The whole world appears to be in an uproar today about the fact that Britney Spears finally lost it.

Sigh.

This chick, for all the wackiness she's displayed over the past year, still can see her kids. Does she have full custody? No, she does not. But, she's allowed supervised visitation. I suppose that will probably change after last night's events, but still... She's squeezed out two kids and she still has the right to see them. Even though she's a complete whacko, her biological right to "mother" her children is all important and no one, apparently, wants to intrude upon that right.

Contrast this with the fact that I, as a cancer survivor, will need to have Dr. Academic state in a letter that I am cancer-free and expect to have a normal life span, with a good quality of life, just to get in the door. Of course, I probably won't need him to write the letter for five years, because that's the average amount of time adoption agencies make cancer survivors wait before they can apply to adopt. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, kids.

I'm just wondering: does the bitterness show? I hope it does, because there is something seriously FUCKED UP about this entire scenario.

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"Little green men.*"

Seti@home, the project using personal computers to search for radio signals from alien civilisations, is calling for more volunteers to help crunch a vast surge of new data. An extensive upgrade at the world's largest radiotelescope, Arecibo in Puerto Rico, means that data is flowing 500 times faster than before.

When Seti@home began eight years ago it was the first internet computing project that harnessed spare capacity on private PCs for scientific work, and it is still the largest such network, with 320,000 computers involved. They analyse radio signals from space, looking for patterns that might come from intelligent beings rather than natural sources such as quasars, the distant celestial bodies.

If enough new PC volunteers come forward, "we are 500 times more likely to find ET than with the original Seti@home", said Dan Wertheimer, chief scientist of the project, which is based in Berkeley, California. "We're entering an era when we will be able to scan billions of channels. Arecibo is now optimised for this kind of search, so if there are signals out there, we or our volunteers will find them."

If you, too, perhaps would like to help find the little green men, well, go here and volunteer your home's computing power! It's not like you're going to find anything, but really, you've got some spare gigs of memory that can help the cause, right? Donate them! So we will definitively know that we are alone!

*spot the quote. And it's easy peasy, so I fully expect someone to chime in, in a sing-song voice, with the answer.

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Yep. And I lived there, so I can testify to the fact that, yes, indeedy, it does suck, but I'm immune from criticism because I have first hand experience. I received an excellent college education courtesy of the state university system, and had a very good time at its bars, but, damn, if I wanted to see a movie that didn't have multiple explosions and chase scenes it was kind of hard to find an alternative without driving long distances. Like to Omaha, or Chicago or Minneapolis. I like chase scenes as much as the next girl, but, damn, sometimes you want a little depth in your movie viewing, eh? It's kind of hard to get that in Iowa.

That said, I'm glad Iowa had its moment in the spotlight and that I sincerely hope they enjoyed it. See you again in four years, or the next time I have to cut through your state to go to Omaha.

But, I will add this small codicil for the Huckabee supporters. Ahem. Enjoy it while it lasts, kids, because it won't last long. And, if on the odd chance that it does and he actually manages to snare the nomination, know that I will defect from the party and will vote Democrat for the first time...ever. I'll have to hold my nose whilst doing it, because, as most people know, I damn well don't want a bunch of mealy-mouthed, pacifist, hippy, Kumbaya-singing, Che-worshipping socialists running the country. But I won't abstain from voting, because I believe you have to make a choice, even if those choices are lacking. People have died for your right to choose your elected representatives. You damn well better not spit on their sacrifice. So, consider yourself warned: if the only choice on offer is Huckabee, then I'm voting for the other side. I simply WILL NOT vote for a man who thinks I should get my bitch ass back in the kitchen to make him some pie. Not. Going. To. Happen. And you can take that to the bank.

If the Republican party wants to alienate most of their female supporters, go right ahead and nominate this whack job. But don't be surprised if said female supporters, like the much prized Soccer Mom demographic, decide to alienate the party in return.

Posted by: Kathy at 09:56 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Oy.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A week after Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack, a Jewish human rights group has taken out a full page ad in the New York Times on Friday demanding that the United Nations formally address suicide bombings.

The ad by the Los Angeles based Simon Rosenthal Center features a picture of Bhutto beneath the words "SUICIDE TERROR: What more will it take for the world to act?" and calls on the United Nations for a special session devoted to the issue.

"Unless we put suicide bombing on the top of the international community's agenda, this virulent cancer could engulf us all," it reads. "The looming threat of WMDs in the hands of suicide bombers will dwarf the casualties already suffered in 30 countries."

In the ad, which will also run in the International Herald Tribune, The Simon Rosenthal Center also calls on the United Nations to declare suicide bombings "crimes against humanity."{...}

Ummm, dude, I don't quite know how to tell you this, but the UN regularly has trouble "defining" genocide---to conveniently avoid sending peace keepers to regions without a requisite Four Seasons resort and spa nearby (with lots of young girls to rape)---and regularly puts the worst human rights abusers on its Human Rights Council. Sure, if a suicide bomber were to disturb the liquor and Beluga deliveries to UN headquarters, then you might have a chance of getting it on the agenda. But as it currently stands? Nope.

Posted by: Kathy at 09:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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...for movies that will undoubtedly disappoint me when I actually get to see them.

First, we have Jumper.

Hey! Hayden Christensen appears to act for the first time in his career as a Jedi! Who knew it was possible!

Then we have The Dark Knight, which I'm really hoping will. not. suck.

I will admit, when I heard that Heath Ledger had been entrusted with the role of The Joker, I was incredibly skeptical as to whether or not he could pull it off. But, after seeing this, I have high hopes Heath will finally live up to his much advertised, but never yet seen, potential.

