"It's a special occasion"

That's what we say when we let the dog on the couch. Which is basically all the time. But he never jumps up there without asking permission, which essentially consists of his placing his chin on the sofa cushion and then looking at us with the ultimate "puppy eyes." Well, it's a special occasion, we say. Okay!

But today really and truly is a special occasion, because Fritz is here at work with me and is sitting by my feet as I write. A colleague is writing a children's alphabet book using photographs of dogs for each letter, and she needed an "f". So here we are!

We've taken lots of walks this morning and already had one photo shoot, so Fritz is seeming pretty calm. It's unfortunate that there are workmen down the hall today banging on things, but after one bark, Fritz seems to accept their noise.

My colleague has been interviewed by Time magazine about a previously written book of photographs on dogs, called Black is Beautiful: A Celebration of Dark Dogs. (Black dogs are much harder to find homes for.) Fritz is honored to be a part of her new book, aren't you boy? Fritz? Wake up Fritz!

The world is watching

As Amnesty International asks, in whose best interest is it to take a 15-year old boy -- who allegedly threw a grenade in Afghanistan -- into custody and hold him in secret, incommunicado and indefinite detention, and subject him to torture?

Last night the mainstream media broadcast video of Omar Khadr, "enemy combatant," crying and describing to his interrogators ill treatment he had received. To make sure we didn't begin feeling badly about a 15-year old child being treated this way, ABC News quickly put up a photo of the soldier killed by a grenade allegedly thrown by Khadr. There are no eye witnesses to this allegation. ABC did not mention that fact. (And by the way, did it appear that Khadr had legal representation with him during the interrogation? No?)

What has the United States become, when we willingly allow our leaders to sanction torture against children?

From Amnesty International:

No existing international tribunal has ever prosecuted a child for war crimes, reflecting the wide recognition that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict is a serious abuse in itself. This does not mean that a child above the age of criminal responsibility cannot be held accountable for crimes committed in the context of armed conflict, as in any other context. Appropriate recognition must be given to the age of the child at the time of the alleged crime and the rehabilitative priority, however. In February 2007, the month that the Pentagon announced charges against Omar Khadr under the Military Commissions Act (MCA), 58 countries endorsed the Paris Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (and another eight countries have endorsed them since). They agreed that “Children who are accused of crimes under international law allegedly committed while they were associated with armed forces or armed groups should be considered primarily as victims of offences against international law; not only as perpetrators. They must be treated in accordance with international law in a framework of restorative justice and social rehabilitation, consistent with international law which offers children special protection through numerous agreements and principles.” The MCA provides no such framework.

Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was taken into custody by the US military in Afghanistan in 2002, and has been held at Guantanamo Bay since he was 16. He is now 21. Contact your Senators and Representatives today and tell them you -- and the rest of the world -- are watching. Again from Amnesty International:

“The US has violated international standards by refusing to recognize Omar Khadr’s status as a minor and treating him accordingly.”

hat tip to Cousin Pete for the title of this post ....

Wednesday Poetry Break

Goodbye to Tolerance

Genial poets, pink-faced
earnest wits—
you have given the world
some choice morsels,
gobbets of language presented
as one presents T-bone steak
and Cherries Jubilee.
Goodbye, goodbye,
I don’t care
if I never taste your fine food again,
neutral fellows, seers of every side.
Tolerance, what crimes
are committed in your name.

And you, good women, bakers of nicest bread,
blood donors. Your crumbs
choke me, I would not want
a drop of your blood in me, it is pumped
by weak hearts, perfect pulses that never
falter: irresponsive
to nightmare reality.

It is my brothers, my sisters,
whose blood spurts out and stops
forever
because you choose to believe it is not your business.

Goodbye, goodbye,
your poems
shut their little mouths,
your loaves grow moldy,
a gulf has split
the ground between us,
and you won’t wave, you’re looking
another way.
We shan’t meet again—
unless you leap it, leaving
behind you the cherished
worms of your dispassion,
your pallid ironies,
your jovial, murderous,
wry-humored balanced judgment,
leap over, un-
balanced? ... then
how our fanatic tears
would flow and mingle
for joy ...

