30 way to go

29 vancouver...

23 pennies from heaven

20 this week

19 noooo! 

16 smoke and mirrors

16 goosed

14 EHS donations!

12 buh-bye brownie

09 the future is frightening

06 the weekend

02 someone's going to be annoyed

01 kids, today we learn about consequences

"But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose -- you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down," Bennett said, according to an audio clip posted on Media Matters for America's Web site. "That would be an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, you know, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky."

that's from the washington post.

this was a guy in charge of *education.* if only he'd been educated.

tonight is the Edmonton Small Press Association's Propaganda Party at the Bomb Shelter (formerly Sublime at 10146�104 St.). i think it'll be a good time. it's $8, or whatever you can afford. come out if you'd like. it's a formal event ... for the girls: gowns, tiaras, boas, conflict diamonds. for the gents: tuxes, monacles, walking sticks ... think mr. peanut. the party has been styled on Billionaires for Bush.

anyway ... i need to beautify myself for the night's festivities.

i saw tina. i saw trent. i did ... stuff.

i have to say, the nin show was fantastic. me, tina and the kat were front and centre for the entire thing, despite the best efforts of the blond, dreadlocked woman(?) behind me. yes ... a good time, indeed.

now, i'm bruised. ech.

i'd probably be happier about everything, you know, riding a nin-high, if not for the fuckwad who stole our overhead garage door while we were gone. yes, our fucking overhead door is gone.

i'm really pissed off right now. >:|

*sigh* i'm going to eat now. *grumble*

it's a tough call:  is klein santa claus or just completely unable to forecast budget surpluses?  

today is my last day to get ready for the vancouver trip.  (sooo much to do...)  tomorrow morning we fly out and won't be back until the 28th.  i'll make an attempt to write a review of the nine inch nails concert while i'm there.  ...maybe a bit about the skinny puppy thing too.  we'll see if i get around to it.  (right...)

yesterday i went out for coffee with a new friend / person of interest.  (eh ... that has unintended negative connotations.)  but anyway, i'm left wondering what kind of impression i make on new people.  you see, i'm so damned quiet around new people.  i fear that i come off as disinterested or aloof - which is not the case at all, especially last night.  she seems 'normal.' to me anyway.  i don't mean that in an insulting way.  geh - i'm such a social retard.  no wonder i don't have friends.

i have far too little time to do what needs to be done.  we're leaving either friday or saturday morning and so much needs to be accomplished.

there's the never-ending garage project, shopping for some new clothes, taking care of a million little things around the house, my cousin's birthday party and (silly me) an evening of volunteer work.  i think i'm going to cancel the volunteering thing on thursday because i simply don't have enough time to devote to it.  i feel like a shit doing that.  geh.

to top it all off, work is crazy.  we're short one person this week, i'm doing my month end reports and trying to pick up the slack as well.  *not happy*

so, i'm grouchy.

by the way, what should one buy a 17 year old male for his birthday?  i'm clueless.  maybe he'll be happy with money ... i sincerely hope so.  my addled brain can't come up with anything.

i'm going back to work now.

oh yes ... mr. kat?  what do you say to attending an antiwar protest while we're in vancouver?  :D  

(it never ends ...)

or i may have a whole pile of laundry to do.

my point:  this is an evil bug and i *must* keep it at bay.  the first of *two* nine inch nails shows i'm attending this year is next week and i need to be in prime pit form. 

heh.  i really should do laundry before heading to vancouver.  i should probably also take something for my fuzzy sick head and get lots of sleepy-time tonight.

i want curry chickpeas for dinner.  with rice.  

i think the kat and i are going shopping as well.  maybe i'll find some spiffy new clothes for our trip.  did i mention there's also a skinny puppy release party happening while we're there?  this will be a mighty fine vacation.

it's not paranoia if your suspicions are confirmed.

from the new york times:

The Heritage Foundation, which has surely been helping Karl Rove develop the administration's recovery plan, has already published a manifesto on post-Katrina policy. It calls for waivers on environmental rules, the elimination of capital gains taxes and the private ownership of public school buildings in the disaster areas. And if any of the people killed by Katrina, most of them poor, had a net worth of more than $1.5 million, Heritage wants to exempt their heirs from the estate tax.

not surprising, yet still disheartening.  another opportunity to try out compassionate neo-conservatism.  

