...God created the heavens and the earth.

And quite a while later...he became bored. And he said, "How long will my Spirit contend with and be vexed by these creatures I have created? They constantly natter and whine and moan and grumble, day and night and day and night..."

And then God had a brilliant idea. Being God, this caused several new galaxies to spontaneously spring into existence.

"One word Gabriel: 'Payback'!", uttered the Almighty.


And God saw the three stooges he had created, and said "This oughta be good!"

dead mousie to Dadcat!

Yahoo! News

One in three U.S. high school students say the press ought to be more restricted, and even more say the government should approve newspaper stories before readers see them, according to a survey being released today.

The survey of 112,003 students finds that 36% believe newspapers should get "government approval" of stories before publishing; 51% say they should be able to publish freely; 13% have no opinion.

Asked whether the press enjoys "too much freedom," not enough or about the right amount, 32% say "too much," and 37% say it has the right amount. Ten percent say it has too little.

The survey of First Amendment rights was commissioned by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and conducted last spring by the University of Connecticut. It also questioned 327 principals and 7,889 teachers.

The government should approve news stories before publication?! Kee-RYST on a pogo stick!!

Someone somewhere is busy raising up a generation of little statist bastards! Little hitlers! Good little devotees of Chairman Mao and Che Gueverra!

Aren't they teaching the Constitution in Civics courses anymore?

Criminently!

dead mousie to k!

...at Peter Guither's site

It's maddening.

No, this wasn't a raid on some big drug kingpin. The charges against the survivors were so minor that they were released on their own recognizance.

But the victim paid with her life.

STUPID, DANGEROUS ASSAULT TACTICS used against American citizens, in the name of this corrupt "war on some drugs".

This is SO not worth it!

All images, Kalalau Trail, Na Pali coast - Kauai, Hawaii - January 2003

I recently added Hog On Ice to the blogroll, and have been following the epic of the "turducken" as it progressed toward a fiesta. It's a good thing I've recently eaten, or I'd have to go eat after reading this final post.
HOG ON ICE: "Daddy, What Does a Turducken Look Like?"

So what is a "turducken"? It is a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey, together with various savory stuffing ingredients, all slow-smoked to perfection.

Oh...mmm!

Finally I have a reasonably easy way to post photos. And I have quite the backlog to show you all!

Back a couple of years ago, Daisycat and I went to Kauai for a couple of weeks. Unlike the typical tropical turistas, who spend all of their time in a lounge chair by the pool, we actually got out and explored some of the remoter corners of the island. Now credit where due; my inclination is to take vacations at a more leisurely pace. But Daisycat has a 'go and do' mentality. So we went and did a lot more than I would have done on my own. The long-term benefit is more photos of interesting places than we would have gotten at a slower pace.

One of the things we did, which actually was quite high on my list, was to hike the first portion of the Kalalau Trail, west of Hanalei Bay. Here is the first of several stunning images we brought back with us. Even so, photographs do not do justice to this hike. If you are ever vacationing on Kauai, take a day away from your lounge chair, strap on your hiking shoes and explore this corner of paradise.


Na Pali coast from the Kalalau Trail -- Kauai -- January 2003

Top News Article | Reuters.com:

"BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Millions of Iraqis flocked to vote in a historic election Sunday, defying insurgents who killed 35 people in a bloody assault on the poll.

Voters, some ululating with joy, others hiding their faces in fear, cast ballots in higher-than-expected numbers in Iraq's first multi-party election in half a century.

Despite the violence, election officials said the turnout had been above expectations."

More HERE.

" Even in Falluja, the Sunni city west of Baghdad that was a militant stronghold until a U.S. assault in November, a steady stream of people turned out, confounding expectations. Lines of veiled women clutching their papers waited in line to vote."

In Fallujah.

" Baghdad's mayor was overcome with emotion by the turnout of voters at City Hall, where he said thousands were celebrating.

"I cannot describe what I am seeing. It is incredible. This is a vote for the future, for the children, for the rule of law, for humanity, for love," Alaa al-Tamimi told Reuters."

What is wrong with Democrats in this country, that news like this is denigrated in this manner: "This Election is simply, in my estimation, an exercise in pretty pictures." (Daily Kos)

Have they become so bitterly partisan that nothing, no good news, no positive outcome can be greeted with enthusiasm or praise if it does not point in the direction of their return to power? I used to think this rhetoric was driven merely by the hyperbolic nature of election season, but it seems to have settled into their souls--a dark cancer that colors every aspect of their outlook.

It's enough that it affects the punditry class so, but it is annoying when it affects entertainers. We went to see Willie and Lobo in concert last night. The music these two produce with their flamenco guitar and gypsy violin, is the kind that takes you off to distant lands on fantasy journeys where you have not a care in the world. Yet even Willie saw fit to slip some negative carping about the prospects of democracy in Iraq into the show. Very disappointing.

THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ! Damnit! It doesn't matter who is president of the United States. Where is the "liberalism" that used to be part of being a liberal? Have you so completely sold out to socialism, elitism and statism, that there is no longer any place for true classical liberalism in your ideology?

From The Brier Patch comes three questions for bloggers:

1) Do you blog for yourself, or do you blog for what you believe others will think of you?

Complex issue. I mostly agree with Acidman's take on the question. I'm not very concerned what others will think of me though. In fact, I tend to get a little belligerent when it seems like people are telling me what I ought or ought not do or say on my blog. I do blog for ego gratification though. I've said that before, and I agree with Rob, that anyone who denies this is, at best, deluding themselves about their motivations.

2) Do you want people to read your personal thoughts and opinions, or do you want the traffic?

How are those mutually exclusive? I want both of course. I want the traffic so people will read my personal thoughts and opinions and tell me how great I am. ;P

What do you hope to gain from blogging?

An outlet for my musings and rantings, so Daisycat doesn't have to be the only one subjected to them. And kudos. I like kudos!

