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Been employed for a little over two weeks now, and so far, so good. Still have a boatload of things to learn, of course, but each day some part of my collection knowledge is increased, some part of layout makes sense, some part of how things work around here clicks in. Certainly helps that I’ve got people who are more than willing to help me out when I’m not sure, don’t know, or did something weird. That said, improv skills are certainly getting a riff or two already. Nothign quite like having to scramble a bit to find something when someone asks you “I want a good book to read for my X grade level child.” And then they can’t describe the child’s reading interests enough for me to really nail something specific down. Makes my job that much harder, but that’s what I’m pulling down my ridiculously impressive, six-figure salary for. (Note: Six figures = Four.two)
Anyway, onward to the... y’know, it’s not really a newscast, is it? Kind of more like what they do on Keith’s show or possibly Jon’s or Steven’s, but less actual hilarity and good writing, more poor puns, and possibly stranger stuff, on average. And a lot less in the TV viewing ratings.
The casualties of war are great. In addition to those who are dying, one military cemetery has run out of space. They’re full up. Lots of people die in wars. I wonder how many of the Iraqi cemeteries are full up and then some. The Bush administration, however, seems more interested in attacking the website Moveon.org for an advertisement that replaced General Petraeus with General Betray-Us. Rhyme-time aside, I suspect many of my countrymen and women see an arm protruding from the General’s posterior. Whether it’s actually there or not. That the General then recommends a course of action that they find personally distasteful, and there you have the advertisement. In Salon, Sidney Blumenthal documents how Mr. Bush has been in a fantasy realm and hopes that history will vindicate him. I don’t think history will vindicate him. Vilify him, quite possibly, despite whatever blame will be placed on everyone else for failures in the Middle East.
Other politics, involving the general election that is still more than a year in advance.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
theferett comments on the train wreck that insurance companies are now and the suspicion with which he views Senator Clinton's plan to fix it, assuming the plan's been read right. Some form of socialized medicine would be nice to have - coverage of basic services, paid with taxes, so that money can be spent on the ounces of prevention, rather than the multimillions of pounds of cure. In a different realm, Fred Thompson took flak from James Dobson, which may or may not be a weight he has to drag in the race toward a nomination by his party.
Most frightening, though, are the claims that a Kossack, Troutfishing, is making, namely that he's done sufficient research with others to prove that the United States Military is functionally administering religious tests as a prerequisite of staying a soldier, even with no overt establishment. Troutfishing claims his research has helped to form the lawsuits and complaints that are now underway on this subject. Considering how much effort it took to get a pentacle on a veteran’s headstone, and the continuing argument over homosexuals serving in the military, one might wonder just how much of God-culture has seeped into the chain of command, and how much of that is actively being used as a sword to make everyone in the troops at least nominally Christian, if not requiring much more. For something like this, I really hope it’s a gigantic exaggeration, and that there isn’t a systematic corruption underway. In some ways, this echoes the idea that the Religious Right corrupted the GOP and turned it into their personal stump.
That said, soldiers held their fire when Taliban opponents used children as human shields. The account couldn’t be independently verified, but still, it’s a hope that the conflict in Afghanistan might be making better progress than Iraq ever hoped for.
Lucha Libre wrestler El Hijo de Santo puts his fame to work for environmental causes. Sweet! Masked men doing virtuous deeds. It’s the perfect cover for the Science/Super Heroes! Maybe we’ll see more of this, especially with the possibility of 40 percent of global deaths being linked to pollution of various sorts.
Eh-hem. Some people will probably find a way to blow this out of proportion. Apparently, playing video games makes your GPA drop .241 points. That 241-thousandths of a point. Coming from a study that wasn’t even really studying video games, but study time. But why can I see people going in front of elected officials saying “See? This proves it! Video games are teh ebil!” As This City Shall Fall says, experience is the ultimate arbiter. Believe little else than that. There is a certain want to not make a second mistake if the first one bashed you on the head, yes...
Couple finds out that they love each other, but rather than patching up their marriage, they get a divorce. Not quite the result you’re supposed to get when you say that you like getting caught in the rain.
