Chutzpah to the Extreme

There is Chutzpah and then there is CHUTZPAH.

This guy, Al- Fatar King, owns a couple of Philadelphia Newsstands. He obviously didn't like competition, or his competitors locations, or just his competitors.

So he hired a crane to move those offending newsstands to other parts of the city. When the folks showed up for work, their place of employment was gone.

I bet every business owner wishes they could just move their competition to somewhere else!

Mr. King is a jerk. And he is also an idiot (he gave his real name to the crane company, who promptly point to Mr. King when the cops showed up). But, Damn!

Creepy, beyond all belief

I would seem that in Oklahoma, a 45 year old man is advertising for a bride. And he is willing to pay $1,000. Tacky, but creepy? Wait, it gets worse.

The "woman" in question is to be a virgin between the ages of 12-24.

--12? You ask? That must be a typo.

No, I answer. It is not a typo. Here is the story.

What kind of 45 year old would want a 12 year old wife? Michael Thelemann of Bray, OK, that's who. Neighbors think he is a pedophile, and I tend to agree. Mr. Thelemann doesn't understand, he said:

I'm just somebody who is getting up there in years, and I'm looking for a born-again, God-fearing virgin between the ages of 12 and 24 who can bear me children," said Thelemann, who was divorced in 1989. "What's the problem? I just think I have some wicked neighbors."

Google this creepaziod and you'll find over 120 news stories, but what concerns me is that no one is objecting to him "buying" a wife.

To him, a wife is nothing more than a commodity. From the ages, he is not looking for a partner, he is looking for a subordinate.

And what if he found this virginal, child bride? Who would get the money? I doubt she would! Wouldn't that be like paying the money to himself (as the head of his family)? I have a feeling he is looking to pay a parent. A parent who would sell their child in marriage.

And it is this attitude that upsets me. This is why we live in a rape culture. Biting Beaver has a great post on that subject, and I'm not going to repeat it. Follow the link and read it, if you care. I must warn, she is prone to hyperbole and doesn't have a shade of grey anywhere on her blog. I don't believe everything in that post is true all of the time, but I know all of it is true some of the time.

But whether you believe the rape culture surrounds us, or is just a small, insanely sick portion of society, the roots of this behavior is the belief that women can be bought and sold, or taken.

Doesn't matter if the man is paying a grand, buying dinner, or just the belief that being a man makes him in control of any woman he desires, it doesn't matter. It is attitudes like Mr. Thelemann's that it so damn dangerous for women.

I love bumper stickers

I'll admit it. I like to read bumper stickers. I like the fact that people put their opinions on their cars and drive around.

I like the funny ones.


I like the ones that make you think.











I like the ones that are just silly.








I like the ones that have good advice.
I have driven out of my way to follow a car, just so I could read the bumper sticker.




And I just found a new one that I love!

Oh yeah, she'll be annoyed

But what is a mother's job, if not to embarrass her child?

This year's skating pics:














Yeah, she will be seriously pissed at this.

Easter is the time for eggs, and eggs is the time for Easter

Easter, in our house at least, was a pleasant holiday. We went to my sister's house (which is also where my mother lives) in Ocean City, NJ. We got there Friday morning, and could not have planned for better weather. We walked the boardwalk and the beach, the kids went in the ocean (see my blog post about the kids and swimming out of season).

No hunting eggs, no dying eggs, the kids are too grown for that.

As sad as that seems, it was a relief for the adults. Even though I miss the holiday traditions with my daughter, we are forging new ones (swimming on Easter) and we keep some of the old ones (blowing up peeps in the microwave).

In the evening, we sat on the front porch and watched the sun set into the bay.

This was one of the best holidays I've had since becoming an adult.

Sick Days

This is what happens to my desk when I'm out sick:
















In case you can't see, that is 26 laptops for me to fix!

Like having the flu/bronchitis wasn't bad enough, I have to come back to 26 broken laptops.

Also, someone took the charger for my cell phone and the USB for my palm pilot. I guess I'm lucky my flat screen didn't walk.

Luckily, I could tell who was using my PC and what they downloaded (new wallpaper, a couple of joke programs that run on boot-up and a bunch of music that I don't like). Just wait for their vacations. Of course, that doesn't work for our assistants, because they don't have desks or cubicles.

