Wednesday, August 13, 2003 :::
VACATION!
C. and I leave (after one last interview for a story) today and will head to Grayton Beach Florida -- WooHoo! We will be staying here and are quite anxious to hit the road. Well, I am anyway. C. is still in bed dreaming -- probably about the jacuzzi that fits two -- while I bother with the more tedious stuff, like packing beach chairs and sunscreen. Lucy's bag is packed too. She has one rawhide for each day at the vet, and she will get makeover spa special doggy treatment: a bath, heartworm shot, Advantix, and her yearly boosters. Okay, not quite spa, but she will have her squeaky bear to comfort her while she's being vetted. Joshi will care for Fred. "I have been treating him," Joshi said on the phone when he called last time we were out of town. ('I am giving him lots of cat treats' is what that translates to.) While Fred is treated and Lucy is vetted, Colin and Lori will be voraciously relaxating, enjoying the good things for the soul -- the morning sea air, strong java, bike rides, long walks, fresh seafood, friends, and family.
::: posted by Lori at 7:11 AM
Friday, July 25, 2003 :::
That's right! It's the Womanless Beauty Walk!
An organization I deal with will be holding its annual Womanless Beauty Walk to fundraise for its yearly anniversary celebration. Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. the men in makeup will strut their stuff to get their bras and garter belts stuffed with cash.
::: posted by Lori at 2:52 PM
Thursday, July 17, 2003 :::
It's dishwasher safe.
I recently moved my "office," which consists of a desk, my PC, a two-dollar yard sale card table I antiqued with gold spray paint, an old red Coke tray that holds my essential reference books, wires and myself to the "dining room," which is half of the front of my apartment. I made this transition because the other "office" was shared and becoming quite cramped. Jam two huge refuse law office bookshelves, two desks, a sofa, Honey's huge office chair, various stacking and organizing trays, a dog, a cat and a coffee table in one small room and watch the fur fly. I could not tolerate it. So, now that I have more room and sunlight, I find things better suited, except that I do not have enough space for books. I browsed online yesterday for a bookshelf, and came across this potty chair. And yes, I did a search for bookshelves and this potty chair was one of the search results rendered. That's not the funny part though. The potty portion of the potty chair is ... dishwasher safe. I guess I'll start going to yard sales again.
::: posted by Lori at 12:06 PM
Wednesday, July 16, 2003 :::
And the winner is ...
Harvey Robbins, whom I wrote about extensively in this post a while back and in the post below (the got a makeover link) has recently been awarded a Governor's Award for his efforts in attracting tourists to Alabama, namely Tuscumbia, Alabama. Harvey is a great guy. I much prefer the types of renovations that he has made in Tuscumbia to the renovations planned for Tuscaloosa's downtown. Why displace the Chukker, as the City Council here seems determined to do, and replace it with a pond when there's a RIVERFRONT area that's recently been renovated for strolling tourists less than half a mile away from the proposed downtown development site? Why do we need a pond in the middle of downtown next to new federal buildings? So children can stand around and throw pennies in while their parents apply for their new social security cards? Maybe I'm daft, but I don't understand. Bravo Harvey. Pooh-pooh Tuscaloosa City Council.
::: posted by Lori at 5:06 PM
Tuesday, July 15, 2003 :::
Sprucing up downtowns in Alabama
Much by chance, I have been privy to the downtown renovation process in two Alabama towns recently, a process becoming more commonplace in these here parts. For Dateline Alabama I covered how a small town in north Alabama got a makeover in time for the 20th annual Helen Keller Festival. More recently, I have been thrown into the position of Tuscaloosa city reporter under the direction of Crimson White editor Chris Sanders. On a personal note, the first official city meeting I attended seemed very scripted. I'd rather brush the dog and the cat and make little hairball mice out of the shedded pet stuff for the cat to chase around the house. Fred loves it when you ball it all up real tightly; it really does look like a gray mouse. Alas, I am just a beginner, and therefore have the not-luxury of reporting on the rather mundane decisions made in official meetings this summer. My first story regarding Tuscaloosa's stab at renovating its downtown ran last week. Another should be forthcoming in the Crimson White.
UPDATE: The Tuscaloosa News reported yesterday that Fayette, Ala., is also in line for renovations downtown. Everyone jump on board!
Meanwhile, back to my Indian neighbors. Have I talked of them before? Well, our favorite neighbor Joshi ate dinner with us recently. He is a vegetarian and has been for life, so we made eggplant caviar, Mexican cornbread and stuffed zucchini. He enjoyed it he said -- or rather, as I think I understood he said. Fred -- the cat, incase you skipped the you-oughta-read-my-stories-about-downtowns spiel -- loves Joshi. We have not formulated a plausible hypothesis why that is so. So, Colin and I are open to suggestions. Fred hides when we recieve any other visitor besides Abijeet Joshi. When Joshi enters our humble abode though, make room for Fred, 'cause he comes tearing through, hightailing it into Joshi's arms. Joshi then pets, cat's motor then runs, cat denouement: Fred reveals his true love has been Joshi all along! Is it because Joshi is soft-spoken? Is it because Fred, in his position of Homeland Security Kitty, sees Joshi pass often while guarding against intruders at the front moat, uh, I mean window? That's Joshi's guess. Is it because Joshi does not smell of meat like most of our other carnivorous visitors do? Is Joshi therefore less offensive to cats merely by smell? We are accepting suggestions. If I have time and patience, I may develop a poll broadcasting your ideas. This would of course require responses to my rambling conjectures...
::: posted by Lori at 10:21 PM
Wednesday, July 09, 2003 :::
A Response from a reader!
JN 325ers: it has been my pleasure to work with each of you. It was a rocky experience as we tread virgin territory. You were part of history-in-the-making. This new class is going to evolve in such a way that not even the faculty knows what is going to happen. We learned some hard lessons about the lengths to which we can and cannot "go multimedia" in a traditional print journalism department. In the process, we discovered problems with our speakers in Room 327, ones which are scheduled to be repaired before fall, and the need for additional multimedia software. Thanks for going along for the wild ride.
Do stay in touch!
DR. D
::: posted by Lori at 10:36 AM
Thursday, July 03, 2003 :::
To my fellow 325'ers:
It's been wonderful this past five weeks in Daniels' class, no? I appreciate everyone's help in pulling this off. Each one of you, especially Dr. Daniels, has helped me see with a new pair of glasses.
Cassandra, I see from you how busy one can be and still maintain some cool. You are a wonderful writer--you achieve the color I know I lack in my reporting. Kaci, you are wonderful at broadcast even with the Berry accent, and I wish you well with that or with print. Niko, thanks for the help with the cutlines man. You and I did that peer-mentor-convergence-knowledge management-sharing thing well yesterday. Leonard ... oh Leonard. I am amazed that you learned iMovie in such a short time and were able to show others how to use it too.
I can see where we each had our own niche in this class. Dr. Daniels, BRAVO. I look forward to working with you in the future, and I thank you for the feedback.
As y'all read this, I'm trying to work on a presentation here, so just come back and read it later, okay?
::: posted by Lori at 12:06 AM
Thursday, June 19, 2003 :::
It's available
My wireless internet access piece is up at Dateline Alabama.
::: posted by Lori at 9:35 AM
Sunday, June 15, 2003 :::
Holy watermelons!
I fiddled with my archive settings and named my ftp folder a dirty name I shall not repeat on thine blog. Then, low and behold, all my lost archives suddenly pop up on one big page. Blogger is mystifying. So is the power of dirty words.
::: posted by Lori at 4:34 AM
Friday, June 13, 2003 :::
Wired!...less...wireless!
Just think, in sci-fi alien movies, the spookies always communicate telepathically. Well, humans do too, except it’s now called wireless internet access. One can speak ‘telepathically’ with an instrument (a computer or cell phone) to a buddy across town instantly. One can use a cell phone to send a picture of the lab mix one adopted from Puppy Metro while the squirt’s getting its shots at the vet.
Main idea: pictures and thoughts can now be transmitted instantly via some super-geeky instrument (of which I have many). Sure, our squishy gray brains don’t do it yet, but the scenes that scare from psycho thrillers are the scenes people now engage in everyday. That this takes place mostly while they are driving or are supposed to be working is … irrelevant at the moment.
It is hard to find someone today who does not remember their first experience logging onto the web. The first computer one used to sign on might now be in some dark nook of the garage, collecting dust, along with an external modem and a dot matrix printer, right beside granddad’s old IBM Commodore 64. Fortunately, one constant seems to be appearing: wireless internet access.
With technology changing ever faster, it seems it is always becoming harder to keep up, to scramble for a faster internet connection or upgrade to a smarter processor. No matter how the technology for implementing internet access evolves, it is hard to conceive any better technology will give rise beyond ‘wireless.’
The University of Alabama has noticed. Most libraries and colleges now have some form of wireless network—ideally, with wireless internet access. What are the advantages of wireless networking to a student, and how does it all work anyway? What instruments do students need, and what instruments would be too damn geeky? That’s what I intend to find out this week. [Note to self: insert theme song from Mission Impossible.] I’ll let you know if and when it’s posted over at Dateline Alabama.
