be killed for it. The three men walked from New Orleans to Hammond, hundreds of people passed them by in vehicles fleeing the city and the forest pressed right up against the edge of the road, leaving them very little room to walk. There were several close calls where they were almost hit by the traffic but by the early morning hours on Thursday they had managed to make it to I-12. They bribed a man with 200 dollars and a tank full of gas to bring them into Houston in the back of his pickup. Eric was reunited with his family on Thursday.

Eric broke down several times while relaying this story to my husband, Scott. He said he saw things that were too horrible to speak of but the images run through his head at night in his dreams. Eric's son has been sent to New Mexico to live with his grandparents and go to school for the time being but Erik and Lynn are determined to return home to New Orleans when circumstances allow.

He fully acknowledges that he was stupid to stay in the city when he had the opportunity to leave, good ol' 20/20 hindsight. Eric isn't a rich man but he had the financial resources to buy a house out of the flood zone and to bribe his way out of Louisiana. He had the health and stamina to find supplies and walk out of harms way and he didn't have to worry about caring for sick, old or young family members. Many were not so lucky.

To do without.

2005-09-06T16:56:00.000-05:00

American gluttony is a well established fact. The average middle class American has two cars in the driveway, air-conditioning, three square meals and simple luxuries like washers and dryers and microwave ovens. A large percentage of our population also depends daily on cell phones and internet connections, satellite dishes and Xbox machines. All of these cool contraptions need energy and while we possess only 5% of the world's population we consume 26% of it's energy resources.

As I sit here typing this, my 3400 sqare foot house is cooled to a comfortable 74 degrees (even though the outside temperature exceeds 98 degrees), I'm watching an old Marlon Brando film (The Ugly American), the dishwasher and clothes dryer are running and I accidently left the light on in the bathroom. (GodlessMom gets up to turn off the light.)

I like the cool house, the internet connection and the Marlon Brando films. I enjoy the fact that if I'm hungry I can pop a frozen dinner in the microwave and fill my belly with very little effort. I'm as guilty as the next guy when it comes to using more than my fair share of our planet's resources and while I try to do the right thing I find that I'm always running into the conflict of my sense of environmental obligation versus my lack of time and desire for convenience.

So, I've been doing some soul searching. I've been thinking about what luxuries I could do without. I could live with a smaller house and a slightly higher indoor temperature. I could be happy with a hybrid car. I could deal with only one television and only one computer (although there would have to be serious time-share going on.) I don't need the hair-dryer and I could almost be persuaded to forego my clothes dryer (although I'm not keen on giving up the clothes washer.) Truth be told I could live without my dishwasher too, although I wouldn't be happy about it. I draw the line at indoor plumbing though, I have to be able to flush the toilet.

Okay, I've now set the thermostats one degree higher and the hair dryer has been put on the top shelf at the back of the closet. It's a start. What about you guys? What are you willing to do without?

Update from Houston

2005-09-03T07:38:00.000-05:00

Scott rolled in late last night after a trip to Baton Rouge to set up a temporary office for his firm's employees in New Orleans. He said there is a massive, very visible police force on the streets and that order is being maintained very well so if you've heard any rumors to the contrary (CNN) they aren't true.

He had a reservation in Lake Charles and the hotel called and asked if his trip was for business or pleasure. I guess the Governor has told all hotels that they are to take hurricane survivors only, business and pleasure reservations have all been cancelled. On the road home he inched along in the huge amounts of traffic still leaving the area and passed a huge convoy of private vehicles all loaded with supplies headed toward the Houston Astrodome, they had massive police escort. All of the electronic freeway signs here tell the hurricane evacuees that the Houston shelters are full and they must continue on to San Antonio or Dallas.

If you live within 500 miles of the areas affected by the hurricane and have space available in your home please consider opening your doors to some of these folks. They cannot begin to put their lives back in order until they can find a little stability for their children and some decent facilities for their elderly. This website is putting homes together with families in need.

I've got a lot going on around here. I will most likely be away from blogging until Tuesday.

Holy S***t, Now what?

2005-09-01T16:16:00.000-05:00

With a title like that I bet you think I'm going to talk about the hurricane. Believe me, there is a lot to be said about the situation. Friday is a huge food drive day in Houston. If you live near an HEB grocery store you can drop off any food/personal hygiene products there. They will be distributed to the hurricane victims who are currently being sheltered in the Houston area.

My Holy S**t moment has to do with my daughter. Liz is a bright kid. I've always known that she is a bit smarter than the average bear but I've never really given much thought to the issue. Basically, if she had a question I've always made certain that she had the answer. Sometimes this meant hours of research on my part and in depth explanations for someone with very limited life experience but how can you deny knowledge to such a thirsty mind?

She said her first word at nine months and was speaking in full sentences by the time she was a year old. By the time she was two she was talking circles around her friends and frequently asked me to explain things to them. She recognized her first letter (R) before she was 13 months old and had the whole alphabet down before she was 15 months old (except for M and W...Those were confusing.) Life has just progressed from there and her knowledge and curiosity have increased every day.

Well, about a year ago I started to realize that by the time Liz hit kindergarten age (one year from now) she just might be beyond what public school could offer her. I began to look around at various private schools in our area. There are the snooty "My child is better than your child" schools, the overly religious "God before education" type places, the militaristic "We will discipline your child until she bleeds" schools, and the hearts and flowers "Let the child's interests determine the direction of her education" places. Now, all of these types of education may have their place. I'm sure there are individuals who thrive in each of the situations but none of them seemed right for my Liz.

