January 28, 2003
More archeology news: Spy photos have revealed a Bronze Age network of roads through present-day Syria, Iraq, and Turkey.
posted at 1:42 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
ALERT FOR RIGHT WING BLOGGERS: Janeane Garofalo speaks against war. Load those paint ball guns...
posted at 1:39 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
UTNE starts its blog, Code Pink.posted at 1:38 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
Elaine at Blog Sisters requested help from other bloggers for a woman she knows who had been scammed by an online date. This woman considered starting a blog where women could post the names of low-lives who pulled fast ones on them. You know the type: Married men who have an "understanding" with their wives or who don't even bother to tell you that they're married. Men who want to "borrow" money before the first IM is over. Men with the intellectual proficiency of a brick. Men who are the breeding ground for a wide variety of infectious organisms.
That got me to thinking about my own experiences with Internet troglodytes. Since I don't do chat rooms, I've never had to ask some 14 year old crotch monkey if his mommy knows what he does online when he's supposed to be doing research about the Spanish Civil War. Dating scams haven't been a problem for me. However, my liberal-feminist point of view has inspired a great deal of e-mail from snarling yippie-dogs who have read my articles and found my web site. My blog is too new to generate that kind of traffic. I figure it's only a matter of time.
You may already be familiar with yippie-dogs. They drop their blatherings in your lap, often anonymously and without an introduction. I've received swill mostly from men, especially male father's and men's rights advocates, but women have sent their poison pen letters my way as well. They just have to let me know what they think of me. And why they must tell me that I am so wrong. And evil. And bad. And a mental midget. And how much I am in need of a big, throbbing dick or God's Saving Grace (funny how those two tend to go together) to make me see the light.
I get a huge kick out of that kind of mail. At first I didn't. The first few times I found a blowtorch in my mail box or read gossip about me on bulletin boards or on Usenet I freaked out. Some men's activists tried unsuccessfully to learn where I lived. For at least two years, they thought I lived in California. Wrong coast, guys. I had never seen anything like that before, and the venom really threw me off balance. Very soon, I learned that I was not the one who was off balance. I keep most of that mail in a "flukeworms" file. Yes, I have a "fan mail" file, but the "flukeworms" file reminds me that I have the ability to drive some people so bonkers that they see fit to send me e-mail dumb bombs.
Any guy who writes "how ugly are you? i bet men can't stand to be anywhere near your rotton smelling vagina...am i right?" cannot possibly feel that he has much power in his life. He can't even spell. He entitled his subject line "excellent article" so that I would open his mail, expecting to read praise, yet discovering his passive-aggressive hostility inside. He had some serious issues. He was also incredibly stupid. I tracked his e-mail address and learned that he lived in Washington, D. C. that he was 34, he owned a labrador retriever, and that he was looking for a roommate. I found his home phone number. He had even written that he was a positive thinker, trustworthy, and easy to live with. "Trustworthy" and "rotton smelling vagina" don't blend well. He wasn't hard to find. A Google search took seconds. If I was a truly evil person, I could easily have tracked him down, and killed his dog.
But I'm not like that.
That guy reminded me of another genius who admitted on a public mailing list that he had fled to Canada to hide from Child Protective Services. He forgot that he had an AOL profile that included his full name and a note that he lived in Ottawa.
The point is that those people don't scare me. It drives them barking mad that they cannot get a rise out of me. They can't shut me up. Maybe if they knew how easy it was to learn a great deal about them with a few simple Internet searches, they may be less inclined to send their venom my way. I doubt it, though. It seems to me that they have very empty lives. I'll send some of God's Saving Grace their way. I'm sure they'll appreciate it.
posted at 1:34 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
January 27, 2003
Onto something less stressful than war...
Jay Caruso is talking about movies. He started a few days ago with "Signs," which I agree was a disappointment. My taste in movies is rather... er... eclectic. I'm a horror movie junkie. I used to stay up until o-dark-thirty in the morning watching classic B-dreck like "Dracula Has Risen From The Grave" and "Curse of the Demon." My interest in these kinds of films may go back to a Thanksgiving in the late '60s, early '70s. As usual, my family went to eat turkey at my aunt's house. My cousins and I watched a movie that scared me out of my wits. All I remembered of it was the ending: a ghost ran out of the woods and someone had driven a car into a tree. I did not learn the name of the movie for nearly ten years, when I managed to catch it again on late-night television. I didn't recognize it until I saw that ending. It was Robert Wise's classic film version of Shirley Jackson's fantastic novel, "The Haunting."