— Denise Levertov

I find the following lines especially profound this morning, as I try to reconcile my outrage at several events in the news (FISA and Guantanamo, to name two), with the seeming indifference exhibited by friends and colleagues:

by weak hearts, perfect pulses that never
falter: irresponsive
to nightmare reality.

It is my brothers, my sisters,
whose blood spurts out and stops
forever
because you choose to believe it is not your business.

McCain Watch: McCain’s extremist opposition to gay adoption

Barack Obama reversed his pledge to stand up against FISA. I think that's wrong and I'll continue to say it. But lest you think I'm not aware what a disaster it would be for this country -- and the world -- were John McCain to slip into the White House (yes, I'm talking to you, Donald!), here's yet another reason why we must not let McCain get elected in November. From ThinkProgress:

In a revealing interview with the New York Times, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — an adoptive parent himself — declared that he opposed the right of gay couples to adopt children, even if it meant leaving children in orphanages:

Q: President Bush believes that gay couples should not be permitted to adopt children. Do you agree with that?

Mr. McCain: I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no I don’t believe in gay adoption.

Q: Even if the alternative is the kid staying in an orphanage, or not having parents.

Mr. McCain: I encourage adoption and I encourage the opportunities for people to adopt children I encourage the process being less complicated so they can adopt as quickly as possible. And Cindy and I are proud of being adoptive parents.

Q: But your concern would be that the couple should a traditional couple —

Mr. McCain: Yes.

McCain’s position is an extreme one, considering that only one state, Florida, forbids all forms of gay adoption. A March 2007 study estimated that 65,000 adopted children are living with a gay or lesbian parent, and determined that a national ban on LGBT foster care could cost anywhere from $87 million to $130 million.

From the American Academy of Pediatrics:

A growing body of scientific literature demonstrates that children who grow up with 1 or 2 gay and/or lesbian parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as do children whose parents are heterosexual. Children’s optimal development seems to be influenced more by the nature of the relationships and interactions within the family unit than by the particular structural form it takes.

Just one more example of John McCain's extreme ignorance and narrow-mindedness.

The Pickens Plan

While I was on vacation, I happened to see a commercial from T. Boone Pickens that made me sit up and pay attention. He wants America to stop our dependence on oil. It's called the Pickens Plan.

Normally I'm no fan of T. Boone, as he's as right-wing as they come. But I think it is a sea change when a man who's fortunes have come from oil recognizes that that is a dying industry. He's a businessman first and foremost (a real Texas oil man, not like the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., who has a Harvard MBA, family riches, and still managed to fail in the lucrative Texas oil industry of the 1980's).

The main reason why there has not been a push for alternative energy in this country is that there's been no obvious profit motive. We are, for better or for worse, a capitalist country. If there's money to be made, we'll do it. Otherwise, not so much.

Now, we've had some discussions here at the House of Jello about one issue being "more important" than another. You may think energy is not important, or at the least a rather dull topic. But the truth is, energy affects everything in your life. Look around you right now at the things on your desk made of plastic, paper, or metal. They were manufactured and transported using energy. As was the food on your table, and the clothes on your back.

It's not just about the price of a gallon of gas.

President Bush's idea is a plan to open up more land for drilling for this limited resource (again, showing his inferior business acumen). But our future is not in oil. Pickens is correct in looking to wind and natural gas as alternatives for America. This is a major business opportunity for America, not an energy crisis.

Barack Obama is by far the stronger candidate on the issue of energy. However, I would love to hear him frame the issue in terms of the opportunity it provides rather than the standard line that we should work toward oil independence.

Will either candidate acknowledge the groundbreaking move by a wealthy Texas oil man to "get out" of the business?

