Nov 30 2007
Ten Post Round-Up: Aloha Friday
I have struggled and scraped for the last several days to find something, anything, to consider “good news” or “positive news”. I didn’t realize how hard it would be.
With the recent deployment of my husband, back to Iraq, this week, I’ve been thinking a lot about how bad news can be seen as good news (in some cases) and vice versa. For instance, of course, it’s bad news that SSG Dizzy is in Iraq, but the good news is that I have three-less loads of laundry to do, per week. The good news is, now the toilet paper goes on the roll in the “proper” direction, but the bad news is that now there is no one to go grab me a new roll of TP if I am stuck on the potty before discovering the roll has run out!
So, in the spirit of shaking things up in my Round-Up, I am definitely going to include absolutely positive posts, but as filler, I will include a few good news-bad news posts (let me know what you think in comments).
Before we proceed with our ten post round-up, please proceed to this link for today’s attitude adjustment.
From BlondeSense, BlondeSense Liz has a post about a Chilean prostitute who is auctioning off 27 hours of sex for charity. Well, that ought to make it easier for married “johns” to explain their indiscretion, “But, Honey, it was for a good cause!” Umm…OK, then.
In good news-bad news: Good, the surge IS working. Bad news? We’ll have to stay in Iraq longer to make sure it KEEPS working! (Signs Of The Times: Catch 22 in Iraq - Why American Troops Can’t Go Home).
From ABC News (Australia) we learn that scientists have found a way to make old skin young again, by blocking a single gene:
They did this by creating genetically modified mice with a defective gene that can be switched off so that their cells ceased to age when a cream was applied to the skin.While still years from being determined safe for use in humans, the discovery offers hope of one day reversing many age-related illnesses and injuries as the technique may work on any kind of organ or tissue.
Good news? The Chinese seem to be reversing their over-population problem. Bad news? Looks might have a problem with family values in the future, since their one-child policy has helped the country breed an entire generation of selfish brats. (Reuters: China’s “me” generation).
From Signs Of The Times comes word of a new advance in bionic limbs: a sense of touch!
Good news? Some mug-shots of GWB and other Bush administration officials have been discovered in a New York public library. Bad news? They’re fake! (FOXNews.com: New York Public Library Exhibit Features Fake Mug Shots of Members of Bush Administration).
Sphere: Related Content
The European newspaper, the TimesOnline had an 
It’s been a long time since I was in the Army. I was drafted in 1968 and I served 22 months in all, with the last 12 being in Vietnam. I was a combat infantryman in a mortar platoon. I always had some shame after Vietnam. I was always ashamed that I didn’t see the war for what it was right away. Others make the excuses for me and I’ve heard them all. “You were a young boy” or “You did what your country asked of you”. Yes, I was young, very young. I was in the Army before I was 19. I got out, after being in the war, before I was 21. And I did go and serve when I was asked to via the draft. But the truth be told, as a young boy, I believed that if I was drafted and I didn’t report, I’d get caught and go to jail. It would be breaking the law and they wouldn’t let anyone get away with that. I knew there were those that were going to Canada to escape the draft. There were also those in college. My brother went into the Marine Corps in 1963 when he was 17. Dad signed a waiver so he could join while so young. He had to graduate high school first. It wasn’t long after he was in the Marines that his girlfriend joined him at Camp Pendleton, California. They got married immediately and they had a child. I can’t attest to this being his plan so he wouldn’t have to go to Vietnam. In 1963 it was just “advisors” being sent over there anyway. Or it might be me not wanting to give my brother credit for avoiding the war.Once in Vietnam, I realized that it was a crock of bullshit and that I wasn’t defending freedom for anyone. It was dog eat dog, just like it is in any place in the USA. If you had a hungry family, you had to get food. If the North Vietnamese Communists had the food, you were a Communist. If the South Vietnamese had the food, you were a Nationalist. Some went both ways and were Communists by the light of the moon, and Nationalists by light of day.
You got your morning cuppa?
