Below are the most recent 22 friends' journal entries.

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
magyarok_saman	4:12a	Our cupboard was bare I had a master's degree. I had a job. But to feed my three children, I had to swallow my pride and go to a soup kitchen. By Heather Ryan Salon.com ( Text for linkophobes ) Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Monday, August 18th, 2008
magyarok_saman	2:14p	Nicked from sapphoq You Are an "A-OK" Your life philosophy can be summed up as, "Whatever will be, will be." Your greatest wish is to live each day a little better than the next. You are naturally calm and stable. Some people would call you a rock. You feel one with the world. You are a spiritual person, though no one who knows you would guess it. What Hand Gesture Are You? Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 17th, 2008
magyarok_saman	12:53p	meme explosion! ( Yes, I got bored... ) Current Mood: crazy (Comment on this)
magyarok_saman	12:04p	Neat! "Intellectually" Intelligent You're 'Intellectually Intelligent.' That pretty much means that you're good with theoretical ideas and concepts - but this comes to you naturally. More or less, you're a natural brainiac. Good for you. 20% theoretical intelligence 40% natural intelligence Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com Current Mood: content (Comment on this)
Saturday, August 16th, 2008
magyarok_saman	8:52p	Ahhhh.... I just did myself a great big favor and took a nice warm shower, during which I poured sea salt water over my head and down my back. Now I'm applying Vaseline Total Moisture to my skin...ahhhhh BTW did you guys know that we not only have a full moon, but it underwent an eclipse late this afternoon/early this evening (depending on your timezone)? It's a damned good explanation for why emotions have been running higher these past few days... Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
magyarok_saman	9:12a	This, and that... I slept a great chunk of yesterday off. I think I am still recovering from both stress and the oppressiveness of the heat outside. It's SO hot that it's getting inside, a/c or not. It's not bad enough to make me sick, but it's like the feeling of oppression gets to me on a psychic level. I'm doing my best to educate others that Russia didn't start the conflict in Georgia - Georgia did, attacking two provinces it thinks belongs to it, which had declared independence from it in the 1990s (and allied with Russia). I'm a little amazed to see that normally sharp-witted folks, folks like me, who dig rather than buy what Western media dishes out - are buying the story that Russia is at fault. They aren't at fault. Georgia refuses to recognize the provinces' sovereignty; they believe the provinces belong to them. Russia moved in to protect those provinces. Georgia was egged on by our very own BushCo then left to rot because BushCo doesn't have the resources to back them up. At this point, in my opinion, BushCo needs to stay out of it, period. Things didn't go as the Neocon Imperial idiots wanted, and they are caught out with egg on their faces. Whether Russia "went too far" in its defense is a matter of opinion, and one I don't intend to get into. It's their business - NOT ours. I was jarred this morning when a comment to a post in nebris's journal reminded me of how close this is happening to our national election. Did BushCo really think they could snow over the US again and find a way to use this to declare martial law and call off the elections? If so, they have another "think" coming, as I, and others, will do what we can to get the word out that this is nothing more than meddling where they don't belong. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that BushCo would still be trying to ring Russia in NATO-allied states. It's well-known to those of us who know it well that BushCo lacks brains and foresight and therefore doesn't see that this country is SO down-the-slope that not only do we lack the resources for such a venture - we have become the laughingstock of the rest of the world. Does anyone remember the movie The Mouse That Roared? Well, we're the tiny country blustering about and threatening to take over this-and-that. Unlike the USA in the movie, however, the rest of the world is quite aware of us, and also quite aware that we are increasingly powerless. BTW I've gotten tons of compliments on my hedgehog icon - kudos goes to cuteoverload who originally posted the photo I took it from. In crafting news, I am plugging away at the rosettes that go along the outside of the doily I'm making, and have 5 of 13 completed. Between the dolls I ordered from EBay and the ones sent by fibro_witch and bellepoque (from LJ) I am overwhelmed and likely won't need any new ones in quite awhile! Out of all of them, I have at least half a dozen who could be dressed and styled right now. What I need to do now is decide on a pattern and seek out the materials required for it - crochet cotton, notions, etc. Anyone know of a good source for, say, miniature ribbon roses? :) I've been googling but haven't really found a source that I like yet. I also need stands (got a couple good sources for saddle stands, which is what I would use). Seed beads and a new loom are also on the list. I need to root around in the spare room and find my current small collection of beads, including my tiny white, silver, and gold pearls. I lent my loom to someone a few years ago and they failed to return it. I plan to use it to create pieces to go along with the dolls and their outfits - purses, beaded pieces to sew onto outfits, rugs they can stand on, etc. The nice thing about crochet is I've done it for so long, not only can I make sense out of a not-so-clear pattern, but I can correct mistakes in patterns, and even add my own details. I showed my partially-completed doily to M and he was impressed. He said it looked like machine work, it was so consistent and tight. That tells me I haven't lost it hehehe! Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
