Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 4:25 PM

Just a little extra to append to earlier entries:

Have you heard about Cory Maye?

BankBreaking Mountain

Yes Virginia, there is separation of church and state

These poor rude lines

Cave Canem

And I guess that's all for now. Gotta dress and get ready to go. Twelfth Night tonight, doncha know...

Posted by Lis Riba at 4:00 PM

Digby's found another scary story:

A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book."
Two history professors at UMass Dartmouth, Brian Glyn Williams and Robert Pontbriand, said the student told them he requested the book through the UMass Dartmouth library's interlibrary loan program.

The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said.

The professors said the student was told by the agents that the book is on a "watch list," and that his background, which included significant time abroad, triggered them to investigate the student further.

"I tell my students to go to the direct source, and so he asked for the official Peking version of the book," Professor Pontbriand said. "Apparently, the Department of Homeland Security is monitoring inter-library loans, because that's what triggered the visit, as I understand it."

I haven't worked in a library for a long time. Any fellow librarians care to share how this might happen within current ILL systems?

PS: Another kicker for those who care about intellectual freedom:

Dr. Williams said he had been planning to offer a course on terrorism next semester, but is reconsidering, because it might put his students at risk.

As Digby writes: "this will result in less understanding of terrorism.

Update, Dec 24:

The UMass Dartmouth student who claimed to have been visited by Homeland Security agents over his request for "The Little Red Book" by Mao Zedong has admitted to making up the entire story.     Continued...

Posted by Lis Riba at 2:08 PM

So, when the cloture vote on the USA PATRIOT Act expansion was successfully rejected, Democratic Senators proposed a 3-month extension on the sunset provisions. Make no changes to the law, just prevent it from expiring so discussions can continue and an equitable compromise solution can be found.

Frist said he wouldn't allow such a bill on the floor; Bush said he'd veto it.

And then Republicans said they'd blame the Democrats for the USAPAT expiration and smear them as soft on crime/terror.

Jonathan Zasloff suggests a response:

Every day, Democrats should bring to the Senate floor a proposal for a three-month extension, and let the Republicans vote no. When Alito's hearings start, Deomcrats on the Judiciary Committee should refuse to move ahead and halt the proceedings in order to deal with "security issues surrounding the Patriot Act"--and once again, let the Republicans move NOT to consider it.

Let them vote no on an extension over and over again. Then hammer them with it.

I'm not sure how much power the minority party has in the Senate, but even it it's just a public call for a three-month extension, I like that idea. Because otherwise, I wasn't sure how the Democrats could defend themselves from such charges, because understanding the truth may require a level of knowledge I haven't seen the media willing to convey to the electorate...

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:05 AM

Glenn Greenwald says it best:

Underlying all of the excesses and abuses of executive power claimed by the Bush Administration -- from lawless, indefinite detentions of American citizens in military prisons to the newly disclosed warrantless eavesdropping on American citizens in plain violation of the Foreign Intelligence Security Act - is a theory of absolute, unchecked power vested in the Presidency which literally could not be any more at odds with the central, founding principles of this country.

...

Both the Bush Administration's theory of its own unchecked power and its indiscriminate and aggressive use of that power to violate Congressional law contradicts every constitutional principle created to ensure that we do not live under unchecked Executive tyranny. If the President is allowed to get away with secretly decreeing that he can violate the law and then doing exactly that, then there really are no remaining checks on Executive power -- the very definition of tyranny.

The full post provides further context, with quotes from the relevant Federalist papers and Supreme Court decisions.

The president has no right to break laws he disagrees with. If he disagrees with a law, he should work with Congress to get he law changed.

BTW, Hilzoy provides the relevant statute and suggests these actions may be unconstitutional as well.
Dwight Meredith notes the penalties for violation (including monetary damages to those spied upon).
And lots of people are wondering, since the Times says they "delayed publication for a year," how much they knew and hid before the 2004 election. Dan Kennedy has a bit more on the article's timing.

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty."

-- John Adams, "Notes for an Oration at Braintree", 1772          

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:28 PM

Gary Farber rightly criticizes misuse of "universal" for elements that only apply to certain times or places. Something I'm guilty of as well.

