Fiat Lux

My sister called from Italy, my parents called from somewhere in the Carribean, and I got e-mails from a bunch of friends. I had sushi for lunch, Scott took me out to a great dinner, and even the weather was nice.

There's two presents waiting for me in the apartment manager's office, and I'll pick them up tomorrow.

The older I get, the less I like my birthday, but this one was pretty damn nice. The only thing that would have made it better would have been more of my friends and family here with me.

Oh, and here's a link to a nice story about cats.

They say getting older makes you more conservative. Maybe it's true, because when I read this over at AmericaBlog, my reaction wasn't quite the same as John's:

Anyone who thought this "traditional family values" garbage was only focusing on gays, well, get ready because you're next.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Olivia Shelltrack finally has her dream home. Her family moved into the five-bedroom, three-bath frame house in Black Jack last month. But now she fears she and her fiance face uprooting their children because of a city ordinance that says her household fails to meet Black Jack's definition of a family.

Shelltrack and Fondray Loving, her boyfriend of 13 years, were denied an occupancy permit because of an ordinance forbidding three or more individuals from living together if they are not related by "blood, marriage or adoption." The couple have three children, ages 8, 10 and 15, although Loving is not the biological father of the oldest child.

Here's what I simply don't understand. They've been together 13 years. The have kids together. They own a home together. Why on earth don't they just get married and be done with it?

I know, I know, they're entitled to organized their lives the way they choose to organize them, and it's more than a little stupid for the town to pass an ordiance like that. But really, would it kill them to just go to city hall and get the piece of paper? Especially since there are so many financial and legal benefits to being married. It's not like being married is a Bad Thing.

Like I said, maybe I'm just too old to get it. But I don't see what is so horribly wrong about getting married.

*sigh* Between this post, the Mark Morford thing, and my post about David Irving the week before that, I'll probably get kicked off a few progressive blogrolls for showing DINO tendencies. I'm sorry, truly, if I've upset any readers. All I can say is, this is who I am; if I'm not quite as far Left as you thought, I'm sorry. I do think Joe Lieberman is a dork - does that help?

And the new PSC-W7 era begins ... with a photo of Tommy napping on Scott's chair. How original.

As a Jew, this kind of thing starts to make me wonder if I'm really welcome in certain parts of America after all. I thought we'd resolved this issue in the US Constitution, but apparently not. Silly me:

Missouri legislators in Jefferson City considered a bill that would name Christianity the state's official "majority" religion.

House Concurrent Resolution 13 is pending in the state legislature.

[snip]

The resolution would recognize "a Christian god," and it would not protect minority religions, but "protect the majority's right to express their religious beliefs.

The resolution also recognizes that, "a greater power exists," and only Christianity receives what the resolution calls, "justified recognition."

What's next, legalized discrimination on the basis of what religion you are?

Still learning how to use the new camera.....

Here's a better shot:

Echinde (and Digby) are right on the spot with this. It all gets back to the idea that for so many of these "pro-life" agitators, abortion is not really about pregnancy, it's about punishing women for having sex.

That's made very clear by douchebags like Bill Napoli, a Republican State Senator in South Dakota, who thinks that issues like whether or not you were a virgin when you got raped should even remotely matter as to whether you should be allowed to have an abortion.

This is his idea of reality, by the way. How inconvenient that reality doesn't match up with his foggy memories of past times:

When I was growing up here in the wild west, if a young man got a girl pregnant out of wedlock, they got married, and the whole darned neighborhood was involved in that wedding. I mean, you just didn't allow that sort of thing to happen, you know? I mean, they wanted that child to be brought up in a home with two parents, you know, that whole story. And so I happen to believe that can happen again.....I don't think we're so far beyond that, that we can't go back to that.

As I puttered around the kitchen this morning, making coffee and putting dishes away, I was oblivious to the fact that I'd used up the last of the milk yesterday and not replaced it.

When the time came to put milk into my coffee, I was mightily annoyed with myself -- both for not having gone out to get more milk and for having conveniently fogotten the whole issue until it was time to have my morning cup.

Grrrr. No coffee is not how I wanted to start my day.

