Oooog. Long day today - 29 October 2007
Oct. 29th, 2007 11:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silveradeptLong day today. Started by seeing the dentist, and got drilled ‘n filled on two of my teeth. Hooray. Two more yet to go, and this doesn’t excuse me from continuing good habits. Thank goodness for insurances.
An enjoyable thing to think about, although possibly only the Japanese can enjoy it - Sesame Street credit cards. Sokyoooot. Comparatively, Tim Burton-style Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. Also sokyoooot, depending on your preferences.
Back here in America, Stephen Colbert continues to campaign in South Carolina, naming a sponsor for his campaign and immediately taking a ribbing from the Edwards campaign on it. Much more seriously, follow the money and see that those who criticize the current health care industry are still accepting large donations from them.
Afghanistan's president is publicly asking the United States and NATO forces to scale back on dropping bombs on his country. There’s also an interview with one of the coordinators and commanders of the bombing campaigns, saying that a lot of strikes get called off. The deaths of civilians, though, in the bombing campaigns are definitely something to avoid. It still sounds like that the military is stretched rather thin on ground troops. I wonder how much worse that has gotten since the surge began. Certain towns lost to the Taliban have been the site of fierce fighting, certainly, and have not been recaptured.
More generally, War and bombs are deadly things. Those who have been on the end of them, and lived to tell the tale have much to tell us about their viciousness.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nagamasa offers an account of his/her encounter with a Hiroshima survivor.
Back stateside, tracking things is definitely the wave of the future, with GPS devices being used for anything from tracking stolen cash to enforcing a driving zone or wander zone for vehicles and people that will alert others when those being tracked are outside their boundaries. Coupled with cell phones that can be loaded or cut off at times that also have trackers in them, it’s thoroughly possible that someone could know where you are, all the time. Doesn’t that just scream “we trust you with some independence” to teenagers?
NASA unmanned drones are helping with the California fire fighting. And they’re broadcasting the data back in a much faster manner than the human pilots.
Up in space, an inspection today discovered metal shavings on the International Space Station, which could mean setbacks for new module deliveries and for power generation. The damage could be reparable, but it would also be good to figure out why those shavings are there in the first place.
Whet your knives and sharpen your appetites, and watch a guest poster with The General politely request to book a Satanist Club after-school activity after seeing that the West Valley School District allows a Christian after-school activity to take place there. The district itself is not sponsoring, nor assumes any responsibility for the Christian group, and it is happening after school, so it doesn’t necessarily run into case law grounds, but I sincerely hope they’re just as accommodating for the Pitchfork Club as they are for the Good News Club. Also, I note the start date. Halloween. How cute.
Something not cute at all is the way that a ban on religious content-filled flag-folding recitations is turned into an attack on the Christian roots of the flag-folding recitation. Excepting for one tiny problem. There is no religious content or additional special meaning in the folding of the flag. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nothing at all. Much like the “War on Christmas”, this one seems to have been made up out of whole cloth, and then somehow grafted on. If you would, however, like to create your own flag and establish meaning for it, you’re more than welcome to.
Something worthy of more serious discussion - are girls' Hallows Eve costumes too adult? Sex sells, sure, but do little girls really want to go flouncing about, and is it wise for costume manufacturers to make so many sexualized costumes? I’m sure that Pedo Bear approves, but isn’t that a bad thing? Of course, there is always the suggestion that the kids are merely emulating their parents/older friends and television/media role models, who are continuously getting more and more sexualized. Where to begin to restore innocence... if it can be restored? And if it should be restored, because I’m sure that there are people who think that exposing children to these things and the associated messages is a good thing (assuming the messages can be handled), or at least unavoidable.
Also worthy of discussion, but potentially also deserving of quiche, is Star Parker's utilization of Senator Obama's seeming contradiction on gay issues to say that there’s no reason for the ENDA to pass, nor that the Senator is doing anything that deserves the backlash that he has received for hiring an ’ex-gay’ gospel singer for his tour, one that claims that anyone can change to heterosexuality if they really want to. The ENDA reasoning is based, at least in part, on the gospel singer’s claim - if anyone can change to heterosexuality with effort and prayer, then giving homosexuals non-discrimination status is ‘special rights’. If it’s innate, of course, like one’s race, then that argument falls apart. Continuing, Parker chides the liberal base on wanting to fire someone from a campaign because he is “Christian and an advocate of traditional values”, at the same time advocating for a piece of legislation that would prevent those Christians from not hiring or firing employees that are probably in his mind, advocates for the homosexual agenda. (I think I misplaced my copy again.)
Senator Obama is being a Democrat, for certain - stalking the center line, hoping not to fall off while appealing enough to both sides of the spectrum to get himself elected. For the liberals that believe Democrats should be a real liberal party, this pandering to a religious conservative base is sickening. Thus, they’re within their ideological rights to raise hell that the Senator is not behaving like a liberal. Much like some people might be surprised at Ben Stein throwing the shocker.
