Random Thinking

In case you haven’t heard, John McCain and his campaign staff have managed to create a minor diplomatic incident with one of our NATO allies. In an interview for the Florida affiliate of Spanish radio network Union Radio, McCain was asked about US relations with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and if he would invite him to the White House. Zapatero is, of course, the President of Spain – one of our NATO allies. McCain, who claims to be a foreign policy expert, seemed confused about who Zapatero is and referred to him as the ruler of a Latin American country. He seemed to believe that he was talking about the president of Mexico and not the President of one our allies. But even when corrected and told by the interviewer that they were talking about a country in Europe, he still seemed confused and referred to Latin America.

This might be excused to some extent since the interviewer had a heavy accent and McCain did seem to be having trouble following the conversation but then there is the reaction of the McCain campaign staff. Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s foreign policy advisor, had this to say:

In this week’s interview, Senator McCain did not rule in or rule out a White House meeting with President Zapatero, a NATO ally. If elected, he will meet with a wide range of allies in a wide variety of venues but is not going to spell out scheduling and meeting location specifics in advance. He also is not going to make reckless promises to meet America’s adversaries

Yikes! Should we really be saying things like this about our allies? Couldn’t Scheunemann have just said that McCain was confused because he misheard the question? Because of McCain’s answer and his campaign response this has been reported in the Spanish press with a lot of anger. Read more about this here.

I can’t believe that I forgot all about the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. I had forgotten to check the winners back at the beginning of the summer.

For those who don’t know, Edward Bulwer-Lytton is famous for many phrases that we take for granted. “The great unwashed”, “pursuit of the almighty dollar”, “the pen is mightier than the sword” are all his inventions. But Bulwer-Lytton is also famous for something else, the opening sentence of one of his novels made famous by Snoopy, “It was a dark and stormy night.” Thus Bulwer-Lytton is always remembered for having written one of the most insipid opening sentences for a novel:

“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents–except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.”

–Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford (1830)

Amazingly, he was a popular writer in his day. In his memory, the Department of English and Comparative Literature of San Jose State University runs a contest each year to provide the worst opening sentence for a novel. Click here for the winners for 2008. Here are a few of my favorites:

Leopold looked up at the arrow piercing the skin of the dirigible with a sort of wondrous dismay — the wheezy shriek was just the sort of sound he always imagined a baby moose being beaten with a pair of accordions might make. – Shannon Wedge, New Hampshire

The hardened detective glanced at his rookie partner and mused that who ever had coined the term “white as a sheet” had never envisioned a bed accessorized with a set of Hazelnut, 500-count Egyptian cotton linens from Ralph Lauren complimented by matching shams and a duvet cover nor the dismembered body of its current occupant. – Russ Winter, Janesville, MN

The pancake batter looked almost perfect, like the morning sun shining on the cream-colored bare shoulder of a gorgeous young blonde driving 30 miles over the speed limit down a rural Nebraska highway with the rental car’s sunroof open, except it had a few lumps. – Jim Thomas, Gilbert, AZ

Carmen’s romance with Broderick had thus far been like a train ride, not the kind that slowly leaves the station, builds momentum, and then races across the countryside at breathtaking speed, but rather the one that spends all day moving freight cars around at the local steel mill. – Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA

Bill swore the affair had ended, but Louise knew he was lying, after discovering Tupperware containers under the seat of his car, which were not the off-brand containers that she bought to save money, but authentic, burpable, lidded Tupperware; and she knew he would see that woman again, because unlike the flimsy, fake containers that should always be recycled responsibly, real Tupperware must be returned to its rightful owner. – Jeanne Villa, Novato, CA

Lightning flashed from the blue-black sky of this alien world and shattered the engines of the spaceship, destroying Reninger’s last chance of escaping and reminding him of the time his sister returned from New York with the tips of her hair dyed blue, except for the part about the lightning and the spaceship. – Mark Murata, Kirkland, WA

A 27 room hotel in Marmaris, Turkey has fired all its male staff because they won’t stop fooling around with the female guests. The manager of the Image Hotel, Pelen Yucel (a woman), said most of the guests are British and Russian tourists. “The last straw was when I saw our bartender, who was a very decent man, walk out of the bathroom with a British tourist,” Yucel was quoted as saying.

According to the article:

Around 20 million tourists visited Turkey last year, many of them drawn by its sandy beaches and turquoise waters.

Apparently some were drawn by something else.

The damage from Hurricane Ike is incredible. You can view the pictures at MSNBC.com.