UPDATE: Decided to try Americano-style and added some hot water to the cup, plus a little extra sugar. Not bad, although given a choice I'd prefer milk. Scott later wandered in and pointed out that I could have added a packet of hot chocolate; I'd forgotten all about that option as well.

Years ago when we got our first cellular phone, it was with AT&T. We later expanded to two AT&T cell phones. Fast forward a few years, AT&T has split into 4 different companies. I got a Treo and switched to Cingular service because AT&T didn't support the Treo. Eventually, Cingular aquired AT&T Wireless and Scott's AT&T account transitioned over to Cingular. Less than a year ago, we finally merged the two accountss into one "Family Plan' on Cingular.

Now, it seems that we're going to be AT&T customers again.

AT&T Inc. said Sunday it will acquire smaller rival BellSouth Corp. for $67 billion in stock, in an apparent bid for total control of their growing joint venture, Cingular Wireless LLC.

[snip]
Under the deal, the Cingular brand will be phased out in favor of the AT&T brand.

At this stage of the game, cell service is enough of a commodity that the only real differentiators between companies are the phones they support and their crazy billing plans, so I don't expect much will change for us. I just hope the billing doesn't get screwed up when they transition the account over.

It's pretty funny to be going 'back' to AT&T after all this time, though.

Each game of chess means there's one less Variation left to be played Each day got through means one or two Less mistakes remain to be made...

Chess (Anderson, Ulvaeus, Rice)

Today's actions were just one early move in the bigger chess match that is abortion rights in America today. I'm not surprised at the latest burst of outrage around the blogs, but remember the big picture here, gang. South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds' signing the bill was a forgone conclusion. It doesn't start to get interesting until someone -- presumably Planned Parenthood -- files their challenge to the law and the courts get into gear.

This is chess -- think a few moves ahead. Not only is this law on the fast track to SCOTUS, but in addition, it's also nicely timed for the 2006 congressional election cycle. You can bet your bootie that congressional candidates all across the country are going to be asked to weigh in on their beliefs about women's reproductive rights by way of their comments on this case.

So, vent your spleen all you like, but save some energy for the battles to come, becasue come they will. And if you can, consider tossing some $ to Planned Parenthood; they're going to need it.

Time, by the way, has an interesting look at this issue. It's worth a read, here's a snippet:

In a country where two thirds of the public does not want to see Roe vs. Wade overturned, but nearly as many favor stricter limits on abortion, pragmatic abortion opponents have pushed for parental notification laws, waiting periods, restrictions on late-term abortions: The strategy was to chip away at Roe to try to shrink it, change its shape, and over time promote a “culture of life” that would view abortion less as a right than a tragedy, perhaps eventually a crime. That gradual approach requires a certain level of hypocrisy—or at least a willing suspension of moral belief—because if you truly equate abortion with murder, it’s hard to settle for slowing it down rather than stopping it altogether, right away: the Purist approach.

Nice to see an article that take a real look at this issue outside of the typical platitudes.

I've said this before, but something in a comment thread over at Shakes' place got me going enough to want to say it again.

Thread commenter Eric said:

once Roe is overturned, you are going to see a profound shift in the political landscape as women realize that their own civil, and reproductive, rights are being supressed by male legislatures. The Democrats will then have a strong rallying cry, and perhaps an infusion of support by women as they realize the difficulties, hardships, and dangers of back ally abortions.

Overturning Roe will be the turning point in the destruction of the religious wing-nut's power over the Republican Party.

This attitude infuriates me. It is just as odious an argument for progressives to make as it is for the wingnuts who sit safely behind their keyboards, cheering on the Iraq war. The bottom line for both types is: It's all good as long as someone else does the dying.

Progressive who argue this line of reasoning are generally sitting safely in deep-blue states or are financially well-off in red states. The only reason they consider the overturn of Roe to be an acceptable turn of events is because they assume that they will be able to insulate themselves from the casualties.

My question to them is: How many deaths do you consider to be "acceptable losses" before it happens?

