Daily Deck Blogging - 4/3/07

The contractor started on the deck today! We didn't expect they'd start this soon (we thought it might be another 10 days), but I was glad to see them. They expect to be done next Monday (it takes about five working days to build a standard deck).

Deck deconstructed (or pre-constructed), beginning of day one:



View of the deck-in-progress from the sliding glass doors, end of day one:



View from the driveway, end of day one:



OK, it doesn't look like that much happened the first day. Putting in the piece under the door that will help attach the deck to the house takes a while. They also cut a fair amount of wood during the day for later in the week. I expected the posts would be installed first, but they said the post installation is a day two job.

Monday Garden Blogging - 4/2/07

We had a few days of good weather over the last week, followed by some rain.

The crocuses and dafodils in front haven't grown quite as well as I would have hoped. The front gets constant sun, but as it's beside the road, the ground also get more salt from the road and likely visits by dogs.














We're due to have another day of warm, sunny weather, and then it will get cold and, probably, snowy. We'll see if any of the flowers survive until after Easter... *sigh*

2007 Hugo Nominations

Best Novel

Eifelheim by Michael F. Flynn (Tor)
His Majecty's Dragon/Temeraire by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
Glasshouse by Charles Stross (Ace)
Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (Tor)
Blindsight by Peter Watts (Tor)

Best Novella

"The Walls of the Universe" by Paul Melko (Asimov's, April/May 2006)
"A Billion Eves" by Robert Reed (Asimov's, October/November 2006)
"Inclination" by William Shunn (Asimov's April/May 2006)
"Lord Weary's Empire" by Michael Swanwick (Asimov's December 2006)
"Julian" by Robert Charles Wilson (PS Publishing)

Best Novelette

"Yellow Card Man" by Paolo Bacigalupi (Asimov's December 2006)
"Dawn, and Sunset, and the Colours of the Earth" by Michael F. Flynn (Asimov's December 2006)
"The Djinn's Wife" by Ian McDonald (Asimov's July 2006)
"All the Things You Are" by Mike Resnick (Jim Baen's Universe October 2006)
"Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter" by Geoff Ryman (F&SF October/November 2006)

Best Short Story

"How to Talk to Girls at Parties" by Neil Gaiman (Fragile Things)
"Kin" by Bruce McAllister (Asimov's February 2006)
"Impossible Dreams" by Timothy Pratt (Asimov's July 2006)
"Eight Episodes" by Robert Reed (Asimov's June 2006)
"The House Beyond Your Sky" by Benjamin Rosenbaum (Strange Horizons September 2006)

Best Related Book

About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, and Five Interviews by Samuel R. Delany (Wesleyan University Press)
Heinlein's Children: The Juveniles by Joseph T. Major (Advent)
James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon edited by Julie Phillips (St. Martin's Press)
Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio by John Picacio (MonkeyBrain Books )
Worldcon Guest of Honor Speeches by Mike Resnick and Joe Siclari (ISFiC Press)

Best Dramatic Presentation

Children of Men (Universal Pictures)
Pan's Labyrinth (Picturehouse)
The Prestige (Warner Brothers/Touchstone Pictures)
A Scanner Darkly (Warner Independent Pictures)
V for Vendetta (Warner Brothers)

Note: Due to a file corruption during electronic tabulation of the nominees, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest appeared on the initial Hugo ballot. A subsequent audit revealed that this was an error; Pirates was removed and Pan's Labyrinth was added to the final Hugo ballot.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Battlestar Galactica, "Downloaded"
Doctor Who, "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday"
Doctor Who, "Girl in the Fireplace"
Doctor Who, "School Reunion"
Stargate SG-1, "200"

Best Professional Editor, Long Form

Lou Anders
James Patrick Baen
Ginjer Buchanan
David G. Hartwell
Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Best Professional Editor, Short Form

Gardner Dozois
David G. Hartwell
Stanley Schmidt
Gordon Van Gelder
Sheila Williams