Until then, feel free to read my first byline. Here at the university, we celebrate the day Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door. Wait, we celebrate that he failed and looked like an ass—is that more concise Dr. D and Mr. Harriss?
::: posted by Lori at 10:41 PM
Sunday, June 08, 2003 :::
Ah, the wonders of nature
An artist and bookstore owner friend of mine took this beautiful picture. She recently sold me a first edition hardback copy of Benjamin Huff's The Tao of Pooh from her vast collection at Backwater Books. It was in near mint condition.
::: posted by Lori at 11:18 PM
Ah, wireless access ...
I am currently blogging from the Crimson Cafe, a little coffee shop that has wireless internet access in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Here's what it sounds like at 4:15 p.m. on a Sunday:
CrimsonCafeSoundsLike
::: posted by Lori at 4:20 PM
Saturday, June 07, 2003 :::
Yes, I have been on a long hiatus.
I am cramming in as many summer courses as I can as well as working part-time, so posting will be slim. Do look for links to stories soon. Meanwhile, here's a conversation I had with my cat a month or so ago. (He talks back.)
FredConversation
::: posted by Lori at 10:52 PM
Wednesday, April 30, 2003 :::
Studying:
Alabama history until 1865, poly sci, mass comm, and American history since 1865
::: posted by Lori at 12:03 PM
Tuesday, April 29, 2003 :::
Baby Earthquake
We had a little earthquake in Alabama this morning. I didn't feel it. My upstairs neighbor was awake when it shook, and he said some pots and pans rattled in the kitchen. We're about to have another quake when our Tide football coach, Mike Price, gets what's comin' to him. If the rumors are true, and the rumors are that he let a female other than his wife (hmm) use a University of Alabama credit card. There has also been talk of a golf course, maybe the place the credit card was used by the not-wife, but I am not clear on that. Mike Dubose, our coach before Franchione who we now call Franphony, among other things, cheated on his wife with his secretary. He was fired. Franchione left us after the 2002 season, a very successful season of Tide football, for the greener pastures of Texas, although he drew in many recruits with promises that he was going to aim for SEC and National Championships in his years here. NCAA sanctions came down, and he decided to not hold up to his promises. Price was then hired. Price is now in the hot water. A recent AP story states Price will not be disciplined, but apparently he did something, and that's not good for moral. People in Alabama won't be talking about the earthquake, but instead will be pontificating in sports bars and on front porches across the state about the football issue. We sell t-shirts here that say, "A drinking town with a football problem." I thought the bars looked a bit busy for a Tuesday when I came home earlier. Sigh. It's gonna be a long season.
::: posted by Lori at 3:20 PM
Monday, April 28, 2003 :::
that is, if he is alive. "If he is alive, the ousted leader would be marking his 66th birthday on Monday," according to Reuters via Yahoo headlines, and if they mean Monday as in today. Aziz perports that Hussein may be alive, but the U.S. government remains uncertain. 66 years -- man, I'd be glad to live that long. It does fall short of the life expectancy though, doesn't it? But, being a dictator in opposition of U.S. policy probably shortens your life expectancy by a good ten years or so. Maybe there's some hope in that statement.
::: posted by Lori at 12:35 PM
This Very Dangerous Business: Domestic Violence
The three articles in my last post, drawn from the New York Times Online, tell three very different stories, but they all show bits and pieces --the gestalt-- of a violent man and of the pyschology of domestic violence itself. A violent man is in severe need of control over the women and children that comprise his home. The violent man, if he is out of control, takes more drastic measures to try and control his surroundings by, say, trying to get the woman back if she has left him, and in attempting to do so, becoming more explosively violent.
Dead: a promising Yale graduate, because she left her fiance, shattering his dreams and therefore, his presumed control, over her. He shot her outside the landing to her apartment where she was living with her mother after the couple's separation. The murderer killed himself after killing her.
Dead: the child of a father previously charged with stalking and domestic violence. The killer father was charged with the murder of his son and is being held in Florida.
In critical condition after being shot by her ex: a wife who had recently sought a divorce from her husband who attempted to control all aspects of her life, including not letting her have her own financial resources and not allowing her to leave the home without him knowing where she was.
The common thread: controlling men who, to the outside world, present themselves as wholesome family men, but who at home wreak havoc on their wives, children, and/or girlfriends. Let me go ahead and say it: it takes a sick woman to end up with a sick man like this, but once drawn in, with constant threats and manipulation, it becomes harder and harder for the woman to leave. In addition, most women are brainwashed by these men to believe that their thinking isn't right and are made to believe that they need the husband/fiance/relationship to be "whole" people. The women that leave these relationships are the women in this world who are most at danger. I know not from reading articles in The New York Times and elsewhere, but more because I was once in an abusive relationship. I was never bruised or beaten or kicked by this man, but this man has gone on to other willing participants to stalk, bruise, kick, beat, manipulate, psychologically abuse, and sexually abuse them. I got out before it was too late, thankfully. I was never beaten by my aggressor, per se, but I was grabbed by the throat one time, had a finger pointed at me, and I mean directly in front of my nose -- a very threatening gesture -- more times than I can count, had various household items thrown in my general direction, and went through torturous moments where I knew if I did speak I would be hit. Fear was alive and well, and the lack of control I had of that fear is what kept me paralyzed daily. My aggressor would show up where I worked unannounced to make sure I was there. I was often blessed out for not having my cell phone on while grocery shopping or any other time when he did not know where I was. And when I got home to "talk" about these incidents, to try and display my anger, I was told things like, "I care about you and that's why I want to know where you are. I just dropped by to say I love you. I would have brought flowers, but they were all out at the store." Then, my aggressor would proceed to tell me how stupid I was for not having my phone on, and other such psychological games, and then he would want to have sex. If I said no to sex, I was told I was a prude and kept up hours longer. It was Bullshit.
I got out because I was willing to drop the ball. See, relationships like this can act as a drug for some women who thrive on chaos. Chaos becomes so commonplace in this scenario that normalcy "feels wierd." As such, most women's shelters provide counseling geared towards the women's codependancy issues. In addition, they attempt to empower (yeah, I hate the word too, but bear with!) the women by making available legal action that helps her feel "in control" and helps to dissolve the gripping fear. A woman cannot just leave the relationship and be done with it, in other words. She must seek counseling to improve, and the duration of counseling usually depends on the length and depth of abuse, whether physical or psycological. It would help her to learn how to defend herself as well, because violent men become the most violent when they feel most out of control. Simply said: when the thing they controlled is no longer there to control, they go to more drastic measures to control. A common thread in the stories below is that each woman who "left" suffered severely from her decision. Most men in controlling relationships threaten the women by stating they will harm the children, seek to get custody of the children, or kill her and the children. That played out in all three stories, if my assumptions about the relationships of those involved is correct.
I have a gun now.I know how to fire the weapon, (and C. always stresses 'center mass') and I am prepared to use the weapon. I threatened to file for a restraining order against my aggressor and made it clear in no uncertain terms that if he approached me without my consent that I would take whatever legal measures were necessary. I set my boundaries, determined to "let go." I am still recovering. He immediately found other victims, which helped me, because he was not concerned with a woman whom he finally concluded he could not control.
In fact, I have the opportunity to watch this same man endanger the lives of other women, but for me to stay "healthy," I cannot approach or become too intimate with these women, because ultimately it would harm me and them even worse. The aggressor would feel the lack of control and more than likely hurt her, attempt to restrain her from talking to me, etc. Besides, the aggressor keeps a perimeter around these women to try and keep me away. It's sad and hilarious and treacherous business all at once, if that makes sense. I am glad to be through with it. I am a stonger woman now, and one day I will be able to aid women like this just from telling my story.
This, this and this are the stories I reference. Some have already "archived" at The NYT, but are fairly cheap to access. Or, if you are cheap, e-mail me and I'll e-mail them to you. Oh, I just ran across another one. And another. And yet another. And the last one here. All share the same threads: violence in the past, a need to control, a loss of control, and ultimately death.
::: posted by Lori at 12:11 AM
Saturday, April 26, 2003 :::
Litefingers
Posting will be light the next 2 weeks. I've got a job starting May 12th here, exams, and another trip to North Alabama coming up in this timeframe. Then I will be trying to enjoy summer -- which will hopefully include trips to Sokol Park every now and then (to mountainbike, if C. ever gets his tire fixed.) I leave you, dear reader, with this, this and this all of which I will have comment on at some point soon. In case you haven't noticed, the mind of the violent man is becoming a hot topic for me on thine blog, fair and true.
