It's sloooooowwww today. I have been here 2 hours and 42 minutes and taken only 12 calls. slow slow slow. hopefully it picks up a little, else, they may not have a job for me - and that would be very very bad.

also, it is still cold, and I do not like the cold. right now, it feels like 10 degrees. 10 degrees. though, the snow flurries last night were nice and it's not that we want for heat. The two offices downstairs stay very warm and that keeps our apartment quite warm while keeping heating costs down. i say, nice.

I went to the gym yesterday - I could not go the day before, because Jen and i were invited to dinner at one of her adult friends' houses. so no gym for me. but yesterday, i had my change of clothes, my music and my knee braces. and I was good to go right after work. go me.

Today there will be no gym, but instead, racquetball. yay! racquetball! yay! retaining my student ID so i can fake being a student and getting into the AC for free.

this is a headline I like to see: " House Republican leader admits his party is 'low on ideas'"
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/House_Republican_leader_admits_low_on_0117.html

and this: "Republicans Halt Ethics Legislation"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/17/AR2007011702443.html

meanwhile, the House Democrats are chugging away through the first 100 hours. They're only 34 hours into it, and they've passed:
1) ethics reform
2) 9/11 Commission recommendations
3) increased the minimum wage
4) expand stem cell research
5) negotiate for lower prices on prescription meds
6) cut interest rates on student loans (wahoo! but it doesn't effect me, so, poo.)

who says there's no difference between parties? At least the Dems get things done. And that last item, passed overwhelmingly. for updates go to http://www.hoyer.house.gov/

NOTE: If the Dems can pass one more bill (energy bill - increases funding of alternative energy) then they will have completed all of their stated objectives in less than half of the time that they allotted. That's definitely progress from the do-nothing previous congress.

Direct from our friends over at www.wordplusone.com a story:

65. Contagion

Hi. My name is Henry, and I'm a werewolf. Nice to meet you. That's a strong grip you have there. You know, most people are misinformed about werewolves. For example, the full moon thing. It doesn't force us into wolf form — we can actually do that whenever we want. And our bite won't make you turn into a werewolf. We do that with a handshake.

and then there's this: "Cheap, safe cure for cancer: Big Pharma shrugs"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/18/10915/9320
Long story, short: there's a drug that's been around for years to treat something else and has no patent. rats with tumors of all kinds given the drug saw their tumors, all of them shrink. healthy cells were unaffected. big pharma doesn't care because they would have to invest money to research and then not make any money of the drug because it carries no patent. that means the drug will probably not be investigated. there's a word for people like big pharma - asshats.

"I need to check the balance on my card" ok, what's the number? "the whole number?" no, you moron, just some of the digits, maybe the first and last, and I'll guess the middle digits. how about you just pick any two that strike your fancy.

"yeah, i have an error on my screen. Can you tell me what it is i'm doing wrong" well, ma'am, i can't just see what's on your screen, and since you haven't submitted anything to us - i can't tell you what you've done wrong. "so you can't just get online and see what i have on my screen?" uh, no.

and you have to refresh your screen to see changes dammit!

fresh-spam.blogspot.com - A lovely blog that illustrates spam headers. go there, be amused
check out "eyebrow grocery" and "fastener zoo" - i love it.
feministreviews.org - speaks for itself. go there, be enlightened.

3 hours 23 minutes 16 calls (at this rate, i will take a total of 36 calls today - fuck)

bookmarking sites. I've settled (for now) on del.icio.us - it doesn't do all the things that I would like it to, but I'll take what I can get (for now).

and this is just delicious: The prime minister said statements such as Rice's " give morale boosts for the terrorists and push them toward making an extra effort and making them believe they have defeated the American administration," Maliki said. (emphasis mine) Where do you think he got language like that?

oh and now it comes out (from the BBC, of course) that Iran offered to cut off their support of Hezbollah and Hamas, promised full transperancy on their nuclear program, and support stabilization in Iraq. ALL IN 2003! And what would all this have cost us? A halt in hostile American behavior, an abolition of all sanctions, and the pursuit and repatriation of members of the Mujahedeen Khalq (People's Mujahedeen MKO).
I think we could have handled that. But instead, Cheney just said, NO. oh, and apparently "This plan, say experts, "corresponds pretty closely to what Washington is demanding from Tehran now."" nice.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6274147.stm

NOTE: I love tabbed browsing, how did we live without it?

Pomegranate chicken stew? yes please.

for something unique, go here (SFW) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVXxInHyyjY
It's called "The Delicious" a short 7 minute film that is absolutely bizarre and, well delicious.

what 1.2 trillion could buy
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/17/business/17leonhardt.html?em&ex=1169269200&en=0d6743c864e8ea1b&ei=5087%0A

remember when bush called the Constitution a "goddamn piece of paper"?
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7779.shtml

well, today his Attorney General took a huge shit and wiped his ass with that "piece of paper." From the Senate Judiciary Hearing today, he essentially said:

""Nowhere in the constitution does it explicitly say 'The right of habeas corpus is hereby conferred' ; therefore it's not explicitly granted by the constitution." "

here's what it does say: "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

He's insane. Insane and incompetent. and a liar. and a blasphemer.

and per a thread over at dkos ( http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/18/143937/514 ), this same logic means that we do not have the right to a free press, to free religion or to security from unreasonable searches - Because the first and fourth amendments only guarantee those rights will not be abridged, not that we are conferred with those rights. it's a ludicrous and untenable position.

is it so hard to reply "maybe" to an evite? really?