A holiday giftie for me:

I'm generally not a fan of about.com, but this is an cool little action to take:

According to Andrew Somers' Civil Liberties About.com site, "The "American Family Association" (www.afa.net) - a decidedly anti-gay, anti-abortion, pro-censorship, fundamentalist hate group is attempting to collect poll results on their web site regarding public opinion of gay marriage..." so, make YOUR voice heard this xmas eve:

Take This Gay Marriage Poll Today!

also, check out the results at the bottom of the voting screen--heh. think they'll be presenting *these* results to Congress?

note: unless you actually *want* to be on it, don't forget to unsubscribe from their mailing list, per the instructions at the bottom of the page.
- posted by clare @ 10:21

 
a little pre-holiday giftie:

the Guardian's British blog awards

happy democratic expression to all and to all a good night!

p.s. if you're looking for an interesting reading list, i lifted Stuart Hughes' list off of his weblog. Stuart Hughes won one of three awards in the best-written blog category in the Guardian's British blog awards (see above).

p.p.s. books and more books! check out this article about David Douglas Duncan, a war photographer who is most famous for his photographs of combat in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and a few additional conflicts. hmm. his books look like great additions to the above list, too.
- posted by clare @ 10:02

 
UPDATED HOLIDAY INDEX

• ounces of holiday "cheer" needed to really get me in the holiday spirit: 7 - 10



• kitties in the holiday spirit: 3



• number of times holiday tree has been toppled by said kitties--so far: 2



• days remaining until my family celebrates xmas: 2



• number of work hours remaining before commuting to chez forstie: 7.75



• number of times i've tapped my right foot in the past minute: 123

- posted by clare @ 13:44

 
Wow! Fogerty Fest Finland!
- posted by clare @ 08:49

 
XMAS CHEER

a card for Rahne.

heh heh heh
- posted by clare @ 14:24

 
CLARE'S HOLIDAY INDEX

• number of spills taken today: 1


• number of ice chunks gotten down shirt from said spill: 3


• number of spilled pots of vegeterian holiday potluck chili: 0


• out-and-out laughs during the absurd little holiday flick, Elf: 37


• smiles during the cheesy but enjoyable Pay It Forward: 19


• ounces of holiday "cheer" needed to really get me in the holiday spirit: 5 - 7


• family members to be visiting from out-of-state: 2


• miles from cozy kitty-infested home to cozy parent-infested home (ha!): 173.05


• holiday seasons celebrated on this earth: 23


• kitties in the holiday spirit: 3


• ornaments broken by said kitties: 1


• number of times holiday tree has been toppled by said kitties--so far: 1


• days remaining until my family celebrates xmas: 7


• U.S. presidents who don't understand the real meaning of xmas: 1


• Estimated Iraqi civilian deaths according to iraqbodycount.com: 7950 - 9781


• Total U.S. military fatalities since May 1st, according to lunaville.com: 321


• Estimated number of above deceased Iraqi civilians who agreed to fight in the war: 0


• Estimated number of above deceased U.S. military personnel who agreed to fight in the war: 321


• Number of WMD discovered by U.S. forces: 0


• Estimated number of gods common to above deceased, according to their beliefs: 1


• Estimated number of clares living in a cozy house with a partner and three kitties who are deeply bothered by these numbers this holiday season: 1


• Number of well-wishes said clare is sending out to all people--including the strom thurmond wanna-bes--this holiday season: 6,390,213,000+

- posted by clare @ 10:03

 
GHANDI, WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

oh yeah. dead.

i heard on npr this morning a commentary titled "Capturing Saddam" by Diana Abu-Jaber, who spoke about her dad's perception of Saddam's recent capture. she ended her comments with remarks (i'm paraphrasing) about how it seems to her that americans are looking for something much bigger than just one bad dictator. most americans don't realize, she said, that what they're looking for may be as elusive as a sense of safety and security (she said some other great stuff, too, but this is what struck me.).

and now, i'm waiting for THE GREAT GASPING. are americans now going to say to themselves:

"hey, folks, wait a second. saddam's been captured, but our daughters and sons, fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, partners and spouses, best friends and high-school sweethearts (etc.) are still dying over there. who's suicide-bombing them? we thought we got saddam. so why are folks still dying? GASP! could it be that they aren't just brainwashed? could it be that they're really against america of their own free will?"

