Top Ten and a Rant

Time is out with its Top Ten Everything of 2009. My favorite is the Top Ten Under-reported Stories because I learned a few things. Here is the entire list, some of which is just... odd.

I spotted a sad story on Yahoo this morning: Pop culture main reason Calif has Chihuahua crisis

Chihuahuas make up 30 percent or more of the dog populations at many California shelters. And experts say pop culture is to blame, with fans immitating Chihuahua-toting celebrities like Paris Hilton and Miley Cyrus, then abandoning the dogs.

Pop culture and stupid, selfish people who think it's okay to take an animal in then just dump it off on someone else when it becomes inconvenient. This sort of stupidity just pisses me off. A member of the family pulled this stunt recently and my sister and I went ballistic on that person. Sadly neither of us can take in the animal in question so we're hunting for a home.

For the California Chihuahua problem there is something of a bright side:

"We never have enough supply for the huge consumer demand for small dogs," she said. One of Webb's biggest problems is a lack of money to fly the dogs to other states. Buchwald said she would be happy to help. "Nothing is outside the realm of possibility here. We have a supply-demand isssue," she said.

But it is no solution. Of course there is no solution for stupid, selfish, thought-less people. We just have to put up with them and correct their mistakes.

You can make donations of money or supplies at your local shelter. Petfinder.com (and other sites) can give you a list of shelters in your area. Please, people, don't adopt now - the holidays are the worst time to adopt pets - just go visit them, take some food and think about whether or not you can take on a new family member in the coming year.

Not paying attention

Dad got me hooked on NCIS earlier this year. He's the typical older parent in that he doesn't want anything for birthday's, Father's Day or Christmas and he doesn't want anyone spending any money - especially on him (for what it's worth Mom is just as bad). He is a typical male in that whatever he "needs" he just up and buys - which can be annoying. A few years ago sister Gretchen came up with the plan that we (the five chillun) would provide Dad with one seaon of JAG for each birthday, Father's Day and Christmas. Sadly, the show was only on for ten years so that only got us through three years of the afore-mentioned gift-giving occassions. Thankfully, JAG had a spin-off in NCIS. Sadly, it's just starting season seven (and the five of us are awaiting his season six Christmas present to be released at the end of the month) so we've already run out of options for his birthday next March. Dad loves all things Navy, John Wayne, Navy, The Quiet Man, MASH, Navy... and we've run out of options having provided vhs's, and now dvd's, of all his favorite movies and shows already. There might have to be a road trip to Annapolis in March. Not that that is a bad thing. Hm... Navy men...

In any event, Dad's gotten me hooked NCIS. Mom mentioned that USA network was running marathons of the program and guess who is glued to the show most nights? Other than Dad? Yeah, me. In addition to enjoying the fun and banter of the early years of the show (which seems to missing in seasons five and six), I'm loving me some Mark Harmon. Damn! If I'm not careful I might turn into fangurl at the rate this is going. Because of my latest obsession I haven't been paying attention to the world at large. I heard something about some fool woman accussing President Obama of being Hitler, the health care policy being a "Nazi" policy, and Barney Franks giving her a "smack down" and I was WTF?

"Do you really think that's thoughtful conversation? Do you really think that advances your arguments? I mean I thought you were thoughtful people who were here to have a conversation. I guess I don't understand. Is it because you don't like what I'm saying? What's the matter with you all? I don't understand your mentality. What do you think you accomplish by yelling?"

Representative Frank frequently annoys me. Grates, really, and he's no stranger to shouting down people he doesn't like, but I agree with him this time. What am I missing by not paying attention to the news these days? How did this fool woman come to the conclusion that the health care plan is a Nazi policy? Do I want to know?

Probably not.

While watching Mark Harmon each evening I've been stitching Daisy Collage by Laura J. Perin. It has been taxing because of my limited ability and it distracts me from Mark. Or Mark distracts me from Daisy. It could go either way. I might finish this project by next August at the rate I'm going.