Then, I found a place that seemed perfect. The teacher/student ratio never exceeds one to twelve. They specialize in teaching "gifted" kids and frequently take REALLY cool field trips in order to provide the children with serious hands-on education. The environment is friendly and relaxed but still structured enough to teach the kids that they have to follow certain rules and play the game in certain ways.

The problem? In order to gain admittance the kids have to take an IQ test and pass the social tests. I hate the thought of putting my child in a situation where she has to prove herself against something as weird as an IQ test. And frankly I was worried that I was seeing something in my child that wasn't there. I was afraid that the child who I considered to be brilliant was actually quite average.

Well, that fear was unfounded. Today we took Liz for her interview and she hit it out of the park. Her vocabulary especially was off the charts, the tester was literally floored by her abilities. They also identified some problems that may be developing because of her big brain. Issues with her knowledge outpacing her ability to put it to good use.

Now, I'm nervous. How do I make certain that I provide her with all she needs? How do I help that brain develop without it becoming a liability? How do I make sure that she enjoys not only advanced physics but also throwing a ball for the dog? How in the hell am I going to afford all this education?

I know there are some moms out there with smart kids, how have you handled your child's gifts? I know there are some teachers out there. What would you recommend? Help me! I'm lost!

It's really, really bad.

2005-08-31T17:10:00.000-05:00

My husband, Scott, is the district IT manager of a large international company. One of his offices is in New Orleans. Needless to say, it is gone now. Unfortunately we haven't heard from any of his staff in that office. They had the foresight to get the hard drives out of their servers before the hurricane hit. My husband now has those hard drives and he will be setting up a temporary office in Baton Rouge to provide service for the New Orleans area.

One of Scott's co-workers has a son who works in the oil industry in New Orleans. This woman has been in touch with her son (he is safe on the oil company lands.)Apparently rescue workers have set up a base at his workplace and have been using it as a staging ground for getting people out of their flooded homes. Her son claims that the rescue workers have been shot by looters while trying to carry out rescues. The looters then steal their boats.

Many people are being evacuated here to Houston. The Astrodome will be used to house many of them. These people have lost everything and are desperate.

There is no way to explain how devastating this hurricane has been. Many people will never be able to go home and they are spending what little savings they have on their escape. Please, if you can, give to the American Red Cross.

Reticulating Splines

2005-08-30T21:56:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm not sure why but I think this is hysterical.

No Easy Answers

2005-08-29T05:49:00.000-05:00

Cindy Sheehan returned to her post outside Bush's ranch in Crawford after visiting with her mother who recently had a stroke. She isn't going away and neither are the other anti-war protesters who have rallied behind her.

There are large segments of the American population who believe that the troops should be brought home now. They claim (and rightly so, in my opinion) that our continued presence in Iraq is making the situation worse. Our current troop levels are insufficient to suppress and contain the insurgency long enough to train Iraqi troops to take over their own security and the fledgling Iraqi government we have created and are so intent on backing seems certain to bite the hand that provides it's security. Basically, these folks believe that we have moved beyond the point of anything good ever coming out of Iraq. They feel that no more lives should be lost in the direction of hopelessness.

Then, there are the folks who feel it would be unwise to just pull out of Iraq but believe it is time for a concrete exit strategy to be put into place. They don't feel that our continued indefinite presence is a good thing and they want our troops home. Yet they recognize the problems which our immediate withdrawal would cause and they want to try and avoid complete chaos, full blown civil war and an eventual hostile government (although I think that type of government is inevitable at this point.)

Then there are the "Stay the course" folks. They seem to think that setting a date for withdrawal would only empower the insurgents who would simply wait us out and then make their move. Unfortunately, staying the course is what got us here in the first place. I understand the logic behind not wanting to set a date but I don't see how "Staying the course" is any sort of solution to the problem at hand.

I honestly don't know what to think. I have opposed this war from the beginning and despise the lies and farmed intelligence which got us into this mess. But beating that dead horse doesn't get us anywhere. We are there and we have to deal with the situation as it currently stands, not as we wish it stood. I don't know that we are doing the Iraqi people any favors by our continued presence in their country, sure we are providing some segments of the population with security but our assistance is required because our presence stirs up conflict. It's a vicious cycle.

Much of our economy rests on stability in the Middle East. Whether I like it or not we ARE heavily reliant on their oil. Chaos in Iraq isn't good for anyone (especially us) but I honestly can't see order coming out of the current situation. Necessity is the mother of invention after all, perhaps without cheap Middle Eastern oil we will actually start putting some serious effort into alternative energy.

I guess I'm not smart enough to really figure this one out.

What do you guys think? Should we stay, should we pull out? Do you think we have a chance of succeeding in Iraq like Bush claims? What are the answers?

I'm going to be pretty busy over the next few weeks so my posts and comments may be a bit hit and miss until October.

The Five Question Game

2005-08-26T05:05:00.000-05:00

Today I have a guest blogger! Don Swift agreed to play the 5 questions game and he has been kind enough to let me publish his answers here at GM in the BB. Mr. Swift has made some excellent observations on his blog regarding the crumpet vs. the bagel (May 24, 2005) for any of you who are a bit sketchy on the history of the American Revolution it is a must read!