Actually what I'm finding is a great deal of mirth, merriment, and heartfelt enjoyment, both from what I get to read on other people's weblogs, and what I write on my own and in the comments of other blogs. I know that no one laughs at my humor quite as hard as I do myself. But that's ok. It's all medicine, whatever the source. :)

Cruise on over to SondraK's place to see my cat-ass-trophy! Today only!

I giggle everytime I see it. Thanks Sondra, great job!

If it's not there anymore, try THIS link. It will be rotating with the other ads for the next six months or so.

Must...Rub...Cat belly!!!

Marshall Gulch--Santa Catalina Mountains--August 2004

Higher up the gulch, the evidence of the burn from the Aspen Fire was more obvious. Even so, the wildflowers and grasses are wasting little time in filling the gaps.

cut to scene in high school cafeteria

Popular Girl is "holding court" with her friends.

PG: There is someone who pissed me off today, that I REALLY hate! I can't tell you who it is right now though.

Girl 1: Oh we hate her too then!

Girl 2: Yes we do, because YOU are OUR friend.

Girl 3: You don't hate ME, do you?

PG: No Piglet, I don't hate you.

Popular Girl raises her head, eyes narrowed and lips pursed, and slowly scans the cafeteria.

Then with a raised voice and speaking to no one in particular:

PG: But THEY know who they are! And they damn well better KNOCK THAT CRAP OFF, or I'm going to KICK THEIR SORRY ASS after school tomorrow!!

All around the cafeteria heads turn to look in the direction of Popular Girl.

scene fades out

&.Cl;r)4!']{,~)lqc(pop it in the eight-track tape player, and gyrate to the Osmonds!

Whoa! Cool.

This is a hike that is worth doing anytime in the spring, summer or fall. I always find the beauty of this spot in the Catalinas to be captivating. Most of the lower portions of the gulch were spared the worst devastation of the Aspen Fire, and in August of last year the wildflowers and greenerey lining the banks of the little stream created a sylvan paradise. It is a popular and easily accesible spot unfortunately, so on a gorgeous summer day you have to share the trail with a lot of other people.

If I lived in Summerhaven (as I wish to someday), I'd start my mid-week mornings out with a quiet, undisturbed meditative walk along the lower reaches of the gulch.

Perfect!


Marshall Gulch--Santa Catalina Mountains--August 2004

Senators to Introduce 'Stop Government Propaganda Act':

"NEW YORK In response to continued revelations of government-funded 'journalism' -- ranging from the purported video news releases put out by the drug czar's office and the Department of Health and Human Services to the recently uncovered payments to columnists Armstrong Williams and Maggie Gallagher,who flacked administration programs -- Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) will introduce a bill, The Stop Government Propaganda Act, in the Senate next week.

"We only have a few senators on the bill so far, but we hope and expect that we'll get a number of others to sign on to the legislation once we introduce it," he said. "This is not a Republican or Democratic issue. This is an issue about an independent press, and I think that's something that will cross party lines."

As well it should! Think of the potential for putting a stop to a whole range of distasteful government nattering and finagling, not to mention yanking the teeth right out of the Drug Czar's maw!

Click the link above for the rest of the story.

dead mousie to k!

The folks over at The Mint Rubbing Journal have noted my post from last month about mint rubbing (link here). Seems they feel that I have a pretty good grasp of the concept. While you're over there, browse the rest of their site and rub some mint.

Well I'm pretty much back at it again. Despite my expectations, I wasn't really any "lighter" in my posting than usual. And I know it's only Thursday. Do you know how hard it is to tear away from blogging? A twelve-step Bloggers Anonymous program has to be in the works somewhere...


Scheely Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains of southern Arizona, taken last spring.

Quizzes -- Better Personality

Wackiness: 4/100
Rationality: 4/100
Constructiveness: 16/100
Leadership: 4/100

You are a SEDF--Sober Emotional Destructive Follower. This makes you a Evil Genius.

You are extremely focused and difficult to distract from your tasks. With luck, you have learned to channel your energies into improving your intellect, rather than destroying the weak and unsuspecting.

Your friends may find you remote and a hard nut to crack. Few of your peers know you very well--even those you have known a long time--because you have expert control of the face you put forth to the world. You prefer to observe, calculate, discern and decide. Your decisions are final, and your desire to be right is impenetrable.

You are not to be messed with. You may explode.

Hnh. Maybe.

Maybe closer than I want to admit. Over at Acidman's place, they're having a hard time accepting the results.

Frankly, I think Acidman's results are spot-on.

UPDATE: Ok, I took the test again, and got radically different results:
Wackiness: 126/100
Rationality: 92/100
Constructiveness: 136/100
Leadership: 52/100



You are a WRCF--Wacky Rational Constructive Follower. This makes you a Paul Begala.

You are unflappable and largely unconcerned with others' reactions to you. You were not particularly interested in the results of this test, and probably took it only as a result of someone else asking you to.

You have a biting wit and intense powers of observation. No detail is lost on you, and your friends know it--relying on you to have the facts when others express only opinions. You are even-tempered, friendly, and educated. Foolish strangers may mistake your mildness for weakness--they will be surprised.

You entire approach to life is enviable. You will raise good kids.

They made some mention on their site of the fact that the results default to "Evil Genius" if a cookie session is not enabled. But I *know* cookies were functional when I took it the first time.

I was, however, in a peculiar mood that was more attuned to those results.

With these results, except for the comment about powers of observation, it seems pretty close. I am too inwardly focused to have the best observation skills. And I'm not sure how "biting" my wit is. My best humor comes when I have time to think about it and write it out. I could never make it as a stand-up.

Taking apart the initial results, there is more that is not true about me than in the second results:
You are extremely focused and difficult to distract from your tasks. (true. When I choose it to be, my focus is like a freight train.) With luck, you have learned to channel your energies into improving your intellect, rather than destroying the weak and unsuspecting. (I am not at all destructive in my tendencies.)

Your friends may find you remote and a hard nut to crack. Few of your peers know you very well--even those you have known a long time (true)--because you have expert control of the face you put forth to the world. (Not really true. It is because I keep to myself.) You prefer to observe, calculate, discern and decide. (true) Your decisions are final, and your desire to be right is impenetrable. (not really true. I have a strong will, and when I've made my mind up about a course of action, it's difficult but not impossible to move me. As far as opinions and positions go, I am not impenetrable.)

