April 2, 2012

'Love is love, and there will never be too much' (Fiona Apple to member of HS gay/straight alliance)

Back in 2000, a teenage Fiona Apple fan named Bill Magee decided to approach the singer after a gig and hand her a letter. In it, the 16-year-old spoke of his school's gay-straight alliance — of which he was a member — and asked if she could possibly reply with a sentence or two in its support.

The next week, the following handwritten letter was delivered by FedEx to Bill's house.

Transcript follows. Enormous thanks to Bill.

(Source: Bill Magee; Image of Fiona Apple via.)



Transcript
Hello Bill,

I got your letter a few days ago, but this is the first chance I've had to sit down and write (it's my day off)

Of course, I'd love to help — sign me up. As far as a few sentences go, here's what I've got — I hope it's OK:

It's hard to conjure up some new profound way of commenting on this issue — I'm so tired of it being an issue at all, and I suppose I'm lucky, because I see the truth so clearly. All I know is I want my friends to be good people, and when my friends fall in love, I want them to fall in love with other good people. How can you go wrong with two people in love? If a Good boy loves a good girl, good. If a good boy loves another good boy, good. And if a good girl loves the goodness in good boys and good girls, then all you have is more goodness, and goodness has nothing to do with sexual orientation. A person who loves is a righteous person, and if someone has the ability and desire to show love to another — to someone willing to receive it, then for goodness' sake, let them do it. Hate has no place in the equation; there is no function for it to perform. Love is love, and there will never be too much.

Fiona Apple

P.S. Right on for doing this, Bill

http://www.lettersofnote.com/

April 2, 2012

Agreement Reached to Allow Cats to Remain at St. James Church

The Archdiocese of New York agreed to work with the NYC Feral Cat Initiative (NYCFCI) of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals to restore daily care and feeding to the colony of eight feral cats living at the historic St. James Church in lower Manhattan. During a sixty-day trial period, a suitable feeding station and shelters for the cats will be placed and a litter box will be added to the regimen of care. There will be an onsite meeting with the church pastor and caretakers this week to work out a routine acceptable to all. The NYCFCI has submitted a proposal for consideration outlining guidelines for ongoing care for the colony to be reconsidered and adopted after the sixty-day trial period.

The agreement was reached at a March 27 meeting attended by Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals President Jane Hoffman, Monsignor Kevin Nelan of the Archdiocese of New York, Father Lino Gonsalves of St. James Church, and NYCFCI Community Outreach Coordinator Mike Phillips. A dynamic and vigorous discussion of the virtues of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) was a part of the meeting, as well as the importance of continued daily feeding in order to assure continued stability of any feral colony.

Fortunately, the TNR project at St. James was already completed and discussions began from that strong position. Chinatown is known to be one of the most rodent-infested areas of New York City, as well as having large numbers of unneutered feral cats roaming the area. After explanation of the merit of keeping a neutered and vaccinated colony in place, there was agreement that removal of the cats was not in anyone’s best interest.

Kudos to TNR volunteer Elizabeth Eller for the energy she devoted to the project starting in 2009. Her completion of TNR on the eight cats lent much more weight to arguments defending the current presence of the colony. The colony has not grown in three years since two litters of kittens were trapped, tamed, and adopted at the beginning of the project. In contrast, a colony being fed without TNR cannot be defended with such effectiveness. Thank you, Elizabeth, on behalf of the colony. May they enjoy continued care and acceptance thanks to your very timely hard work!
<snip>
http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/wordpress/2012/04/agreement-reached-to-allow-cats-to-remain-at-st-james-church/

April 2, 2012

Nikki Haley is making the rounds of teevee shows. Don't believe a word she says.

She has blatantly lied time and time again.

The strangest example was when she claimed her daughter won first place in a school beauty pageant. She was second and why lie about it? It was easily checked and added to her reputation as a prevaricator.

She has lied about much more substantive state matters. All of her claims were easily dismissed. I have come to believe she is unable to tell the truth.

I never trusted her. However, the level of her mendacity and her astoundingly stupid political moves have been amazing.

Please Mittens! Pick her as your VP! Believe those reports that she is a benevolent governor beloved by all the people. (NOT!)

Here she goes. Lying to start with.

April 1, 2012

A Quantum Theory of Mitt Romney - Schrödinger's Candidate (Ha!)

THE recent remark by Mitt Romney’s senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom that upon clinching the Republican nomination Mr. Romney could change his political views “like an Etch A Sketch” has already become notorious. The comment seemed all too apt, an apparent admission by a campaign insider of two widely held suspicions about Mitt Romney: that he is a) utterly devoid of any ideological convictions and b) filled with aluminum powder.
<snip>
The basic concepts behind this model are:
Complementarity. In much the same way that light is both a particle and a wave, Mitt Romney is both a moderate and a conservative, depending on the situation (Fig. 1). It is not that he is one or the other; it is not that he is one and then the other. He is both at the same time.

Probability. Mitt Romney’s political viewpoints can be expressed only in terms of likelihood, not certainty. While some views are obviously far less likely than others, no view can be thought of as absolutely impossible. Thus, for instance, there is at any given moment a nonzero chance that Mitt Romney supports child slavery.

Uncertainty. Frustrating as it may be, the rules of quantum campaigning dictate that no human being can ever simultaneously know both what Mitt Romney’s current position is and where that position will be at some future date. This is known as the “principle uncertainty principle.”
<snip>
More: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/opinion/sunday/a-quantum-theory-of-mitt-romney.html?_r=1

Mittens better watch out for that cat!

April 1, 2012

Suu Kyi wins parliament seat in historic Myanmar election, party says

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who spent 15 years under house arrest in Myanmar, won a seat in the country's lower house of parliament on Sunday, her party said.

The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party announced at its headquarters that the campaigner had won in Kawhmu, south of the commercial capital Yangon.

"Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has won. The NLD candidate has taken the Kawhmu constituency," an NLD official announced to cheers from hundreds of supporters, referring to Suu Kyi by her honorific title.

Suu Kyi, who has spent a total of 15 years in detention since 1989, was contesting an election for the first time following her party's decision to end its boycott of a political system dominated by serving or retired military.
<snip>
http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/01/10965652-suu-kyi-wins-parliament-seat-in-historic-myanmar-election-party-says

YES!!!
Hope it works out. That's one brave woman!

April 1, 2012

If I was followed at night by a strange man,

I would try to hurt him if there was no way to safely escape. I would hurt him badly if I could if necessary, and I wouldn't be one bit sorry.

The Israelis teach a form of self-defense called Krav Maga. The essence is fight to flee. It is a nasty and effective form of self-defense. It is basically street fighting with certain techniques emphasized and areas to attack pointed out.
It should be more widely taught IMHO. Many people don't have the time or discipline to learn a martial art.

<snip>
The basic concepts of Krav Maga are:
1) Not to get hurt
2) To take out – or to “neutralize” your attacker by inflicting as much damage as necessary, as quickly as possible
3) To go from defending to attacking quickly
4) To be aware of your environment and situation at all times
5) To use when necessary any available objects in your defense and attack
6) To remove yourself from risk of further danger at the earliest opportunity.
<snip>
http://kravmagatechniques.com/

It also teaches to be aware of your surroundings at all times. If you are attacked and immobilize your attacker, leave. It isn't meant to finish off someone .

I would also add that you should never get in a car or whatever if someone tries to force you. The chances you won't make it through that trauma are quite high. Even if they have a gun, I believe is would be better to try in some way to strike the gun and run. Better than what may come next.

By any means necessary.