::: posted by Lori at 2:06 PM
Thursday, April 24, 2003 :::
Funny, then just deeply disturbing, then funny again
"A pot of coffee" is what James Rexford Powell, Texas death row inmate #285, requested before his scheduled termination. I stumblogged (as opposed to stumbled) upon this while reading Siguy's blog. Siguy (who runs Blogger too and therefore cannot be permalinked, but see 4/20/03's post) has a take on this, one worth reading, but I paid it little mind and instead followed the link. I am ashamed to say that last night I laughed my ass off for a little while because I thought it was hilarious that people that are about to meet their maker can feel the urge to eat whole chickens and a specific number of jalapenos or a whole jar of pickles or just a pot of coffee. But then, I started reading the crime sheets and it just stunned me -- these were cold-blooded killers or rapists or child molesters -- 99% of whom had little if any education beyond grade school and many of whom had previous violent records prior to the convictions which lead them to death row.
It brought to light the age old question of 'nurture vs. nature' and other such quandries in my curious head, like how far can a sick person go before they feel nothing unless it's gratification and a sense of power from the harm they've inflicted on others? At what point do they begin internalizing the belief that there is no hope of changing their violent and sadistic ways, and when (if ever) do they begin believing there is no way out of a life of mental malaise? I think one can reach a point where there is no hope of changing internally; that's what death row is for. Certain crimes require certain forms of punishment, and as the crimes become more sadistic, the punishment should become more fiercely appropriate. The more brutal the crime, the more planning there was to commit the crime, the more entrenched in delight a person becomes in the crimes he or she committed, the fiercer the punishment should be. And yet, somehow, providing a rapist-murderer like James Rexford Powell with a pot of coffee before his death also seems right for some reason, although he abducted, raped, and then strangled a ten year old girl. Is it that the act of offering food for comfort is the only comfort we are willing to provide to a death row inmate? This seems a very maternal thing to do.
One last note of interest: I find it perplexing that I could disregard the killer's part and find vicarious pleasure just in what the killer wanted to eat, for a little while anyway. Guess I might be too much of a gourmand. In fact, it's still funny. A whole jar of pickles! And no one requested steak au poivre, linguine alle vongole, rack of lamb, etc! Mmm, lasagna. No one requested lasagna. Okay, I'll admit it, I'm sick in my own special ways:)
Updated casualty report. 6th casualty. No more comment; see below.
::: posted by Lori at 10:30 PM
Casualty Report
I do not like doing this. I hope there are no more. I will hope this is my last post on Alabama casualties. The link is here. I am still in full support of the war but am glad it is almost at a close. I am thankful and grateful to all the families who have raised young men and women who have offered themselves for service. This demonstrates that a patriotic spirit is alive and well among us, a vital spirit in this country that thrives on its freedoms. Self-sacrifice is a most honorable characteristic, one that I wish I and others were more inclined towards.
::: posted by Lori at 1:30 AM
Straight Pepper Diet
Curious about the above words, thinking it was an expression for using raw pepper to keep down the libido, I did a search on the internet. Check out the results. I guess it's just an OA and AA thing. No new insight there. What lead me to believe this may have been an archaic expression was that C. had heard that pepper did lower libido, much like the salt peter that C.'s Dad thought was planted in the mashed potatoes when he was a young adolescent in military school (Castle Heights, in case you're wondering.) The potatoes had glistening chunks in them, so the boys made up the myth, or believed the one that seems to be prominent enough that the mashed potatoes were doctored up to quell ... the urge. They nonetheless avoided the potatoes like the plague.
::: posted by Lori at 12:20 AM
Wednesday, April 23, 2003 :::
It's a small world. My step-siblings probably knew this guy well, Brookwood being a small mining community and a suburb of Tuscaloosa. I am going to count this as the 4th Alabama casualty of war, since Chanell was based outside AL but had clear intentions of coming home after military service. Mournful sigh. Silent prayer.
::: posted by Lori at 1:20 PM
Alabama GOP candidate may not get certified if legislature doesn't act now:
Read this now if you are at all concerned about Bush being on the ballot for the Prez Election of 2004 in the state of Alabama.
"I don't think the people know that if this doesn't pass, they won't get to vote for President Bush," said Rep. Mike Hubbard, a Republican.
He said if the bill doesn't pass, Bush could be forced to run as a write-in in Alabama.
Reread. Reread. Reread. And keep in mind, the imporant issues the legislature are instead dealing with include: "The state Senate passed legislation Tuesday for the first time since March 11, but the slowdown staged by 16 senators isn't over. The Senate voted without dissent to give final approval to legislation extending the lives of the Alabama Board of Cosmetology and the Alabama Onsite Wastewater Board."
Since when did the Board of Cosmetology become more important than the presidential balloting situation? It's obvious the Dems are stalling as an attempt to get more seats (as the article above explains), but also possibly as an attempt to not get around to the ballot issue in time. Discustipating. (Oh yeah! It's in my dictionary.)
::: posted by Lori at 1:13 PM
FASTER!
Last night, late in the night, I was blogging about bestiality and Santorum, and low and behold, someone who's apparently bigger and better than me got around to it too. This is depressing to me. I was up all hours of the night laughing at Baghdad Bob too before he got famous, but no one noticed. I will give Volokh mucho credit for being more abstract and insightful on the topic at hand. Sigh. And damnit! My permalinks aren't working, so if you want to read about my taking notice that Santorum didn't directly address bestiality, you must scroll down to read. Sigh.
::: posted by Lori at 12:28 PM
How a Republican views homosexuality
I have no problem with booksellers. I have a Bessemer process with best acts. As I bestride with acts of other, what I would bestow to be, acts outside of traditional bespectacled relationships. And that besmirches a variety of bestseller acts, not just beserk [acts]. I have nothing, absolutely nothing against anyone who's bespattered. If that's their Bermuda shorts, then I besprinkle that. And I have no bet with someone who has other orientations. The question is, do you act upon those bets? So it's not the Beskids, it's the Beskids' actions. And you have to separate the beta carotene from their actions ... Whether it's the Bermuda Triangle, whether it's Bernini, where it's Berlin, all of those beta-adrenergics, are antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional best man.
See, if you take out all the homosexually connotative words, he almost sounds like he knows what he's talking about. I don't know about y'all, but I would expect that homosexual people would want to engage in homosexual acts. Pennslyvania Senator Rick Santorum has quite the opposite view:
I have no problem with homosexuality. I have a problem with homosexual acts. As I would with acts of other, what I would consider to be, acts outside of traditional heterosexual relationships. And that includes a variety of different acts, not just homosexual [acts]. I have nothing, absolutely nothing against anyone who's homosexual. If that's their orientation, then I accept that. And I have no problem with someone who has other orientations. The question is, do you act upon those orientations? So it's not the person, it's the person's actions. And you have to separate the person from their actions ... Whether it's polygamy, whether it's adultery, where it's sodomy, all of those things, are antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family.
I wonder how he feels about bestiality; he left that one off the list. And speaking of animals, guess who else is getting fed in Iraq.
::: posted by Lori at 12:28 AM
Tuesday, April 22, 2003 :::
I am now a gun-toting woman!
Well, I must have done something right in this world, because the Sheriff of Tuscaloosa County found it fit for me to carry a concealed weapon. For anyone that is curious, the annual fee is $20.00 in Tuscaloosa County and $5.00 in Colbert County in the state of Alabama. Also, FYI, one may not conceal a gun in one's car on the University of Alabama campus, something I did not know until today when the Sheriff's assistant kindly informed me. Also, FYI, as of August 1, 2001, anyone holding a pistol permit in Alabama may also legally carry their guns using the AL permit in the states of: FL, MS, GA, ID, IN, KY, MI, ND, WY, NH, UT, and AK. Also, FYI, one has the right to shoot their weapon as a form of "deadly physical force" basically as a last measure of personal defense. Now, being in the great state of Alabama, that means, according to the Code of Alabama, sec. 13-A-3-23, we can use deadly force under these circumstances: (1) against anyone using or about to use deadly force upon us or a third party, (2) against someone trying to use physical force against an occupant of a home with the intent to burglarize, or (3) against someone trying to kidnap, assault in the first or second degree, rape, sodomize, rob, or burglarize in general. One cannot use deadly force if there is a route of retreat from a dwelling or a workplace, although the individual is not required to retreat. [Legal crap: I'm not a lawyer. I may have misinterpreted this somehow even though I copied it straight form the code book. Do not take my word. Speak with your attorney if you are not familiar with the law. I will not be responsible for you or how you interpreted what I interpreted herein.] And finally, FYI, I have dropped a doe at dusk with a .270 bolt action rifle (scoped) from about two hundred yards away. Gutted her too. Mmmmm ... sloppy doe. I'll post the sloppy doe recipe someday, if I can ever catch up with the Daltons, distantly related to the Dalton Gang. Mr. George Dalton is a harmless man, unlike his relatives, and I am a generally harmless woman too, by the way.
::: posted by Lori at 11:55 PM
Imagine: Jerry Lewis along with Bagdad Bob as a co-host, and with, just like the MDA telethon of 2002, special guests Little Richard, Patti Labelle, The Dave Matthews Band, Chicago, and Nancy Sinatra singing, "These Boots Are Made For Walking," all wrapped up into a telethon to be aired on Arab News to fundraise for the people of Iraq. Sound like it would fly? Sure it would:
::: posted by Lori at 10:56 PM
Unborn Child
"I can only hope that the sound of Laci's voice, begging for her life, begging for the life of her unborn child, is heard over and over and over again in the mind of that person every day for the rest of his life," Sharon Rocha [mother of Laci Peterson] said.