You are not to be messed with. You may explode. (Push me hard enough, and you will learn the truth of this one.)

UPDATE 2: Third time's a charm? Not if it means getting yet a different result after taking it again:
Wackiness: 60/100
Rationality: 34/100
Constructiveness: 68/100
Leadership: 26/100



You are a WECF--Wacky Emotional Constructive Follower. This makes you a Candle burning at both ends.

You work until you drop, and you play until you can stand to work again. You have so much enthusiasm that you can find it hard to control on your own, and you appreciate the guidance that channels your energy and lets you be your best.

In a relationship, you require lots of attention and support. You often over-contribute and end up feeling depleted and cheated. You may benefit from more time alone than you grant yourself.

Your driving force is the emotional support of others--especially affection. You can run on empty for miles if you have positive energy behind you. Without it--as it occasionally must run dry--you are depressive, listless, and difficult to motivate.

You need a lot of affection. Get it any way you can, but never at the cost of your self-respect or well-being.


Whatever. I'm concluding that the results of this test are highly dependent upon the current mood of the testee.

Inblognito: Inblognito

I don't know at whom this is directed, but I don't care much for the general direction it's aimed, given that I mentioned the topic in passing a few days ago. When I said 'I shan't say', that's what I meant. (As an added measure of goodwill, I am deleting the gratuitous "hint" in that post.)

Far more fun was the speculation as to whether Allahpundit had reincarnated himself in the form of an old curmudgeon from Minneapolis. Not that I believe that. I've become convinced that Ms. Packard is herself, and is delightfully nuts all on her own.

I don't mean to pick specifically on Ms. MacFarland here, because I've seen this practiced elsewhere, too many times, by people who seem to be unaware of how it appears.

I find such public rantings--which are directed vaguely enough that any one of an unknown number of people could potentially be the intended target--to be a form of cowardice, as it is a way of avoiding a direct confrontation with the specific offender(s). It leaves a lot of people, whether "guilty" or not, scratching their heads and wondering if they've done the deed that offends. It is not unlike shouting a profanity at someone across a wide crowd. Maybe they deserve it, but you leave a whole lot of people looking around at you and wondering.

Like hunting chickadees with a rocket launcher. Like fishing with dynamite. Y'know?

It's also a power trip--"hear me roar", then calming the quivering minions at one's feet who fear for their own favored status. There is nothing wrong with engaging in a little power tripping on one's own blog, if one's readers have come to expect it. But there is this thing called e-mail that works equally well for the purpose of giving the what-for to those who actually deserve it.

If my passing comment was included in the intended target range, I would appreciate a little more direct communication on the topic. Excoriate me publicly if you must. But be a little more specific, won't you?

And on the off-chance that the "deserving" browse this way--leave off on Ms. MacFarland's identity, for all the reasons she stated. Don't spoil the fun for the rest of us.

Somewhat on-topic, there is someone I've recently had an online conversation with, slowly making their way month by month, post by post, through my entire archives. On the one hand I am flattered, especially since my earliest posts got almost no readers at all. On the other hand, it leaves me with a funny feeling, not unlike a visit to the proctologist. There it all is, the good, the bad, and the really quite hideous.

But of course it is all my doing. I wrote it. I posted it. And once it is out there, people will make of it what they will.

As are all bloggers, I'm an egotist. I want to be known, at least in a general sense. It's the specific that can occasionally get uncomfortable.

Interesting piece here, noted for future perusal. Maybe something of interest to my readers as well:
The Mushrooms of Language

This story brought a couple tears to my eyes. I can't tell you how much I admire these men. The text below is just an excerpt. Click the link at the bottom for the rest of the story:

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia -- In the three weeks since catastrophe struck, this city has seen its share of body collectors, but none quite like Hector "Chino" Mendez and the Tlatelolco International Rescue Brigade.

Mendez, a grizzled, unemployed rescuer from Mexico City, and his men -- nicknamed Los Topos, or "the Moles" -- virtually hitchhiked from Mexico to the tip of northern Sumatra to help remove thousands of corpses that remain entombed in the debris from the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami.

"We are penniless," Mendez concedes, telling the story of how the heavily discounted tickets from Japan Air Lines took them only as far as Singapore. There, the rescue brigade ran out of money paying for ferry tickets to Indonesia, and had to leave much of its equipment behind. The workers made it to Banda Aceh only because a Baptist minister on the ferry overheard them arguing about the equipment and gave Mendez $400 -- exactly the amount they needed to get here.

Now, belying their fame as volunteer rescue and recovery experts at disaster sites around the world, they camp in the yard of the governor's mansion, the disaster command post. They occupy tents distributed by the Chinese government, eat cookies and water given to them by aid groups, and hitch rides to disaster sites from Indonesian police trucks.

When they are not wading in knee-deep mud and debris collecting bodies, they are teasing each other, comparing their muscles, and taking a dancing marionette around to refugee camps and hospitals.

It's against their philosophy to count how many bodies they remove.

"That's not important," says Javier Maldonado, a 20-year-old Topo.

"Just a few days ago, a kid came and said, can you help me pull out my mom?" Maldonado said. "He had lost all four members of his family." The body wasn't very hard to get at, with just a few boards on top that the boy could have easily removed by himself, but the group labored side by side with him until the work was done.

This day's search for bodies didn't take long: People walking by pointed to a two-story pile of debris that only vaguely resembled a house and said "mayat" -- the word for corpse.

They fanned out, some climbing the nail-studded wooden beams entangled with garbage to enter a cavernous hole at the top. In the heap, they found six bodies, and a wet copy of the Koran.

The last body was by far the hardest to get at. All that was visible was a naked, withered leg, bleached white, with a bare foot sticking out from under a fallen cement wall.