And a few follow-ups: What if it was not some anonymous women in Red states who had to do the dying for Roe? Are you willing to let your wife / daughters / sisters / cousins / friends be the ones who have to bleed out on their kitchen floors or die from massive infections? And if you're not, then why are those other women's lives expendable?

In short, isn't that the exact thing we're fighting against?

For a happier change of pace, I'd pulled this piece from USA Today about great places for coffee around the USA.

Bay View Farm Honaunau, Hawaii

Caffe Dante and Caffe Reggio
New York

Caffe Trieste
San Francisco

Peet's
Berkeley

Zoka
Seattle

News Cafe
Miami Beach

Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Portland

Intelligentsia Coffee Roasters
Chicago

Café Beignet
New Orleans

True Grounds
Somerville

I've only been to the ones in New York -- Caffe Dante and Caffe Reggio -- but they were near our old apartment and I liked both. Caffe Dante was a particular favorite. Aside from good coffee, it is also one of the few places I've found outside of Italy to have really authentic (and good) gelato.

And if I'd known how good the coffee was at News Cafe, I would have gone there when I was in Miami -- it was very near our hotel. Bummer.

Still learning how to get the most out of the new camera. Here, there's almost too much flash, but at least you can clearly see the color difference between Bear and Gimi as they hang out next to my desk.

Note how much bigger Bear has gotten. He's really not a kitten anymore. *sigh* They grow up so fast.

He's still sweet and affectionate, though.

Orcinus has a post up today about the frightening levels that Holocaust deniers go to try to harass and intimidate people who stand up to them.

Fire bombings, death threats, and more. And all this in America.

On a related note, a Hong Kong based banker I know recently reported that he:

Was in the Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) Airport earlier today, and was in the bookstore looking for something to read on the plane when a I stumble across The International Jew by Henry Ford packaged with The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

Lovely. Those books, or books very much like them, are sold in not a few Muslim-focused bookstores, but I'm a little taken aback that they're so mainstream as to make it into the airport bookshop.

Scott and I were chatting tonight, and he must have noticed the distinct lack of happiness in my voice, because he asked me what was wrong.

"This", I said.

"I can't believe we have to do this all over again. It's one thing to fight for rights you don't already have, but I hate it that now we have to go out and fight for rights we've already got," I said.

"They don't consider it over until they've won, honey," he said. "They started fighting with Roe and they've kept on fighting, and they're going to keep it up until they've gotten rid of Roe."

"Yeah," I sighed. "You're right. But I still hate it."

Digby is of a similar mind.

They really mean it. This is no bullshit. There is no downside to overturning Roe for them --- and if there is, they don't care. If they want to overturn Griswald, they'll do that too. They fought the gun control fight when people were freaking out over crime in the streets and political assassinations. Conservative absolutists don't give up just because liberals get up-in-arms.

[snip]

But more than anything else we must accept the fact that these people are serious. They want to outlaw abortion and they want to curtail people's access to birth control. They aren't lying. And as they've shown with gun rights, they are in it for the long haul. We must be just a stubborn as they are and seek to wear them down rather than let them wear us down.

Digby and Scott are right. We need to fight. The Right is smelling blood in the water on all aspects of women's reproductive self-determination, and they think they are closing in for the kill. We cannot let that happen.

Still, I want to note how much it completely sucks that we have to go back and fight this battle All. Over. Again.

Once should have been enough.

KGO was saying this morning that there's a small but real chance that the snow level will drop to ground level during this weekend's storms. Wow. It almost NEVER snows here.

And I for one haven't seen snow in years. I miss it. I hope we get some!

Here's what I'd tell him:

You've got your single-season steroid-enhanced record, and much good may it do you. Accept the fact that you won't beat Hank Aaron, retire, and take all the controversy with you.

But please, just go.

Smelling the Coffee says, "You aren't going to believe this one," but I didn't find it that mind blowing. It seems to be very firmly rooted in the grand tradition of vaudeville to me:

Performer Chris Bliss juggles to the tune of "Abbey Road". (click the link on the right)

Although to be sure, it's a pretty impressive display of juggling skill.