Best Professional Artist

Bob Eggleton
Donato Giancola
Stephan Martiniere
John Jude Palencar
John Picacio

Best Semiprozine

Ansible, edited by Dave Langford
Interzone, edited by Andy Cox
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, edited by Gavin J. Grant
Locus, edited by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong, & Liza Groen Trombi
The New York Review of Science Fiction, edited by Kathryn Cramer, David Hartwell & Kevin J. Maroney

Best Fanzine

Banana Wings ed. by Claire Brialey & Mark Plummer
Challenger edited by Guy Lillian, III
The Drink Tank edited by Christopher J. Garcia
Plokta edited by Alison Scott, Steve Davies & Mike Scott
Science Fiction Five-yearly edited by Lee Hoffman, Geri Sullivan & Randy Byers

Best Fan Writer

Chris Garcia
John Hertz
Dave Langford
John Scalzi
Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist

Brad W. Foster
Teddy Harvia
Sue Mason
Steve Stiles
Frank Wu

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Sponsored by Dell Magazines

Scott Lynch
Sarah Monette
Naomi Novik
Brandon Sanderson
Lawrence M. Schoen

Monday Garden Blogging - 3/26/07

Over time, I've seen Friday cat blogging, kid blogging, et.c. But there doesn't seem Monday Garden Blogging. For employed people, it's a way to show off what you did over the weekend. For those of us unemployed (or underemployed or retired), it's just a day to go out and take some pictures. If you plan put up periodic photos showing how your garden grows, drop me a line and I'll add you to a list of garden bloggers.

As a baseline for my gardening photos, here's the front of my house
on 2/3/2007:



And here it is today, 3/26/07:




As you can tell from the photo, spring is finally hitting Western Pennsylvania. Things we planted last year are starting to grow, and I planted a few new items:





The plant at the bottom is heather. I think it's particularly pretty. I was going to plant it up by the little patio in the front, but the Lowe's garden center clerk warned me that heather attracts bees, so you don't want to sit beside it.

The red flower at the top is another perennial, the fire star dianthus.

I planted a few "ready to go" annuals this morning. I think the larger flowers are begonias (they were simply labeled "annuals" at the store) and the smaller ones are definitely pansies.



Finally, here's the spot will the deck will go in a few weeks:

Bocktown Beer: At Long Last, a Non-smoking Bar!!

When we moved out to the metro West area last summer, one small plus was being close to another Rotelli Pizza (in the Target Plaza at the Pointe, North Fayette), as we were big fans.

Not big enough, apparently, as Rotelli closed almost as soon as we finished unpacking.

Sometime late last year, a new restaurant took over the space, called Bocktown Beer. "Oh great, another smoky bar," we assumed, so we never stopped in.

About a month ago, I did stop in, and quickly regretted not stopping in before.

Bocktown Beer has a huge bottled beer selection (around 400(!) types of beer), very good food, and, most important is non-smoking!.

Don't get me wrong. I have always liked Fat Heads and Sharp Edge and Pipers. I like a place with a varied beer selection and good food. But I can't love a bar that allows smoking as being around smoking gives me migraines. A non-smoking area in a bar is still usually too smoky to be really pleasant (though both Sharp Edge's have relatively smoke-free restaurant areas). I'd like to be able to sit at a bar and have a beer and maybe some pretzels without having to run out for fresh air after a half hour. When I travel to Massachusetts or California, I spend more time in bars there because they're non-smoking (and doing good business, frankly).

While the menu at Bocktown isn't huge, they do fine bar food and sandwiches. There are new specials everyday. And the French fries alone are worth the trip. They do beer tastings every Wednesday
evening, and I think there's live music once or twice a week.

I have three minor complaints about Bocktown:

• the bottled beer can be a little expensive. I guess I've
  been spoiled by The Beer Store over in Moon, where
  the cost of bottled beer for take-out isn't too bad at all.
  On the other hand, the bar under The Beer Store is so
  smoky I've never even had a drink in there.


• if only it could be a little larger. There's an empty
  storefront beside Bocktown, and I wish they'd lease it now!


• I know guys frequent the bar more than women, but there are
  TV channels other than ESPN...

Those minor complaints aside, we're now pretty regular customers. So if you're looking for a non-smoking bar with a great beer selection and good food, Bocktown Beer is for you.

