Cook's Journal

( If the credit markets really are about to seize up unless Hank Paulson doesn't get $700 B to play with, then why haven't we started hearing from thousands of angry businessmen whose cash-starved banks suddenly told them to pay off their loans in full? And why are the banks still running ads trying to get you to buy into garbage loans? (More behind the cut.) )

Warning! Venting and facts in their proper context follow.



( Arrrrrrgh. )

Meet Yoda, the cute kitty with four ears.

(Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten.)

Yes, mes amis, after a very long hiatus, Rumpole and Company are back and faffing about in the Potterverse. For those of you who are just starting to read, this story was started pre-DH and was nearly derailed by it; however, after much prodding from A Certain Canadian, I've decided that ignoring DH is a Good Thing and have picked up the story again:

( The Client Returns )

"If there are one or more people on your friends list who make your world a better place just because they exist, and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the Internet, then post this same sentence in your journal." :-)

From today's Writer's Almanac by Garrison Keillor, honoring J.K. Rowling on her birthday, comes this passage concerning Rowling's tastes in literature:

J.K. Rowling has launched a new generation of readers (and some adult readers) into the world of fantasy, but it's a genre that she doesn't actually like much herself. She didn't even realize that she was writing fantasy until after her first book was published. She says, "You know, the unicorns were in there. There was the castle, God knows. But I really had not thought that that's what I was doing. And I think maybe the reason that it didn't occur to me is that I'm not a huge fan of fantasy." She has never managed to finish the Lord of the Rings series or the Narnia series, and her favorite authors are realists: Jane Austen, whom she calls "the pinnacle to which all other authors aspire," and contemporary Irish novelist Roddy Doyle.

This to my mind is a big reason why she's had such success. If you think like a genre writer, you write like a genre writer, and it's a very limiting thing. It's one reason why I like crossover fics so much: I like to see favorite characters from different books and genres interacting (imagine, for instance, how young Lily and young Sev might have turned out if they'd fallen through a hole in the universe and wound up in the Ramtops at Mistress Weatherwax's front door?).

Can be found here.

The AP earlier reported that Obama was allegedly planning to expand Bush's faith-based programs.  Except that he's not -- not the way Bush tried.

Here's the reality, courtesy of Steve Benen at Salon:

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/07/01/faith/index.html

It turns out that Obama, far from following Bush's policies, is turning them back.

He is going to RESTORE THE SAFEGUARDS that Bush had removed.

The deal is that, prior to Bush, religious charities and the Feds had worked together for decades, but always within strict parameters. Bush blew off those parameters. Obama intends to restore them. End of friggin' story.

And again, since we’re not likely going to get a rollback of all the tax cuts for the rich that have occurred over the past few decades, the only way that Obama can even begin next year to restore major portions of the frayed social-programs safety net is with the aid of religious charities.

Now can we stop freaking out about this?  Thank you.

Shiv mentioned earlier that some people seem to think that fathers actually being fathers -- that is, spending time with their own children!  (gasp!) -- is "babysitting"; that is, that it's either an act of self-abasement or a truly noble sacrifice.  Well, being a good father is a noble thing indeed, but spending time with your kids isn't some extraordinary act -- it's part of the job.

I was reminded of this again by this blog piece written by a guy who spent the first three years of his wee daughter's life at home with her, looking after her and doing his blogging, while his wife and Fi's mom did the 9-to-5 thing (actually more like the 70-hour work week thing).  On this Father's Day, I thought it might make some good reading.

I'm glad to see that he has a spine and a conscience.

Hope this helps the aching back and hands:

The Supreme Court Endorses Obama (UPDATED with VIDEO)

by wmtriallawyer [Subscribe]

Thu Jun 12, 2008 at 07:40:08 AM PDT

Well, not really.  But with today's 5-4 decision restoring the writ of habeas corpus from the dastardly Military Commissions of Act of 2006, the Supreme Court sided with those Senators and Congressman -- including Obama -- who understood the rule of law and respected the Constitution more than fear.

I thought it might be constructive to go to the way back machine and see what the Democratic candidate for President exactly said about this act and the writ of habeas corpus in 2006...

 

 

Coming up for air.  Anything exciting happen while I was out?

In which we find out that Johnny Slade is not very nice.

The last part is here.

The next part starts right behind the lj-cut:

(UPDATE:  Since everybody whined about it being too short, I've added a bit more.  :-)

The sshg_exchange Big Reveal is here!

The story I wrote is here.  The story written for me is here (thanks, ayerf!)

I had a blast, and I hope everyone else did, too.

Anyway, Clare's made her update, which can be found here and right here past the LJ-Cut:

This is unbelieveable:

Remember when librarians used to be caricatured as stern matrons telling us all to shush up while we were at the library? That is, until they took on a front-line fight defending the civil liberties of Americans who just want to read books (or use computers). We all owe a debt to those librarians fighting against PATRIOT Act restrictions on free speech.
Which is why I'm not so sure it's a good idea for the FBI to make such a clumsy stand against free speech at the librarians' Midwinter Meeting tomorrow (h/t Momsrighthand) [note, the ALA article has been updated, but I'll keep the original]:

The attorney who represents FBI Supervisory Special Agent Bassem Youssef, chief of the Counterterrorism Division’s Communications Analysis Unit, advised the American Library Association’s Washington Office two days before the agent’s scheduled January 12 speech at ALA’s Midwinter Meeting at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia that the FBI had warned him against delivering the speech. Instead, Youssef would appear to answer “acceptable questions presented by members of the audience,”

The FBI has already gotten in trouble for trying to silence Special Agent Youssef. But apparently, they still don't want him to talk about problems with the FBI's counter-terrorism effort.

[F]ollowing a December 20 ALA press release that detailed the program, the FBI e-mailed Youssef January 3 and “expressed its displeasure at the proposed content of his presentation, and the viewpoints for which he would raise at the conference.” Kohn added that the Bureau “explicitly took exception” to the idea that Youssef “is expected to discuss a number of critical failures within the FBI’s Counterterrorism program, which undermine basic constitutional rights of American citizens and threaten the effectiveness of America’s counterterrorism efforts.”
The FBI e-mail then issued a clear warning to Youssef against making such a presentation, noted Kohn, who explained that the agency also forwarded to Youssef a multi-page document setting forth various rules concerning pre-publication clearance of any potential speech and forbidding him to show the rules to anyone outside the agency. “The FBI does not want the general public to know the contents of the censorship provisions it unconstitutionally demands that its agents follow,” Kohn wrote, advising that Youssef would not be able to make the planned presentation.

Call me crazy, but this is just clumsy.

Considering that it comes from the same agency whose wiretaps got turned off when it failed to pay the telephone companies running them (well whaddaya know? Greed works to preserve the right to privacy for a change), I'm not especially surprised.

So glad to see you beat the venom and the veil.  ;-)

Many happy returns!

In which the Triad go to hospital:

http://www.roguechocolatier.com/products-page/

That is all.  :-)