From my dad:

And the blessings of good friends, happiness in family, reasonable health, work that is satisfying and worthwhile, and adequate pay are my Christmas wish for you and yours. I know this wish may sound a little stingy around the edges but I understand that "Give us this day our daily bread" probably is closer to field rations than luxury.

From a friend:

My hope for you is that you have all that you need, most of what you want, and just enough challenge to keep it interesting.

From a story by Bob Perks (http://www.bobperks.com/wish.htm)

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much
bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Goodbye."

Two tidbits from Yahoo:

1. In 2006, births among girls ages 15 - 19 rose 3% in the US. This age group represents 99% of the ~440,000 live births to US teens last year. See -  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071205/ap_on_he_me/teen_births

2. According to research published in the American Journal of Public Health (January, 2008), it seems that there's an increased risk of long-term sexual health issues - albeit of differing kinds - when people are either "early" (i.e. under 17) or "late" (i.e. over 22) bloomers. See - http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071204/hl_nm/virginity_health_dc;_ylt=AgU.8JktE.7H4gcG.SZ1yrpa24cA

What's are two common threads that tie those two items together?

1. Abstinence-only sex education programs. Which have not proven to be effective in discouraging teens from becoming sexually active - but, because the programs do not provide unbiased or scientifically accurate information about human sexuality and birth control alternatives, have proven to be successful in leaving teens vulnerable to STIs and pregnancy.

2. Legislation in many states that limits access for teens (and adults) to birth control, the morning after pill, and abortion services. Which have not proven effective in preventing people from having sex, but only in making more difficult for people to engage in safe sex and prevent unwanted pregnancies (or, if an unwanted pregnancy does occur, making it very, very, very difficult to terminate that pregnancy).

And the common thread that ties together those phenomena?

Fundamentalist religion - in the American context, more specifically, fundamentalist Christianity - and the insistence of its adherents that their beliefs must be imposed on the rest of society because their beliefs are (ahem) right and true and pure, reflecting as they do The One, True Way.

*sigh* 

Yay!! Valentine's Day will see the release of the first new CS by the Philosopher Kings in about a zillion years - or merely waaa-aaaay too long!

I've listened to the promo songs, Castles in the Sand and Give Back the Love, at http://entertainment1.sympatico.msn.ca/Music/Artists/articles/philosopher%20kings and am in serious musical covet mode!

My SO loves cars - preferably the foreign ones that go vrooo-oooom! But not Lamborghinis because he doesn't like the angry flight of bees sound of the engines ... He can identify a shocking variety of cars merely from their seeing their tail lights on a dark highway. His favourite PS2 game is whatever the current version of Grand Tourismo happens to be. And his fave TV shows are all on Speedvision.

Why is this important? Because I don't care about cars, how fast they can get to 60 mph from a standing start, what's under the hood and so on. Cars are to get me from Point A to Point B in a reasonable amount of comfort at a reasonable speed. Nothing fancy. Nothing exotic. Nothing complicated.

I've been corrupted from my former state of near pristine yet blissful ignorance about All Things Automotive. I have, over the days and weeks and years, absorbed a scandalous amount of car knowledge. Even more disturbing: I have come to understand the meaning of the information I have (reluctantly) absorbed. Oh, the horror of it all!! *head/desk*

So there we were, driving home down the Don Valley Parking Lot, bopping along at a modest 100 kmh on a dark and shadowy January evening. The conversation went  something like this:

"Did you see that car that just passed us?"

Not having been paying attention (one of the perks of being the passenger!) but having oodles of experience with being asked THAT question, I nodded and said "Uh-hhmmmm", while thinking to myself, "What? I suddenly look like I care?"

He pointed to the lane just in front of us. I see a pair of tailights pulling away. "It's a Maybach."

"Oh." Thinking, "What the holy Hell is THAT???"