Despite the grim, here’s something, well, weird. Well, ish. Anyway, a bad_sex account with Star Trek punnery and innuendo involved. Read it and laugh.
What might be very cool, is the idea of metaplace: DIY virtual worlds. If you’re not fond of the elves and tights games or the blaster-powered space wars, then you can try making your own. Or, if you want, just recreate Space Invaders.
Anyway, onward to the... y’know, it’s not really a newscast, is it? Kind of more like what they do on Keith’s show or possibly Jon’s or Steven’s, but less actual hilarity and good writing, more poor puns, and possibly stranger stuff, on average. And a lot less in the TV viewing ratings.
The casualties of war are great. In addition to those who are dying, one military cemetery has run out of space. They’re full up. Lots of people die in wars. I wonder how many of the Iraqi cemeteries are full up and then some. The Bush administration, however, seems more interested in attacking the website Moveon.org for an advertisement that replaced General Petraeus with General Betray-Us. Rhyme-time aside, I suspect many of my countrymen and women see an arm protruding from the General’s posterior. Whether it’s actually there or not. That the General then recommends a course of action that they find personally distasteful, and there you have the advertisement. In Salon, Sidney Blumenthal documents how Mr. Bush has been in a fantasy realm and hopes that history will vindicate him. I don’t think history will vindicate him. Vilify him, quite possibly, despite whatever blame will be placed on everyone else for failures in the Middle East.
Other politics, involving the general election that is still more than a year in advance.
theferett comments on the train wreck that insurance companies are now and the suspicion with which he views Senator Clinton's plan to fix it, assuming the plan's been read right. Some form of socialized medicine would be nice to have - coverage of basic services, paid with taxes, so that money can be spent on the ounces of prevention, rather than the multimillions of pounds of cure. In a different realm, Fred Thompson took flak from James Dobson, which may or may not be a weight he has to drag in the race toward a nomination by his party.Most frightening, though, are the claims that a Kossack, Troutfishing, is making, namely that he's done sufficient research with others to prove that the United States Military is functionally administering religious tests as a prerequisite of staying a soldier, even with no overt establishment. Troutfishing claims his research has helped to form the lawsuits and complaints that are now underway on this subject. Considering how much effort it took to get a pentacle on a veteran’s headstone, and the continuing argument over homosexuals serving in the military, one might wonder just how much of God-culture has seeped into the chain of command, and how much of that is actively being used as a sword to make everyone in the troops at least nominally Christian, if not requiring much more. For something like this, I really hope it’s a gigantic exaggeration, and that there isn’t a systematic corruption underway. In some ways, this echoes the idea that the Religious Right corrupted the GOP and turned it into their personal stump.
That said, soldiers held their fire when Taliban opponents used children as human shields. The account couldn’t be independently verified, but still, it’s a hope that the conflict in Afghanistan might be making better progress than Iraq ever hoped for.
Lucha Libre wrestler El Hijo de Santo puts his fame to work for environmental causes. Sweet! Masked men doing virtuous deeds. It’s the perfect cover for the Science/Super Heroes! Maybe we’ll see more of this, especially with the possibility of 40 percent of global deaths being linked to pollution of various sorts.
Eh-hem. Some people will probably find a way to blow this out of proportion. Apparently, playing video games makes your GPA drop .241 points. That 241-thousandths of a point. Coming from a study that wasn’t even really studying video games, but study time. But why can I see people going in front of elected officials saying “See? This proves it! Video games are teh ebil!” As This City Shall Fall says, experience is the ultimate arbiter. Believe little else than that. There is a certain want to not make a second mistake if the first one bashed you on the head, yes...
Couple finds out that they love each other, but rather than patching up their marriage, they get a divorce. Not quite the result you’re supposed to get when you say that you like getting caught in the rain.
Despite the grim, here’s something, well, weird. Well, ish. Anyway, a bad_sex account with Star Trek punnery and innuendo involved. Read it and laugh.
What might be very cool, is the idea of metaplace: DIY virtual worlds. If you’re not fond of the elves and tights games or the blaster-powered space wars, then you can try making your own. Or, if you want, just recreate Space Invaders.
