my city ranks as the 11th cleanest city in the nation

apparently they have never been down park street, capital avenue, farmington avenue, sisson avenue and on and on and on. don't get me wrong, i LOVE my city, it's not that clean though.

HARTFORD -- A national magazine ranks Hartford as one of the cleanest cities in
the United States.......http://www.wfsb.com/Global/story.asp?S=3637316

now i can finally sleep easy!

AMMAN, Jordan -- On his first visit to the Middle East,
Ricky Martin declared he will try to change negative perceptions of Arab youth
in the West.
"I promise I will become a spokesperson, if you allow me to, a
spokesperson on your behalf. I will defend you and try to get rid of any
stereotypes," the 33-year-old singer told youngsters from 16 mainly Arab
countries at a youth conference on Monday....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/25/AR2005072500358.html


he IS kidding right? hey ricky, what's up with that do (and come to think of it, the matching shirts?????????????)

i love skippy and his friends

i found this great site today (thanks to my favorite blog, skippy the bush kangaroo) http://xnerg.blogspot.com/ (who found it via talk left: http://talkleft.com/new_archives/011627.html )

it's the rove clock! (wonderful)

http://democrats.senate.gov/leak.html

i learned a new word today: leucistic

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/07/19/rare.gator.ap/index.html

r.i.p. long john

january 12, 1941 - july 21, 2005

sounds like semantics to me

Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. has repeatedly said that he has no memory of belonging to the Federalist Society, but his name appears in the influential, conservative legal organization's 1997-1998 leadership directory.........

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/24/AR2005072401201.html?referrer=email

no memory from 1997-1998? if this is true (and of course it isn't, but let's just SAY it was) do we really want someone on the supreme court who cannot remember what organizations they belong/belonged to a few years back?

summertime tomato sauce recipe

a friend of mine (thank you dearest cochon) who lived in italy for a while shared his recipe for no-cook summertime tomato sauce. here is my version of his recipe: several fresh tomatoes
a handful of fresh basil
2 tablespoons (give or take) of olive oil (only use the finest quality of course)
4 tablespoons (give or take) of balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
garlic, sliced thinly
onions chopped fine
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (if you wish)if you like you may add others spices and red pepper flakes and chopped imported black olives.
wash tomatoes and basil (that goes without saying). smush tomatoes with your HANDS in a non-metalic bowl. glass or pottery works very well. tear basil and place in bowl. add the olive oil, onions, vinegar and other ingredients. stir and cover. let rest in a cool place or your refrigerator for a few hours. may be served over pasta OR over grilled (with olive oil) hearty peasant-type bread.

shoot to kill????

sadly, the man killed by british police the other day had NO connections to any terrorists or terrorist organizations. he was a brazilian legally residing in england and on his way to work.

Of the fast-unfolding developments, the most overwhelming for many Londoners, was the police admission that an apparently innocent man had been gunned down in full public view - a killing that left the city even more rattled after a wave of attacks, alarms, scares and shootings that, in a brief three weeks has propelled London from the euphoria of the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park to a sense of embattled siege.
"For somebody to lose their life in such circumstances is a tragedy and one that the Metropolitan Police Service regrets," a police statement said, noting that the police had started a formal inquiry. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/international/24london.html?ei=5094&en=133e85131d3ecaea&hp=&ex=1122264000&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1122213997-tgRYbtTpYKpS1oaK5gIU7A

movies

another wonderful movie from ferzan ozpetez (of steam: turkish bath fame). his secret life http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274497/





i've not seen anything like this in a great long while. charming, lovely, moving, funny, mesmerizing

the triplets of bellevelle (belleville rendez-vous) http://www.bellevillerendezvous.com/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286244/

soundtrack: http://www.musicomh.com/albums/ben-charest.htm

if you can't trust me with a choice........

http://feministplanet.com/main.asp


WASHINGTON, July 22 - Judge John G. Roberts has left little hard evidence of his views on abortion in recent years and is widely expected to try to avoid the issue in his coming confirmation hearings.
But there is little mystery about the views of his wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, a Roman Catholic lawyer from the Bronx whose pro bono work for Feminists for Life is drawing intense interest in the ideologically charged environment of a Supreme Court confirmation debate. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/23/politics/politicsspecial1/23jane.html?hp&ex=1122177600&en=a14a55cb4bcc949f&ei=5094&partner=homepage

i don't care if you're roman catholic (or anything else). i don't care if you're against abortion (DO NOT HAVE ONE), i don't care if you advocate for women NOT to have abortions BUT do NOT take away voe v. wade. if you feel so very strongly why not set up BIRTH CONTROL EDUCATION PROGRAMS in our schools? do you actually think education of this nature promotes sexual promiscuity? it doesn't. To make good decisions and protect themselves, young people need accurate information about sex. http://www.lambdalegal.org/cgi-bin/iowa/documents/record2.html?record=1128

i acutally understand other's belief systems. not wanting abortions and i support them. i do not support a society where women must resort to back alley coat hanger abortions. they should remain SAFE AND LEGAL always and forever.