magyarok_saman	6:02a	Personality Type Meme Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test... NBPC - The Daydreamer Nature, Background, Big Picture, and Color You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on the hidden treasures of life (the background) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the colors around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to ponder ideas and imagine the many possibilities of your life without worrying about the details or specifics. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You are a down-to-earth person who enjoys going with the flow. The Perception Personality Types: Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy Current Mood: hopeful (Comment on this)
Friday, August 15th, 2008
magyarok_saman	6:56a	"President Bush, Will You Please Shut Up?" "Every country is tired of war except for the US. War, including nuclear war, is the neoconservative strategy for world hegemony. The entire world, except for Americans, knows that the outbreak of armed conflict between Russian and Georgian forces in South Ossetia was entirely due to the US and its Georgia puppet, Saakashvili. (emphasis mine) Americans, alone in the world, are unaware that the hostilities were initiated by Saakashvili, because Bush, Cheney and the Israeli-occupied American media have again lied to them. Everyone else in the world knows that the unstable and corrupt Saakashvili, who proclaims democracy and runs a police state, would not have taken on Russia by attacking South Ossetia unless given the go-ahead by Washington. " Hat tip to alobar. ( Text for Linkophobes ) Current Mood: angry (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 14th, 2008
magyarok_saman	3:16p	Russia, Georgia clash in breakaway statelet It would seem that Georgia started the conflict with Ossetia. Russia supports Ossetia's desire to declare independence from Georgia, so their military action was meant to offer support. Many outlets are turning this around and trying to make it Russia's "fault". Personally? It's their argument and everyone else - including the U.S. - should stay out of it. Georgia is supported by the US and is also armed by the US. That means the US, by proxy, is involved with an invasion of a territory which sees itself as separate from Georgia. Just WTF are our not-so-distinguished leaders THINKING? We're in quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are still rumblings of provoking Iran into yet another war - and now this? Link below, followed by text for linkophobes. ~L Russia, Georgia clash in breakaway statelet ( Text ) Current Mood: irritated (Comment on this)
magyarok_saman	3:07a	Putin Walks into a Trap Sauce By Mike Whitney 13/08/08 "ICH" --- - The American-armed and trained Georgian army swarmed into South Ossetia last Thursday, killing an estimated 2,000 civilians, sending 40,000 South Ossetians fleeing over the Russian border, and destroying much of the capital, Tskhinvali. The attack was unprovoked and took place a full 24 hours before even ONE Russian soldier set foot in South Ossetia. Nevertheless, the vast majority of Americans still believe that the Russian army invaded Georgian territory first. The BBC, AP, NPR, the New York Times and the rest of the establishment media has consistently and deliberately misled its readers into believing that the violence in South Ossetia was initiated by the Kremlin. Let's be clear, it wasn't. In truth, there is NO dispute about the facts except among the people who rely the western press for their information. Despite its steady loss of credibility, the corporate media continues to operate as the propaganda-arm of the Pentagon. Former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev gave a good summary of events in an op-ed in Monday's Washington Post: "For some time, relative calm was maintained in South Ossetia. The peacekeeping force composed of Russians, Georgians and Ossetians fulfilled its mission, and ordinary Ossetians and Georgians, who live close to each other, found at least some common ground....What happened on the night of Aug. 7 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas....Mounting a military assault against innocents was a reckless decision whose tragic consequences, for thousands of people of different nationalities, are now clear. The Georgian leadership could do this only with the perceived support and encouragement of a much more powerful force. Georgian armed forces were trained by hundreds of U.S. instructors, and its sophisticated military equipment was bought in a number of countries. This, coupled with the promise of NATO membership, emboldened Georgian leaders into thinking that they could get away with a "blitzkrieg" in South Ossetia...Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against "small, defenseless Georgia" is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity." ("A Path to Peace in the Caucasus", Mikhail Gorbachev, Washington Post) The question for Americans is whether they trust Mikhail Gorbachev more than the corporate media? Russia deployed its tanks and troops to South Ossetia to save the lives of civilians and to reestablish the peace. Period. It has no interest in annexing the former-Soviet country or in expanding its present borders. Now that the Georgian army has been routed, Russian president Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin have expressed a willingness to settle the dispute through normal diplomatic channels at the United Nations. Neither leader is under any illusions about Washington's involvement in the hostilities. They know that Georgian President Mikail Saakashvili is an American stooge who came to power in a CIA-backed coup, the so-called "Rose Revolution", and would never order a major military operation without explicit instructions from his White House puppetmasters. Most likely, the orders to invade came directly from the office of the Vice President, Dick Cheney. The Georgian army had no chance of winning a war with Russia or any intention of occupying the territory they captured. The real aim was to lure the Russian army into a trap. US planners hope to do what they did so skillfully in Afghanistan; lure their Russian prey into a long and bloody Chechnya-type fiasco that will pit their Russia troops against guerrilla forces armed and trained by US military and intelligence agencies. The war will be waged in the name of liberating Georgia from Russian imperialism and stopping Putin from achieving his alleged ambition to