Stunning Performances by the Pittsburgh Symphony and Violinist Julia Fischer

Jim and I try to go to the Pittsburgh Symphony once or twice a year. We bought tickets to four concerts this season and have really lucked out with our selections.

Last night, we heard the sublime violinist Julia Fischer perform the Beethoven Violin Concerto.

We're frankly not up on the current crop of classical performers. We had no idea who Julia Fischer was. We know now. To say she and the symphony were superb last night do neither of them justice.

The Beethoven Violin Concerto is the sort of classical piece we've all heard snippets of. It is a fairly long and challenging piece, for the orchestra as well as the violinist. They were all beyond wonderful last night.

I know that the Brahms piece in the second part of the concert was recorded; I wonder if the violin concerto was because I'd run out and buy that without hesitation once it is released.

Ann Coulter: Why Does the National Media Pay Attention to Trolls?

From Wikipedia (as of 3/4/07)

In Internet terminology, a troll is a person who enters an established community such as an online discussion forum and intentionally tries to cause disruption, often in the form of posting messages that are inflammatory, insulting, incorrect, inaccurate, absurd, or off-topic, with the intent of provoking a reaction from others.

In 1996, in the early days of the popularization of the Internet, I attended a journalism conference in Pittsburgh. At the time, I said I thought the lack of editorial control on the Internet was a strength and not a weakness. Let the people do their own content creation and their own filtering.

However, the irrationality of some areas of the Web have been embraced by mass media. If anything, some people now considered part of mass media are nothing more than trolls.

In particular, Ann Coulter.

This woman has had nothing useful or rational to add to public discourse. Yet, she is considered a media celebrity, and when she says something, people pay attention.

Why?

The only way to raise the level of public discourse is to ignore the people who only want to shout inanities. If we want a rational, reasoned discourse on the issues, we should ignore the Ann Coulters, the Bill O'Reillys, the Al Sharptons, the Kenneth Engs of the world, and only pay attention to people who can back up their opinions with facts.

Trolls are people who should be ignored in the public discourse. They should not be leading the public discourse. They only want to stir up controversy, not enlighten issues in any way.

As we've said on the Internet for many years: Do not feed the energy beasts. These people are nothing, nothing but energy beasts. Ignore them.

Oscars 2007: Predictions & Commentary

While there were a few good movies in 2006, the overall quality of theatrical movies continues to sink. I've been finding television (with things like Rome and Battlestar Galactica) to be much more interesting and challenging than movies.

For the first time in many years, I've only seen two of the nominees for Best Picture: Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen. I liked both of these movies very much, but The Queen is way too subtle and quiet to win a Best Picture award and Little Miss Sunshine is a comedy, which means it has almost no chance to take Best Picture. I don't like graphic violence so I haven't seen Babel or The Departed. I'm usually not overly fond of war movies, so I haven't seen Letters from Iwo Jima. I regret not having seen Dreamgirls or Venus. The movie that impressed me the most last year, Children of Men only got some technical nominations.

I will note what I haven't seen and will go ahead with my predictions anyway. For the last few years, I've been hedging my bets with a "will win" (WW) and "should win" (SW) before each predicted winner.

Best Picture

• Babel
• The Departed
• (WW) Letters From Iwo Jima
• (SW) Little Miss Sunshine
• The Queen

A really uninspiring year. Of the five, I liked The Queen the best, but it's way too quiet and subtle for
a Best Picture win. Little Miss Sunshine was probably the quirkiest and most original in the bunch, so
that's the movie I'll support.

Best Director

• Clint Eastwood, Letters From Iwo Jima
• Stephen Frears, The Queen
• Paul Greengrass, United 93
• Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Babel
• (SW, WW) Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Scorsese is so owed... I'd rather see Stephen Frears win this year because The Departed doesn't sound
like Scorsese's best work and The Queen is a quiet little masterpiece. Still, I'm a realist, and I can't
complain too much if Scorsese wins.

Best Actor

• Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
• Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
• (SW) Peter O'Toole, Venus
• Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
• (WW) Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

I have always had a soft spot for Peter O'Toole, another person who is so owed. But I would certainly have no objection is Forest Whitaker wins, who probably gave the strongest performance of the year. Still...O'Toole's of an age
where he may have given one of his last performances.