You know, I too hope whoever killed Laci Peterson hears some voices in his or her head. And I hope Connor, the unborn child of Laci Peterson, is crying loudly in this person's head too. Yesterday, the family of Laci Peterson was given an opportunity to appear before public and make a statement about the death of their daughter and the murder charges which have been pressed against the husband. They did so in the most heartwrenching fashion, laboring over the pain the family had suffered and so forth, but did so without once mentioning Scott Peterson. This was no doubt due to the advice of a cautious lawyer. That had to have been the hardest part of the statement -- "in the mind of that person" -- because it is probably assumed by the family at this point that the murderer was Scott Peterson, but that the family can't point a finger because it would ruin the upcoming case. The police and others involved in the investigation are doing a fabulous job withholding information. That must be the hardest part for them under the circumstances. The hardest part for the murderer must be -- damn, what am I thinking!
I have seen minds like this at work before and it is astounding how murderers and violent men have this strange capacity to act so nonchalant in their actions, aiding anyone in need, being the good guys at work, but yet being terrorizing monsters at home or in their personal lives. I hope that Laci Peterson was not on the wrong end of a domestic violence dispute gone bad -- as bad as it gets. I hope Laci did not live in fear like I know so many women have. I hope she was not kept up all hours of the night, beaten for asking her husband where he has been when he has been out cheating on her. I hope she was not kicked, raped, yelled at, and degraded at any point. I hope Laci Peterson did not live the life that women who choose bad relationships live before they leave the man or die. The truth about this may or may not ever come out. But I can tell you, if Scott Peterson was a violent husband -- and from my personal ananlysis, which doesn't mean jackshit to you I know, he may have been -- he is probably in a denial so deep or is such a good actor that he is fooling himself, and he will never hear those voices in his head, not for now anyway.
Now, onto the point that the child was unborn and yet the murder charges are for double murder. I have a friend who has a child due in fourty-nine days. This child is in position to be birthed, as he (yes, he's a boy!) 'turned' recently. This child is already named Joshua Leland, and in the recent sonograms he can be seen sucking his thumb and kicking. His face is somewhat perceptible, although we don't know exactly who he favors just yet. This child has a lucky mother who has had her shower and painted a Noah's Ark theme in his baby bedroom, has refinished a family heirloom crib for the child, and has tons and tons of clothing and other baby stuff. He is active at certain times and reacts to outside world stimuli already. (He kicks Daddy's hand sometimes when Daddy is rubbing Mommy's belly and so forth.) If my friend were murdered by anyone that knew anything about her life, they would know when they murdered that this child is already so much a part of this world and that they were killing two living beings.
It's a tough decision. But I would have charged for two murders too, considering the father is the murder suspect. I am not sure how I stand on the issue of abortion, mainly because I can see positive points on both sides and I personally, and thankfully, have never had to make such a decision before. It's a woman's choice up to a certain point, but that point is about as hard to pinpoint as a spot on a fawn at two hundred yards away. Murder, yes. Wifebeater, maybe. Did Scott Peterson actually kill her though? Don't know. Is a precedent for the murder of unborn children going to be set in this case if Scott Peterson is found guilty? Most definitely. And we must all wait and see, 'cause the media's gone mum.
::: posted by Lori at 10:15 PM
Monday, April 21, 2003 :::
Can't find the edition you're looking for? Need something that's out of print? Looking for an obscure book? Want a signed copy? See if you can find it at Backwater Books, another little bookstore based in Alabama.
::: posted by Lori at 1:04 PM
Soreness -- everywhere and unrelenting!
It all started last weekend when I pulled some weeds from the above planted area in Colin's P.'s backyard. This weekend, while visiting for Easter, the job continued. The area got weedwacked, then all the newspapers within a mile radius it seemed were collected and at my disposal for the purpose of preventing more weeds from popping up. One layer of paper was laid down, wetted with a hose, and then another layer of newspaper was laid down, and wetted, on and on and on and on ... Then there was a brickpile at my disposal as well, which was used to make a border around the perimeter of the above area for the purpose of further preventing weeds from popping up in the cracks where the concrete stops and the earth begins. One might wonder, why all this work for a few bushes and some azaleas? Why not just mulch it, since mulch is fairly cheap? Well, that was what I initially proposed, but the gods of yardwork had a different plan for me. Hence, the twenty (yes, twenty!) layers of wet newspaper and brick and eventually mulch and sand to fill in the cracks between the brick all became necessary, and later more brick and more sand will be added to finish the project. And still you ask, why not just mulch? Two ominous words, dear reader: Alabama summers.
Anyone from around here should understand immediately the implications. In Alabama, weeds can come up from anywhere, wrap themselves around anything, and suffocate all other life in range in a short time if given the chance. That was pretty much what had happened in this yard. The only way to prevent such an instance of sure death to all the beautiful plants one has imported into his or her yard in Alabama is to exterminate all other ooky yet prolific plants such as kudzu, poison ivy, uncorralled monkey grass, etc. When dealing with a space such as the one above in which weeds went unchecked for some time, one has to take drastic and backbreaking measures to prevent regrowth while at the same time avoiding having to reweed on a weekly basis. In addition, C.'s Dad is into this environmental jazz, so we took the "we'll do it with stuff we've already got" approach. (Saving the environment is taxing work.)The weeds I had to deal with had those big, wormy knot-looking roots that cannot be easily removed without a large steel implement and many hacking motions, both of which I and others wished to avoid. Hence, hours of hand-weeding on hands and knees, a few moments with a weedwacker, then newspaper, brick, sand and mulch (in that order) all became necessary. When the extra sand washes away, it will look much better than it already does. I am pleased with all but one aspect of this project.
Now, I did the part up to mulching and filling in with sand with little help, because the rest of the family was mowing and tugging tree stumps and hacking the thick brush beyond the patio in the background of the picture above and planting tomatoes and peppers in the area off to the left of the picture that you can't see. So, I did a lot of work and I am sore. Let me say it again in the way it should be said: I am so fucking sore that I hobbled down my apartment steps, drove to class (which yes, Heather, I usually do), and took the elevator to the second floor because I feared the strange looks I would have gotten had I attempted to go up and down the stairs. When I finally slid into my seat (both hands on desk to try to lower myself without the aid of butt and thigh muscles) I sighed like I'd run a marathon. Repeat process backwards with same aching pain, hobbling, and grimaces and I am now home blogging about it. I remember at times finding it funny to watch old people lean over, say, to put the plate of cat food on the floor, because they always put a hand on their back. I used to think this was somewhat for show. Now that I feel what I am assuming it feels like to be real old, I can't laugh. I've caught myself with my hand on my back, knees bent and spread apart, moaning at least twelve times in the last two days since the Patio Overhaul. If the weeds reappear anytime soon, I say we just go out and buy some more mulch and toss it on as often as is necessary. The pain wouldn't be worth the gain. Now, on the other hand, if the weeds never reappear, then I will have gained immensely from this experience. It is, nonetheless, an experience I do not wish to repeat unless it is done piecemeal, about a weed or two a day, a layer of newspaper a day, and then a brick or two a day. (A brick a day keeps weeds away?) Moan. Sigh. Hand on back as I stand up to post and publish.
::: posted by Lori at 12:28 PM
Thursday, April 17, 2003 :::
Indonesian Special Forces and their Special Forces Doggies! I have a short memory and forgot about the dog-of-the-day thing I was doing just a week ago. A not-dog-of-the-day is, as a friend put it, "this teenage-looking German Shephard" that was eating her neighbor's trash -- specifically dirty diapers. She called the Metro Animal Shelter. Bad diaper dog will hopefully get adopted by someone who owns a leash, but otherwise he faces ... well, death. Maybe he has owners who will come pick him up.
I will be in Tuscumbia again this weekend, and my wonderful wireless network only works wirelessly until I get to the car in the parking lot. Then my connection fails. So, unless I can get the dial-up at C.'s P.'s to co-exist with my computer, my two readers will be bereft until Sunday evening at least. And I will be bereft too! Unless I reload the Sims, which is all too addictive. Nope, no more Sims. Maybe I need a break from the laptop altogether ...
::: posted by Lori at 12:19 PM
I interact with a crowd of very interesting people for an hour and a half about every other day or so, and it never ceases to amaze me how such a crowd can be so embiggened about their successful organization and their spiritual wealth. This crowd meets to glean useful information from one another about how to deal with life on life's terms. I will probably be blogging more and more on this crowd in the coming months. This crowd is helping me overcome some of my deepest fears and providing me with specific directions on how to extract the most from this life 'o mine and how to help others do the same. This crowd has provided me with the most cromulent evidence so far that there is hope for any soul, no matter how tortured, bruised or downtrodden that soul may be. I myself am abundantly grateful I have not experienced some of the hardships that some of the other crowd participants have. And it is all but for the grace of God. Now, for those of you who might think I'm a religious quirk of nature, let me allay your fears immediately. I avoid the Southern Baptists with all get out now, after trying baptism and not having it take. Nor am I a Scientologist; I don't pay for this group membership and it is not at all akin to MindHead either. [If you are unclear about MindHead, please go rent Bowfinger now.] And Scientologists tracking me down because I linked to your site, please go away now.