I was hooked.
I'm one of those geeks who knows what a gaffer, a grip, and a best boy are because I was one myself. I had worked crew in film, television, stage, and concerts in the 1990s. I was a member of I.A.T.S.E. Most of the time I was a gaffer (lighting), but I also worked as a make-up artist (including prosthetics) and a scenic painter. I was a gaffer for "Die Hard III: Die Hard With a Vengeance" and "12 Monkeys." I worked as a make-up assistant for the award-winning series "Homicide: Life on the Streets" during a first season episode. In addition to prepping the cast and touching up between takes, I had the pleasure of creating a couple of corpses, including a gunshot wound to the head. One story line involved the evisceration rape and murder of a child. It was based on a real case, which at the time was unproven. The sad thing was that I was told the police knew who had killed the little girl, but they did not have enough proof to convict. The suspect was a neighbor. I never learned whether or not the police had ever collected enough evidence to take the case to trial.
So, when it comes to movies, I have a different take from most people. I've worked on them. Two of my favorite links regarding movies are the Movie Goofs Browser and the Easter Egg page. It's fun to know where you can see the film crew reflected in a mirror, or to learn that the reason Legolas's eyes are blue throughout "The Two Towers" yet brown during the climactic battle scene was because Orlando Bloom didn't put on his blue contact lenses before shooting that scene. An Easter Egg is a private, inside joke about a particular film, computer program, television show, or game. A director appearing in his own movie is a common Easter Egg. Peter Jackson appears in "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." He belches while he's eating a carrot. A lesser known Easter Egg in the movie is the brief appearance of "mother" from his infamous movie "Dead Alive." She shows up immediately after Bilbo runs from the Sackville-Bagginses.
posted at 12:26 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
Jeremy Greenstock (British Ambassador to the United Nations) wants to interview Blix and ElBaradei to get more details. He says most members of the security counsel regard the report as part of an ongoing investigation. They want to hear further about how the inspectors are getting on. He depicted the reports of Blix and ElBaradei as a "catalogue of unresolved questions." This situation is not going to be resolved peacefully through the U. N. process unless they have 100% cooperation from Iraq. Greenstock mentioned "grey day cooperation," what Hans Blix referred to as the "South African model -- not just access and process allowed by inspectors. There must also be guidance to where the materials and documents are. This model contrasts with passive or partial passive cooperation, or a semblance of either, that is accompanied by hindrance of what is going on in Iraq. Greenstock says that it is not matter of time. It is a matter of attitude. Iraqi attitude is not sufficient for eradication of programs we know about. That is what needs to be discussed, and why time is running out. We need "grey day cooperation" from iraq, and we are not getting it.
posted at 11.51 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
ElBaradei says that there is no evidence that Iraq has advanced its weapons programs. It is clear that Iraq has no intention to comply. However, while continued inspections could help to avoid war, John Negroponte (U. S. ambassador to the United Nations) does not think that inspections are enough.
posted at 11.41 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
ElBaradei indicates that inspections over the years have been successful in locating weapons, which have been destroyed. Blix also says that the large infrastructure in Iraq has been destroyed. In the past much valuable information has come from interviews. Blix says that there are plans to establish a second field office. Elbaradei has requested more time to continue the inspection process in Iraq. He wants to use cameras and other surveillance equipment to aid inspections.
posted at 11.32 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
Blix says that there is no credible evidence that Iraq has destroyed anthrax.
posted at 11.31 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
Blix says the Iraqi report has failed to account for 6,500 chemical bombs, and that it has tested solid, liquid fuel rockets. Rockets exceed the permitted range limits. He also said that the iraqi report is mostly a reprint of old documents.
posted at 11.06 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
Blix just announced that Iraq did more study of VX than it had claimed. Iraq claimed the agent had never weaponized, and that it was destroyed in the summer of 1991. The report has conflicting information. Blix said that Iraq has achieved more regarding VX than it has declared. Purity of agent in laboratory construction higher than declared.
posted at 11.01 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei are on CNN right now. They are giving their report.
posted at 10:41 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
I admit it. I could not care less who won or lost the Super Bowl. I don't even know who played. I'm not a sports fan. While the rest of the country watched a bunch of galoots chase a ball that's all bent out of shape, my significant other and I went to see The Two Towers. First time for him. Second for me. That doesn't mean that I am not held prisoner to sporting events. I am a World Cup widow. That's what happens when you live with someone who was not born in this country.
