Kittens!!

So, as you might remember, the feral momma that we haven't been able to trap yet had yet another litter. Well, this time she had it in the downstairs portion of the back building.

Last night, raindrops and vflig caught three of the kittens without a trap. This morning, vflig and I caught number four. Two grey tabbies and two solid grey (possibly dilute torties). So now we have 4 of the cutest little kittens, and the trap again set for mama.

In other news, I'm now officially part of the idle poor underclass. I drank a bottle of raspberry wine before noon. It was my severeal servings of fruit for the day, don'cha know...

Current Mood: mellow

Yesterday, I went into Bank of America, and closed my accounts, one of which I had held for 29 years.

Why? Fees, fees, and more fees, plus low interest and asinine policies. They got a bailout, I just bailed.

I now have a credit union account, with online access and bill pay. I will save nearly $20 a month.

When I get a new job, my credit card will get moved to the credit union too, since Chase is being abusive to people. Even the highest credit union interest rate is 5% below Chase.

All I needed to qualify for my credit union account was to live in San Jose, CA.

If you are sick and tired of your bank treating you like an ATM to be squeezed when they can't avoid playing with high risk derivatives and junk paper, check out your local credit union.

They actually define "fiscal conservatism" better than any megabank mogul ever could.

Current Mood: satisfied

Principle for life - "Don't Be A Dick" - DBAD

Current Mood: cheerful

Photo Courtesy of weofodthignen

Current Mood: cheerful

So, the feral that hangs out in our back building had another litter, and we trapped them all. We still have two, about six months old, from the last litter that we need to find homes for.

We are trying to trap momma to get her fixed, and we think she's preggers again.

The two oldest are gray stripey, a boy and a girl. Both are a bit insecure (we caught them a bit older) and would prefer to be only cats. Both are fixed, and current on shots. We'd like reimbursement for the cost of the vet.

The kittens are darling, use the litter, eat dry food. One looks siamese. They aren't fixed yet, but are getting socialized.

I keep trying to get my roomies to get pictures.

Current Mood: frustrated

Swine flu fatal to local cancer nurse

Read past the first part that talks about the nurse.

Apparently this thing can rapidly sink otherwise healthy people. It is probably a more dangerous variant.

Be careful, wash your hands, buy stock in Purell.

Current Mood: cynical

From the Pulpit: Time for a Christian Revolutionary War

This whackjob is essentially advocating a outright revolution, overthrowing the Constitution, and establishing a theocratic state like they have in Iran.

Now do you understand why I will use terms like "Christian Taliban", "American Taliban", and "Christian Mullahs" for these traitors?

The fact that this crap is published as a serious opinion in a local paper means that it is just the tip of the iceberg.

But don't just listen to me. Do a Google search on things like "dominionism", "Army of God", "Joels Army", "steeplejacking", and "christian nation".

Then check your ammo.

Ever wonder what fans keep in their garages? Come find out, and buy the items that are offered for sale and thus reuse.

The event will be
Saturday and Sunday, June 27 & 28
at 2999 Fresno St, Santa Clara, CA.
(We are two blocks south of El Camino Real, and one block west of Keily Blvd in Santa Clara.)

The hours will be 9 am and 3 pm. Come meet some of your convention volunteers, and score some bargains in the process.

Our website has a link to Google maps to help you find your way.

Hope to see you there!

Due to technical difficulties, our web site for this year was delayed.

It is now active at http://www.siliconventions.com/

PayPal will be active soon for purchase of memberships.

Timeline and History of Protests in Iran

The year was 1979. I was in college, often skipping class to argue with the Iranian protesters who wanted to overthrow the Shah and institute an Islamic theocracy in Iran.

They got what they wished for. Not a democracy, a theocracy.

Now the next generation has to try to fix it without getting themselves killed.

I wish them luck - the current regime is more repressive than the Shah.

Single Payer Health Care and Prevention.

They are also available on LJ by RSS feed: [Unknown LJ tag].

A racist conspiracy theorist answered the dog whistle again: Security Guard Is Killed in Shooting at Holocaust Museum in D.C. The lunatic fringe of the American Taliban is out in force this year.

See Another Right Wing Nut Terrorist Shooting

The Christian Taliban and Domestic Terrorism

Here are some nasty statistics, generated by an independent and respectable method Medical Bankruptcy in the United States, 2007: Results of a National Study The survey was performed by the Department of Medicine, Cambridge Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Mass; the Department of Sociology, Ohio University, Athens; and Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass. This is not some insurance company 'study' that tells you what they want you to hear.

