Amnesty National- Gulf Style?

No.

So, how does it make sense that someone who works for cash and doesn't pay taxes to the government should get the government service of a government agent stepping to the plate and collecting money from BP for that person when that person finds him-or-herself in a position of no longer being employed in that under the table situation?

How is it that the person "should not be punished for a past mistake?" That supposition could lead all sorts of places... like that BP should not be expected to be "punished" by paying for the mistaken blow out of the well in the Gulf, for instance.

Serious, people. Think about it. Stupid.

I can't fight this feeling any more.

I really did enjoy kicking back this weekend, right down to going back to bed at 9 Sunday morning and sleeping until 1 in the afternoon. It was nice to just hang out and catch up with peeps and not worry about Things.

But this traffic issue, this driving situation, I think I can no longer ignore. I did it for several days, but the next time I meet up with someone who stops at an intersection in which he or she has the right of way (ie. the stop signs are for people coming perpendicular and not for people going in his or her direction), I will punch that person in the head with my jackknife. It's not wise and only further disrupts the flow of traffic and makes people wonder whether the hellz or not the other guy is going to follow the law.

I can't take it. I can't. Traffic violations will be my death, I know now, not fire. And this will be via heart attack caused directly by witnessing one last such act, and not because I commit it and smash into someone.

p.s. For those of you remembering that if Quetzalcoatl does not return in 2012 we will have presidential elections in this country again, and that I am running for office, you ought to know this: apparently, whereas some people are "realists" or "pragmatists," I am simply "crass." Be prepared. (I find aubergine to be a rather classy color, but perhaps some would not.)

Texas 4000

Last night the Laramie community welcomed 27 young riders in the Rocky Route of the Texas 4000 for the 4th year in a row, offering showers, laundry, beds to sleep in and a potluck supper to the cyclists, who are riding from Austin, TX, to Anchorage, AK, in the world's longest annual charity bike ride to raise funds for cancer research, and to spread hope, knowledge and charity along the way. All of them have had direct experience with cancer, either themselves or through a family member or friend.

At some point one of the women who had offered to host said told me this morning, as the kids were getting ready to ride after their dedication circle, that some times the news can inspire such pessimism in her, and this event gave her hope that it's not all bad out there in the world.

These young riders are smart, driven, and committed to a cause, and as another woman noted, if other kids their age are just half as good as they are, then that is really, just good.

Check out the Texas 4000 at Texas4000.org for routes, photos, blog entries, bios and more information. It's quite a ride, and I feel pretty honored to have been able to host a very smart and thoughtful young man last night who has endured non-Hodgkins lymphoma at 19 and again a year later, and who just four years after nearly dying, is making the 4500 mile ride himself.

Little Hiatus

Going to take a short hiatus while I get my head on straight again. Be back with something fresh.

Rage Against the Machines

I'm not really one to write a journal much, except when completely confused by some stupidity in which I am engaging, and trying to figure out what the hellz is going on with all that... or convincing myself to continue to engage, justifying, that kind of thing.

But I did look back on my blog of the past couple years this morning, to see if I have felt the rage and sadness I felt, say, last evening, and again this morning when I woke up wishing I hadn't woken up, and sure enough, last year I was raving about the crappy service people in service positions (ie. convenience store sales, gear shop sales) gave my brother and me while we were trying to do canyon country in the pouring rain; and the year before I was morose as all hell, crying at potluck and finding solace only in the early morning mist of the hills.

Yesterday it was what's been bothering me for what seems like aeons now, but really has been only several months: vehicle traffic, both two- and four-wheeled. What the hellz is it with people on bikes that they don't follow the road rules? It's like people forget- or maybe no one ever taught them- that they are supposed to act like vehicular traffic and do things like drive on the street, in the proper lane, and cross at the green lights, and stop at intersections. You know, the stuff cars and trucks do? But, shite, here in Laramie, trust me, people in four-wheeled vehicles don't follow those rules either, as evidenced by my almost daily witnessing of people blowing through red lights at 13th and Grand or 15th and Grand (Grand being the main E-W street in town and the intersections with 13th and 15th being two very busy ones near campus.)

I consider writing a letter to the editor, often, but crap, it's not my job to make sure people are following the law and not killing or being killed. That's their own job, and when they screw up, it's the cops' job to bust them for it. I'd rather throw rocks at their windshields, or better yet, catch up to them, pull them out of the drivers seat, or off the bicycle seat, and punch them in the face with my jackknife.

But, then who would be the one to get in trouble? It's a lose-lose situation.

Life- Perfect as Usual

So, there is this recovery site my sis pointed me to, and every day I get a little message from there, a little mediation, and let me tell you, the only thing I am recovering from is existential angst, but these things are great. They remind me how deep I've wallowed in the crap, and alternately, how easily I walk right back out of it.