My questions for Don are in bold.

There is a definite lack of international borders in the blogger world. Our communication is limited only by language and not geography. If you were to project the evolution of blogging fifty years into the future, what do you think you would find?

I think it's the evolution of computing in general that's going to evolve. Even now we use multimedia in our weblogs, but with progress in processing power, memory capacity, and connection bandwidths, I foresee audio and video coming to the fore. Perhaps we'll conduct guided tours around our homes, introducing the viewer to members of the family and showing off our prize geraniums. My fantasy though would be the introduction of virtually reality, in which we get the full sensurround, "feely effect" I don't need to tell you of its potential.

Here in the States you frequently hear people say they just don't "get" British humor (or humour, whichever spelling you prefer.) How would you define humor of the British sort and do you feel it differs from humor in the US?

My encounters with Americans bring me to believe there are no significant differences humour-wise. I think when people don't "get" comedy it's usually because they're not making the effort. They evaluate it on what they already know, so of course it disappoints. New and ground-breaking comedy usually requires a little effort. It reminds me of someone I used to know who dismissed foreign food on the grounds it didn't taste like the food he was used to - roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, now that's what proper food tastes like!! American comedy tends to have a higher tempo than ours, and there will always be references within it that we don't understand, but that cuts both ways. But it doesn't make it inaccessible (unless its all very obscure).

If you suddenly found that you had the ability to read minds, how would you put that talent to work?

I have a gut-feeling about how this kind of power would quickly become a nightmare. All knowledge would be accessible. All achievement would be effortless. It would be the royal road to power and riches. But would life be challenging (and therefore worthwhile) without obstacles? I don't think so. I think mind-reading would be a curse. I'd probably kill myself.

Do you hold out any hope for humanity?

I don't think there's ever been any evidence to show humanity is progressing. Okay, Science and technology have given us some brilliant party tricks, but they've done very little in the area where it counts - human behaviour. Okay, we have dubbed some esoteric practices the "behavioural sciences", but they only call themselves "science" to give it credibility. They're parasitic on the paradigm science, Physics. A lot of what they pass off as "knowledge" is pure speculation. Human beings are unpredictable. Why do you think Economics has been such a dismal failure over the past 50 years or so - "Rational economic man", anyone remember him? What a laugh. Anyway, I digress. As I don't consider us to be anything more than animals, albeit very complex, then I think we'll be around for as long as the environmental situation allows it. We have to take our chances just like any other species. So no, I don't hold out any hope, but I'm not unhappy with the situation. I would advise everyone to get on with it and not lose too much sleep over the future.

(GM note: It gets a little blue here for a moment. Definite PG-13)

What are your five favorite euphemisms for masturbation?

I don't suppose anyone would believe me if I tried to avoid this by claiming ignorance of the practice, so....

Favourites eh? Well, I don't consciously hierarchise words or phrases, especially of this nature, but I am fond of the phrase, "pulling one's pud (pudding)". "Pudding" is such a nice, inoffensive sort of word, making it almost impossible to believe blindness is an inevitable result of having a tug ("tug" is not one of the 5 by the way).

Okay, as I'm taking far too long over this so I'll speed up and bring it to a quick climax.

Next, we have, the "blue-veined solo". I used to attend a quiz night at a local pub and this is what some wag named his team. Moving more quickly now to "Throwing one off the wrist", which I think has a certain charm to it, as does "choking the chicken". The tempo quickens as I finish with the phrase I used all those years ago when I first realised you could do more than pee and stir the tea with it - "tossing off". Yes! Yes! Sigh.

Thanks Don! And on that When Harry Met Sally note I'll bid you all good weekend. I'll be back on Monday.

Oh Give Me a Home, Where the Buffalo Roam

2005-08-25T06:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I took Liz to the Houston Museum of Natural Science where we enjoyed several hours of butterflies, dinosaurs, minerals and chemistry. We have a family membership there and it is money well spent, it is our home away from home.

The high point of yesterday's trip was the IMAX movie Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets. It made me so incredibly homesick!

I'm a desert gal who currently resides in a swamp. Nothing against Houston, it definitely has it's own beauty, but nothing stirs my heart like the raw power and stark landscape of the American West. I grew up with the Grand Canyon in my backyard, the red rock cliffs and water-worn canyons were my playground. I was less than a day's drive from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Arches, Zion, Canyon Lands, Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon National Parks were even closer than that.

I want to feel that wind on my face and stare into the crystal blue sky. I want to sit and run my bare toes through the red sand and watch the sunset from the top of those cliffs. I haven't been out of Texas in over three years. I'm probably the only liberal American who longs to escape the Bible Belt by going to Utah!

Torture by mass mailing

2005-08-24T06:52:00.000-05:00

I got the new Pottery Barn catalog yesterday. It always makes me feel terribly inadequate and yet I can't help but look at it from cover to cover. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

Wild thing...I think I love you

2005-08-23T05:30:00.000-05:00

Most veterinary hospitals do an awful lot of work for animal charity, either free of charge or merely for the cost of supplies. For every veterinary hospital willing to do the work there are at least a dozen wildlife rehab or animal rescue organizations who are in dire need of veterinary assistance and who have very little money to pay for such services.