So I couldn't help thinking of him when I saw Graffiti found in the ruins of Pompeii including such familiar sentiments as:

That last one reminded Ian of another archaeological find we'd heard of.

A large stone tablet, dating back to the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ebla in roughly 4000 BCE, depicts a headless woman with enormous, jutting breasts, holding goblets of beer in each hand. The tag line, of course, has nothing to do with the image: "Drink Ebla, the beer with the heart of a Lion."

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:10 PM

And now for something completely different.

So, the Actors' Shakespeare Project is holding an online auction fundraiser through December 30th.

Among the items up for bid, you can have Ben Evett or Sarah Newhouse deliver one of Shakespeare's sonnets to your beloved on Valentine's Day (along with red roses).

And this got me thinking...

Which of Shakespeare's sonnets would be the least appropriate Valentine's Day declarations? Poems that would be particularly awkward recited by a third party on your behalf.

No, I wouldn't actually inflict this on anyone; I'm just curious...

PS: The Actors' Shakespeare Project's production of Twelfth Night has its official opening tomorrow. Considering their King Lear got rave reviews, was extended twice, and was still totally sold-out, act fast if you want to see it.

Also, thru the auction offerings, I was reminded that Boston Theatre Works will present Othello in February & March, starring Jonathan Epstein as Iago. And don't forget Bard in Boston for all your New England - Shakespeare needs...

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:00 PM

I can't quite recall where I found the link to Lynn Gazis-Sax's weblog, but I remembered the name from Usenet, took a look, and her latest post knocked my socks off.

If you're given a choice between a real evil and a hypothetical one ...

... always choose the hypothetical.

Many years ago, Joan Baez wrote a terribly funny take on hypotheticals posed to pacifists. It begins with a hypothetical in which she's told she has a gun, and someone is raping her grandmother. She proceeds to tear that hypothetical apart, showing how you can pretty much make a hypothetical go however you please by messing with the assumptions. (But I don't have a gun, I'm a pacifist. Well, say you do. OK, am I a good shot? Yes. I shoot the gun out of his hand. No, you're not a good shot. Can't shoot, might kill grandma.) And then it proceeds through a series of more and more bizarre hypotheticals, set up to make violence the one certain to succeed response, and pacifism the obvious loser. Somewhere along the line, in response to some fairly strained and forced dilemma, Baez makes the remark that someone once said, when choosing between a real and a hypothetical evil, you should always choose the hypothetical. It's a remark that has stayed in my mind ever since, and which comes back with particular force when I hear people yet again offering the "ticking time bomb" justification for torture.

Torture's a real evil. A bomb that's going to destroy New York City if our movie hero of the day doesn't torture the terrorist who knows where it is is a hypothetical evil. Pick the hypothetical evil. Please.

I've somewhat avoided the "debate on torture" because the very notion that the subject requires any debate shows how debased we've become.

Torture is inhumane and should be illegal. In the truly critical situation, a person can weigh the risks, act and submit to judgment later. That's why we have juries, rather than mandatory sentences, to weigh such mitigating circumstances. And that's why the executive has the power to pardon, if the action is truly justified.

While searching for a title to this post, I came upon an old Jim Henley comment:

Old joke: Man asks a woman in a bar, "Would you sleep with me for a million dollars?" Woman allows that, well, for that kind of money, she supposes she would. How about for this shiny new quarter? the man continues. The woman, outraged, demands, "What the hell do you think I am??" "We've already established that," the man replies. "Now we're just haggling over the price."

And that's the function of the "ticking bomb" scenario.

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:15 PM

Just a small personal example of losing faith in government.

On the radio the other day, I heard about a bill which passed the House by two votes, 215-213.

And my gut reaction upon hearing the tally was, "and how long did they hold the vote open to get that result?"

Such cynicism suprised me, before I realized that the current Congressional leadership hasn't given me any reason to believe otherwise.

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:58 AM

Huge story in today's New York Times:

Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials.

Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said.

Warrantless eavesdropping within the United States, not even bothering with Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which has a lower standard of evidence and faster turnaround (and higher security) designed for just such cases. [I've heard they generally rubber-stamp requests.]