UPDATED: Sen. Obama, I'm trying, but you're not making it easy for me

UPDATE: MyBarackObama.com is back up and running. I encourage anyone who's as frustrated by Obama's vote on FISA as I am to sign up for the "President Obama, Please Get FISA Right" group. So far, it seems to be a fairly polite and articulate discussion of the issues. And hopefully if enough of us object to Obama's stand on FISA, our collective voice may be heard.

***

Yes, it's true that I wore an Obama sticker when I marched in the 4th of July parade. The next president of the United States will be either John McCain or Barack Obama, so ....

Part of the reason why I felt comfortable with the sticker is that I had some really good conversations with my cousin in Vermont who is a strong Obama supporter. I felt that he respected my previous support of Hillary Clinton, and that he understood my concerns with Obama's recent stands on issues such as FISA. In fact, my cousin encouraged me to go to the Obama web site, where many progressives who are displeased with this recent move to the center have been leaving comments urging Obama to reconsider some of his recent statements. Enough people have been commenting that it has made the news. Computer World reports:

In a development that shows how users can take Web 2.0 sites in unexpected directions, a group of Barack Obama supporters is using his presidential campaign's official social network to protest the Illinois senator's stance on a bill extending the so-called warrantless wiretapping program.

The social networking group set up on the MyBarackObama.com site to urge Obama to vote against the extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) had attracted more than 24,000 member entries as of last Friday, although some of the entries appeared to be duplicates.

So I thought that I'd check it out this morning and see if I left a thoughtful and polite comment, would I be attacked as a "troll" and all the rest of the things I was called at Americablog, Huffington Post, and the rest. Unfortunately, this is what you get today when you go to mybarackobama.com:

I'll keep checking. Hopefully it'll be back up soon ....

Perhaps I should go away more often

Although I am a little disappointed to come home and see that you all did not in fact finish the bathroom for us, I am also quite relieved to see that there is no evidence of a jello-shot party here, either!

What can I say? We had a wonderful time, and with only occasional opportunities to go online -- plus the fact that we forgot the cord to download from the camera to the laptop, so I couldn't post any photos -- there just wasn't much time to blog. I thought about blogging quite a bit, and went into my own withdrawal, there is no doubt. But it was also nice to fully experience the moment, without the constant thought in the back of my head ("Oh -- I've got to post about that!") Bloggers, you know what I'm sayin' ....

Well, now all photos have been downloaded and you, my friends, are in grave danger of me deciding that "you must look at slides from my vacation," as we used to say back in the old days. I won't subject you to that. But I'll show you a couple of examples why I was too busy to write:


This is me at "The Falls of Lana" near Lake Dunmore in Vermont. (I love that name -- I kept looking for The Lady of the Lake!) The hiking trails were easy and well maintained, but of course we crawled over rocks to get down to the water. The water was so cool and clear, Unnamed Partner took off her shorts and went for a dip, but I'm not allowed to post those photos ...

We took the gondola to the top of Killington and walked around up there (which sure is a lot easier to get around when there's no snow, but I guess if I were a better skier I'd appreciate the unbelievably long trails a little more...) There was no wi fi at the top of Killington ....

And you know we ate well on our journey, because we always do! Most of the time we stayed with my relatives in Rutland, Vermont, and in Odessa, New York, and they all took such good care of us! We had many great meals and conversations. On our jaunt out to Odessa, we also stopped in at the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca:

I have much more to tell you about, and some more images to post (including me marching with the Rutland County Democrats in the Brandon Vermont 4th of July Parade, which is led by Warren Kimble. And yes, I was wearing an Obama sticker. I'm all about taking back the White House -- but I'm still going to take him to task on FISA, gun control and the death penalty.)

Thank you for indulging me in this absence, and for keeping each other entertained while I was gone. I always tell people that I enjoy blogging because I've met the most interesting people here! Honestly, I was worried that if I didn't post for 10 days you all might wander away and never come back. But to be in such a serene place -- both physically and spiritually -- I knew I'd just let it be, and see what happened.

