The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Thel:

I liked the "best 9-11 memorial post" in the Sidelights.

I liked this one quite a bit, too:

These countrymen of mine, these people who are so smug about torture and secret deportations-- invasions and mass murder. These countrymen of mine who come up with convoluted legal arguments to get around the Geneva Conventions, or to hold material witnesses indefinitely-- to my way of thinking, these are people who never knew the stakes in the first place; people who certainly shouldn't presume to tell me about the nature of the threat. The nature of the threat's the same as it's always been. There're some dangerous assholes in the world. But dead is dead, and I try not to let it bother me much. What defines me is what I do. What my choices are.

Defective Yeti, one of my favorite Seattle blogs, has posted "Iraq Invasion: a Text Misadventure". I do believe many here would enjoy it:

Oval Office

You are standing inside a White House, having just been elected to the presidency of the United States. You knew Scalia would pull through for you.

There is a large desk here, along with a few chairs and couches. The presidential seal is in the middle of the room and there is a full-length mirror upon the wall.

What do you want to do now?

Meanwhile, the water-borne diseases have arrived. This, of course, can only help "pacify" the population further.

I saw a little less-publicized blurb about Geraldo's grand rescue here:

The woman had been stranded in her home for six days. Geraldo picked up the woman and her dog and brought them here. The woman looks frail on his arm, though not as bad perhaps as a lady collapsed on a chair nearby, unable to move. Or a woman in a wheelchair being lifted from the truck, carrying her prosthetic leg on her lap.
"That's the second time he brought her here," one of the doctors tells me, nodding toward Geraldo.
"What?"
"They did two takes. Geraldo made that poor woman walk from the Fox News van to the heliport twice. Both times carrying her dog."
"Are you serious?" I ask. He says he is.

This makes me happy:

"Nerd Baby Alphabet"

It also makes me almost wish I had a baby of my own just to justify buying the whole set.

We have a Judi, a Judy, another Judy, a Rudy, and a Trudi at my organization, a place with only 30 employees.

Earlier this year I saw a patch of robust weedy plants down near Shilshole Bay in Seattle. They were already more than four feet tall. I was fascinated enough to take several pictures and pore over Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast trying to figure out what it was.

After looking at the map of giant hogweed's identified locations in 2004 in King County, I'm almost certain that's what my mystery monster plant was. I'll have to stroll down there this evening and see if that patch has been dealt with.

A mystery solved! Thanks!

Oh, Teresa, thank you for the "Query Letters I Love" link. I haven't laughed that hard in months. I feel so much better than I did an hour ago.

My favorite so far, from the October archives:

"BONGO the Clown, aka DRAKE, steals a locket that will reverse the stronghold the order of Clowns has over the entire world. Once in thehuman world, Drake and reporter MICHELLE, photographer CONOR and his girlfriend CATE must join forces with IKE the talking dog to battle BACKBONE, the king of all clowns. With the world in turmoil, clowns turning to soy, a beautiful clown assassin and a journey under thesea, an army of Viking midgets these clowns may be our only hope."

Clowns. Turning to soy. Oh, gods, I'm giggling again. Make it stop!

The coffee shop just down the street from me (Firehouse Coffee, 2622 NW Market Street in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, if anyone else is near and would be interested) announced that they will match donations their customers make to Mercy Corps. As an added incentive, if you donate $150 or more they'll give you a card for 10 free drinks. Since my employer (a non-profit) isn't able to match gifts, I was happy to find a way to double our contribution.

Another one of those creative Ebay auctions.

You are bidding on my Christmas Bonus! I am an Aircraft Mechanic, and the company I work for, Horizon Airlines, has blessed me this year with a wonderful Collectable coffee mug. It is made of Fine China. I know this to be true, because when I turn it over, it says china, in fine letters. It is adorned with printed images celebrating our sacrifices to the Company...

Xopher,

I think I agree with you. Did you happen to see Rivka's post about Courage, the Christian "ex-gay" organization in Britain who were honest enough with themselves to come to that very conclusion after fourteen years of trying to get gay people to "mature to adult heterosexuality?"

Do read it, if you haven't seen it. It's very heartening.

Indiashop1 does have items for sale; after following Teresa's link and clicking "view items for sale," click on "ebay worldwide" when the screen comes up without any items for sale. You should see a page with ten items listed.

See if this page works.

What about having the flag upside down? "All is not right, here--" but we will not lie down and give in to the not-rightness of it all.

Whichever way you design it, I want one.

I deeply resent the way this administration makes me feel like a nutbar conspiracy theorist:

Here are grounds for suspicion. Electronic voting machines figured heavily in the final tabulation of the results in Ohio, Florida, and New Mexico. Moreover, in all three, paper audit trails do not exist.

These states therefore offered the best, safest opportunity for manipulation of the final count.

Question 1: Even if we grant the potential inaccuracy of exit polls, how likely is it that in all three cases the inaccuracy would show a "non-existent" Democratic advantage? Why doesn't the discrepancy ever work in the other direction?

Question 2: Why did problems afflict exit polling in three swing states that have widespread computerized voting with no paper trails?

In other states, the exit polling matched the final results rather well. In Nevada, Illinois, and New Hampshire, computer votes do have paper trails -- and in those instances, the exit polls tracked the final totals.

To recap: In three states with no paper trails, we have exit poll/final tally disagreement. In three states with paper trails, we have exit poll/final tally congruence.

Coincidence?

My so-called lesbian life has a short roundup of "sites to start your questioning." Any other good starts, aside from those already posted here?

I hate to admit I'd never heard the Adventures of Isabel before. Having said that, has anyone ever heard it done as a double-dutch jump rope rhyme? It's the perfect rhythm for it. If I'd known about it three years ago, I could have had a blast teaching it to the fifth-grade double dutch team at Cooper Elementary School. And what great vocabulary words for them to learn! Ravenous, cavernous, rage and rancor...

I'm filing that one away to use when I get back into education. Way more fun than "Cinderella, dressed in yella, went upstairs to kiss a fella..."

Harry,

For almost two years I lived just downstairs from Ian Spiers, the gentleman referenced in the Stranger story. I was astonished to see his story on the local news the other night just before reading it in the Stranger Thursday. He and Mary were the best neighbors you could imagine. Every time in the last two years I've started to feel "outrage fatigue," damned if something else hasn't come along to spark it up again.

He's chronicling his story online as well, at Brown Equals Terrorist.

You know, I don't think I've ever had a positive interaction with any member of the Seattle Police Department under any circumstances. Ian's story doesn't surprise me, but just reading about those cops' insatiable power trips makes me mad again.

Ohh, the Prydain Chronicles...

I don't remember which of them it was that so engrossed me one day in the school library in fourth grade. I just remember looking up finally, in a fog, to find that the library was empty. In fact, the school day was over and my quiet little bookworm self had somehow been left behind. It was a rural school district, and quite a hassle for my parents to come pick me up, but Fflewddur Flam, Taran, Eilonwy and the rest all made it worthwhile.

Thanks for the reminder; I think I may see if I can find any part of that series at the used bookstore across the street from me tomorrow.

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