Working together, they wedged a long plank of wood under the cement slab and placed a rock under it, a makeshift fulcrum and lever. They jumped on the wood, but it hardly lifted the cement slab an inch. Leibssle, the German, banged on the cement with the hammer, but it wouldn't break. Mendez egged them on in Spanish: Pretend, he said, that the wall is the man that slept with your wife, hung out with your kids, and even stole the loyalty of your dog.

Finally, a few pieces at a time, the wall began to break apart. The woman underneath -- or was it a girl? -- lay face-down, arms at her sides. Carefully, they pulled her out from under it and rolled her into a white body bag.

Then, palms to the heavens, the strangers from halfway around the world prayed around her in a circle, as if they had come all that way just for her. One lifted a soggy page from the Koran and placed it in the bag before zipping it up. Then, they gently lifted her onto a stretcher, and silently, together, they carried her out.

Penniless.

Yet full of something else that gives them a joy for life, that goes far beyond what money could buy. Something that brought them halfway across the world to help others, despite their own needs.

That is worthy of praise.

Boston.com / News / World / Asia / Ragtag team tackles effort's grimmest task

Ever notice on a sunny morning after an overnight shower, the blueness of every surface glazed with water?

Delicious.

Blogging and commenting on other's blogs will be light this week. Other committments will take me away from my play time here. I'll be back in full force by next weekend.

Meanwhile, someone keep an eye on Ms Packard for me, won't you?

testing...
YES! Now it works. Apparently there is a file size limit that was causing me to tear out my hair earlier. Not that I have enough left to be able to afford that...

This is the Picasa2 and Hello software that blogger.com is promoting for use with their weblog service.

Remember I said I would post some of my vacation pictures, oh, months ago? Well it might just actually happen now.

Another benefit: Easier catblogging and more frequent entries into the Carnival of the Cats. Acidman will love me. :)

Never heard of him.

Your Famous Blogger Twin is Wil Wheaton

You're a friendly, funny guy (or girl) next door With more than a touch of geekiness

Wasn't this supposed to be FAMOUS bloggers we were twinned to? How can someone be famous if I've never heard his name before ever?

Whatever.

Stupid quiz.

UPDATE: Ah. I understand a little better now. And I seem to have inadvertently done the same thing that Hooters waitress did.

So he's not really a famous blogger per se, but someone who was (IS!) famous, who also writes a blog now. Sort of like calling Dave Barry a famous blogger. While technically true, it doesn't mean quite the same thing as referring to Glenn Reynolds, Anna Marie Cox, or John Hinderaker as famous bloggers.

Inadvertently, I've also revealed one of my own blind spots--pop culture ignorance--caused largely by my steadfastly ignoring TV for the last thirty years. Sorry Wil. But I'm not sorry for skipping TV.

What does this mean? Your nerdiness is:
High-Level Nerd. You are definitely MIT material, apply now!!!.

That's maybe a little higher than I expected, but I'll take it. :)

My brother seems a bit dismayed at his score of 96. But c'mon! He runs a site called aspZone.com, a support site for asp programmers. Truly, he is a nerd amongst nerds, a genius amongst the genii. He should be proud.

Plus I get to rib him about it now. :D

Inexcusable silliness!
CNN.com - 'Flammable' Titan covered in liquid gas - Jan 21, 2005

Titan, with it's liquid natural gas (LNG) seas and rivers, is no more flammable than this planet. In the presence of oxygen, it would most certainly burn. But on Titan, there are only trace amounts of oxygen. If you struck a match on Titan, it would go out as soon as the phosphor was burned up. No oxygen, no flammability.

(As a side note, it just occurred to me, that may be how Teddy Kennedy avoids spontaneous combustion--by sucking all the oxygen out of the room...)

Now on the other hand, if you struck a match on Titan and tried to blow it out, you'd probably shoot a six foot geyser of flame out your mouth. See, the oxygen in your breath is what would be flammable out there. Not that you could ever take off your helmet to do that anyway though.

(Mental note: don't let Teddy Kennedy travel to Titan, or at least make him keep his helmet on--it would not be a pretty sight...)

Plus, you think Mars is cold as hell? The entire surface of Titan would make a great cryogenics lab. So bundle up and wear mittens.

Ms. Wilberforce-Packard can rest assured that there is no scientific basis to the plans being laid to keep smokers from colonizing Titan. I join her in her outrage! Although with the hassle and discomfort that smokers have to put up with in order to light up in the cold parts of this country, I can't see why they would want to make the move to somewhere even colder.

What I'm waiting to hear about though, are Halliburton's plans to tow Titan into near-earth orbit in order to exploit those natural gas reserves. I mean, why fiddle around with one backwater middle-eastern hellhole, when you've got an entire planet just waiting out there! Maybe that's what Bush's Mars exploration initiative is all about. Long-range plans and all.

Aha! Now we know.

If you've read or heard about this article by intrepid Washington Post writer David Von Drehle, you will surely appreciate this article by Iowahawk:

iowahawk: Heart of Redness

No one pokes fun at frightened east coast liberals quite like Iowahawk. Click, laugh, return. :)

While I was excoriating the poor customer service I received at one company a couple of days ago, I now want to take a moment to praise another online company I have done business with.

I ordered a pair of Nymphaea caerulea from Water Plants.com last winter. After much searching, they were the only place I could find that even carried this species. These are called "Blue Lotus", though they are not a true lotus, but rather a tropical water lily.

When the time came for shipment, they informed me that the plants were not quite large enough for them to be comfortable shipping them yet. They gave me the opportunity to either cancel the order or keep it active. I chose to keep the order active until they were finally ready to ship in early July. Throughout the intervening weeks, they regularly updated me on the order status. And when the order arrived without the fertilizer that I also ordered, they promptly shipped it to me free of charge.

The plants fluorished in my pond, and they were a pleasure to behold on many late summer afternoons.




It is true that the varieties of hybridized lilies and lotuses have more vivid colors and larger blooms, but the natural sky-blue-and-sunshine beauty of this north African native just takes my breath away. There was hardly a day from August through late October that there wasn't at least one or two blossoms above the water.

Click the image for a larger version.