Anyway, I watched the classic Young Frankenstien last night and decided it was Gweneth Paltrow's mother that plays the blonde lobotomist/lab assistant/lover of Frederick Frankenstien. I did some research and found that she is not Gweneth Paltrow's mother. Now, you may be asking how this relates to this crowd I speak of. You might also be wondering how this relates to spirituality. It doesn't. So, I present to you the logic that is sometimes presented by my crowd when I go hang out with them for an hour or so a few times a week. It makes me better, I think. Sometimes people in this crowd say very valuable things though, like: "You can't turn a pickle back to a cucumber." And it's true, if you think about it. You can't. I bet Mr. Frankenstien could have.
::: posted by Lori at 12:12 AM
Wednesday, April 16, 2003 :::
Alabama's Downtowns
This weekend, on my trip to the upper region of the state of Alabama, specifically in Tuscumbia, Alabama, I went to a quaint little bookstore. It is a new bookstore in the area, Coldwater Books, outfitted with teak wood paneling bookshelves, a waterfall, a gourmet coffee shop, and other such bookstore amenities. It even has a grand piano and a wraparound balcony which comprises the second floor which is lined with the fiction and self-help books as well as the magazines and the coffee table books. I have visited it before and am amazed each time that such an eccentric and glamorous enterprise can be found in a town such as Tuscumbia, Alabama. The small town is most often noted as being the birthplace of Helen Keller and as being a suburb to Florence, the city which unwittingly deemed itself the 'Renaissance City' in a fit of uppity-ness some years ago. In fact, the Renaissance Tower which housed a restaurant and other souvenir-esque shops filled to the brim with smiggents of prideful stuff is no longer open; it stands isolated, a lonesome waterhouse looking edifice, at the entrance to the city if you come in across the river from Tuscumbia.Tuscumbia, by contrast, is a tiny laid back town where you can make a bank deposit, drop by the cleaners, get your hair cut, and buy an Easter dress all within three blocks. And people know you. Some people even know me, and I only visit with C. about once every two or three months average.
Tuscumbia is full of wonders despite its age, including the bookstore, a newly renovated park, many longstanding meat-and-threes that still pack a crowd on Sunday after church, and the Palace, a renovated ice cream shop that serves chicken salad, chili dogs, ice cream and shakes, and egg and olive sandwiches. That's all. The choices of ice cream concoctions you may choose from are vast though. Oh, and they also serve Coke in the old green bottles, ice cold. The park, Coldwater Books, and the Palace -- "A great good place to eat" -- were all renovated under the auspices of one Harvey Robbins, a local millionaire and civic leader.
Robbins is attempting to reinvent Tuscumbia (as Florence attempted and failed to do in the recent past) by bringing new life to the downtown area, much of which now seems to be deeded to him. He is detail-oriented in his renovations, as illustrated by his intensity in interior design. He hires designers who have the capacity to import the rarest Southern vintage material such as monstrous worn leather chairs which are dispersed throughout the bookstore for readers' pleasure and comfort. There are also three specialty chess sets at the bookstore as well. The one set of the chess pieces are replicas of Union and Confederate soldiers. The tin squares on the ceiling are vintage 50's style and were special ordered. The carpet is red with swirly fleur-de-lis designs in greenish and grayish tones. The metal awning inside the Palace that runs across the back of the ice cream bar was wrought by a gifted welder. Everything is reproduced to near authenticity or is an imported or special ordered antique piece in Robbin's little world. Even the waterfall at the park is forged from Tuscumbia sandstone, even though it is not a natural waterfall. It looks natural though.
I have seen the same striving to replicate days past in Tuscaloosa's downtown area, but either there is not as much initiative in Tuscaloosa, or we have no one as well-funded as Robbins is. Many shops have opened and then closed in Tuscaloosa's downtown -- five and dimes, antique shops, a wine store, and a few failed high-end restaurants. None of the Tuscaloosa shops have compared to the authenticity and ambiance incorporated into Robbin's shops. It is rumored that Robbins will keep his shops opened even if he suffers losses. I tend to think the renovations will be a success though, simply because the creative and monetary force is there and people come to gawk and end up buying too. I bought two books at Coldwater this weekend and spent about forty bucks. Oh yeah, and a three buck cup of white chocolate coffee. I'll admit the markup is high. Unlike chain bookstores though, you can actually sit down and read a book there without feeling compelled to buy one. People come in regularly to have a cup of coffee and read this or that article from this month's Gourmet or Parent and then leave the magazine on the table to be refiled by one of the many store clerks. Amazingly, shoppers are not shunned for doing so. Or for playing chess and not buying anything. Or for reading the first three chapters of The Jungle and deciding it's not the book you want. There is real appeal in this idea. One can spend three hours hanging out at the Palace too without the risk of being shooed by a waitress unless it's lunch hour. And the longer you hang around, of course, the more likely you are to buy.
I think Robbins is a good-spirited genius, and I wish there were more of him around to renovate all the downtowns of the South to their former glory. When I was younger, I always got a sense of what the Old South was truly like when we drove through all the small towns like Luverne and Opp and the likes, places that have faded downtown areas where people used to congregate -- places that sometimes look like ghost towns now, sure signs that the Old South is gone. Tuscumbia's authentic revitalization gives me hope that at least the air of community these downtowns once conveyed is attainable again through rebuilding with the sense that space needs to be created for people to feel like they can hang out, not bustle in and out without pausing.
Blogshares, BTW, finally recognizes my blog. ('Bout damn time.) Go buy some shares. It's free. It's fun. It's easy. You get $500 virtual money to invest in blogs. Did I say it's free, fun, and easy?
::: posted by Lori at 3:14 PM
Tuesday, April 15, 2003 :::
I may need to start asking for donations.
Humble undergrad that I am, I spend time providing this service to you, dear reader, and since my university is hiking tuition costs the paypal link is looking inevitable.
::: posted by Lori at 3:30 PM
Orchids and Other Flora and Fauna
I am currently reading The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, the book upon which the movie Adaptation is based. The same guy who wrote Being John Malkovich adapted the orchid book for screenplay. Adaptation was a very interesting movie, very Charlie Kaufman. The book is about, most obviously, orchids, but is more subtly about obsession, the addictive personality and how those having that personality and orchids go hand in hand. It is also about Florida and its lotto state mentality. I was once an avid home botanist; I had a sunroom chock full of plants, but I owned no orchids. Yesterday, we went to the local nursery to stock up on the basic herbs which are to be grown on my 10 x 8 patio instead of in a garden in a yard or in a sunroom where I could better control the variables for my plants. It is an obsessive undertaking for me nonetheless. I wish I had the money and the time and the space and no cat so that I could have tons and tons of orchids to care for all day long, but alas, I do not. Susan Orlean describes in her book her antipathy for orchids. She wants them, but is afraid she would become addicted to them if she took any on as family members, which apparently is what they become. I can relate. I will have to be happy this spring with my three pots of basil (regular and the smaller-leaved spicy globe), rosemary, and lemon-scented thyme. I may plant tomatoes and maybe some peppers if time, money, and space permit. You can't be without a tomato plant in the South if you're over the age of twenty-five. I just turned twenty-six.
Last year, when I had some land which my father unwillingly let me go to digging up, I had planted some peas and radishes in the early spring. C. and I ate one salad of radishes, pea shoots, and some other wimpy greens I had planted in the small plot I had dug up and limed and fertilized -- all to no avail. Red clay is really a bitch in some areas of the South. (The salads fit in soy dishes -- tiny things, fit for mini people.) The radishes ranged between one and two centimeters in diameter. My garden was a failed undertaking, one that I am quite embarassed about, because I had had much success with the unhardiest of plants until that point. That earlier success can be attributed to my obsessiveness I think. Last year I planted the seeds and watered, but I did not give the seeds a fungicidal treatment or boost them with growth hormone in an attempt to have a fully organic garden. I did not inspect daily for bugs or do anything to prevent the squishy things from eating up the greens. Without natural home compost and with the nature of the soil I had to work with, nothing much was rendered from the work. I had read somewhere that sawdust was an appropriate composting material, high in nitrogen, but with all the glue dad uses in his products, I think it may be partly to blame for my dwarfed green offspring last year. We ate our mini-salads and giggled about the whole affair, one I do not wish to repeat without a tiller, better tools, and real compost. The Orchid Thief helped me to reminisce about my hilarious failure in gardening last year and has also served as a catalyst for renewing my obsession with foliage of all sorts now, hence the trip to the nursery yesterday. In addition, I was in North Alabama this weekend helping C.'s family with yardwork in their expansive and -- I'll say lush -- yard. We left it more manicured, and the much needed work that was done was appreciated by all as we sat in the evening glow Saturday and Sunday night admiring the smells and sight of all that green and pink and white of spring. We are in the beautiful days before the heat and the sauna come on in the South. The dogwoods are in bloom and the azaleas are too. It gives initiative to the most lethargic soul. I will ponder having an orchid [singular] and decide on the best method for potting tomatoes and peppers and be in full swing again in no time flat.
