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November 22nd, 2009
November 18th, 2009
11:39 am
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October 31st, 2009
02:04 pm
I'm having an overwhelming urge to procreate. What's up, reproductive system? I'm not in the right place to spawn nor do I have a partner with which I'd like to combine bodily fluids for the purpose of contributing to the human race. Be gone, you tick-tocking biological clock hormones, I have no use for you today or in the near future.
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August 13th, 2009
10:10 am
When asked if he'd run for mayor of New Orleans, Brad Pitt said he'd run under the "gay marriage, no religion, legalization and regulation of marijuana ticket." Now that's someone I could get behind. How about you?
Also:
Happy 3rd Birthday to Miss Victoria!!!!
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August 12th, 2009
10:48 am
My niece communes with sea lions. What super power does your niece have?
Additional cuteness:
A long-coated male chihuahua named "Love-kun" with a heart-shaped pattern on his coat sleeps at Pucchin Dog's shop in Odate, northern Japan August 6, 2009. The three-day-old chihuahua was born on August 3, 2009 as a young brother of "Heart-kun" which also has same marks.
Also:
Today is my last day of class (after all that stressing the first week, I think I'm getting an A, so yay!). And fall term doesn't start until September 21. What shall I do with myself? I was thinking of maybe getting a part-time job so I can be useful and such.
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July 11th, 2009
09:32 am
Part of the last statement made by David Castillo before he was executed:
"There is no man that is free from all evil, nor any man that is so evil to be worth nothing."
Is it just me or is this really profound and insightful?
Also, when reading this article (you have to scroll down a bit) about David Castillo and his case, there seem to be some glaring inconsistencies and inequities that make it seem, well, not right. Justice was definitely not fully served here.
So, what do we have here:
1) The victim in this case didn't die from the wounds he received during the robbery and shooting, but from the negligence of the doctors who left a NINE-INCH CLAMP inside his stomach.
2) There was NO direct evidence linking Castillo to the crime.
3) Castillo didn't have an adequate defense.
4) The main witness for the prosecution had been a suspect in the crime and also harbored ill feelings toward Castillo. Red flags, anyone?
5) When the police searched the home Castillo was living in, they found NOTHING. Yet, the next day, a bloody t-shirt and money bags were found. And this was a home shared by Castillo AND Garcia (the once suspect turned main witness for the prosecution). So, who actually left those there is in question. It could have been Castillo OR Garcia.
6) A witness that could have impugned Garcia's credibility was never asked to testify.
7) Castillo never admitted to the crime.
8) During the punishment phase of Castillo's trial, critical character witnesses were not brought to testify. And those that did were not adequately prepared.
I'm not saying that Castillo was innocent. I don't know if he was or not. He may have well deserved to rot in jail. But he definitely shouldn't have received the death penalty. Then again, I don't think ANYONE should receive the death penalty. But especially in this case where there is so much doubt and so many red flags and inconsistencies.
Here's another article that presents a slightly different view.
And now this is where I go, "Hmmm ..."
Castillo had been previously convicted of a robbery performed in a similar fashion. They found a bloody footprint that matched one left at the previous robbery. And the description of the perpetrator in both robberies matched that of Castillo.
But there are still way too many inconsistencies pointed out in the first article for this to have turned out to be case where the death penalty was enacted.
Amnesty International - Abolish the death penalty
(The Death Penalty, Questions and Answers)
Death Penalty Focus - Working for alternatives to the death penalty
(10 Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty)
Campaign to End the Death Penalty
(Five Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty)
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July 3rd, 2009
03:42 pm - The more you know!
New word learned today: anti-miscegenation
What it means:
"Anti-miscegenation laws, also known as miscegenation laws, were laws that banned interracial marriage and sometimes interracial sex between whites and members of other races. In the United States, interracial marriage, cohabitation and sex have since 1863 been termed "miscegenation." Contemporary usage of the term "miscegenation" is less frequent. In North America, laws against interracial marriage and interracial sex existed and were enforced in the Thirteen Colonies from the late seventeenth century onwards, and subsequently in several US states and US territories until 1967. Similar laws were also enforced in Nazi Germany, from 1935 until 1945, and in South Africa during the Apartheid era, from 1949 until 1985."
Link for more information.
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June 30th, 2009
June 29th, 2009
12:07 pm
So, I'm taking General Sociology: Social Problems this term. I'm one week in. There are seven more to go. And I feel like I'm going to fail it. It's been so long since I've had to read a textbook I think that I've forgotten how. Each chapter is SO long and has SO much information that I feel like I'm not absorbing and retaining the information that I need to. I've tried doing outlines to help with that, but the outlines seem to end up as long as the chapters because I have a hard time leaving out information. I also have a hard time putting it into my own words.
I can't fail this class. I can't. My parents are paying for it and it would disappoint them greatly if I did. And more importantly, if I can't pass this class, how will I ever make it through the rest of college? How will I ever get that degree in social work that I want so badly?
I feel like maybe I'm just stupid and not at least of average intelligence like I once thought. I know reading textbooks isn't supposed to be easy, but is it supposed to be this hard? Or maybe I am retaining information and I just don't know it. I hope so. I should probably just wait it out until our first test, which is next week (ugh!), before I decide if I'm a failure or not.
Tonight's class is about environmental threats. That shouldn't be too hard, right? Air pollution, water pollution, global warming, deforestation, etc.
We'll see.
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June 19th, 2009
12:14 pm
My grandpa has bladder cancer. He first went in for a biopsy about a month ago. They removed the tumor and analyzed it. It was cancer.