I slogged through my email’s this morning..my mind on other things..when I hit on one from 
In a conversation the other day about the Peace Vigil that takes place once per week here in Ashland, we wondered why we didn’t hear much, overall, about protests, either that they are held, or that they had anyone in attendance. Not about the small gathering here in Ashland, but on the National level, in bigger cities where thousands are in attendance. Seems like the colleges in and around Minneapolis/St. Paul, for example, don’t have anything going on and this war has been on for almost five years.One of my friends says it’s the draft and lack of it. “If there was a draft like when the Vietnam war was going on, you’d see the college students in the streets.” I believe there is some truth to that. I also do not ever want to see a Kent State massacre again.
It’s 
i have tooled around the internets over the weekend to see what i could see. i have been on a self imposed news blackout for quite some time- which means i scan the headlines only instead of seeking out more. i don’t need to see much more. don’t get me wrong- i think that it is imperative that the journalists do their jobs and hopefully bring back some investigative journalism- even if it has to be freelance. i doubt seriously that the fourth estate will ever recover. anyway, that isn’t my thought trail this time. i get the feeling that folks are in a quandary over what the hell to do about the current and future state of affairs we find ourselves in. i know i am. everyday, more and more corruption is exposed with little to no accountability- and it’s maddening. of course, we know in our deepest spots of the mind what we will have to do eventually- but what to do in the meantime? how does a country wrest back it’s democracy from the hands of the rich and the corporations? how does one take on city hall and win? yeah. i know. me too. no clue. i have no desire to end up on the subversives list and get carted off to a detention center. i mean first 
Co-operation … makes it happen
IRS Agent. The name of this disruntled Elf in question, shall be withheld and his identity protected as he informs us Santa’s Elves could be anywhere at any time!
Oh, snap! It’s 
“I am not going to let aggressive totalitarian and anti-Christian forces in this country diminish, denigrate, the holiday and the celebration. I’m gonna use all the power that I have on radio and television to bring horror into the world of people who are trying to do that..” 
i was having a conversation over email with my buddy spadoman today and many things occurred to me (he has a knack for getting me to think)- folks are very disheartened these days. with good reason- but never in our history before has the future looked quite so bleak. now, i know that there are some who would argue the first part of the 20th century would give us a run for our money- and that’s almost true. we have a crucial difference- our planet’s ecosystem is in danger. so- it’s the holiday season and we are all supposed to shop until we drop and run around like fools and be merry- and many of us don’t feel like it. so don’t. yep. that’s what i said. the world will not stop if you end gift exchanges and cookie bakes and whatnot. this isn’t meant to be preachy or gloomy- but i have been doing much thinking about life in general and reconnecting with life. we are overwhelmed by loss and life and as adults- we forget what it’s like to actually live and feel. we run on autopilot because we try to do and be everything to everyone- all at the same time. stop it. think back to when you were a kid- playing in the snow or sun. why did you do it? it was fun surely- but didn’t you feel exhilarated after chasing your friend around the yard? or breaking an icicle off and sucking the end of it? snow birds know what i am talking about :) there is much in the media about the ’shopocalypse’ and the impending economic crunch that’s coming and whatnot. people are burned out and exhausted- and dread the holidays. think about why we have them in the first place. where did they come from? our ancestors were no less busy than we but they purposefully set aside time to rejoice and celebrate and bond with their fellow man (and woman)- why? and why don’t we? the holiday season isn’t meant to drain energy and money- it is meant to be a time to set aside worries for a day or two and celebrate our friends and family. it is meant to realign our perspectives on what we did as people the past year and look to what we will do in the future year. we are the ones who try to make them perfect or over the top and whatnot. i cannot remember many gifts from my childhood- or recently- but i do remember singing carols and decorating trees and playing cards with family around steaming mugs of cocoa. my gift to my friends and family this year- is me. my time. time is our most precious commodity- shouldn’t we share it with the people who matter the most? yes, the kids will look at you like you have 3 heads- but they will appreciate you more as they get older- and you will have the memories of time with them. peace.
Despite the fact that it is sunny and, apparently, there is not a cloud in the sky, on this gorgeous, 
In 3 days, 5 hours, and 54 minutes, my family and I will begin living in denial.
I was thinking about how to title this post about the mass consumerism that starts the day after turkey day. Then I cracked open my emails and found 
Retailers across the country are cheering “Thank God It’s Friday (