I'm going to have to give up on Daisy for a couple of weeks - I'm moving again. Serious water leakage in the condo that management is doing nothing about has me looking at houses. Small, 1,000 sq ft or less, and I am hoping to move by September 12. I've had nothing but water problems for the last seven years and when Mom mentioned that to Dad on Sunday he said:

What do you expect, she's a Pisces

Hm.

Silly Season 2008

So Hillary and John won in New Hampshire.

Big. Freakin'. Deal.

The press is acting like it's election day - it's only one caucus and one primary down folks. Chill, please.

All day yesterday the political press is burying Hil in Iowa and proclaiming Obama as God's Second (and favorite) Child.

I've been sick of political theatre since Pelosi took impeachment off the table but it is now nearly impossible to avoid the insanity.

And it's only January. May the Great Cosmic Muffin have mercy on what's left of my soul.

I don't even want to address Bushies trip to Israel. With his BFF Condie. Don't they look cute together?

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Heart-breaking and horrifying news out of Alabama: Man tells cops he tossed four children off Ala. bridge

"Lam Luong, 37, will face four counts of capital murder, prosecutors say. "That's as bad as it gets under Alabama law," District Attorney John Tyson Jr. tells the Press-Register.

Lt. Richard Cayton of the Mobile County Sheriff's Office tells the paper that searchers on boats and helicopters haven't found any signs of the children, who ranged in age from 4 months to 3 years old."

Apparently it was an act of revenge against his wife but so far no reason is given as to what he was getting even with her for. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been bad enough for this. No doubt there will be a diminished capacity plea, eventually.

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From the Who Gives A Shit File, we have a story on Worst Dressed Of the Year.

Victoria Beckham, in case you're wondering.

In a huge act of charity Mr. Blackwell left Britney Spears off the list this year. The man should get a humanitarian award for that.

Frankly I find his stupid list incredibly mean-spirited most of the time - and utterly pointless. Who the hell cares what he thinks?

Dwarf's penis gets stuck in vacuum cleaner

It's a rainy, dreary day here in Connecticut. It's a helluva lot worse in Mexico. Drop a shekel or three in a collection plate for Hurricane Dean relief.

Since it's a rainy day here, I'll leave you with some reading material.

Starving Gaza, by Chris Hedges, at Truthdig:

Gaza has become the Sarajevo of the Middle East. Israel, in an action similar to that of the Serbs in Bosnia, has surrounded and cut off nearly a million and a half Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since the Islamic militant group Hamas took control in June. Electric fences and watch towers manned by Israeli soldiers keep the Palestinians trapped inside the strip. The land and sea blockade, the halting of all but minimal humanitarian aid and the refusal to allow Gaza to receive financial support are crushing Gaza’s industry, farming and infrastructure.

See also:

Gaza's public employees getting paid on one condition: stay home

Genocide in Tranquil Kurdistan.

Scott Ritter: Calling Out Idiot America (an old article, but still interesting).

From Truthout comes:

Prelude to an Attack on Iran, originally published in Time Magazine.

And what do we do if just the opposite happens - a strike on Iran unifies Iranians behind the regime? An Administration official told me it's not even a consideration. "IRGC IED's are a casus belli for this administration. There will be an attack on Iran."

Survivors of Bombs Left to Die in Rubble.

British military sparks US fears of losing Basra:

Stephen Biddle, who sits on the Council on Foreign Relations and is a member of a group that advised the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, told the The Sunday Times in London that coalition forces were no longer in control of the city.

"I regret to say that the Basra experience is set to become a major blunder in terms of military history," Mr Biddle was quoted as saying. "The insurgents are calling the shots … and in a worst-case scenario will chase us out of town."

Another senior US officer told The Sunday Telegraph: "The short version is that the Brits have lost Basra, if indeed they ever had it … They did not have enough troops there even before they started cutting back. The situation is beyond their control."

The officer warned of "a stink about this that will hang around the British military".

The old expression "lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas" comes to mind for some reason.

And the most important story of the day, from the bin of "you can't make this shit up":

Dwarf's penis gets stuck in vacuum cleaner.