"It's a rare luxury car. Really rare. They're all made to order," and then he rattled on for another 5 or 6 minutes with all the gory details about the dang things. Engine, horsepower, toque, and so and so and so on ....

"Babe," says I. "You know I'm never going to remember all that!"

We talked about various cars for several more minutes. More accurately, he talked and I made interested noises, except, you see, I find myself more and more often inserting really scary tidbits into these conversations. Like knowing the difference between our Subaru SVX's flat-6 and the Lincoln's V-8 .... and how the horsepower to toque ratio affects a car's performance .... and why a certain kind of tire or brake tire is necessary for a given vehicle. Car crap like that. Stuff I never, ever wanted to know. My brain has been infected with (shudder) car knowledge and I can't seem to Windex it all away!

I finally told him, "Look, if I ever do that look at a car and automatically know what it is thing, just shoot me now, OK?"

Really. Just shoot me now. Cars. *blech-blech-blech*

I've been corrupted.

And the corruption won't wash off.

Colour me appalled in a bemused kind of way!

And another long weekend fades into the sunset ....

We visited with my SO's family on Saturday. Getting from here to there (TO to London) was the usually Filipino tragi-comedy! :/P We arose at the crack of dawn (which on a long weekend, that means before 7 am! :( Which meant dragging DS2 out of bed - always a joyous task, but way more fun and less hazardous than trying to awaken his older sister too early in the day!!) so that we could drive to my MIL's in the northern suburbs, to arrive before 8:30 - because that's when my idiot BIL was supposed to arrive .... Which he did, promptly at 10:15 am! Of course, we had only stopped for coffee on our way there, so brekkie consisted of carbs (toast and jam)at my MIL's. *blech*

Then, we packed assorted papaphenalia into the car, along with my MIL. My SO's sister (not the one married to the idiot BIL), her daughter, and the idiot BIL's daughter all went in the BIL's car. As usual, our presence was required as more as chauffeur, rather than just as family .... *sigh* Did I happen to mention that I'm not particularly fond of my in-laws?

Then we drove for 2 hours to London - stopping only for a quick potty break. And were then treated to luch at a pasta joint. Oh joy! More carbs! Mother of gods, but my system was in carb-overload by then and all I wanted was protein and veggies. Both of which were in very short supply! *blech-blech*

We spent the rest of the day at the in-laws' place. My SIL and her family had been living with my MIL until early July, when they moved to London as my BIL was transferred by his company. They had been pleading poverty and apparently couldn't come up with enough cash to cover their share of the bills while at her place, but - lo and behold! - they can now pay more than $400 more per month than as rent, plus all of their utilities .... AND were able to pay for over $500 for new couches for their livingroom. And this is while my SIL is now on maternity leave. Granted, her mat leave cheques mostly likely haven't kicked in yet because you can't make a claim until after the baby is born (June 16th) and the processing takes 6 - 8 weeks. Plus, her income on mat leave will only be 2/3 of her pre-leave income.

So, the big question is: How can they suddenly afford all this? Answer: They weren't really carrying their financial weight while living at my MIL's. Did I happen to mention that I'm not particularly fond of my in-laws?

And dinner was, yet again, mostly carbs. *blech-blech-blech*

We got home about midnight - and, thanks gods, were NOT called to ferry anyone back to TO today! *happy dancing*

We are still waiting to get our car back from the repair guys. Our usual mechanic doesn't do tranny work, so he sent it to anothe rplace he thought highly of. Well, they haven't managed to fix the tranny after THREE returns and we are, to put it mildly severely peeved. The first time, they clocked about 500 kilometres on the odometer, someone decided it was OK to smoke in the car and they used almost an entire tank of gas (at abuck a litre, that set us back about $60). The second time, they only used a quarter tank of gas, but the third time, it was over 500k, a full tank of gas, more smoking in the car AND a 20% exhaustion of the oil life (we'd just changed the oil before we sent it back to them). Peeved? You betcha! Seriously naffed off? Yeah, that too. Tomorrow I get to call our mechanic and raise a whole lot of hell. If we'd taken the damn car to a Ford-Lincoln dealer, they would have soaked us for almost a grand more but at least the car would have been fixed right the first time! Grrrrr.