O.k. But for now, I've got a bunch of laundry to do.

Prepare for some sporadic blogging, at best

Unnamed Partner and I will be flying off for a few days to drive around Vermont and upstate New York. (Yes, anything to avoid that bathroom renovation project at the moment.) Of course we'll have the camera, and I will have my laptop, but we'll be sponging off of staying with relatives for the majority of the time and I have no idea what kind of Internet access I'll have.

So I'll check in when I can, but don't be alarmed if we're missing for a few days. I'm sure you'll find blogs to visit, just be sure to come back in about a week. After all, it's aways fun when I go to Vermont -- last year Larry "Wide Stance" Craig was busted for toe tapping while I was in Killington. Fun!

Why do you still shop at Wal-Mart?

I know money is tight these days, but when I see stories like this I just can't understand how people can still shop at Wal-Mart.

Judge finds Wal-Mart violated Minnesota labour laws

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Minnesota judge has ruled that Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) violated state wage and hour laws, requiring employees to work off the clock, and the discount retailer could now face more than $2 billion in possible fines.

Minnesota District Court Judge Robert R. King Jr ruled that Wal-Mart owes $6.5 million to thousands of current and former employees because of wage the violations, which included a failure to give workers their full rest breaks and requiring hourly employees to work off-the-clock during training.

Sure. Isolated case you say. That's until you spend some time reading the news reports over at Wake Up Wal-Mart.

Turns out reports of despicable business practices at Wal-Mart are not so isolated after all.

"Tyson Homosexual Sprints to the Finish Line"

Because this is what happens when you stop thinking for yourself. From ThinkProgress:

And finally: The American Family Association has a policy of replacing the word “gay” with “homosexual” on its Christian news outlet, OneNewsNow. To do so, it has set up an automatic filter. But the system went awry when it ended up publishing a story about a world-class U.S. sprinter named “Tyson Homosexual” (whose real name is “Tyson Gay”). Therefore, OneNewsNow published an AP story reading, “Tyson Homosexual was a blur in blue, sprinting 100 meters faster than anyone ever has.” OneNewsNow said that it has now taken “the filter out for that word.”

Because sometimes a Gay is not a gay.

So men are ... flies?

Sometimes it's really good to get outside the US media and our own little blogosphere, and see what's going on in the rest of the world. You really never know what you'll find. Apparently making the email rounds in the Middle East, is the following photo, which includes this message at the top:

“You can’t stop them, but you can protect yourself.”

The Arabist asks in his post Veil Your Lollipop, "Two obvious (and rhetorical) questions: Can we really not stop harassment? And does veiling really “protect” you?"

Click the image to see a larger version in all it's icky glory ....

About that survey ...

Last week I really started feeling the effects of the $4 gallon gas. I try to do everything I can to use less gas, but sometimes it just doesn't seem like enough. (I suppose the costs of the total overhaul of the bathroom isn't helping much right now, either!). So I started wondering what other folks are doing to cope with expensive gas and the resulting high cost of everything. Nine of you voted, and here's what you said:

• Started carpooling 2 (22%)
• Started taking the bus 1(11%)
• Ride my bike more often 0 (0%
• Sold my SUV 0 (0%)
• More careful to turn off the lights at home 7 (77%)
• Run the AC less often 6 (66%)
• Go out to dinner less often 3 (33%)
• Drive the speed limit now 6 (66%)
• Other 5 (55%)

I'm one of the two who has started carpooling -- I wonder if my carpooling colleague is the other one? I have tried taking the commuter train, but that's a whole 'nother post. A nightmare, and a long one at that. I thought I would ride my bike to the store, etc., but haven't had trips to stores near enough. I do try to combine all trips together, though. Sell my SUV? Does an '89 Toyota wagon with a "Hillary" bumper sticker count? Eh, I didn't think so. Anyway, she's not going anywhere (yeah, and neither's Hillary).

