Sarah Palin Wanted To Ban Books...

This is just scary and the Christian Right sees nothing wrong with this. From Crooks and Liars:

[Former mayor] John Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. “She asked the library how she could go about banning books,” he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. “The librarian was aghast.” That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn’t be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving “full support” to the mayor.

This comes from a TIME article filed from Wasilla, where journalists are busy doing the vetting that McCain left to a secretive ultra-right group, the Council for National Policy.

Think that this could not happen in 2008 - your wrong. From September 27 until October 4 is Banned Book Week. Still across this country of ours, people who think they have an "in" with their almighty god feel that can tell me what I and my children can and cannot read. How dare these people assume that they know what everyone should read!

From the American Library Association (ALA):

Each year, the American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom receives hundreds of reports on books and other materials that were "challenged" (their removal from school or library shelves was requested). The ALA estimates the number represents only about a quarter of the actual challenges. "Most Challenged" titles include the popular "Harry Potter" series of fantasy books for children by J.K. Rowling. The series drew complaints from parents and others who believe the books promote witchcraft to children.

Here is a list of the books that have been banned (or requested to be banned) and the reasons:

1. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, for its use of language, particularly references to race
2. "It's Perfectly Normal", a sex education book by Robie Harris, for being too explicit, especially for children
3. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, for the description of rape she suffered as a child.
   
4. "Tripping Over the Lunch Lady" by Angela Johnson, challenged at the Magruder Elementary School for inclusion in the library for passages about war.
5. All Harry Potter Books because some Christians are scared of wizards and witches!?
6. "The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things", Carolyn Mackler, challenged for sexual content, offensive language, being "anti-family", and being unsuited for age group.
7. "And Tango Makes Three" by Peter Parnell, Justin Richardson, and Henry Cole, challenged for homosexuality and being "anti-family".

The best part of And Tango Makes Three is that this is a true story of two male penguins in New York City's Central Park Zoo. "They cuddle and share a nest like the other penguin couples, and when all the others start hatching eggs, they want to be parents, too. Determined and hopeful, they bring an egg-shaped rock back to their nest and proceed to start caring for it. They have little luck, until a watchful zookeeper decides they deserve a chance at having their own family and gives them an egg in need of nurturing. The dedicated and enthusiastic fathers do a great job of hatching their funny and adorable daughter, and the three can still be seen at the zoo today." - amazon I love that some crazy people out there want to ban this book. Are they afraid that since homosexuality happens in nature that means that it is not a choice. Cannot have that. Our kids will be scared for life. Also saying that it is "anti-family" when it shows true love for the offsrping they are entrusted with. God I hate people that try to make something out of nothing.

How...Cute?...

So while looking for a picture, I came across this little car. This is a three wheel electric car that is made in China. The distributor is Zap! There is already a waiting list for this ugly little car.

The picture to the left is the Xebra line. Here are some specs:

Speed: Up to 40 mph (65 kmph)

Range: Up to 25 miles per charge (40km) *Up to 40 miles per day with opportunity charging; Energy to charge 4.75 kwh

Seating: Up to 4

Colors: Ocean Blue, Zebra Flash, Kiwi Green, and Lipstick Red

Price: $11,500 - for an extra $1,500 you can get a solar panel for your little Zebra:

If you prefer to zip around town with a green conscience, you'll be glad to know that electric car maker ZAP will offer a new photovoltaic panel option for its three-wheeled Xebra Xero models. Xebras get their main charge from a standard 110 volt outlet, but the solar panel can power short-distance trips all on its own. Compared to pricier, stranger-looking alternative energy vehicles, a Xebra Xero will give you not a bang, but a solid scoot for your buck, with a top speed of 40 mph and estimated price tag of $12,000. Xebra Xeros are best-suited for city use and are available as a 4-door sedan or 2-passenger pick-up truck.

Copy Cat...

They grow up so fast...and it is driving me crazy. Mikayla is now imitating almost everything we do. She needs to take a piece of toilet paper and wipe her nose because Mark does this all the time. She wants to flush the toilet, while we are going mind you. She will usually sing with any song that is being played - although her singing is more like a scream, she can hold a note for a surprisingly long time.

But the worst thing that she is doing is coping us when we plug things in. Mark made her a nice necklace with keys hanging from it. She was carrying that around for a while and then she disappeared on me. I ran after her and found her in the kitchen with her key necklace trying to plug a key into the power outlet. Thank god we had it covered. The problem is that she knows how to unplug things as well. She has unplugged the vacuum while I was using it. So now we have to be much more aware of what she is doing and what we are doing.