The findings? 62.1% of all bankruptcies are due to medical bills, and 3/4 of filers started out with "insurance"!! Most were middle class, college educated, and owned (note the past tense) their own homes. People who are poorer often can't even afford the filing fees - I know that when the dot bomb crash happened I couldn't even think about affording to file.

The 'insurance' industry is a rip-off - it eats 1 out of every 4 dollars paid in as "administrative expenses" (read that as "executive salaries, bonuses and shareholder profits"), and then denies care to people who need it most. Yes, a lot of companies terminate coverage after a major illness has happened.

Yet jackasses like Baucus want to "mandate" that we pay these jackals, either through employers or privately, with "assistance" if we can't afford it. What good is that, if we can't get real coverage, just a token with high deductibles, high co-pays, low maximum coverages, and contracts riddled with exceptions, exclusions and loopholes for the benefit of the insurer.

Fuck that. Single payer, please.

Read the survey. It's a short PDF of what they found. Then think about what would happen if you ended up with, say, a stroke, cardiac problem, or cancer.

When I meet someone on the net, I don't know, or care, what racial category they put themselves in. Unless they mention it, or put it in their bio, I don't even think about it. Heck, I sometimes don't have a clue as to their gender identity either, unless they mention it, or something related to it.
( Not sure where I'm going with this )

Dr George Tiller was gunned down in the lobby of his church by an anti-abortion terrorist today.

Yes, we have domestic terrorism. Operation Rescue, and their lunatic fringe followers, are exactly that. Same as the radical anti-gay bigots, the white supremacists, or the anti-government nutjobs. I really wish that the government would take them as seriously as they do Muslim Jihadists. The Christian Taliban deserves to be watched and arrested for their plots as much, if not more so, than the few Muslim extremists in this country.

I recommend that people who want to "do something" donate to either Planned Parenthood (protecting doctors and clinics is expensive) or the ACLU in memory of Dr. Tiller.

I need a scanner, and I need to figure out how to set up a web comic. I figure by the time I get a scanner that works with linux, I'll have enough stuff to post. I'm a sucky artist, but I can draw funny stuff and political stuff.

The tides of time and justice flow against them. All of the bible thumping, science denial, and sheer homophobia are an evolutionary dead end. They fear what they can't control, what they can't shame, what they can't bend to their and their small, petty God's "will".

Now, I'm bi, I could "choose" to be "straight", but reality isn't that way. But I can pass if I want to, be the "high yeller" of the LGBT spectrum. Others can't. When a man is only attracted to men, he can't change it. If he could, our society wouldn't have uncloseted gays - any sane person would chose to be straight, if they had a choice.

But the person I love is female, not male. Also, all of my full gay friends have rights too, rights that the stupid desert religions can't believe away.

This nation was founded on the principle of equality, even if the founders fell short of that ideal themselves due to their own cultural blind spots. In the end, equality and love will conquer the bible based hate and fear.

We need to speak out, gay and straight, on how gays marrying strengthens our communities, our families, and our nation.

We need to secure the favorable tax codes, inheritance rights, housing rights, hospital visitation rights, medical decision rights, and legal testimony rights that now *only* accrue to "married" hetero couples. These rights are just not there with "civil unions" or "domestic partnerships" - they just aren't. It's not only separate, but decidedly unequal. Anyone who really thinks about it knows it. But the churches lie to their parishioners, saying "oh, but they have civil unions, its the same, but marriage is sacred". They don't really understand that gays are cheated of some of the "meat" of marriage rights.

If civil unions/domestic partnerships are so equal to marriage, then all these whiny religious gits wouldn't mind giving up state sanctioned marriage entirely, would they? They could keep "marriage" as a purely religious matter, and any legal benefits would be associated with civil unions. But if you suggest that, they whine, saying "it's not the same", then turn around and tell us again that it is "equal".

This isn't over. However, if you are against gay marriage, please, remove yourself from my "friends" list. I'm no longer willing to be "tolerant" of any viewpoint that wants to deny me and mine their rights. Tolerance doesn't mean doormat, doesn't mean open headed acceptance of everyone's bullshit, doesn't mean allowing bigots and bullies to make the rules, doesn't mean swallowing someone else's dictates and morals as binding on anyone else. I'm tolerant, not a pushover.

If you don't approve of gay marriage, don't marry someone of your own gender. But don't even dream that you have the right to make me live and love by your fucking religious rules. No more nice gay.