control critical western-owned pipelines around the Caspian Basin. Much of this "think tank" generated narrative has already appeared in the mainstream media or been articulated by American political elites. Meanwhile, the fighting in the Caucasus has diverted attention from the massive US naval armada that is presently sailing towards the Persian Gulf for the long-anticipated confrontation with Iran. Operation Brimstone, the joint US, UK and French naval war games in the Atlantic Ocean preparing for a naval blockade of Iran, ended just last week. The war games were designed to simulate a naval blockade of Iran and the probable Iranian response. According to Earl of Stirling on the Global Research web site: "The war games included a US Navy supercarrier battle group, an US Navy expeditionary carrier battle group, a Royal Navy carrier battle group, a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine plus a large number of US Navy cruisers, destroyers and frigates playing the "enemy force. The lead American ship in these war games, the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN71) and its Carrier Strike Group Two (CCSG-2) are now headed towards Iran along with the USS Ronald Reagen (CVN76) and its Carrier Strike Group Seven (CCSG-7) coming from Japan." Stirling adds: "A strategic diversion has been created for Russia. The South Ossetia capital has been shelled and a large Georgian tank force has been heading towards the border....American Marines, a thousand of them, have recently been in Georgia training the Georgian military forces... Russia has stated that it will not sit by and allow the Georgians to attack South Ossetia...This could get bad, and remember it is just a strategic diversion....but one that could have horrific effects." ("Massive US Naval Armada Heads for Iran", Earl of Stirling, Global Research) In June, former foreign policy adviser to President Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, presented the basic storyline that would be used against Russia two full months before the Georgian invasion of South Ossetia. The article appeared on the Kavkazcenter web site. Brzezinski said the United States witnessed "cases of possible threats by Russia, directed at Georgia with the intention of taking control over the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline". Brzezinski: "Russia actively tends to isolate the Central Asian region from direct access to world economy, especially to energy supplies..If Georgia government is destabilized, western access to Baku, Caspian Sea and further will be limited". http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2008/06/13/9798.shtml Nonsense. Neither Putin nor newly-elected president Dmitry Medvedev have any such intention. It is absurd to think that Russia, having extracted itself from two pointless wars in Chechnya and Afghanistan, and after years of grinding poverty and social unrest following the fall of the Soviet state, would choose to wage an energy war with the nuclear-armed US military. That would be complete madness. Brzezinski's speculation is part of broader narrative that's been crafted for the western media to provide a rationale for upcoming aggression against Russia. Brzezinski is not only the architect of the mujahadin-led campaign against Russia in Afghanistan in the 1980s, but also, the author of "The Grand Chessboard--American Primacy and it's Geostrategic Imperatives", the operating theory behind the war on terror which involves massive US intervention in Central Asia to control vital resources, fragment Russia, and surround manufacturing giant, China. "The Grand Chessboard" it is the 21st century's version of the Great Game. The book begins with this revealing statement: "Ever since the continents started interacting politically, some five hundred years ago, Eurasia has been the center of world power.....The key to controlling Eurasia, says Brzezinski, is controlling the Central Asian Republics." This is the heart-and-soul of the war on terror. The real braintrust behind "neverending conflict" was actually focussed on Central Asia. It was the pro-Israeli crowd in the Republican Party that pulled the old switcheroo and refocussed on the Middle East rather than Eurasia. Now, powerful members of the US foreign policy establishment (Brzezinski, Albright, Holbrooke) have regrouped behind the populist "cardboard" presidential candidate Barak Obama and are preparing to redirect America's war efforts to the Asian theater. Obama offers voters a choice of wars not a choice against war. On Sunday, Brzezinski accused Russia of imperial ambitions comparing Putin to "Stalin and Hitler" in an interview with Nathan Gardels. Gardels: What is the world to make of Russia's invasion of Georgia? Zbigniew Brzezinski: Fundamentally at stake is what kind of role Russia will play in the new international system.(aka: New World Order) Unfortunately, Putin is putting Russia on a course that is ominously similar to Stalin's and Hitler's in the late 1930s. Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt has correctly drawn an analogy between Putin's "justification" for dismembering Georgia -- because of the Russians in South Ossetia -- to Hitler's tactics vis a vis Czechoslovakia to "free" the Sudeten Deutsch. Even more ominous is the analogy of what Putin is doing vis-a-vis Georgia to what Stalin did vis-a-vis Finland: subverting by use of force the sovereignty of a small democratic neighbor. In effect, morally and strategically, Georgia is the Finland of our day. The question the international community now confronts is how to respond to a Russia that engages in the blatant use of force with larger imperial designs in mind: to reintegrate the former Soviet space under the Kremlin's control and to cut Western access to the Caspian Sea and Central Asia by gaining control over the Baku/Ceyhan pipeline that runs through Georgia. In brief, the stakes are very significant. At stake is access to oil as that resource grows ever more scarce and expensive and how a major power conducts itself in our newly interdependent world, conduct that should be based on accommodation and consensus, not on brute force. If Georgia is subverted, not only will the West be cut off from the Caspian Sea and Central Asia. We can