Best Actress

• Penelope Cruz, Volver
• Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
• (SW, WW) Helen Mirren, The Queen
• Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
• Kate Winslet, Little Children

There usually aren't too many locks, but this is certainly one of them. Helen Mirren has had such a brilliant
year. She is completely magnificent in The Queen. Judi Dench appears to give a great performance in
Notes on a Scandal, but the movie just seems oh so stupid - I hate it when the trailer gives away
every twist of the movie. Meryl Streep was terrific in The Devil Wears Prada, too.

Best Supporting Actress

• Adriana Barraza, Babel
• Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
• Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
• (SW, WW) Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
• Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

This isn't quite the lock it appeared to be a few weeks ago. I think Abigail Breslin could win. But the other
newcomer, Jennifer Hudson, is more likely.

Best Supporting Actor

• (SW) Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
• Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
• (WW) Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
• Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

This is another category that might not be quite the lock it once appeared to be. Alan Arkin has had a great career, and, like Peter O'Toole, never won an Oscar. Eddie Murphy is a wildly erratic actor, who keeps keeps making brain-dead movies for the money. It's of course a wonderful thing that Eddie apparently has given a fine performance in Dreamgirls. But, for the Oscar voters to be voting at the same time that they're seeing constant ads for Norbit, one of the most awful movies I've ever seen ads for...gaak. So I hope Murphy might have gotten enough backlash for the award to go to Arkin.

Best Foreign Language Film

• Efter Brylluppet (aka After the Wedding), Denmark
• Indigenes (aka Days of Glory), Algeria
• (SW, WW) El Laberinto del Fauno (aka Pan's Labyrinth), Mexico
• Das Leben der Anderen (aka The Lives of Others), Germany
• Water, Canada

While a bit too violent for my taste, Pan's Labyrinth was an incredible visual feast of a movie, with great performances
all the way around (especially from the young Ivana Baquero as Ofelia). There might be a chance that The Lives of Others could sneak in, but I doubt it.

Best Animated Feature Film

• (SW, WW) Cars
• Happy Feet
• Monster House

I don't have really strong feelings about any of these movies. I've only seen Happy Feet, and while it
was a charming little movie, it didn't quite work for me. Cars looks silly, but it keeps winning awards, so it will
probably take the award.

Best Adapted Screenplay

• (WW) Borat
• (SW) Children of Men
• The Departed
• Little Children
• Notes on a Scandal

Children of Men was the best movie of last year. Clive Owen deserved an Oscar nomination. I'd like to see
it win this Oscar, but I have the bad feeling that Borat (which was simultaneously clever and stupid) will win.

Best Original Screenplay

• Babel
• Letters From Iwo Jima
• (WW) Little Miss Sunshine
• (SW) The Queen
• Pan's Labyrinth

This may be the trickiest category of them all. While last year was a rather weak year for movies, the scripts for Sunshine, Queen and Pan were all quite good, and I've heard interesting things about Iwo Jima.
So while I think Sunshine was a little more original (and gleefully subversive), the script for The Queen was
an amazingly restrained exercise in showing and not telling.

Best Music (Score)

• Babel
• The Good German
• Notes on a Scandal
• (SW, WW) Pan's Labyrinth
• The Queen

Best Music (Song)

• "I Need to Wake Up" - An Inconvenient Truth (performed by Melissa Etheridge)
• "Listen" - Dreamgirls (performed by Beyonce Knowles)
• (SW, WW) "Love You I Do" - Dreamgirls (performed by Jennifer Hudson)
• "Our Town" - Cars (performed by James Taylor)
• "Patience" - Dreamgirls (performed by Eddie Murphy, Keith Robinson, Anika Noni Rose)

I haven't even heard any of these songs, except for, maybe, Love You I Do. So I'll select that one.

Best Documentary Feature

• Deliver Us From Evil
• (SW, WW) An Inconvenient Truth
• Iraq In Fragments
• Jesus Camp
• My Country, My Country

So what will Al Gore do with his minute on international television?

Best Documentary Short Subject

• The Blood of Yingzhou District
• (SW, WW) Recycled Life
• Rehearsing A Dream
• Two Hands

I also have no idea about this one.