They grow up too fast.

Land of the Free?...

I would like to bring up the some questions and concerns of my own. The First Amendment gives all Americans the right to assemble, protest, and petition, but why does this fall under fire when it comes to protesting politicians?

At the DNC, about 100 people were arrested when a crowd of about 300 people disrupted traffic near the Denver City and County Building (read article here). Now I understand that our right to protest is supposed to be granted when we do it in a peaceful way. This group decided not to be peaceful. The arrests I feel were warranted.

Now we come to the RNC convention this week. Again there were arrest, but I am lost as to why the arrests were made. When you read the article you find out that the police raided homes of these people that were planning to protest. They were planning and they get arrested. Why is this OK? I was also speechless to find out that "25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets." When did our freedoms get tossed out and this police state start to take over?

It has also been reported, as mentioned above, that the federal government was involved with this raid. From the article: "As the police attacks on protesters in Minnesota continue...it appears increasingly clear that it is the Federal Government that is directing this intimidation campaign. Minnesota Public Radio reported yesterday that "the searches were led by the Ramsey County Sheriff's office. Deputies coordinated searches with the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

What laws allow the police and the FBI to raid a home, seize computers and pamphlets and make this type of arrest when the people are only planning to protest? Also, is it extreme that they went in with full riot gear? Also, why isn't this a bigger story on the news? People are losing their rights and the news gives it a no more than a little coverage.

I truly believe in our constitution and what it has done for us, but I also believe that we as a society need to follow the constitution and allow the freedoms that it affords us.

Read Articles here:
Massive Police Raids on Suspected Protesters in Minneapolis

Federal Government Involved in Raid on Protesters

Protester Raid

Leaving America...

This last week we went back to Michigan to see my family and give my parents time to spend with their granddaughter. We decided to head back through Canada since it cuts off more than three hours from the trip. We have done this many times, but this time things changed a little on our departure.

As we drove up to the border, we were stopped by two border patrol officers. One was talking to the person in the van in front of us and the other came to our window. This was different since most border patrol officers are in their little cubical at the gates. This time they were both standing outside waiting for cars coming to them. The officer asked to see our passports. He asked us the usual questions - why are you traveling to Canada, are you planning on stopping anywhere in Canada, any guns or alcohol in the your possession? This was all normal.

While this was happening the officer that was dealing with the car in front of us had the person get out of his vehicle. She asked him to open the back of the van so she could look in. The thing I noticed was that the gentlemen was of middle eastern decent. The officer that was dealing with us didn't go any further than asking us the normal questions and smiling the whole time. Then another van drove by us on the right hand side. This car was not stopped. The officer told the women, who started to run after the van that it was so and so. She smiled and nodded at our officer and continued with her driver.

We were handed our information back to us and were waved on. We put all our information away thinking that we were on our way to Canada. Now this all seems normal until we got to another gate where we had to give our passports over again. Come to find out the first stop that we had to make was actually the U.S. border patrol. The Vermont boarder patrol had officers asking people why they are leaving the U.S. Do we now have to get permission to travel outside America? Why were they so much more interested in the man in front of us than they were us? I think that they were doing some racial profiling. Why didn't they look in our van? And why are they concerned with who is leaving the country?

I told Mark the next time we leave and they stop us, we should tell them we are defecting. I just want to see what reaction it would get and how long we would have to be in jail.

Hoarding Case...

Two have been charged in animal cruelty. As I read the article, disgust, anger, and sadness filled my vains. Only people that are mentally unstable could possible think that what they are doing is right. According to the article, "The Harpins...didn’t know why their animals were dying. They were very angry (that animal control) were taking the animals away from them, and they didn’t offer any information. They simply said ‘We’re taking care of them, but they’re dying, there’s nothing we can do.’"

"Ferrets, rabbits, cats, three lizards, a tarantula, a boa constrictor, a chinchilla and a starving dog were among the animals in the home on Route 5 in Passumpsic. Also found was a decomposing animal of unknown type in a pot on a stove, and more than a dozen partially frozen dead animals in a refrigerator freezer.