logically anticipate that Putin, if not resisted, will use the same tactics toward the Ukraine. Putin has already made public threats against Ukraine." ("Brzezinski: Russia's invasion of Georgia is Reminiscent of Stalin's attack on Finland"; Huffington Post) Brzezinski takes great pride in being a disciplined and rational spokesman for US imperial projects. It is unlike him to use such hysterical rhetoric. Perhaps, the present situation is more tenuous than we know. Could it be that the financial system is closer to meltdown-phase than anyone realizes? It should be clear by Brzezinski's comments that Georgia's invasion of South Ossetia was not another incoherent exercise in neocon chest-thumping, but part of a larger strategy to drag Russia into an endless conflict that will sap its resources, decrease its prestige on the global stage, weaken its grip on regional power, strengthen frayed alliances between Europe and America, and divert attention from a larger campaign in the Gulf. It is particularly worrisome that Brzezinski appears to be involved in the planning. Brzezinski, Holbrooke and Albright form the "Imperialist A-Team"; these are not the bungling "Keystone Cops" neocons like Feith and Rumsfeld who trip over themselves getting out of bed in the morning. These are cold-blooded Machiavellian imperialists who know how to work the media and the diplomatic channels to conceal their genocidal operations behind a smokescreen of humanitarian mumbo-jumbo. They know what they are doing and they are good at it. They're not fools. They have aligned themselves with the Obama camp and are preparing for the next big outbreak of global trouble-making. This should serve as a sobering wake-up call for voters who still think Obama represents "Change We Can Believe In". Richard Holbrooke appeared on Tuesday's Jim Lerher News Hour with resident neocon Margaret Warner. Typical of Warner's "even-handed" approach, both of the interviewees were ultra-conservatives from right-wing think tanks: Richard Holbrooke, from the Council on Foreign Relations and Dmiti Simes from the Nixon Center. According to Holbrooke, "The Russians deliberately provoked (the fighting in South Ossetia) and timed it for the Olympics. This is a long-standing Russian effort to get rid of President Saakashvili." Right. Is that why Putin was so shocked when he heard the news (while he was in Beijing) that he quickly boarded a plane and headed for Moscow? (after shaking his finger angrily at Bush!) Holbrooke: "And I want to stress, I'm not a warmonger, and I don't want a new Cold War any more than Dimitri does....The Russians wish to re-establish a historic area of hegemony that includes Ukraine. And it is no accident that the other former Soviet republics are watching this and extraordinarily upset, as Putin progresses with an attempt to re-create a kind of a hegemonic space." It is impossible to go over all of Holbrooke's distortions, half-truths and lies in one article but, what is important is to recognize that a false narrative is being constructed to demonize Putin and to justify future hostilities against Russia. Holbrooke's bogus assertions are identical to Brzezinski's, and yet, these same lies are already appearing in the mainstream media. The propaganda "bullet points" have already been determined; "Putin is a menace","Putin wants to rebuild the Soviet empire", "Putin is an autocrat". (Unlike our "freedom loving" allies in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt!?!) In truth, Putin is simply enjoying Russia's newly acquired energy-wealth and would like to be left alone. But it is impossible to be left alone when the US spends 24 hours a day pestering people. The world deserves a break from an extremely irritating USA. So why are Brzezinski and his backers in the foreign policy establishment demonizing Putin and threatening Russia with "ostracism, isolation and economic penalties?" What is Putin's crime? Putin's problems can be traced back to a speech he made in Munich nearly two years ago when he declared unequivocally that he rejected the basic tenets of the Bush Doctrine and US global hegemony. His speech amounted to a Russian Declaration of Independence. That's when western elites, particularly at the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Enterprise Institute put Putin on their "enemies list" along with Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Morales, Mugabe and anyone else who refuses to take orders from the Washington Mafia. Here's what Putin said in Munich: "The unipolar world refers to a world in which there is one master, one sovereign---- one center of authority, one center of force, one center of decision-making. At the end of the day this is pernicious not only for all those within this system, but also for the sovereign itself because it destroys itself from within.… What is even more important is that the model itself is flawed because at its basis there is and can be no moral foundations for modern civilization.” “Unilateral and frequently illegitimate actions have not resolved any problems. Moreover, they have caused new human tragedies and created new centers of tension. Judge for yourselves---wars as well as local and regional conflicts have not diminished. More are dying than before. Significantly more, significantly more! Today we are witnessing an almost uncontained hyper-use of force – military force – in international relations, force that is plunging the world into an abyss of permanent conflicts. We are seeing a greater and greater disdain for the basic principles of international law. And independent legal norms are, as a matter of fact, coming increasingly closer to one state’s legal system. One state and, of course, first and foremost the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way. This is visible in the economic, political, cultural and educational policies it imposes on other nations. Well, who likes this? Who is happy about this? In international relations we increasingly see the desire to resolve a given question according to so-called issues of political expediency, based on the current political climate. And of course this is extremely dangerous. It results in the fact that no one feels safe. I want to emphasize this – no one feels safe! Because no one