Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:05 PM

With all the misery and strife going on in the world, it's nice to take a break and remember the finer things. This meme has been going around Livejournal for the last several days, and I'd like to continue it:

Now that you've read this, post a bit of poetry in your own journal or blog!

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:54 PM

Tonight's Sox game is just too painful to watch. I feel a need to quote something I saw yesterday on Murph's journal:

Why Boston Sports Teams Are Like Men

Boston sports teams are like men in relationships:

• The Patriots are like the new boyfriend that you really like -- he's awesome but almost too good to be true, so you worry.

• The Bruins are like the guy that you just casually dated and you don't really care about him, he's just something to do.

• The Celtics are like the marriage that was great at one time but has lost its spark and you always kinda look back and think about how great it was.

• And the Sox are the hard core abusive husband who just absolutely beats the shit out of you, but day after day you always go back to him cause you always believe that tomorrow will be different and you just love him too much.

So sad. Hopefully, this means a Kerry victory next month, because surely Gd wouldn't disappoint Bostonians twice over like that...
And while winning both would be nice, if it had to be an either/or victory, I would gladly sacrifice the Sox to get Bush out of office. Better luck next year, folks.

Added later: When I wrote this, I thought the playoffs were a best-of-five; I forgot they were best-of-seven. Here's still hoping, though I think it's an incredible longshot.

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:45 PM

Well, it looks like the flu vaccine story is going to have legs. Get a load of the ad John Kerry is releasing on the topic. (Added later: here's the script with the supporting facts)

There's already been one death and two hospitalizations (among elderly waiting in line for shots), and even disabled WWII veterans are being turned away emptyhanded. It's making headlines around the country, including a lengthy story in tomorrow's New York Times providing the background for this winter's disaster:

This is a big story which will impact a large percentage of Americans. When Bush talked about faith-based initiatives in the 2000 election, even I didn't think that'd mean we'd all be praying for our health.

[Note: Other posts on the flu vaccine: earlier and later]

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:15 AM

Well, baed on your comments, it appears that readers seem to prefer my political entries to personal posts. I just hope that this kind of thing doesn't scare away any employers who may get the impression I'd be some kind of pedantic pundit badgering people around the office. Honestly, ask former coworkers: writing is my outlet; I don't tend to bring this stuff up out of the blue conversationally in the workplace. Mostly just here and amongst my friends.

At any rate, looks like I found this just in time. This morning's AP wire reports:

The Republican Party calls Democratic Sen. John Kerry "the most liberal person to ever run for president" in a new television ad that began airing Friday, part of a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz to boost President Bush in the campaign's closing days.

"We live in a dangerous world that requires strong and steady leadership. John Kerry is a risky choice for America ? a risk we cannot take," said the ad, which describes the four-term Massachusetts senator as "the most liberal man in the Senate."

At least the media does some of its own factchecking this time. From near the end of the article:

The party charges that Kerry is "the most liberal man in the Senate" based on rankings by the nonpartisan publication, The National Journal, which analyzed Senate voting records of 2003. However, the publication has said that Kerry's missed votes because of absences, like those of other Democrats running for president, skewed his ranking, and that Kerry over his career is not the most liberal senator.

Again, here is the National Journal's explanation:

• "As with other lawmakers who were running for president, Kerry missed a lot of votes in 2003 ... didn't vote enough to qualify for scores in two of our three categories" so was only ranked on one category. Less data means higher margin of error.
• Secondly, this only rates his votes for a single year; this is not on the basis of his entire Senate career. "But if the standard is votes over a lifetime, Kerry isn't the most liberal senator."

By the way, doesn't this whole ad campaign contradict the GOP's previous attempts to paint Kerry as a flip-flopper? I mean, how can you simultaneously deride somebody as inconsistent while claiming they're consistently leftist?

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:49 PM

Isn't it refreshing to have something other than politics to get the arguments flowing. Jim Henley posts:

Gentlemen: Start Your Arguments - Penn's WXPN offers the Top 885 songs of all time. You might say the Top 50 is just a smidge boomer-heavy. U2 managed to slip one in at Number 10.

I'm sorry, but no. There is only one song by Queen on the entire list: "Bohemian Rhapsody" at #90.

Queen was top of the charts for nearly two decades, and only one song of theirs makes the list? I don't think so. At the very least, I expected to see "We will rock you/We are the champions," which is one of the biggest stadium chant songs of all times! Not to mention hits like "Another one bites the dust," "Crazy little thing called love," "You're my best friend," "Radio ga-ga," "Under pressure"... Probably not all these songs, but if they could find room on the list for five by the Police, surely that had space for more by Queen.

Henley doesn't have comments on his blog, so if you wish to share other opinions on the list, feel free to do so here.

