Something for everyone

Well, maybe everyone except our current President. (Sorry, I just can't help myself!)

Short stories, hyperfiction & word games ... oh my!

Zeus hates Bush too

So it would probably be wrong of me to take the content of this report and send it to my Republican friends as if it were true, right? Even though, with all the falsehoods they send me regularly, it's pretty clear they've never heard of Snopes?

Yeah, I thought so. It's still pretty tempting...

Pet Peeve #3639

A new, and probably recurring, feature of Roberta's blog: The Pet Peeve recap!

The persons who stock the vending machines at work have this habit of putting different products into the same slot of the machine. I'm sure they think they're doing this to provide a better variety to the consumer. One slot may have three Rice Krispie bars in the front, but behind those there could be desirable chocolate snacks lined up, just out of reach. Perhaps it's part of my twisted need to seek out the unattainable, but it never fails that whatever snack really looks good to me is the one I can't have. Like work isn't stressful enough already...

Bush AWOL again

"With the notable exception of U.S. President George W. Bush, more than 250 global leaders, including former President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, reaffirmed their commitment to a ten-year-old UN plan to ensure the rights of women around the world.

"The statement came on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo where representatives of 179 governments adopted a plan of action that affirmed the fundamental rights of women, including their sexual and reproductive rights, and set specific targets for their achievement.

"The targets included universal access to family planning, safe motherhood, treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), such as HIV/AIDS, basic education and greater opportunities for social and economic advancement.

"But the Bush administration, which has cut off funding of UNFPA and repeatedly voiced reservations about the ICPD’s commitment to sexual and reproductive rights, declined to sign on to the statement.

"The United States, which helped draft and strongly supported the Cairo plan of action, as well as the UN women s conference in Beijing in 1995, abruptly changed course after Bush became president six years later."

Happy Boss's Day

Perhaps my impending unemployment has increased my introspection, but I've found myself pondering the different bosses I've had through the years. By far, my current boss is the best of them all. I realized today that's because she is the sanest of them all. I've had a lot of bosses who liked me and wanted me to be successful, but she's the first one who has had the attitude and the knowledge to be really effective.

Some of my other bosses have had many great qualities, but they have also been some combination of crazy, lazy, passive-aggressive, moody, inexperienced, or inept. That's made it difficult for them to do a really good job of mentoring me. My current boss doesn't have those issues, or at least is mature enough to keep them to herself. So thank you, current boss, as we celebrate our last Boss's Day together.

WWJWatch?

God isn't dead; He's at the movies! Find out what He thinks when you check out "pop culture from a spiritual point of view."

Candygram? No, this is even better!

Send someone you love -- mom, sister, girlfriend, inner child -- a pajamagram, because pajamas make everything better. Sigh.

Equal Time

Well, okay, I already know this isn't going to be equal, but there are some things that Kerry has said in the debates that have stuck in my craw too.

In the first debate, he talked about the "radical Islamic Muslims." Now I know they're under pressure up there, and I've said some stupid things when forced to think on my feet too, but that just bugs me. Aside from the fact that he's using an adjective and noun that mean the same thing, if he's talking about terrorists, he ought to use the word "terrorists." There's a difference between being radical and being a terrorist, and it reflects a sloppy thought process to use the terms interchangeably. Then there's his pledge to "hunt down and kill" terrorists. Even if that type of force is necessary, you don't have to sound so bloodlust-y about it. Ugh.

Thanks to the primary/recency effect, I have nothing to say about the second debate.

In last night's debate though, Kerry set me off when he responded to Bush's answer about the shortage of flu vaccine. There is no connection between the shortage of flu vaccine and the problem of uninsured Americans. If we were in a courtroom, Kerry's 90 seconds would have been struck from the record as non-responsive. (Especially since he later pointed out when Bush tried to answer a "jobs" question with an "education" response.)

I thought the Tony Soprano comment was beneath him; that was an unattractive moment. I also wish he hadn't brought up Dick Cheney's daughter as if she's now the poster child for gay folks everywhere. I thought the thing with his mother and "integrity" seemed awkward; if that is a true story, I don't think I'd trot it out at the debate.

Oh and I laughed at, "It's against the law in the United States to hire people illegally..." Well, yeah, most illegal things are indeed against the law.

But I still could have kissed him for his answers about choice and about how he doesn't feel like he can legislate his faith onto other people. And for how the best and most immediate way to help minimum wage workers is to raise the minimum wage. So, Mr. Kerry, you've got my vote. (And if you'd ever like some more help with debate prep, give me a call!)

The Great Debates

All along, I've thought that President Bush looked smug and superior, as if he found the debate process distasteful. As if he were above having to answer for his choices and decisions. Tonight as I saw him look at Senator Kerry, and through the camera lens at the American public, I saw something else.

It seems to me that he talks about important, debatable issues as if he's trying to explain them to a recalcitrant, not terribly bright eight-year old.

If I'm not clever enough to see how No Child Left Behind eliminates the need to raise the minimum wage, I must be stupid. (Because clearly, education will eliminate the need for minimum wage workers; that's why we have all the robots. Oh...)

If I don't believe that he has the right to legislate my personal, private choices, I must be stupid. (And, gosh, wouldn't my life be better if I were married, to a man of course, and had a passel of brats so I could benefit from all the tax breaks he has planned for me. I could give up my 76 cents to the dollar and stay home, barefoot and pregnant.)

If indeed I were a recalcitrant, not terribly bright eight-year old, I think I'd still see through his rhetoric. Fortunately, I'm a recalcitrant, fairly bright adult who will vote him out of office this November. Won't you join me?

And since it's become traditional, here are some of the AOL Insta-Poll results after tonight's debate.

During all the debates who came across as more Presidential? Bush 39%, Kerry 61%

With 20 days left, could anything move your vote? Yes 11%, No 89%

Overall which ticket won the series of debates? Bush-Cheney 38%, Kerry-Edwards 62%

Clark Kent, now there was a real gent

We've lost Christopher Reeve; let's not lose his battle and the battle of all those who hope to recover from spinal cord injuries.

"Spinal cord injury research is a relatively new field of endeavor because the age-old dogma that the spinal cord could not be repaired after damage was only recently debunked (within the last twenty years). Amazingly, it can be said that more research progress has been achieved in the past five years than in the previous fifty. The mission of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation (CRPF) is to insure that this progress continues as quickly and efficiently as possible."

"As Christopher himself once said, 'So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.'"

Give credit where credit is due