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April 27, 2005
bleaugh
I came down with something yesterday and have been fevrish and icky all day today. I'm heavily dosing with nyquil/dayquil and echinacea, zinc and vitamin C; hopefully I'll knockk out out overnight tonight. I skpped out of work today and slept until 1pm-ish, and have been tottering around since.
It's a weird time of the year for me to get sick, I usually manage it in the fall or so.
Posted by griffjon at 06:22 PM | Comments (0)
April 26, 2005
UN Nominee Hope
US senators have again delayed a vote on President George Bush's nomination of John Bolton as ambassador to the UN, to examine new allegations against him.The vote by the Senate Foreign Relations committee is now due to take place in May to allow fresh hearings.
The decision came after Republican Senator George Voinovich indicated he would side with the Democrats who oppose Mr Bolton's nomination.
He has been accused of being a poor manager and influencing intelligence.
--BBC
Posted by griffjon at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)
Prison
The US prison population has risen further, with one in 138 people now in jail, new official figures reveal.There are more than 2.1 million US citizens in jail - more than in any other country, the Bureau of Justice Statistics says
--BBC
I hear about 1 in every 2 people is a liberal, so there's a lot of room for improvement over the next 4 years.
Posted by griffjon at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)
Leased
...and we have a lease for another month.
phew.
Posted by griffjon at 01:22 PM | Comments (0)
Snark
Man, austin springtime...
(courtesy of the ForecastFox extension to firefox)
Posted by griffjon at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)
April 25, 2005
Historic DasBlueHaus
Good news: Between our presentation and excellent mini-documentary on DasBlueHaus and its previous residents, the Austin Historic Landmark Commission moved to zone the house historic -- which means it goes forward to the next commission with a recommendation for historic zoning. They are not bound by this committee's decision, only influenced by it.
Bad news: the landlady was there, and contrary to our research is a co-owner of the house, and she was... uh... not pleased. So we're worried that we're getting kicked out anyhow, out of spite or hopes that we'll give up once we're kicked out.
Time (realistically, a few days) will tell. Our lease runs out Saturday...
Posted by griffjon at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)
April 23, 2005
Life in Debt
"How many children have to die before these seven men in suits develop a sense of urgency?" Jonathan Hepburn, of Oxfam International, told the AFP news agency."There was complete silence from the G7 on the sale of gold. Yet the IMF has clearly said the gold can be sold to help cancel poor countries' debt," he said.
--BBC
At least a dramatic re-shuffling of debt with a huge, decades-long interest free period; so many developing countries are trapped in their development by have no money to do it with; as all tax revenues go to paying interest on existing debt. Maybe they shouldn't have accepted a loan in the first place, and turn let their country turn into a war zone and then get bailed out by UN Peacekeepers later on down the line, with a huge loss of life and wounds between whatever factions form that cause civil unrest for a unknown long period of time; and then end up having to take loans anyway...
Posted by griffjon at 01:11 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2005
Death Penalty
A team from the University of Miami looked at information on anaesthesia and awareness in prisoners.They suggest some suffer unnecessarily, and claim standards do not meet those for putting animals down.
--BBC
Hardly surprising, sadly
Posted by griffjon at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2005
At the age of 14, he joined the Hitler Youth, as was required of young Germans of the time, but was not an enthusiastic member.
What a great snippet to describe our new Pope. Well, that, and his calling for politicians in the US who support the pro-choice side to be denied communion.
At least he has a great namesake
Posted by griffjon at 04:14 PM | Comments (0)
April 17, 2005
Stating the Obvious
Now, I love the BBC. It's my primary news source nowadays. But sometimes, even the best news organization in the world can stoop to stating what can only be considered very obvious:
Plagge, who died in 1957, was honoured by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.It is unusual for Yad Vashem to bestow the "Righteous Among the Nations" title on a German who was part of the Nazi war machine, the memorial's chairman Avner Shalev told the BBC News website.
Really? Unusual? gee gosh willikers!
(seriously, tho, Plagge saved ~1200 Jews (mostly women and children) using his factory
Posted by griffjon at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)
Clinton Foundation
Former US President Bill Clinton's foundation is to spend an additional $10m to fight Aids among children in the developing world, he has announced.The foundation aims to provide Aids-suppressing drugs to 10,000 children in countries from China to Africa and the Caribbean.
"These children need hope," the former president said, launching the drive.
He said children accounted for one in six Aids deaths worldwide, but only one in 30 receiving treatment was a child.
He said Cipla, an Indian-based company that makes anti-retroviral drugs for children, had agreed to provide medication at less than half the market price.
--BBC
Hey, maybe Clinton can be up there with Carter as a great ex-president if he keeps on this line of work...