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:12 PM

It's been a while, but how could I neglect it, particularly with all the new photos recently back from the developer. Here are four photos of the three cats who haunt our domecile (although since getting Boopsie back from the groomers, I've been trying to limit the other cats' access to see if it doesn't help reduce Boopsie's stress levels and bad behaviors -- so far so good, for her at least!) At any rate, without further ado, may I present Bubastis, Persephone and Violet:

Aren't they adorable?

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:30 PM

Just found out that the Coolidge Corner movie theatre is running free midnight movies this week and next. And they're both my kind of oddball affair. Tonight they're playing Wizard People Dear Readers which is Harry Potter with a darkly humorous alternate audio track. And next week, they'll be running the musical episode of Buffy -- as a sing-a-long!

I know it's last minute, but here are the details. Let me know if I can/should expect to run into any of you there.

Added later: I suppose I should also mention for you locals that they're holding a Films To See Before You Vote Film Festival.
Sadly (imo), on first glance it looks like they're only choosing films from the liberal perspective. I'd much rather see a more balanced offering. Sure, they list several films I might like to see, but with a title like that, I'd hoped it might be more geared towards the open-minded, whereas most of these seem aimed at reaffirming hard-core opinions. Maybe I'm wrong; I only just discovered the organization behind this and am admittedly not terribly familiar with many of the listed films, but that's the feeling I'm getting from skimming the list.

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:55 PM

In the comments to Atrios, someone calling hirself Riesz Fischer wrote:

I have to laugh when the fake christians say that they consider homosexuality a temptation. I mean, I'm not a homophobe at all but I've never felt the slightest temptation to gay sex. I just think it's funny that the fake christians are so horrified by it and yet they find it tempting!

Although I don't quite agree with hir use of the term "fake christians," the statement in general reminded me of something Ian's been saying for a while. So I badgered Ian into posting it in order to quote from it:

There's something that has struck me as really, really odd about how a certain segment of the right-wing talks about homosexuality. There are a whole bunch of comments that I'd been hearing for months which all have an underlying assumption that "homosexuality is incredibly attractive." I'm not going to mention specific quotes, mainly because I found them somewhat disquieting and I don't want to think about them, but there were about half a dozen quotes from Republican congresscritters and pundits which made no sense to me until I applied that filter to them, and they then started to make sense. Things like, "If you COULD sleep with men, why would you ever sleep with women, since men would understand your body better?"

And this finally gave me a way to think about and understand their position.

Y'see, I belong to a religion which forbids me to sleep with men and to eat bacon. As it turns out, I have done both.

Bacon is better.

I know perfectly well that not everyone feels that way. There are plenty of people who just plain don't like pork products. Some people are grossed out by them. Some are grossed out by meat in general, some just find pigs disgusting. And I know for a fact that there are really quite a number of people out there who rather like the concept of having sex with men. I've dated some of them.

But for me, bacon is far more tempting than sex with guys is.

So, I started thinking. How would I look at the world if I really took my religion's prohibition against bacon very seriously, and as a universal law, rather than just as an odd little tribal taboo (which is how I do perceive it -- that doesn't mean I don't consider it important, but I consider it to be a rule that is just supposed to be applied to MY tribe, and not to everyone).

And he goes on from there. Fascinating analogy when taken to its logical extreme, and I recommend you read and (if you see fit) comment upon it.

Oh, and the context for the comment on Atrios, Wolf Blitzer's latest poll asks "Do you think sexual preference is a choice?" (A) Using the phrase "sexual preference" rather than "sexual orientation" makes it a leading question. (B) What does it matter. By all accounts religion is a choice, and it's a fundamental American principle not to discriminate on account of religion.

So maybe we should leave the issue of choice aside. Majority opinion (of laypeople) is not the way to define scientific truths nor basic human rights; the former require a certain amount of expertise and study and the latter just are. Maybe it's time to drag out the Tocqueville again...

Posted by Lis Riba at 4:31 PM

I said this before, Dave Johnson issues a reminder:

When Republicans are accusing others of something it usually means it's something they are doing themselves. And now, just as the Republican Party has been caught in a national voter-registration fraud operation -- setting up voter registration drives and then throwing out all the Democrat registrations -- they start making accusations.

And what the GOP is doing is taking one sentence out of context and trying to spin it into something nefarious. Remember, the Republicans tried to define "global test" in a way directly contradicted by Kerry's statement. They tried to do the same thing with his quote on reducing terrorism to "nuisance" level. And they're doing it again here.

Don't be fooled. Get the context; get the truth.

The election's getting ugly, folks. The Democrats are doing everything they can to get out the vote, and the GOP seems to be intent on suppressing it and preventing people from casting their ballots.

