Smallholder has some fun with logic.

Lots of "therefore"'s and "furthermore"'s are engaged in battle to beat back stupid, absolutist statements made by someone who apparently thinks a. no conservative can support gay marriage b. animals, indeed, do have rights, and c. those rights are more worthy of notice and legislative action than any rights that might be granted to gay couples.

Go over and read.

Posted by: Kathy at 10:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Courtesy of Boing Boing, we have this story.

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish spies may be in danger after a list of names from communist-era files was leaked onto the Internet earlier in the week, Prime Minister Marek Belka says.

The directory of 240,000 names includes informers, spies and people questioned by the secret police under communist rule. The archives are held by the National Remembrance Institute (IPN) but the names were copied by a journalist and published.{...}

While this seemed sensational, it has the potential for greater repercussions:

{...}Investigations into links between politicians and the former communist leadership is becoming a major election issue in this year's parliamentary and presidential polls

All Polish politicians have to reveal any links to communist special services and if they are found to have lied by a special tribunal, they face a ban from public office.{...}

Now, this list was never meant to be made public in its entirety. Special access to it was granted only to historians, journalists and the like, but no one was supposed to copy the list and publish it. Oops. It's caused quite the sensation in Poland. According to Boing Boing:

{...}"The list instantly cropped up on many web sites, p2p networks, became available via BitTorrent, while the the term 'lista Wildsteina' (Wildstein's list) became a super-popular query at all Polish search engines. At one (onet.pl, the second most popular after google), people searched for it around 300,000 times a day comparing to just only 9,000 searches for 'sex', the former top query."

While the Poles have made a tremendously succesful conversion to democracy and a market economy, whilst forging many new alliances in the meantime, they still have serious issues with their communist past and the injustice of the era. This could be very, very big. Given the prevailing attitude toward those who collaborated, well, let's just say that I don't think the words "Innocent Until Proven Guilty" will hold much sway with voters. A whiff of this scandal would be enough to kill many a candidates hopes---forever. Even if they were proven innocent of collaboration later on in the game.

If the gravity of this isn't getting to you, let's propose a hypothetical: how do you think the French would react to someone, say Blacques Jacques Chirac for example, having been revealed as a Nazi collaborator? Do you think that might hurt his chances of staying in power, given today's media coverage and the worldwide condemnation that would ring forth?

Posted by: Kathy at 10:09 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Of course you know I went and found the list. :-) Shall we look for your ancestors?

Posted by: MRN aka "The Husband" at February 07, 2005 08:22 AM (sQLe5)

2 The name "Zabawa" is fairly common. Or so I'm told. I can only imagine that Granny's maiden name is just as common. And I can't even remember how to spell the Polish version, so that's really going to help matters out, eh? (Some granndaughter I am!) Have you got any bright ideas, dear husband, knowing exactly how much I know about my family tree when the branches span the width of an ocean, on how to suss out exactly whom I might be related to? Particularly since there's been a few world wars since they all bugged out? Hmmmm?

Posted by: Kathy at February 07, 2005 09:28 AM (sQLe5)

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Ok, wee bastard is officially upgraded.

The husband spent the better part of today tweaking el laptopola and it's running smoothly. He also managed to add winamp and because we're networked, I now have access to our entire music collection, which resides on his machine. All music, all the time, and no loss from my wee bittie 11 Gig memory stash! Hot damn! He's good.

And, no, I will not insert any prophecies of doom and gloom here.

The only thing that's goofing me currently is Mozilla. It's just different. I will adapt, improvise and overcome. Eventually. I'm a Luddite when it comes to these things. I despise change.

Yet, I feel the need to mention I have yet to have a page not load because some random ad tried to sneak a cookie onto my machine and Spybot went all Medieval on it. So it's got that going for it. And that's saying quite a bit considering how many pages I couldn't get to load with IE.

Y'all might want to think about switching over if you haven't already.

Posted by: Kathy at 09:38 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 You're very welcome, love. But you should start calling your browser Firefox and not Mozilla. Mozilla is a whole suite that includes Firefox now, although a year ago Mozilla was something slightly different. Take back the web! Get Firefox!

