http://www.topix.net/metro/boulder-longmont-co/2008/12/police-hope-pictures-of-panties-help-find-crime-victims?fromrss=1

In hopes of identifying more victims, Boulder, Colorado police released photos on Wednesday of cheerleading outfits and dozens of women's undergarments found in the home of a man who was arrested for ...

http://www.topix.net/metro/boulder-longmont-co/2008/12/boulder-organist-to-perform-recital-sunday?fromrss=1

On Sunday, Nov. 30, Dr. Martha Sandford-Heyns will present an organ recital at Christ United Methodist Church at South Fourth and Main Streets.

Need to do some house cleaning and have a dinner thing tonight, but next week we'll be back on.

His review of Stein's creationist film...last bit of it:

"And there is worse, much worse. Toward the end of the film, we find that Stein actually did want to title it "From Darwin to Hitler." He finds a Creationist who informs him, "Darwinism inspired and advanced Nazism." He refers to advocates of eugenics as liberal. I would not call Hitler liberal. Arbitrary forced sterilization in our country has been promoted mostly by racists, who curiously found many times more blacks than whites suitable for such treatment.

Ben Stein is only getting warmed up. He takes a field trip to visit one "result" of Darwinism: Nazi concentration camps. "As a Jew," he says, "I wanted to see for myself." We see footage of gaunt, skeletal prisoners. Pathetic children. A mound of naked Jewish corpses. "It's difficult to describe how it felt to walk through such a haunting place," he says. Oh, go ahead, Ben Stein. Describe. It filled you with hatred for Charles Darwin and his followers, who represent the overwhelming majority of educated people in every nation on earth. It is not difficult for me to describe how you made me feel by exploiting the deaths of millions of Jews in support of your argument for a peripheral Christian belief. It fills me with contempt."

I've done my carolling gig twice, and it's been an... interesting matter, religious discussions aside.

I'm not as natural an alto as I thought I was, I hope I haven't damaged my range too badly, I tend to come home in need of a few hours silence with a hot cup of tea and a Dramatic Scarf[tm] around my neck. My breath control is weak, and my hearing did get mangled a bit, so it's been a struggle to get through a few songs I've been slacking on. (I tend to get that Guilty Secular Cringe[tm] looking through the songbook -- there's a lot here that I've never been exposed to, admitting it in the middle of the gig is embarrassing, if also necessary.)

I'm just really out of practice for group-singing, period. It's been years upon years since I was singing with people in an effort to create structure, rather than engaging in passive-aggressive song-battling to get someone's attention. (This might be why I have a knee-jerk irritation when I run into lyric sopranos. There were too many, too eager to demonstrate their abilities on anyone within earshot, whether or not they were trying to have a conversation with somebody else. Crazy? A bit. ... I really hope I'm not alone in this.)

So... yeah. Healthy group dynamics -- I previously did not haz. Now, it's not so bad, but with less than a half hour to try and track down some of the songs I've missed on CD, I've got that in-over-my-head feeling again. At least I get paid, soon. ... I hope.

We believe: • Immigrants deserve to be treated with respect. • Immigrants enrich our communities and culture and should have a voice in the decisions that affect them. • Allies, with the guidance of immigrants, can help change the climate for immigrants in our communities through education and outreach. • Working for justice for immigrants helps us build an inclusive and loving society for all of us.

immigrantrights

Crossposted to syn_promo, denver

avphibes has been sadly absent from the tubes of late, but if you read only one thing today, please read her review of Twilight, the book. I won't spoil for you the part where she fills in the missing sex scenes. Go. Now.

OH OH OH... and the bestest part of all: The reason vampires can't go out in the sun? Because they're sparkly. Yes, sparkly. REALLY. I'm going to extrapolate from this that they also ride unicorns and crap gumdrops. I had to put down the book at that point and crack up.

http://www.rabbitblog.com/2006_08_01_rabbitblog_archive.html#115518587932651028#115518587932651028

http://www.rabbitblog.com/2006_08_01_rabbitblog_archive.html#115528234513383581#115528234513383581

http://www.rabbitblog.com/2006_08_01_rabbitblog_archive.html#115532672818182294#115532672818182294

http://www.rabbitblog.com/2006_08_01_rabbitblog_archive.html#115532705383530386#115532705383530386

http://www.rabbitblog.com/2006_08_01_rabbitblog_archive.html#115552115459669476#115552115459669476

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/12/credit_card_wit.html

This is a nifty little device: a credit card with an onboard one-time password generator. The idea is that the user enters his PIN every time he makes an online purchase, and enters the one-time code on the screen into the webform. The article doesn't say if the code is time-based or just sequence-based, but in either case the credit card company will be able to verify it remotely.

The idea is that this cuts down on card-not-present credit card fraud.

The efficacy of this countermeasure depends a lot on how much these new credit cards cost versus the amount of this type of fraud that happens, but in general it seems like a really good idea. Certainly better than that three-digit code printed on the back of cards these days.

According to the article, Visa will be testing this card in 2009 in the UK.

http://julie.sturtz.org/2008/12/santa-at-mall.html

Christmas Gift Toy & MySpace Layouts at pYzam.com

I would like, just once, to be able to make a change to my cell phone plan without AT&T anally raping my service with a rusty chainsaw.

I'm so tempted to unlock my iPhone and go to TMobile. I may even give up the uber cool phone for better customer service.

Current Mood: frustrated

Got up as I was thinking about this job consulting firm thing too much...and feeling like a total and utter career failure.  It doesn't help the sleep a whole lot.  I gotta get out of the "wanting other people to do my work for me" mode of thinking.  It's what led to my non-job satisfaction beforehand.  Just wrote an e-mail back to the fellow and think I outlined my concerns well.
I am quite afraid and moreover depressed when I think of going back to a similar job.  I feel like I have already wasted 8 years of my life. 
(OK woah total sidebar, one of my neighborsish just drove up at 4:49...um wacky; my neighbor next door has either rotating family members staying with her or others...  and now they are driving back out...um..that was weird...  Oh wait maybe it was just the newspaper peep or something *now feels sorry for newspaper peeps*)
I am going to make my job search my number one priority once my final paper is done (saying I would make it my number one priority before there is just a lie).
I need to get some self-confidence back and a career I enjoy.  Dude.

*goes to try and sleep a bit more, but if that doesn't work, then more Avengers....or post-colonialism*

-illyana

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Hey Mackys!

first draft of that multipurpose personal crest I mentioned I'd try my hand at.

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