Posted by griffjon at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)
Bolton v UN
Not to overly defend the UN -- any bureacracy of that immense size is going to have a nightmarish maze of red tape and paper, BUT, honestly, Bolton? A guy who would've cheered if one of the 9/11 planes had hit the UN building instead?
Le sigh.
Posted by griffjon at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)
MS / Gateway
So, one more of the anti-trust suits has ended in mediation, Gateway's suit against Microsoft -- but an interesting part of the fallout is that while Gateway and Burst (the complainants) got 164M total in payola, 550M got set aside for a "reserve fund to finance future anti-trust claims"
What a grand idea!
Posted by griffjon at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)
Birth Control
The pharmacies-not-filling-birth-control-pills really makes me furious. the BBC ran a good story on it recently.
Phillips said: "In essence, I would be causing a chemical abortion, and as a Christian, I am impelled not to do anything that destroys life."
Let's give him that he means human life. Were I a vegan or a Jainist, perhaps I'd get nitpicky about that, but let's accept that for now. How many objects in our daily life negatively impact another's life; through poor working/sweatshop conditions, through unbalanced trade? What about supporting the war in Iraq? Oh, I forgot that foreigners don't count, only potential babies.
Heck, what about women for whom the Pill is as much a medical device as birth control?
Gah. Hopefully, this will blow over; some states are passing laws forcing pharmacies to fill prescriptions, but some are defending a pharmacist in not filling prescriptions that go against their morals.
I actually worked for a pharmacy back in high school, and have problems with a law forcing them to fill scrips -- sometimes, the pharmacist catches things doctors don't; a person may be seeing multiple specialists but only one pharmacist, and the pharm will catch drugs which won't mix (of course scammers will get around this, but this is a great stopgap against accidental problems happening to innocent people). But I'm sure a law could be written to encompass that without giving leeway to make moralistic judgement calls.
Why is this even an issue?
Posted by griffjon at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)
April 13, 2005
Recent Activity
I haven't been posting much of late; between wrrk, DasHaus, and trying to have a life, I've been busy. Let's see.
Two weekends ago, I did nothing, and it was great.
This past weekend was jam packed with fun, tho. Friday night I and a
co-worker met up with some other local Jamaica RPCVs and we went to a
J'can food night hosted by a local college's business club (Winston was cooking, so we were there). We hung out for a while, went for a red stripe run, and continued hanging out. My co-worker had to get on movin', and we stayed and chatted more, and eventually went back towards their place by way of 6th street, where we had to rescue one of their credit cards left at a club, and then ended up stopping at a pool hall, where we ended up staying and drinking more. I think I stumbled home (and it's a long walk from downtown) around 2...
Saturday, I slept in, and then helped out, but mainly observed, the kids downstairs roasting a goat (one of 'em is greek, evidentially it's a greek easter tradition, at least among his family). Anyhow, that was amusing. nosugarsadded dropped by for a moment (she'd gotten some nice dance shoes at the nearby dance-shoe-store). That evening, peace_cory came in to town to link up with us and her friend furfybird, who had a movie (30min feature) premiering here in town with the Cenozoic peoples, where we ran into a smattering of people, including allea.
We then went and hung out with the RPCV gang until the wee hours.
Sunday, blanu and I headed up to Georgetown to interview some former residents of DasBlueHaus and pick up some records of their father, which we're now trying to find a way to listen to. We got back in ~6pm, and peace_cory and I went downtown to watch the bats, then came back to clean up and go out to Opal's with furfybird and friends.
It was a damn fine weekend. Tho I was a bit tired Monday...
This week I'm gettin all my t's crossed and i's dotted with GWU and loans and such, and continuing research on the Haus.
Posted by griffjon at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)
April 09, 2005
Unitarian Jihad
My Unitarian
Jihad Name is: Brother Spikey Mace of Reasoned Discussion.
Posted by griffjon at 06:29 PM | Comments (0)
April 07, 2005
Public Transport?
I guess there are situations which would make me happy with the state of Jamaica's public transport system; and that being the Indian-Pakistani bus that gets grenades tossed at it...
Passengers on the first cross-Kashmir bus service in nearly 60 years have crossed the Line of Control that divides the region.Some passengers on the buses between Srinagar in Indian-controlled Kashmir and Muzaffarabad in the Pakistan sector cried with joy as they crossed.
Indian PM Manmohan Singh called the new service "a caravan of peace".
The bus from Srinagar earlier survived a grenade attack at Pattan, about 27km (16 miles) from the city.
The bus had already passed when the grenade went off, injuring four people, including a policeman.
--BBC
Posted by griffjon at 08:28 AM | Comments (0)
Those crazy drug smugglers!
Our troops in Colombia have been unusually entrepreneuring, it seems:
A group of US soldiers arrested for alleged cocaine smuggling cannot be allowed to stand trial in Colombia, Washington's envoy to Bogota has said.Colombian senators have been calling for the men, who were based in the country, to be extradited from the US.