I would complain to my boss, but he won't do anything. In fact, I think this is part of his attendance plan. Allow the monkeys to raid our cubes, then we think twice before taking off.

Once again, Conservatives Show Their Priorities

From This is Not Over:

From reader Andrea:

An outrageous bill has been introduced in the Ohio State House of Representatives. If passed, House Bill 515, also known as the "The Adoptive and Foster Children's Protection Act," will prevent homosexual, bisexual and transgendered individuals from becoming adoptive or foster parents. But wait! There's more! The law reads such that anyone residing with a homosexual, bisexual or transgendered person also faces the same ban.
This act is not only out-and-out prejudice, but will reduce the pool of potential foster and adoptive parents. And this is supposed to "protect" children?
Much worse, the timing of this bill is quite suspect. A divisive bill like this introduced so close to mid-term elections seems like a play to mobilize the conservative voting base.
Shrinking the pool of prospective foster/adoptive parents and slashing family rights all for the sake of mainpulating voters? Congratulations, Ohio Republicans, you've sunk to a new low.
You can read the actual bill here, and Ohioans can contact their reps to complain here.

They really don't care about children. They care about hate. They hate gays, and they want them back in the closet, on the fringes.

I'm not familiar with Ohio's foster care system. I can't find a statewide site, but here are two county sites: Green County and A Child's Waiting.

Look at those faces. How dare they deny these kids a loving home?

I guess it's more important to do bad things to gay people than to help children.

OK, who am I?

As Dumbledore, you are talented, intelligent and powerful! You may prefer to be in a leadership position, and always uphold what is right. You set trends with your crazy beard.




discover what candy you are @ quiz me

Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

Ok, it's really boring at work today.

This does not surprise me

Your IQ Is 130

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Logic was never my strong suit.

But test taking was. While some people suffer from test anxiety, I perform better on tests than I should (based on the amount of studying and what I knew going into the test).

So I don't trust tests, except when I score really well. Then the test MUST be correct.

Writing Update

I haven't blogged about writing lately. I guess it's because I haven't received any rejections lately.

Which is odd, because I have 11 items on the street. Maybe that's a good sign, but I know that isn't necessarily true. I had one book take 10 months to get rejected. 10 months! It is a picture book, the manuscript is 3 pages. Now how long does it take to look at 3 pages and decide if you like it or not? On good days, I like to believe it was considered and reconsidered. On bad days, I'm sure it fell behind someone's desk, and when it finally found, it was promptly rejected.

I'm following my plan. I'm concentrating on my short stories for magazine publication. My reasons are as follows, I haven't been published yet, because:

• My writing sucks
• I don't have enough exposure (read: publishing credits) to attract anyone's attention.
• A combination of the two

But that doesn't matter. Because if my writing sucks, then I need to write more and improve my craft. The best way for me is through short work. And if I need credits to get attention, magazine publication is probably the easiest way to go.

So the solution seems to be the same for both. I have to accept that some of what I'm writing is probably crap. It's easier for me to accept this of my short pieces, than a larger piece (not really sure why...Just seems easier). So that's my plan.

Also, I'd like to put a plug in for my writers group, Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group. They run monthly programs and get togethers. It's great to network with other writers. If you live anywhere in this area, you should try it out.

A Woman who truly Lives up to her Name

Cecilia Fire Thunder.

She is the President of the Oglala Sioux in South Dakota. And she knows how to speak fire and thunder. Undaunted by the new law to ban abortion in South Dakota, Ms. Fire Thunder has decided to take things into her own hands.

I love this woman!

The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

"To me, it is now a question of sovereignty," she said to me last week. "I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction."

You can show your supportfor Ms. Fire Thunder :
You know she is going to get threats after this, some support letters of support would certainly help. But I wouldn't send money, like some people have suggested on their blogs. At least not until this is more than an idea.

Oglala Sioux Tribe
ATTN: President Fire Thunder
P. O. 2070
Pine Ridge, SD 57770

OR: and this may be preferred, due to mail volume:
ATTN: PRESIDENT FIRE THUNDER
PO BOX 990
Martin, SD 57751

And please blog about this courageous woman who is taking on her state government.

Or just blog about it because you KNOW it pisses off the Right.

Thanks to Biting Beaver for this.

