Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 1:20 AM

Please read Senator Byrd's latest speech. I couldn't say it better myself.
Bravo.

Postscript: If you liked that, there are plenty more, equally good. Take a look at Senator Byrd's floor speeches and admire his gift with words. I like the way in yesterday's speech about the budget he encapsulates in one sentence the administration's shifting explanations of why they believe we need to attack Iraq: "We have seen how the goal of disarmament in Iraq has changed to fighting terrorism in Iraq to ousting the leadership of Iraq to bringing peace to the Middle East through war in Iraq to forcing Saddam Hussein and his sons from Iraq." Wow.

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:25 PM

Okay, I won't be posting much this weekend. Tomorrow (Thursday) I'm flying out to Seattle Washington to visit Jeff, a close college friend whom I haven't seen for a long time. As I've mentioned earlier, he's got the lead in You're a good man Charlie Brown, so I'm going to see his Friday night performance and fly back on Saturday. Crazy, I know, but there you have it. Unfortunately, I just saw that Jeff is coming down with a cold, so I'm throwing some medicinal teas in the suitcase just in case.

I agree with Atrios and am glad that WB isn't the kind of network to preempt its coverage so I could ignore the violence in the news and enjoy the violence of vampires in Angel.

Meanwhile, I have got to find lighter-weight pleasure reading. The three books I was planning to take with for reading on the flight -- Unnatural murder by Anne Somerset, The politics of court scandal in early modern England by Alastair Bellany (both about the Overbury murder case), and Ungrateful daughters: the Stuart princesses who stole their father's crown by Maureen Waller -- weigh five pounds combined. I then decided to leave the middle one at home, but it's still a hefty load. Ian's sister just gave me a thin quiz book which I'm bringing along instead.

And, I guess that's about all I have to say at the moment.

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:55 AM

I love my husband. While his words and thoughts are not my own, I recommend reading Ian's post from this morning, which makes a few important points I haven't heard elsewhere. He doesn't write much in his journal, but when he does, it's always worth reading. [You can read some similar comments he made last week here and here, although he rolled some of those concepts into his post this morning.] This (his combination of eloquence and brilliance) is one of the many reasons why I love him.

I don't really have that much to say about last night's speech. I was in class when it happened so didn't hear it directly. And I don't really have that much interest in going back and hearing it. Sometimes, denial seems like a good idea. Also, I don't have too much time to post right now, what with juggling jobhunting, finances and school, but I did find this analysis of the speech pointing out all the lies and rhetorical deceptions in the speech. Worth reading.

Also, Hesiod and Ziska have some pretty good description of the hopes and fears on the anti-war side. Krugman's also got a piece on what's next.

Avedon Carol deconstructed the Washington Post article I posted about yesterday on why American news doesn't cover the same stories as Europeans. Pretty devastating analysis.

Regarding the title of this entry, there's a meme going around LiveJournal like a prayer wheel or the dream of a thousand cats. I wish for peace. It certainly can't hurt. Spread the word.

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:40 PM

Well, that sucks. I just heard through the grapevine that the Massachusetts unemployment rate is high enough that the state is allowed to further extend benefits to those whose benefits already expired. So I called, but for some reason this is only being offered to people whose unemployment just expired. In other words, people who have been out of work for a shorter period of time are getting more benefits than those who have been out of work for longer. Can anybody else explain the logic of that to me? [The woman on the phone said to check back with the DETMA website regularly for updates. If they have money left after they count all the people recently unemployed, they might have money left for those of us in more critical situations.]

And, while I'm in a pissy mood, let me just spew ire onto the idiots at Transitional Medical Program whose form letter includes such terrifying phrases as "your coverage has been terminated. Reinstatement of coverage is not available" when, in fact, payment was received on time and my coverage is still in effect. They really scared me this weekend and for no good reason. Bad insurance company! Bad wording!

Also, for any IBMers who are reading this, a few months ago, 401(k) coverage switched to a different company earlier this year. Unfortunately, I cannot find the notice and IBM keeps most of its info on its intranet where I can't access it. I need their contact information to check my balance and see about taking out a loan (if the @%$^&*#! stock market left me with anything). Could somebody please send me the info in my comments section or by email? Thanks.

And just to keep folks smiling today, how about a lighthearted tale of puppies and PCs

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:40 AM

Okay, I'm amused. Via a convoluted series of links, I found the music video from the Comic Relief charity. Gareth Gates was the second place finisher in Pop Idol, (UK's predecessor to American Idol). The Kumars at Number 42 is a britcom about an Indian family in Wembley who host a talk show from a little studio they built in their back yard. They meet in this music video (Windows Media Player required), and I for one find it hysterical.

Poking around the Beeb for other comedies, I found Posh Nosh, which I think will greatly amuse many of my friends. It's a snootier than thou cooking show.

SIMON: Basically, I'm interested in people who spend ten grand a year on food. If you're not prepared to spend that kind of money, what's the point of having a mouth?

INTERVIEWER: That's rather a lot though, isn't it? Many people don't have that kind of money to spend on food.

SIMON: Well, they can sell a painting then.

MINTY: We believe it's always worth spending that bit extra.

You really have to see some of the recipes on their site, with instructions like: "Make an incision in the centre of the pugliese loaf, using a knife that's been in the family for over sixty years. (If you're 'new money', buy one and wait.) Blade-run a forty-five degree wedge. Admire its perfect triangularity." and "Breathe on your Sturgeon Fillet till it defrosts. (Allow 1-2 days.)" Now there's a way to cheer up a Monday morning. Particularly in a year when Purim coincides with St. Patrick's Day, giving twice as much reason to get drunk and have a good time. [Alas, my class tonight conflicts with services.]

Anyway, sorry for the dearth of posts. Our interim report on the semester project is due today and I've been cranking away at it. Homework's done for now, and I've got a huge mass of news links piling up to write about, but those can wait for later. Well, except this one on what is newsworthy, and why so many stories I'm blogging about from European papers don't get press coverage in the U.S. Quite enlightening.