I'm sorry to my two readers about the lull in posts this weekend; you've got to enjoy spring while it lasts.
Yeah, and I'm gonna try this one more time...
Finally, I hate to report there has been another casualty of war for Alabama. My heart goes out to the family.
::: posted by Lori at 12:16 PM
::: posted by Lori at 11:37 AM
Thursday, April 10, 2003 :::
2nd and 3rd Alabama Casualties of War
"April 6th: Army Pvt. Kelley S. Prewitt, 24, Alabama, combat." (source) "Army Staff Sgt. Nino D. Livaudais, 23, of Fort Mitchell, was Alabama's second fatality in the war." (source, source) Rest in peace, and thanks for your brave service.
Other posts concerning Alabama troops can be found here and here.
::: posted by Lori at 5:36 PM
It's the day after Saddam came down
and there are still complaints. It is appalling to me. An Instapundit reader, Dan, reports to Glenn Reynolds that on TV he saw a protester complaining:
"I think it's disgusting when you see these images of our troops giving the Iraqi children candy. They need something nutritious, not just junk food from our troops."
Why don't these people just relieve themselves from this unnecessary duty and go home and complain to their wives, husbands, or -- more likely the case -- their parents about all their perceived injustices with this cruel, cruel world? I mean, for God's sake, it should be a flashing blue light when you've had to downgrade your complaints to the lacking nutritional value of candy we are providing to Iraqi children. Last ditch effort. CLEARANCE! If this individual wanted to make a more logical argument, and I am quite surprised it wasn't framed this way instead of the way it was, he or she could have said it was improper to approach children because we are "strangers." What next? We should have intervened when the kid rode Saddam's head down the street because it could be dangerous? Sparks could shoot up and catch the child's hair on fire! That child might fall off and crack open his own head, and by damn, it would be the troop's fault if that had happened! It reminds me of a post made on an online biology course I took last summer where one of our more intelligent (LOL) students noted, "I think there is a problem with people burying their dead cats and dogs in their backyards because it causes the fungi to grow too much." I bet she grows up to be a protester and complain about candy given to the destitute children of Iraq.
And damnit! Democracy doesn't take hold two hours after the fact. Not only are there individuals complaining about the candy, but on the same hand, they're complaining about the looting -- "feed them!" We feed them candy (in addition to tons and tons of wheat) and it's not right. "Why are we letting them loot" and, well, be happy for a moment? (Is anyone seeing the catch 22?) In the Pentagon press briefing this morning, a reporter asked how the looting problem was going to be solved, why weren't the troops doing more about it, how it was negatively affecting humanitarian aid, yadda yadda. Spokesperson for the Pentagon, Victoria Clarke, stated she knew of only one report of looting interfering with humanitarian aid efforts. [Mine:] Beyond that (like, duh,) the troops are in Iraq to first contain and then kill the remainder of the resistance in the cities. The looting was occurring in places we did not entirely occupy (i.e. ground supremacy), as was the case in the circle yesterday where the Saddam statue was dismantled and troops had the opportunity to engage with (not engage the) Iraqi citizens.
My honey today was talking about something and meant to say "reaction" and instead said "Iraqution." So, we were reacting with the Iraqis when they were unable to take down Saddam's statue themselves. We stepped in and helped only when we saw our help was direly needed. Iraqution. Good, healthy interaction=Iraqution. Giving candy to underpriveleged children=Iraqution. Conveying the image that we are there to give a hand up, not a handout=Iraqution. It was an embracing moment to see that statue fall, the Iraqis cheer, and the years of fear slip away while knowing at the same time the Iraqis were acknowleding in such a tender way our help in it all. Yesterday's event was the culmination and vibrant visual representation of what this operation has been about; it portrayed our motives, and it portrayed Iraq's living dream for their nation. Anyone who watched this scene yesterday and cannot themselves ackowledge that it was a good thing may never know how to deal with life's subtle wonders in a positive way.
I pity them, these [on: al-Sahaf style] ruthless hordes of sportsmen complainers, these invaders of our peace and integrity! We must fight them! Fight them hard! Fight them with the logic that is our savior!
And, for faithful al-Sahaf fans around the world, bloggers have answered the call to duty an gathered relevant al-Sahaf intelligence at The Command Post.
::: posted by Lori at 2:56 PM
Wednesday, April 09, 2003 :::
Go Home!
I saw it live, and it's been confirmed by reliable sources: "Go home human shields!" 'Nuff said.
--
At A Small Victory author Michele gives an appropriate definition of patriotism, while Big Arm Woman notes on the Patriot Act and how some paranoid academia are overglorifying their importance. Makes me glad to be in the Deep South, where academia types are more humble, and on the whole, more patriotic. (I did live in NC, home of Big Arm Woman, until I was 11. It ain't the Deep South. USC really ain't the Deep South. No cornbread and purple hull peas.)
--
DIRTY RUSSIANS: Did they stow away Saddam when they might also have been towing other suspect material out of Iraq when their "convoy ... came under [coalition] fire" this week? Fox via the Command Post says the Saddam-off-to-Russia claim is unconfirmed. Hmm. Still interesting.
--
And here's what Saddam himself had to say about his statue being torn down today. Hee-Hee, Haw-Haw.
Picture is still from CNN live feed
::: posted by Lori at 8:29 AM
Baghdad: Liberation, Looters, Losers Lying Low
HERE ARE the hippos I painted for a dear friend in her Noah's Ark nursery. I am trying to save some space here for the more important matter at hand.
--
WITH REPORTS of rampant and unfettered looting in Baghdad and no police intervention for the crimes, with Baghdad Bob and Pals not showing up for their daily onslaught of media oppression and lies at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad -- home of most of the un-embedded journalists for the moment -- and with no radio signals being picked up from the Iraqi regime through our intelligence, it appears Iraq is indeed on the brink of liberation. It cannot be denied that there is a long road ahead. Sadly, but without question, there will be more last minute spurts of suicude bombers. More atrocities are yet to be discovered underground, in the sprawling tunnels of what was once the hiding place for this country's leaders, whether they be hidden even deeper or just dead. Are there Fedayeen hiding out in homes, holding their last human shields hostage in the last corner of Iraq they could find? And how willing are the Iraqi people going to be to pull together to form a democratic government? How much attention will be afforded by the media from this point forward, since people gravitate towards war but not towards diplomacy -- generally speaking? It is nonetheless wonderful to see Iraqis kicking pictures of Saddam in Baghdad streets, cheering, holding signs that read, "Bye bye Saddam."
::: posted by Lori at 3:22 AM
Tuesday, April 08, 2003 :::
Heather's birthday is in about a month.
::: posted by Lori at 1:08 PM
Sunday, April 06, 2003 :::
An ingenious way to send a message home to the U.S. these days:
Laurent Rebours/Associated Press
Per an Iraqi, as American troops passed by (Thanks Lileks):
And finally, the dog of the day, the mop dog, or komondor:
::: posted by Lori at 12:58 AM
Saturday, April 05, 2003 :::
Showing signs of rationality, the Tuscaloosa Peace Project, a group of some 250 odd war protesters in the area, have decided not to protest at the Veteran's Memorial in Tuscaloosa anymore. A bunch of Vietnam vets showed up at their protest this past Wednesday and made sure their voices were heard, too, according to the story. My upstairs neighbor has a class with the Professor O'Bryan who heads the peace group, and he describes O'Bryan as, "a liberal from New York." I've been tracking the peace group for a few weeks now. Other info concerning the group can be found ... when I figure out where the hell my archives are.
Well, permalink's not working, but here's the article and my take (at the time) from blog 3/29/03:
The Tuscaloosa News reported yesterday that local protestors are receiving threats. Well, I have to admit this is a pretty quiet town, even though we are rated the number three party school, and the threats are more disturbing to me than the protests. I have seen the pictures in the paper of the protesters and have drive-by confirmation that all they do is hold up signs and shout for peace (without expletives, et al.) I would go as far to say that if there has to be anti-war protests, this is the way they should be conducted. No death-ins, vomit-ins, or people packing heat at our protests, by gosh.
::: posted by Lori at 9:20 PM
Friday, April 04, 2003 :::
Fox News Closed Captioning Today: "As the yolk of oppression
has lifted in Baghdad," the war itself continues. A later mistype: "Bush wamths to meet ..."
--
One of my state's troops is now a daddy. Our first Alabama soldier to fall is home now, in Mobile. PFC Howard Johnson II perished in the ambush in Nasiriyah on March 23rd. He was the first Alabamian to lose his life in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Rest in peace, brave soldier, and thank you for defending my freedom.