just to be safe, today is National Prayer Day, if you weren't aware.  the gulf is *really* going to need those prayers now because, with the rove in charge, they don't have one.

as Paul Krugman says in that particular op-ed piece, george bush is no f.d.r.   i think he'd like to fashion himself as such, but given this president's penchant for putting cronies, sycophants and corporate degenerates into positions of power, he'll be hard-pressed to keep the stink of corruption away from this reconstruction project.  (ahhh, halliburton:  rebuilder extraordinaire.) 

what stupidity. 

did anyone buy his acknowledgement of responsibility for the slow federal response as anything more than an attempt to stave off a bit of criticism - especially from african americans?  

in other news, we're still trying to get the garage finished off.  it's been virtually impossible with the rain.  *grumble*  we're hoping for nice weather this weekend.  

mumsy had a dream this morning.  she walked through a door and encountered her baba.  then mum was given two babies and she tried to hold one in each of her arms.  she thinks this means that a grandchild is on the way.  possibly two grandchildren.  i'm a little concerned, given mum's often prescient dreams.  *sigh*  i don't have any "plans" in this area ... and i think my sisters would be rather inconvenienced if kiddos are on the way.

i don't feel like working today.  i'm in the mood to sit around with the kitties and read all day.  

there's a saul williams concert tonight at the powerplant at the u of a.  i'd like to attend.

the city of edmonton is giving the EHS a $15,000 donation (way to go guys!) to go to new orleans to assist the Humane Society of the United States.  they need the equipment because they have to be self-sufficient while there.  here's the list of supplies they need:

Hiking style backpacks

2 Man pop-up tents

Lightweight sleeping bags, pillows

First Aid kits

Hiking boots

Waterproof footwear

Work gloves, waterproof gloves

PFD's (lifejackets)

Hip waders with feet

Reflective vests

Hard hats

Bottled water

Ready to eat non-perishable food items

Insect repellent with DEET

Hand sanitizer

Wet wipes

Vick's Vap-o-Rub

Flashlights and batteries

Sunscreen

Surgical gloves

donations can be dropped off at 12251 - 67 st by friday, september 16 at noon.  (they're located on the south side of yellowhead trail at 67 st.)

as it turns out, a guy who can't organize horse shows may not be qualified to organize a large scale relief effort.  (see here.)  he's been recalled to washington.  

i have to say, the video clip where someone passing by a dick cheney press conference in mississippi shouted, "go fuck yourself mr. cheney!  go fuck yourself!" was priceless.  

i recall having seen part of that press conference earlier on CNN, minus the heckler's comments - i guess it wasn't their live feed.  my thanks to the daily show for showing the entire bit.  if you'd like a laugh, go here.

apparently, the heckler, dr. ben marble, is an emergency room physician who lost his home in the hurricane.  after shouting at the v.p., he returned to the remnants of his home and was later detained for 20 minutes by two police officers waving m-16's.  the officers collected dr. marble's contact information and released him.  ...i think somebody has a secret service file now   :)

i watched a documentary called "The Future of Food."  if you'd like to see a scary movie, i recommend that one.

i had no idea monsanto was the devil.  hmpf.  

you see, monsanto and other companies in the business of genetic modification patent life forms.  because monsanto likes to pick on hapless family farmers, i'll pick on them for the purposes of my rant...

monsanto created "roundup ready" soy and canola seeds - seeds that will not die if sprayed with monsanto's own pesticide, roundup.  they pushed for, and successfully filed, patents on the seeds they developed.  i'm not especially concerned with that, however, the problem is that any plants created by cross-pollination with a monsanto seed is deemed to be owned by monsanto.  

so farmer joe, who has been developing his own line of seeds over the course of 40 years (and through all his family's generations of farmers) can find himself at the losing end of a lawsuit because the wind has brought contamination into his breeding line.  

this has actually happened.  just ask Percy & Louise Schmeiser, farmers in saskatchewan, who were forced to destroy all their seed, a lifetime's worth of development, because of monsanto.  they didn't *want* gm canola, but it infested their field because canola is a plant and doesn't give a hoot about people's intentions ... or patent law, for that matter.

imagine what will happen once monsanto starts selling its gm seeds containing a suicide gene.  

even gm products that aren't approved for human consumption have found their way into the food supply.  gm corn known to produce violent allergic reactions was found in taco bell tortillas and a massive recall ensued.  the only reason there was a recall:  independent groups did their own testing.