Another story that should unite liberals, libertarians and traditional-conservatives.

Is anybody defending this? How?

PS: Another reason to reject this USA PATRIOT Act expansion: It's about law enforcement, not antiterrorism.

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:10 PM

Last night, a Republican representative tried to pass a resolution supporting Xmas.

Get a load of this passage:

The divisive public battle appeared to surprise Davis, a Republican and member of the Assembly of God church.

"I didn't realize there would be some opposition, but apparently, there is," she said before the House floor debate.

If she genuinely believed there was a war on Xmas, then why was she so surprised that people objected? You'd think opposition would confirm the beliefs that led her to propose such a resolution.

But, you see, she wrote her resolution assuming she already had unanimous support. Hardly the attitude of a genuinely persecuted belief.

Meanwhile, other bloggers are documenting outright lies coming from the Fox anchors trying to find anti-Xian bias where none exist. Spreading falsehoods about cities and school-districts and the U.S. Postal Service. Why? A former FNC producer wrote Romenesko, pointing out Fox has a history of using religion as a divisive weapon. [Oh, and get a load of the FNC rebuttal.]

Again, if they had a legitimate gripe, they wouldn't have to make things up.

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:35 PM

While Andy Serkis is currently getting attention for digitally-enhanced acting, the reverse may soon happen in the upcoming Superman movie. Pam Spaulding recently found this article:

Producers are reportedly worried about the size of Brandon Routh's bulge which would make his profile in the superhero's skintight costume distracting, reports the Sun.

Hollywood executives have ordered the makers of Superman Returns to cover it up with digital effects.

The Sun's source said: "It's a major issue for the studio. Brandon is extremely well endowed and they don't want it up on the big screen.

Oh, give me a break! Wouldn't you expect Superman to be impressively endowed!?

According to Pam, this isn't the first recent Hollywood product to digitally alter actors' attributes. Apparently, Disney diminished Lindsay Lohan's cleavage for Herbie: Fully Loaded. Nipples are regularly removed from scenes in Desperate Housewives. And I've heard the latest Harry Potter film needed teams of CGI artists to remove facial blemishes from the budding stars. But it's getting to be a bit much. Just because technology can do it doesn't mean it should be.

When I shared the story with Ian, he quipped complained:

You don't fuck with Superman's crotch!
You don't spit into the wind.

Of course, depending how this kind of digital manipulation is done, maybe it'll be possible to view an unedited version without these... cuts? Give a whole new meaning to extended-length DVDs.

PS: According to my friend Darkrose, Ioan Gruffudd claimed they digitally reduced his package for The Fantastic Four for similar reasons. They're emasculating Superman and Mister Fantastic!? Has Hollywood no sense of irony!?
And I suppose this means we shouldn't expect Giant-Size Man-Thing to be optioned...

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:20 PM

Am I a bad person for being tempted to get this as a holiday gift for the various infants among family and friends?

Baby, Mix Me a Drink:

Tots will be entranced by the shapes and colors, all the while learning how to mix a variety of basic cocktails in this 12-page vibrantly colored instructional board book.

Also part of this series, Baby, Make Me Breakfast.

If you want both books, McSweeney's bundles them at a discount price, though I don't make the Amazon commission I get from the links above.

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:01 PM

So, the House and Senate each passed an extension to the USA PATRIOT ACT.

Then, because the two versions of the bill were somewhat different, a conference committee created a third version of the bill (allegedly) to reconcile these differences.

Then it went back to the House and Senate, because both have to pass identical bills for it to move on to the President's desk.

The House has already voted, now it's up to the Senate.

So if the House passed it and the Senate rejects it, what then?

• Is the bill dead so they have to start the process all over again?
• Does it go back into conference committee and up for revote in both houses?
• Some other result I can't even imagine?

I honestly don't know, and I'm getting awfully curious...

When I hear some Senators talking about a three- or six-month extension, just to keep the sunsets from expiring, would that be a new bill starting from ground zero, or would they remix the existing bill in committee?

I don't think this was explained in "I'm Just a Bill."

