My laptop died this morning and I am still in mourning. (Do you like what I did there? I do enjoy a bit of homophony of an evening!) Anyway, it's all very sad. A memorial service will be held in due course. Family flowers only. Donations to the 'Sinead still needs to eat, despite having to buy a new laptop' fund.
The 'silver lining' in this scenario is that I am now the rather bemused owner of a brand spanking new MacBook Pro, or as I'm finding so far, a MehBook. I'm sure that once I get used to its little foibles, get some software installed (that's proving to be unreasonably tricky, grrr!), figure out how to type euro-symbols and put fadas on my e, and generally get to grips with it I will become a convert to the mainstream cult of the Apple. Until then, I still say 'Meh!'
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Eddie the Eagle
Picture, if you will, the pristine snowy slopes; the lone skier, gracefully swooshing down the mountain side, adroitly weaving between trees and around hillocks, sliding to a stop with finesse... And then look over at me, squealing in terror as the incline reaches a terrifyingly steep 2%; as my speed picks up and I lose control of the possessed pieces of plastic attached to my horrendously uncomfortable boots; as I launch myself into yet another snowdrift to halt my precipitous descent to the queue for the chair lift. Avert your eyes in shame as the two Australian guys try not to piss themselves laughing while they pick me up off the ground and I immediately start sliding backwards through the rope barrier and back into the line of people in control of their skis and waiting patiently for their turn.
Pretend you don't notice as I signal frantically to the chair lift operator to slow the bloody thing down so that I can get off and then end up 'skiing' to the top of the slope whilst lying on my back (I kid you not... just as well I've been doing so much yoga in the past few months that my body actually bends like that without breaking anything). Then, something like passing a car crash, watch in horror as I point those possessed slivers of waxed plastic back down towards the bottom of mountain and push off in a wobbly line, straight into another snowdrift. And repeat. Repeatedly. Until the point where one of my skis snaps off my boot - ah! the relief! - and I realise that I no longer have the physical strength remaining to hold myself steady while I snap it back on again. Screw you guys, I'm going home. On the plus side, I don't think I have laughed so much in one day as I did yesterday, even if it was pretty much all at myself. I also became fairly adept at lifting myself from prone to upright without the use of my ankles or knees, which would go a long way to explaining the pain and stiffness currently locking up everything from my ears to my lower shoulders.
So, when are we going again?
So, when are we going again?
Thursday, February 3, 2011
No means No
I am shocked and a little sick to my stomach at the current Republican efforts to redefine 'rape' in order to cut federal funding for reproductive health care.
Currently, federal dollars can't be used to pay for abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or when the woman's life is in danger. A far-reaching anti-choice bill, introduced by Republican Chris Smith and supported by 173 members of the House, includes a provision that would narrow that use to "cases of 'forcible' rape but not statutory or coerced rape." So, it's alright as long as he used roofies, or didn't smack you around a bit first. Date rape is probably okay too, so that's all fine.
Seriously, people? How can this be okay?
Update: apparently the word 'forcible' will be dropped... apparently someone realised that rape, by definition, was non-consensual. Freaking geniuses.
Currently, federal dollars can't be used to pay for abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or when the woman's life is in danger. A far-reaching anti-choice bill, introduced by Republican Chris Smith and supported by 173 members of the House, includes a provision that would narrow that use to "cases of 'forcible' rape but not statutory or coerced rape." So, it's alright as long as he used roofies, or didn't smack you around a bit first. Date rape is probably okay too, so that's all fine.
Seriously, people? How can this be okay?
Update: apparently the word 'forcible' will be dropped... apparently someone realised that rape, by definition, was non-consensual. Freaking geniuses.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Fox News in Nazi Analogy Shocker(s)
Anyone a fan of the balanced, non-partisan and fair news coverage provided by the Fox News channel? Then read no further, unless you want you illusions (delusions) shattered!
Democratic representative Steve Cohen (Tennessee) stirred up a bit of a media shit storm last month when he commented on his political opponents, saying "They say it's a government takeover of health care? A big lie. Just like Goebbels. You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie and eventually people believe it... the Germans said enough about the Jews and the people believed it and you had the Holocaust."
John Stewart's Daily Show did a very good job of demonstrating the outrage that such a comment caused. On Fox News.
20 January
Female Anchor: He compared the GOP Health Law claims to Nazi lies.
Male Anchor: I know you're kidding.
Female Anchor: No, I'm not!
