Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 4:15 PM

Well, I've had a little time to scan the blogs between calls, so here are a few other issues of import I'd like to share:

• Continuing in the vein of Krugman's Waggy Dog Stories, CalPundit writes about the growing public acceptance of political lying while See the Forest focuses on GOP hypocrisy.
• Yeesh! Get a load of this: "top officials are spending hours coping with frequent, unsolicited attempts by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to make foreign policy." And when they say top officials, we're talking the highest ranks of the Bush administration. Atrios has more on this Boston Globe story.
• Beware the RAVE Act: If you aren't already familiar with the provisions of this law, read this post. "Given [the] broad language [of the law], anyone who organizes or rents space for an event where drug use takes place could face criminal charges."
• The First Amendment gets a couple stories in today's blogs, with two legal challenges underway.
  • Off the Kuff writes about a dispute over neighborhood association regulations on yard signs. A resident is challenging their argument that "We support President Bush and Our Troops" is acceptable, yet "Vote so-and-so for mayor" is barred as 'too political', a dichotomy worth thinking about.
  • The more important case involves a man who joined the crowds at an airport welcoming President Bush. Because he was carrying a "No War For Oil" sign, he was ordered to leave the area and go to a "designated protest site" far from the President's path. He refused, pointing out he was on public property, and was arrested for tresspassing. DailyKOS and Hesiod have more information, but the best part of the story comes from Barney Frank's open letter to Ashcroft:

    As we read the First Amendment to the Constitution, the United States is a 'free speech zone'. In the United States, free speech is the rule, not the exception, and citizens' rights to express it do not depend on their doing it in a way the President finds politically amenable . . . . We ask that you make it clear that we have no interest as a government in "zoning" Constitutional freedoms, and that being politically annoying to the President of the United States is not a criminal offense.

    Bravo! <clap><clap><clap> You tell 'im, Barney!
  
  
• Speaking of civil liberties, remember the PATRIOT Act II proposal??? [If not, refresh your memory here and here.] As a standalone bill with all those provisions, it's probably dead in the water. But don't count it out yet. Although this should surprise nobody, Ashcroft is planning to submit it piecemeal, sneaking it into other bills.
• Oh, and if you don't already read/watch Mark Fiore's weekly animated political cartoons, I highly recommend them. He really gets the issues that I and other bloggers write about, and manages to express them quickly, clearly and with humor. Check out this week's cartoon, titled TIA 2, and then go back through his archive. There are just too many gems for me select just a few.
• In the 28 days since Bush's stunt on the aircraft carrier, US and UK forces have averaged 1.25 deaths per day. Kos has the statistics. Of course, Daily Kos also points out that many combat troops won't be relieved as promised, and U.S. troops were forced to withdraw under fire from another city. Jim Henley is angry: "the men and women of 3ID ... expected a quick victory, a hero's welcome in Iraq and a quick rotation home. They sort of got one out of three."
  This must be some new meaning of the word "liberation" that of which I wasn't previously aware.

With all this negative news, I'd hoped to close my post with something humorous and uplifting, but while looking for somethng, I came across this question from Charles Kuffner:

Here's an idle question to chew on, by the way. Team Bush has passed all of its tax cuts and knocked off Saddam Hussein, wherever he may be. What, exactly, do they plan to do between now and next November?

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:56 PM

My phone shift starts soon, so I don't have too much time to post, but two must-read news stories of the day:
1) Today's Krugman column, titled "Waggy Dog Stories", compares current events to a the 1997 film. And
2) Atrios blogged an article on the many ways computerized voting failed in the last Georgia election. I've written in the past about how easy it is to rig such machines and the suspicious links to the GOP. Seeing the Forest has been an excellent source of information on this issue, through his posts and article link collection. This week, he linked to a petition demanding "a halt to further computerization of balloting until such methods are made unsusceptible to political manipulation, fraud, and racial bias."
Both topics are important reading if we want to take the country back from the extremists in 2004.