Cinderella

I had an interesting conversation with Darling Daughter the other day. We are reading the book, Just Ella, by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This is a great young adult book (ages 12 and up). It is a variation on the Cinderella tale, starting where the original story left off. The author has removed the magic elements (they are rumors and gossip) and given Ella a feminist viewpoint.

My daughter and I read together almost every day. She has a learning disability that manifests itself in her reading. She IS intelligent, and that isn't just Mom talking. She faked her way through 6 years of school, using memory and deduction rather than reading and studying. It wasn't until 7th grade that I realized that she had a problem reading.

So we read together.

Now Just Ella is a clever book. When I first read it, I was critical of the language and attitudes of the main character, Ella. She seemed too modern for the story, not authentic. Of course I realized this was based on a story with a fairy godmother, mice who turn into horses, and love at first sight.

We were discussing the story, and my daughter surprised me by defending the original Cinderella. She was upset that the book portrayed Prince Charming as a dullard, and he and Cinderella weren't really in love. When I pointed out that the Prince only choose Cinderella because of her beauty, my daughter became defensive. She insisted they were truly in love, even though she admitted that the Prince didn't even bother to ask Cinderella her name. (Of course, I'm referring to the fairy tale/Disney versions not the multi-cultural/politically correct revision of the Rodgers and Hammerstein version). While she agreed with me, she still insisted they were in love.

This amazed me. The kid obviously saw the faults with Cinderella, but instead of accepting them, she decided to claim they didn't exist.

Finally, she relented with the statement: "But I LIKED Cinderella when I was little." That was the telling statement. She wanted Cinderella to be a "good" story because she liked it. I don't even remember her liking that story so much, so it could be a nostalgia thing.

I explained that it was just a story, and that if we didn't believe that pumpkins could turn into coaches, why would we believe the falling in love with beauty myth? There was nothing wrong with enjoying a silly story, as long as you realized it was just a story. That no fairy godmother was going to save you and that a woman is more than just her looks.

Is this when people first learn to blindly believe?

Is this when people start ignoring the facts that contradict what they want to be the truth?

Is this when it starts? When their childhood treasures are challenged?

This is definitely something that requires my attention.

Places I've Been

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

I was quite surprised at how many states I have visited. I got this from Oral Report.

Sopranos

The Sopranos are back. I really missed them, but I was nervous about the new season. Too many times, when television shows are continued after they should have shut down production. Sometimes for years after the show stopped being interesting. But they continue to produce episodes and people continue to watch. I think it's because the show becomes like an old friend and is comfortable. Viewers are no longer critical, just happy to see their friends.

I hate that. It is an insult to what the show once was.

Fortunately, the Sopranos did not disapoint. Below are spoilers, so if anyone TiVo'd it and did not watch it yet, don't read the rest of my comments.


I was surprised. The show started out slowly, doing the "catch-up" thing. I hate that. Doesn't everyone have HBO on demand? I guess not. But I was able to watch the entire last season the week before the new season started, so I'd remember everything. It started out slowly, and I know some people have complained, but it was just a set up, to lull you before the big finish.

I never expected for Junior to shoot Tony. I should have been expected, because senile dementia (which is most likely what Junior has at his age, not Alzheimers) patients revert to their youth. Obviously, Junior was reliving his past.

Some of my more imaginative friends have suggested that Tony will be dead or in a coma and the rest of the show will be his visions or dreams. I don't know about that, afterall, they were the same folks who insisted that Adreana could still be alive after last season because we didn't see a body. Yeah, like Silvio would disobey orders.

I loved the scene with Carmela and Big Pussy's widow (I can't remember her name, and I'm too lazy to look it up). I always saw Carmela as a tragically sympathetic character. However, her greed has just become too much. Yeah, she was sympathetic while attached to the Mafia teat. Last season we saw her cut off, and damn, did she lose points with me! Of course, that answered the question, "Why did she put up with Tony for so long?" Obviously, it was the money. I think I like her better as a money hungry whore than the long suffering martyr.

The look on her face when she saw the Vett that other woman was driving. Carmela must have realized that being a mob whore was not the only way to have material goods. Just loved that! I guess I never liked Carmela that much.

I wish they had gone into the gay Vito thing. Or what the hell happened to AJ's hair. But maybe next time!

I have more comments, but no more time.

Every Sperm is Sacred

I found this at Feministing.