Best Visual Effects

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• Poseidon
• (SW, WW) Superman Returns

It's rather appalling that Pan's Labyrinth is not in this category. The effects in Pirates, like the rest of
that movie - are a bit of a joke. Superman Returns is probably a less objectionable choice.

Best Cinematography

• The Black Dahlia
• (SW, WW) Children of Men
• The Illusionist
• Pan's Labyrinth
• The Prestige

People are still talking about some of the amazing shots in Children of Men. Pan's Labyrinth probably had
a little more "stylish" photography, but it just wasn't quite as interesting as the photography in Children of Men.

Best Art Direction

• Dreamgirls
• The Good Shepherd
• (SW, WW) Pan's Labyrinth
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• The Prestige

I'm sorry to see that The Illusionist, which I felt had a better look than The Prestige wasn't up
for Best Art Direction. However, this award should go to Pan's Labyrinth.

Best Animated Short Film

• The Danish Poet
• Lifted
• The Little Matchgirl
• Maestro
• (SW, WW) No Time for Nuts

No Time for Nuts is the only one of these I've seen, and it's quite clever.

Best Short Film

• Binta and the Great Idea
• Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)
• Helmer & Son
• The Saviour
• (SW, WW)West Bank Story

Best Costume Design

• Curse of the Golden Flower
• The Devil Wears Prada
• (SW, WW) Dreamgirls
• Marie Antoinette
• The Queen

Dreamgirls did the best job at showing the fashions of the time.

Best Make-up

• (SW, WW) Apocalypto
• Click
• Pan's Labyrinth

Apocalypto's make-up is so good that it's painful to watch and convinced me not to see the movie.

Best Sound Mixing

• (SW, WW) Apocalypto
• Blood Diamond
• Dreamgirls
• Flags of our Fathers
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Sound Engineer Kevin O'Connell is the Susan Lucci of the Oscars. He has now been nominated for the Best Sound Mixing Oscar an incredible 19 times over the last 23 years. He was part of the Sound Mixing team for Apocalypto, and I think his team may walk away with one this year.

Sound Editing

• Apocalypto
• Blood Diamond
• (SW, WW) Letters From Iwo Jima
• Flags of our Fathers
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

War movies or big action/adventure movies tend to take the sound awards. I expect one of Clint Eastwood's two war
movies to win this one.

Best Film Editing

• Babel
• Blood Diamond
• (SW) Children of Men
• The Departed
• (WW) United 93

People consistently praised the editing and direction of United 93, which was probably one of the most claustrophobic
movies of last year. Since Greenglass is unlikely to win Best Director, perhaps the movie will take Film Editing. Still,
I think I'd rather see Children of Men win.

SouthSideWorks Theater Has Sunk...

To go to SouthSideWorks Theater, you have to pay for parking and pay a little extra for movies. For the first year or two they were open, SouthSideWorks had an advantage - no pre-movie commercials. So it was worth it.

Unfortunately, this is no longer true.

SouthSideWorks now subjects its customers to an excrutiating pre-show barrage of noise called something like Preflix. Preflix advertises Pepsi at you, plays very loud noise and is an awful excuse for pre-show entertainment.

In fairness, SouthSideWorks isn't showing genuine commercials. Once this Preflix thing is over, they go straight to trailers. But, sorry, Preflix is even worse than standard commercials because it's too loud and hideous.

We went to SouthSideWorks to see Children of Men - a brilliant movie that I highly recommend. But I can't recommend SouthSideWorks anymore. I guess we've made our last trip there.

Happy Holidays!

Have a great holiday season!

Sharp Political Satire on SNL Last Night

SNL's satiric edge comes and goes but it was very much in effect last night:

Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco family value
Donald Rumsfeld moves out
Most of Weekend edition

Amy Poehler's Weekend Update opening was especially apt:

"This week, on Tuesday night, in an ironic turnaround, Iraq brought regieme change to the U. S."

Can't help but gloat a little over the Republican losses.

Gotta wonder how much longer the Republicans are going to keep Karl Rove around, given they can't blame everything that happened on Tuesday on Donald Rumsfeld...