I hate it when I hear about cases like this. According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), animal hoarding is one of the greatest causes of animal suffering in the United States, resulting in more injuries, suffering, and deaths to animals than intentional acts of cruelty perpetrated by animal abusers. What is animal hoarding? The definition that follows is from Tufts.edu:

The following criteria are used to define animal hoarding:

• More than the typical number of companion animals
  
• Inability to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter, and veterinary care, with this neglect often resulting in starvation, illness, and death
• Denial of the inability to provide this minimum care and the impact of that failure on the animals, the household, and human occupants of the dwelling

Many people truly believe that what they are doing is better than what anyone else could do. Even if their animals are dying. I have had people tell me that they they could not possibly take the animals into the humane society because they knew that they would kill them. One lady told me this as I walked through more than a couple of inches of cat feces, spiderwebs, and fleas jumping on and off me. The lady that lived in this house was in her 80's, had no family and the department of the government that deals with the elderly told me that WE were not doing enough for her.

How can we as a society neglet people like this? How can government officials sit in their offices knowing that this poor women was denied travel on the local bus to get her groceries because other people on the bus were getting flea bites? The official that I was dealing with told me that she wasn't that bad off. Her oven we cakes in black something and the top of the stove was covered in cat feces. She had more than 20 cats living inside and out. When I met with her one day she was crying. When I asked her why, she told me that her favorite two cats had died and she had to throw them in the dumpster behind her house. This is OK?!

This is why I hate it when I hear about cases like this one. Read the rest of the article here. The image above is not from the case in the article. It's from Best Friends Network.

Observation of the Human Condition...

This morning was a busy day for Mikayla and myself. We had to take our car in to have the front end fixed (again). When you go over 65 the steering wheel shakes wildly. While we were waiting (for more than two hours), I was watching the people that come and go in the dealership. One thing that made me smile (out of pity mainly) was watching a young mechanic leave on his break. The whole garage takes a break at 10 and they all file out.

While this one mechanic who could not be any older than 20-21 got into his car (which was louder than a jet engine - not in a good way either) and drove off the dealership lot. As I was bored, I started to think where he could go in such a short amount of time. Then while I watched him I found out. He drove across the street to the Mobile station. Not to get gas. He parked. Got out of his car and went inside to get a sandwich.

I find it interesting and a little sad that this person needed to get in his car to cross the street. The best part of this is that another mechanic did walk across the street and made it there and back before the young guy could get through the traffic. I know that many people could care less about this, but why are we so dependent on these things?

Below is a picture of the Mobile station as I stood in the parking lot of the dealership.

Julia Child...

Did you know that during WWII, Julia Child "served in an international spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services, an early version of the CIA created in World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt". It's true.

"The full secret comes out Thursday, all of the names and previously classified files identifying nearly 24,000 spies who formed the first centralized intelligence effort by the United States. The National Archives, which this week released a list of the names found in the records, will make available for the first time all 750,000 pages identifying the vast spy network of military and civilian operatives."

Read the rest of the story at CNN.

What To Call It...

Back on April 3, I wrote about Mikayla's vagina. No, not in depth. I wrote about how people (friends and family) were calling the vagina many different names. Well searching the internet for something exciting to watch or read, I came across a group of fathers and their website called "Dadlabs - Taking Back Paternity". These guys are very funny and the site is often interesting. They do little videos concerning many problems that come up when dealing with our children. One of the videos is dealing with one father's daughter and what they were going to call her vagina. Not in the naming way that men call their penis, but in the is it going to be a vagina, who-who, or my new favorite - vagine.

Taylor at Camp and Art...

I am a bad uncle. Taylor had written this entry a while ago and with all the crap that has been happening (see below) I never got it on. Taylor is one very talented kid (she really is not a kid anymore, but hey). As you will see below, she is an artist and a damn good one at that. My family was out here in April and I remember Taylor working on this DVD cover when they were here. She finished it and when I got it, it took my breath away. This from a 16 year old (almost). Judge for yourself. Here is her entry about camp and the DVD cover.

Hi, sorry I haven't had anything posted in a awhile...

Well, I got back from camp about a week ago (Camp Midicha for kids with diabetes). This was my last year to go as a camper, but next year I can be a C.I.T., or a counselor-in-training. This Wednesday, I'm going to be leaving (again) to go to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp for the second year for art. I'll be gone for 12 days. Hopefully I get to make some cool art projects to show you all.

Speaking of which, I made a Rent poster (well, actually the DVD cover, to be exact), but I changed the characters to the ones from Fullmetal Alchemist. If you try looking it up but can't find the characters being Maureen and Joanne, don't worry, those two are my own character, Kita (the one with the teal bangs), and my best friend's character, Jenika.

I guess that's all the updating for now...

See ya,
Taylor