Every sperm is sacred!

What a Week!

Once again, I've been a lazy blogger.

Like I said, I do most of my blogging at work. I have 4 network drops at my desk, but I've had to use all 4 for work related activities. I have been so bored! Watching 4 laptops load software for 8 hours is pretty much a definition of hell.

But I've had some good news, too. Last week, I attended a local writers group. I was happy that it is a large group (about 30 people there) and it was run in a professional manner (I have a thing for Roberts Rules). The members seem to be an eclectic mix of writers. Fiction, non fiction, poetry, journalism, professional newsletters and travel guides were just some of the areas these people were writing. A woman read from her recently published chick lit book, and there was a speaker, whose topic was point of view.

It was good and interesting, but there was something else. A vibe. I left there so jazzed up, I completed and submitted 3 short pieces I'd been playing with and not finishing for about 4 months.

The other interesting thing was a writers workshop that was at Barnes and Nobel. Once again, it was good, but nothing spectacular. However, the woman running the workshop was a published author promoting her book on writing. While I was talking to her, she asked if I had any paper with me. I gave her my notebook and she wrote the name of her agent, and suggested that I contact the agent. Now I just have to write a killer introductory/query letter.

All in all, it's been a good week for me, even if I haven't had time to blog.

South Dakota Abortion Ban

Yeah, I'm that pissed off.

However, over at the Den of the Biting Beaver, there was a great suggestion:

I've got a pile of wire hangers and am hunting for a box as we speak. Everyone should be doing this. Preferably with a letter that says something like "We realize that after you sign the anti-abortion bill, your state health agencies will need vast stockpiles of these to handle the demand. Here is our meager donation."

The address for the governor's office is:
Office of the Governor
500 E. Capitol Ave.
Pierre, SD 57501

If you think this is as awesome an idea as we do, post it on your blogs and messageboards and anywhere else you go. The more, the merrier!

Yeah, I've got a bunch that I can send. How about you?

Almost forgot, Thanks to Republic of T, where I stole that graphic.

I'm back!

I've been such a lazy blogger. Truly a disappointment. My only excuse is that I do most of my blogging at work.

And I've had to work at work. Now before any one decides they need to warn me about blogging about work, let me assure you, my boss is well aware of my work time blogging.

Most of my work revolves around installing and testing software. Which means I get to spend much of my day watching software install and computers reboot. While the computers are doing this, I have time to blog, read website, write, etc on my computer.

But these last few weeks, I've had to go out to our schools and work on site. Now I don't mind that. I figure that whatever time I spend in my car (and depending upon traffic, this can be up to 3 hours a day) is my time, like an extended break. But I can't blog while I'm out of the office.

Not to worry. My major responsibility is laptops and out wireless labs are not cooperating with our newest Windows image. It takes almost an hour to image a laptop (this is all automatic--you start it and come back when it's done) so I image, test, change, repeat. This process can go on for days, until I track down all the bugs.

So as soon as I'm done with my current project, I'll be blogging with some regularity.

Blogs

The Highlander, who blogs at Miserable Annals of the Earth has asked me to announce that he is making his blog members only. You can email him at docnebula @gmail.com (space inserted to prevent spammers) to become a member.

The Highlander has an interesting blog. Go there, you'll enjoy it.

Lie to me!

This is a great post from All Kinds of Writing. It is quoting the article from Times Online The Facts. Don't Give me the Facts.

If you followed the James Frey big brouhahaha (ha), you will be interested in this:

From The facts. Don't give me the facts:

AFTER READING JOHN BANVILLE'S Man Booker prize-winning The Sea, a slim volume trumpeted as fiction, I was startled to discover, upon perusing my hefty atlas, that this supposedly fantastical place named Ireland was an actual island. While reading, I thought it sounded familiar, yet I let it slide, not wanting niggling particulars to ruin the experience.

But as a page-by-page analysis of The Sea turned up a plethora of verifiable facts, I believe a comprehensive investigation is in order. If the sanctioned percentage of fact (to be determined by James Frey) exceeds the appropriate percentage of fiction, I suggest that it would be prudent for the Booker committee to strip Banville of his award.

This feeling of being cheated and of violation to my very soul led me to contact a lawyer who is at present engaged in writing a class action against authors who have mis-stated fact for fiction.

Well, I believee that says it all...