Pediatricians Denounce Abstinence-Only Education "Even though there is great enthusiasm in some circles for abstinence-only interventions, the evidence does not support abstinence-only interventions as the best way to keep young people from unintended pregnancy," said Dr. Jonathan Klein, chairman of the academy committee that wrote the new recommendations. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=908827&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

if men could get pregnant, we'd have birth control dispensed on EVERY street corner 24/7 for FREE

i had NO idea no woman came before her

7/21/2005 - In an important advancement for women conductors and musicians, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra appointed Marin Alsop to the post of music director this week. Alsop will be the first woman to conduct a major American symphony. She was appointed despite opposition from some of the orchestra’s musicians, with strong support from the Board of Directors who made the final decision.

http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswire.asp

http://www.marinalsop.com/

it's 2005, how can this be? she is the FIRST? my my my

i actually LIKE natto

found a very funny ezine/blog. steve don't eat this: http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/cat_steve_dont_eat_it.php


i know i'm odd, i actually like the slimy stuff.

flip flop this

since i am mad for flip flops, i loved this! http://www.525reasons.com/archives/000897.html

(and yes i do crochet over my flip flop straps)

consider yourself already beamed

"capun she cannuh take much moor." R I P dear one
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/20/AR2005072002204.html

from star trek iv; the voyage home - SCOTTY: "Admiral, there be whales here"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092007/quotes

i am loath to admit this BUT at the ending of star trek iv, when scotty sees the new ship, i wept just like a grrrl. you just KNEW he was the one who appreciated it the most and she was indeed a beauty.

you thought you misdirected us with the roberts nomination didn't you?

well you didn't!

from wapo

A classified State Department memorandum central to a federal leak investigation contained information about CIA officer Valerie Plame in a paragraph marked "(S)" for secret, a clear indication that any Bush administration official who read it should have been aware the information was classified, according to current and former government officials.

and it goes on further to state;

The paragraph identifying her as the wife of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV was clearly marked to show that it contained classified material at the "secret" level, two sources said. The CIA classifies as "secret" the names of officers whose identities are covert, according to former senior agency officials

and further yet: It is a federal crime, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for a federal official to knowingly disclose the identity of a covert CIA official if the person knows the government is trying to keep it secret.

read it at; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/20/AR2005072002517.html

those wacky bolivians!

"EL ALTO, Bolivia - In her red multilayered skirt, white pumps and gold-laced shawl, the traditional dress of the Aymara people, Ana Polonia Choque might well be preparing for a night of folk dancing or, perhaps, a religious festival. But as Carmen Rosa, master of the ring and winner of 100 bone-crunching bouts in Bolivia's colorful wrestling circuit, she is actually dressing for a night of mayhem" nyt article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/21/international/americas/21bolivia.html?hp&ex=1122004800&en=0f87727438461d00&ei=5094&partner=homepage

i like that - a night of mayhem (sounds like my house)

this is what inspired me to start blogging again http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062700632.html

http://www.time.com/time/asia/2004/heroes/hmukhtar_mai.html


mukhtar mai is a new hero of mine. i don't say that lightly. for women everywhere, for their children and their husbands and their uncles and their aunts and their grandparents and their domestic partners and their ABUSERS - she stood up - she spoke and her tiny voice rocked a nation AND the world

roberts indeed

YOUR president nominated this man: http://www.now.org/press/07-05/07-19.html
to serve on the supreme court

and from the washington post: "On the D.C. Circuit, Roberts voted with two colleagues to uphold the arrest and detention of a 12-year-old girl for eating french fries on a Metro train, though his opinion noted, "No one is very happy about the events that led to this litigation." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/01/AR2005070102247.html?nav=rss_print/asection

oh, i'm NOT going to forget about rove: http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_19318.shtml

what a bunch of id-jits

'Looking to punish this city for enacting a ban on assault weapons, the National Rifle Association announced on Monday that it had canceled plans to hold its national convention here in 2007, an event that was expected to pump more than $15 million into the local economy.'

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/19/national/19nra.html?

i say good riddance to them! bullies, that is all they are.

http://www.bradycampaign.org/
http://www2.stopthenra.com/

sunday sunday rainy sunday

i just saw a wonderful movie. 'facing windows' a lovely little film. no car chases, no julia's or jennifers or bens or brads or angelinas. it involved a real story with REAL writing and REAL acting. http://http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352343/



now i'm watching meet the press and chris matthews. of course it's all about rove (i shudder, i absolutely shudder). as sam donaldson said (quoting nixon from '72) it's NOT the act, it's the coverup. well of course to me it's the act as well. why the hell isn't novak at the VERY least in jail?