Patrick, thanks for the quote from and link to The Rude Pundit. I've been more or less continuously in tears since Teddy died, and that amazing, wonderful essay got the waterworks going again.
Jim, Victoria and Ann: Good on you for fighting and prevailing!
I read that Court order and have to say: WOW.
What a piece of toxic twaddle Robert Fletcher is. How delightful it will be to see him go to jail. Is there a site that follows the progress of this tale of grift and vengeance, or will Jim issue periodic reports?
The first time I saw this movie, the first thing I said after the closing credits was "My god, what a brilliant reboot!" - meaning, absolutely, blowing up Vulcan and *not* going back in time to undo it.
The first thing I said after seeing the movie a second time was, "My god, that Kirk is hotter than a hot thing." (My brain is still stuck on that one, has been repeating it like a mantra. Very distracting.)
The first thing I said after seeing the movie a third time was, "My god, we have to wait until 2010 for the sequel?!"
If from this you surmise that I love the movie with all my heart, soul and might, you would be correct. It's embarrassing how much I adore this movie. I have an even more embarrasing urge to write ST fanfic again - which I have not done since, oh, 1975.
BTW, regarding Kirk, the screenwriter John Rogers, on his blog kfmonkey.com, has some interesting things to say about the nature of Kirk's Hero's Journey, and the difference between 'transformative' and 'revelatory' character arcs. Well worth checking out.
Why do people accept barefaced deceit as a perfectly legitimate political tool?
Well, Bible thumpers aren't the only ones trained to accept mutually contradictory ideas, and to dismiss all efforts at fact-based ideas.
For many years, schools offered mathematics and science courses in which getting the right answer was less important than understanding the process. They did so because hard science and math are "hard," and because students "needed validation." I have no idea if watering down the subjects eventually led the students to take the real thing - but I'm pretty sure one thing it *did* lead to was de-emphasize the importance of rigorous cognition and correct problem solving.
Magnify that across most of the country for most of a generation and we have a large swath of people who not only have no background in factual analysis, but who think factual analysis isn't even that important.
Also, though it pains me to say this, the hard right isn't alone in shading truth, ignoring facts, and committing reducio ad absurdem in order to keep believing what it wants to believe. So do some self-styled progressives:
Meat eaters and leather-wearers are evil? Vaccinations cause autism? Silicon breast implants cause cancer? Pets are slaves? Cochliar implants are a vile plot to destroy the deaf community? Each of these (and there are probably many more) are examples of faulty or facile or just plain weird thinking that undermine the ability and desire to think multi-lineally, distinguish normative effects from anomalies - and, to put the cherry on top, also magnify personal grievances to a society-wide imperative.
My point is that Americans have spent a few decades learning NOT to think rigorously or critically; learning that belief trumps fact; and - above all - learning that your identity depends on maintaining your belief system no matter what. Chris Lasch famously called this "a culture of narcissism." He was pilloried for it.
Commentors here compare our current political culture to various industries.
But our apparently bottomless propensity to accept lies as legitimate, and attack would-be truth tellers, even as the disintegration of our nation accelerates, puts me far more in mind of Easter Island.
More (gentle) hugs and best wishes for a complete recovery, and here's hoping the 'lifestyle changes' will be minimal.
Oh, and many thanks to the EMTs!
And Washington state, which has theirs on Feb. 19.
No, not really. Washington state is.... wierd.
The Democratic caucuses are this coming Saturday, Feb 9,and the delegate assignment will be decided then.
The "Democratic" primary on Feb 19 is really meaningless: it awards no delegates at all.
The Republican primary on Feb 19 assigns... 1/3 of the delegates, with caucuses assigning the rest.
In short: If you're a Democrat, and you want your vote to count, you MUST participate in the Feb 9 precinct caucuses.
I tell you what, though. Nobody can give a speech like Obama can give a speech.
Here's the thing: I like them both. A lot. I'm happy neither one has an insuperable lead, because I really don't look forward to either of them having to bow out. Whoever it is won't deserve to be hurt like it'll hurt.
I really, really wish it were possible to have someone with Clinton's stamina and grit, and with Obama's personal flair and oratory.
This is a fascinating list. I wonder how many of the "never read this!" recommendations are for actual factual errors, and how many are because the commenter dislikes the book's writer, or the subject matter, or the writer's take on the subject matter.
If Seattle-Tacoma want to put in a tunnel, there's the experience of The Big Dig to consider...
Oh, yeah. Believe me, the Big Dig gets mentioned quite a bit - in a cautionary, not exemplary, way.
Folks, we've been coasting for 20 years on not maintaining things as they were designed to be maintained. Bridges, airplanes, school buildings, sports stadiums... if there's no money to be made doing it - if, indeed, it's going to *cost* money and cut into the bottom line (or, worse, if it means raising taxes) - then it just ain't gonna get done. And all the structural bills are coming due at once.
Seattle had Galloping Gertie, the Tacoma Narrows bridge, back in the 40's. It had just opened, too. Also, a few years ago the brand-new I-90 concrete pontoon bridge sank when the access doors to the pontoons were left open and lakewater flooded in (years of lawsuits over that one; but no injuries, because it sank slowly enough to clear everyone off).
