Gorilla Wordfare

No news

2008-06-18T10:59:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the extended silence. New meds are keeping me from getting decent sleep, and what little focus I have is used for packing. We move in nine days!

Updates

2008-05-22T16:44:00.002-04:00

I know, I haven't given any updates on the housing situation. Still working out a few bugs, but hopefully soon things will be settled.

Don't let high gas prices make you stupid.

2008-05-22T16:28:00.004-04:00

The higher gas gets, the more pressure to drill the Arctic. But do we really want just another temporary band aid on a huge problem? No. Don't be scared by Big Oil into doing something that will put us back in the same place a few years down the road, all the while creating bigger problems. Anybody looked at Exxon's profits lately? Do you really think they are going to drop prices if they have access to Alaskan oil? Or that they won't jack up the price at the pump to fill in where the "tax holiday" leaves off? Don't let your frustration compromise your intelligence.

An Angry Question: Why Not Drill in Arctic?
In Brief: Trip explains why oil drilling in the Arctic won't ease the pain at the pump.
05/21/08

Hundreds of angry people, urged on by a right-wing talk show host, called Earthjustice recently to ask why we are challenging plans to drill in Alaska's Arctic Ocean.
Like many Americans, the callers are suffering from gasoline price increases and other costs, like food, that have gone up with the price of oil. They had been led to believe that drilling in Alaska would bring gas prices back down and restore America's place in the world.
But they are victims of yet another cynical attempt to use gas prices for political purposes. The oil industry and its political allies hope to manipulate consumer pain to rile up political support for drilling oil any place it can be found.
An even more blatant political use of gas prices is the proposal for a gas tax "holiday" this summer. As New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman pointed out, if we take the holiday, by the end of the summer "we will have increased our debt to China, increased our transfer of wealth to Saudi Arabia and increased our contribution to global warming for our kids to inherit."
So what's the real picture on gas prices and oil drilling in the Alaskan Arctic? Oil is priced in a global market, with supply constrained by a cartel of oil-producing nations, conflict and war in many of those nations, and shrinking global reserves.
Demand is driven largely by the energy squandering of the United States and by the rapidly growing economies of China and India. These forces, along with investor speculation, will continue to drive prices up.
Drilling in Alaska won't change this equation.
For example, government projections of oil production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge peg the region's supply at less than one-half of one percent of global production. Yet George Bush, Dick Cheney, and their radio talk show mouthpieces keep trumpeting the Arctic as the big solution to our energy woes.
We need a strong, sustainable energy policy to move us away from our oil-dependence, not a rush to drill every last place on earth.
We must shift the billions in tax breaks for oil into incentives for deploying the wide range of clean energy strategies that are being blocked by the president and oil state senators at every turn. Just this week, a Department of Energy report estimated that wind alone could provide 20 percent of our electricity by 2030 and create 500,000 jobs. But, wind energy projects can't find investors, while oil companies have record profits.
We need aggressive fuel efficiency standards, funding for transit and clean energy research, and development funding that is driven by the same urgency we brought to the Manhattan Project and the space race.
While we work to put a sensible energy policy in place, Earthjustice will bring the cases that hold the line on energy development in some of the planet's most special places, stop the most polluting energy practices, force the government to adopt overdue efficiency standards, and tilt the energy playing field away from fossil fuels and toward conservation, efficiency, and renewables.
This, not drilling everywhere at all costs, is the future on which jobs, prosperity, and healthy communities depend.

Trip Van Noppen, President

mailto:trip@earthjustice.org

Craziness

2008-05-15T23:20:00.002-04:00

Ok, so things are moving. We are fixing a few things on the house since the inspection and moving forward with a house we found that we like. Lots going on, but not much time to talk about it.

Basically, I've decided that the new place will mean a new place here as well. After hearing good things about wordpress, that new place will eventually be here. Obviously it's not even close to set up yet, but I'll get to it. I considered an independent site, but I really can't justify it. Anyway, in the next few weeks I'll get all my links and such up there and then take this site down. One of my blog friends said I should leave this one here because of some of the information it contains, but I am really ready for a clean slate. If anyone has linked to info here, feel free to copy and paste so you don't end up with a broken link.