--
I painted a pair of hippos on a soon-to-be-mommy's nursery wall tonight. I will show you what an artist I am (LOL) when she e-mails me the picture. For the time being, my two readers must remain content with the knowledge that Saddam Hussein, John Kerry, and Robert Fisk are the most despicable persons around and will continue to make statements we can laugh about for years to come.
--
Dog of the day: Rhodesian Ridgeback
::: posted by Lori at 10:46 PM
Thursday, April 03, 2003 :::
There was a pause, and it worked.
I do not study military history or contend to have a full understanding about the movements in Iraq, but I posted the other day within command post spin and on 3/29/03 within this site about the pause. It seems someone else agrees with me: it was sorta a "ruse" but mostly just damn effective. Good work real military thinkers, and good work too, armchair generals.
---
The dog of the day is not the gentle giant, as the Great Dane is known, nor the barkless Basenji. I know my two readers are on the edge of their seats. It is the mild, gentle, and graceful 
Bedlington terrier, the terrier in sheep's clothes.
::: posted by Lori at 3:25 PM
We are now inside Baghdad.
The talking heads are going mad on the news and everyone's asleep for it except me it seems. Fox News says that Special Ops are now right around the outskirts of Baghdad and that some of them are moving around freely in one of the palaces. Guess Saddam didn't prepare for this visit. "The place is a mess! al Sahhaf, why didn't you let me know about this! I could have had some WMD caviar shipped in from Tikrit for their visit. What should I wear? Call the Fedayeen and find a sweaterstone so I can get some of this debris off my drab green sweater. And send a message on TV ... no, let me write a letter real quick ... damned pen has run dry! Get me another. What? Why do we only have one pen in this bunker!" Meanwhile, I blog and C. makes cheesetoast in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
---
As positive as the war is sounding now for us, it must be remembered that many civilians, Iraqis forced to fight, and coalition troops have lost their lives because of the devastation of this war -- smart war, smart bombs, smart troops -- or not. War should never be a proud venture, one taken up for pleasure or to reiterate prowess. I am glad our president does not portray it as such. The articles and rumors stating that he is more somber are revealing to me. If I had such a great weight, such a heavy burden, such a momentous task at hand, I too would broodingly approach each day until I knew that it was over, that the chance a Saddam could return to power in Iraq had been fully extinguished, and that the ruin had ended and the healing could begin.
::: posted by Lori at 5:08 AM
Wednesday, April 02, 2003 :::
Change is good.
I went and changed my template and lost all my sidebar linky thingys in doing so. To my two readers: please bear with me. I aim to have picture-posting capacity soon. And no ads! I am appalled that Blogger makes no attempt to distinguish me from all the other nuts and posts ads politically incongruent to my posts. Too much to expect from a (for the moment only) free service. UPDATE! Picture capability enabled! No ads for "Genital Wart Cream" will ever be witnessed on my blog again.
::: posted by Lori at 8:49 PM
Monday, March 31, 2003 :::
War Lingo
As with the first Gulf War, the second Gulf War has spawned a number of new terms, names, and phrases as well as rendering new connotations to old ones that any armchair general or media guru should now be familiar with. I have taken up the duty (although no one reads my blog) to compile the list and would love to upgrade the list if any further contributions present themselves.
- Softening up-Where this once might have meant the act of trying to soften skin with the application of lotion or the act of taming a shrew, it now refers to aerial bombardments by the military -- in this case the coalition, since the Iraqi military's airpower is almost nonexistent -- to 'soften up' the battlefield before ground troops enter the area being 'softened up.' May have been derived from one of the meanings of 'soft,' which in The American Heritage College Dictionary, 4th ed. means "unprotected against nuclear attack." [NO implication should be derived that a nuclear attack is expected from coalition forces.]
- Shock and Awe-The phrase for the sustained aerial bombardments that the coalition is engaged in. Note: some media sources were initially disappointed with the shock and awe campaign because it did not produce the theatrical lightshow that they so wanted to highlight daily in the evening news. The Iraqi's have themselves rephrased ‘shock and awe.’ They call it 'the criminal bombardment.'
- Illuminating-I will use this one in a sentence to portray its new connotation: The Baghdad sky is nonetheless illuminating, with the oil fires' billows of smoke winding into the night sky, the sporadic anti-aircraft shots fired with little precision sending up and away spurts of yellow and green, and the fiery orange sparks and balls of flame dancing high to the tune of precision. Or this: The Baghdad sky now illuminates for the Iraqi forces the strength of the nations they are up against in this war for liberation. (See also: Basra Flares Item after entering the Raw Video site. These flares used in Basra have parachutes on them! Choose "products and services" and then "illuminating devices" to see the actual product used in Basra.)
- Misinformation-Instead of now thinking of Robert Fisk or A.N.S.W.E.R. first, we think of Mohammad Said al Sahaf. Note: I endorse none of the three.
- Armchair general-One who watches or blogs about the war, making sometimes accurate and sometimes wholly inaccurate presumptions about how the war itself is going based on their past or nonexistent military or media experience.
- Fog of war-The veil of stress and commotion that distorts the perception of the actual events during wartime. Sentence: The fog of war has decreased many an embed's accuracy in reporting events from Iraq.
- Embedded-People in the South rarely use the word embedded, and if they do, they are usually referring to a tick. The term is now applied to a journalist who has been made an extension of the military and follows in all operations and engagements whatever group he or she is in. Embeds (n.-the journalist that is embedded) receive military training and guidance before embedding.
- 'If it is in fact Saddam Hussein'-Phrase usually appended by TV media heads to their coverage of any TV airing of a tape produced by Saddam in which no actual proof is available that one is in fact viewing a person that is alive and well.
- Shallow grave- Iraq's way of preventing the need for the Red Cross in their country.
- 'I was wrong'-Now means 'I was once a human shield.'
- Routine military policy- For the Iraqi military, this now means summarily breaking all the rules established by the Geneva Convention.
- Seersucker, Silkworm-Names of other countries' missiles. It might be expected that the 'Piss Ant' is forthcoming.
- MOAB (Mother Of All Bombs), Hellfire-The name of American bombs and missiles. Many of these are now precision guided, which enables us to hit trucks under bridges without damaging the bridge structure. GPS and laser guidance systems are involved.
- Quagmire-Instead of staying in a war we have been losing for ten years,
it now seems to mean having made it from Kuwait to the doorstep of Baghdad mildly unimpeded and with, by comparison, minimal casualties, in ten days.
- Unilateral-Instead of not having the backing of the UN to enter a war, it now means having, instead, the backing of more countries than the U.S. did in Gulf I, a war which had UN approval.
- Operational Pause-What the media were first calling 'four to six days of rest and resupply' is now being called an 'operational pause.' Centcom has denied said pause.
- Target of Opportunity-Hopefully a dead Saddam Hussein; the initial air strike on March 19th was made based on the presumption that Iraqi high-ups were all in one place, which presented an opportunity for cutting the head off the snake, thus termed a 'target of opportunity.'
- Coalition forces-Includes the countries of Poland, Australia, Great Britain,
Denmark's ships, and the Czech Republic's chemical teams. Oh yeah, and the United States. al Sahhaf has referred to the coalition forces during his press briefings as:
"An international gang of criminal bastards ... American sportsmen and British sportsmen ... flocks of sheep doomed to die in Iraq ... a snake slithering through the desert ..." and on and on ad nauseum.
- Raed/Salam Pax-Apparently, the only native Iraqi blogger in Iraq. He has not posted since 3/22/03 that I am aware of, but the archives are at: http://dearraed.blogspot.com/
- All roads lead to Baghdad-Phrase should be self-explanatory. If not, then read more blogs and newspapers.
I am still waiting for some timely photojournalist to catch video of camels humping in the sunset of the Iraqi desert. I guess Peter Arnett's photographer could freelance?
::: posted by Lori at 9:07 PM
Saturday, March 29, 2003 :::
A new day
of despicable Iraqi terror tactics, although I did came across a sign of hope. At work we used to call Barbara Walters 'Baarbaah Wahtahrs' because of her accent. Yeah, I know, childish. I might watch her show though -- time and date at second link above -- OH! I guess I won't. It was on on the 21st. It would have probably thrown me into a crying fit, something I try to avoid, if I had chosen to hear about Iraqi woman being abused. My Saddam e-mails are benign compared to the thoughts in my head that swirl when I hear about domestic violence and other forms of abuse specific to woman.
Well, here's my dog of the day: the Great Dane. My favorite. They are known for being big couch potatoes, definitely house dogs despite their weight, height, and, well, embiggeness. Embiggeneness not a word you say? Watch more Homer and Bart. Anyway, I had a lab/dane mix named Ella and she was a doll. She weighed as much as me -- really. She moaned like crazy when you rubbed her ears. She left this world almost two years ago. I want another one, but I am too embusyfied with LucynFred. Patience, patience, patience.
