As days pass following the 60 Minutes expose of conditions at Abu Ghraib, the sickening details of the assault by Bush’s minions on the descendants of the creators of Mathematics, the inventors of the concept of zero, the builders of the Alhambra, serve to further disgust and appall.
Proud
In a news conference held yesterday, the purpose of which was to ask reporters to “leave the family alone”:
Jessica Klinestiver, sister of Army Pfc. Lynndie England – the woman seen in the notorious photos of the humiliated Iraqi prisoners – informed the world that she’s “proud of her sister and ‘anybody else in the [372th].'”
Will someone please explain to l’il Miss Jessica and her kinfolk the difference between family loyalty and shameless self-promotion?
Not to mention the difference between right and wrong.
Deanna La June Laney, Update
Deanna La June Laney, who murdered two of her sons by bashing their heads with rocks, may be headed for divorce court – but not for the reasons you might think.
No More Friday Five
“Friday Five”, winner of the 2004 Weblog Awards‘ Best Meme category (“a replicating idea that spread about weblogs”), is no more.
Damned Flu
Late Tuesday afternoon, feeling a little tired, I stopped at Craigville Beach on the way from the office to mind the grandkids.
By the time I got to their house, I was a trainwreck.
My grandchildren hovered around while my DIL tried to convince me to get my germ-ridden self the heck out of her house. The oldest, bless his good little heart, tried to convince her that they could “take care of Grandma” while she went about her business, then he made me the sweetest card.
“Intent”: the New Twinkie Defense?
Yet another incomprehensible verdict from a jury wrapped around the new favorite argument of defense lawyers evereywhere: to convict, the State needs to prove intent.
In other words, a motive, a murder weapon, even a confession are no longer sufficient proof of wrongdoing: the State now has to prove that the person who murders really “intended” to do it all along.
New Hampshire SB 335
Yesterday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted by overwhelming majority (223-103) to give adoptees the right to copies of their original birth certificates.
The bill also provides a mechanism for birth parents to approve (or not) the release of contact information to the children they lost to adoption.
Town Elections
For the first time since moving to Mashpee, I attended a candidates’ night sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and the local newspaper.
Color
We’ve started to see Spring colors in the landscape, yellow from the forsythia and daffodils planted by the thousands in numerous public areas; purple hyacinths, vinca and even violets; blue from Pulmonaria and miniature hydrangeas in flower boxes; white and pink.
Gardener’s Diary
Survived the winter:
Crocus (first to bloom)
Bluettes (second)
Tulips (if the squirrels don’t eat them)
Sweet woodruff
Jacob’s ladder
Woodland geranium
Montauk daisies
Fairy rose
Larkspur
Day lilies
Iris
Beach rose
Bachelor buttons
Lemon thyme
Jury is still out on:
Ornamental grasses
Heather
Lavendar
Foxglove
Lupine
Russian sage
Big question: is this the year that the hydrangeas will bloom?
This is the 100th entry in A Blog For All Seasons!