Thanks WaterPlants.com You did right.

Another one from JibJab!
JibJab.com

dead mousie to Li'l Miss Attila

Talk about a hot topic! 300 comments and counting, and it doesn't appear to be over yet. It started out as "what's so hot about Teri Polo, guys?", and has taken on a life of its own--most recently Allahpundit's ruminations on the predatory nature of most women he knows.

A Small Victory - sex and the sandwich

I joined the fray, jumping in with both feet. I expect a few feministas to flame the crap out of me, but what is said is true anyway. So there. :P

Update: Well after much handwringing and rending of garments, it appears to have ended in something of a putter, plus a few ruffled feathers. An unexpected quarter for the ruffled feathers too. But you learn something new every day.

Unlike doing business across a store counter, one often does not know who one is dealing with when ordering online. I do a lot of purchasing online, and my policy is to trust unless I am given reason not to.

Getting an order right is relatively straightforward. But to me, the real measure of a solid online business is their response when something goes wrong, regardless of whether the problem is the result of an order that wasn't filled, a lost shipment, or other issues.

I ordered a product from a specific online company that I will leave unnnamed, pending the outcome of our latest correspondence. But I'd like to solicit reader feedback regarding their customer service response. Here are my first and second follow up emails regarding my order (certain information deleted).

Sent 1/4/05:

I ordered XXXXXX on December 17, 2004 and requested delivery to
my work address. It did not arrive the week before Christmas as I
expected, and has not arrived since. I note that my checking
account was debited on 12/20/2004 for $XX.XX. My contact
information is as follows:

(information deleted)

Please either re-ship XXXXXXX, ensuring that my name is on the
package (it will not reach me if it is not), or refund the amount
charged to my account. At this point I would prefer the amount be
refunded, as it is too late.

Sent 1/18/05:

This is my second request for a response. As of this date
(1/18/2004) I have received no response from your company in regards
to the matter detailed below, nor has the ordered product been
delivered. If I do not receive a positive response to this inquiry,
I will have to assume that the $XX.XX charged to my account was
fraudulent, and will begin whatever actions necessary to recover my losses.

Additionally, the readers of my weblog may be interested in learning
about the quality of customer service I have received from this
company.

Hot on the heels of that e-mail, I received this response:

Hello

Of course your order is not fraudulent, and threatening us is surely no way
to fix things.

First of all, we care about all of our customers very much. It's amazing how
people immediately jump to the conclusion that it was our fault when a
package does not arrive when in fact it is usually because the post office
of Fedex simply lost it.

The same goes for e mail exchanges. There are literally hundreds of reasons
why an e mail didn't get answered but it surely isn't because we don't
answer our e mail! Things like spam filters and e mails with no subject line
are just two examples of why we may not have received your original e mail.

What I can't figure out is why didn't you just call our toll free telephone
number? Your package was supposed to arrive in 2-3 days.

Anyway, what ever the problem was, it's way to late to fix it now. We'll
send you out another package today from our warehouse in Atlanta to the
address you specified on your original order.

We are a very honest company and we sincerely apologize for any
inconvenience that you may have experienced.

Thank you
Customer Service

How does that strike you? What would be your response?



Geeze louise, I thought it was unprofessional! Cheesy excuse-making, buck passing, and whining does NOT equal customer service. They lost my email, someone else (not them) lost the package, and it's all my fault for e-mailing their customer service center instead of calling their 800 number? Their e-mail and order system is their responsibility. Was I "threatening" them by giving them a second chance to respond before I contacted my bank?

To top it off, they tacked this "copyright" notice on the end of the message:

"CONFIDENTIALITY WARNING!! This electronic message contains information which may be privileged and/or confidential. The information is
intended for use by the individual(s) or entity named/indicated above.
BE ADVISED that any unauthorized access, disclosure, copying,
distribution, or use of the content of this message/information is
prohibited by federal law.

Bite me!

If I decide to reveal the company name later in an update, I may have to summarize their response. I'm not sure just what federal law they are citing, and whether as the intended recipient, I would be the one empowered to authorize its copying or distribution. But I'll be happy to duke it out with them in court, if they really want a fight that generates bad publicity.

My last response (which includes some of what I said above):

I appreciate your swift reply in this instance.

Regarding 800 numbers, my preference is to do business by written correspondence where possible, as this provides a record of the transaction and other relevant details. I sent my prior e-mail immediately following the holidays, as soon as it became apparent that the shipment was lost (given a reasonable time cushion to account for the holiday rush).

Unlike doing business across a store counter, one often does not know who one is dealing with when ordering online. I do a lot of purchasing online, and my policy is to trust unless I am given reason not to. From the perspective of a customer, it seems reasonable to assume that an online store's e-mail and order system will be functional and responsive. When a reasonable request gets no response (whatever the cause), a follow-up request indicating what my next actions may have to be, seems to me to be only justified.

The experiences other customers have with the same company count for a lot in online commerce. Getting an order right is relatively straightforward. But to me, the real measure of a solid online business is their response when something goes wrong, regardless of whether the problem is the result of an order that wasn't filled, a lost shipment, or other issues.

I appreciate your reshipment of this missing order. If there is a tracking number associated with this reshipment, I would also appreciate if you would provide it, so that I may track it online.

I usually have good results from ordering online, and have occasionally had to contact an online store about a missing or incomplete order. I have always been treated professionally and respectfully. In all cases, the missing order or missing items have been promptly reshipped. But I've never gotten a response quite like this one before!

UPDATE: I did receive a USPS tracking number in my e-mail this morning (1/20/05). That's a good sign.

Final Update: The package arrived this morning. So they made good, despite their pissy Customer Service attitude. I'll leave it at that.

This woman has to be the creation of another of the comic geniuses we've seen previously in the 'sphere.

Allah? Commissar? Jeff? Someone else even?

I'm fairly certain I know who is Queenie, and out of respect for her reasons to be "inblognito", and the wonderful results thereof, I shan't say.

But Ms. Wilberforce-Packard is so damn quirky and hilarious that I just gotta know who's doing this schtick.