can feel that international law is like a stone wall that will protect them. Of course such a policy stimulates an arms race. I am convinced that we have reached that decisive moment when we must seriously think about the architecture of global security.” Every word Putin spoke was true which is why it was not reprinted in the western media. “Unilateral and illegitimate military actions”, the “uncontained hyper-use of force”, the “disdain for the basic principles of international law”, and most importantly; “No one feels safe!” Putin's claims are all indisputable, that is why he has entered the neocons crosshairs. He poses a direct challenge to---what Brzezinski calls---the "international system", which is shorthand for the corporate/banking cartel that is controlled by the western oligarchy of racketeers. South Ossetia was a trap and Putin took the bait. Unfortunately for Bush, the wily Russian prime minister is considerably brighter than anyone in the current administration. Bush's plan will undoubtedly backfire and disrupt the geopolitical balance of power. The world might get that breather from the US after all. Current Mood: cynical (Comment on this)
magyarok_saman	3:06a	A very strange day, indeed. Hey - do any of you on my flist do astrology? What does the alignment of planets say? More than one of you have asked this, with all the shit going on seemingly with everyone. Again, we ran short this month. This time, I "legally robbed" my bank account, knowing they will let me go in the hole and cheerfully charge me $33 for it. To make it count, I took out $100 and by golly we went to the store. We got some chicken, some ground beef, various breads and whatnot - and, doggone it, we got ICE CREAM. Yes, ice cream. I dare anyone to put me down for buying ice cream. It isn't like the two of us are running around filling ourselves up with useless sugar all the time. We deserve frigging ice cream, damnit. Both of us are getting really tired of running out of grocery and gas money well before the month is out. I may also start ignoring the higher payments my credit cards keep demanding, and just pay them a certain amount. It's not like my credit rating could get that much worse. It's already in the high 500s when it should be 100 points above that, though, of course, it probably didn't help that I was behind on property taxes (thank you Mr. Wright, you ARE a SAINT). I'm sure that counted against me. We'll see what happens after our deal is renegotiated into an amortizing sort of payment (taxes, interest, principal). I'm also really tired of waiting on the VA. I'm seriously beginning to wonder if that helper guy did anything at all. I still don't have a copy of my VA records. I have not heard from anyone. That's the next big thing I intend to tackle after I take some time to process out the toxins I built up dealing with the latest. Also, now that we have a few stamps, I need to get some letters out to my former doctors and get copies of records from them. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts those records come in before the VA's do. I have been storing all my tension in the back of my head, neck, and smack in the middle of my shoulders. According to M, that means I feel like "the weight of the world" is on my shoulders. That's pretty much right, because when it comes to "creative financing" - that's my job. I've been trying all day not to beat myself up over the fact that I did NO crocheting for the past two days. I've just been out of it, trying to figure all this out. At least I have M's birthday covered with a present already - now here's hoping it gets here before the 28th. It seems to be coming from Canada via the pony express or something. Hell, the pony express would have likely been faster! It supposedly shipped out on the 6th. Well, here we are on the 14th and no sign of it, yet. M's friend K is also sending him a present. He may not have his favorite birthday cake but by gods I wasn't going to see him go without at least one present! I'm dead beat from tromping around WinCo but I'm happy because we have some decent food in the house. I have also been trying to figure out how to save money wherever we can. The first step toward that was getting the Brita on-faucet water filtering thingamadoo. Problem is, the first one fell off and stripped its plastic screw grooves...so I get another one. We're now talking $40 down the hole. This one lasts, then falls off AGAIN...this time I could get it back on but something must've slipped in the filter, because the water won't go through it, it just blows itself off the faucet. We have very alkaline water here and I can testify from drinking it most of today that it has a really bad aftertaste. M says that it upsets his stomach unfiltered, so we couldn't go without either a filter or bottled water - and I didn't want to go back to bottled water and waste money. That kinda defeats the purpose, aye? So when we went tonight with our "illicit" money (heh) I grabbed Brita's smaller pitcher for ten bucks. Next month I intend to go to Lowe's, which has several different models and brands of faucet-mount water filters, and find one that has a METAL attacher thingie. I've been looking at PUR filters and there's at least one model that appears to have a metal screw-on attachment. I just gotta eyeball it to make sure. So, I owe M a birthday dinner, and unless someone wants to donate to that effort, it will have to wait till we (somehow) get more money. Maybe when the VA gets off its duff and figures out that I do indeed deserve higher compensation. (btw if you would like to donate to M's birthday dinner, you can send via paypal to dreamerseye at gmail dot com) :P Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
news [ nebris ]	1:13a	Virus: CNN News Alert E-mails masquerading as CNN News Alerts attempt to lure users into downloading malicious software. Check the Snopes link above and let others know about this. I've been getting these little fuckers in my G-Mail. Current Mood: Danger! Danger! (Comment on this)
Monday, August 11th, 2008