And, finally, we have Nim's Island, which is family fare, but it's family fare that I would have dug when I was a kid, so I'll give it a go as an adult.

The fact that Gerard Butler is in it has absolutely nothing to do it. Ahem.

While I will admit, it does have a strong Romancing The Stone feel to it, I'm a sucker for a dude in a fedora. You know, so long as it's Harrison Ford or Gerard Butler sporting the fedora, and not Michael Douglas. Bleh.

Is there anything that you, my devoted Cake Eater readers, are looking forward to being disappointed by in the near future?

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So, the Iowa Caucuses are today.

Whoop-de-freakin' do.

Now, before you think I'm down on the whole process, let me correct that assumption. As someone who has actually participated in said caucuses, I can tell you that, really and truly, it's a neat thing for those involved. You make your way, at the appointed time, to your precinct's caucus location (there's one for Democrats and one for Republicans. In fact, two doors down from our house in Des Moines, there was some sort of hippy learning center that was where all the Birkenstock sportin' moonbats in our precinct gathered.), you take off your coat, and find a seat. The Republican caucus for our precinct was held at the Des Moines Community Playhouse, so, thankfully, we had comfy theater chairs to sit in. A younger gentleman came onto the stage and announced that he was, technically speaking, in charge of this shebang, and asked people who supported the various candidates who were running to stand and explain why they thought their dude was the right one for the job. And, surprisingly enough, people did just that. The guy I remember the most was a Buchanan supporter. He was dressed in bibs, boots, and a snowy-white beard that flowed down to his chest, and spoke rather eloquently, I thought, about why he thought Bucky would make the best Republican nominee for President. Whilst most of the people assembled rolled their eyes, I was surprised by the number of people who applauded. Then it was time to vote. If I'm remembering correctly, when you're asked to place your ballot (which is a piece of paper where you've written your dude's name on it), you did so when they called your candidate's name. So, all the Lamar Alexander people walked up at a different time than did the Bob Dole supporters, etc. There wasn't a secret ballot. You're expected to cast your vote unashamedly, and in full view of your neighbors. Once the tally was over and done with, and the winner announced, more than half the people in the theater fled like rats from a sinking ship. Some people, like the husband and myself, stuck around for what it turns out was a hashing out of the Republican party platform. Every issue that was raised was debated, and then voted upon. Theoretically, these issues were to be raised at the state party level. Whether or not that actually happened, I have no idea. But, on the whole, it was an instructive experience.

The husband, at that point in his varied career choices, was managing a restaurant in West Des Moines (rhymes with "Timmy's") and the place---and the servers who worked there---had been making boatloads of money from all the hungry politicos and media types. While they were all happy for the increased sales, everyone was, really and truly, quite over it by that point in time and the caucuses actually did seem like quite the anti-climax. Everyone was happy when the news trucks---and the obnoxious anchors attached to them---and the politicos moved on to New Hampshire. I was happy the phone stopped ringing at the house, because, in the days leading up to the caucus, it never stopped as people working the phone banks for the various campaigns kept calling, repeatedly. The third time Bob Dole's campaign called, the volunteer on the other end of the line got it with both barrels. I'd had it and let them know it. After that, I turned the ringer off for three straight days. I wasn't surprised when some random soul told me later that there were more unlisted numbers in Iowa than any other state in the country. I don't know if this is true, but I could totally believe it if it was. I can only imagine how much it must have sucked to be on the voter rolls in Iowa this time around, with the various campaigns calling over the holidays.

Whilst I think the process is a good thing, I'm nonetheless sick of all of this crap. I really don't care. Very few people outside of Iowa care. I know this hurts the Iowans, because they really do like their moment in the spotlight, but really, people, the rest of us are sick of it.

Call me after the nomination process is over with.

Who's with me? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

BECAUSE I'M ALL ABOUT BEING FAIR UPDATE: Here's devoted Cake Eater Reader Russ from Winterset's speech supporting Teh Fred.

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Taking a page out of Robert Mugabe's playbook, Lippy McLipster has decided to issue a new currency in an effort to prop up the notion that's there's no inflation in Venezuela.

In an effort to stem record-high inflation, Venezuela launches a new currency on Wednesday – the “strong bolivar” – by slicing three zeroes off the bolivar.

While President Hugo Chávez’s government is hailing the measure as an anti-inflationary measure that will help stabilise the economy, non-government economists fear the strong bolivar will be anything but strong.

“We’re ending a historical cycle of . . . instability in prices,” Rodrigo Cabezas, finance minister, said on Monday, adding that the change aimed to “recover a bolivar that has significant buying capacity”.

“It was necessary to leave behind the consequences of a history of high inflation,” Gaston Parra, central bank president, said in a televised year-end speech. He added that officials aimed “to reinforce confidence in the monetary symbol”.

However, in view of racing inflation, an increasingly unsustainable exchange rate and shortages of basic goods, José Guerra, a former chief economist at Venezuela’s central bank, said: “The monetary ‘reconversion’ is not going to stabilise prices. It’s not going to help reduce inflation, or anything of the kind,” arguing that the new currency could even trigger higher inflation. “It’s a dangerous move,” he said.

{...}José Manuel Puente, an economist at the IESA business school in Caracas, says the exchange rate is at least 20-30 per cent overvalued. But the key problem, he argues, is the gap between the official and the “parallel” exchange rate for the dollar, which recently exceeded triple the official rate of 2,150 bolivars.

You know, just because people can set their farts on fire doesn't necessarily mean that they should. I believe the same principle applies here.

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