It seems that most of us are being more aware of energy use at home, which is good. Seven of 9 of us say we turn off lights more often -- I bet the remaining 2 already have all the lights off!

We definitely eat out less, and are more aware of prices when we do go out. Any higher priced meal has to be purchased with the understanding that there will be leftovers for more meals. (That's how we justified Indian food last night, anyway. Chicken korma for dinner again!).

What's up with the speed limit? Are the 3 of you who didn't check this one already doing the limit, or do you know a secret to gas mileage that the rest of us don't? Someone must have a secret, because other cars (and SUVs) continue to fly past me on I-95, with no concern for burning the gas.

And 5 of you said you're doing something else. I know from some of your comments that you're combining trips, walking when you can. What else can you pass along that's helping?

image from treehugger.com

Please pardon out mess ...

I vowed when I started this blog that it would not be one of those "here's what's in my fridge" blogs, where the writer posts photos of the inside of their refrigerator, and tells you in great detail what they are going to do for the rest of the day (laundry? really? do I care?) And writing about my bathroom renovation project is skirting dangerously close to the edge on this promise. But if you'll indulge me a little bit of a vent, I can once again focus on the more worldly topics of this blog. If you don't have any interest in home renovation, perhaps you'd like to skip this post and come back later.

So. Once upon a time there was a slightly leaky supply line to the toilet tank in the upstairs bathroom. A simple fix with a $5 part. But as I was on my hands and knees with my head behind the toilet (and yes, that was a new experience for me -- all previous experience involving being on my knees and a toilet has been in front of a toilet), I noticed the linoleum seemed to be very damp underneath. Very damp indeed. Crappy linoleum it was, so Unnamed Partner and I decided to pull it up and see how far the dampness went. It went very far.

You saw the picture last week, so you know how much fun that was.

We decided to go ahead and take up all the layers of linoleum and tile the floor. We realized that some of that dampness may have in fact been coming from ... wait for it ... the toilet seal. Yes. "Eeew!" "Yuck!" "Oh, sweet J!" So "we" (with big brother's invaluable help) put in a new toilet last week.

To take up all the linoleum, we also had to remove the sink and vanity, which was o.k., because it was very old and beatup and was actually much too big for that space. It also turns out that the shutoff valves underneath the sink were leaking ever so slightly.

I have kind of a love/hate relationship with water at the moment.

These shutoff valves should have been in the Smithsonian. Or else in an industrial supply catalog. They were a little bit of overkill from another era, and they were impossible to remove. We realized this would be a new skill for us to learn to cut and "sweat" the pipes to put in better shutoff vales, or call in someone (and pay for it!) But wait! There's more! We had successfully made it to the point of putting down the backerboard in preparation for the tile.

That's when I heard the water dripping from the kitchen ceiling.

Ripping up the subfloor, we found that the copper supply to the bathtub was lying in a notch on top of the floor joist, directly below the subfloor. Miraculously we had not put a screw into it -- but someone else had years ago, and as we worked on the subfloor and backerboard, we jiggled the old screw loose, causing a waterfall onto the kitchen ceiling below.

Time for Len the Plumber.

As for actual water damage, there was very little because we caught it in time. We can basically let the ceiling dry out a little more and paint should cover the spot. The pipe is fixed, and we have new shutoff valves. We can now put down the rest of the backerboard, and then begin tiling. And then we can paint the walls, and then put up the wainscoting. And then we can install the new sink and vanity.

And by the way, we're going on vacation for a week on Thursday. Thanks for listening.

Stormy weather

Don't know why ... but all heck is breaking out with the bathroom renovation project. "So weary all the time" as Lena Horne would say. And guess what? Miss Lena is 91 today! So while I'll be spending some quality time with Len the Plumber for the rest of the day, please amuse yourselves with the sights and sounds of Lena Horne:



Happy Birthday Miss Lena!