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:00 AM

Have you ever bought or used over-the-counter cold medicine?

Then tell your Senator to block the USA PATRIOT Act expansion!

Remember I mentioned last night that Congressional Republicans greatly expanded the scope of what was supposed to be a simple renewal.

Jeralyn quotes the New York Times about one such addition:

Sudafed and similar medicines would have to be under lock and key in stores. Buyers would have to sign a sheet and show a driver's license. Purchases would be limited to one box a day and three boxes a month.

The legislation is attached to the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act, which passed in the House on Wednesday but whose prospects in the Senate are uncertain.

We need to urge our Senators to:

• Vote NO on cloture and support a filibuster if necessary
• Vote NO on the USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization bill as it came out of conference

And do it soon, because the Senate is debating it today.

Calling Washington doesn't have to cost you a dime, because you can use the Congressional toll free switchboard at 1-800-839-5276*.

The ACLU has more information and talking points on this issue; Working Assets offers some general tips on communicating more effectively with Congress.

More information on this provision

*Update: If the number above doesn't work, try 1-877-762-8762.

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:30 PM

How did I not discover this until now?

bard_slash

Low-traffic, and focused on stories involving Shakespeare's characters, though the rules do permit "discussions or stories about the Bard himself."

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:54 PM

In response to Elizabeth Bear's review of Kong, in which she mentions Andy Serkis played the ape, someone pointed out a 2004 early-morning NPR interview in which Serkis threatens a Gollum/Smeagol Sound of Music and is actually wheedled into singing a few lines of "Climb Every Mountain."

Maybe trufen have already heard this, but I was quite amused to discover that Gollum's distinctive sound was partly inspired by his cat hurking up a hairball the morning of his audition. [And when he demonstrated, well, that got Boopsie's attention like few other computer audiofiles have.]

If that's not your cup of tea, let me just point out CuteOverload.com (syndicated to LJ as cuteoverload) for most adorable pictures. Thanks to Tom Smith for the pointer. [If you're interested in something more interactive along these lines, there's also the LJ community splodefromcute]

BTW, Boopsie's been having action dreams far more frequently of late. Paws and whiskers twitching frantically. Any way of telling whether these are good dreams or kitty-nightmares?

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:15 PM

"I'm not anti-Bush; I'm anti-Bush behavior. In other words, I'm against cheating, greed, cruelty, racism, imperialism, religious fundamentalism, treason, and the seemingly limitless capacity for hypocrisy shown by Bush and his administration."

          -- Viggo Mortensen

[Via Tennessee Guerilla Women, one of several great blogs I've discovered through the FeministBlogs.org aggregator.]

From a news story making the rounds, another quote I've been meaning to post for a while:

One internal F.B.I. message, sent in October 2003, criticized the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review at the Justice Department, which reviews and approves terrorist warrants, as regularly blocking requests from the F.B.I. to use a section of the antiterrorism law that gave the bureau broader authority to demand records from institutions like banks, Internet providers and libraries.

"While radical militant librarians kick us around, true terrorists benefit from OIPR's failure to let us use the tools given to us," read the e-mail message, which was sent by an unidentified F.B.I. official. "This should be an OIPR priority!!!"

Radical militant librarians. I like that. :)

And that seems like a perfect time to remind folks about The Librarian Illuminati, site and (just in time for last-minute holiday gift-giving) store. Things have been somewhat low-key over there, so I have to decide whether to pump more attention into it or let the domain expire... [At the very least, I do intend to mask the logo image to create black t-shirts.]

Speaking of the USA PATRIOT Act, the sunset provisions run out in two weeks and Congress is scrambling to extend them. Unfortunately, the relatively agreeable bill that passed the Senate has been transformed by Republicans in the conference committee into something truly offensive, throwing in excessive new powers that expand the original.

Senator Russ Feingold has been blogging about this on TPMCafe. Between this and the recent disputes between Senators Frist & Byrd over judicial nominees, we may see a filibuster before Xmas.