Here's today's. It's pretty sweet. And the site, if you're interested, is called In the Rooms. Thanks to my Wis.

Perfect as Usual

Miracles are natural. -A Course in Miracles

As my ll-year-old friend Tasha sat down to eat some noodles she had cooked for lunch, I asked her, "How did your noodles turn out?" Tasha smiled and answered, "Perfect-as usual!" Tasha's answer reminded me that perfection is our natural state. Life was intended to work perfectly; it does and it will. Those who attune their vision to behold perfection will find it, create more good, and enjoy it. Those whose sight is set on loss, victimization, and death will continually manifest those experiences.

Some psychologists did an experiment on children's attitudes. They took a child who was considered negative and unappreciative and placed him in a room with a collection of new toys. He played with each toy for a few minutes and then complained that he was bored. Then the scientists took a child described as positive and optimistic and put him in a room with a huge pile of horse manure. Soon he smiled and exclaimed, "This is great!"

"Why is that?" one of the researchers asked him.

Quickly he answered, "There must be a pony somewhere!"

Uh-oh, Spaghetti-Os!

This is the ultimate insult. Dag, people get it right! Do your jobs! There are enough of us out here needing a job who would actually do it the way it's meant to be done... We don't need you screwing up and putting a bunch of people's lives in danger- and defaming Spag-Os in the process.

(from Togus the Cat, who is supah cool, like the Big Orange, only it seems not so ornery):

Texas Firm Recalls Three Varieties of "Spaghettios" With Meatballs That May Be Underprocessed

Recall Release CLASS I RECALL FSIS-RC-035-2010 HEALTH RISK: HIGH Congressional and Public Affairs (202) 720-9113 Atiya Khan WASHINGTON, June 17, 2010 - Campbell Soup Supply Company, LLC, a Paris, Texas, establishment is recalling approximately 15,000,000 pounds of "SpaghettiOs with Meatballs" canned products due to possible under-processing, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The following products are subject to recall: [View Labels] 14.75-ounce cans of "SpaghettiOs" with Meatballs, bearing the identifying product code "U5" on the bottom of the can. 14.75-ounce cans of "SpaghettiOs" A to Z with Meatballs, bearing the identifying product code "4N" on the bottom of the can. 14.75-ounce cans of "SpaghettiOs" Fun Shapes with Meatballs (Cars), bearing the identifying product code "KS" on the bottom of the can. The products subject to recall bear the establishment number "EST 4K," as well as a "Use By" date between June 2010 and December 2011 ink-jetted on the bottom of each can. These products were manufactured between December 2008 and June 2010 and distributed to retail establishments nationwide. When available, the retail distribution list(s) will be posted on FSIS' website at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FSIS_Recalls/ Open_Federal_Cases/index.asp. The problem was discovered through a routine warehouse inspection by the company and its subsequent investigation. FSIS has received no reports of illnesses from consumption of these products. FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers. Consumer questions regarding the recall should be directed to Campbell's Hotline at (866) 495-3774; media inquiries should be directed to the company's Director of Corporate Communications, Anthony Sanzio at (856) 968-4390. Consumers with food safety questions can "Ask Karen," the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from l0 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_035_2010_Release/index.asp

Unfair and Imbalanced

Yet another glaring misstep by the fourth estate, in this case (SURPRISE!), Fox News:

Fox's Most Blatant Falsehood Ever?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 17, 2010

CONTACT Jess Levin (202) 772-8162 jlevin@mediamatters.org

Washington, DC - Today, after Fox News and the Fox Nation falsely suggested that President Obama was giving a "major strip" of land in Arizona "back to Mexico," Media Matters for America issued an open letter to Fox News Senior Vice President Michael Clemente asking that, as promised in the "quality control" memo Fox News management issued to staff, "immediate disciplinary action" be taken.

"Michael Clemente cannot simply ignore this on-air error like he has so many others," said Ari Rabin-Havt, Vice President for Research and Communications at Media Matters. "This was one of the most deliberately misleading reports I've ever seen on Fox News."

Added Rabin-Havt: "This is not a quality control problem. This is a journalistic ethics problem. And if Fox News doesn't correct this, it will prove that it has none."

BACKGROUND

Rabin-Havt has sent five previous letters about such "mistakes" but has yet to receive a response. He sent today's letter after Bonnie Swarbrick, the public information officer for the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona, exclusively told Media Matters that Fox's claims were "totally false" and the notion that America had given the land back to Mexico is "ludicrous."