So impressed a guy wrote this.

2008-05-12T10:53:00.002-04:00

Another must read link from Biomes. Something I wish I had written.

In other news, we are in the middle of a home inspection this morning. Since we've only been in the house three years and it's the same inspector, hopefully things will go smoothly.

I will be so glad when this is all resolved...

Polar Bear Assistance

2008-05-07T13:41:00.003-04:00

If something isn't done soon, I fully expect polar bears to be extinct within my lifetime, partly because of a Texas cowboy whose priorities stand with his Big Oil buddies...

Alaska's polar bears have moved one big step closer to receiving protection under the Endangered Species Act. A federal judge just ordered the Bush Administration to stop dragging its feet and decide by May 15 whether it will safeguard America's polar bears from the threat of extinction due to rising temperatures and rapidly melting sea ice. It took a lawsuit by NRDC, the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace to force this latest breakthrough. The court ruled that the Bush Administration had violated the law by missing its January deadline and then proceeding to delay for months more. While the Administration stalled for time, it rammed through oil and gas leases in some of the polar bear's most important Arctic habitat. By ordering a May 15 deadline for this decision, the federal courts have thrown polar bears an important lifeline. That's because the Endangered Species Act requires this momentous decision to be made solely on the best available science -- not politics -- and the science is absolutely clear that the polar bear urgently needs protection from the impacts of global warming. With reports of polar bears starving and drowning...snowy dens collapsing on mother bears and their newborn cubs...and populations in decline, there is no longer any doubt that the climate crisis is taking a terrible toll on these magnificent creatures. But despite the iron-clad evidence, there is no assurance that the Bush Administration will do the right thing on May 15. Given President Bush's pro-polluter agenda and relentless attacks on wildlife, it is still possible that the Interior Department will deny protection for the polar bear. In that case, we'll be fully prepared to drag the Bush Administration back to court and fight in the legal arena until polar bears win the protection they so urgently need. I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as we get word of the Administration’s decision. In the meantime, if you haven't done so already, please take a moment to tell your senators to stop oil development in Alaska's prime polar bear habitat. With Alaska's polar bears under siege, I am so grateful to have you working by our side to help ensure their survival.

Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

Bear with me

2008-05-06T21:40:00.004-04:00

Things will be a little quiet for awhile. We just sold the house! Now our house hunt goes into overdrive, and packing begins. I'll try to stop in with updates and hope to start up a new site when we get settled in the new digs in a month or so.

Politics and arguments

2008-04-29T13:54:00.006-04:00

I hate politics. Really I do. My problem is, I think there is a lot wrong with the way things are and the way they are heading, and the only real way to affect any change at all is politically. There are a couple of blogs I read that are mainly political, and not always opinions that I agree with. However, I have learned an awful lot from one in particular, and have been pleasantly surprised that I did agree with him on certain things. I've even adjusted my views on a topic or two after reading his posts. As different as we are, I think we've come to have a mutual respect for one another. (Although we have chewed each other up and down once or twice - it's all good.)

I am easily drawn into conversations about things I feel strongly about, and sometimes it takes me awhile to realize those conversations lead to nowhere. Unlike what some of my family would say, I really DON'T like to argue. I WILL argue, but I don't LIKE to. It leaves me feeling fairly ill, actually. I much prefer a level-headed conversation, even if in the end both people still disagree.

There are two reasons why a rational debate turns into an argument for me. Either I feel like the person just isn't listening and is completely missing my point, or I feel that the person is belittling or attacking me. Honestly, by the time it gets to this stage, nothing is going to be accomplished, so once I realize it's gotten to this point, I generally try to diffuse the situation or just walk away. (And I hate to walk away because then they think they've won, but it's just not worth it.) I've had to do this today actually, with another reader of my buddy's blog. He's thrown tons of reference material and factoids at me, but has completely missed the point I was making. No matter how many times I reiterate that point, he'll keep tossing out new articles that counter accusations I never made but don't do much to counter my very basic point. And because I am not a hyperconservative, he basically just calls me a treehugger and dismisses me, while still taking the time and effort to argue. (But if it's a conservation issue that he happens to agree with, then it's not a treehugger issue, it's just a good idea.) So essentially he's just listening to himself talk. Eventually I'll go back and read the new set of articles he posted, but there's really no point to continuing the discussion anymore, because I am just a treehugger.