in the best-case scenario, the great gasping would lead to a re-assesment of the status of things in the "middle-east." that is, similar to post-9/11, before we had formulated such a solid (yeah, right) concept of those "terrorists," folks might think, "yo, why would folks be against us in that way? why, man, why?" and, rather than fall back on the easy-out (blame the terrorists--who the hell are they, anyway?), they'll actually stop and think for more than the blink of dead space between the end of Friends and the beginning of the JCPenney commercial. think, man, think

now, before i get the flag-wavers (correction: american flag-wavers) bopping me on the head with their pointy little sticks, this is not to say that i or you or anyone is specifically to blame (well, i could think of a few american leaders who certainly haven't helped things, but, as for us lackeys, not so much). all it takes, though, is a long, hard, complex and confusing look at complex and confusing world history to see that things are sooo much more complicated than good v. evil.

but i'm getting mired in the general issues i have with "america" these days. back to brass knuc--i mean, tacks.

what will americans say when the fighting just keeps on going? will they be upset? will they be critical? will they try to deal with paying their own bills and submitting their tax forms on time and try not to think about it all? will they ignore the connections? will they root for our team like it's some kind of football match and not a life-or-death game? will they close or open their eyes? will they blink?

perhaps i should say, will we blink?

people yearn for toyland, but, once you pass its borders, you can never return. people want to live in a time when things were simple--problem is that this time never, ever, ever existed, nor is it likely to arrive. there are huge populations of folks who have issues with the way america is bumbling about like an inebriated gorilla--some of them live in other parts of the world and some reside in america's own backyard. some of them use peaceful discussion, plan-making, and accountability to address the issues they see and some use indiscriminate violence. while i never, EVER condone the real use of violence, no matter how adamantly i disagree with an individual or group, we can't eliminate it without understanding its root causes. it's basic sociology--hell, it's basic botany, and violence spreads like a weed. or maybe a fungus. right now, folks, we have some fungus growing beneath the surface of our daily realities.

now that we've found saddam, i think folks are expecting the mushrooms to disappear or at least lessen. "america" may squash them underfoot like a child in an overly moist backyard, pointing to the pulpy mess as evidence of success. look, mom, i killed twenty-five terrorists! but we won't eliminate these violences until we figure out why, in broader terms, they're happening. only then can we proceed to figure out how to reconcile (and not, i repeat, NOT eliminate) our differences.

it also bears mentioning that it's not just the violence directed toward americans that i think we need to address, here. attacks like these have been directed similarly, in slow-motion, and sometimes rapid-fire against other populations across the globe and in this country, we just haven't noticed because they haven't been our white european faces brutalized on the tv screen. have you ever noticed that the first number of casualties mentioned on the tv news is the number of americans who have died? iraqi civillians are almost mentioned as an afterthought, and that's an indicator of whose lives count. it needs to be said, though, that an american life is no more or less valuable (not "worthwhile," "successful," "evil," "good," or any other judgement call--i.e. in the eyes of whatever god(s/ess/es) in which you believe) than the life of a chinese factory worker or a coffee farmer in venezuela or a villager from Tikrit or even an anti-american terrorist.

p.s. Abu-Jaber's book, Crescent': A Romance in 'Iran-geles, looks great. i think i'll pick it up for FREE at the library.

- posted by clare @ 11:47

 
thanks again, A!



is this a good thing or a bad thing?

and...


Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.

wha? at least i lived in san francisco...
- posted by clare @ 10:58

 
thanks to A for initially posting this link


Higgs Boson -- You are crazy and wacky and nobody
really understands you. Theoretically your
humor gives the universe mass and existence,
but the explanation as to how this all works is
still in the works.


What kind of subatomic particle are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

- posted by clare @ 14:19

 
running through my head like a train itself this morning, from "one monkey," a song on Gillian Welch's new cd, Soul Journey:

"One monkey don't stop the show
One monkey don't stop the show
One monkey don't stop the show
Whoa, so get on board
Here comes a freight train
Here comes a freight train
Here comes a freight train
So get on board
One monkey don't stop the show
One monkey don't stop the show
One monkey don't stop the show
Whoa, so get on board"

speaking of monkeys and shows, i have a meeting in a few.

p.s. doesn't that image on the front of gillian welch's page just look like you imagine a soul might?
- posted by clare @ 09:34

 
FROM MAINE ON A 23 DEGREE DAY

someone said that the weather's fine
in california
someone said i could make a dime
in california
someone said i could get along better
than on this coast, where it's colder and wetter
and all i'd need to keep warm is a sweater
in cali
forni
a

california
i can't abide your fancy ways
california
i can't afford your sunlit days
california
i can't survive your lack of seasons
california
i guess i'm just grasping at reasons
to make me stay
away
from cali
forni
a
- posted by clare @ 13:53