Update: Seriously, HOW can you resist stuff like this?

After work, I saw a woman backing her station wagon out of a parking space while talking on the phone and eating a bowl of oatscream with a spoon. I longed to lay across her hood and mime a swimming motion, but I'm a busy woman with pies to eat. I walked home with the 40 hounds of hell biting at my heels. Made it home in record time. Alas, no pie at home; I wept like an orphan at the county fair.

Update 2: THIS GUY apparently knows her personally. For what it's worth. He isn't talking. :)

Just a couple more photos of her before I move on. I've just been liking how much her photo in the post below graces my site.


Click on the images to browse the site they came from. There's much more stuff there.

Ok, I have to confess. I've been quite taken by Norah Jones since I first heard her silky, soothing voice a couple of years ago. It was on a long flight (Peru or Hawaii, I can't remember), that I listened to excerpts of "Come Away With Me" over and over on the entertainment console.

I mostly forgot about her after that, but always had it in my mind that I wanted to pick up that CD sometime. Well l finally did last night, surprisingly on the discount shelf at Borders--only $9.99! And I've listened to it a couple more times now.

Listening to her voice is like being gently caressed with a velvet gloved hand, or softly brushed with silk. Never mind the lyrics (though they're good too), that voice is the most feminine and soothing thing I have heard, probably ever. It certainly doesn't hurt any that she's drop-dead gorgeous too, but that's not the main thing.

Here's her website:

Norah Jones

More info HERE

Ok, I'm sure this opinion won't win me many friends in the 'sphere. But it seems to me that this AIDS story that Dean Esmay is trying to stir up, is an artificial attempt to use the power of the blogosphere to move a story.

It appears to me that a lot of people were impressed by the power of blogs when it came to the Rathergate affair. But the difference between that story and this, is that Rathergate was a spontaneous combustion that occurred in the midst of a heated political season, where a lot of people felt they had a stake in the outcome. In this case, it appears very much like Mr. Esmay has been drafted by this group of "insurgent" doctors, who would like to tap the power of the 'sphere in order to get their own perspective aired.

While I certainly don't mind getting a new perspective on topics that are rarely heard through the usual channels, this one leaves a funny taste in my mouth. The "evidence" that we were led to believe would blow the doors off the current assumptions about HIV and AIDS, is less than compelling. It may very well be true, but if so, it's one whopper of a conspiracy.

And who knows, maybe many of the conspiracy theories out there are true, but somehow the thought of dozens or hundreds of crackpot conspiracy theorists maneuvering to co-opt the power of the blogosphere to push their theories is distasteful to me. We discuss what we want to discuss when we want to discuss it. Nothing more, nothing less. Same words to Hugh Hewitt.

I say all this recognizing that in the initial stages of Rathergate, there were a lot of people in the 'sphere saying the same type of things about the mounting evidence of fraud and conspiracy. I wasn't ready to join the chorus of naysayers then, and so I'll take a sideline seat on this story and wait to see. But I can't envision this as something that hundreds or thousands will flock to, eventually forcing the story to be examined in the mainstream. Maybe it will, but I won't be holding my breath.


Caltechgirl has more from a contrarian perspective.

THIS guy is in desperate need of a Darwin Award...gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "burns my ass".

Warning: Major spew alert! Remove all beverages a safe distance before clicking. Not work safe either.

Iowahawk has the real story, as told by Dan "Dick" Rather: iowahawk: Farewell, My Producer

Esther Wilberforce-Packard, the highly quirky (is that a sufficiently emphatic adjective?) blogger from Minneapolis is now on the blogroll.

Go take a look, but realize that I didn't create the new category for no reason.

Try as I might, I can't come up with the perfect caption. Something about "life's little obstacles", or "who do I contact? I've found the fallen rock everyone's been watching for!"

aH-h! See what you can do.

No, not really.

But I begin to feel guilty if I post nothing for a couple of days. I've just gone flaccid from finally getting my house rented.

I hope I'm not catching whatever is afflicting Allahpundit, and maybe Jeffy G. too.

This is just a follow-up to something I mentioned before but didn't have a link for, the most dramatic before/after aerial photo I'd seen.

Tsunami - Banda Aceh Shore, Indonesia

Money & Business: "Stewart, who is roughly halfway through a five-month sentence for lying about a stock sale, urged fans to think about the women she has met in prison who are "devoid of care, devoid of love, devoid of family.''

She suggested Americans should push for reforms in federal sentencing guidelines for nonviolent first-time offenders and particularly for drug offenders, who she said would be better served by rehabilitation than prison."

Tell 'em Martha!

Nothing like seeing it up close and personal to realize what a travesty this "war on (some) drugs" really is.

dead mousie to Acidman

...In A Strange Land.

Well I'm full of thoughts from the book, so I apologize if I ramble a bit here. I have no intention of doing a "review" of any kind, as I'm sure this work has been reviewed to death over the last 45 years. I just want to make a few observations.

Heinlein created one WHOPPER of a strawman in the Fosterites, eh? It's very convenient when you want to bash the people of a particular faith or religion if you can first drag it down to the gutter. (A side note: his criticism of Elisha missed the mark by a mile too. "Little children", my furry ass! They were your basic juvenile delinquents, old enough to be accountable for their actions, and as worshippers of Baal, completely and violently hostile to Elisha and the God he served. I also infer that it may well have been their fathers that Elijah dealt with so effectively a few years earlier. A well-deserved fate, I reckon.)

I note that this "Heinleinian" religion is one of the many that believes in the perfectability of man. "If only we had a leader who could teach us to live right, think right, and act right, we could transform the human race." How often have we heard that? Communism takes that approach too, and we've got a century of blood to show for it. Recently I learned too, that Islam does not teach that man is fallen, per se. The teach that Adam "descended" with grace, and it was always a part of God's plan that he do so, in order that he set up a vicegerent of God's authority on earth. Thus they have no need of salvation, as it is allegedly already within their grasp to submit to the will of Allah through their own personal efforts.