::: posted by Lori at 8:31 PM
There is some mostly healthy debate taking place at The Command Post about the resting time I mention below. I may stand corrected in the long run, but my take on this is they need rest, they need supplies, and this could draw out the Guard. Then the air assaults could begin, as has been done effectively in the past. As I mentioned somewhere in all the spinning, "At least one American was reported killed in the fighting. Two other Marines were killed after they were accidentally run over by one of their vehicles as they slept" according to this article. Obviously, they are tired. It will not be effective to march into Baghdad in a stream like ants anyway. It's a two- or three-pronged message here that works well for us no matter how it is perceived by the opposition. Now our media, on the other hand, could easily run amuck with this news, but then there are those of us who know how to interpret the information and those of us who don't.
::: posted by Lori at 2:32 AM
Resting time for everyone
Well, last weekend when my honey and I heard that the troops had one last hot meal of beef stroganoff before crossing into Iraq, we honored the occasion by cooking beef stroganoff ourselves. A little over a week later, today, it was announced that the troops will get a break of four to six days in the field. This is great news for them, because fatigue and stress need to be subdued as much as possible before the barrage on Baghdad begins. So, to celebrate, I am going to be as lazy as possible for the next few days and try not to sit around reading The Command Post and The Agonist and all those other faster-than-me-so-I-gave-up blogs. Kind of a paradox there -- 'be lazy' and 'sit around and read,' huh? If I blog, it will not be nasty e-mails to Saddam either, because a) all those were rejected anyway because Saddam doesn't check his mail, so the box is too full to receive anything, and b) these people I know tell me I should just "let it go" or "turn it over" -- concepts I am not entirely happy with embracing yet, and that's why they tack on the "Fake it 'til you make it" one. They have a slogan for everything, even for how to walk the dog: "Keep it simple."
Speaking of dogs, check out my dog Lucy. Cute, isn't she? I am going to highlight a dog everyday for a little while since my Saddam e-mail campaign busted so quickly. Today's is the Basenji, which is characterized in The American Heritage College Dictionary, 4th ed. as, "A dog of a breed from Africa, having a short reddish-brown coat and characterized by the absence of a bark." Lucy, unlike a Besenji, barks at my neighbors while Fred (notes available from link above) tries to capture them by jumping at them wholeheartedly when they pass by our two front windows. He has not once been successful; he is always intercepted by the window screen. Homeland Security at its best.
::: posted by Lori at 12:24 AM
Friday, March 28, 2003 :::
I am listed on BlogShares, I think. I am still figuring out how it works, with my bad math and all.
::: posted by Lori at 9:21 PM
Thursday, March 27, 2003 :::
Well, webloggers' favorite man is at it again. As usual, Fisk is up to his mind-boggling, unpunctual, batted-too-far-left spouting off at the mouth. Apparently he had an air broadcasted interview on Resistance Radio on ... let's see, today's Thursday ... on the 25th of March. He is quoted as saying:
Well, you know, the Geneva Convention is meant to protect children, and hospitals are full of civilians, including many children who've been badly wounded.
Well, you know, what day was it we found a friggin' tank inside a hospital? Along with 170 Iraqi soldiers, weapons, chem suits, atropine, etc.? Particularly interesting is Fisk's lame attempt to minimize the coalition's progress:
As if no one [is] really planning the things, it's like someone wakes up in the morning and says, "Let's target this on the map today," and it's something which characterizes the whole adventure because if you actually look at what's happening on the ground, you'll see that the American and British armies started off in the border. They started off at Um Qasr and got stuck, carried on up the road through the desert, took another right turn and tried to get into Basra, got stuck, took another right into Nasiriyah, got stuck--it's almost as if they keep saying, "Well, let's try the next road on the right," and it has kind of a lack of planning to it...
Sure, our military leaders who have managed quite effectively to push to Baghdad within less than a week didn't have a real plan before they started out on the "adventure" and intended to venture forth into never-neverland with merely their weapons and their self-confidence, as Fisk wishes everyone would believe. And we are just picking targets at random each morning too. As opposed to choosing the angles at which we would have to release targets and sizing up all targets months prior to the invasion of Iraq, our commanders just wake up each day and point to the map and say, "That one's pretty big, so let's hit it." I am also puzzled by all these right turns Fisk talks of. I think he is the one without a map. Basrah is nearly due north of Um Qasr, and Nasiriyah is northwest of Basrah.
It goes on and on in this fashion. He states we are treating POWs as horribly as they are treating ours. He concedes that it is against the Geneva Convention's rules to show POWs on television, but he goes on to minimize the interviews the Iraqi's engaged the POWs in to:
...you hear them being asked what state they're from in the states ...
"[T]here certainly isn't an al Qaeda link," he says too. Oh really? That must be why they display such flowery murals of planes crashing into tall buildings in Iraq. That must be why Iraqis say al Qaeda is fighting for Saddam. That must also be why the Iraqi fighting tactics resemble those displayed so frequently in Afghanistan. That must also be why our government presented evidence at the UN substantiating such claims with relevant investigative work which procured something close to proof that there were at least some striking political links between the two parties in question.
Fisk goes on to say that he doesn't do interviews with Iraqi civilians anymore because it is unethical to have a minder along and put a civilian under such pressure. He stated he could go to the grocery store without a minder though. Now that's democracy, ain't it! He also states that Iraq is doing a better job of reporting the news on state run TV than U.S. or U.K. reporters are doing here or in Europe. He concedes that a lot of the reports of planes and helicopters being shot down are "exaggerated." He goes on to say:
There were several themes [in Saddam's speech to his troops given a few days ago]. The first one; fourteen times he told the Iraqis, "Be patient." Oddly enough, that's what Joseph Stalin told the Russian people in 1941 and 1942; be patient. He made a point of specifically naming the army officers in charge of Um Qasr, Basra, and Nasiriyia and the various other cities in which are holding out against the Americans ...He was constantly reiterating that these things were happening; they were opposing the Americans and the Americans were taking casualties.
Patience? Is that what you call firing your AK at a nearly indestructable tank? Is that what you call shooting your own troops? Is that what you call ramming a poor bus into a tank in an attempt to demolish it, or yourself? Yes, Saddam has surely instilled patience in his troops with his canned speeches. And these things he is constantly reiterating? I saw Saddam's speech (because I stay up all night watching the madness--it comes on around 2 AM CST) and it was obviously edited to provide a cattle call of commanders in areas that were likely to see the first action. Saddam probably taped each regiment commander's name in relation to where the expected site of engagement was and did this all days prior to the invasion. Saddam did more ranting about, "Hitting them hard ... Hit them hard in the throat," [probably a loose translation of cut their throats, but I am not an Arabic translator] than he did about actual statements of where and who was seeing specifically what action in the field. Nor does he have video like Centcom. Nor was he able to confirm or negate any troop movement. He did not give any good tidings to regiments that might be deployed or rearranged for battle. Again, I think Fisk doesn't have a map. Of course we were going to be in Um Qasr as quickly as possible. It's the only large port in Iraq. Besides, one of the commanders he named in the tape had already been taken as a POW. Saddam was praising him. Saddam is not known for praising people's errors.
Fisk states he visited the hospitals and that there sure enough are civilian casualties, as in any war, but that the casualties are not as bad as others he's seen in the past. He cited a few deaths. Few women and children are injured, thankfully, I say. Yet, he moans and groans about all the targets in Baghdad being hit. Overall, Fisk's address reads like most other Middle Eastern media does at the moment, and he still seems to believe that we are in this for oil and all the other wrong reasons for being in a war. Fisk basically condemns the coalition for not having a working plan that worked from the outset. The fact of the matter is this: every plan needs to be flexible to be successful. We see Saddam's inflexibility and we see the large numbers of dead Iraqi soldiers. Comparatively, we see our flexibility to react to a situation and we see few coalition casualties. I think Fisk is wrong about our war tactics. Our flexibility will hopefully be our saving grace. I don't find comfort in knowing it will be a long war because Saddam won't fight fair. That being said, coalition forces should not be held accountable for not forseeing that the rules of engagement would be broken summarily in instances like they have in the past few days. Nor should any journalist expect to be respected if he insists our country went to war without a plan and with only our own personal gain in mind, in light of all the trouble we go to in preventing casualties. What personal gain is there in waiting that extra three seconds to fire to make sure the target is in fact a soldier even though he's dressed as a civilian?
::: posted by Lori at 11:43 PM
Rub your hands together like Mr. Burns [excellent]; the wax will burn tonight! I am working on a fisking.
::: posted by Lori at 9:20 PM
Want to get to know the real Saddam? Then read this post published in the Atlantic Monthly. It might help one understand why Saddam is as cruel as he is. All my e-mails aside (below), Saddam is the way he is for some distinct reasons and this lengthy bit helps explain why.
::: posted by Lori at 9:16 PM
See, instead of wildly protesting the war here in Alabama, the wackos engage in much ... sicker forms of public communication. Read at least up to the point where "the man was engaged in .... " Yuck.
::: posted by Lori at 8:21 PM