Divalion wrote an illuminating rant about the difference between males who self-identify as Nice Guys (who, when you get right down to it, aren't at all nice) and decent, caring and upright males who are, pure and simple, nice guys.  http://www.livejournal.com/users/divalion/163615.html?#cutid1

It makes me appreciate the nice guys in my life even more than I already do

On a more pleasant note, we stayed home and watched a couple of comedy flicks this evening: Miss Congeniality 2 and The Pacifier. Both were amusing but in different ways. My SO, DS2 and I all laughed a lot, while enjoying each other's company. Nice - definitely nice! *g*

I'm making progress on the Lion Rampant design from Serendipity (http://www.serendipitydesigns.com/Serendipity_Designs/l-92_lion_rampant.html). Wowsers, the shades of gold are thisclose . Pretty much the only way to tell the main 3 apart was to count the number of pieces of each colour - and do so in daylight!!! When it's finished, I want to do the Unicorn Rampant (http://www.serendipitydesigns.com/Serendipity_Designs/l-91_unicorn_rampant.html) companion piece. I'm betting that the shades of white/cream in the unicorn are also reallyreallyreally close. At least I won't need glasses when I'm finished!!!

Three projects on the I Wanna Make THIS List: Dream Dancer by Design Works (http://www.solocrafts.com/image01/1089960.jpg), even though I don't usually covet native American designs, for some reason I love this one! And Celtic Seasons by Mike Vickery (http://www.vickerycollection.com/page3.html). Plus, Thea Dueck's Heirloom Christmas in the rose & teal colourway ( http://www.victoriasampler.com/Catalog/VS_Samplers/p34HeirloomChristmas.asp). The choice will be an easy one .... I already have the Vickery kit!

And dinner was a HUGE hit! Beef stew with the broth made from Kikkoman shoyu, sweet rice wine, a bit of Worcestershire, brown sugar, garlic, some red pepper flakes and (of course) water. Accompanied by baking powder drop biscuits. Yum!! No leftovers at all. None. Zip. Nada. A definite hit!

I got hit this week-end with the telling remark on a discussion board: "You're not an American, and I am so sick and tired of your negative remarks about the U.S.A. Don't confuse the dislike some of us have for the current administration for a hatred towards our country. I love the USA. It is my home. I choose to fix what is wrong rather than leave this country. I find it tiresome that you feel it necessary to insult America and Americans on a regular basis. You seem to find Americans beneath you and yet you post here and the majority of us are Americans"

So, what I really want to know is, why do so many Americans seem to think that only Americans can, ought or should be expressing critical views or opinions about the United States, its government and its citizens? As if, somehow, the United States exists in a social, political, economic and moral vacuum ... instead of being the sole world superpower with an enormous political and economic reach and one of the the world's largest military.

And the little wheeze that almost always accompanies this stuff is "And I would never say anything critical about YOUR country".

News flash for the observation-impaired: Americans and the United States do it all the damn time! 

Think about Iraq - or Venezuela - or the much ballyhooed nonsense about "freedom fries" and "freedom toast"- or Panama - or Iran - or the highly publicized references to Canuckistan - or North Korea - or Libya - or about the Taliban and how awful it is/was - or .... Need I go on? 

Two other charming and delightful things also seem to occur when this form of discussion-stomping arises: 

1. The one where I get told that I too have a diminished or non-existent privilege to comment on what happens in the U.S. or about the actions of the U.S. because, while I am an American, I choose to live in another country. (Um, yeah, for nearly 30 years, sweetie - but what does that really have to do with the discussion?). So, my opinion, just like those of non-Americans, also "doesn't count". I too should simply sit down and shut up. I've been told that more than once on-line and even by members of my own family. (Yes, I have relatives who ARE, in fact, idiots. Reactionary ones, at that. It's an embarrassment, but what's a nice liberal who lives in a country that doesn't believe that every lunatic on the street corner needs to pack a pistol supposed to do? Family - you can't live with them and you can't kill 'em.)

