Disgusted and depressed

by

I’m getting so tired of…well, everything.

Every morning I get up, and every evening when I get home, I pop open my newsreader to browse through the day’s news and headlines. And every time, I find more and more that disgusts me, outrages me, and quite simply, makes me want to go back to playing ostrich and pretending that the world outside my own private little bubble doesn’t exist.

Iraq is in chaos due to our meddling, and that seems to be entirely acceptable. US soldiers stand by and watch while making racist comments (“Goddamn Iraqis will steal anything if you let them. Look at them.”), and Rumsfeld brushes off reports of hospitals being looted and priceless historical artifacts being destroyed as something that just happens (“Surprise me? I don’t know. Disorder happens every time there’s a transition.”). Meanwhile, it looks like the pieces are being set up for us to move into Syria (“PRESIDENT BUSH yesterday accused Syria of having chemical weapons. In the clearest sign yet that Washington is turning its sights on Damascus? links to terrorism, two of his most senior Cabinet members also warned the country against harbouring Iraqi officials.”).

Prominent Republicans continue to tighten their noose around America, working to extend the Patriot Act indefinitely, and Patriot II is still bouncing around Capitol Hill somewhere. Fully expecting Bush to run roughshod over any opposition in the 2004 Presidential race, rumblings are already being floated of who to put on the Republican ticket in 2008 — with the current front runner being Florida Governor Jeb Bush (“”If Jeb is in the mix” for the nomination, says a top GOP official, “it’s his.””).

I’m getting so tired of all of this. This isn’t the America that I grew up in, and have leared to respect over the years — even at times when I didn’t agree with its actions, the ideals our nation was founded on were strong, and until now, they’ve generally stood the test of time. Not anymore, however.

Admittedly, little of any of this has affected me directly. I’m lucky enough to be a white male, and therefore not too likely to be arrested and held indefinitely without being charged with a crime, as has happened to Mike Hawash. However, how much longer before we all start feeling the effects of the current regime’s drive for power and control? Not long at all, I’m afraid.

Anyway. Just grumbling, I guess — a little bitching and moaning to start my week off. Out of time now, though, so hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to work I go. Hope your weeks are starting off better than mine.

(Various links above via Chronicle Corvidae, Xeni Jardin, Stavros, and Tom Tomorrow [here, here, and here])

President for life?

by

This is the absolute last thing we need floating around Capitol Hill these days: House Joint Resolution 11, “Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.”

On the bright side, according to Tom Tomorrow, Rep. Serrano has been tossing this one out every so often for quite a while now. Of course, on the down side, if something this insane is going to pass, it’s a lot more likely in the current political climate. Creepy — very, very creepy.

Priceless historic treasures looted

by

This hurt to read:

The world’s first written words may have been lost forever. After surviving for more than 5,000 years, distinctive clay tablets that are recognised as the root of all mankind’s written communication have either been destroyed or stolen in yesterday’s looting of the Iraqi national museum.

In addition to the tablets containing cuneiform writing – which utilises symbols chipped into the clay using wedge-shaped tools – thieves also took some of the world’s earliest examples of mathematics. These include calculations that have directly led to the modern system of timekeeping using hours, minutes and seconds based on the number six.

I hope that something better comes along

by

SCENE: Evening in a bar. Our HERO walks into the the bar, pausing by the piano as the bar’s PIANIST plays an opening riff. The PIANIST looks up and greets our HERO as he plays lightly on the keyboard.

PIANIST: Evenin’! You look like you could use a drink.

OUR HERO: Yeah. I’d like a grasshopper, please.

PIANIST: [Calling to the bartender] Hey, can we have a grasshopper for the frog?

OUR HERO: Uh, that…that’s Kermit, Kermit the Frog.

PIANIST: Oh! Rowlf, Rowlf the Dog, here. Pleased ta meet’cha!

[ROWLF plays a fancy glissando on the piano]

ROWLF: I’m no Heifetz, but I get by.

[ROWLF continues to play lightly, as KERMIT looks out the window]

ROWLF: Lemme guess — broken heart, right?

KERMIT: Huh. Does it show?

ROWLF: Listen — when you’ve been tickling the ivories as long as I have, you’ve seen a broken heart for every drop of rain; a shattered dream for every falling star.

KERMIT: Exactly. She just walked out on me.

ROWLF: Eh, typical. That’s why I live alone.

KERMIT: You do, huh?

ROWLF: You bet. Finish work, I go home, read a book, have a couple of beers, take myself for a walk and go to bed.

KERMIT: Nice and simple.

ROWLF: Stay away from women — that’s my motto.

KERMIT: But I can’t!

ROWLF: Neither can I. That’s my trouble.

ROWLF: You can’t life with ’em, you can’t live without ’em.
There’s something irresistable-ish about ’em.
We grin and bear it ’cause the nights are long —
I hope that somethin’ better comes along.

KERMIT: I see what you mean.
It’s no good complainin’, and pointless to holler.

ROWLF: If she’s a beauty she’ll get under your collar.

KERMIT: She made a monkey out of old King Kong.

BOTH: I hope that something better comes along.

ROWLF: Ah, but what could be better, than a saucy Irish Setter,
When puppy love comes on strong?
Or a collie that’s classy…
A laddie needs a lassie…
A lover and wife gives you a new leash on life!

KERMIT: Uh — uh, was that a new leash on life?

ROWLF: Oh yeah. Uh, sorry about that. Two, three, four…

KERMIT: I don’t mean to scare ya, my friend, but I bet’cha,
come Father’s Day the litter bug’s gonna get’cha.

ROWLF: The urge is righteous but the face is wrong!

BOTH: I hope that something better comes along.

KERMIT: Still, it’s fun when they’re fetchin’,
and agree to see an etching,
that you keep at your lilly pad.
There is no solution, it’s part of evolution…

ROWLF: The pitter-patter of soles, the little feet of tadpoles!

KERMIT: Uh, Rowlf, tadpoles don’t have feet!

ROWLF: Oh. Sorry about that. Two, three, four…

KERMIT: There’s no limitation to mixin’ and matchin’.

ROWLF: Some get an itchin’ for a critter they’ve been scratchin’.
A skunk was badgered, the results were strong!
I hope that somethin’ better,

BOTH: I hope that somethin’ better,
I hope that somethin’ better comes along!

ROWLF: Beep-bop-biddy-biddy, doom-bom-diddy-diddy, dom-bum-um-ummm…

[KERMIT walks off]

ROWLF: It’s not often you see a guy that green…had the blues that bad.

Ghosts, goblins, and Things That Go Bump in the Night

by

Elizabeth: Six feet of addictions, Dyanna: Very superstitious…, Kirsten: Hey baby, what’s your sign?. There’s something of a mini-meme regarding obsessions, superstitions, the occult, and all things that go bump in the night running around right now.

(Hrm. Random side note — not all things that go bump in the night. I’d elaborate, but I try to keep this website somewhere in the PG to PG-13 range, and it’s a bit early in the morning to go veering into R territory. But I digress [oh, boy do I digress…]…)

I figured I’d go ahead and just start tackling the subjects in order. Given my tendency to babble, however, you’ll have to click on to keep reading…

Read more

The only way out is in

by

I just got back from seeing The Core.

In an effort to kick-start my brain back into gear, I think before I go to bed tonight, I’m going to have to watch something that actually has decent plot, interesting characters, and — most importantly — some semblance of scientific crediblity.

Armageddon should do nicely.