We've Dumped Rick!!!!

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

YAY!

Casey was projected the winner by a fair margin early on.

I'm so glad we've sent Rick packing (hopefully to his new home of Virginia, since he really hasn't lived in Pennsylvania for a while).

In his concession speech, Santorum said the Pennsylvanians were opinionated, and sometimes, that wasn't a good thing. Oh yes it was. It was a very good thing for Pennsylvanians, just not for him.

Melissa Hart also lost. Much as we need more women in Congress, we didn't need Bush-rubber stamps like her.

Unfortunately, one of Bush's other local rubber stamps, Tim Murphy (my rep) did win. Oh well.

Vote!

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

Get out and vote today. It's important. No matter how much certain political hacks try to suppress the vote, annoy the voters and manipulate the votes once they've been cast, it's vital to get out and vote anyway.

Of course, I'd say you should vote Democratic, given the extremes of the Republican party over many years or so. If there's any proof that absolute power corrupts absolutely, it's the behavior of Bush 'n' buddies.

But the important thing to do is to get out and participate in your democracy. VOTE! And, if you live in Pennsylvania, use this opportunity to DUMP RICK!.

If you're in Melissa Hart's district, I'd observe how funny it is that she complains of her opponent's "negative ads" which simply pointed out how frequently she voted with Bush and Santorum. She's claimed she was an "independent voice." What a joke!

What I Want in Government

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

I want a fact-based government.
I want a government that listens
to the experts and the scholars
more than political hacks.

I want a government that pays
more attention to serving the
people than serving big business.

I want politicians who understand
the difference between partisanship
and behaving in a non-partisan way.

I want to have a government again
that respects the Constitution,
the Bill of Rights and the
rule of law.

America is supposed to be
a government of the people,
by the people and for the people.
It's not supposed to be
a government of the Republicans,
by the special interest groups
and for the rich.

I plan to help bring an ethical,
fact-based government back
to America on Tuesday, November 7.
I want to help elect public servants,
not people only interested in
serving themselves and their
political and corporate handlers.
That means I cannot vote for
any Republicans. It also means
I will watch everyone I do vote
for very, very carefully.

Representative Murphy, Like So Many Others, Is a Crook, Too

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

Is every single politician a crook?

Even my Congressman, Tim Murphy, has been accused of illegal activity - making your paid Congressional staff work on your campaign has always been illegal. And taking a TV reporter's papers related to this scandal while on the air has to be one of the most amazingly stupid things I've ever seen a political hack do.

So here's the note I E-mailed to Rep. Murphy tonight:



Dear Representative Murphy:

You've always presented yourself as just a citizen working for his district. That does not seem to be true; you're just another political hack feeding at the public trough. Your behavior on KDKA was ridiculous in the absurd - you don't think the reporter has other copies of the evidence against you? I'm glad I never voted for you.



Laurie D. T. Mann

Garry Wills on How the Republicans Are Ruining America

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

This is nothing new, but it is very well researched, and is a reminder to thinking people of why the stakes are so high in the 2006 American elections. Thanks to Stephen Leigh for pointing this out in his LJ this morning.

While I've heard most of the information that Wills reports, I hadn't heard the bit about the National Park Service being forced to sell coloring books at the Grand Canyon suggesting that the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's Flood.

We truly do have a delusional government.

I Have a New Job and Assorted Political Musings

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

My blog will probably be fairly quiet for a while as I have a new and very interesting contract job that will keep me pretty busy through at least the end of the year (and maybe longer). We also may have sold our old house. After months of money being tight, it was weird to both get a new job and enter into a contract on the old house on practically the same day.

I still follow politics and will definitely be voting out any Republican next month. Y'know, it occurs to me that one reason why there's so much fussing about the current political situation in the country is that so many more people or unemployed or underemployed. When you're unemployed, you have a lot more time to think about politics. When you're working, you don't.

The government continues to overreact to people. Recently, I read about a man who was "arrested for assault on the Vice President" for walking up to Cheney and basically telling him he was doing a bad job - he neither touched Cheney nor threatened to assault him. A 14-year-old girl was questioned by the Secret Service for daring to write "Kill Bush" on her MySpace Website. Doesn't the government have better things to do with its time than harass its citizens over engaging in their Constitutionally-protected right of free speech?

