another interesting lesson to come out of this terrorist mess - Flag Etiquette. it sucks that it's taken something like this to bring up the topic, but at least now it's being discussed. and it appears that things have changed over the years - as a kid i remember hearing it was completely unacceptable to fly the flag at night. apparently, this has changed. "When a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness." same goes for flying the flag in the rain - with the advent of flags made of nylon and such, it's not such the taboo. "The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except when an all weather flag is displayed."
here's one i hadn't heard: "The flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle or of a railroad train or a boat. When the flag is displayed on a motorcar, the staff shall be fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender." So, where does that leave all these people out there with the little flags hanging off the side of their cars?
and the best of all? "The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard." uh oh. at work last week it seemed as though every freakin client we had wanted a flag background in their ad. and we all know Wheels & Deals and The Trader are definitely for temporary use and discard!
Friday, September 21, 2001
just got home from community hospital, where i had my sleep study done...basically, they tape wires to your legs, tape wires to your chest, glue wires to your head, stick tubes in your nose, stick a monitor on your finger, put a belt around your chest and one around your belly, add a few more wires in for good measure, turn on the video camera, then tuck you into bed to act like nothing's out of the ordinary. easy as pie. though i was tired, it seemed to take FOREVER to get to sleep...then i woke up to pee and it seemed to take FOREVER to get back to sleep - i didn't think i was going to go back to sleep, but once i did, WHAM! i was out. susan, the lab tech, has quite an interesting job - let's sit around and watch people sleep all night! it is pretty fascinating though, when she woke me up this morning, she said she could tell i was dreaming - i was in rem...and i just barely remember dreaming - though if it's about work shouldn't it be considered a nightmare? it'll be 1-2 weeks before Dr. Mohan gets results...
Wednesday, September 19, 2001
Tuesday, September 18, 2001
good food for thought from Michael Moore, posted 9/14/01 on alternet.org:
"The man who occupies the White House cried today. Good. Keep crying, Mr. Bush. The more you cry, the less you will go to that dark side in all humans where anger rages to a point where we want to blindly kill. Your dad's and Reagan's old cronies -- Eagleberger, Baker, Schultz -- are all calling for you to bomb first and ask questions later. You must NOT do this. If only because you do not want to stoop to these mass murderers' level. Yes, find out who did it. Yes, see that they NEVER do it again.
But GET A GRIP, man. "Declare war?" War against whom? One guy in the desert whom we can never seem to find? Are our leaders telling us that the most powerful country on earth cannot dispose of one sick evil f---wad of a guy? Because if that is what you are telling us, then we are truly screwed. If you are unable to take out this lone ZZ Top wannabe, what on earth would you do for us if we were attacked by a nation of millions? For chrissakes, call the Israelis and have them do that thing they do when they want to get their man! We pay them enough billions each year, I am SURE they would be happy to accommodate your request.
But I beg you, Mr. Bush, stay with the tears. Go today to comfort the wounded of New York. Tell the mayor, a guy most of us have not liked, that he is doing an incredible job, keeping the spirits of everyone up as high as they can be at this moment. Being there for a city I believe he loves, his own cancer still with him, he goes beyond the call of duty.
But do not declare war and massacre more innocents. After bin Laden's previous act of terror, our last elected president went and bombed what he said was "bin Laden's camp" in Afghanistan -- but instead just killed civilians. Then he bombed a factory in the Sudan, saying it was "making chemical weapons." It turned out to be making aspirin. Innocent people murdered by our Air Force.
Back in May, you gave the Taliban in Afghanistan $48 million dollars of our tax money. No free nation on earth would give them a cent, but you gave them a gift of $48 million because they said they had "banned all drugs."
Because your drug war was more important than the actual war the Taliban had inflicted on its own people, you helped to fund the regime who had given refuge to the very man you now say is responsible for killing my friend on that plane and for killing the friends of families of thousands and thousands of people. How dare you talk about more killing now! Shame! Shame! Shame! Explain your actions in support of the Taliban! Tell us why your father and his partner Mr. Reagan trained Mr. bin Laden in how to be a terrorist!
Am I angry? You bet I am. I am an American citizen, and my leaders have taken my money to fund mass murder. And now my friends have paid the price with their lives.