magyarok_saman	11:56a	What a relief!     Dear Mr. Wright, I praise the God that guides you He has made a truly kind and gentle person out of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I called him today to tell him about the taxes and ask that we reconsider changing my payment from just interest-only to interest/principle/taxes. I explained to him how my FICO score is unusually low; he said they've been reporting my payments to Esperian, so I wonder why it's so low? He also doesn't know why, but he can see why I say there's no way I'll be able to get a mortgage this year. He is going to see about changing my payment, and in the meantime, he's covering the property taxes. WHAT A RELIEF! Current Mood: ecstatic (Comment on this)
magyarok_saman	10:47a	...I'm boycotting the Olympics because of China's human rights violations. I realize that our count ...I'm boycotting the Olympics because of China's human rights violations. I realize that our country, officially, couldn't boycott them - I mean, talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Here are a couple of cartoons I found in this collection that say it in ways that are priceless (click on the cartoon to go to the original): Current Mood: sad (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 10th, 2008
magyarok_saman	7:15p	THIS needs to be spread like wildfire! "While Republicans, the U.S. oil industry and other assorted asshats piss and moan about more access to federal lands to (presumably) reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, American-based companies are shipping record amounts of gasoline and diesel fuel to other countries." And here you are, from Reuters: US oil firms seek drilling access, but exports soar Notice how this is in the UK edition of Reuters...of COURSE they don't want us Americans knowing the truth! Current Mood: angry (Comment on this)
Saturday, August 9th, 2008
magyarok_saman	6:30a	Church members enter Canada, aiming to picket bus victim's funeral Last Updated: Friday, August 8, 2008 | 2:57 PM CT Comments669Recommend612 CBC News Members of a fundamentalist American church group planning to stage a protest at the funeral for a Winnipeg man brutally killed on a Greyhound bus have managed to enter Canada, a spokeswoman told CBC News on Friday. Canadian border guards are under orders to prevent members of the Westboro Baptist Church, a controversial Kansas-based sect, from entering the country. The group intends to picket the funeral of 22-year-old Tim McLean to tell Canadians his slaying on July 30 was God's response to Canadian policies enabling abortion, homosexuality and divorce and remarriage. Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day's office sent an alert to border patrol to "look out" for people with signs and pamphlets consistent with the messages that the church promotes and to keep them out of the country. Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of church founder Fred Phelps, said a group of church members was turned away from a border crossing at Niagara Falls, but a small group did manage to get into Manitoba overnight. "They were looking for picket signs and they were looking for leaflets. Well, we don't do leaflets, and the picket signs, you know, Fed Ex ships them overnight," she said. However, Phelps-Roper said the reaction the group has raised from some police and public officials has her questioning whether the planned protest will go ahead. "The question to my mind [is] whether or not we ought to get them the heck out of that country, because that's some crazy stuff when you've got your officials talking like they are in a back-alley brawl and not government officials who took an oath to obey the law and so forth." Phelps-Roper said she would advise church members not to go ahead with the protest if there is a concern they might be arrested or harmed. Counter-protest planned A counter-protest against the church's picket plans was launched on the social networking site Facebook on Thursday. More than 700 people have since joined the group; postings indicate they plan to form a "human wall" around the family to shield them from the church protest, if it takes place. Winnipeg NDP MP Pat Martin said the group should be "sent packing," and should not try to show up in Winnipeg "for their own safety." "We're not going to allow these people to compound the tragedy of the McLean family loss, and Canadians simply won't tolerate these lunatics disrupting what should be a respectful service," he told CBC News on Friday. "Your freedom to swing your arm in the air ends when it touches the end of my nose," he added. "What these people were going to do was hurtful, harmful and disruptive to the peace, order and good government that we guarantee to our citizens, so they have no place in this country." Family in shock, requests privacy Meanwhile, Tim McLean's mother released a short public statement Friday morning, saying the family is in "complete shock at the horrifying loss of our loved one." Carol deDelley expressed frustration that some media outlets have not identified McLean's family members properly; the statement identifies Tim's parents and step-parents and the six siblings in his blended families. DeDelley asked for privacy during the family's time of mourning. Sauce Current Mood: sheesh! (Comment on this)
Friday, August 8th, 2008
magyarok_saman	4:09p	Hmmmm... This is not such good news, coming on the heels of a minor earthquake... Scientists puzzle over source of county hot spots Current Mood: worried (Comment on this)
magyarok_saman	2:02p	Not feeling so hot today I wanted to work on the doily but my eyes are unusually tired. I'm also slightly headachey, which I think is due to sinuses. Just took some meds for that. I also have been putting out a lot of energy helping others, and I may have overdone it. The feeling today is like a slight hangover. I need to remember that I have Others who can take over when I, personally, am too depleted. At the same time, I love my friends sooo much that I can't help it sometimes. Got a letter in the mail telling me that I have to pay my property taxes in 10 days, or else. I emailed them and asked them a couple of questions: (1) Did they take into account that this mobile home is in a PARK and therefore I don't own the land, and (2) This place has not been reassessed in the past 6 months, and it needs to be, with the way home values have dropped. Right now, I have an agreement with the guy I'm buying this place from, where I