What to do

2008-04-27T22:38:00.003-04:00

I need to make some decisions about this place.
There's a lot of baggage hanging around here in all those old posts, and I'm not really the person I was when I started this blog adventure. Plus, there has been so much crap that's happened in the last year or two that I'd really like to move past (some I posted about, some I didn't). I've downloaded my posts from previous years to the Blurb bookmaker, so I can keep them as a sort of diary. So now I have to figure out if I should just delete the old stuff (ONE post at a time - thanks Blogger) and keep this thing going, or shut this one down completely and start a new blog altogether. I'm leaning towards the latter, simply because I can REALLY start over that way, with a new name, new profile, new everything.
I plan to keep up with my blog buddies, so if I scrap this site I'll make sure you guys know the new info.

Any thoughts?

Wolf delisting update

2008-04-23T15:39:00.012-04:00

I initially posted about the delisting of the gray wolf here. Here's an update on the situation:

The killing in the Greater Yellowstone region has already begun. One of the first victims: Wolf 253M -- a celebrity wolf, affectionately known as “Limpy” (shown in the photo at left). Limpy was many things to many people -- to wolf-watchers, he was the hobbling member of Yellowstone’s famous Druid Peak Pack. To Utahans, he was the first wolf to be seen in the state for more than 70 years. But wolf 253M’s celebrity didn’t save him in the end. Limpy and two other wolves were shot dead in an elk feeding ground, part of Wyoming’s brutal shoot-on-sight policy that covers virtually the entire state.

Limpy’s death was just the beginning. It’s been 26 days since wolves were stripped of federal protections in the Greater Yellowstone area -- and at least 17 wolves have already been killed in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. And there are surely more to come. Officials in Idaho changed their state law on the day wolves were delisted, making it far easier for anyone to kill wolves near livestock or domestic animals. In Wyoming, state officials stripped all protection from wolves in 88% of the state. Locals have organized weekend eradication “wolf hunts” to kill any wolf that they find. One group tracked a wolf for 35 miles on snowmobiles before shooting it dead.

You contribution will help us…

Fight for our wolves in court;
Confront flawed state wolf policies with science and common sense;
Help ranchers reduce conflicts with wolves using non-lethal methods;
Debunk the myths and misinformation about wolves through on-the-ground education and outreach; and
Much, much more...

Will you make a tax-deductible emergency donation right now to help?

We can win the battle to save our wolves. But we can’t do it without your help.

Sincerely,
Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife

"Nicknamed 'Limpy' because his back legs were crippled in a fight when he was young, 253M was just shy of 8 years old -- a wolf Methuselah -- when he died March 28, shot in Wyoming on the first day wolves lost their protected status under the U.S. Endangered Species Act."--"Wolf's death stirs fears for species' fate" by Patty Henetz, The Salt Lake City Tribune, April 8, 2008
(He was obviously a real threat. I'd love to see the cowardly bastard who shot him.)

Walking along, minding my own business

2008-04-23T11:24:00.007-04:00

One of the most difficult symptoms of OCD (in my opinion) is one that you don't really see on tv: intrusive thoughts.
These involuntary thoughts or images become obsessions. The main features of intrusive obsessive thoughts are that they are automatic, frequent, upsetting or distressing, and difficult to control or get rid of. These can manifest themselves as mental rituals such as repeating words or phrases, counting, or saying a prayer.

When I was a kid, I would dutifully say my prayers at bedtime. I'm sure it started out as any kid saying her prayers, probably a simple recitation with a "bless mommy and daddy" finale. But with me, it developed into an extensive list of everyone I knew, because if I said my prayers and FORGOT someone, something awful would happen to them and it would be my fault. (Kinda explains where my departure from religion began, huh.)