Digby says the next election isn't about comparing oneself to G.W. Bush, but to Hillary Clinton, to the point where she thinks that Hillary is replacing W as the sitting president, and that the last eight years might end up being blamed on her, and not the shrub. Liberal Beagle says, in response, "Wate, wut?".
In technology, terabyte thumb drives may soon be within our grasp. Portable drives can always use more space. And if you want a sixteen billion pixel image of da Vinci's Last Supper, you might need all that space. Or if you want to carry some very artistic renders of computer-generated women.
Differing opinions on the matter of whether the world is ready for extraterrestrial life to make contact (or be revealed) - Paul Kimball says that we're not ready for it yet, and that there would be mass panics. Mac Tonnies, on the other hand, says even if we do panic, meeting ET might be the kick in the pants humanity needs to move forward.
And now, cute pictures of children in Halloween costumes in Harlem. And then The Endicott Studio, a place where myth, folklore, and fairy tales all say hello to each other and see how they work with our contemporary arts. Looks really good to read. Endicott Studio also maintains a blog. A sampling of what’s available in this issue is Spells of enchantment, which reminds us that “Once upon a time” is as much an incantation as an invocation.
Last for tonight is Zen Proverbs, so that one’s moment of enlightenment is not late in arriving.
Nor should one’s sleep.
An enjoyable thing to think about, although possibly only the Japanese can enjoy it - Sesame Street credit cards. Sokyoooot. Comparatively, Tim Burton-style Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. Also sokyoooot, depending on your preferences.
Back here in America, Stephen Colbert continues to campaign in South Carolina, naming a sponsor for his campaign and immediately taking a ribbing from the Edwards campaign on it. Much more seriously, follow the money and see that those who criticize the current health care industry are still accepting large donations from them.
Afghanistan's president is publicly asking the United States and NATO forces to scale back on dropping bombs on his country. There’s also an interview with one of the coordinators and commanders of the bombing campaigns, saying that a lot of strikes get called off. The deaths of civilians, though, in the bombing campaigns are definitely something to avoid. It still sounds like that the military is stretched rather thin on ground troops. I wonder how much worse that has gotten since the surge began. Certain towns lost to the Taliban have been the site of fierce fighting, certainly, and have not been recaptured.
More generally, War and bombs are deadly things. Those who have been on the end of them, and lived to tell the tale have much to tell us about their viciousness.
nagamasa offers an account of his/her encounter with a Hiroshima survivor.Back stateside, tracking things is definitely the wave of the future, with GPS devices being used for anything from tracking stolen cash to enforcing a driving zone or wander zone for vehicles and people that will alert others when those being tracked are outside their boundaries. Coupled with cell phones that can be loaded or cut off at times that also have trackers in them, it’s thoroughly possible that someone could know where you are, all the time. Doesn’t that just scream “we trust you with some independence” to teenagers?
NASA unmanned drones are helping with the California fire fighting. And they’re broadcasting the data back in a much faster manner than the human pilots.
Up in space, an inspection today discovered metal shavings on the International Space Station, which could mean setbacks for new module deliveries and for power generation. The damage could be reparable, but it would also be good to figure out why those shavings are there in the first place.
Whet your knives and sharpen your appetites, and watch a guest poster with The General politely request to book a Satanist Club after-school activity after seeing that the West Valley School District allows a Christian after-school activity to take place there. The district itself is not sponsoring, nor assumes any responsibility for the Christian group, and it is happening after school, so it doesn’t necessarily run into case law grounds, but I sincerely hope they’re just as accommodating for the Pitchfork Club as they are for the Good News Club. Also, I note the start date. Halloween. How cute.
Something not cute at all is the way that a ban on religious content-filled flag-folding recitations is turned into an attack on the Christian roots of the flag-folding recitation. Excepting for one tiny problem. There is no religious content or additional special meaning in the folding of the flag. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nothing at all. Much like the “War on Christmas”, this one seems to have been made up out of whole cloth, and then somehow grafted on. If you would, however, like to create your own flag and establish meaning for it, you’re more than welcome to.
Something worthy of more serious discussion - are girls' Hallows Eve costumes too adult? Sex sells, sure, but do little girls really want to go flouncing about, and is it wise for costume manufacturers to make so many sexualized costumes? I’m sure that Pedo Bear approves, but isn’t that a bad thing? Of course, there is always the suggestion that the kids are merely emulating their parents/older friends and television/media role models, who are continuously getting more and more sexualized. Where to begin to restore innocence... if it can be restored? And if it should be restored, because I’m sure that there are people who think that exposing children to these things and the associated messages is a good thing (assuming the messages can be handled), or at least unavoidable.