we allow companies like monsanto to provide funding to our universities and research institutions.  researchers that question the safety of gm food soon find themselves without funding.  the u.s. government is replete with high ranking officials that worked closely with monsanto.  (notably, former secretary of agriculture, anne veneman, secretary of defense, donald rumsfeld, supreme court justice, clarence thomas...)

to further the problem, the u.s. subsidizes gm crops.  gm crops are produced at a loss and american taxpayers foot the bill.  this artificially cheap food is sold and undercuts the market, deepening poverty in third world nations.  

anyway, i'm mad.  very mad.  

it's so important to shop at organic markets and support local farmers.  yes, you'll probably pay a little more, but you'd be paying what the cost *ought* to be.  

dammit.  *grumble*

did i mention how happy i am that KFC (Yum! Brands) will not be setting up shop in tibet?    hooray for HH Dalai Lama!    :D

oh yes - my house is awfully muddy.  i'm not entirely pleased about this, but given the condition of my carpets, i may have an excuse to replace my floor covering.  mmmmm ... hardwood.  

i'm tired today.  i spent so much time feeding the work crew and making coffee and entertaining people.  geh - i'm just kind of tired of people.  (i don't mean any offence to those of you who were there.)

*yawn*  maybe i'll get to leave early.  a few people are coming over again today to work on sheeting the roof.  i feel like i should have some dinner ready for them.

i've been talking to someone at PETA about the illegal roundup of canada geese from the leduc golf & country club.  they're going to send the golf course a letter and literature about the humane handling of geese.  i wrote about the roundup here, under "ducks, limited."

our garage package arrived last night.  we have a pile of lumber and trusses and whatnot that will be assembled this weekend.  i've bribed my "volunteers" with free beer.  mom will be in charge of food.  i'm going to put jill on the roof and she can be in charge of shingles - i understand she has some experience in this area.  

so, last night alberta celebrated its centennial.  i feel like i ought to have cared more, you know, gone to see the fireworks or something.  ehhh ... right.  

does anyone *really* feel, i don't know ... proud, that we've been a province in this confederation, with legally recognized borders for 100 years?  why does that matter?  ... it just seems silly.  

rae tells me i'm a kill-joy.  maybe she's right.  

i've heard some of that alberta/western alienation claptrap lately.  i don't think people realize it's a convenient lie, perpetrated by our political leaders who want to be seen as Heroes, standing up for the Little Guys against the Villains (who are, presumably, prancing around in plush ottawa offices, twirling their moustaches).  

it's complete nonsense, but awfully useful fuel for rhetoric when the federal government (rightfully, i think) wants to use "our" precious oil revenue to assist the poorer areas of canada:  "oh no!  those thieves in ottawa want to take our money!  how ever will we manage?" 

what meat-eating, red-blooded albertan wouldn't be offended at the audacity of those decadent & malingering libertines out east?  it's *easy* to be offended ... and, of course, fosters loyalty to our province, strengthens our albertan identity and foments fealty to our king (ralph).

while we're busy being offended, our king rides roughshod over our public services, and holds up our decreased social safety net as evidence of our supposed poverty and inability to help other canadians.  "why, we're just trying to keep our heads above water.  remember the NEP!  never forget the NEP!"  

boy, i've gone off on a tangent.  

It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us.

-- Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 8, 2004.

and a few years prior to that:

New research by the U.S. Geological Survey, however, indicates that New Orleans is sinking faster than many realize and could be under water within 50 years. The city is facing a series of issues--disappearing wetlands that protect from hurricanes, levees that are too low to hold back flood waters, rising water tables, to name a few--that if not addressed soon could have New Orleans suffering the same fate as Atlantis.

Dramatic, yes. But not unlikely, according to Shea Penland, geologist and professor at the University of New Orleans. "When we get the big hurricane and there are 10,000 people dead, the city government's been relocated to the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, refugee camps have been set up and there $10 billion plus in losses, what then?" he asks.

-- The Lost City of New Orleans, Lori Winter for "Risk & Insurance" December 2000

i guess we're going to find out.  

people *knew* about the problems and yet bush, needing massive funding for his adventure in iraq, cuts critical funding for one of his own red states.  

naturally, it's the poor who are paying for the dithering of politicians.  the poor couldn't leave the city and they either died or are suffering now without food, water, shelter or medical care.

if you'd like to help, go here.  there's a Hurricane Katrina fund.