As I got older, I found myself having random thoughts about terrible things happening to my family and friends, as well as to strangers or animals. It's difficult to explain these. They aren't daydreams, because I have no control over them. They aren't visions, because I'm not hallucinating and I realize that what I'm thinking isn't really happening/didn't really happen. It's just a flash of an image that runs through my brain. For example, last night I was clicking along doing normal things. All of a sudden I had the image of Miki in the middle of a large nearby intersection, hit by a car, and me trying to stop traffic to pick her up and get her body away from the passing cars. Sounds fun, doesn't it? There was no trigger for the image, no warning, and I couldn't shake the after effects for a couple of hours.

It wasn't until I started researching OCD that I discovered this was a symptom. I never told anyone about it, because it never occurred to me that it could be related to a treatable issue. I just thought I was messed up. I mean, how do you explain that to someone? I've read that in the past, women who had this problem (specifically visions of violence happening to their children) would confide in a doctor who would in turn have their children taken from them. They never COMMITTED violence, they just SAW violence. People with this problem don't bring about the acts they see, they wish desperately to AVOID them.

It's not something that happens all the time, or even every day. It's a random event that happens more often when I'm stressed out, but it doesn't keep me from functioning. However, it doesn't do much to improve my outlook on life and does leave me exhausted.

Next month I'll have my very first trip to the shrink. I've been off meds since November, and I'm hoping he will be able to take my blank slate and tell me how to get rid of this issue, through mental exercises or new, more appropriate meds.

My 80's duty

2008-04-11T11:04:00.006-04:00

Today would've been the 50th birthday of Stuart Adamson, member of The Skids and the voice of Big Country. It's no secret that I am a child of the 80's and loyal to my 80's pop/punk bands. "In a Big County" is one of my all time top 5 favorite songs. (I defy you to hear the line "come up screaming" and not want to start some sort of revolution.) Stuart was not only a unique voice, but an accomplished songwriter. (You'll often hear that he could make electric guitars sound like bagpipes. He was an English-born Scot, so no wonder I like him.) You can read about his untimely passing in the links, but I'll stick to the positive stuff here. Happy Birthday, Stuart. You are missed.

In a Big Country
(I encourage you to watch the video linked above for this song, just to see him in action.)

I've never seen you look like this without a reason
Another promise fallen through
Another season passes by you
I never took the smile away from anybody's face
And that's a desperate way to look
For someone who is still a child

In a big country dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive

I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered
But you can't stay here with every single hope you had shattered

I'm not expecting to grow flowers in a desert
But I can live and breathe
And see the sun in wintertime

In a big country dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive
Stay alive

So take that look out of here it doesn't fit you
Because it's happened doesn't mean you've been discarded
Pull up your head off the floor—come up screaming
Cry out for everything you ever might have wanted

I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered
But you can't stay here with every single hope you had shattered

I'm not expecting to grow flowers in a desert
But I can live and breathe
And see the sun in wintertime

In a big country dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive (repeat 3)

Way to make light of racism.

2008-04-09T10:37:00.005-04:00

Naomi Campbell is now saying that she was taken from a British Airways flight in handcuffs not because she SPIT ON A POLICE OFFICER, but because she is black.

I particularly enjoy this item: The supermodel, wearing a cap bearing the prison number of the former South African president Nelson Mandela from his time in Robben Island, was removed from the plane in handcuffs. Yes, I'm certain she feels Nelson Mandela's pain. Her life has been so difficult, being a supermodel and all. I'm sure he would be just as upset at losing his Louis Vuitton or finding his cell phone destroyed after tossing it at his maid's noggin. That, THAT, my friends, is truly a struggle worthy of it's own national holiday.

(Not to mention that she was trying to get the bag as a carry on even though she was told it exceeded her weight allowance and would follow her on another flight, and the pilot was trying very hard to get his plane in the air ON TIME instead of delaying all the other passengers for a pampered prima donna/champion for civil rights and race relations. It's not like this is the first time this chick has been on a plane - she knows the regulations.)

No, you didn't get cuffed and escorted off a reputable airline because you are black. You got cuffed and escorted off a reputable airline because you are a stupid classless bitch, you stupid classless bitch.