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:49 AM

A few months ago, CalPundit made Friday into cat blogging day. Well, who am I to go against such a tradition, especially since we just got a pair of lovely photos of Boopsie back from the developer.
Here she is, enjoying the Sunday newspaper (and possibly giving me a hint that I pay too much attention to the news and not enough to her).

Lady Bubastis Underfoot, aka Boopsie -- for your viewing pleasure

---

Speaking of cats, my father has informed me that tonight is the premiere episode of Meow TV. TV Guide describes it as "A show geared toward TV-watching cats includes birds, mice, fish, bright colors and bouncing balls. There's also information and fun facts for cat owners." My dad said tonight's episode is "birds and squirrels" and he's waiting to see how his two react. For those of you with cable, it airs at 7:30 PM (Eastern) on the Oxygen network.

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:55 AM

This morning when we drove in to work, there was a heron in the pond. Ian and I walked over to gawk at it. Boy those things are skinny when they're directly facing you -- they're so thin, they almost vanish. Ian commented on how much a walking heron resembles a marionette. The heron was hanging out on the grass with some geese and ducks -- the male swan seemed to have them all too cowed to go into the water.

A security guard drove past and told us that it was 45 days today since the female swan laid her eggs. They should hatch any day now. He said that the male swan was building up the sides of the nest yesterday, maybe as a precaution against the cygnets accidentally falling into the water? Dunno.

I haven't seen any sign of the wild turkey since that one time, but I've heard several other turkey sightings in Greater Boston over the last month, ranging from my in-laws' house to Kendall Square, Cambridge and West Roxbury. Weird.

Last night, I saw some baby ducklings in Ell Pond (Melrose) while walking home from the library. So cute and brown and fluffy. I took Ian back there later, shortly after the sun set. We saw the mama duck sitting with her wings arched like the McDonald's M, presumably with all the ducklings underneath. We could see them squirming a little, but didn't want to make her nervous by getting too close.

For a while now, Ian's noted how humans almost find baby animals so adorable. Given the number of stories where mammals of one species adopt and raise orphans of another, is this a universal trait, and if so, why? I've pointed out that we don't find all baby animals cute -- mammals and birds yes, less so for reptiles and amphibians, rarely for other vertebrata, and almost never for things outside phylum chordata. Even with those limitations, however, it's still an interesting phenomenon.

By the way, the Stoneham carnival is this weekend. It's right next to the Stoneham Arena (the Montvale Ave. exit of 93) and not far from where I work. If you plan to go, let me know and I'll tell you where to see the swan's nest if you're interested.

Posted by Lis Riba at 1:35 PM

I agree with Atrios. This list of quotes compiled by Whiskey Bar needs wide dissemination (that means you!). Also via Atrios, the Baghdad bunker which the United States said it bombed ... never existed and Jessica Lynch may not have amnesia (but her family is "really not supposed to talk about" the conflicting accounts of her rescue).

And speaking of unsurprising administration lies, this morning's Sisyphus Shrugged repeated a front page story in Britain's Financial Times that "The Bush administration reportedly buried a report commissioned by the US Treasury which predicted a budget deficit of over $44,000 billion and called for tax rises." Now that Bush has signed his budget into law, we find out that [The study] says that "the US government is at risk of being overwhelmed by the 'baby boom' generation's future healthcare and retirement costs and estimates that closing the gap would require the equivalent of an immediate and permanent 66% across-the-board income tax increase." And that's before they inflicted the latest tax cuts.

I've been worried for a long time about what the Baby Boomers' retirement would do to our economy. And this administration is only making matters more precarious -- possibly intentionally Emigration is starting to sound better and better, but I'm not sure to where. [Anybody interested in cohousing in Canada?]

