Librarian's Rant

From Common Dreams:

Frozen Account Ruffles Nuns

The nuns of the Holy Name Monastery say they have been swept into the net cast by the nation's antiterrorism laws.

The sisters say the monastery's main bank account was frozen without explanation in November, creating financial headaches and making the Benedictine nuns hopping mad. They were told the Patriot Act was the cause.

...Abbott said she was told the troubles started because one 80-year-old nun who is a signatory to the account didn't have her Social Security number and photo ID on file.

"Clearly an international spy," Abbott said wryly.

None of the nuns has given the bank that information, Abbott said. "We've been in business 116 years. No one's ever asked."

Against the Patriot Act from the start, the sisters have members of Congress on speed dial, Abbott said. "They'll be hearing from us now that this is all settled."

From my buddy Neil:

This year, both Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address fall in the same week. As Air America Radio pointed out, "It is an ironic juxtaposition: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication, and the other involves a groundhog."

The State of the Union translated into Pirate.

Yarr!

Sigh.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/31/sheehan.arrest/index.html

Cuz tonight's State of the Union Address will need a snortload of liquor to handle this year's SOTU Drinking Game.

I am virtuously on the reference desk this Tuesday evening, as I have been every Tuesday evening for the last 10 years. Therefore, no booze for me. Not until I get home and catch it on my TiFaux, of course. At which point I shall scream and throw dirty hosiery at the TV until the pain stops.

Mid-term elections, folks. It's the only way.

Pat Robertson is losing it. His political savvy, that is. How can he assume his remarks about Ariel Sharon's massive stroke being the work of God will do anything to forward his own cause? Does he really believe this nonsense? Since August he's threatened the life of the Venezuelan president, told a small American town they would be smote by God for thinking "intelligent design" had no place in science classes, and now declared that a seriously ill world leader of one of the world's more volatile countries was struck down by God. Oh, yeah, and Rabin had it coming in '95 when he got assassinated.

I've always assumed he was a religious nutjob with a primarily political mission. Now I think he's just a religious nutjob.

You can read the entire decision by Judge Jones in PDF - Adobe Reader required.

Some excerpts from Senator Byrd's (D-WV) speech last week:

That so many have sacrificed during this war in Iraq is reason enough to ask questions about our government's policy in that faraway country. Our troops continue to shed their blood, and our nation continues to devote enormous sums of our national wealth, to continue that war. Whether one supported or opposed the war at its outset: no American must ever surrender the right to question the government.

The Constitution protects the American people from unjust laws that seek to stifle the patriotic duty to question those who are in power, but it is the courage of the American people that compels them to actually speak out when those in power call for silence. If anything, attacks on the patriotism of freedom-loving Americans may result in even more Americans fighting against attempts to squelch the Constitutional protections of freedom. [emphasis is mine, outrage is pure Byrd]

MoveOn.org is trying something new to fight the latest budget nonsense, in particular the cuts to services specifically directed at the growing poor in our country: They're putting a face on it (link takes you to their Flickr page).

Interesting idea. Reminds me of Sorry Everybody following the elections last year.

Outrage perhaps? Dismay? And yet all I feel when I read this...:

American Faces Charge of Graft for Work in Iraq

In what is expected to be the first of a series of criminal charges against officials and contractors overseeing the rebuilding of Iraq, an American has been charged with paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to American occupation authorities and their spouses to obtain construction contracts, according to a complaint unsealed late yesterday.

...This is the first case, but it won't be the last," said Jim Mitchell, a spokesman for the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, an independent office. Mr. Mitchell said as many as a dozen related cases had been referred to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.

...is a great sense of...resignation, I guess? I'm not even remotely surprised. Which makes me sad. Yes, I guess that's my predominant feeling: Sadness. Of course graft is nothing new, but the blatant, unapologetic scope of it is disheartening. Because you can be sure that everyone knew about it, and it was considered SOP by our government. Sad. We can do so much better. We can be so much better.

...nearly identical 'opinion pieces' which express a remarkably similar opinion. From Democratic Underground.

This has hit my email like three times today:

Q: What is George W. Bush's position on Roe vs. Wade?

A: He really doesn't care how people get out of New Orleans

Want to feel grateful for your life today? Read John Scalzi's blog post on Being Poor. And before you assume you know why folks stayed in New Orleans, read his post and think a bit.

And Barbara Bush should have this post tattooed on her arm to remind her to shut her trap.

From Daily Kos:

Physician who told off Cheney lost home in Katrina, detained, selling video on eBay .

"The truth is even with all our losses, we are still luckier than many people down here because at least we didn't die," Marble wrote. "But I thought I could try to raise some awareness to the bad policies of the Dubya Gump administration and also possibly raise some money to replace the many things we lost, and so I decided I would auction the videotape my friend shot of the event. I will also grant an interview to the winner if so desired."

The President, in his infinite wisdom (???) has called for a National Day of Prayer. Now, it's a nice thought, I guess, though he seems to forget that a huge proportion of Americans consider themselves agnostic, if not outright atheist. But of course, they don't matter, right? But really, most of us who were paying attention were praying/hoping/meditating/mobilizing DURING the crisis--all the crises, in fact.

Here's an idea: how about a National Day of Volunteering? On September 16th (or that weekend), take a day, even half a day, and spend it doing something for your community. It doesn't have to be hurricane-related, though if you can help load up a few semis full of water and food and clothing, all the better. But whatever you can do, do. And imagine...if even half the country stood up and gave some time over a three-day period, imagine what we could accomplish for each other!

There's my Pollyanna thought for the day. Now back to your regularly scheduled despair at the state of the world.