Elephants

2008-04-04T09:57:00.005-04:00

Elephant self-awareness. They also "talk" to each other with distinct "voices" in frequencies we can't hear, and have burial grounds for their dead that they go back and visit. There have been studies where recordings of dead elephants were played for their living friends/relatives. THEY FREAKED OUT.

So, imagine what it must feel like to see your friends killed for their teeth, or go through the same experience yourself? You're just hanging out with the fam, having a snack, then some asshole shoots you, cuts your teeth out, and leaves you to bleed to death. Not that it would be any less disgusting if the elephants weren't self aware (or so family oriented), but now that we know they are, it's even more fucked up. So don't buy ivory. Even pre-embargo ivory, because people lie. Just don't do it. What the hell do you need ivory for anyway?

Let's just hope this self-awareness thing doesn't mean they go all Paris Hilton at some point.

Mark at the Biomes Blog has posted a string of links about Elephant self-awareness, including this one, in response to the amazing video that's been circulating of the Elephant painting a self portrait (or another elephant).

Basically, I should just post everyday saying "Go see what the Biomes Blog has posted."

Seal Hunt 2008

2008-03-28T11:50:00.004-04:00

The 2008 Canadian seal hunt started this morning. What's worse is the Canadian government has refused to allow permits for observers, which means the atrocities will go undocumented. This in turn means the few regulations in place to keep these seals (most less than 6 weeks old) from being tortured and skinned alive will not be enforced. For Canada, if nobody sees it, there's nothing wrong with it.

Please visit the HSUS website for information about the hunt, why it is cruel and unnecessary, the Canadian seafood boycott (which IS hitting them in the pocketbook), and other ways you can get the message across to Canada that this needs to stop.

Amazing photos

2008-03-28T10:49:00.003-04:00

1. Split second photos.
2. Candy icebergs.

Thanks to the Biomes Blog for the links.

It's not always the crazies.

2008-03-26T14:12:00.001-04:00

Greatest post ever. Sometimes the strange things our pets do are for a reason.

Wish us luck.

2008-03-24T16:01:00.003-04:00

I've started a couple of posts lately that I didn't finish. Honestly, there's just too much going on at the moment. I've been spending most nights working on a photo-editing/design job, and we just put our house up for sale. So, things are about to get even more crazy, depending on how quickly we find a new house or someone else finds ours. Should make for plenty to blog about, whenever I find the time!

This is so funny

2008-03-14T16:10:00.000-04:00

Fun stuff

2008-03-06T11:11:00.000-05:00

Up for air

2008-03-04T16:35:00.003-05:00

Things have been quiet here because I had to testify as a witness in a trial last week. Although justice was served in the end, the entire experience left me mentally exhausted and beaten. I'm still not completely back to normal. I considered going into it here, but I think I'd rather just put the whole thing behind me.

Anybody have any happy news?

Time for some levity

2008-02-22T22:59:00.006-05:00

These are completely impractical, but I really, really want one for Miki and Dubz. The girl who makes these has some serious talent.

Felted pet portraits

Wolves Lose Protection Under Endangered Species Act

2008-02-21T12:08:00.005-05:00

Have I mentioned yet today how much I HATE THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION? You would think someone who prides himself for living on a ranch would have some idea how conservation works. Idiot.

"Idaho and Wyoming have stated their intention to kill the majority of wolves living within their borders. Idaho's governor publicly announced his intention to kill more than 80% of the state's wolves, and the state has already begun planning large scale wolf eradication efforts through hunting and aerial gunning." That means hunters can run them to exhaustion from a helicopter, then shoot them at point blank range. Real classy, assholes.

Donate now to help stop this insanity.

For Immediate Release
• Defenders of Wildlife

February 21, 2008

Contact(s)
Suzanne Stone, (208)424-9385 or (208)861-4655
Mike Leahy, (406)586-3970 or (406)539-9899
Erin McCallum, (202)772-3217 or (610)207-5209

Premature delisting severely threatens continued existence of the northern Rockies gray wolf
WASHINGTON D.C. – Today the Bush administration finalized its controversial decision to remove the northern Rockies gray wolf from the list of species protected under the Endangered Species Act. The delisting will take effect 30 days after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) publishes the final rule in the Federal Register next week.