But US ambassador William Wood said the soldiers are immune from prosecution.
More than 200 Colombian citizens have been extradited to the US to face trial for drug trafficking, under a bilateral deal between the two countries.
Colombian politicians have asked the government to push for the US to hand over the men, arguing that the extradition agreement works both ways.
"In practical terms, these military personnel committed the alleged crime in Colombia, and according to the extradition treaty, which is bilateral, they should be tried here," legislator Gustavo Petro said.
--BBC
Posted by griffjon at 08:25 AM | Comments (0)
April 06, 2005
Support the Military
Vote out right-wing congress-critters in 2006
Reducing Veterans' Benefits, redefining "veteran"
So, what is happening here? Buyer [R-NJ] is trying to redefine "veteran," and in so doing, reshape benefit programs to meet his new definition. In short, this means fewer benefits for fewer veterans.The two keys here are Buyer's references to "intent of Congress" and "core constituency." By rejecting the "intent of Congress" when they passed legislation defining benefits and eligibility, Buyer is telling us Congress was wrong and he is going to change it. By referring to the VA's "core constituency" as "disabled and indigent veterans," he is eliminating veterans who do not fall into those categories.
Posted by griffjon at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2005
Adaptation
I was chatting with another RPCV (China, 2000-02) the other evening, and she asked how I was re-adjusting. It occurs to me that I've now been back almost 6 months, and perhaps some things are more permanent than others.
I'm still much colder natured, I continue to be very anti-consumerist and pro-simple living, and I still like chicken, rice, and peas.
More importantly, I seem to be slipping towards being a raging, ranting liberal. I saw what I can only presume to be the MTV realroadrules-whatever "reality" TV kids being filmed riding up congress in a pickup after leaving the theater, and blurted out a few obscenities aimed towards MTV. Unfortunately, no good diatribes about media or the pretenses of reality TV shows; I'll have to work on being quicker next time.
I've also been opening up the rant on people at a drastically increased rate. I didn't used to really rant much at all.
Eh, it's a good thing, and really, I aspire to become a more tactful and informed ranting liberal (hence grad school).
Posted by griffjon at 11:34 PM | Comments (0)
Nickle and Dimed
OK, admittedly, I haven't read the book. And now, I'm really not sure if I could push myself through it. It sounds like the post-Welfare-"reform" equivalent of Rachel and Her Children, which was certainly painful enough of a read. I distinctly remember throwing that book across the room more than once in sheer disgust.
Anyhow, NoSugarsAdded had an extra free ticket to the theater adaptation of N+D currently going on at The State Theatre -- it's an amazing production, with wonderful acting, and a powerful, important message about the subsidation of middle- and upper- class Americans by the 30-some-odd million working poor (that's below the food budget * 3 poverty line) also in America, even if you don't always really see them.
It also struck some chords, and tender nerves, with my PC experience; like the author, volunteers always have this safety net. If we get seriously sick, we get taken care of, even flown home -- a volunteer won't be homeless[1] or starving, no matter what happens to the local economy. Many of us had credit cards and bank accounts back home, if we just had to splurge on something, and there was a settling-in allowance to buy basic start-up goods like kitchenware, etc.
But when your safety nets are reduced to this, and when you're constantly exposed to co-workers and friends who don't have them, you feel both a chasm of understanding, true understanding, of what it is to be without a backup plan and also an equally wide chasm with people who don't realize that so many of the people that they come in contact with in the service industries have no safety nets, no savings, no backup plan, and nowhere to turn if anything goes even sightly wrong.
Obviously, I was struck hard by this play. Everyone in Austin should go see it; everyone else, get the book.
[1] OK, so, there were some exceptions, but no one was ever left outside -- there's always another volunteer to crash with, despite PC/Jamaica's rather tarnished record with housing)
Posted by griffjon at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)
April 01, 2005
Ah, delicious hypocrisy
On Thursday, Hudson died after a Texas hospital removed his feeding tube, despite his mother's pleas. He had a fatal congenital disease, but would have been kept alive had his mother been able to pay for his medical costs, or had she found another institution willing to take him. In a related Texas case, Spiro Nikolouzos, who is unable to speak and must be fed through a tube because of a shunt in his brain – but who his wife says can recognize family members and show emotion – may soon be removed from life support because health care providers believe his case is futile.The Hudson and Nikolous cases fall under the Texas Futile Care Law, which was signed into law by then-governor George W. Bush.
--AlterNet
Posted by griffjon at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)
Break time
Ah, screw all this 9-5 stuff. By the time you read this, I'll be on a plane to Thailand, got offered a job teaching English and computer skills. I'm not sure if I'll be back for grad school, depends on how I like it. Details, contact info after the cut:
Yeah, April Fool's. But tempting, too.
Posted by griffjon at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)