2. When the poster gets told that I am an American, it's often suddenly somehow more acceptable for me to have made the negative remarks. Which highlights that his/her reaction really is driven by the (presumed) nationality of the "challenged" poster, rather than the issue under discussion.

The next time someone hauls out those sorry excuses for stifling open debate, I WILL call that person on it. And I will NOT let him or her wiggle off the hook and make excuses for using this double standard.

The simple fact is that when Americans, as individuals and a country, stop believing that it's okay for Americans and the United States to make critical comments about other countries, their chosen governments, their religious system, their economic systems, etc. AND when Americans, as individuals and a country, stop believing that it's okay for Americans and the United States to intervene, directly or indirectly, in the affairs of those other countries, their chosen governments, their religious system, their economic systems, etc., then maybe they will be in a position, as individuals and a country, to be telling people outside of the United States that they really ought not to be making critical remarks about the U.S. because, after all, they aren't Americans and therefore shouldn't have an opinion.

And that will happen when Hell freezes over and the hundred little gods all die.

Gaa-aah!!!! And the theocons have the bare-faced brass to whinge and whine that THEIR (oh so precious) religious rights and sensibilities are being infringed or otherwise trod upon??????

A judge in Indianapolis has decided that Wicca isn't an acceptable religion to teach a child because it isn't "mainstream" enough for the judge's prejudices. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050526/NEWS01/505260481

So, the judge unilaterally and arbitrarily included a provision in the divorce decree of the parents - both of whom are Wiccans - that prohibits them from teaching or exposing their son to "non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals".

Their son attends a local Catholic school. You know, thousands of children attend religious schools for the quality of the overall education - and not simply or even necessarily because they and their parents are adherents of the religion in question. The added fillip here is that BOTH parents agree on the Wiccan teachings and practices they want to impart to their son. So the judge didn't even have the excuse that he was making a ruling to end a dispute/disagreement between parents over which religion the kid will follow.

The judge based his decision, in part, on a report by the local Domestic Relations Counseling Bureau which contained the following conclusion: "There is a discrepancy between Ms. Jones and Mr. Jones' lifestyle and the belief system adhered to by the parochial school. . . . Ms. Jones and Mr. Jones display little insight into the confusion these divergent belief systems will have upon (the boy) as he ages ...." [Note that the parents's religious beliefs are disparaging referred to a "lifestyle" .... No religious bias there, right?] Neither the Bureau nor the judge provided any evidence or facts to support their conclusions of potential "harm" to the boy.

However, what comes through quite clearly is that the practice of a non-Christian, non-mainstream religion - even though religious freedom is protected under the First Amendment - isn't "good enough" for this judge or the social worker at the Bureau. Hence Bradford's order.

Religious prejudice is religious prejudice no matter how you try to pretty it up.

I am glad that the decision is being appealed. I hope that Judge Bradford is severely reprimanded for his inappropriate and very prejudiced actions.

In addition, I believe that:

1. The social worker who wrote the report for the  Domestic Relations Counseling Bureau should be required to take training on the First Amendment and religious freedom.

2. AND that both the social worker and the judge should also be required to attend remedial training on all of Indiana's laws and caselaw dealing with the right of parents to raise their children according to the parents's religious beliefs and not those of the social worker or the judge.

3. AND that the Bureau's management should be smacked severely for allowing such a piece of unsubstantiated personal bias to be presented to the Court. If necessary, the management and staff should also be required to attend remedial training on the First Amendment and on respecting religious freedom while doing and assessment of the parent and their parenting skills, etc. as part of a divorce.

Smug rat bastard bigots.