He went in for a second biopsy this past Wednesday. They went in to the original biopsy site and removed a deeper portion of tissue. This tissue will be analyzed, as well. The results will be in next week.
The doctor is pretty confident that the cancer is superficial and has not invaded his muscle. If it is superficial, as he says, then my grandpa will have to undergo BCG immunotherapy.
This involves injecting BCG, which is tuberculosis mixed with saline solution, directly into his bladder. He has to hold this mixture in his bladder for two hours. This will happen once a week for six weeks.
If the cancer is not superficial and has invaded the muscle, then he'll have to have his bladder removed. This is obviously not the option we're wanting or hoping for.
So, if you're reading this and you pray, please pray for my grandpa. If you're not the praying kind, then send positive thoughts his way. If you're in the donating mood then, by all means, send some money to the American Cancer Society or another similar organization of your choice.
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March 4th, 2009
February 2nd, 2009
December 13th, 2008
01:41 pm - Writer's Block: Top Dog
Pekingese, of course!
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August 21st, 2008
06:22 am - Writer's Block: Your Favorite Series: One Last Go Round
My So-Called Life.
And if you're saying Friends, you suck. They had TEN years, man. They had their run. Give it up already. There are much more worthy shows that were canceled before their time, like ... oh, I don't know ... My So-Called Life.
Also, Dead Like Me. And WONDERFALLS!!!
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August 14th, 2008
09:36 pm - Obama '08
Hey,
Want a free Obama button? MoveOn's giving them away totally free--no strings attached. I just got mine, and wanted to share the opportunity with you.
Click this link to get a free Obama button:
http://pol.moveon.org/obamabuttons/?id=-10003669-mG1aXNx&rc=ads.adwords.img300x250
Thanks!
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July 20th, 2008
07:27 pm
Secret Daughter: A Mixed-Race Daughter and the Mother who Gave Her Away
by: June Cross
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July 18th, 2008
11:45 pm - The Times of Harvey Milk
I just watched ...
If you haven't seen it yet, DO IT NOW! Seriously. Amazing movie. Amazing man. Amazing commentary on our society.
Just. Wow.
Harvey was and is a true hero, inspiration, and proof that humanity does, despite all evidence to the contrary, possess some goodness.
Harvey Bernard Milk
May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978
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01:51 pm
RIP, baby panda, RIP
Baby panda adopted and nursed by cat dies
Fri Jul 18, 11:42 AM ET
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands
Amsterdam's Artis zoo says a baby red panda adopted by a zookeeper's cat after being rejected by its mother has died.
The zoo says an autopsy on the tiny panda found its windpipe filled with milk, indicating it choked to death. The zoo had hoped the panda would be able to suckle from the cat for three months before moving onto a diet of bamboo and fruit.
The tabby cat came to the cub's rescue July 1 after it was spurned by its mother. A second cub died shortly after the cubs' birth on June 30.
In a message on its Web site Friday, the zoo says the cub was healthy until its unexpected death Thursday. The rest of its adoptive family — the tabby and her four kittens — are in good condition.
Dutch House Cat Adopts Rejected Red Panda
Room for 1 more: zookeeper's house cat adopts rejected red panda
July 9, 2008
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands
Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday July 9, 2008. The panda's mother, Gladys, rejected her two cubs after they were born on June 30. The zoo-keepers initially put the cubs in an incubator, but one keeper's tabby cat had just given birth to four kittens, and the housecat was willing to nurse the newcomers. One of the panda cubs was too weak and died last Thursday.
A zookeeper's house cat has adopted a baby red panda abandoned by its mother and is nursing the cub along with her own kittens, the Artis zoo said Wednesday.
The panda's mother rejected her two cubs after they were born on June 30.
"She left them there, lying in the cold," said zoo spokesman Bart Kret.
The zoo initially kept the cubs in an incubator. But a keeper's tabby cat had just given birth to four kittens, and let the two panda cubs join the crowd.
One of the cubs was too weak and died Thursday.
The surviving cub is still smaller than the kittens, who were born three days before her. However, if she survives to be an adult, she will be slightly larger than a cat.
Kret said the cub will drink milk for about three months, after which she can start eating bamboo and fruit.
The cub doesn't have a name yet, but the zoo says that, through its adoption program, anyone willing to sponsor her will be allowed to name her.
The red panda is an endangered species that lives in China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Burma. It has a striped tail like a raccoon and is only distantly related to the much larger giant panda.
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July 16th, 2008
01:22 pm - Bad writer is baaad.
I have developed a habit involving the wonderful online shopping arena know as Amazon, which feeds my reading addiction exponentially. It goes a little something like this:
Type in the title of a book I've read (and loved). Scroll down to the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" section. See a book that looks interesting. Decide to add it to my "Books to Read" list. Scroll down to that book's "Customers Who Have Bought This Item Also Bought" section. See a book that looks interesting. Decide to add it to my ... and so on and so forth until my eyes ache from staring at the computer screen, my index finger gets cramped from clickclickclicking, and drool has drenched the front of my shirt (books ... mmmmmmm ....).
Usually, I'll just accomplish my anticipated goal of finding a million or so books I want to read, but on one of my recent forays into the wild blue yonder of Amazon, I found the following and LOLed, as well as WTFed.
( I can has book? )
If you're a member of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) sf_drama, then you've already seen this.
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July 12th, 2008
09:15 pm
The Sky Isn't Visible from Here: Scenes from a Life
by Felicia C. Sullivan
Have You Found Her?
by Janice Erlbaum
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