We're now entering the final stretch, which is when Karl Rove has a history of pulling out all the stops. And lookie here, doesn't this week's news in Tennessee sound awfully similar to Rove's tactics a decade ago?

Posted by Lis Riba at 4:10 PM

At this point in the election, you've probably heard Bush, Cheney or somebody on their team comment that Kerry is the most liberal senator.

The National Journal, which conducts these ratings, explains all:

In short, our magazine -- or, more precisely, our annual congressional vote ratings edition -- has become a Republican talking point in the 2004 presidential campaign. And that's been a fascinating, and disconcerting, experience. Fascinating because we're more used to being cited in congressional hearings than on the Today show. Disconcerting because the shorthand used to describe our ratings of Kerry and Edwards is sometimes misleading -- or just plain wrong.

So, you want to know what they're really measuring? Here's the real scoop by the people who know.

Posted by Lis Riba at 3:50 PM

During the drive down to Virginia (I will blog the whole trip -- hopefully this weekend!), Ian and I discussed the flu vaccine -- or lack thereof.

I fear it's going to be a bad winter. Not necessarily for me personally, but for the nation. An average of 36,000 people die of the flu in an average year (with hundreds of thousands hospitalized), and this year is going to be worse. Now compound the increased number of unvaccinated Americans (with the corresponding reduction in "herd immunity") with the high oil prices (which mean many Americans won't be able to heat their homes to safe levels). And early indications are that this is going to be a particularly harsh winter. [I'm thinking of getting some space heaters from Costco, in hopes that targeted heat through the electrical system will be cheaper than heating the whole apartment.]

Given my current lack of health insurance, I was counting on Ian & I getting flu shots to protect us over the winter. Well, obviously, I'm going to respect the official requests that existing supplies be reserved for the neediest, so this will be the first winter in a long time that we haven't gotten shots (unlike some selfish folks).

And if it weren't so scary, I'd have to join others in laughing at Bush's suggestion that we try to buy vaccine over-the-border from Canada, considering how much time and effort he's spent trying to deter Americans from that option for all other medicines (including going so far as making up supposed terrorist threats of drug tampering).

For more on the flu vaccine crisis, see Winning Argument and Mark Kleiman. And to show that research is seldom wasted, I just found two other blogs with an insider perspective on health care: Matthew Holt's Health Care Blog and Public Health Press (with this useful entry on the flu vaccine issue).

Oh great, it would have to be this winter scientists are working to recreate the Spanish flu. It almost sounds like a bad Michael Crichton novel. While I'd like the Red Sox to break the curse, this is one aspect of 1918 that can stay in the past. I mean, knowing that 36,000 Americans die from flu already seems like too much. The idea of 500,000 American dead (plus millions more worldwide) is more than I want to imagine.

[Note: Later posts on the flu vaccine: 1 and 2]

Posted by Lis Riba at 1:40 PM

...screaming "Liar!" from The Princess Bride.

Just saw over on Corrente that the U.S. has refused to sign an international agreement on women's rights -- one that even Pakistan could endorse. Why?

The Bush administration said it withheld its signature because the statement included a reference to "sexual rights."
<snip>
"The United States is unable, however, to endorse the world leaders' statement," [Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kelly] Ryan said, because it "includes the concept of 'sexual rights,' a term that has no agreed definition in the international community."

I know it shouldn't surprise me, coming from these guys, but that's an out-and-out lie! A quick search turns up the following definition from the World Health Organization:

Sexual rights

Sexual rights embrace human rights that are already recognized in national laws, international human rights documents and other consensus documents. These include the right of all persons, free of coercion, discrimination and violence, to:

• the highest attainable standard of health in relation to sexuality, including access to sexual and reproductive health care services;
• seek, receive and impart information in relation to sexuality;
• sexuality education;
• respect for bodily integrity;
• choice of partner;
• decide to be sexually active or not;
• consensual sexual relations;
• consensual marriage;
• decide whether or not, and when to have children; and
• pursue a satisfying, safe and pleasurable sexual life.

The responsible exercise of human rights requires that all persons respect the rights of others.

Now I can see where members of the current administration might not agree with this definition, but that doesn't justify lying by claiming no such definition exists.

"Humperdink! Humperdink! Humperdink!" "I'm not listening!"

Oh, and a discovery only tangentially related to the above, a pro-life statistical analyst has discovered the abortion rate increased during Bush's term, after declining during Clinton's terms. Found that tidbit, and the speculated reasons behind it, an interesting one.
[Added later: More on this from ampersand, who also found this New York Times article which claims "During the eight years of the Reagan presidency, the number of legal abortions increased by more than 5 percent; during the eight years of the Clinton presidency, the number dropped by 36 percent." (via ginmar)]

Posted by Lis Riba at 4:10 PM

Ian's already posted most of his account of the weekend: Parts I and II on Sunday (through the wedding ceremony), Part III, yesterday (the reception and night that followed), and has been writing the rest up today.