pay him 12% interest-only on the balance I owe him and nothing else. That means that none of my principal has shrunk within the last year and a half. Considering that it's highly unlikely I'll be able to get a mortgage for at least a year, if not longer, I plan to call him Monday and propose we restructure our deal, so that he pays the taxes up front and then I pay him a principal/taxes/interest payment. I'm not sure I should be fronting the entire tax bill as it is, since I supposedly owe him way more than half on this place. I know he had a mortgage-like arrangement with the neighbors, before they defaulted, so the chances are good he'll be willing to consider such a deal. It would end up benefiting us both, so I don't see why not. I'm considering curling up on my bed with my book or taking and outright nap. The jury is out right now, so we'll see. The good news is that my first package of doll clothing patterns is here. I should also have some dolls coming in today. Mucho thanks to both bellepoque and fibrowitch (from LJ) for helping me out with dolls. Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
magyarok_saman	10:49a	This is just precious! Top 9 best new drugs One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small. Take one, take them all! By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist Friday, August 8, 2008 (Note: This is in reaction to the drug that's supposed to mimic exercise.) Scientists at the Ronald Wilson Reagan School for Pschyoeconomic Paroxysms have reportedly developed a new drug that, after just a few weeks, induces random bouts of forgetfulness combined with the ability to reverse ideological direction in an instant, most notably when large amounts of cash are placed directly in front of the face. Code-named "the McCain," users report random outbreaks of very bad jokes coupled with an extremely combative nature, acute desire to detonate large explosive devices across multiple desert nations and a general feeling that the real problem with the world today is all the gul-dang gay young peacenik whippersnapper environmentalists who like to rub their iPods all over their Googles. Common prescription: "Take two McCains and call me in 1957." Following research at Harvard and McGill universities where scientists have been testing new drugs that "delete" bad memories, researchers in Washington, D.C., have found a new compound that tricks the brain into believing great progressive accomplishments are being made and tremendous strides have been taken to reverse all sorts of previous damage, when in fact very little has been done and mostly what's happening is a lot of general whimpering wrapped in a great many false gestures, all while promising even more super-positive changes ahead, but if only someone really good steps in as leader and tells everyone what to do. Introduced to great excitement and fanfare when it first hit the market in November of 2006, "the congressional Democrat" has only proven moderately effective as a radical stimulant, and is currently considered a big, fat disappointment. Drug researchers in Gnowangerup, Australia, are reporting successful Stage II testing of a rather sour new pill known as "The Gawker" (also known as "PWND," "OMG," "Get a Life," "Perez Hilton"). A neural inhibitor that blocks cognitive maturation, this new drug reportedly affects speech patterns and triggers an alarming increase in jackassianic peptides in the brain, the chemical most associated with extreme self-absorption, chronic masturbation, general mean-spiritedness and excessive use of the word "whatEVs." Time-released. Effects reportedly last approximately six years, roughly from ages 19-25, at which time serious users suddenly awaken to fact of own adorable irrelevance, write vacuous memoir, take job as assistant manager of American Apparel outlet in south Jersey shopping mall. Ironically, just a few years ago, this global toxin was thought to be generally harmless, albeit a huge irritant. Now "the Bush," secretly developed by teams of starved eunuchs in the dungeons of the GOP research labs between the years 1950 to 1998 and whose real toxicity only became known on Sept. 12, 2001, is widely regarded as "the bitterest pill we've ever had to swallow." Set to expire in January 2009, notable side effects include retching, fatalism, monosyllabism, spiritual coagulation, complete intellectual stasis, and a strange, painful condition known only as "squinty face." Believed to be on track to replace "the Nixon" as worst drug ever invented. WARNING: Contraindicated by a highly volatile ointment — "the Cheney" — containing shards of glass and the blood of insane Amazonian scorpions, which induces instant shriveling of any living tissue with which it come into contact. One of the most successful drugs of the past 15 years, scientists successfully synthesized a rare compound that induces a feeling that, despite the fact that you just ingested four giant triple-shot vente mochas, your body only enjoys the sensory/neural equivalent of a tepid glass of watery Folgers crystals. "The Starbucks" has nevertheless proven to be hugely addictive, despite almost complete lack of flavor, effect, pleasure. Side effects include: obsessive journaling, near-constant wearing of navy blue fleece jackets from REI, inexplicable appreciation for the Dave Matthews Band and/or John Mayer, and launching of personal blog dedicated to twin loves of cats and long blank stares into vast eternal nothingness just past tip of nose. Teams of pale, cheerless, Dockers-clad researchers from Redmond, Wash., recently unleashed this fabulously overwrought new drug on the populace. Called "Windows Vista," it's already being ingested daily by some 180 million users worldwide, despite the facts that not a single one of them enjoys the effects or had any real choice in the matter and would switch to the far more refined, sexy, pleasurable drug known as "Mac" in an instant if they could. Initial reaction to drug was rather harsh, but its manufacturer has been working valiantly to prove that it's not nearly as toxic and horrible as everyone thought, and is actually nicely mediocre and totally sufferable if you really, really have to use it. "The American Pie." Mixed origins. Possible blinding agent. Known to induce