On the night she accepted the nomination Sarah Palin assured those of us with children with special needs that she would be our friend and advocate in Washington, DC. The question arises, is there anything she has done as governor of Alaska to make that anything other than an empty promise? The answer is no. In a state with a huge budget surplus, she blocked the spending of a few hundred thousand dollars to make public buildings accessible to the disabled. She also used her line item veto to block money from being given to community groups that help the disabled. And this is in a state that spends one of the lowest amounts per capita on children with special needs.

Palin mocks the work of community organizers who actually do make a difference in the lives of the disabled at the same time claiming she has responsibilities but failing to remind us that she has not lived up to those responsibilities. As those of us who have children with special needs can tell Governor Palin, there is no one more important in the lives of our children (other than us parents) than those who organize and advocate for them.

But what of the man she is running with and the party they represent?

• Senator McCain has voted no on every proposal before Congress to increase SSI basic payments to people with disabilities.
• Senator McCain has voted no to reduce the waiting time for Medicaid for the disabled.
• Senator McCain has sponsored a reauthorization of IDEA that would reduce the rights of the disabled.
• Senator McCain has blocked a bill in the Senate that would make it easier for the disabled to live in their own homes instead of nursing homes and institutions. He has said if elected president he would veto this bill.
• Senator McCain has blocked the reauthorization of ADA which would restore the rights taken away by the Supreme Court.
• And speaking of the Supreme Court, Senator McCain has promised to elect more judges like Scalia and Roberts who are militantly opposed to the rights for the disabled.
• In spite of the fact the he receives $60,000 per year for his Vietnam era disabilities, Senator McCain has voted against bills to increase spending to help disabled veterans from the Iraq War.
• Senator McCain has voted against all bills that would increase federal funding for special education.
• Senator McCain has voted against the “Brain Injury Act” designed to help American soldiers suffering from brain injuries received in Iraq.

How anyone who has a child with special needs could support anyone with the label of “GOP” on them is beyond my understanding.

Finally, a note from John McCain about the quality of his VP choice:

I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn’t a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn’t a governor for a short period of time.

And a note from Sarah Plain about the quality of her running mate and how he represents more of the same:

[W]e’ve got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual and somebody’s big, fat resume maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state.

Update: Thomas Frank in the Wall Street Journal brings up an interesting point. In her speech at the RNC, Sarah Palin quoted Westbrook Pegler, “We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity.” Who exactly was Westbrook Pegler? He was a racist, anti-semitic, fascist writer whose opinions were so far to the right that he was thrown out of the John Birch Society! In 1965, Pegler made a public statement that he wished someone would blow Robert Kennedy’s brains out. The question arises, how could Palin include a quote from such a horrible man? Does she respect him and his writing? She needs to answer these questions.

Update 2: Frank Rich of the NY Times has more about Pegler.

Update 3: As governor, Palin vetoed a bill that would have increased funding for the Alaska Special Olympics.

OMFG! Incredible if this turns out to be the cause!

From the Associated Press via MSNBC:

LOS ANGELES – Federal officials investigating a commuter rail collision that killed 25 people said they want to review cell phone records to determine if an engineer blamed for running a stop signal before the crash may have been text messaging at the time. NTSB experts are planning to review the cell phone records of two 14-year-old boys and the engineer after the teens told CBS2-TV that they received a text message from the engineer shortly before the crash. The Los Angeles station said the teens were among a group of youths who befriended the engineer and asked him questions about his work. The engineer was among those killed in the crash.

Friday night, Michel and I went into Manhattan to a cocktail party and presentation of current research sponsored by the Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation. Dr. Lynn Nadel discussed the research he is doing and how the DSRTF is making it possible.

Dr. Michael Harpold, Chief Executive Officer of DSRTF, started by speaking about how little federal money is going into Down syndrome research. The NIH spends thousands of dollars per person affected by other conditions but only $45 per person who has Down syndrome. And much of that research money is going to early diagnosis and not helping those who have Ds to live better lives. This is definitely an area where putting pressure on your members of Congress could help.

Dr. Nadel then spoke about the research he is doing on brain development. Dr. Nadel is a psychologist and Regent’s professor at the University of Arizona in Tucson. His research is into the development of three specific brain regions, the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and cerebellum. In children with Down syndrome, these particular areas seem to stop developing earlier than in children who do not have Down syndrome. Dr. Nadel’s team is trying to see how the cognitive difficulties experienced by people with Down syndrome are related to brain development in these three areas.

The truly amazing part of this is that Dr. Nadel has wanted to do this research for years but he has been unable to do it because of lack of funds. How much money are we talking about? The grant from DSRTF that makes this possible was $114,000. As I said to Dr. Nadel, that’s about what the US government spends in 10 seconds in Iraq. (Really!)