At the last hospital I worked for in Pheonix, the technicians would take turns volunteering their time to work with the charity cases. Usually this amounted to three to four hours a week of off-the-clock work, a small sacrifice when compared with the amount of good we could accomplish. I particularly enjoyed doing this sort of volunteer work because of the incredible variety of wildlife I came into contact with. I have had the privilege of working with many endangered species, many threatened species and many that are just plain cool.

I've helped pin broken bones on bald eagles, great horned owls, javelina and coyote. I've nursed beaver, Gila monster, porcupine and white tailed deer back to health. I've been involved in breeding and reintroduction programs for the highly endangered Mexican wolf and have help hand-raise numerous abandoned and orphaned infants of almost every species imaginable.

There are risks involved with such work. I was acquainted with someone who died of bubonic plague after being bitten by a flea while working with a wild jackrabbit population (His death was due to the fact that he thought he had the flu...By the time they figured out what was wrong with him it was too late.) I've been vaccinated against rabies the way most people are vaccinated against measles. You come home covered in fleas and smelling like wild game, you have to toss your clothes because the smell of male javelina urine doesn't wash out of anything. However, it is fascinating and heartwarming work and it's not something everyone gets a chance to do.

Wildlife rehab organizations are always in need of money, supplies and volunteers. The work they do is difficult and never ending. If you are so inclined and wish to help you can get in touch with rehab agencies through your veterinarian or your local Humane Society or ASPCA.

And They Call it Puppy Love

2005-08-22T05:20:00.000-05:00

I want to thank everyone for all of your wise comments regarding my post on Friday. I've decided to let the name GodlessMom stand. For better or for worse I AM a godless mom, changing my name would be like going back in the closet. I didn't like it there, it was dark and lonely.

So, on a different note, there have been a lot of animal posts lately so I'm going to jump on the band wagon. I've got some critter tales to tell!

I love dogs. I can't imagine living without one (or two or three.) That being said, I don't love ALL dogs. Dogs are like people, most are fabulous individuals and your life is definitely richer through knowing them. On the other hand, some of them are just assholes.

Prior to becoming a mom, I was a veterinary technician for twelve years. Part of my job was to assist the doctors with artificial insemination procedures. Now, it is great that we can do this. It prevents injury in mares by inexperienced and overly rambunctious stallions, you can breed a bitch to a stud that is on the other side of the country without the two ever coming in contact, it definitely has it's uses.

When working in Salt Lake in the late 80s we had a Chow breeder who was a regular at our hospital. This woman's animals were physically beautiful. I'm not a big fan of the breed but if you like the looks of a Chow you would LOVE the looks of her stock. Their temperaments on the other hand were another thing altogether. Every one of the pups that came out of her kennel were among the most foul-tempered creatures I've ever encountered. I've got more than a few scars on my hands and arms from bites that were inflicted by those cute little teddy bears.

The king of her kennel was a big red stud that I'll call Rusty. I respect animals and the damage they can do and I take every precaution to prevent injury to myself, my patient and my doctors when I am at work. That being said, there are very few animals I've ever worked with that I actually feared. I've gotten more than a few good adrenaline rushes but with proper handling (and sedatives) almost any animal can be controlled safely. Rusty was one of the few animals that struck pure, raw, uncontaminated fear into my heart.

This dog was so mean he would growl and lunge at his lead as soon as anyone walked into the room. We had to ask the breeder to bring the dog in through the back door for fear he would attack the other animals in the waiting room. You could no sooner get near him without drugs than you could get near a wild grizzly. So the day his breeder paraded him into our clinic and told us she wanted us to collect a semen sample for artificial insemination was the first day I ever considered quitting and walking out the door.

Collecting a semen sample from a dog is not something most people would ever want to do. There is no magic potion you can give the dog which will make him compliantly ejaculate into a sterile container. Veterinary hospitals don't have windowless rooms with a TV and wide selection of doggie porn. The only way to collect a sample from a stud dog is to(forgive my crassness) manually jerk him off. Yes, I've done this numerous times and yes I'm quite good at it. (grin)

Now, if I were the doctor I would have told this breeder that in no uncertain terms would we ever be party to continuing the genetic line of that hairy baracuda. I think it is highly irresponsible to breed an animal for looks with no regard to temperament. But I wasn't the one who had to try and pay the bills for the hospital every month so the doctor told the breeder that we would give it a try.

The first thing you have to do is set the mood. Take the stud to a quiet room and bring in a bitch who is in season (without the scent of a bitch the stud will not usually get an erection) It doesn't have to be the bitch you want to inseminate, any bitch will do so long as she smells like she is ready to go.

Well, we brought in the bitch and Rusty tried to attack her. We found another bitch and Rusty tried to attack her too. The stupid SOB was so damned mean he couldn't even set his aggression aside long enough to get laid! So we slipped him a little valium in hopes of taking the edge off, no luck, he still tried to attack the bitch. So we took a towel and got some of the bitch's scent on it and tried waving it in front of his nose. He tore up the towel. We tried a little more sedative and he bit the breeder (better her than me.) Finally, the doctor gave up and the breeder took her half-drugged dog home.

Two weeks later we euthanized Rusty. He had mauled the breeder's five year old grandson and the boy was going to have to go through tons of plastic surgery to put his face and arm back together. Fortunately Rusty's line died with him because we never were able to get a semen sample from the land shark. I have to admit it, I was glad to see that dog die.

