Thursday, July 31, 2003

The same man who has consistently avoided taking action against priests who molest children and the bishops who facilitated their crimes against these most innocent and vulnerable victims- the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church- has declared war against the equal right of same sex adults to engage in the same mutually-voluntary contracts to which male-female couples are privvy.

So to sum up, it's mildly frowned upon to coerce and/or force children into sexual relationships (same sex or not), but it is completely unacceptable for same sex adults to engage in mutually consensual relationships.

Thanks for the leadership, JP. How will we ever get along without your wisom?
posted by Kirsten at 6:35 PM

Israel is now disallowing many peaceful families the right to live together. What can even be said? It is as though Israel is actively working to antagonize Palestinians.
posted by Kirsten at 4:07 PM

Tuesday, July 29, 2003

Here's an interesting portrayal of Republicans from AlterNet.org. Although I disagree with the implications in the article that the Democratic Party is somehow a better option, this article does a good job of exposing Republicans for what they really are.

Apparently, "supporting the troops" is just a meaningless euphamism for whatever the Republicans (a.k.a. George Bush and the Bushettes) want.

I guess Geoge Bush feels that 9/11 is none of the American public's business.
posted by Kirsten at 11:59 AM

Wednesday, July 23, 2003

Here's the difference between private enterprise and coercively-funded government programs.

If a private company endangers or kills its passengers, it could be sued for damages and its customers can simply turn off the faucet of funds flowing into the unsafe practices.

On the other hand, if a government agency endangers and or kills its passengers, it is rewarded with additional taxpayer dollars without our consent. For the February 2003 Columbia debacle, NASA is rewarded with at least $200 million dollars over and above its current budget. As usual, government rewards its own incompetence at our expense.
posted by Kirsten at 10:13 PM

Monday, July 21, 2003

I just returned from a rather nice weekend in San Diego. Apparently in San Diego rain is called "bad weather". Hahaha. Isn't that funny?

We stayed at the Kasa Korbett bed and breakfast in the Hillcrest neighborhood. Our host Bob was a really nice fellow, and made us feel very welcome. We dined once again at Anthony's Fish Grotto to satiate our craving for New England-style clam chowder. And we spent some time beach-walking and browsing bookstores.

Fortunately, we made it home last night before a fabulous storm hit. Our dog was happy to see us, but she was really shaken up by the storm. Usually she sleeps under our comforter by our feet, but she was so upset we had to bring her up topside between us. That was great! She was briefly the dog of my dreams, letting us snuggle her between us until we fell asleep. Then at 4:37 am, she decided that we needed to wake up for no apparent reason. Ugh.
posted by Kirsten at 1:03 PM

Thursday, July 17, 2003

Followed a link from Clark Lindsey's HobbySpace to the following interesting article:

Putting NASA's Budget in Perspective

For anyone who thinks we need government to "do space" because only government has the resources, scroll on down to Table 4.

Aside from that, I am amused and please to note that the Border Patrol seems disinclined to use their portable, retractable observation tower in inclement weather. Hooray for monsoon season!
posted by Kirsten at 5:35 PM

Friday, July 11, 2003

Oh suhwheet Juhesus!

I've just been dying for monsoon season to come. After giving up hope this morning that the 20% chance of rain was real (these weatherpersons will promise you the moon with reckless abandon), my attention has just been diverted from archiving e-mail and cleaning up my desk before I go home from work by the sound of THUNDER! Woohoo! Look at that dark sky! Listen to that stupid announcement over the PA warning me to safeguard my electrical equipment!

That's it. I've got to get out of here and get WET!

Bye, bye, Aspen Fire. Hello, soil erosion.
posted by Kirsten at 5:17 PM

Thursday, July 03, 2003

I'm afraid I'll have to agree with my friend Andrew- I'm just not in a mood to celebrate this 4th of July.

Look at the lows to which the United States of America- alleged land of the free- is sinking:

Eleven men of Muslim background- many of whom are United States citizens and one of whom is a Gulf War veteran- were indicted on accusations of conspiring to fight with Islamic guerillas in Kashmir. The evidence? The men spent time together playing paintball and had firearms in their homes- both of which are perfectly legal activities last I knew.

In opposition to American's supposed freedom of association, Representative Marilyn Musgrave and Senator Bill Frist are among those supporting a Constitutional amendment banning nonviolent, noncoercive contractual arrangements among adults. I guess squashing the gay scourge is more important to these busybody, moral elitists than freedom. Not that I am surprised.

And speaking of those who despise freedom, check out how the Tohono O'odham police and the United States Border Patrol have been harassing my friend Terry Bressi. Just click on the link labelled "Roadblock Incident".

In other news, the Aspen Fire in the Catalinas which has already hit Mount Lemmon pretty hard has grown substantially worse in the last couple of days and is once again threatening cabins and telescopes among other things. Whereas the smoke has primarily engulfed the east side of Tucson- with the east side of the Catalinas barely visible, the west side had been fairly clear until today. Driving home to Three Points, however, I noticed an ugly layer of smoke had drifted our way. We need a good rain to wash the particulate out of the sky, but we are in year five of an extended drought with our monsoon season nowhere in sight.

posted by Kirsten at 9:34 PM

HOME - ARCHIVES