The DSRTF website has more information about the grants they have been making and it has a link if you would like to make a donation. Dr. Harpold told us that 89 cents of each dollar donated goes to research. That is an excellent rate for overhead and compares to organizations like the United Way.

Today is the big day for the Romp for Research in Manhattan to help raise funds for DSRTF and we were really looking forward to going but Mikey woke up sick this morning. He fell asleep on the floor in the living room about 4 hours ago. I moved him to the sofa in the family room and he has been sleeping there ever since. Michel thinks he has an ear infection. I have to send our apologies to Mary and Steve.

No matter how you feel about Sarah Palin, you have to admit that the names she picks for her kids are… unusual. Now you can find out what she would have named you if you were her child. Or even better, you can you get inspiration for naming your own children.

Yes, now there is the Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator!

And by the way… you can now call me Recoil Mush, Michel is now Taupe Armageddon, Beth is Bullet Bodycheck, and Mikey is Tangle Jig.

P.S. I had to turn off comments to this entry because for some reason it was generating lots of spam comments. Weird.

Our Lady of Pain
by Elena Forbes

There are several things that I look for in a mystery. The story should make me care about the characters. There should be plenty of clues. The solution should be an “of course” moment. It should be well-paced. “Our Lady of Pain” has all of these. The author does a great job of avoiding the “sophomore jinx” by writing a good follow-up to the first book in her series.

Rachel Tenison, a beautiful art dealer, is found dead in a park one snowy winter morning. Her body is found in a way that suggests a sadistic killer. Who wanted her dead? Was it her business partner, Richard Greville? Her half-brother, MP Patrick Tenison? Her occasional lover, Jason Bourne? Her friend, Liz Volpe? And is this murder related to the murder of Catherine Watson? Detectives Mark Tartaglia and Sam Donovan have to sift through the clues and find the killer. There are enough suspects and clues as well as red-herrings to keep the story moving.

London is a used well as a backdrop in this “noir” mystery where it is always either snowing, raining, or night time. The author creates a dark atmosphere which permeates the story and helps creates a sense of impending evil. It’s not the greatest mystery ever written but as an entertaining read it fills the requirements. If you are looking for something fast and cleverly written, then you can do a lot worse than “Our Lady of Pain”.

It’s Friday again and time for another song off my iPod. This week we have a song from the favorite band of Beth’s BFF, Brianna. This time the conversation went like this as I was driving Beth and Brianna to school this morning.

Me: So Beth, any idea for the song of the week?
Beth: Hey Bri… do you want HIM or how about Bullet [For My Valentine]? (We were listening to Bullet For My Valentine at that moment.)
Brianna: I don’t know. (In the cutest little shy voice.)
Me: (Imitating Brianna) I don’t know. You sound so shy.
Beth: (Laughing) Yeah, until you get to know her!

So this week’s song is “Join Me” by HIM. HIM is a hugely successful goth/alternative rock group from Finland. The group which formed in 1991 by vocalist Ville Valo, guitarist Mikko Lindström, and bassist Mikko Paananen, is the only group from Finland to have a gold record in the United States. They have released six studio albums to date. When the group was formed, HIM stood for “His Infernal Majesty” as a protest against Haile Selassie but the group abandoned that name and now Valo makes up something every time he is asked about it in an interview.

The group has had many hit songs in Europe. Join Me (In Death) released in 1999, has been their biggest hit as it was featured in the movie The Thirteenth Floor. Although superficially the song sounds like it is about suicide, Valo says the song is about giving up yourself for love. “It’s not about suicide, that song. It’s about giving it all away,” Valo said in an interview with Modern Fix magazine.

Join Me (In Death)
Baby join me in death
Baby join me in death

We are so young
our lives have just begun
but already we’re considering
escape from this world

and we’ve waited for so long
for this moment to come
we’re so anxious to be together
together in death

Won’t you die tonight for love
Baby join me in death
Won’t you die
Baby join me in death
Won’t you die tonight for love
Baby join me in death

This world is a cruel place
and we’re here only to lose
so before life tears us apart let
death bless me with you

Won’t you die tonight for love
Baby join me in death
Won’t you die
Baby join me in death
Won’t you die tonight for love
Baby join me in death

this life ain’t worth living
this life ain’t worth living

Won’t you die tonight for love
Baby join me in death
Won’t you die
Baby join me in death
Won’t you die tonight for love
Baby join me in death

Written by Valle Vola

The video is some kind of Finnish, Goth ice queen vision but what’s with the guy with the cowboy hat?