It's Time to Teach People to FIGHT BACK

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

Enough of hostage-taking for any reason, in any venue.

People should be trained from the youngest age to FIGHT BACK.

While I don't advocate arming everyone, no one should be well-behaved or obedient when people's lives are at stake.

Even though the last few hostage-takers have been well-armed, I think it's way past time to let hostage-takers think that they are "in charge." It's past time to assume that hostage-takers can be "reasoned" with.

If someone comes at you with a weapon, you have to instantly assume that he is going to kill you. And the only way you have any chance to evade it is to cause a ruckus and try to escape.

Everyone, from the youngest age, should be trained to run, flee, scream, bite, kick, attack anyone who threatens them. Period. No one should control a situation merely because he has a gun or a bomb.

In short, throw a tantrum.

Whe one child throws a tantrum, it basically takes all of an adult's attention to deal with it. So how can a potential hostage-taker deal with a whole roomful of people throwing full-out tantrums? I'm not saying everyone would escape from situation uninjured, but I am saying it would immediately take away most of the hostage-taker's power.

Anyone who ever comes near me or any of my friends with a weapon will have to go through me, and I promise it will not be easy.

Do not go gentle...

BTW, I'm not promoting anarchy. Sometimes, you have to take some verbal or even abuse from people and not throw a tantrum. I'm arguing that when someone has a weapon that could kill you, you must fight back. Instantly. If all hostage-takers were instantly viewed as murderers and not "merely" as kidnappers, we'd have a tidal shift in the power structure.

10/14/2006: Interestingly, a school in Texas is doing something similiar to what I've recommended - they are teaching kids to fight back by throwing books/et.c. at any armed intruder. I never thought I'd be praising a Texas public school for anything, but good for them!

All Republican Congressional Representatives (and Some Democrats) Sink to Bush's Level

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

I'm very disappointed by the vote to geld the Geneva Convention. A shame all Republicans have been captured by the rovian ravings of the Bush administration.

So here's what I wrote in response to my recent thank-you letters to several senators:



Dear Senator [[McCain/Graham/Warner]]:

A few weeks back, I sent you a thank-you letter over your then stated support of treating detainees fairly.

Now, given your vote yesterday, you've demonstrated you're nothing but a politician, Geneva Convention be damned. I'm disappointed, but not at all surprised by your behavior.

I look forward to the day when people of principle are elected to public office in this country. Because they clearly aren't being elected now.

Laurie Mann
McDonald, PA


I don't believe the Constitution is quite dead yet, but parts of it have clearly been amputated. This by the man who said, just last fall that the "Constitution is just a goddamned piece of paper."

Toilet paper to many of them, apparently.

His administration has now done more damage to the Constitution than any other enemy, either foreign or domestic.

This is just plain sick.

Specter Sinks to Santorum's Level

Copyright © 2006 Laurie D. T. Mann
Please read my blog entries at my Web site:
http://www.dpsinfo.com/blog.

In the past, Senator Specter had shown some amount of independence from the neo-cons.

Unfortunately, at a time when America again needs some independent Senators, Specter has shown an inability to comprehend why Bush is wrong about wiretapping and wanting to disregard the Geneva Convention. These days, about the only Republican in the Senate with any backbone at all is John McCain.

So here's a letter I wrote to Senator Specter today, after he sold out the Constitution and the Geneva Convention to satisfy Karl Rove and company:


Dear Senator Specter:

I am very disappointed by your support of warrantless wiretapping. I had hoped you had more respect for the Constitution than to support this the administration in this fashion.

I am also appalled that our government is trying to modify its acceptance of the Geneva Convention, and that you support this attempt. I would have expected such behavior from Santorum, but not you.

I no longer have a Senator whom I can believe in representing my state. I will remember this when you are up for re-election.

Laurie Mann
McDonald, PA


I suspect that Senators McCain, Graham and Warner are getting a fair amount of hate mail from the raving rovians out there. I sent each of them a thank-you E-mail today. I've linked to their contact forms if you're in a hurry and want to drop them a line.