If I hear "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLL!!!!!!!!" one more time, I might have to lock and load.
I'm grateful that he's lost interest in soccer lately, but there is always something else. Don't get me started on online role-playing games... grrrrrr...
posted at 10:06 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
Dave Barry has a blog.
posted at 10:05 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
Before the day is out, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei will give their critical assessments of Iraq's behavior during weapons inspections. The Bush administration hopes their statements will give a green light to war on Iraq. Not that the Bush yunta needs approval. It is looking for any excuse to let loose the troops that have already been sent to the Middle East. For the past few months, CIA operatives have prowled northern Iraq, "trying to organize a guerrilla force that could guide American soldiers invading from the north, hunting for targets that U.S. warplanes might bomb, setting up networks to hide U.S. pilots who might be shot down and mapping out escape routes to get them out." They are doing the same in southern Iraq. George Bush has already decided that the U. S. will go to war regardless of public opinion, the conclusions of the U. N. weapons inspectors, and the skepticism of allies.
posted at 9:38 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
January 26, 2003
I found this really cool web site, thanks to FARK. It lists Body Snatchers pod versions of famous family restaurant meals and All American junk foods. It even includes the Neiman Marcus "Top Secret" Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe urban legend. I first learned about that one on Snopes. There are several versions of that urban legend, including the Mrs. Fields cookie version and the Waldorf Astoria Red Velvet Cake story. All have the same basic story line: a patron asks for the "secret" recipe after eating the cookie or cake. When the bill comes, the patron is shocked to be charged several hundred dollars for the recipe on top of a few bucks for the dessert. This urban legend has had a very long shelf life. It's been around for nearly sixty years.
Back to Top Secret Recipes, I'm going to take a crack at the Fiddle Faddle recipe. That stuff could probably break my teeth, but I'll eat it anyway. We want the recipe for Girl Scout Samoas, but the one for will have to do.
posted at 12:04 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
January 25, 2003
Darwin in action.
posted at 6:24 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
January 23, 2003
I don't know what happened, but I did not see Garland Waller on Catherine Crier Live. When I get an update, I'll provide it.
posted at 5:27 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
Pre-eminent archeologists Robert and Linda Braidwood have died within hours of each other. A husband and wife team, the Braidwoods uncovered evidence of the human transition from nomadic hunting and gathering to the emergence of agriculture and civilization in the Middle East. They discovered "the earliest known village at the time, a settlement at Jarmo, on the border of Iraq and Iran, that dated to 6800 B.C."
posted at 11:59 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
TONIGHT ON CATHERINE CRIER LIVE
GARLAND WALLER, Boston University film professor and creator of the award winning film documenting the phenomenon of abusers gaining custody through family courts, "SMALL JUSTICE", will appear on the highly acclaimed COURT TV SHOW "CATHERINE CRIER LIVE", Friday, January 24, 2003, 5:00-6:00 PM PT/ET. Check with local cable companies for the Court TV channel in your area.
It is rare that this issue receives such widespread national exposure, so PLEASE share this information, not only through e-mail, but in print, with your friends and family, Domestic Violence Shelters, Women's Commissions, Victim Assistance Programs, Police Domestic Violence Units, DSS, judges and lawyers, family courts, pediatricians, pediatric therapists, organizations concerned with child abuse, children's rights, and judicial accountability.
PUBLIC EXPOSURE is the most powerful weapon against Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, and Legal Corruption. Taping Waller's Court TV interview is a powerful way to share this message with others in the future. Thank you!
UNITED FOR JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforjustice.org
posted at 11:36 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
You have to admire their spunk: right wing bloggers have been bashing anti-war protesters over their heads with ANSWER since last weekend. They've trotted out ANSWER.'s political roots to insinuate that those who had marched in protest of war in Iraq are shills for Socialists, Communists, Stalinists. Guilt by association.
Guess what, folks? It isn't working.