He did level a number of valid critiques of the then current social millieu, and his depiction of the Martian way of thinking in contrast to popular culture is enough to make one cringe. But the last 45 years have seen some rather dramatic changes in the social fabric of the country. The sexual revolution came and went. (Was it what you thought it would be, Mr. Heinlein? Really though, it is still going on, except that the pendulum is swinging back in the other direction now.) Fast on it's heels, the feminist movement came, saw, and destroyed all that was good in the relations between the sexes. Could Heinlein have foreseen this consequence? The joyous and loving "warfare" that he depicts is no more, largely replaced by bitter, shell-shocked partisans who wonder what the hell is wrong with the opposite sex. Except in those quarters where the movement never really took hold. And perhaps a new generation of women will see their way to discarding the poison of their shrill, bitter "older sisters". And maybe men will heal and begin to trust them again.

But what about this utopian vision? I noted that, save for the polyamory, it bore a rather interesting similarity to primitive Christian communities. If we grok in fullness, we would see that it would be perfectly appropriate for us to be to each other as Heinlein described "water brothers" to be. Save again, that forty years of sexual revolution has shown again how untenable polyamory is in a fallen world. That's the hitch, isn't it? Every utopian vision will fail if it does not take into account our fallen nature. I submit to you that what Heinlein did was to create a utopian vision that took elements of the ideal Christian community and mixed in his personal fixation on group sex. It's theoretically possible and it might even be "moral" (in a sense), except that due to human nature it is essentially impossible. Without the new life and the transforming power of the Spirit, how can one even begin to deal effectively with jealousy, envy, malice, anger, rage, bitterness and hurt that eventually results?

"All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable", said Paul. There are good reasons for the "one man, one woman" pattern encouraged to us in scripture.

Why do I make much of this? Because I have also learned that there are some who are trying to put this Heinleinian philosophy into practice. Polyamory exists in places, largely within the context of certain segments of the pagan community. I am curious though, just how successful this really is. Oh, I don't mean initially. I mean, can you make this last for five, ten, twenty years or more without the stuff of the frail human condition cropping up endlessly, and ultimately damaging or destroying it? See, without a basis for the rest of the transformation that would be necessary (Heinlein left y'all hanging with that part, didn't he?), I can't see it working.

What Jesus the Christ did for us, forms just such a basis. I can't possibly expound my entire theology or cosmology in this little space, save to say that his blood sacrifice broke our chains and his Spirit gives us life and the power to be transformed. We have received adoption into his family, his inheritance, and his authority, through the water (yes, the water) and the blood. What were the "love feasts"? What is communion? Yes, in part it is ritualized cannibalism! Precisely. Grok the essence?

I'm not interested in discussing what Christianity has become, and what it is today in so many quarters. There's plenty of fodder for criticism. I'm talking about what can be and should be, what Jesus laid out for us, and what was found in the primitive Christian church.

Let me tell you something else. This "growing closer" function of sex that Heinlein made much of, does not require the sexual act. Just as Mike discovered that water was not required for the water ritual, but it was symbolic of the essence of the meaning it embodied, the sexual union of a man and a woman is symbolic of something much greater, much more powerful, and also very sacred. That, ultimately, is the reason for the strictures--that something so sacred and laden with meaning not be vulgarized. "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable."

Lest this become a tome, I'll cut it off here. More later perhaps.

I've been re-reading Heinlein's Stranger In A Strange Land. I say re-reading, as I discovered partway into the book that I did, in fact, read it at one point in my youth. I had forgotten, until a couple of things tickled my memory. But for the most part I have still forgotten the story, and it is new to me.

It is a peculiar sensation I experience as I read some of the details of his imagined future world. From his 1950's perspective, he transplanted the then current social customs forward to some point in the future past where we are now. But social customs, and in particular the relationship between the sexes, has changed dramatically (for the worse, in my opinion) in the intervening 45 years. And he presumes that constitutional rights exist in the future largely as intact as they were in 1960.

Do you think a man like Jubal Harshaw could stop the police from acting improperly when attempting to arrest him, simply by citing the legal successor to the fourth amendment? Not today, since the destruction of the fourth amendment in the War on Drugs, and we're nowhere near the world he envisions in this book. Mike maybe could have dealt effectively with a SWAT team--at least the first wave, until the authorities saw what they were up against--but in today's world, there is simply no way the Secretary General would have sent in a couple of cops and a paddy wagon to have a little chat over the niceties of conducting a proper search and arrest.

How sad that is.

And it has gotten me thinking on the nature of power and authority, and the fact that any power or authority structure on this earth is eventually and necessarily going to be co-opted by the Enemy, as surely as an unprotected computer plugged into the 'net will be infested with viruses and trojans in a matter of hours or days.

Therefore the least government we can get by with, the best for us, as the Founders clearly saw. And that applies to any other temporal authority or power structure as well, whether in a business or social organization, or--dare I say?--a church organization. I think perhaps it is not power that corrupts, but Corruption seeks power and co-opts it for it's own ends. So the less that power and authority are concentrated, the less damage Corruption can do when they are co-opted.

I'll be an anarchist before I'm through, at this rate.

I've noticed a lot of mention around the 'sphere of one's blogparents or blogchildren--people who are "related" by virtue of inspiring, encouraging or helping another person to start their own blog.

I don't have a blogparent. The notion just one day entered my head to start a blog. So you might say I was hatched. (And no, I'm not related to the platypus.)

But in a stunning reversal of parenting roles, I'm the apparent blogfather of Momcat's entry into the wild world of the blogosphere. Just one entry so far, and using a stock blogger template, but I'll put up a link as soon as she has a sitemeter and blogroll, and is ready to face the world.

"Mom. My proud blogchild."

Your Dominant Intelligence is Spatial Intelligence

You've got a good sense of space and how the world around you looks. You can close your eyes and "see" images. You have innate artistic talent. An eye for color and shapes, you're also a natural designer. Since you think in pictures, visual aids and demonstrations help you learn best. You would make a good navigator, sculptor, visual artist, inventor, architect, interior designer, or engineer.