Unfortunately, the final portion has been slightly delayed due to technical difficulties:

With all her twisting and turning in trying to make herself comfortable, she not only closed the window of Ian's editor, but she actually logged him out of Windows itself! She didn't seem quite capable of pressing Ctrl and Alt and Delete all at once to log back in, but she certainly took her sweet time trying to do so. Fortunately, once Ian restored everything to rights, he hadn't lost any of his text (only anything she typed).

So, his final trip report should be posted shortly.

By the way, I am aware of the troll infestation going on in my comments. I have the option of deleting those comments or even banning those IP addresses; I haven't decided to do either yet, but am considering it if things don't shape up soon. [So far I've only banned two IP addresses, both of which spammed the comments with ads for X-rated websites, which I also deleted.]

Posted by Lis Riba at 3:05 PM

Masterpiece Theatre's The Lost Prince, which I expressed an interest in last month, airs on airs on WGBH starting Sunday night (more showings listed here). I'm not terribly familiar with the period or the prince, but he was an epileptic in the early 20th Century, and thus held a tenuous and hidden position in the royal family. Sounds fascinating, and I hope I get the chance to see it.

Also, Regency House Party starts November 3rd, though I'll probably post another reminder when it gets closer to airtime.

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:24 PM

The Yankees may be giving the Sox a tough time, but I just stumbled onto a softball. Via Is That Legal?, I found this post by the Anchoress, which claims:

Our enemies will dance if John Kerry wins the presidency.

I debunked this with quotes from terrorism experts only ten days ago.

We may hear more of this rhetoric in the days and weeks to come. Be prepared with the facts.

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:30 AM

Tired of the usual debate noise? Have you heard about the 7-Election Presidential Coffee Cup Poll? Apparently, alongside their regular generic coffee cups, 7-11 stores have cups with each candidate's name. They tally purchases and note how much they sell of each cup. It's "unabashedly unscientific and unofficial" but rather interesting nonetheless. For example, Washington DC has the third lowest turnout, with 83.18% of buyers choosing the "Third Party/No Opinion" cups. Considering that Washington is the center of government, I doubt most coffee drinkers are really undecided: I suspect instead that it would probably be impolitic (and possibly a career risk) for government employees to bring something so openly partisan into the office. [Any gov't employees care to weigh in?] Then again, New York and San Francisco also have very low participation rates, and I know those are politically-opinionated cities, so maybe there's something else going on there.

Anyway, they're going to be updating the site regularly with each day's sales, so you may want to check back to see what's brewing.

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:05 AM

Considering how quickly the DNC responded to Cheney's deceptions, I knew it wouldn't take long. Democrats.org has a commercial with video demonstrating Bush's lie last night.

And, as Chris Suellentrop points out (via Mark Kleiman), the existence of video evidence contradicting Bush's statement will be powerful fodder for the news media. Kevin Drum notes that Bush could've easily sidestepped Kerry's accusation; so what does it say about him that he addressed it head on in such an easily debunked lie? Nothing good, that's for certain.

Meanwhile, several bloggers are commenting that since the debates have obviously not helped the Bush campaign, we can expect the next several weeks to get even nastier and uglier as they pull out all the stops to prevent Kerry from winning. And, of course, we're still in range for an October Surprise. Jeralyn Merritt suspects we'll find Osama's body (because alive would only cause more complications). Meanwhile, a Cornell University study found conclusive evidence that "terror warnings increased presidential approval ratings consistently." The average increase in the president's approval rating is 2.75%, but the increase only lasts for about a week, maybe two. That means next week or the week after, so keep an open eye for any shenanigans. Remember: forewarned is half an octopus!

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:45 AM

You know, after their performance the last two nights, this may already be outdated, but hope springs eternal for the Red Sox fan, so I'll share these thoughts anyway.

Of course, the way the team's been playing, this may be a lost cause already. It's just something that occurred to me, and I didn't want to worry alone...

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:30 AM

Reading the debate transcripts and using other blogs to find the highpoints (I particularly liked Mark Kleiman's liveblogging), this exchange just screamed out at me:

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:30 PM

I went to check the blogs after Smallville, and DailyKos has already caught Bush in a lie, barely 15 minutes into the debate.

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:00 AM

We decided to stay an extra half-day to see some sights in DC. We got home last night at a quarter to midnight. Will write more about the trip later, but just wanted everybody to know that we're back.