Dark and Dismal

Let's see, it's raining. The Senate confirmed Alito. The President is giving his State of the Union speech tonight. (I may not make it home in time to listen to it. What a shame.) Tim Eyman has a new initiative. And Coretta Scott King died. What a great way to end the month.

On the up side, Brokeback Mountain received 8 Oscar nominations.

The Little Things

You know it’s been a tough go at work when you are excited by the fact that the new copier/scanners arrived. The speed! The near silence when operating! The clarity of the scanned documents! I need to get out more often.

Nothing Important

I’m having one of those weeks were I can’t focus on the news. My bleeding liberal heart can only take so much. I’m sure I will become sufficiently outraged again when the Senate confirms Alito for the Supreme Court. Do those pro-choice Republicans seriously believe that Alito will uphold Roe? Pffffff. I have been paying enough attention to learn that the White House has a new name for it’s (illegal) domestic spying program. Warrantless wiretapping is just too cumbersome - "Terrorist Surveillance Program” has a much nicer ring to it, don’tcha think?

In happier news, the Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl, Nick Collison may be in the starting lineup again for the Sonics (but maybe not), Veronica Mars is back tomorrow night, I’m spending the weekend with my 2 best friends, the sun came out today – I was almost blinded, I discovered podcasts by Ricky Gervais, did I mention that the Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl?

It's good to be rich

Especially at tax time...IRS audits of the poor

Brokeback Mountain

I saw this movie over the weekend and I'm still thinking about it. It was very moving and heartbreaking. Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger were fantastic. Seriously, who could resist Jake's eyes? :-)

If you haven't seen it, I suggest you do. Although if you live in Utah and West Virginia, you may have a hard time finding a theater. money quote

Costco During the Holidays

No one in their right mind wants to go shopping at Costco during the month of December. It's almost as bad as going to a shopping mall. My husband and I needed to buy a few things so we decided to brave the conditions and go on a Thursday night, a week and a half before Christmas. It didn't take that long to find what we were looking for and we were out of there. As we walked to our car, parked in the far reaches of the parking lot, we heard some yelling coming from another part of the parking lot. Lo and behold, a few rows away were two men bumping chests and yelling at each other. All I managed to hear was "and a happy holidays to you too." And then they both retreated to their respective high priced SUV's. There's nothing funnier than 2 middle aged white guys duking it out in a Costco parking lot.

More Spying

I'm trying to avoid becoming a conspiracy theorist or a paranoid person, but this makes me wonder. Eavesdropping on Amanpour?

Year End/New Year

Here's my list of things I liked and disliked in 2005:

The Good
Movies: Nobody Knows, Syriana, Munich, The Wedding Crashers, Walk the Line, The Constant Gardner, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Wererabbit (I'm sure I've forgotten some)
Music: Garden State soundtrack, Veronica Mars soundtrack, Interpol, Pete Yorn
Books: Saturday (Ian McEwan), The Right Nation
Concerts: Duran Duran!!! Better Than Ezra, Snow Patrol, Keane, Coldplay, Depeche Mode
TV: Veronica Mars, Mystery!, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
Politics: The Senate putting it's foot down and dealing the White House a "defeat" on the Patriot Act; the American people responding to the Schiavo matter and forcing the Republicans to realize that they couldn't hijack the matter; the indictment of Scooter Libby, Patrick Fitzgerald. Michael Scanlon pleads guilty. The residents of Dover, PA vote out the members of the local school board that supported the inclusion of intelligent design in the school curriculum. A federal judge rules against the school board (intelligent design isn't science). ANWR drilling prevented (at least temporarily).
Sports: The Seattle Sonics make the playoffs, Lance Armstrong "retires" (let's hope it's for real). The Seattle Seahawks (I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop).

The Bad
Politics: The Republican Party, The Bush Administration (I could list names but there are just so many of them). Let's touch on the highlights though, shall we? Approval numbers hover around or below 40%; The NYT reveals that the NSA engaged in electronic surveillance without securing a search warrant first. The White House decides that the Florida courts can't reach the "right" decision in the Terri Schiavo matter and Congress helps them turn it into a federal issue. The White House starts it's campaign to change Social Security ("personal accounts.") Not only does Bush get to appoint a replacement for Sandra Day O'Connor because she is resigning but Chief Justice Rehnquist passed away in late summer and Bush gets to appoint 2 Supremes!!! His Harriet Meirs nomination gets killed by members of his own party. The Iraq war continues...and more people are dying every day.
Sports: Lance wins his 7th TDF (it's finally over); The BALCO case - why would Barry Bonds take something called the "clear" and not know what was in it? Rafael Palmeiro's testimony in front of Congress "I never took steroids." He then fails a drug test during the season. TO finally overstepping the bounds and the Eagles finally deciding to punish him. The start of the 2005-5006 season for the Seattle Sonics - ugly. The 2005 season for the Seattle Mariners - really ugly. Wally Szerbiack and Damon Jones - they are on my list of annoying basketball players.
Movies: Revenge of the Sith

Things are looking up for 2006 in several ways:
Jack Abramoff plead guilty, which means it's not going to be a good day for Rob Ney or Tom DeLay. In fact, I think the Republican House leadership may have to hold those leadership elections before DeLay's legal troubles are over. What a shame. There's talk of impeachment for the warrantless searches conducted by the NSA. I think that's fair. If articles of impeachment were brought because President Clinton lied under oath during a deposition regarding a sexual act, I think President Bush should face the same question for his actions after 9/11. Seems balanced, don't you think?

On a lighter note, Veronica Mars comes back from hiatus in 2 weeks (I think) and the Sonics fired their head coach today. Here's to a great 2006.