The rest at:
http://mediamatters.org/press/releases/201006170032

Immigration Lawless

OK, peeps, so we do have immigration laws in this country, indeed, and for all of you who say you don't give a crap who comes in here as long as they do it legally, let me tell you a little story:

I know a lovely young woman who came here from Tasmania when she met her boyfriend (a US citizen) there. She had been staying here, legally, on a tourist visa, you know, following the law?

Well, guess what, folks? Recently she was crossing the border from Tijuana to San Diego and was detained. Even though she still had three years left on her tourist visa the immigration official decided she had renewed too many times. Federal law states that a person can renew for 6 months with each crossing of the border. The young woman spent more than two weeks in federal prison, was subsequently deported, and will not be back in town for quite a while, if at all, as INS has excluded her from returning to the US for 5 years.

Come on in, anyone, as long as you follow the law. Of course, that doesn't mean we will follow it on our end and you won't get booted anyway.

We are a mean, mean country.

Just Between Us

But what if I want to end up in court?

Defend myself, like Slobodan. But that's off the subject. Here are 23 incriminating things not to say in an e-mail, stupid. This is highly confidential:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127829646&sc=fb&cc=fp

p.s. I wonder how long it will take the FFM to note that I am relying on other sources for entries again. And yet I have all this time on my hands.

Asteroid Mission Returns to Earth

The BBC so has cool news:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10305664.stm

And now for your listening...

...viewing... pleasure:

http://www.wimp.com/wronggig/

BP: Reckless Manslaughter?

Prize of the day goes to the guy who called Ed Schultz and said when foreign "terrorists" come over here and kill people we go out bombing, but that when BP commits reckless manslaughter, what do we do? It's about time people even started talking about the people who lost their lives in the blowout- a blowout that could have been prevented had the corporation employed appropriate practices.

Some days are better left outside.

Yesterday was a meeting of the museum guy from OK with the Friends of the SH Knight Geological Museum, about the reinvention of the museum. Hard to believe it's been a year since Tom Buchanan, President of University of Wyoming, axed the Geological Museum on campus. It was an insane summer for the Friends, raising awareness and even some funding to show the importance of the museum to the public, whether local school kids or families from Boston or Chinese scholars. Then, limbo.

Well, things don't happen overnight, and now the museum reinvention committee upon which the same President who formerly said NO to the museum ever being again bestowed his blessing, is in the process of, well, reinventing the museum. Wow.

As the museum man said yesterday, "We know that no one wants the old museum back. People want something new." (He did not know he was wrong, and that there are actually people who liked the museum as it was, and found it plenty valuable. He'd been listening to the committee peeps. And trust me, some day there will be something new. There is something now. Someone will probably let you all know at some point what it is. But it isn't the final destination. But there is money now, for something new, but still a geological museum, even though Tom said no. So, there is progress right there, right?)

Today Soil Mapping class went out to Boulder Ridge. It was sunny, then rainy, mosquitoey, and pretty gorgeous. The soil was moist and smelled good when we dug it up and handled it. It's just a better day most days when those days are outside.

p.s. This is a super cool image from 1922 of SH Knight himself having lunch with some peeps in the Snowy Range, overlooking the Laramie Basin where we were digging around today.

President Obama still hasn't fixed that oil spill.

Next time we have an election for President, I guess we ought to make sure there's a PhD chemical physicist or an engineer on the ballot?

But I will shut up now. The FFM has been picking on me about expressing disappointment so frequently on the ole blog. I think I'm encroaching on his territory, though he calls it "realism" in his case.

Gas Mileage, Please?

Beef of the day, peeps:

One of the most important, if not the most important, considerations when I look to purchase a car is gas mileage. How many miles to the gallon does a particular make and model get, on average? And you know what? In reviews, and even on sites, this information is not particularly forthcoming.

Why? I think it's that frankly, fellow Americans, most of us don't give a crap if we own and/or drive a gas guzzler. So, the next time you are bitching about BP blowing up the Gulf Coast, think about We the People have played in the game, and continue to play.

Bye bye, Subaru Baja. Too bad. Other people may find you ugly, but I think you're cute as hell. With that crappy mileage, though? Not buying.

Things we know:

1) BP an associated oil giants are made up of a bunch of people who care about money in their pockets and bank accounts and little else;

2) The Israeli government is made up of mean hypocrites.

But some days you just have to take a day off from griping and enjoy the sweet sweet sights and scents of spring.

t r u t h o u t | Government Impotence and Corporate Rule

http://www.truthout.org/government-impotence-and-corporate-rule60049

But just how is it that we are to "put the public back in charge of our government?" The Tea Partiers are trying to do that, and dag, if I don't want that public in charge of my government any more than I do the corporate power-and-money mongers.