I feel horrible for that boy. He is a young man now and I hope that he has healed well, both physically and emotionally. I'm sure the breeder feels horrible about the attack but I have only limited sympathy for her. I'm sure she loved Rusty, but he was a dangerous animal with a history of unchecked and unpredictable aggression. The attack was preventable, I can only hope she learned her lesson.

A rose by any other name would still offend.

2005-08-19T04:38:00.000-05:00

I have a fuzzy brain and my sinuses are full of gunk so please excuse this lousy excuse for a post.

I have found that my screen name offends some people. I have been accused of being purposefully caustic and of trying to rub my lack of belief in people's faces. I guess I can understand why some people would feel this way although in my defense I must say that it was never my intention to be caustic or to do any face rubbing.

Last April I had one of those days where everytime I turned around I was being confronted by something obnoxious (yes, it is possible I was suffering from PMS but I can't say that for certain.) A new karate dojo had just opened in my neighborhood and I was excited to see if they would offer classes for 4 year old girls. I went to the studio where I immediately noticed a Jesus fish on the door. Okay, not the dojo for us. The big sign by the side of the freeway was reminding me that they were "Proud to be American, Proud to be a Christian." and everywhere I turned I saw W 2004 stickers on cars. I had spent several weeks looking for a secular pre-school program near our home (no luck...they all pray before lunch and most have Bible study) and I had just quit my membership to the local gym because every time I would go in to work out they would be playing really bad Christian rock music (and I would wake up with the damned stuff thumping in my brain at 2 in the morning..."My God is an awesome God!!") To top it off, I helped a lady get her groceries in the trunk of her car and she told me I was "such a nice, Christian young lady." Now, blame it on my state of mind but by the end of the day I had experienced about all the Jesus I could take and I was seriously having trouble being a godless mom in the Bible Belt.

That evening after Liz was in bed I established my blog account and typed in the first blog title I could think of. Then, when asked to come up with a screen name, I just put down the name GodlessMom, thinking it would pair me nicely in people's minds with the title of my blog. That was all the thought I put into it, there was no malice or derision intended, there really was no intention at all...It was just a name.

However, since I've realized that my screen name can be taken badly and might be offensive to some folks I have refrained from posting comments on certain blogs where I feel my moniker might be deemed offensive. That kind of sucks because while I do an awful lot of lurking I occasionally like to put in my two cents worth too!

So, I've thought about changing my screen name to something less GodlessMomish. Perhaps Penelope? I like the way that name rolls off the tongue. Or maybe I'll just go for broke and call myself Georgewbushcankissmywhitesuburbanass. That way there will be no mistaking my intentions at all!

I'll be back on Monday (hopefully with less snot in my head), I hope everyone has a great weekend!

It's No Big Dill

2005-08-18T06:09:00.000-05:00

I love listening to the various accents and regional dialects I encounter here in Houston. This is a big city and as a result I'm constantly running into people from all over the world. It cracks me up to think about how many people I encounter on any given day, each one of them technically speaking English yet each one of them speaking it in a dramatically different way. I guess it is really a testament to the amazing adaptability of the human mind that we can (usually) accustom our ears to any given accent and very quickly learn to understand one another.

Coming from Utah, I have a bit of a dialect myself. It isn't really thick, in fact I can count on one hand how many times my accent has identified me as not being from 'round these parts. For the most part I have a tendency to mispronounce words that end in the "eel" sound. When I'm hungry I sit down and eat a mill, when things are of little consequence they are no big dill, when I'm wondering if my hubby is in good health I ask, "How do you fill?" It's silly I know, but that is how Utahns speak and thus that is how I speak. I've made no effort to rid myself of my dialect, I'm not embarrassed by it, in fact I get a bit of a kick out of it.

A couple of months ago Scott and I noticed that Liz was starting to speak in a really strange way. She sounded like her nose was stuffy and she was really taking her time pronouncing certain words. I figured it was just her playing around with baby talk and I pretty much ignored it. Well, she wasn't playing around with baby talk, she was in the process of perfecting a Southern Drawl. She can now easily mimic your basic Georgia-Peach-Southern-Belle at the drop of a hat.

Two weeks ago it started again, only this time her consonants were becoming more clipped and her vowel sounds were rounding out and becoming smoother. Two days ago I figured out what she was doing, she is going for her own version of a British accent. I think it started with Harry Potter, add in a liberal helping of Monty Python with a side order of Pride and Prejudice. It is going to be the most screwed up accent imaginable...I love it!

Our neighbors next door are from Ghana...I imagine it's only a matter of time.

Needs More Cowbell

2005-08-17T06:22:00.000-05:00

I don't know if this is for real. It will be interesting to watch it unfold if it is. It seems that Christopher Walken is running for President in 2008. I wasn't exactly thrilled the last time we had an actor in office (deregulation and the Gipper's tax policies hit my family hard) but anyone who wants to stir things up a bit is okay in my book.

Today is my 37th birthday and I woke up with a fever and a head cold. (Yes, I'd like some cheese with my whine) Cool, huh?

Little Bar of Soap's Questions for GodlessMom

2005-08-16T05:11:00.000-05:00

In the continuing tradition of the five questions game Little Bar of Soap was kind enough to come up with five questions designed specifically for me.

They are all very interesting questions and it was a lot of fun coming up with answers. Thanks Soapy, I hope my answers aren't too filthy!