19 January
Bill O'Reilly: It is accusing the other side of being Nazis, I mean, that's pretty strong... the rhetoric is absolutely over the top.
20 January
Female Anchor: The media should be all over Steve Cohen.
Sean Hannity: If Republicans ever made such a comparison, well you know the mainstream media would be all over it.
19 January
Karl Rove: Congressman Cohen should be ashamed of himself!
At which point Jon Stewart interjects with the observation that "if that guy is telling you you should feel shame..." before pointing out that "of course, you can always count on some Democratic buzz-kill to twist things around", cue Richard Socarides ('Democratic strategist') on Fox News with anchor Megyn Kelly.
20 January
Richard: If we want to get into who's heating this and who's over-heating this, I mean, y'know, every night on the very network that we're on right now, the leading commentators on this network use this kind of language, so let's you and I get together right now and say that...
Megyn: (shocked and appalled) That's just not true, Richard!
Richard: (laughing a bit) Well, that is tr-- I mean, listen, you know, people can be the judge of it.
Megyn: (righteous indignation with perfect hair and teeth) The can! I don't know if you sit and watch our programming every night, but I watch it every day and you're wrong.
Jon Stewart steps in again to let us know that "I watch it every day too - 12 long years. I think he might be right". But just to be sure, issues a challenge to his staff to find any evidence to back this up. You can guess where this is going...
28 February 2008
Bill O'Reilly: If you look back at what happened in Germany, you cannot escape the similarities of what Hitler and his cut-throats did back then and the hate-filled blogs what they're doing now.
5 March 2010
Glenn Beck: There is this Obama supporter. He's got this book and this video out that are propaganda pieces, and I'm tellin' ya, they would make Joseph Goebbels proud.
27 September 2007
Tammy Bruce: You have a media-gestapo in media matters and then you have a political-gestapo in moveon.org.
8 December 2005
Bill O'Reilly: The far-left in this country, the zealots, I mean, these are zealots, are Nazis.
12 August 2010
Glenn Beck: America is repeating the mistakes of the Weimar Republic.
27 February 2007
Bill O'Reilly: I don't see any difference between Huffington and the Nazis.
Mary Katherine Ham: (editor of townhall.org) I still don't think she's a Nazi.
Bill O'Reilly: I didn't say she was a Nazi.
Mary Katherine Ham: (laughing) Alright.
Bill O'Reilly: I said there's no difference between what the two do.
According to Jon Stewart, it's just too easy to find people making Nazi comparisons on Fox News, so he challenges his staff to find someone making a Nazi comparison within 24-hours of Megyn Kelly saying it doesn't happen on that network. Sure enough, 3 and a half hours after her exchange with Richard Socarides...
Glenn Beck: I know the progressives are using progressive tactics. They're not using Nazi tactics. They're, they're, - the real answer is the Nazis were using early American Progressive tactics and that's not my opinion, that's historic fact.
The next challenge for the Daily Show intra-student was to find someone, who had earlier condemned it, making the same Nazi comparison as Cohen.
12 March 2007
Bill O'Reilly: The Suarez/Lewis (?) mob despises Fox News because we have their number and report on them accurately. They use the moveon website to smear this network and others with whom they disagree. These people use propaganda techniques perfected by Dr Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Information. They lie, distort, defame, all the time.
Taking it to the top, find the boss of Fox News, Roger Ailes, explicitly calling people who aren't Nazis Nazis. And along comes a copy of a print interview in 'The Daily Beast' apparently, dated 17 November (no year) where he is quoted as saying of the NPR executives that fired Ron Williams "They are Nazis. They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism."
Final challenge. Megyn Kelly watches Fox News all the time and yet has not seen anyone equating political opponents to Nazis or Nazi behaviour, so find someone doing it actually on her show, with her present.
31 March 2010
Megyn Kelly: Bernie, did you watch it? What did you think?
Bernie Goldberg: (commenting on media coverage of liberal protesters) Well, true believers always make me a little nervous. I am not calling these people Nazis, I want to make that clear. But they are not behaving like Liberals. They are behaving like brown-shirted thugs.
Oh Gander! Your goose sauce is ready...
It's a lot like the pot calling the kettle 'black', or my personal favourite, the cat calling the dog 'hairy hole'.
Democratic representative Steve Cohen (Tennessee) stirred up a bit of a media shit storm last month when he commented on his political opponents, saying "They say it's a government takeover of health care? A big lie. Just like Goebbels. You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie and eventually people believe it... the Germans said enough about the Jews and the people believed it and you had the Holocaust."