Keep crying, Mr. Bush. Keep running to Omaha or wherever it is you go while others die, just as you ran during Vietnam while claiming to be "on duty" in the Air National Guard. Nine boys from my high school died in that miserable war. And now you are asking for "unity" so you can start another one? Do not insult me or my country like this!
Yes, I, too, will be in church at noon today, on this national day of mourning. I will pray for you, and us, and the children of New York, and the children of this sad and ugly world. "
"The man who occupies the White House cried today. Good. Keep crying, Mr. Bush. The more you cry, the less you will go to that dark side in all humans where anger rages to a point where we want to blindly kill. Your dad's and Reagan's old cronies -- Eagleberger, Baker, Schultz -- are all calling for you to bomb first and ask questions later. You must NOT do this. If only because you do not want to stoop to these mass murderers' level. Yes, find out who did it. Yes, see that they NEVER do it again.
But GET A GRIP, man. "Declare war?" War against whom? One guy in the desert whom we can never seem to find? Are our leaders telling us that the most powerful country on earth cannot dispose of one sick evil f---wad of a guy? Because if that is what you are telling us, then we are truly screwed. If you are unable to take out this lone ZZ Top wannabe, what on earth would you do for us if we were attacked by a nation of millions? For chrissakes, call the Israelis and have them do that thing they do when they want to get their man! We pay them enough billions each year, I am SURE they would be happy to accommodate your request.
But I beg you, Mr. Bush, stay with the tears. Go today to comfort the wounded of New York. Tell the mayor, a guy most of us have not liked, that he is doing an incredible job, keeping the spirits of everyone up as high as they can be at this moment. Being there for a city I believe he loves, his own cancer still with him, he goes beyond the call of duty.
But do not declare war and massacre more innocents. After bin Laden's previous act of terror, our last elected president went and bombed what he said was "bin Laden's camp" in Afghanistan -- but instead just killed civilians. Then he bombed a factory in the Sudan, saying it was "making chemical weapons." It turned out to be making aspirin. Innocent people murdered by our Air Force.
Back in May, you gave the Taliban in Afghanistan $48 million dollars of our tax money. No free nation on earth would give them a cent, but you gave them a gift of $48 million because they said they had "banned all drugs."
Because your drug war was more important than the actual war the Taliban had inflicted on its own people, you helped to fund the regime who had given refuge to the very man you now say is responsible for killing my friend on that plane and for killing the friends of families of thousands and thousands of people. How dare you talk about more killing now! Shame! Shame! Shame! Explain your actions in support of the Taliban! Tell us why your father and his partner Mr. Reagan trained Mr. bin Laden in how to be a terrorist!
Am I angry? You bet I am. I am an American citizen, and my leaders have taken my money to fund mass murder. And now my friends have paid the price with their lives.
Keep crying, Mr. Bush. Keep running to Omaha or wherever it is you go while others die, just as you ran during Vietnam while claiming to be "on duty" in the Air National Guard. Nine boys from my high school died in that miserable war. And now you are asking for "unity" so you can start another one? Do not insult me or my country like this!
Yes, I, too, will be in church at noon today, on this national day of mourning. I will pray for you, and us, and the children of New York, and the children of this sad and ugly world. "
an email i sent to clara, replying to her msg...kinda sums up some of the feelings i've been having lately...
hey darling...*big hugs*
>I'm *way* at a loss for words. I didn't actually *see* any of this
>unfold -- I was already at work when I heard it was happening (no tv)
i was asleep when it happened - woke up about 2pm to see it on the tv...then the tv stayed on till it was time to go to work...once at work, we listened to msnbc through our computers...
>we turned on our little weather radio, but no *visual* input -- I don't
>think it's really *registered* on me, on that subterranean level that
>causes me to *feel* something.... Does that make sense?
yeah, it makes sense...
>I haven't
>watched tv much since then, either, it's all been commentary on
>commentary on someone else's commentary....
and everybody's certainly had commentary, haven't they? i've kept my mouth shut, for the most part...
