Filed under: Politics
I try not to be the kind of person who will say “I told you so” when I did, in fact, tell you so. At least, I try not to do so condescendingly. But not long ago, a colleague of mine stopped by my office and not only did I want to say “I told you so,” I wanted to punch him in the face. This is someone I genuinely like.
The issue inciting my aggressive impulse was, of course, the Iraq War. Before the war began, this colleague sent around an email to his friends asking for their opinions on the impending Iraq invasion. Nearly all who responded supported Bush’s plan. In fact, I was the only one who wrote more than two words against the war. Immediately, I was vilified by this group—most of whom I had never met, our only connection being my colleague. One man, in response to my email, suggested that all protesters be shot as traitors.
Some five years later, I saw my colleague and all of my rage—about how fucked up this country has become, how wise people in high positions were ignored, how patriotic people were accused of treason and worse, how many, many lives have been lost, how many more have been wounded—all of my rage was suddenly (and unfairly, I’ll admit) directed at him. He became Everyman in one instant. And I’m pissed as hell at Everyman for being a dupe. (more…)
Filed under: General Angst
But sites like this make my head hurt. The food and wine section made me feel like I walked into a virtual mammoth Ladies Home Journal. The About.com sites are the same. There’s too much information. I just wanted to look up Cocoa Puff cereal straws and I suddenly feel guilty for not being remotely interested in things I can make out of Hershey’s Kisses. Am I being cranky?
Filed under: About Pigspittle
And I was reminded today why I have this rule. It’s because of ads like this, found in Pigspittle News personals:
There are many sicknesses in this world that doctors & God can cure. But there is one that only God & another individual can cure, that is loneliness. Somewhere in our wonderful city is another person like Carl who is very lonely & needs a companion; who will enjoy being with each other, caring about each other & going places & having meals together. 2 years ago, God took my wife & I have been lonely ever since. I cry myself to sleep day & night wishing for somebody. If you’re that person, please call me any evening at [lists phone #]. I am 74 years old and have no transportation or anybody.
Carl, man, you’re breaking my heart. I mean that, entirely snark-free.
Filed under: Politics
Yes, Gonzales has resigned. Here is, perhaps, the funniest comment I’ve seen about this news:
Does Gonzales remember the reason he resigned? Or did he not attend the meetings where his resignation was discussed?
I do feel compelled to tie recent and forthcoming events into some grand conspiracy: Rove’s resignation, Gonzales’s resignation, tomorrow’s total lunar eclipse, Petraeus’ much anticipated report that may or may not come from Petraeus. Something fishy is going on, by gum.
Filed under: Science
Seeing stars. CNET reported earlier this week that Google Earth has a new feature called Sky, which prompted me to finally download Google Earth (no
w that it is Mac friendly). I’ve spent the last hour or so zooming across Ohio and into the night sky. If my pop was still alive, he’d be astounded. When I was a kid, we would sit in the backyard while he was burning leaves in the wire bin (a big no-no today) and he’d point out the constellations. All these years later, the one that sticks out in my mind the most is Cassiopeia, probably because I could never see it. He made a valiant effort to take my hand and trace the stars, pointing my finger at each one and drawing the jagged connections between them. And now here it is, in my virtual night sky above Pigspittle (which, incidentally, is a big blur on Google Earth). I also went back to my hometown on Google Earth and found the house I grew up in—someone added a porch to the backyard and cut down nearly all of the trees.
Oh, Those Liberal Dark Ages. ScienceDaily reports that a “new study from the September issue of the Journal of Modern History reviews historical evidence, including documents and gravesites, suggesting that homosexual civil unions may have existed six centuries ago in France.” Men—often brothers, but also non-related and single— were permitted to form legal contracts, called affrèrements, that protected inheritance and shared property ownership. The study’s author contends that the contracts give “considerable evidence that the affrèrés were using affrèrements to formalize same-sex loving relationships. . . . I suspect that some of these relationships were sexual, while others may not have been. It is impossible to prove either way and probably also somewhat irrelevant to understanding their way of thinking. They loved each other, and the community accepted that.”
Filed under: Politics
A new column (we’ll see if I keep it up) in which we take a look at the wonderful world of politics.
That’s Pre-2002 Thinking. Ari Fleischer, former Bush press secretary, has a new gig with a group called Freedom‘s Watch, which has just unveiled a $15 million ad campaign in support of the war. The ad spots feature injured soldiers and parents of soldiers killed in Iraq talking about the importance of not “cutting and running.” At the same time, they show images of 9/11, once again conflating the terrorist attacks with the war in Iraq. Here’s what an injured soldier says in one of the ads:
Filed under: Science
I’m taking a geno-journey. I’m a bit late to the game but I caught a rerun of the National Geographic documentary Journey of Man on PBS earlier this week, which sparked my interest in Spencer Wells‘ Genographic Project. In the 2003 documentary, geneticist Wells traces our DNA to a single man who lived in Africa around 60,000 years ago. In 2005, the Genographic Project was launched to collect DNA samples from people across the globe.
A couple of days ago I had the good fortune of attending a reception for Ohio’s new secretary of state, Jennifer Brunner. It was held at our new Democratic Party headquarters—in a basement on Pigspittle’s town square. Brunner spoke at our women’s group before the election and I was impressed then. Now I’m even more so.
She spoke primarily about her office’s Voting Rights Institute initiative. As most people know, Ohio’s election system is in bad shape, thanks to the previous administration led by Ken Blackwell, which did everything it could to disenfranchise voters in urban areas (read: black, poor, and Democratic)—stocking fewer voting booths and creating long lines, establishing arcane rules for registration cards midstream, and other nefarious tactics.
Filed under: About Pigspittle
The Amish waved to me today—and although they were too far away, I think they probably smiled too. That must be an omen of something good to come.
Filed under: About Pigspittle
This is a mural in our home. Painted by a woman nearly 50 years ago, it takes up an entire wall in the living room. As luck would have it, I know a woman who used to live across the street and knew the former owners of our house. She described the painter, who lived where our neighbor Sylvia lives today, as “slow.” I believe it was a polite way to say “mentally retarded.” The story goes that the painting illustrates the courtship of Paul and Vi, the previous owners of our house. The landscape is a condensed, folky representation of the route that Paul used to travel to see Vi, from St. Mary’s Lake to Pigspittle. Vi lived here from 1958-2003. Paul died sometime in the ’80s. You can see our/their house on the right side, the greenish-blue one just above the teacup set.
