boy am i quiet recently or what?

still working from home for ibm.

pirate has an ear infection which explains why she has been miss grouchy pants recently.

they're putting in a fence in our back yard so that the mongrels can go out and play play play play! we're also getting a quote to put in new windows in the attic.

if you're any good at finishing attics, email me. especially if you're local.

i am almost over the two month crud. i have high hopes that this round of antibiotics will knock it out.

possibly more later.

i am not good at remembering not to do things that i shouldn't do. sometimes it's easier to just do them and then deal with the consequences rather than remember and remember and remember and remember and remember.

The Morning News - Virtue: Ten Bucks? Ten Charities

Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege.
– John D. Rockefeller

You are a good person. You feel bad when other people are sad; you try not to laugh when someone trips; you’re fond of puppies.

Now, maybe you’re not rolling in cash. Most of us have some debt, and we’re all trying to build our savings. But you’ve got 10 bucks to spare, and there’s some disturbing shit going down in the world. Perhaps you’ve heard.

The surprisingly good people – the ones who are feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and pulling small children out of harm’s way – they could probably use that 10 bucks more constructively than we could. Give it up, and bask in the warm glow of self-satisfaction.

Emergency Contraception:

What is Emergency Contraception?

Emergency contraceptives are methods of preventing pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse. They do not protect against sexually transmitted infections. Emergency contraception can be used when a condom breaks, after a sexual assault, or any time unprotected sexual intercourse occurs. Do not use emergency contraceptives as your only protection against pregnancy if you are sexually active or planning to be, because they are not as effective as any ongoing contraceptive method.

i've used ec. it wasn't a lot of fun, but at that point in my life (as well as this point in my life) any babies i conceived would have likely been substantially disabled due to my medications, and taking the chance of actually getting pregnant when i was a) not financially independent, b) depressed and getting more so, c) closer to getting kicked out of college than i'd have liked to be, and d) not living on the same continent as the prospective father... well... didn't seem like the best idea, not even going into the discussion about whether or not i'd be able to raise a seriously disabled child.

here's how it works. first, you panic, when you realize that your normal contraceptive method didn't work (broke, forgot to take it, it fell off, whatever). then, you go find a provider of ec who is near you, and you make an appointment. (usians and canadians, look here.) make sure you tell them what you need to see them about; timing is important. you go in for the appointment, and they give you ec. it's pills. you take some there, and they usually give you some to take home to take at a later time, as well. then, you go home and wait. the waiting is occasionally interspersed with nausea. if you're prone to nausea, tell the clinic, and maybe they can do something about it. in any case, try not to throw up, and if you do, call the clinic and let them know. wait until the second set of pills is due; take them. shortly after this, your period will start. hopefully, during all this time, you've been thinking about how not to need to do this again, because while i'd rather take ec than have an unplanned pregnancy at this point in my life, i'd rather make sure i have a reliable contraception method that doesn't include nausea and heavy bleeding than take ec.

if anyone is wondering about any of this, feel free to email me. betsy at cavort dot org.

Daily Kos || Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.:

There are plenty of things a campaign must pay for, but the Bush campaign may be the first presidential campaign to employ a company that specializes in paramilitary protection.
In reports filed today with the Federal Election Commission, the Bush campaign showed February receipts of $13.7 million, and cash on hand of $110 million. Obviously much of that money will be spent on television advertising. But a quick look at Bush's FEC filing shows something curious--they paid almost $200,000 to Vance International for 'personnel services/equipment.'
Vance International may not be familiar to a lot of people, but they should be, because they are the Pinkertons of our era. Vance was founded and until recently run by Chuck Vance, a former Secret Service agent who at one time was married to Gerald Ford's daughter. Vance used his Secret Service background in security and investigation to specialize in providing security during labor disputes. From the strikes at Pittston Coal, to Caterpillar, to Detroit Newspapers, if there was violence on the picket line of a high-profile strike, it was most likely provoked by the maladjusted ex-soldiers, angry cop wanna-be's, and CIA rejects who wear the jack-boots of Vance's Asset Protection Team.

[...]

Provoking picket line violenceAsset protection isn't Vance's only business. They provide executive protection, investigate current and prospective employees, and consult on security matters for corporations, governments and wealthy individuals around the world. (They've just opened an office in--you guessed it--Iraq.) But George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and their families and top aides already received protection from a pretty good outfit known as the Secret Service.