If you'd like me to come up with 5 personalized questions for you then just leave a comment saying "Interview me!" and I will do so!

Question 1.) If you could meet five figures from the Bible (Old Testament and New), who would they be?

1. Eve. In the Judeo/Christian/Islamic religions blame has been placed on this woman for just about every ill that has befallen humanity. I don't buy it. religion has been perpetuated by men for the benefit of men. I'd like to hear Eve's side of the story from her own mouth.

2. Lucifer. Again, I'd like to hear his side of the story.

3. Job. I'd like to discuss what his God did to him. I'd be interested in his thoughts and feelings on the matter.

4 and 5. Jesus and Paul. I'd actually like to get these two in a room together, ask them some questions and get them to compare notes. First I would introduce them and let them know how entwined their histories have become. I would let Jesus know what has happened to his philosophy since Paul got ahold of it and how modern Christians have twisted and warped the beauty of his message. I would ask Paul what his original intentions were and then ask Jesus if Paul's intentions and the subsequent mushrooming of Christianity are something he would endorse.

Question 2.) If you had to become a member of a religious denomination/sect, which one would you choose, and why?

I would join a religion I just recently learned about...Flying Spaghetti Monsterism. It is the only one that makes sense. :)

Question 3.) If you could invite five people over to Sunday brunch -- whether they're currently alive or not -- whom would you pick?

This is a really tough question. My mind has gone down the really obvious paths, like Isaac Newton and Thomas Jefferson. I have also thought about people I've admired in my life like Sally Ride, Carl Sagan and John Conyers. Yet, when I really search my heart I realize that the people I would most like to talk with are those in my family whom I didn't get to know before their deaths. I'd invite both sets of my grandparents and the uncle I was named after. I have many questions I'd like to ask them and I'd like to introduce them to my daughter.

4.) If you could travel to 3 places in the world, what would they be?

Denmark (My grandmother's home), New Zealand (No, not because of LOTR. I am interested in the plant life.), The Galapagos Islands.

5.) What was the happiest day of your life (excluding wedding days and births of children)?

A day I spent at a cabin in the Uinta Mountains with Scott when we were in our early twenties. We hiked, skipped stones on the lake, played poker, ate yummy camping food on the porch and spent a lot of time in bed. It was wonderful.

Thanks again for giving me such great questions Soapy!

On a more serious note, the deadline for the Iraqi Constitution has come and gone. They ammended their interim Constitution to give themselves one more week. I don't envy them, they are up against some seriously difficult issues. Juan Cole put together a really great summary of the situation in his August 15 post.

What were our goals again?

2005-08-14T14:57:00.000-05:00

It looks like the White House is finally starting to grasp reality. Check out this article from today's Washington Post.

Basically, the Bush Administration has finally admitted that the rose-colored glasses they've been wearing might in fact need cleaning.

From the article...

"What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the timetable or what unfolded on the ground," said a senior official involved in policy since the 2003 invasion. "We are in a process of absorbing the factors of the situation we're in and shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning."

Among the things Iraqis can no longer expect from our administration? A viable working Democracy, sewer systems and electricity, security for their families and a united country. Aren't we looking like the heroes now?

In the article there is a quote by Judith S. Yaphe a former CIA Iraq analyst at the National Defense University that pretty much sums up the whole thing. "There has been a realistic reassessment of what it is possible to achieve in the short term and fashion a partial exit strategy. This change is dictated not just by events on the ground but by unrealistic expectations at the start."

Remember how we were going to be greeted as liberators? Remember how Iraq's oil was going to pay for this whole thing?

I wouldn't be surprised to see a pull out before the 2006 elections. Of course we will be pulling out following our "victory" and the people of Iraq will be left with no infrastructure and the chaos of civil war. Tomorrow is the deadline for the elected Iraqi government to come up with their new Constitution, it ought to be interesting.

The arrogance that led to this bullshit war makes me want to puke. Why are these incompetent bastards still in office? Why are our citizens still dying for this lie?

Ode to Those Glabrous Domes...Redux

2005-08-11T07:46:00.000-05:00

Running short on time today so I thought I'd bring back a silly poem I wrote for Scott a few months ago. Have a good one!

Running fingers through hair is highly overrated
I vastly prefer that men be bald-pated.

Patrick Stewart is hot with sexy aplomb
and so is that hunk Michael Rosenbaum.

Samuel L. Jackson? Oh My! Come Hither!
And spicy Vin Diesel? He makes my thighs quiver!

It matters not whether natural or shaven
That smooth, silky look is what I am cravin'

It is maleness expressed on a most basic level.
It is brains, it is brawn and a bit of the devil.

So bald men, stand tall! To Rogain say nay!
Shave off the comb-over and torch the toupee!

Because I know a secret that others have missed.
Those bright hairless domes just beg to be kissed.

I am privileged to sleep with one every night
his head on my pillow, his arms hold me tight.

My hubby, my soul-mate, my lover so hot.
My no-hair Adonis, my so sexy Scott!

Everyone knows it's Windy

2005-08-10T06:02:00.000-05:00

I love the thought of living in a wind powered home. I have visions of sitting on the porch having my morning coffee in the shadow of the blades of my own windmill. Of course this house will be on Orcas Island because where else would one find paradise? (Now, whether Orcas Island has any available building sites that would be well suited for a wind-powered home, I don't know. This is my dream so let's just run with it.)