Usually, the bloviating on Sunday morning talk shows is uninspiring enough that sleeping in seems the better option. Today was one of the days when I woke up and found I should have gotten up early after all. Senator Russ Feingold announced on George Stephanopolis' show that he will be introducing a resolution to censure President Bush.

Although a censure of Bush would definitely gladden my heart, I found myself wondering more about the timing than anything else. Why now? Is it just to put an issue on the table for the fall elections, or is this part of a plan to raise his profile for 2008? Or is something else going on?

It might also be that the nose counts have been done behind the scenes and the Democrats have determined that they might actually be able to push through a censure whereas impeachment doesn't even remotely have a chance.

We need more George Clooneys in the world. Cute, smart, and not afraid to call bullshit:

This is an incredibly polarized time (wonder how that happened?). But I find that, more and more, people are trying to find things we can agree on. And, for me, one of the things we absolutely need to agree on is the idea that we're all allowed to question authority. We have to agree that it's not unpatriotic to hold our leaders accountable and to speak out.

That's one of the things that drew me to making a film about Murrow. When you hear Murrow say, "We mustn't confuse dissent with disloyalty" and "We can't defend freedom at home by deserting it at home," it's like he's commenting on today's headlines.

The fear of been criticized can be paralyzing. Just look at the way so many Democrats caved in the run up to the war. In 2003, a lot of us were saying, where is the link between Saddam and bin Laden? What does Iraq have to do with 9/11? We knew it was bullshit. Which is why it drives me crazy to hear all these Democrats saying, "We were misled." It makes me want to shout, "Fuck you, you weren't misled. You were afraid of being called unpatriotic."

So this week is my Spring Break. It doesn't feel much like a break. I'm working as per usual, three days a week. Plus, with a midterm and a 20-minute class presentation coming up next week, I'm spending my two "off" days up on campus studying and working. In other words, the only thing that's break-y about this week is that I don't have to be on campus at night Tuesday and Wednesday.

Not feeling particularly blog-y either. However, John at AmericaBlog has a really nice rant that's worth a read.

Scott and I caught Markos' appearance on Olbermann tonight. All in all, he did a good job. However:

1) Damn, dude, SHAVE before you go to the studio. Either that or let them put some more makeup on. Your 5:00 shadow was really obvious.

2) A cotton sweater over a t-shirt is too dressed down for MSNBC.

It's not just what you say and how you say it. It's also how you look. Image counts. Daily Kos has already been painted as the home of scruffy liberal elites. The least you can do is not look the part.

Although I've owned an iPod for quite some time now, and have bought at least 50 individual iTunes, today was the first time I actually bought an entire album from iTunes. It's one I've been meaning to buy for a while but never got around to it, and decided I'd rather not wait for it to be shipped.

Rock out to Matisyahu, all y'all!

And now I need to remember to burn a copy to CD.

Via Orcinus:

Quote of the day:

"Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You didn't place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."

Jamie Raskin, March 1, 2006, in Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee testimony responding to Republican Sen. Nancy Jacobs' suggestion that discriminating against gays and lesbians regarding marriage is required by "God's Law."

A Cat, A Printer, and Atmosphere

It's a gloomy, rainy St Patrick's Day in northern California. But at least Tommy is having fun hanging out on the printer.

Sitting at my desk with a nice hot cup of coffee and a pile of paper; TurboTax is installing as I type. Let's see how long it takes to slog through this year's taxes.

I have a headache already. I woke up with it, and three Advil haven't completely erased it. This is not going to be fun.

At least the rains are gone for now and it's a pretty day outside my window.

How's your Saturday?

Update 11:45 AM: First pass through is finished. I need to dig up originating info about 2 stocks we acquired through company spinoffs/mergers but other than that it's looking good. Yay me!

Something that's been bothering me for a while now is that due to this post, I get Google hits on literally a daily basis from people who've used the search term "evil Jews".

Of course, I don't know why all these people are searching for that particular phrase, but I think it's a safe bet that at least some of them are looking for "proof" that Jews are evil. And as a Jew, I find that upsetting.