Of course, those aren't the only congressional shenanigans. Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu has openly considered blocking the Senate's holiday recess until the government ponies up some of the money the promised for the reconstruction of New Orleans. And because House Republicans want to avoid a leadership fight, they will extend their holiday break in hopes of outlasting DeLay's court cases.

Anyway, back to USAPAT, the other morning on NPR, Patrick Leahy proposed passing a limited three-month extension that would keep provisions from expiring and give parties more time to work out a compromise for the longer-term. That might be a useful interim solution, but somehow I don't think it will fly.

I'll confess, I'm extremely curious what revelations the may be revealed if the sunset provisions expire, lifting the gag order.

And wouldn't it be ironic if overreaching Republican powerplays prevent the passage of another work of overreaching Republican powerplays?

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:00 PM

Steve Gilliard writes about Brokeback Mountain:

I think as this movie goes into wide release, all hell is going to break loose. This attacks the idea of machismo and manhood in a fundamental way,despite the fact that gay subtext can be seen in movies like Red River. If people can't handle Ellen DeGeneres, the idea of gay cowboys will make these people batshit.

I expect a LOT of political pressure on the Academy to not nominate the film for Best Oscar or best director. I mean, full out ugly threats from Congress.

At first I thought this was hyperbole, but I'm not so sure. Consider the rhetoric attacking Million Dollar Baby before the Oscars. Brokeback Mountain already won Best Picture awards from NY & LA film critics and grabbed a handful of Golden Globe nominations... and the movie hasn't even opened in wide release.

Furthermore, given its limited release, the movie has already broken box-office records, recording the highest per-screen average take ever.

I think Brokeback Mountain will provide a societal eye-opener.

According to Salon, rightwing groups are currently laying low, hoping the movie will fail at the box office and not wanting to increase its audiences by drawing attention to it. Most laughably, I've heard arguments that it will bomb because the female fans of Ledger and Gyllenhaal won't want to see such heartthrobs in each others arms.

I think it's going to be a blockbuster smash. I know scores of women who are not only eager to see it, but are drooling in anticipation of just such a scene.

So, besides raising questions of masculinity and homosexuality, this movie could open a lot of eyes to the fact women enjoy portrayals of male-male relationships. Not just the sympathetic friendly fag-hag pals-ing around, but lasciviousness and porn. How's that going to play in Peoria?

If the movie's a hit, I don't think the self-proclaimed moral authorities will be able to ignore it for too long. Initially, I anticipate a lot of lambasting out-of-touch Hollywood elites, but eventually notice will turn to the audiences providing a market for such films.

Slash fiction has been gaining more notice in recent years, inspiring major articles every few months, but the furor never goes far. This could blow the lid off what folks are writing and drawing online, and who knows what that could dredge up. May want to batten down the hatches if you hope to continue flying below the radar...

PS: Over at Washington Monthly, one commenter predicts the movie will bomb because "in theory women could be enamoured with the male leads except for the little every-married-woman's-worst-nightmare problem -- her husband being gay" And he made that comment after multiple posts by guys expressing interest in a theoretical lesbian cowgirl film...

Snerk!

Pardon my crudeness, but if my husband discovered an attraction to guys, I'd want to watch!

For a moment, I thought the film's box office might be hurt because women who want to see the film will have problems getting their male dates/boyfriends/husbands to accompany them. But then I realized that didn't hurt Titanic's grosses. [Now where did I pick up that assumption? Is there some notion that movies must have guy appeal to be hits? Guys can drag their gals to action movies, and even if they don't it's a sufficient audience, but "chick flicks" are necessarily fringe?]

PPS: Nope, not just me. A commenter on Steve Gilliard all but wrote off its box office revenues because "[i]t has no appeal to the overwhelming majority of straight males." To which I again ask which gender carried Titanic to the top of the recordbooks?

Posted by Lis Riba at 5:50 PM

As a current member (and regular user) of four library networks, I've found Library Elf an invaluable service.

Record with them your library card and PIN and they track what you've got out (or on hold) and sends notices (via email or RSS) when items are due (or ready for pickup). Aside from the book Ian lost, I haven't missed a duedate since I started using the service.

Of course, given the USA PATRIOT Act, not all librarians think the tradeoff of privacy for convenience is a good thing. You may want to read the criticism/comments before using it.

