Can't sleep, brain will annoy me

Just what I wanted to experience after turning in early with a jaw-related headache (I suspect my new fillings are just a shade too thick, because the angle of my jaw is awfully sore... either that, or I'm going to enjoy a sinus infection again)... dreams of annoyance and frustration.

First, aishlynn was berating me for not agreeing with (or even giving credence to) Henry Kissinger's foreign policy regarding Guatemala. Like, full-on yelling, screaming, "Why don't you listen?!?" levels of berating. "I don't care about Guatemala! There are bigger problems! I don't not-agree with what he's saying, I haven't even paid attention to it!"

Errr, yeah. Kissinger's still alive, right?

Following a brief interruption at 330 when the on-call cell phone went off to let me know that our web site was supposedly down (it wasn't), I got back to sleep, only to have the computer I was working with (an amalgamation of my box & aishlynn's) behave strangely when she tried to copy some pictures to it, which was then exacerbated by her renaming and deleting files wantonly until I grabbed the mouse and keyboard and did it myself.

Of amusing note was the clever cursor pack that had been installed, which was a Bob The Fish theme, and when the cursor was over one of the illegal file types, it changed to a stern, sunglass-wearing goldfish crossing his fins, putting his nose in the air, and shaking his head back and forth slowly, indicating the system's refusal to do anything with the file.

Oy fucking vey. TGIF, even though I have to put in half a day tomorrow (and K has to put in a whole day).


In completely unrelated news, we're getting a third cat. There's a feral male, very friendly, that was caught up at the zoo, and he's getting fixed & vaccinated today or tomorrow. Black, less than a year old, with bright orange eyes. Kim has decided to name him Samhain or Halloween, because he apparently resembles the compleat October feline depiction, which means his common name around the house will either be Sammy or Weenie. Naturally. Pix will follow once we take him in (tomorrow or, more probably, Monday).

Never Attibute to Incompetence That Which Can Be Explained By Mere Evil

Never Attibute to Incompetence That Which Can Be Explained By Mere Evil

"Bush Is Not Incompetent" - an excerpt

Perhaps the biggest irony of the Bush-is-incompetent frame is that these “failures” — Iraq, Katrina and the budget deficit — have been successes in terms of advancing the conservative agenda.

One of the goals of Conservatives is to keep people from relying on the federal government. Under Bush, FEMA was reorganized to no longer be a first responder in major natural disasters, but to provide support for local agencies. This led to the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina. Now citizens, as well as local and state governments, have become distrustful of the federal government’s capacity to help ordinary citizens. Though Bush’s popularity may have suffered, enhancing the perception of federal government as inept turned out to be a conservative victory.

Conservatives also strive to get rid of protective agencies and social programs. The deficit Bush created through irresponsible tax cuts and a costly war in Iraq will require drastic budget cuts to remedy. Those cuts, conservatives know, won’t come from military spending, particularly when they raise the constant specter of war. Instead, the cuts will be from what Conservatives have begun to call “non-military, discretionary spending;” that is, the programs that contribute to the common good like the FDA, EPA, FCC, FEMA, OSHA and the NLRB. Yet another success for the conservative agenda.

Both Iraq and Katrina have enriched the coffers of the conservative corporate elite, thus further advancing the conservative agenda. Halliburton, Lockhead Martin and US oil companies have enjoyed huge profit margins in the last six years. Taking Iraq’s oil production off-line in the face of rising international demand meant prices would rise, making the oil inventories of Exxon and other firms that much more valuable, leading to record profits. The destruction wrought by Katrina and Iraq meant billions in reconstruction contracts. The war in Iraq (and the war in Afghanistan) meant billions in military equipment contracts. Was there any doubt where those contracts would go? Chalk up another success for Bush’s conservative agenda.

Bush also used Katrina as an opportunity to suspend the environmental and labor protection laws that Conservatives despise so much. In the wake of Katrina, environmental standards for oil refineries were temporarily suspended to increase production. Labor laws are being thwarted to drive down the cost of reconstruction efforts. So, amidst these “disasters,” Conservatives win again.

...

Incompetence obscures the real issue. Bush’s conservative philosophy is what has damaged this country and it is his philosophy of conservatism that must be rejected, whoever endorses it.

Conservatism itself is the villain that is harming our people, destroying our environment, and weakening our nation. Conservatives are undermining American values through legislation almost every day. This message applies to every conservative bill proposed to Congress. The issue that arises every day is which philosophy of governing should shape our country. It is the issue of our times. Unless conservative philosophy itself is discredited, Conservatives will continue their domination of public discourse, and with it, will continue their domination of politics.

[from http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/research/lakoff/incompetent, link courtesy of fenixinthedark]