There's not a lot I can do to change the minds of most of those people. However, I feel that I have a responsibility to do something about the fact that some small number of them may be ending up at my website. As an initial attempt at a response, I've added a new graphic link to the sidebar: the Holocaust History Project.

If just one misguided person can end up at that website and learn that some of the lies they were told about Jews are just that -- lies -- then I'll have done a little bit of good.

This is definitely NOT work-safe (or kid-safe) but very funny: a video clip with a bunch of TV actors telling us their favorite swear words. Apparently it was part of a promotional campaign for Channel 4 over in the UK.

I like it, although it's one of those commercials that will be remembered more for the content than for the actual product it's supposed to be promoting.

As I puttered around on the Internet this afternoon I had iTunes going, with the full MP3 collection in rotation. All of a sudden something jumped out at me:

John Dickinson: ... Be careful, sir. History will brand him [John Adams] and his followers as traitors!

John Hancock: Traitors to what, Mr. Dickinson -- the British Crown, or the British half-crown? Fortunately there are not enough men of property in America to dictate policy.

Dickinson: Perhaps not, but don't forget that most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich than face the reality of being poor. And that is why they will follow us ...

Chorus of Conservatives:
... to the right
ever to the right
Never to the left
Forever to the right.

"Cool Cool Considerate Men" is a song I've heard many times in the almost 30 years since I first saw 1776 but hearing it today gave me goosebumps and made me realize something.

This isn't a new battle we fight in America today. Some of the terms of engagement have changed, but it's been going on some 230 years already, and I suspect it will continue long after today's actors have exited the stage and themselves entered history.

That's the frustrating part. Nobody wants to think that they won't get to see the fruit of their labors. Even Moses complained when G-d told him that he would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. Especially today, when so much has speeded up, we expect that we'll get everything faster than we have before, including social change. It took roughly 100 years to go from the Declaration of Independence to the Emancipation Proclamation, and then another 100 years to get to the Civil Rights Act. And we can see how far we still have to go on issues of racial equality.

But if you think about it, although the pace of change has been painfully slow, over the long haul movement has definitely been in our favor. Things may look dark now, but history is on our side. The regressive set that wants nothing more than to preserve their own property and a way of life that only existed in their minds will not win. It's just a matter of time.

In other words, all this is not to say that we shouldn't keep fighting for the things we care about. We just need to keep in mind that this is a long struggle we're engaged in. We owe it to those who've come before, as well as those who will follow us, to play our part. If history is any guide, we're not going to get everything we want in our own lifetimes. This is real life, not a stage play where everything gets neatly resolved inside of three hours.But over the long haul, change will come.

History is on our side.

---

And while I have my copy of 1776 out, I thought I'd share a favorite funny bit as well:

Stephen Hopkins: Ben, I want y'to see some cards I've gone 'n had printed up that ought t'save everybody here a whole lot of time 'n effort, considering the epidemic of bad disposition that's been going around lately. [He reads:] "Dear Sir: You are without any doubt a rogue, a rascal, a villain, a thief, a scoundrel, and a mean, dirty, stinking, sniveling, sneaking, pimping, pocket-picking, thrice double-damned, no good son-of-a-bitch" -- and y'sign y'r name. What do you think?

Ben Franklin: Stephen, I'll take a dozen right now!

Me too.

Four times a year, they do a "Day In The Life" challenge at Flickr. You're supposed to chronicle your day and share the shots with the other people on Flickr.

I'm interested and want to participate but also feel very intimidated by the whole thing. There are a lot of good photographers on Flickr; I doubt my pedestrian efforts will hold up well to theirs.

Oh, and Happy Spring to all!

It was another gloomy, stormy day today, but for a short period this afternoon we were treated to a really impressive rainbow right by the office. Several co-workers gathered to oooh and aah over the show; I grabbed a bunch of photos.

It's tough to get decent quality shots when you can't open the windows, most of the ones I took have reflection issues. This is the best of the bunch.

Was up late last night thanks to a lack of available laundry machines. Who knew Monday was such a popular night to wash your clothes?

The Bush press conference was starting as my alarm clock went off. Since I have a clock radio set to a local newsradio station, I got to hear That Man lying and chucking and stumbling through his anwers first thing in the AM. Not how I wanted to wake up. Until I hit the Snooze button, that is.