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:28 PM

Just a few unrelated items I wanted to share...

Tonight, Radley Balko provides an update on The Maye Case So Far (Note to Bloggers: Here's the Latest, Most Accurate Summary Post)

What does it mean when you Consider the Hijab?

Echidne:

The war on Christmas tells us one thing and one thing only, and that is the power of the wingnuts to decide what the media talks about. The victimhood of the wingnuts (who are in power) is similar to a king moaning that he isn't allowed to have as much power over the masses as he used to have. It is not about oppression but about the right to dominate all others. That is what the crying and whining means.

Duane's "Such Shakespeare Stuff" (a recent find) discovered Shakespeare Hated Christmas:

I had never before seen this parody entitled Shakespeare and Christmas, by Max Beerbohm. The premise chosen is that since Shakespeare only ever mentioned Christmas once in his entire body of work - and even then, in not very flattering light -- therefore he must have utterly loathed the holiday.

For humor, the amusing forward of the month, about a tandem story assignment...

And another annoying commercial to kvetch about, during House this time. KFC. Mother comes home with dinner. Special meal-deal allows three different varieties of chicken, so no more bickering -- she's selected husband's favorite, daughter's favorite and son's favorite. The rest of her family cheers. And all I can think is that she went out to the store, what about something for her?

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:34 PM

For those who try to draw a hard line between blogging and reporting, I have to point out the stellar work that Radley Balko has been doing this week investigating the case of Cory Maye, a man on Mississippi's death row.

To summarize:

Cops mistakenly break down the door of a sleeping man, late at night, as part of drug raid on his duplex. Turns out, the man wasn't named in the warrant, and wasn't a suspect. The man, frigthened for himself and his 18-month old daughter, fires at an intruder who jumps into his bedroom after the door's been kicked in. Turns out that the man, who is black, has killed the white son of the town's police chief. He's later convicted and sentenced to death by a predominantly white jury. The man has no criminal record, and police rather tellingly changed their story about drugs (rather, traces of drugs) in his possession at the time of the raid.

This appears to be one of those rare stories to unite people on all sides of the political spectrum. It touches on so many issues, including race, personal gun-ownership, death penalty, civil liberties, the sanctity of home...

The full story so far, as reported on Radley's blog:

• December 7:
  1. Cory Maye
• December 8:
  1. Cory Maye, Ct'd
• December 9:
  1. Maye
• December 10:
  1. Cory Maye's Prosecutor Responds
  2. Cory Maye's Testimony
  3. Cory Maye: Getting a Few Facts Straight
  4. Mississippi Case Law on Capital Murder
  5. Questions for Prosecutor McDonald
• December 11:
  1. Maye, Self-Defense, and Paramilitary Drug Raids
  2. Prosecutor McDonald's Answers to My Questions
  3. Maye's Representation
  4. Reader Responses
  5. Blogosphere Reaction
• December 12:
  1. More from Prosecutor Buddy McDonald
  2. "You don't really love your daughter, do you?"
  3. On Announcement
  4. Search Warrants
• December 13:
  1. Maye's Gun
  2. Maye's Representation
  3. Two More Questions
  4. Cory Maye's Current Representation

Radley Balko has already gotten copies of the warrants and evidence sheets, which he's posted openly for anyone to see. He's corresponding with the prosecutor, and the trial transcript is on its way. This is investigative reporting at its finest. I hope it helps reduce some of the lines being drawn between bloggers and professional journalism. [Also note the admirable way as he's uncovered new facts, he's added corrections to his earlier posts to avoid propogating misinformation.] And he's still uncovering and adding new material regularly.

Battlepanda is tracking mentions of the case, but so far this story is only propogating within the blogosphere. Google News lists a half-dozen citings, but all of them are blogs. Yahoo! News search turns up nothing. Glenn Reynolds mentions it on MSNBC.com, and Mark Kleiman on Huffington Post, but those remain bloggers on the periphery of those sites.

So any bets on when and where this will breakthru to the mainstream news media? Or, for that matter, how. This seems to have emerged partly in counterpoint to the Stanley "Tookie" Williams case as a way of discussing the death penalty. Can it make headlines on its own?