Other than that, I've been really busy and haven't had much chance to blog about things. An interesting discussion on centrist third parties has sprung up in the comments to Tuesday's post if anybody else wants to jump in. [Over the weekend, I hope to redesign the comment form to make it friendlier.] Boopsie's mostly over her cold, though Ian fell mildly ill yesterday. And my writing's going well. I worked on the story last night from about 7pm until midnight, mostly revising my existing chapters, but also finally writing the next scene, and percolating ideas kept me awake much of the night. I'm afraid I'll jinx myself if I talk too much about it. [Call me superstitious, but I only started having problems immediately after I posted the first chapters and announced it publically.]

For anybody living in Melrose, there's going to be a rally Saturday from ten til noon in front of the fire station supporting the impending city's Proposition 2 1/2 override vote. And don't forget the vote on Tuesday! [Read these letters by Jacob Lefton and Ian for some good arguments in favor. To gauge the general opinion of the city, just browse through the letter column of the local paper.]

I've got many more things I'd like to write about, but my lunch is halfway over and I have work to do in the afternoon.

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:30 PM

See The Forest provides further acknowledgement that Republicans are trying to bankrupt the country as a way of cutting programs we don't like. Meanwhile, get a load of these quotes, as seen on Atrios:

"We are trying to change the tones in the state capitals - and turn them toward bitter nastiness and partisanship," said Grover Norquist, a leading Republican strategist, who heads a group called Americans for Tax Reform.
"Bipartisanship is another name for date rape," Norquist, a onetime adviser to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, said, citing an axiom of House conservatives.

I really want to spread the word about these. We need to get outside the echo chamber of like-minded bloggers, go beyond our social groups; inform mainstream voters that this is the Republican party's agenda and aks them whether this is what they really want out of government. The question is, how?

See The Forest elaborates: "If you asked the average Bush voter if they think Bush is trying to get rid of Social Security or Medicare they'll look at you like you are a crazy conspiracist. But how do you get through to them, when all of AM radio is a 24/7 Republican party ad, the TV networks replace Phil Donahue with Michael Savage, and most people won't go near a newspaper?"
His suggestion is getting involved with The Commonweal Institute, but then he's on the staff. I don't know enough about them one way or another, but something is definitely needed. I hear too many people say they don't see sufficient difference between the Democrats and Republicans, and even I have trouble convincing them otherwise.

Here are a few other points I've seen on what may be needed to defeat Bush in 2004:

• In an earlier post, See The Forest wrote about how the conservative right has manipulated public opinion through an "idea development and communication infrastructure" that ranges from think-tanks down to call-in radio. Complaints that the Democratic party needs to find a message have it backwards. "Politicians RESPOND to the public."
• Interesting Times builds upon this to explain why issue-advocacy and voting for candidates over party affiliation may actually be detrimental to the kind of cross-the-board focus the right-wingers have.
• Dwight Meredith dismisses the accusations that Democrats are Ivory Tower dreamers by scrutinizing how GOP policies are based on impractical theories which are actually contraindicated by real-world evidence.

<Drat it!> I saw some great quotes earlier today by Senator Byrd and Sid Blumenthal about standing up for what we believe in, not being wishy-washy, not letting the GOP get away with lies or with trying to define us. The point is, if we aren't willing to stand up for what we believe in, why should voters and/or donors stand up to support us? Unfortunately, I just can't find the links!

• The Left Coaster makes suggestions in a similar vein, which Interesting Times comments upon.
• A while back, I started accumulating links with other such advice, such as this piece by Eric Alterman. Is anybody interested in these? If so, I'll post more as I come across them. [If nobody speaks up, I'll probably still post ones I like, but not as diligently as if I knew readers wanted them.]

Bush is beatable. He's got a crack political team, but his poll numbers remain near the center, with about one-third of respondents disapproving. I need to think further about STF's points (the first bullet) but I definitely want to spread the word about the first two items I quoted.

