Odds and Ends
Patriot Act.. Or as I call it Alien and Sedition Act part II
Well now here is a Surprise! An internal Justice Department audit cites various civil rights violations from enforcement of the Patriot Act. This is reported in the NYTimes and Yahoo this am.
Gosh Mr. Ashcroft I wasn't using my civil rights anyway.. No really you can have them. I don't really need them do I? Sure I trust you...
Reimportation of medicines
I heard on NPR (Click here and scroll down to the "Drug Reimportation" piece today only) this am that as part of the Medicaid bill they will be including a rider allowing US medicine made for overseas to be reimported to the US to save money. Seems like a good idea.
But the pharmaceutical industry says they have a safety issue with this. Let me get this straight, we are exporting unsafe medicines overseas? This is the logical extension of their "concern". Of course its all BS, they are just trying tooth and nail NOT to loose their gouging pricing levels so courageously defended by this present Administration and certain democrats such as Candidate Lieberman.
Alex moves into the ranks of the "big guys"
Alex's cousins budorock and dendrite9 invited Alex to a boys night out last night. So with some trepidation and after checking with the Mrs, Alex drove off with his two cousins (the oldest is a Sr. in HS and VERY mature) to see Pirates of the Caribbean. Needless to say Alex was very impressed with himself that he could go off alone with the boys.
So as he is getting into the car two middle school aged girls bike by the vehicle, and the oldest says, say hi Alex. Then looks at me and says, we are going to start teaching him now if that's ok! I laughed and said Sure!
Quickie Book review
This is especially for my friend Skydive! DAWN OF AMBER. If you are a fan of Zelazny's Amber series then this new prequel is a must read. The pace, first person POV, conniving relatives, and the discovery of this new "world" by the hero of the story are sharply reminiscent of the first book Nine Princes in Amber. But not copied, just reminiscent. It is a quick read and a fun romp as we get to know the earlier generation of Amberites: Oberon, Dad Dworkin and various brothers and sisters some of whom we meet in the Amber series books.
Now Reading at home: Turtledove's The Center Cannot Hold - Depending on how you count them book 6 or 7 in his alternative history universe where the South won the Civil war, but gets its arse kicked in WWI.
Today OBCD: more of various misc Prog shows.
Quote of the day: If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.
-- Hermann Hesse
Patriot Act.. Or as I call it Alien and Sedition Act part II
Well now here is a Surprise! An internal Justice Department audit cites various civil rights violations from enforcement of the Patriot Act. This is reported in the NYTimes and Yahoo this am.
Gosh Mr. Ashcroft I wasn't using my civil rights anyway.. No really you can have them. I don't really need them do I? Sure I trust you...
Reimportation of medicines
I heard on NPR (Click here and scroll down to the "Drug Reimportation" piece today only) this am that as part of the Medicaid bill they will be including a rider allowing US medicine made for overseas to be reimported to the US to save money. Seems like a good idea.
But the pharmaceutical industry says they have a safety issue with this. Let me get this straight, we are exporting unsafe medicines overseas? This is the logical extension of their "concern". Of course its all BS, they are just trying tooth and nail NOT to loose their gouging pricing levels so courageously defended by this present Administration and certain democrats such as Candidate Lieberman.
Alex moves into the ranks of the "big guys"
Alex's cousins budorock and dendrite9 invited Alex to a boys night out last night. So with some trepidation and after checking with the Mrs, Alex drove off with his two cousins (the oldest is a Sr. in HS and VERY mature) to see Pirates of the Caribbean. Needless to say Alex was very impressed with himself that he could go off alone with the boys.
So as he is getting into the car two middle school aged girls bike by the vehicle, and the oldest says, say hi Alex. Then looks at me and says, we are going to start teaching him now if that's ok! I laughed and said Sure!
Quickie Book review
This is especially for my friend Skydive! DAWN OF AMBER. If you are a fan of Zelazny's Amber series then this new prequel is a must read. The pace, first person POV, conniving relatives, and the discovery of this new "world" by the hero of the story are sharply reminiscent of the first book Nine Princes in Amber. But not copied, just reminiscent. It is a quick read and a fun romp as we get to know the earlier generation of Amberites: Oberon, Dad Dworkin and various brothers and sisters some of whom we meet in the Amber series books.
Now Reading at home: Turtledove's The Center Cannot Hold - Depending on how you count them book 6 or 7 in his alternative history universe where the South won the Civil war, but gets its arse kicked in WWI.
Today OBCD: more of various misc Prog shows.
Quote of the day: If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.
-- Hermann Hesse
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