Three recent polls have found that most Americans are not only displeased with Bush's foreign policy, they are so displeased that Bush's job approval ratings are the lowest they've been since he took office. Charles Murtaugh stated outright that the right wing has been pretending that "the majority of last weekend's marchers were stooges of Uncle Joe Stalin." Has been pretending... I wonder how many right wingers cringed at seeing such a bald display of their chess moves? Those who braved the cold to protest Bush's war for oil were ordinary people whose objections have been heard. They have kids to raise. Wages to earn. Lives to lead. They are not tools of the Commies. They went to cities all over the country -- from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Des Moines, Iowa to Portland, Oregon -- to make their voices heard. They were very successful. The right wing damned well knows that.
I disagree with Murtaugh that the right had successfully discredited "a not-unimpressive show of public disagreement with the White House war policy." The right has shown that it is grasping at straws. Trotting out a fake photograph including an unidentified person brandishing a sign affixed with a swastika only makes the right look petty. Publishing shots of a trickle of people as opposed to the "hundreds of thousands" reported makes the right look desperate. Tacitus's contempt of the Washington D. C. protesters -- while ignoring other protests that took place across the country -- makes him look ridiculous.
This bears repeating: Bush's job approval ratings are in a nose-dive. The latest New York Times-CBS poll shows that there is a great deal of public disagreement with the White House war policy: "Nearly 50 percent of the public expressed disapproval of how Mr. Bush was handling the economy, while 41 percent expressed disapproval of his management of foreign policy..." A whopping "63 percent said things were going worse in the country that they were five years ago." Those disapproval figures are the highest they've been since Bush took office.
The right wing is very much aware of all of this. Fear can make people get ugly.
posted at 11:01 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
January 22, 2003
Today's Los Angeles Times includes an excellent article about what life was like before abortion was legal.
posted at 8:30 PM PM by Trish Wilson | Link
A new Washington Post - NBC poll found that "[s]even in 10 Americans would give U.N. weapons inspectors months more to pursue their arms search in Iraq." In addition, "the poll found that a majority of Americans disapproved of President Bush's handling of the economy for the first time in his presidency. The number of Americans who regard the economy as healthy has not been lower in the past nine years, and fewer than half supported the tax cut plan Bush has proposed as a remedy."
Maybe Bush will be a one-termer like his daddy. One can hope.
posted at 8:25 PM PM by Trish Wilson | Link
The War Against Women
The New York Times
Yet two years into the Bush presidency, it is apparent that reversing or otherwise eviscerating the Supreme Court's momentous 1973 ruling that recognized a woman's fundamental right to make her own childbearing decisions is indeed Mr. Bush's mission. The lengthening string of anti-choice executive orders, regulations, legal briefs, legislative maneuvers and key appointments emanating from his administration suggests that undermining the reproductive freedom essential to women's health, privacy and equality is a major preoccupation of his administration - second only, perhaps, to the war on terrorism.
As the 30th anniversary of the Roe decision approaches, women's right to safe, legal abortions is in dire peril.
posted at 12:46 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
THIS IS THE 30th ANNIVERSARY OF ROE v. WADE: DON'T LET IT BE THE LAST!
"The Feminist Majority Foundation says "[w]ith President Bush pushing his conservative agenda, an anti-choice majority in Congress, and the Supreme Court upholding Roe by a razor-thin 5-4 margin, safe legal abortion faces imminent danger in 2003. Take action now!"
For more information about pro-choice activist events, please visitThe Pro-Choice Campus Network, a part of the Feminist Majority Foundation.
posted at 12:41 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
I could understand why so many cringed over Sean Penn's antics. I cringed. However, conservatives have been disingenuous in their objections and ridicule. Now they are squealing about Harold Pinter's poem "God Bless America" that was printed in the London Guardian. They squealed when John LeCarre criticized the U. S. erosion of freedom due to Bush's warmongering. I'm sure it's no accident that these two editorials were printed outside the U. S. No American newspaper would dare to print such things. Not while the Bush yunta is at the helm. Someone please tell me -- exactly what kind of authority does Charleton Heston have to preside over the NRA? How many conservatives who complain about entertainers voicing their anti-war opinions voted for The Actor Who Would Become President? Charles Murtaugh said it better than I did: " What the fuck does Charlton Heston know about anything, anyway? And did I blink or something during the '80s, or wasn't the country being led by someone who owed all his name-recognition to a career in Hollywood?" Do conservatives believe that the opinion of a writer or actor is to be criticized only if that person does not support Bush's call for war?
posted at 12:04 PM by Trish Wilson | Link