>And I find myself thinking things like: "There are other buildings in
>New York. There are other people in New York. Give 'em a month, and
>everything will be back running smoothly.
i dunno if that's gonna be the case or not...these were some BIG fucking buildings...lots of people are gonna be displaced (well, the ones that aren't dead, at least) and businesses are gonna have to relocate...my fear is that after a month everyone's just gonna go back to the attitude that prevailed before sept 11 - the very shortsighted, "it's all about me" sort of thoughts...especially with the whole air travel thing - yeah, people are okay now with the added wait at the airports and extra tight security going on, but will they continue to see the necessity for it in a few months or years? i'd like to think that this will really change people, but somehow i think we'll just go back to the way it was after things cool down a bit...
>If they *really* wanted to
>damage us, they shoulda gone for the bridges over the Mississippi or
>something. It would take a couple of *years* to replace those
>bridges...."
eh, middle america doesn't count for much...guess that's one benefit to living here, eh?
>And Falwell's comments.... God, let's not even *go* there.
yeah...what a dipshit...amazing to see he's sort of apologized for it, in his own way...he (rightfully) got a lot of bad press about it...
>I also find myself thinking: "This was way too organized. Way too long
>in the planning. There had to be people on the inside, as it were. And
>there has to be a full, functioning *government* behind this, cuz one
>buncha towel-heads couldn't set this up *and* follow through with it...."
i dunno about the government theory...bin laden has at least $300 million of his own money at his disposal, not to mention all the money the us gave him over the years when the soviets were our "enemy" and he was fighting them...the guy's a total wacko...and there's nothing we can do to make peace - he wants nothing but the complete destruction of the united states and anyone that even remotely sympathizes with us...the only thing we can do is blow the fucker away before he does it to us...
>I started to make some kinda comments onlist, then I thought, what's the
>point? A couple of my animal lists have people *leaving* because they've
>gotten so *Christian* about all this.
the christian thing's bugged me a bit too...all the "god bless america" stuff has me a bit uneasy. i can understand the patriotism, but does it all have to be tied into religion?
i've always been an on again/off again believer, agnostic type, but this shit makes me wonder if there really is a god - if there is, how could she/he/it let this happen?!?
>One pagan woman on the rabbit
>list, a member for over 6 years!, has left because someone chewed her ass
>*onlist* about being partially responsible for all this because she
>doesn't believe in God!
sheesh...goes along the same lines as muslims here in the states getting harrassed and threatened - it's just so fucking crazy the amount of prejudice and stupidity out there...
>Me, I blame Dubya. Not that he has anything to do with it, probably, but
>he's such a dork.... ; )
amazingly enough, i'm okay with how Shrub's handling things...i was surprised he didn't just decide to blow all the fuckers up and ask questions later...definitely a dork, but i'm okay with how he's handling things thus far...
the way it looks now, i guess it's inevitable that we're gonna end up in a war, with the taliban telling people to prepare for a holy war with the us...what a fucking waste...can't we all just get along? guess not...
*sigh*
lori
hey darling...*big hugs*
>I'm *way* at a loss for words. I didn't actually *see* any of this
>unfold -- I was already at work when I heard it was happening (no tv)
i was asleep when it happened - woke up about 2pm to see it on the tv...then the tv stayed on till it was time to go to work...once at work, we listened to msnbc through our computers...
>we turned on our little weather radio, but no *visual* input -- I don't
>think it's really *registered* on me, on that subterranean level that
>causes me to *feel* something.... Does that make sense?
yeah, it makes sense...
>I haven't
>watched tv much since then, either, it's all been commentary on
>commentary on someone else's commentary....
and everybody's certainly had commentary, haven't they? i've kept my mouth shut, for the most part...
>And I find myself thinking things like: "There are other buildings in
>New York. There are other people in New York. Give 'em a month, and
>everything will be back running smoothly.
i dunno if that's gonna be the case or not...these were some BIG fucking buildings...lots of people are gonna be displaced (well, the ones that aren't dead, at least) and businesses are gonna have to relocate...my fear is that after a month everyone's just gonna go back to the attitude that prevailed before sept 11 - the very shortsighted, "it's all about me" sort of thoughts...especially with the whole air travel thing - yeah, people are okay now with the added wait at the airports and extra tight security going on, but will they continue to see the necessity for it in a few months or years? i'd like to think that this will really change people, but somehow i think we'll just go back to the way it was after things cool down a bit...