Posted by: MRN aka "The Husband" at February 07, 2005 08:30 AM (sQLe5)

2 You have a lovely husband there, Kathy. MRN, you got a lovely wife. Now that I've exchanged the pleasantries -- I have a question. I haven't been able to kick my Avant habit (and yes, I'm aware it's a shell over IE, which only makes it marginally better than plain vanilla IE) but I had installed Firefox 8.something and 9.something. I now have 10.something. Because of an extension foul-up eons ago, I can no longer view and/or change my extensions. And, you see, I am quite fond of tabbed browsing. HOWINHAYELL does one completely remove Firefox from one's system and start from scratch? (This is also something that makes me nervous, this refusing to uninstall thing. Norton did that to me another eon or two ago, and once I finally cleared it out of my registry I refused to have it on my system again.) Anyway. Sorry for hijacking this post and making MRN a Tech Assistance Hotline, but I thought I'd ask at least. Heh. TIA!

Posted by: Margi at February 07, 2005 03:58 PM (zalxZ)

3 He sent you an email, Margi. Hope it works

Posted by: Kathy at February 08, 2005 10:43 AM (sQLe5)

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Sorry for the light posting the past couple of days. It's been extraordinarily gorgeous weatherwise. Highs in the low 50's, which is unheard of for the first week in February in Minnesota. The husband and I have been taking advantage of it and have been taking walks during prime blogging time, so, I'll say I'm sorry, but you all will know that I don't really mean it and you won't hold it against me.

Furthermore, the husband is going to be rebuilding Wee Bastard sometime soon. Like this weekend. Probably not today, but I would think tomorrow during the Super Bowl (which neither of us gives a rat's ass about and won't even watch for the commercials now that we can find them online the next day) would be a good time for this to happen. Nothing's wrong with el laptopola, per se, it's just that there's some work that could be done to increase performance and I've officially had it with Internet Explorer and the crap it lets through. Maintenence and upgrades will be done and Mozilla will be installed. It would take me ages to do this on my own, and he actually enjoys it so why not let him? Provided he doesn't goof things up too badly, I'll probably be back to full posting speed come Monday.

Finally, can someone---anyone---please tell me why Europeans (and some Canadians) keep entering "Jessica Cutler Gorilla Sex" into their local Google image search? Since the archives from the old blogspot home have yet to be transferred onto this site, my sitemeter is active on both blogs. I'm getting anywhere from ten to fifty direct hits a day on this, and have been for close to a month. And when I mean direct hits, I mean people type in the exact same phrase every single time. Has Jessica Cutler aka the Washingtonienne invaded Europe? Is there some email campaign going on? Did someone mention it on the web and I didn't see the link? WHAT'S THE FREAKIN' DEAL HERE? While I don't mind the traffic (yes, I'm bad that way. I know this.) as the person who came up with that image, I would simply like to know what the deal is.

I know some of you people find your way over here. Can you please explain this one to me? I hope you find it humorous and enjoy your time here, but honestly, I would like to know about the trail of breadcrumbs.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Fausta was quoted by the New York Sun today. Go over and read all about it.

Way to go, girl!

UPDATE: Bill at INDC Journal, also mentioned in the article, damns Fausta with faint praise:

"And someone beat my commenter to the Paris Hilton analogy!"

C'mon, Bill. Get with the program and give credit where credit is due. Her name's right up there in the article. You can't hardly miss it. While I consider them to be above average, INDC Journal's commenters aren't the only people in the world who can come up with witty ripostes.

You can find the Bad Hair Blog right here.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:38 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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While it might be a bit much to take this early in the morning, I really do mean that.

There's two sides to this story: the nonsensical and the sensible.

First for the nonsensical:

A schoolteacher in France has been fined 10,200 euros (£7,033) for illegally swapping hundreds of music albums on the internet.
The 28-year-old man must pay the money to copyright companies, in a decision aimed at deterring others.

Officials said he was one of the worst offenders for sharing music online, making available up to 10,000 songs.

{...}He also had his computer confiscated and was ordered to take out newspaper advertisements announcing the verdict and punishment.

