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08/27/2004 Archived Entry: "Miscellaneous"

Cartoons!...Chan Lowe's "Kerry's Support"; Ted Rall's "Dare Not to Dream"; Tom Toles' "Who's Calling the Shots?"; and, Mark Fiore's "The Art of Political Attack". Here's a cynical and pointed freebie being offered by Cabbies Against Bush (CAB). And, as a whimsical antidote. find out what your name -- or another word -- looks like in hieroglyphics.

I am not used to being ill. That's probably because I am the end result of centuries of peasant's interbreeding and sharing the type of genes that have to be sturdy to make it through a rigorous selection process. But, yesterday, I got out of bed, toppled back over...and there I remained all day, the apparent victim of an ear infection that made the world slant and slip whenever I tried to negotiate through it. (I say 'apparent' because I rarely go to the doctor to danoge or confirm any illness, being of the belief that doctors do as much harm as good and, so, should be used as a last resort.) The 18+ hours of sleep seems to have worked its magic tho' and -- at 4 a.m. when my eyes snapped open -- the walls were reassuringly solid, static; the floor didn't threaten to meet my face with extreme prejudice; and the coffee tasted *so* good. It is terrific to be back.

Gordon P. -- our resident scientific guru (Brad is the tekkie one) -- sends along this item. He comments, "As much as I dislike some of the policies of the World Health Organization, the Bush Admin's new prior-restraint policy of requiring WHO to get permission from the Dept. of Health and Human Services before speaking to U.S. scientists and requiring U.S. scientists to get permission from HHS before attending 'multilateral' meetings even w/in the U.S. is even _MORE_ unconscionable... >:-(" Item quoted: "A new policy requires them to submit official Notifications of Foreign Travel before meeting with "multilateral" organizations, including the World Bank, the Pan American Health Organization, UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme and other U.N. organizations, even if the meetings will take place within the United States."

Chris Sciabarra writes (on the Liberty and Power blog to which I also contribute): "Some Republicans are not very happy campers over Dick Cheney's words of support for his lesbian daughter, which come, curiously, a few days before the GOP convention in NYC....Now comes word that the organizers of the Republican National Convention have nixed the discounts offered to delegates by NYC's tourist bureau to a popular, gay-friendly, off-Broadway play called Naked Boys Singing, a riotous, hilarious production I saw a few years back. The organizers said 'thanks, but no thanks'; the play just does not 'best suit our audience,' exclaimed Leonardo Alcivar, GOP convention press secretary. Apparently, though, as a testament to the Big Tent that the GOP constitutes, "about a dozen people had bought tickets" to the play. These people used "the special code offered on the Web site," and the producers of the show said that these 'tickets will [still] be honored.' Not sure if these dozen people constitute the whole Log Cabin Republican contingent, but I'm glad to see that the Big Tent remains a Republican ideal."

I recently learned that Jeremy Lott -- an editor with whom I've worked off-and-on for several years now -- is available for employment/assignments as an editor or writer. I recommend both his work and his character. Read more at his blogsite, Jeremiads.

Best to all,
mac