Also worthy of discussion, but potentially also deserving of quiche, is Star Parker's utilization of Senator Obama's seeming contradiction on gay issues to say that there’s no reason for the ENDA to pass, nor that the Senator is doing anything that deserves the backlash that he has received for hiring an ’ex-gay’ gospel singer for his tour, one that claims that anyone can change to heterosexuality if they really want to. The ENDA reasoning is based, at least in part, on the gospel singer’s claim - if anyone can change to heterosexuality with effort and prayer, then giving homosexuals non-discrimination status is ‘special rights’. If it’s innate, of course, like one’s race, then that argument falls apart. Continuing, Parker chides the liberal base on wanting to fire someone from a campaign because he is “Christian and an advocate of traditional values”, at the same time advocating for a piece of legislation that would prevent those Christians from not hiring or firing employees that are probably in his mind, advocates for the homosexual agenda. (I think I misplaced my copy again.)
Senator Obama is being a Democrat, for certain - stalking the center line, hoping not to fall off while appealing enough to both sides of the spectrum to get himself elected. For the liberals that believe Democrats should be a real liberal party, this pandering to a religious conservative base is sickening. Thus, they’re within their ideological rights to raise hell that the Senator is not behaving like a liberal. Much like some people might be surprised at Ben Stein throwing the shocker.
Digby says the next election isn't about comparing oneself to G.W. Bush, but to Hillary Clinton, to the point where she thinks that Hillary is replacing W as the sitting president, and that the last eight years might end up being blamed on her, and not the shrub. Liberal Beagle says, in response, "Wate, wut?".
In technology, terabyte thumb drives may soon be within our grasp. Portable drives can always use more space. And if you want a sixteen billion pixel image of da Vinci's Last Supper, you might need all that space. Or if you want to carry some very artistic renders of computer-generated women.
Differing opinions on the matter of whether the world is ready for extraterrestrial life to make contact (or be revealed) - Paul Kimball says that we're not ready for it yet, and that there would be mass panics. Mac Tonnies, on the other hand, says even if we do panic, meeting ET might be the kick in the pants humanity needs to move forward.
And now, cute pictures of children in Halloween costumes in Harlem. And then The Endicott Studio, a place where myth, folklore, and fairy tales all say hello to each other and see how they work with our contemporary arts. Looks really good to read. Endicott Studio also maintains a blog. A sampling of what’s available in this issue is Spells of enchantment, which reminds us that “Once upon a time” is as much an incantation as an invocation.
Last for tonight is Zen Proverbs, so that one’s moment of enlightenment is not late in arriving.
Nor should one’s sleep.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 05:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 07:16 pm (UTC)I also attribute part of this to a lack of humor and culture in costume selection on the part of adults. You can't go as Ophelia or Jo March or even Mrs Edward Rochester any more because even if you did explain it, you'd get blank stares from everyone else. (Seriously. I once mentioned that someone was wearing a dress that was "classically Ophelia" and the response was "isn't she a nun?". Stunned silence.) Even trompe l'oeil and punny sorts of costumes (wear a bowler hat and have an oversized green apple in front your face; a half-moon half-pizza costume, punching people in the FAAAACE; a giant heart with a storybook) are no fun because even AFTER you explain it, you get blank stares. When adults are limited to things like sexy nurse + handsome doctor, generic elf/witch/wizard/princess, the kids will take the same cues and want to simply reflect generic mass culture nonsense, most of which sexualizes women to some degree.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 07:27 pm (UTC)wow. that's bad.
I agree. It seems that as a whole, there's a lot less creativity going into costumes than there was 15-20 years ago. I'd think nothing of dressing as one of the March girls, Laura Ingalls (which I did a lot when I was little), Anne of Green Gables, or even as Kirstin (American Girl Doll that was around when I was in elementary school) when I was younger. of course, nearly all those costumes involved the same dress, just a different apron/pinafore and accessories or a wig. I even remember one year I really wanted to dress as a cheerleader, so I had a knee-length pleated skirt and a sweater...none of this show my stomach and wear a short skirt thing. We always would take whatever costume idea there was and make it more appropriate for my age. Or even making costumes out of things you already have in your house. When I was in HS, a lot of us raided our mom's closets for 60s-70s stuff to put together hippie costumes.
And making costumes out of felt! Chocolate chip cookies, watermelon slices, an M&M...but I think too that more parents knew how to sew or at least be crafty/creative, too. A lot of parents now just purchase a costume that's made out of flimsy shiny fabric.
Anyway, now I'm just ranting. I miss the Halloween's of childhood where most things were handmade and creatively put together.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 07:58 pm (UTC)You have an article on the skimpiness of little girl Halloween costumes, but if you look at the pictures of the cute children in Harlem in costume, not a one has on anything skimpy.
The two articles aren't linked directly together in your fun fashion, but I happened to look at those two articles in succession. No conclusions to be drawn, just wanted to point it out as interesting.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-31 01:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-31 06:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-31 06:51 pm (UTC)