Engineer I am, and the rest is spot on too.

dead mousie to Holly

Take a look at the headlines of the stories on this page:
Google Search:

They are all essentially the SAME story, regarding the results of a recent study that determined that light to moderate drinking results in reduced stroke risk, and heavier drinking leads to increased stroke risk.

Depending upon the bias and proclivities of the writer and editor, the results are widely varying "stories".

Examples:
Heavier drinkers risk strokes Men who drink heavily are at increased risk of stroke, research shows.

Light Alcohol Use Doesn't Raise Stroke Risk New findings from a large study suggest that drinking up to two alcoholic beverages a day does not significantly increase the risk of stroke.

Belly up to the bar, boys! Hard liquor, wine helps cut strokes in men, study finds In a blow to smug teetotalers everywhere, men who enjoy one or two hard drinks a day three to four times a week were found to have a 32 percent lower risk of stroke than guys who don't drink at all, according to a new study.

Amazing, isn't it?

This is from Esther Wilberforce-Packard of Minneapolis. Before reading this "nice old lady", I suggest that you not be drinking a cup of herbal tea--despite the topic of the post--lest you snort it out through your nose onto your keyboard.

Topic Drift: A Nice Cup of Herbal Tea

(really, don't you wonder if some of them are that crazy...?)

This article is worth a read:

Articles - God's Rays Physics Today - Physics Today January 2005

There are times when I wish I could have half a dozen or so identical bodies that share a common mind.

Think of the possibilities! I could live a half-dozen lifetimes at once! One or two of me could stay busy earning a living, and the rest of me could do all the things I wish I had time to do, but rarely get to. And of course one of me would need to be a dedicated Daisycat-entertainer.

Maybe we'd need to clone Daisycat too...hmm.

The li'l stinker is still going strong a year later. That would be four times its "mission accomplished" lifespan.
Yahoo! News - Mars Rover Wanders Through Littered Landscape

Ecstacy use studied to ease fear in terminally ill

I didn't blog about this when I first saw it last week. I just didn't have time. But I can't let this go without comment.

This month, in a little-noted administrative decision, the Food and Drug Administration gave the green light to a Harvard proposal to test the benefits of the illegal street drug known as "ecstasy" in patients diagnosed with severe anxiety related to advanced cancer.

The drug, also known as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, has been referred to by psychiatrists as an "empathogen," a drug especially good at putting people in touch with their emotions. Some believe it could help patients come to terms with the biggest emotional challenge of all: the end of life.

And what do you suppose the results of this study will be? This will be something along the lines of that study that discovered that there are differences between men and women. DU-U-HH! It's about time that some recognition be given to the potential therapeutic benefits of many of these drugs.

There's more I hadn't heard about:

Already, MDMA is being tested for its ability to reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. And two U.S. studies are looking at the usefulness of psilocybin - the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms" - in terminally ill cancer patients and in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

In the coming year, advocates also hope to submit to the FDA an application to test psilocybin and LSD as treatments for a debilitating syndrome known as cluster headaches.

Although they vary in their chemical structures and specific effects, many psychedelic drugs work on the parts of the brain that regulate serotonin - the same brain chemical that is the target of many FDA-approved antidepressants. That does not indicate that the drugs are necessarily safe; indeed, they all carry some medical and psychiatric risk.

Yet even scientists who have been vocal about those risks have expressed at least guarded support for the idea that, in the company of a therapist and with proper medical monitoring, moderate doses might benefit some people.

"When taken under adverse circumstances by ill-prepared individuals, there are substantial psychological risks," said Charles Grob, a psychiatrist at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. "But when taken in the context of carefully structured and approved research protocols and facilitated by individuals with expertise, adverse effects can be contained to a minimum."

It's called a "bad trip". You don't want one of those, no thank you sirree!

Grob is leading an FDA-approved study in which terminally ill cancer patients are being given psilocybin to see whether it can help them sort through emotional and spiritual issues. He said the patients take a "modest" dose of synthetic psilocybin, equivalent to two or three illicit mushrooms. They spend the next six hours or so in a comfortable setting with a psychiatrist - talking, thinking and sometimes listening to music with headphones.

"So far they have had very impressive results in terms of amelioration of anxiety, improvement of mood, improved rapport with close family and friends and, interestingly, significant and lasting reductions in pain," Grob said of the first few patients to enroll. "These are extraordinary compounds that seem to have an uncanny ability to reliably induce spiritual or religious experiences when taken in the right conditions."

Gosh! Tripping on shrooms can be a religious experience?! Whoda thunk? Next these geniuses are going to discover that the sun rises in the east: "It is really extraordinary. Our research did not discover a single instance of the sun rising in the west. Now we will be researching whether the sun ever rises in the south or the north."

Seriously though, what do these researchers expect to "discover"? Unless they wish to fabricate results, like that bogus, discredited study that claimed that MDMA fed to lab rats caused an extremely high mortality rate (MDMA wasn't even used in the study), they will only be confirming what a quick browse over to the Erowid vaults would reveal is already widely known to tens of thousands of users. But I think it is great that this research is happening with FDA sanction. It appears to be the first glimmer of sanity from the government in a long time.

There's more in the article of course. A study of psilocybin use to help obsessive compulsive patients break their repetetive thoughts and actions is being conducted at the University of Arizona. Oh, I'll bet that study is successful (!!) although I'll also venture to guess that they will discover the process of breaking the compulsive thoughts will be psychologically painful.

I don't have any experience with this phenomenon, but I understand that getting stuck in repetetive thinking is not uncommon while tripping. I'll be curious to see the results of this study. Like a nail driving out a nail?

Just my $0.02, but I'd hypothesize that Sallie (Salvia divinorum) would be more suitable in that case. Not that it would be any less painful, but she'd get it over with more quickly--reducing the awareness of self to a singularity in space in about 30 seconds flat.

Click, read, return.
Ecstacy use studied to ease fear in terminally ill

Flying like a chicken through space.

Hey! I haven't posted here since last year. Dang I'm lax!

Oh, wait...