righteous paralysis in nearly half of all domestic users. Excess use efficiently shuts down cognitive processes in prefrontal lobes and redirects functions of reason and humane judgment to same area that spawns guttural fears, religious indignation, love of domestic light beer. While generally considered safe and even pleasurable in small doses, large amounts can wipe out any desire to travel, read books, learn a foreign language, have sex for pleasure, or speak in complete sentences. Pill is shaped like actual piece of apple pie to lure children. Active ingredient secretly added to water supply in many Midwestern states in 1952. "The Fox News." Bowel irritant. Induces silent screaming, intestinal numbness, odd tingling in root of perineum as if genitalia is being eaten by angry psoriatic rats. Nevertheless, still eagerly consumed by large segment of populace, mostly due to garish red, white and blue packaging and bogus guarantee of protection against scary gay people. Regular use reportedly causes knee to jerk in reaction to even the slightest complex issue. Safe for brain-damaged dogs. "The Jesus." Perhaps the most widely used but enormously misunderstood drug of all time. Developed centuries ago by regrettably biased researchers but constantly being reintroduced, with new variants coming on the market every few years in often dangerous, unregulated levels of potency. Sadly, millions of users often become horribly addicted without the slightest understanding of context or history, thanks to a brutally organized marketing campaign that gets just about every aspect of the drug's true nature incorrect. Available in capsule, gel, liquicaps, spray, ointment, suppository, communal wafer, dogma, proscription, foolish law, dildo, t-shirt, hat, book, unbearable rock music, sexual fantasy, justification for war, bobblehead. Often taken in enormous doses just prior to death. Frequently appears on burnt toast. Current Mood: amused Current Music: Dark Blue Man - You Believe (TRANCEFREEDOM) (Comment on this)
magyarok_saman	9:08a	Border guards to turn away church group aiming to picket bus victim's funeral Last Updated: Friday, August 8, 2008 | 9:09 AM CT Comments189Recommend180 CBC News Canadian border guards are under orders to prevent members of a fundamentalist American church from crossing into Canada to protest at the funeral Saturday of a Winnipeg man brutally killed on a Greyhound bus last week. Westboro Baptist Church, a controversial Kansas-based sect, intends to picket the funeral of 22-year-old Tim McLean to tell Canadians his slaying on July 30 was God's response to Canadian policies enabling abortion, homosexuality and adultery. "God is punishing Canada for passing laws against WBC — by exposing Canadians as cannibals and highway decapitaters," the church says in a news release on its website, which refers to McLean as "The Headless Canadian." Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day's office sent an alert to border patrol to "look out" for people with signs and pamphlets consistent with the messages that the church promotes and to keep them out of the country, Winnipeg MP Pat Martin told CBC News on Friday. "Entering Canada by a U.S. citizen isn't an absolute right, and if you're coming here only to disrupt the social order and to promote what we consider to be bordering on hate crimes or hate language, they shouldn't come into Canada," Martin said. "We're not going to allow these people to compound the tragedy of the McLean family loss, and Canadians simply won't tolerate these lunatics disrupting what should be a respectful service." Freedom of speech is not absolute, Martin said. "Your freedom to swing your arm in the air ends when it touches the end of my nose," he said. "What these people were going to do was hurtful, harmful and disruptive to the peace, order and good government that we guarantee to our citizens, so they have no place in this country." A counter-protest against the church's picket plans was launched on the social networking site Facebook on Thursday. More than 500 people have since joined the group; postings indicate they plan to form a "human wall" around the family to shield them from the church protest, if it takes place. The Westboro Baptist Church and its founder, Pastor Fred Phelps, gained infamy by protesting gay-pride rallies and the funerals of people who have died from AIDS-related illnesses. In recent years, church members have also picketed the funerals of American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, claiming the deaths are also God's punishment for the country's tolerance for homosexuality. Sauce Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 7th, 2008
magyarok_saman	1:43p	Starting The Work I've been spending time collecting materials for my planned online business, if you want to call it that... Already got a bunch of Barbie dolls on the way; three are picked specifically for their look, the rest are going to be sorted into OOAK-wannabes and "experiment" dolls, or as M said, "dolls I can gitmo". Heh. In other words, dolls I can practice rerooting, repainting, pulling heads and limbs off, etc. I fished a bag full of some crochet cotton and yarn out of the spare room and started this doily in variegated pink. I'm almost done with the whirl part in the center. I have to stop for awhile because my hands and arms aren't used to this anymore! It'll take a bit of time but I'll be back up to the lightning speed I was when I used to do this constantly. One doesn't realize how many muscles you use for stuff like crochet... M's friend K found she can get good-condition Barbies and Barbie-like dolls at thrift shops for like a buck each (NYC thrift shops that is). She's sending me a bunch and all I have to do is reimburse her postage. So, I'm getting started! Current Mood: busy Current Music: DJ Sanyon feat. Sony - Lightmaker Tranchno DJ Saryon's Remix - TRANSFREEDOM (Comment on this)
magyarok_saman	1:32p	While I was surfing this morning... The 6 Cutest Animals Taht Can Still Destroy You 5 Tiny Mistakes That Led To Huge Catastrophes The 10 Most Insane Medical Practices in History 5 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen More like it can be found at Cracked.Com Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)