Poor guy.

Now for the sensible part.

{...}The court case came as 70 musicians, academics and politicians signed a petition calling for a halt to legal action against people who download music for their own use.

"Like at least eight million other French people, we have also downloaded music online and are thus part of a growing number of 'criminals'. We ask that these absurd lawsuits stop," the petition published in the Nouvel Observateur states. {...}

As Mike from TechDirt says,

{...}Either way, as more musicians seem to be recognizing that unauthorized distribution is actually good for them, the claims from the recording industry that they're doing this to protect musicians is looking increasingly weak.

Now if only Metallica, et.al. would jump on that bus.

Posted by: Kathy at 09:51 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Jonathan Last, head Galley Slave, extolls the virtues of Wonderfalls, some show that was on Fox and was axed before I even knew it was out there. Yeah, ok, whatever. I'm not a big fan of watching TV series on DVD, but I suppose there is an audience for something like that, given the way DVD's of 24 and Alias clutter the shelves at the local Blockbuster.

However, dear Jonathan goes a wee bit too far in his praise.

{...}The 13 episodes have an arc and a satisfying conclusion and it plays like the greatest maxi-series ever broadcast on television (apologies to the BBC's Pride and Prejudice).

Yeah, you'd better apologize to Pride and Prejudice, bub. In fact, here's Mr. Darcy now.

Jonathan, my friend, you might want to have a wee bit of a chat with the man, wherein you extend your most sincere and heartfelt apologies.

Quickly.

You might also want to take back that bit about Wonderfalls "...play{ing} like the greatest maxi-series ever broadcast on television."

Just ask Mr. Wickham about what happens to men who don't apologize to Mr. Darcy. You might find yourself being forced to marry the incessantly twitty Lydia in Wickham's stead. And I can't think that you'd enjoy that. Really. Just say you're sorry and all will be well.

Hmmmmm?

Posted by: Kathy at 01:50 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Kathy, I just love it when you get all Pride & Prejudice-y!

Posted by: Pious Agnostic at February 03, 2005 01:58 PM (7dkzi)

2 I maintain my high esteem for Wonderfalls even while singing the praises of Pride, Prejudice, Darcy, et al. How great is Pride & Prejudice? It was able to spawn, generations later, a successful franchise of literary and cinematic spoofs. That's greatness. Still, go buy Wonderfalls. It's awesome. (And a lot cheaper than the Pride & Prejudice monster set.)

Posted by: JVL at February 03, 2005 02:00 PM (W4CjZ)

3 Well, I guess you're going to wind up with Lydia, dude. This has got nothing to do with maintaining high esteem for Pride and Prejudice whilst at the same time extolling the virtues of Wonderfalls. It has, however, got everything to do with saying P&P is BETTER than Wonderfalls for the simple reason that nothing's better than P&P. I have no idea if that made any sense whatsoever. I kept getting distracted by Colin in ruffles. (sigh)

Posted by: Kathy at February 03, 2005 02:05 PM (sQLe5)

4 Mmmmm, Colin in ruffles! (No success in locating Spamalot Spam yet. Will redouble efforts.)

Posted by: Fausta at February 03, 2005 05:04 PM (6Pf+a)

5 Mmmm it's a nice day today Have nothing to do tonight -- I think I have to watch that again!

Posted by: Adrianne Truett at February 03, 2005 05:33 PM (B2T6R)

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Yesterday Sadie invited me to join her in throwing a few rotten tomatoes at Tara Reid.

After looking forward to this, I find my sails have been completely deflated. I have got absolutely nothing to add to her treatise.

It's not like I'm minding all that much, either.

Posted by: Kathy at 01:25 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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No, you call me, you lazy bastard. Don't you know how to pick up the phone? Are your metacarpals somehow incapacitated, hence you can't dial the damn thing, monkey boy? Are you missing opposable digits and the damn thing keeps falling out of your hands? What's your problem? Search under the stacks of empty, grease-stained pizza boxes and see if you can find the phone and then you call me. Not the other way around.

Because that's just the way God intended it.