This research done by Stanford University shows the availability of wind power world wide...Just look at all that unused energy!!!

Can you imagine a cleaner, more eco-friendly way to live? Our planet is constantly embraced by the arms of our winds, who needs dead dinosaurs when the air around us can provide all the energy we need to power our homes? Add in a solar panel or two and voila! We are once again living in harmony with our planet.

Now I'm not naive, I realize that there is a great deal of money spent by the energy and automotive industries in order to ensure our continued reliance on fossil fuels. I know that the technology is in it's infancy and needs to be developed. But imagine for just one moment a world where our energy needs are met by the very things that we can find in our own backyards. Imagine air without pollution and a Middle East without war.

If I ever win the lottery I can tell you where my money is going. I'll be investing in the survival of our planet. I can only hope that we will learn the necessary lessons before it is too late.

Just a Grab Bag of my Thoughts

2005-08-09T06:06:00.000-05:00

Liz started dance class again after her summer break. She was so excited!

My mom started swelling up last night, her hands, legs and feet look like stuffed sausages. I took her to the doctor this afternoon and he thinks the swelling is due to her heart. I'm a bit depressed about this news.

I've been having trouble with my little old dog Echo. She has been losing weight lately and has started looking really boney. I bought some puppy food and added it to her regular diet and she has started putting on some extra ounces. As a result she has more energy and seems to feel better. I have no idea why her metabolism has gone into hyperdrive, I'm going to have to do blood work on her.

Here is the best news of all!!!

My sister's lymphoma/leukemia is officially in remission! She will have to do maintenance chemo every six months but it won't be nearly as bad as the stuff she has already endured. Three cheers for Jane!

Today's joke has nothing to do with Penguins.

An atheist was taking a walk through the woods, admiring all that evolution had created.

"What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!", he said to himself. As he was walking along the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. When he turned to see what the cause was, he saw a 7-foot grizzly charging right towards him. He ran as fast as he could. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was closing, He ran even faster, crying in fear. He looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer. His heart was pounding and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up, but saw the bear right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him.

At that moment, the Atheist cried out "Oh my God!...." Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. Even the river stopped moving.

As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky, "You deny my existence for all of these years; teach others I don''t exist; and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?"

The atheist looked directly into the light "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask You to treat me as Christian now, but perhaps could you make the bear a Christian?" "Very well," said the voice.

The light went out. The river ran again. And the sounds of the forest resumed.

And then the bear dropped his right paw ..... Brought both paws together...Bowed his head and spoke: "Lord, for this food which I am about to receive, I am truly thankful."

My Mom

2005-08-08T06:37:00.000-05:00

I want to thank everyone so much for all the kind words and thoughts regarding my mom. Everything went very well, she is home now and only slightly loopy on pain pills. The doctor repaired a partial ligament tear and he feels she will recover full use of her arm within a few months.

My mom is a very tough broad. She is strong willed and fearless, tenacious and honorable. If I had to find one fatal flaw in her it would be the fact that she is very forgiving of imperfections in others yet completely incapable of accepting them in herself.

I remember sitting on my mom's lap when I was six years old, noticing for the first time the grey hairs that had started to pepper her brown curls. I knew my parents were older than the parents of most my contemporaries and to me grey hairs were a sure sign of impending death. I spent the next few weeks with a very large lump of fear in my chest. Mom could tell I was out of sorts, and she finally coaxed me into telling her what had caused my anxiety. She kissed me and gave a good humored laugh then sat down and drew a simple time line on a plain white sheet of paper. She told me that she would probably live to be about 80 years old and that she was just a little over half way there. She assured me that barring any unseen event she would be around for a good long time. I went to sleep that night with a much easier heart.

It was so difficult sitting next to my mom's hospital bed Thursday afternoon, looking at her pale skin and waiting for each breath. I knew on an intellectual level that she would be fine but on an emotional level I felt like that same six year old who had just discovered those grey hairs.

Her hair is completely grey now and her hearing isn't nearly as sharp, she suffers from normal old-age forgetfulness and her reflexes have slowed. However, she is still strong willed and fearless, tenacious and honorable. I can only hope that if I am lucky enough to reach her age I too will have the same traits. I found my first grey hair a couple of months ago, I guess I still have a ways to go and a lot to learn.

Family Duty

2005-08-04T05:12:00.000-05:00

My mom is having surgery on her shoulder today. She messed it up a few weeks ago while she was moving some furniture. I occassionally wonder if I should remind her that she is almost 80 years old but I wouldn't want to burst her bubble.

I'm going to take a break from blogging until Monday so I can take care of my dad and help my mom.

On a different note...I don't know about you guys but it makes me sick that people are being tortured in the name of my country. Check out this Washington Post article.

Have a great weekend!

Another penguin post

2005-08-03T06:47:00.000-05:00

I saw the most amazing movie yesterday, The March of the Penguins. It is a French documentary (the US version is narrated by Morgan Freeman) that follows the Emperor Penguin through it's breeding season in Antarctica.

I can't tell you how impressed I was with this movie! I have a whole new respect for penguins and a whole new respect for documentary film makers.

Anyone who has ever watched a penguin swim can attest to the fact that in the water these animals are poetry in motion. On the land however, they are rather comical to watch. So I found it completely amazing that these guys WALK over 70 miles inland each year from the edge of the ice in Antarctica to their breeding grounds. They are monogamous during the breeding season and the incredible lengths each pair of birds goes through to bring a chick into the world will leave you floored!