One thing which may help is the news from TalkLeft that the Greens may not field a presidential candidate in 2004 to avoid splitting the anti-Bush vote. Of course, as Hesiod wrote, "all bets are off if the Democrats stupidly nominate Joe Lieberman." [Even I find him too moralistic and regulatory.] Hey, maybe we can even peel some of the Libertarians away from the GOP... If we can get the word out about the right-wing's true agenda.

Meanwhile, I just found more on education reform and testing at P.L.A. (page down one screen).
And in a complete non-sequitor, I saw this amusing t-shirt on Jarrett House North: It's a black t-shirt with large white lettering: I'm blogging this. I don't know whether that's a promise or a threat, but I kinda like it.

Posted by Lis Riba at 5:20 PM

There's a patch of blue sky and the sun is shining! I'd like a winning lottery ticket and an end to the current Republican regime in Washington, please! [To be more specific, since I've read too many stories of monkey paws and double-dealing demons for my comfort, I'd like to legally obtain a legitimate winning lottery ticket worth at least a million dollars after tax without further strings, and for the current Republican-dominated regime in Washington to end soon through peaceful, legal and democratic means.]

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:35 AM

On days when I have the morning phone shift, I leave the house at the same time as my first floor tenant and her daughters (age 11). Both girls were pulling behind them "backpacks" that strongly resembled rolling suitcases -- not just in size and design, but in terms of the amount stuffed in there as well. Now, I used to carry my books in a huge duffle bag -- but that was in high school, and I could still carry the darned thing to and from school (I walked). These kids have bookbags half their size, so heavy they can't even lift them. What has happened to schools that kids need to carry so much with them every day?

Ian and I discussed this on our drive into work. I thought it might partly be because schools can't afford consumable workbooks that they have to replace every year, so are doing more with (thicker, longer-lasting) textbooks. Ian thought it might be because kids no longer have study halls. Either way, we don't like the trends in the school systems.

I've written many times in the past about problems with the current standardized test craze (though mostly on Usenet or in discussion boards -- maybe I should try to compile them into a coherent essay one of these days). I haven't heard anything positive from this relentless testing, from individual students to communities to systematic failings. And every new item I read makes homeschooling sound more attractive. Which, I think, is partly the point.

The people in charge have a vested interest in proving our schools are failing, either as a power grab (Silber's machinations in Massachusetts) or to make vouchers for religious schools more attractive. There are people currently holding office who actually believe ""Where did this idea come from, that everybody deserves free education? Free medical care. Free whatever? It comes from Moscow. From Russia. It comes straight out of the pit of hell." That is a direct quote from a Texas state representative [For more on this, read the transcript of Bill Moyers & Molly Ivins]. The idea of free education comes from our founding fathers, who understood that democracy requires an educated populace. And there are people in this government who want to destroy these institutions out of some twisted ideology.

I don't know what to do, but I'm growing increasingly scared for our nation's welfare. I know it's a teeny thing, but I wish that every legislator who has ever voted for mandatory standardized tests and everybody considering voting for such would be required to take the graduation exam and have their results publicized. After all, if this is supposed to test the minimum every educated adult should know, then it should be no problem, right???

Along similar lines, I recommend these posts on Republican-Induced Depression by CalPundit, Matthew Yglesias (read the comment thread!), Electrolite and TalkLeft. There's a lot of good stuff in there. I particularly like Kevin Maroney's term MacGuffins of Mass Destruction, which I think I'm going to co-opt.

Oof! And tangentially related, Jeanne D'Arc has found something disturbing in today's New York Times:

Republicans, who now control all three branches of the federal government, are not just pushing through their political agenda. They are increasingly ignoring the rules of government to do it. <snip bits on redistricting and judicial nominations> These partisan attacks on the rules of government may be more harmful, and more destabilizing, than bad policies, like the $320 billion tax cut. Modern states, the German sociologist Max Weber wrote, derive their legitimacy from "rational authority," a system in which rules apply in equal and predictable ways, and even those who lead are reined in by limits on their power. When the rules of government are stripped away, people can begin to regard their government as illegitimate.
The article concludes with the following anecdote: When [House majority leader, Tom DeLay] tried smoking a cigar in a restaurant on federal property, the manager told him it violated federal law. His response, according to The Washington Post, was, "I am the federal government."