The removal of federal protections for the gray wolf puts its continued survival in the northern Rockies at the mercy of the woefully insufficient state management plans developed by Wyoming, Idaho and—to a lesser extent—Montana. These plans call for dramatic reductions in wolf populations in the region.

“We will support delisting of the northern Rockies wolf when the states establish sustainable management plans that ensure viable, interconnected wolf populations throughout the region,” said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife. “Unfortunately, the current state plans seem designed to lead only to the dramatic decline and need for quick relisting of the wolf. That’s not in anyone’s best interest.”

Before a species can be delisted, FWS must determine that it does not face continued threats that could undermine the species’ survival. This criterion is not met under the state management plans which ignore scientific estimates that, for species to remain viable, there should be several thousand individuals, and wolf populations in the northern Rockies must be interconnected with larger wolf populations in Canada. With no federal protections in place, existing state management plans would permit wolf populations in the northern Rockies to be drastically reduced by as much as 70 percent, and eliminate any likelihood of establishing connections with Canadian wolf populations or promoting the establishment of wolf populations in other states such as Oregon, Washington, Utah, and Colorado.

“Given the tremendous public support and resources spent to reintroduce the wolf to the northern Rockies, it makes no sense to allow wholesale killing of wolves in the region and polarize the issue even more deeply with this one-sided plan,” said Suzanne Stone, northern Rockies wolf conservation specialist for Defenders of Wildlife. “Instead we need a balanced solution based on science that also addresses the needs of ranchers, wildlife supporters, and hunters.”

Defenders of Wildlife recently joined with the Natural Resources Defense Council in petitioning FWS to develop a national recovery plan for wolves in the Unites States, with regional recovery goals aimed at supporting sustainable populations of wolves in the northern Rockies, the northeast and the southwest.

Background:
More than 200,000 gray wolves (Canis lupus) once lived throughout the United States. Aggressive wildlife killing campaigns led to wolf eradication from most of the country by the mid-1930s. Gray wolves have been listed as endangered since 1974, and were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and Central Idaho in 1995 and 1996.

Wolves are native to the northern Rockies and have begun once again to restore natural balance to the areas they are reoccupying, by culling weak and diseased elk, deer, and other prey, and dispersing elk more widely across their habitat and away from sensitive wetlands and meadows that suffer from overbrowsing. Elk populations still remain high, (more than 400,000 elk are present today in the region) and hunter harvest success remains as high as it was prior to the return of wolves. Ranchers are also successfully learning to reduce the limited wolf predation on livestock to manageable levels and are compensated for most known losses that do occur by Defenders or state compensation programs. Wolf-related tourism in the Yellowstone region has generated more than $35 million annually for local communities.

Learn more about Defenders' efforts to protect the northern Rockies wolf.

Read FWS final delisting rule.

###

Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities. With more than 1 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come. For more information, visit http://www.defenders.org/.

Want to help? Donate to the Defenders of Wildlife to assist with costs that will arise from taking this matter to court. Please call 1-800-385-9712 or donate online.

Because we love the Beags

2008-02-21T10:47:00.001-05:00

Can of worms

2008-02-21T09:49:00.002-05:00

Before I get started, let me post the ENTIRE quote from Michelle Obama, instead of the little soundbite everyone is ripping her apart over:

Video and quote from Breitbart:
“What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback and let me tell you something, For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I have seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues. It has made me proud.”

To me, this does not sound like an insult. If you are looking to be pissed about something (which seems to be the current mode of our population), you can pick this apart, take what is a positive statement and make it something bad. Go take a laxative, grow up and get over it.

The backlash over this comment led to an interesting discussion between me and Greg last night. What does it mean to be proud of your country? Is being proud of America the same thing as being proud to be American? Can you be proud and embarrassed of your country at the same time? Is there a difference between being proud to be an American and being grateful to be an American?

Comments please. (Robert, this is right up your alley...)