John Stewart's Daily Show did a very good job of demonstrating the outrage that such a comment caused. On Fox News.
20 January
Female Anchor: He compared the GOP Health Law claims to Nazi lies.
Male Anchor: I know you're kidding.
Female Anchor: No, I'm not!
19 January
Bill O'Reilly: It is accusing the other side of being Nazis, I mean, that's pretty strong... the rhetoric is absolutely over the top.
20 January
Female Anchor: The media should be all over Steve Cohen.
Sean Hannity: If Republicans ever made such a comparison, well you know the mainstream media would be all over it.
19 January
Karl Rove: Congressman Cohen should be ashamed of himself!
At which point Jon Stewart interjects with the observation that "if that guy is telling you you should feel shame..." before pointing out that "of course, you can always count on some Democratic buzz-kill to twist things around", cue Richard Socarides ('Democratic strategist') on Fox News with anchor Megyn Kelly.
20 January
Richard: If we want to get into who's heating this and who's over-heating this, I mean, y'know, every night on the very network that we're on right now, the leading commentators on this network use this kind of language, so let's you and I get together right now and say that...
Megyn: (shocked and appalled) That's just not true, Richard!
Richard: (laughing a bit) Well, that is tr-- I mean, listen, you know, people can be the judge of it.
Megyn: (righteous indignation with perfect hair and teeth) The can! I don't know if you sit and watch our programming every night, but I watch it every day and you're wrong.
Jon Stewart steps in again to let us know that "I watch it every day too - 12 long years. I think he might be right". But just to be sure, issues a challenge to his staff to find any evidence to back this up. You can guess where this is going...
28 February 2008
Bill O'Reilly: If you look back at what happened in Germany, you cannot escape the similarities of what Hitler and his cut-throats did back then and the hate-filled blogs what they're doing now.
5 March 2010
Glenn Beck: There is this Obama supporter. He's got this book and this video out that are propaganda pieces, and I'm tellin' ya, they would make Joseph Goebbels proud.
27 September 2007
Tammy Bruce: You have a media-gestapo in media matters and then you have a political-gestapo in moveon.org.
8 December 2005
Bill O'Reilly: The far-left in this country, the zealots, I mean, these are zealots, are Nazis.
12 August 2010
Glenn Beck: America is repeating the mistakes of the Weimar Republic.
27 February 2007
Bill O'Reilly: I don't see any difference between Huffington and the Nazis.
Mary Katherine Ham: (editor of townhall.org) I still don't think she's a Nazi.
Bill O'Reilly: I didn't say she was a Nazi.
Mary Katherine Ham: (laughing) Alright.
Bill O'Reilly: I said there's no difference between what the two do.
According to Jon Stewart, it's just too easy to find people making Nazi comparisons on Fox News, so he challenges his staff to find someone making a Nazi comparison within 24-hours of Megyn Kelly saying it doesn't happen on that network. Sure enough, 3 and a half hours after her exchange with Richard Socarides...
Glenn Beck: I know the progressives are using progressive tactics. They're not using Nazi tactics. They're, they're, - the real answer is the Nazis were using early American Progressive tactics and that's not my opinion, that's historic fact.
The next challenge for the Daily Show intra-student was to find someone, who had earlier condemned it, making the same Nazi comparison as Cohen.
12 March 2007
Bill O'Reilly: The Suarez/Lewis (?) mob despises Fox News because we have their number and report on them accurately. They use the moveon website to smear this network and others with whom they disagree. These people use propaganda techniques perfected by Dr Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Information. They lie, distort, defame, all the time.
Taking it to the top, find the boss of Fox News, Roger Ailes, explicitly calling people who aren't Nazis Nazis. And along comes a copy of a print interview in 'The Daily Beast' apparently, dated 17 November (no year) where he is quoted as saying of the NPR executives that fired Ron Williams "They are Nazis. They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism."
Final challenge. Megyn Kelly watches Fox News all the time and yet has not seen anyone equating political opponents to Nazis or Nazi behaviour, so find someone doing it actually on her show, with her present.
31 March 2010
Megyn Kelly: Bernie, did you watch it? What did you think?
Bernie Goldberg: (commenting on media coverage of liberal protesters) Well, true believers always make me a little nervous. I am not calling these people Nazis, I want to make that clear. But they are not behaving like Liberals. They are behaving like brown-shirted thugs.
Oh Gander! Your goose sauce is ready...
It's a lot like the pot calling the kettle 'black', or my personal favourite, the cat calling the dog 'hairy hole'.
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