That doesn't inspire confidence... Then again, apparently it's not supposed to.

In a nearby post, Jeanne D'Arc points out that "it looks a lot like the primary purpose of the [tax] cuts is to destroy social programs", something I've been saying for quite a while. But now Paul Krugman and the Financial Times are openly writing about this issue, hopefully somebody will wake up before it's too late...

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:30 AM

Haven't been in much mood to write this weekend. I know I owe several people emails, and have other chores to do, but I spent much of the weekend catching up on sleep. Fortunately, in one of those yin-yang things, Ian has been exceptionally verbose in his journal, so you can read from him about our abortive attempt to see X2 Friday night (I'm sorry, but aside from special events, $9.50 is just too high a price for movie tickets), making homemade donuts and potato soup on Saturday (they were delicious!), and playing Encore Sunday at Games Night

Boopsie's been sick this weekend. We suspect a head cold or virus of some sort. She hasn't been eating much (besides possibly not being hungry, cats rely heavily on their sense of smell when eating; if she's stuffed up and can't smell, nothing's going to seem appetizing), been sleeping more than normal (Ian & I have actually gotten to sleep uninterrupted all night! -- a rarity!), been even fussier about water (won't use either her bowl or the Drinkwell fountain. Insists upon the faucet, which we've been indulging her in because she's sick. For a while (inner ear balance problems?) she wasn't even going to the sink, hopping in the bathtub instead, but she's over that, at least.), and generally seeming slow and logy and grizzled. After Boopsie had a couple accidents (think outside the box) last night, Ian's going to call the vet today. I really hope she's okay. It's been almost twelve years since I found her, and while I know she's approaching senior citizenship, I don't like thinking about giving her up.

It's often said that pets and their owners grow alike, and that's very true of me and Boopsie. Beyond the ordinary soporific effect of being near sleeping cats, I think Boopsie's state knocked me out too. The weather may also have been a contributing factor in my do-little weekend. I recently saw a quote worth sharing:

"The people of New England are by nature patient and forbearing," quipped Mark Twain in his famous "Speech on the Weather," "but there are some things which they will not stand. Every year they kill a lot of poets for writing about 'Beautiful Spring.' These are generally casual visitors, who bring their notions of spring from somewhere else, and cannot, of course, know how the natives feel about spring."

My graduation day was nice -- blue skies and warm weather. And if I had to pick any day to have good weather, that's probably the most important one. And that carried over to the day (singular) afterwards. But otherwise, the weather up here has been unrelenting grey skies and rain. Fortunately, I don't have Seasonal Affective Disorder, but it's beginning to wear a little thin.

A friend wrote on his LJ, "If I wanted to live in Seattle, I'd move there." I look at photos of myself from this time last year, and I was in t-shirts and sleeveless tops. This year, I'm still wearing my cloak to work. Sigh.

Spring and autumn are my favorite seasons (one of the reasons I live in New England). I like lukewarm weather, when it's neither too hot nor too cold, and the wind. Have we finally gotten enough rain to stop worrying about droughts for the summer? If so, I'd like some blue skies, please!

Meanwhile, I'm back at work. Forgot to mention yet another piece of evidence that I work at a cool place. The intranet page for the support department features a large picture of Monty Burns twining his fingers together with a voice balloon saying "Get Back to work, slaves!!" <grin!>

Oh, and although the Globe didn't print my letter defending Amy Tan's speech, they did publish a similar letter from another graduate.

In random net silliness, Teresa Nielsen Hayden links to plushie microbes that simply must be seen to believed. The Flu, The Common Cold, Stomach Ache, Sore Throat: adds a whole new meaning to the slogan "Gotta catch 'em all!"

Anyway, more later.