Sincere apologies extended to Jeff G. for stealing his schtick and for doing it so poorly, too. Honestly, all I wanted was to see if I could scan a conversation heart. I don't know where the rest came from. I swear.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:22 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 *snicker* Fax me? Heh.

Posted by: Margi at February 03, 2005 12:42 AM (zalxZ)

2 Speaking of PW, you need to change your info there -- it still sends people to blogspot.

Posted by: Adrianne Truett at February 03, 2005 01:37 PM (B2T6R)

3 We are talking about protein wisdom, right? I went there and the link was for the mu.nu address and it took me here. Hmmm. Weirdness.

Posted by: Kathy at February 03, 2005 01:57 PM (sQLe5)

4 Well, it sent me to blogspot... maybe it picks and chooses Oh, checking again: that's your link when you comment. You're a Munuvian on the blogroll.

Posted by: Adrianne Truett at February 03, 2005 05:37 PM (B2T6R)

5 Old cookie. Will have to change that. I don't post much at PW's site. Anymore, that is.

Posted by: Kathy at February 03, 2005 10:32 PM (sQLe5)

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My sister has recently turned into one of those knitting gurus. Ever since she taught herself how to do this, she constantly has a ball of yarn in her lap and keeps her needles clicking and clacking. The wedding season in Omaha was a bit slow last year so she had to turn those crafty instincts of hers elsewhere. On the whole, it's been a good thing. I got a sweet cashmere blend scarf for my birthday.

She's always looking for new projects. I don't think this one will pass muster, though.

Yep. You saw that right. That's a grenade purse. Helpfully, The Guardian has given you the instructions on how to make your very own grenade purse in this article!

But why would someone want to make one in the first place? you ask.

{...}An exhibition at the Crafts Council Gallery in London next month will show that knitting - long belittled as the preserve of elderly ladies declining towards senility - has become a politically engaged, radical artform.

One artist constructs intricate, two-metre-high knitted panels based on prostitutes' calling cards. Another knits balaclavas and photographs people wearing them around New York. There is even a group of activists that stages knit-ins on the London Underground, occupying a carriage and knitting around the Circle line.

The exhibition comes as knitting enjoys a fashionable resurgence, with celebrities from Madonna to Julia Roberts and Russell Crowe extolling its virtues as a creative outlet and a stress reliever.

Katie Bevan, one of the exhibition's curators, believes that the roots of the trend are deeper. "There's a sort of zeitgeist: a make-do-and-mend spirit during this war on terror or whatever it is. Everyone just wants to go home and knit socks."

For many of the artists in the show, the act of knitting is itself political. Shane Waltener, who is making a site-specific, web-like piece embedded with a text from the French semiotician Roland Barthes, says knitting has been "long underrated because it is 'women's work'". Part of the point for him is "going public as a guy doing knitting ... I had to teach myself to knit and crochet, because 'boys don't'."

For many political knitters, the craft represents an act of rebellion. Waltener says: "On the one hand I am celebrating this tradition that I really believe in. On the other it is about self-sufficiency. By knitting you are resisting capitalism and consumerism. You are not responding to the fashion industry; you are making your own decisions."{...}

Yes. That's right. Knitting is a political statement. These folks want to be self-sufficient. They don't want the fashion industry telling them what to wear! They're rejecting capitalism. They're resisting consumerism. So, of course, their knitting project of choice would be a grenade handbag.

{Insert sound of head repeatedly slamming against desk ala Don Music here}

Methinks someone should hand these people one of the real things and have them knit a cozy for it. If we're lucky, the pin will fall out during the measuring stage and we will be spared more of this sanctimonious, self-righteous, and utterly meaningless crap in the future.

{hat tip: Adrianne}

Posted by: Kathy at 10:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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{...}One of Iraq's leading democracy and human rights advocates is Safia Taleb al-Suhail. She says of her country, "We were occupied for 35 years by Saddam Hussein. That was the real occupation. Thank you to the American people who paid the cost, but most of all to the soldiers."