So, here's the question to the Bush campaign: What possible legitimate use do you have for a firm that specializes in high-tech surveillance, personal investigations, and paramilitary protection?

anyone know if vance has people in florida? anyone know if the bush campaign in 2000 hired them?

well, the shrub has the endorsement of at least one foreign leader.

Yahoo! News - Purported Al Qaeda Letter Calls Truce in Spain:

WE WANT BUSH TO WIN

The statement said it supported President Bush in his reelection campaign, and would prefer him to win in November rather than the Democratic candidate John Kerry, as it was not possible to find a leader 'more foolish than you (Bush), who deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom.'

In comments addressed to Bush, the group said:
'Kerry will kill our nation while it sleeps because he and the Democrats have the cunning to embellish blasphemy and present it to the Arab and Muslim nation as civilization.'
'Because of this we desire you (Bush) to be elected.' "

but i'm not sure that an al qaeda endorsement is really going to help him.

H. R. 3920 (Introduced-in-House):

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the "Congressional Accountability for Judicial Activism Act of 2004".
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL REVERSAL OF SUPREME COURT JUDGMENTS.
The Congress may, if two thirds of each House agree, reverse a judgment of the United States Supreme Court--
(1) if that judgment is handed down after the date of the enactment of this Act; and
(2) to the extent that judgment concerns the constitutionality of an Act of Congress.

they're only activist judges if they're doing something that the gop doesn't like. (for reference, see the hon. mr. scalia and how he's just upholding the constitution.)

Thomas Dolby - Silk Pyjamas Lyrics [Artist: Thomas Dolby - Silk Pyjamas Lyrics for Song]

She was wearing silk pyjamas
Usual outfit, big pith helmet
Dr. Martens and silk pyjamas

i have this urge to dress up like this some halloween and see how long it takes someone to figure it out.

register to vote here

go register to vote.

i do not give a flying fuck who you go vote for. but register to vote now, and make sure you go vote in november. if you need a ride and are local to me, let me know and i'll give you a ride.

WorkingForChange-Liberals, bare your teeth:

Like it or not, the president who came in promising to unite us has created, in only three short years, the most polarized and the most bitterly politically divided country since Reconstruction. His team has created more anti-American hatred around the globe than has ever previously existed in history. Those same political strategists have shown that they will stop at virtually nothing to gain and exercise power, and will do so almost exclusively to enrich their hyperwealthy friends and feed their warped ideological crusades -- crusades that, if presented honestly, would be rejected by the vast majority of their countrypersons and the rest of the world.
This is a war. It's being fought like one, whether or not we participate, and we are all targets. We'd better start acting like our asses are on the firing line. They are.

if this election is stolen (like the last one was), nathan and i are going to talk seriously about moving somewhere else.

from redbird vicki

Madrid, te quiero.
Comprendemos tu dolor, porque somos hermanos, y porque somos humanos.

short introduction

Motorcycling is a great hobby of mine, I ride all my life and I owned different bikes and I ended with big kawasaki zzr 1100 cc sport touring motorcycle, which also known as ZX-11. it fast like a bullet and comfortable for long trips. I travel a lot and one of my favorite destination lead through poisoned with radiation, so called Chernobyl "dead zone" It is 130kms from my home. Why favourite? because one can ride there for hours and not meet any single car and not to see any single soul. People left and nature is blooming, there are beautiful places, woods, lakes. There is no newly built roads, but those which left from 80th in fairly good condition.

pictures of the author, and of chernobyl today and before the accident. if you look at page 14, that apartment building is (i believe) of the same design as the one that my dad and i stayed in in novosibirsk.

Making Light: Gasp, wheeze, cough:

I have always suspected that this attitude (which I have run into all too often) is a sign of an romantic attachment to some ideal position, which is attractive because at some level it is seen as unattainable. If the objective actually could be reached, one might actually be obliged to actually take the risk of real success or failure in attempting to get there. Instead of that, one can avoid any responsibliity for either how things are, or for trying to improve them.

tnh and claude muncey talk about "things have to get worse before they can get better".

i have the plague. okay, okay, it's a non-specific bacterial nasty, but saying that i have the plague is easier than saying "well, three weeks ago, i thought it was a cold but now i don't and i have antibiotics to prove it".

questions they don't understand in seattle:

are you with an en or an on?

first, everyone in the room heard "ian or owen". second, after i splained that that wasn't it, i still had to splain that i meant the spelling of miss kylee's last name. hmm.

also, in seattle, i was blonde. i like travelling so that i can be blonde. unfortunately, it's way more expensive than hair dye.

Pacific Views: Sign of the times.

hey bush! amend this!

(go look at the pretty picture.)