Did I miss anything?

I don't think so.

Had a Finance midterm today and also had to give a 20 minute team presentation in Ethics afterwards. Fun fun. Both went OK, although a couple of those Finance questions were a bit rough.

This is where I'll be all day tomorrow. Should be fun except for having to be out the door earlier than usual.

I missed dinner, it's after 10, and I can't decide if I want to sleep or eat.

Will probably be offline most of tomorrow too.

Why did you wake me up Mom?

It's been a very long week. The kitties and I are now going to curl up in bed and mindlessly watch TV until I fall asleep.

Perhaps it's only funny because despite being exhausted I only managed to get 4 hours of sleep, but seamus over at Rangelife has a very funny mockup of the "new" SF Examiner at the end of a rant on the GWOT and the media.

If you're not a SF area resident you might not get the joke though.

Let's see if I can fall back asleep now or not.

Orcinus started my online Sunday with a long assessment of the current situation around illegal immigration. Kevin Drum and Nathan Newman also weigh in (and I haven't made it through all of my blogroll yet today, so there are probably others as well).

My gut feeling is this: it seems more than a little unfair to slam the door shut on other people when you yourself have benefited from the same avenue to a better life. We are all of us children of immigrants. The only difference is how many generations it has been since we got here.

I also think some of the anti-illegal immigration foes need to get their arguments straight and stop fear-mongering. I don't like "rewarding lawbreaking" either, and I understand not wanting to be flooded with residents who are a net drain the local tax base. That's why we need immigration reform. But the answer is not about building a nice high wall and shutting the rest of the world out. We're people, not ostriches.

There's a lot that could be done to make it easier for people to come here legally, and to smack down employers who employ (and all too often exploit) illegal immigrants. It would be nice if Congress could come up with some good legislation on that front (getting it past the White House would be a whole other issue, but let's let that sit for the moment). As Orcinus points out, even the McCain-Kennedy bill isn't a comprehensive solution to the problem.

I'm less sure that we can do much about the global wage inequalities that are a major driver of immigration to America, although I agree that without some sort of solution to this root cause then the pressure for immigration will continue. I think that's a problem that the world community as a whole needs to address. We can't do it alone. Even so, that doesn't reduce our responsibility to work on the issues we do have control over.

The bottom line is this -- why would we not want people who want to come here and contribute in a positive way to this country? Because they don't look and talk like we do? If that's the best you can come up with, that's pathetic.

Many years ago, the very first gift Scott bought me was a new video card for my woefully underpowered x386 box. This showed up for me today. Ah, geeks in love....

I'm really bad at buying things for myself, especially the more expensive stuff. My current video card is about 2 years old, and I have been puttering along with its limitations because, well, it works, and new cards are expensive. We're doing better these days now that I'm working again, but still, more often than not the "oh, we don't have any money" fears linger and inhibit my buying behavior.

Flashback: Some years ago, I went out one Saturday with my grandmother to shop for kitchen curtains to replace ones that after many years of service and laundering were starting to look a little ratty. We went to several stores, but Grandma ended up not buying any new ones because everything was either too ugly or too expensive. We went home without any because she couldn't bring herself to pay "too much" for new curtains, even though she could well afford them.

Grandma came to this country quite poor and then weathered the Depression, so her frugality is understandable. But here I am, years later, doing much the same thing. Is it learned behavior from my family, a sign of ageing, or or did the years Scott and I spend struggling financially change my behavior in similar ways?

Liteblogging on Wednesdays this semester, but I did want to point out that Steve Clemons has a good wrapup of yesterday's Israeli elections. Check it out while I slog through work & class on Yet Another Rainy Day.

The Palestinian elections didn't leave me feeling very good, but I'm more hopeful today.

As I was waking up this morning, I hear on the radio that 25 of the last 31 days have been rainy ones here in the Bay Area. We're fractions of an inch from being the wettest March on record.

I wonder if that's why I've been feeling so draggy, tired, and generally uninspired recently.

UPDATE: SFGate has more.