Eleven years ago, Safia's father was assassinated by Saddam's intelligence service. Three days ago in Baghdad, Safia was finally able to vote for the leaders of her country. And we are honored that she is with us tonight. {...}

{...}And we have said farewell to some very good men and women, who died for our freedom and whose memory this nation will honor forever. One name we honor is Marine Corps Sergeant Byron Norwood of Pflugerville, Texas, who was killed during the assault on Fallujah. His mom, Janet, sent me a letter and told me how much Byron loved being a Marine and how proud he was to be on the front line against terror. She wrote, "When Byron was home the last time, I said that I wanted to protect him, like I had since he was born. He just hugged me and said, 'You've done your job, Mom. Now it is my turn to protect you.'"

Ladies and gentlemen, with grateful hearts, we honor freedom's defenders and our military families, represented here this evening by Sergeant Norwood's mom and dad, Janet and Bill Norwood. {...}

One woman gives her son so another now has the opportunity to have a say in the way her country is run. That's precisely what this has been all about. It's called freedom. One protects and defends so another has the opportunity to live a life heretofore unimagined. It's called liberty.

If you don't get it now, you never will.

Posted by: Kathy at 10:23 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Well, the hockey season's over with.

I know it's not official, but nothing's going to get these bums to come to an agreement this season.

Bastards.

Posted by: Kathy at 05:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One wishes Dan Akroyd would make a journey to the NBC Studios this Saturday night to deliver that line.

She'd probably think it was a compliment, though, so it's probably a waste of time.

Sigh.

And people wonder why I don't bother watching SNL anymore.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:56 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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...but rather Quentin Walker (Llamabutcher)! Woohoo! Thank Goodness Steve-o had some sense pounded into him.

Go on over and say congratulations!

Posted by: Kathy at 11:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So, I took yesterday off.

I had a few things to do around here, the least of which was spot cleaning the office carpet. For some strange reason, the spot right where the husband's feet rest whilst he surfs the computer was positively filthy. As in it was two shades darker than the usual beige. Gross. We rarely wear shoes in the house, so I don't know why it was so filthy, but I have my suspicions. I think it might have something to do with his pipe ash. That stuff is positively toxic.

Smoking a pipe is a high maintenance event: it takes a lot to keep one going, and then there's the added fun of cleaning out the bowl, when ash will scatter, no matter how careful you are. The husband is very careful: the man is anal-retentive, so I know he tries his darndest to keep things nice and neat. It's just that the pipe defeats him. I smoke and ocassionally a bit of ciggie ash will flitter down to the carpet, but the vacuum always takes care of it. Pipe ash, however, is a whole different story. If a biggish chunk of ash hits the carpet, well, it melts the stuff. And, no, I'm not kidding. I have a feeling, though, that the occasional flitter of ash adds up to one big stain on the carpet.

After many shots at it with the Resolve Carpet Cleaner, it's now back to normal, but it was yucky.

I also managed to clean the sofa upholstery without ruining it, so I've got that going for me. Hand me a can of Woolite Upholstery and Fabric cleaner and, apparently, I'm your girl. Laundry was also done, so that pretty much knocked out the entire day.

Anyway, as soon as I get caught up, something will inevitably set me en fuego and there will be new posts for your enjoyment. However, until then, GET THY ASSES TO THIS POST AND GIVE ME SOME RECOMMENDATIONS, PEOPLE! Don't let Goldstein walk away with the Literary God award. Make him work for it.

Posted by: Kathy at 09:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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My devoted Cake Eater Readers, I present to you...Spamalot

Ahem.

Austin, Minn. (Nov. 29, 2004) – In honor of SPAMALOT, a new musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” Hormel Foods is introducing a limited edition flavor, SPAM™ golden honey grail in a “SPAMALOT collector’s edition” can.

The SPAM™ golden honey grail will be available, in limited quantities as of February 2005 at select New York City retailers, including Broadway merchandise stores and the Shubert Theatre merchandise kiosks. The can features SPAMALOT graphics and characters from the new musical and instructions in “SPAMALOT-ese” on how to “cooketh” SPAM®.{...}

So, what I want to know is this: who lives in New York City and can score me a can?

{hat tip: Enlightened Cynic. Who thinks it's "bloody brilliant!"}

Posted by: Kathy at 12:08 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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