I saw this movie at my local multi-plex, so it is out there and easily accessible. If you get a chance you should definitely see this one!

Running for the shelter of her Mother's little helper.

2005-08-02T05:47:00.000-05:00

Liz and I belong to two playgroups.

We met the first group of ladies through the hospital where Liz was born. The education department of the hospital has a class/discussion group for new mothers. We all met shortly after the birth of our children (all of the kids in the group were born within three weeks of each other) and we have continued to get together for playtime ever since.

The second group of ladies all live in my neighborhood. The kids are much more diverse in age but we have geography in common and it is nice to network with other parents in the area.

In total there are 16 women with whom I regularly hang. Of those 16, 7 of them are on prescription antidepressants.

Now, I'm not Tom Cruise. I have no problem with medication and psychotherapy but the fact that almost half of the women I associate with take drugs in order to deal with their lives REALLY scares me.

I asked one of the ladies whether she ever considered getting off the medication. She told me that she feels like she is a better mom when she takes the drugs. She feels that she is more patient and more forgiving when she is doped up. I can't help but wonder where this will all lead. We convince ourselves that we are better when we are on drugs and we teach our children that drugs are necessary if you want to get through life. It's a dangerous trend.

Our Weekend Slumber Party

2005-08-01T05:52:00.000-05:00

Liz is at an age where she hates bedtime. Every evening when the clock hits 7:00 we let her know that bedtime is imminent and every evening she lets us know that she REALLY doesn't want to go to bed. This exchange has become so predictable that we actually factor the time it consumes into the whole bedtime routine.

Now Liz is a really good kid, she is has a very sweet temper and is actually quite reasonable for a four year old. So last week when she tried to use logic rather than whining to persuade us to let her stay up late we decided to let her have a taste of no-bedtime freedom. Scott told her that we would have a slumber party and she could stay up until she fell asleep on her own. Little did we know how her mind would take the idea and run with it!

We scheduled our slumber party for Saturday night. She had the entire thing planned in her head, we would eat her favorite foods, play her favorite games, watch birds and bake a cake. After dark we would take the telescope outside and look at the moon and the stars then it would be time for Xbox, movies and popcorn.

She was determined to spend the night in the living room and I was determined to sleep comfortably. I pulled the mattress off the guest bed and put it on the living room floor next to the sofa. We played Hi Ho Cherry-O and chess, we baked a cake and spent time playing Harry Potter on the Xbox. Finally, as 9:00 approached her eyes started getting heavy and her yawns came more frequently we all put on our pajamas and sat down on the mattress to watch The Incredibles. By 9:45 she was asleep on the sofa.

Scott and I continued to quietly putter around until about 11:00 then we both crashed on the mattress on the living room floor.

A couple of hours later I awoke to Liz climbing over me. I told her to climb back up on the sofa and go back to sleep. She immediately started protesting, saying that she had been told she could stay up as late as she possible and that she wanted to watch Barbie Fairytopia. It took me at least 15 minutes to get her back to sleep, she then proceeded to wake up every hour or two and ask if it was time to watch Fairytopia.

On top of the four-year-old with the Fairytopia obsession I also had to deal with a cat who couldn't quite figure out why the whole family was on the floor in the living room. He decided that I was his personal scratching post and spent the better part of the night digging his claws into my thighs.

Finally at 6AM I decided that it just wasn't worth the effort. I put the Fairytopia DVD in the player, made myself a pot of coffee and took the geriatric dog outside to pee.

The next time my husband plans a slumber party with our four year old I think I'll go have a slumber party of my own at the local Hilton.

And now on a lighter note.

2005-07-29T06:42:00.000-05:00

This is my very favorite joke. Warning, it's kind of R rated. (Or at least PG-13)

A penguin living at the San Diego Zoo decides that he is sick of looking at the same four walls everyday so he packs up his bags, throws his golf clubs in the trunk of his car and drives to Phoenix, AZ.

Just as he pulls into Phoenix his car starts sputtering and steaming so he quickly looks around and sees a garage by the side of the road. He slowly drives his ailing car into the garage, parks it and gets out to talk to the mechanic.

"Hello sir." The mechanic says with a smile. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I don't know." Replies the penguin. "It just started acting funny, it's overheating and the engine is making funny noises. Can you take a look at it?"

The mechanic nods his head. "Yes sir, I can take a look at it. It will take me a little while though, can you come back in an hour?"

The penguin agrees and leaves his car in the capable hands of the mechanic. He looks around and sees a strip mall on the other side of the street, so he waddles over to do some shopping. He spends some time at Old Navy and looks around Target. Then, feeling a little peckish he decides he wants a snack. He notices an ice cream stand at then end of the strip mall so he waddles over and buys a cone to eat while he walks back to the garage.

Now our friend penguin wasn't used to the heat in Phoenix so he didn't take the melt factor into account when he purchased his cone. Pretty soon the ice cream had melted all over his face, down his chin, all over his flippers...He was a mess!

He arrives at the garage just as the mechanic is finishing up with his car. The man approaches the penguin with a smile.

"Well sir, it looks like you blew a seal."

"Oh, no." Replies the penguin. "That's just ice cream."

I'll be away from the computer until Monday. I hope everyone has a great weekend!