>If they *really* wanted to
>damage us, they shoulda gone for the bridges over the Mississippi or
>something. It would take a couple of *years* to replace those
>bridges...."
eh, middle america doesn't count for much...guess that's one benefit to living here, eh?
>And Falwell's comments.... God, let's not even *go* there.
yeah...what a dipshit...amazing to see he's sort of apologized for it, in his own way...he (rightfully) got a lot of bad press about it...
>I also find myself thinking: "This was way too organized. Way too long
>in the planning. There had to be people on the inside, as it were. And
>there has to be a full, functioning *government* behind this, cuz one
>buncha towel-heads couldn't set this up *and* follow through with it...."
i dunno about the government theory...bin laden has at least $300 million of his own money at his disposal, not to mention all the money the us gave him over the years when the soviets were our "enemy" and he was fighting them...the guy's a total wacko...and there's nothing we can do to make peace - he wants nothing but the complete destruction of the united states and anyone that even remotely sympathizes with us...the only thing we can do is blow the fucker away before he does it to us...
>I started to make some kinda comments onlist, then I thought, what's the
>point? A couple of my animal lists have people *leaving* because they've
>gotten so *Christian* about all this.
the christian thing's bugged me a bit too...all the "god bless america" stuff has me a bit uneasy. i can understand the patriotism, but does it all have to be tied into religion?
i've always been an on again/off again believer, agnostic type, but this shit makes me wonder if there really is a god - if there is, how could she/he/it let this happen?!?
>One pagan woman on the rabbit
>list, a member for over 6 years!, has left because someone chewed her ass
>*onlist* about being partially responsible for all this because she
>doesn't believe in God!
sheesh...goes along the same lines as muslims here in the states getting harrassed and threatened - it's just so fucking crazy the amount of prejudice and stupidity out there...
>Me, I blame Dubya. Not that he has anything to do with it, probably, but
>he's such a dork.... ; )
amazingly enough, i'm okay with how Shrub's handling things...i was surprised he didn't just decide to blow all the fuckers up and ask questions later...definitely a dork, but i'm okay with how he's handling things thus far...
the way it looks now, i guess it's inevitable that we're gonna end up in a war, with the taliban telling people to prepare for a holy war with the us...what a fucking waste...can't we all just get along? guess not...
*sigh*
lori
Sunday, September 16, 2001
time is just c r a w l i n g ...it doesn't seem as though it's been five days since the terrorist attacks...
seems people are getting more and more antsy about taking action...it's pretty obvious it's the work of osama bin laden's group, but i think that we've secured everything to the point that we can take some time to make sure that the actions we take are the right ones. just dropping a bomb on the middle east isn't the way to go about this.
this certainly has been a learning experience...
for instance: learning other religions' views on blood and organ donation (interesting - jehovah's witnesses are opposed to blood transfusions, but organ donation is okay if no blood is transferred) Various Religious Viewpoints
also: a geography lesson on afghanistan and the middle east (turkmenistan? tajikistan? kyrgystan? uzbekistan? they don't get much air time, but they've been mentioned a few times in the news now), it's clear that we americans are very shortsighted and concerned with that which only directly affects us. if anything good can come of this tragedy, perhaps it's that we become a bit more aware of the rest of the world.
seems people are getting more and more antsy about taking action...it's pretty obvious it's the work of osama bin laden's group, but i think that we've secured everything to the point that we can take some time to make sure that the actions we take are the right ones. just dropping a bomb on the middle east isn't the way to go about this.
this certainly has been a learning experience...
for instance: learning other religions' views on blood and organ donation (interesting - jehovah's witnesses are opposed to blood transfusions, but organ donation is okay if no blood is transferred) Various Religious Viewpoints
also: a geography lesson on afghanistan and the middle east (turkmenistan? tajikistan? kyrgystan? uzbekistan? they don't get much air time, but they've been mentioned a few times in the news now), it's clear that we americans are very shortsighted and concerned with that which only directly affects us. if anything good can come of this tragedy, perhaps it's that we become a bit more aware of the rest of the world.
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