The current Big Bridge Issue here is the Alaska Way Viaduct, a huge elevated highway that runs along the waterfront. It's a vital part of the transportation system, and was badly cracked in the February 2001 earthquake. It's been repaired and retrofitted, but the feeling is that it needs to be replaced. The city is divided over whether to build another elevated viaduct, or dig a huge tunnel and run the highway through that, or build a surface highway. (Whatever they do, while it's being done, the commute - already a nightmare here - will resemble one of the Outer Circlesof Hell.)
This being Seattle, where we study and discuss things to death and our city officials are chronically unable to make decisions, I had doubted anything would actually be done until the damn thing up and collapsed. But the 35W disaster will likely concentrate a few minds here.
How awful. My thoughts are with the people there.
If it had been a suspension bridge, I could see how one support strut going could bring down the whole span. But it looks like a trestle bridge, and I don't know if the same dynamics apply.
What was the weather like the last couple of years? If the temperature changes were very drastic, with a lot of moisture, that possibly could have weakened the structure with many thin, deep cracks not readily apparent to inspectors.
Some animals are better than others at adapting to urbanized life.
It's always struck me as strange - and significant - that the ones best at it are the ones most roundly despised.
I suspect a lot of it has to do with territoriality and mating.
I've been putting peanuts out for squirrels in my townhouse development for about a year now (and hope mykindnessbribes will be remembered in my favor by our Bushy-Tailed Overloards when the crunch comes). Anywhere from 3-5 show up every day.
A couple weeks ago 2 squirrels got into a really awful fight right in the shrubbery by my porch. At least one of them was male. I didn't know whether to intervene - not wanting to get bitten by a possibly-hanta virus bearing critter, or inadvertently dispossess my "regular" squirrel in favor of an interloper - so I settled for watching (fascinated) and yelling at them (ineffectually).
Eventually the fight broke up anway - maybe my looming over them and shouting "Break it up!" did help a little - with one combatant running away and the other scampering up a tree to get his breath back and lick his bleeding wounds.
Totally off-topic, but y'all ought to know John Scalzi has promised to go to the Creation Museum (it's in his neighborhood, poor fellow) if his blogreaders will raise at least $250, all proceeds to be given to Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.
If $1000 is raised, he'll write an "appropriately-themed" short fiction piece about his visit.
We're hoping, if we raise enough money, he'll have his picture taken on the saddled Triceratops.
If you'd like to be part of this worthy endeavor, go to scalzi.com/whatever.
/OT
I've been belting in since there were such things and, yes, it's automatic. It doesn't even feel right, not being belted in.
My aunt, who is one of the Best People Ever and whom I love dearly, not only doesn't wear a seatbelt, she is permanently attached to a cell phone. We were traveling together a couple years ago, road tripping through Eastern Washington. It was her turn to drive, and we almost got into a knock-down screaming fight when I told her she would wear the seatbelt and she would not use her cell phone. I had to evoke the "My Car, My Rules" commandment to convince her.
I do not have a particular axe to grind in this issue, but in the interest of historical accuracy, I must point out that Janet Reno fired ALL US attorneys-general when the Clintons took office...
Ah. I knew this RW talking point would show up.
US Attorney are political appointees. That does not mean they're supposed to look out for the President's political interests; it means they - like Cabinet Secretaries, personal secretaries, and Chiefs of Staff - are chosen by each President. It is customary, standard practice for all political appointees to offer their resignations or, if they don't, to be fired by a new incoming President. The President then appoints a new batch of his or her own people.
The new US Attorneys are supposed to be confirmed by the Senate. It's usually a formality, a nice little ceremony that the new US Attorneys' friends, family and colleagues come to see.
Gonzales, Rove and Meiers fired Bush's own appointees. They fired them for not serving Bush's and the GOP's political interests. And then they lied about it. In fact, they didn't just lie about it, they also damaged the fired attorneys' professional reputations by saying the firings were due to substandard work.
And then, on top of everything else, Gonzales et al. used a paragraph that had been slipped into the latest authorization of the Patriot Act to avoid Senate confirmation of the new US Attorneys.
That is not the same as what Clinton did. Not at all.
I am so, so sorry. Your stories about him are fascinating. Tales of Porco, and the photos/stories on Cute Overload, have got me thinking about "hammies" as much more interesting critters than I thought they were.
Xopher #72: I think raccoons are crepuscular, not strictly nocturnal; i.e., active pre-sunrise as well as post-sundown. And urban 'coons might be involuntarily active during full daylight, if they're disturbed by traffic or construction or anything else that rousts them from their den.
Thanks for all the replies! Now I'm thinking of putting some kibble out in zip-lock baggies, or in boxes, to see if Mama and her kids can figure it out :)
Seriously, I wonder how much of what raccoons do and don't do is because they don't need to, or never saw it, or even variability in local customs. ("Bandit! Stop that! Only those striped-trash sorts from the country chew the box open. Remember your manners, and open it with your hands!")
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