Finally, one issue of concern I haven't seen answered yet. Any idea where and how the daughter is? She was 14 months old at the time of the incident. That would make her just over five years old now. Is she staying with relatives? In the foster-care system?

PS: If Battlepanda wishes to add me to the list of blogposts on the case, count me towards the blue team.

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:08 PM

Watching The West Wing and just saw an ad trumpeting some of the most original sitcoms to debut this year (on NBC, natch).

One of the two shows they mentioned was The Office.

By what definition is a remake of a British sitcom "original"?

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:00 PM

I'd been hoping to avoid blogging about FOXNEWS' trumped-up "War on Christmas" victimization scheme, but suddenly last night I realized where I heard this plot before.

Have you seen The Hebrew Hammer? [Don't bother with the bowdlerized Comedy Central broadcast; the DVD isn't that expensive.]

I'm going to quote an early scene, which takes place at the North Pole*:

                              SANTA CLAUS
                    My father, often referred to as St. Nick
                    The Nasty, was a tyrannical man. He was
                    obsessed with making Christmas the only
                    holiday anyone could celebrate before the
                    New Year.
                    
                    Since his death, I've prided myself on
                    ensuring that the Christmas season is one
                    of tolerance and understanding between
                    all races and religions. It's always been
                    my belief that Hanukkah and Kwanzaa
                    deserve the same respect as Christmas. 

                    Over the course of my career as Santa
                    Claus, I've made it my mission to ensure
                    that Jews, Christians, and African
                    Americans could all observe their
                    respective holidays in harmony.

          We see a slide of THE HEBREW HAMMER, an African American man     
          (Mohammed), and Santa Claus arm in arm below a banner in a
          mall reading "HAPPY HOLIDAYS!"

                              SANTA CLAUS (CONT'D)
                    I was responsible for pushing the Happy
                    Holidays Ordinance, in which all Merry
                    Christmas signage was replaced by the
                    Trans-relgious and inoffensive phrase
                    'Happy Holidays.'

                    Which is why upon examination of my
                    annual naughty and nice list it shocked
                    me to discover that my own son, Damian...
                    ...the heir to the Red Suit, could be so
                    filled with hate. 

                    Damian, when I learned of your ludicrous
                    scheme to wipe out Hanukkah, my first
                    reaction was one of disgust. Now, I'm
                    only filled with sadness and
                    disappointment. Disappointed that I
                    failed to teach you the true meaning of
                    Christmas. What do you have to say for
                    yourself?

At this point, Damian Claus murders his father, thus taking over the family business. And, as predicted by the exposition above, his first job is to declare war on Hannukah in the hopes of making Christmas reign supreme once more. He's the villain of the piece, whom the Jewish Defense League and the Kwanzaa Liberation Front join forces to oppose.

Who could've imagined, when we saw the film two years ago, that Fox News would take this as their playbook?

But now you know the true face behind this nefarious scheme, and why it's doomed to failure:

*[Dialog excerpt from the DVD and IMSDB; image from the official movie website.]

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:15 PM

I was browsing BarProducts.com and saw a listing for a "Ribbed Muddler"

DisappearingInk noticed the supermarket designation of "adult cereals" and was inspired...

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:15 PM

I hate my hair.

Other people react like I'm crazy when I say this. It's thick and full and black and seemingly what everyone wants.

But I can't do a thing with it.

When I wore it long, it frizzed. Could never get it into braids, and it's too heavy for updos or any fancy styles. Whenever I grew it long enough I could ponytail it, it invariably developed painful snarls that took ages and ouches to detangle.

When I keep it short, it grows out too damn fast. Bangs are completely out of the question, as I don't want to be paying for a stylist every other week.

And now my hair is yet again shaggy and unprofessional.

I dread going to the hairdressers, because I have no answer for the inevitable question "So what do you want to do?"

I don't know. I have no clue.

I almost wish I could shave it all off. It would certainly be easier to maintain from home, but I have no clue how it might look and it would probably be equally unsuitable for the workplace...

Sigh...