Wow, this looks the same after all these years. A friend of mine has a new blog so that make me look at my old blog! It is hilarious because because I have little memory of the dramatic long ago events! And I seemed to young. But now, like then, I have no one who is interested in my boring thoughts so I thought I might take it up again. We will see...

Strangely, I didn't have to log in because this is connected to my gmail account. Hard to believe this thing is in business after all these years. I guess it was bought by Google. In case it is not around for much longer I made PDFs of my pages for posterity. As if I didn't have a 15 boxes of stuff to read for posterity as is. Hehehe. Just Googled it. Blogger is owned by Google which I guess was obvious. Well, now I know my password!

I am so old and boring now that my thoughts r pretty boring but maybe I will think of something later!

Help...

Help.  I was a crazy person.  I just rediscovered my blog!!

Slavery by Another Name

Having been educated in the U.S., I knew my education was lacking but I had no idea how bad things were until I listened to a podcast by Bill Moyers about the above referenced book. I suspected that I learned a disproportionate amount about Reconstruction (the at the time revisionist version (it might have been revised again) that Reconstruction was really really bad) but I thought I had a general idea of the whole slavery thing. The author of the book was interviewed by Moyers and said something about the criminalization of black life through the post civil war Southern black codes. The first thing I thought was like, "Oh, hey, kind of like our criminal codes now." The next thing I thought was that the author was talking about Jim Crow laws. Oom, no. Apparently we spent to much time on how horrid the Reconstruction era was for the white folks to get to the subject of the reenslavement of black folks through widespread imprisonment and slave labor. I mean, I knew that there were efforts to sort of reenslave freed slaves but I didn't think it was very widespread. And I certainly didn't know that it continued in some places until until WW II! I am going to have to read more about this whole neoslavery thing.

This is not the subject of my post, however. The more interesting (to me, at least) part of my reaction to the podcast was my initial thought that our modern penal code (and criminal justice system in general) is also an effort* to "criminalize black life." A successful one at that. According to the Washington Post (February 29, 2008) 1 in 9 black men ages 20 to 34 is behind bars! Surely not even the Ku Klux Klan dreamed of that kind of success back in the antebellum day. Or white South Africans during the heady days of apartheid.

So we could call our modern laws "black codes" too.

*Admittedly, there might be a few other social goals behind modern criminal statutes.

For the first time ever I am hanging out in a coffee shop using the Internet! I know, y'all didn't know I was so clever and technologically advanced. And you are surprised that I sprang for a laptop. Wrong on that one. They gave me one at work. Yay! I accidentally stopped in a Starbucks to get out of the rain once shortly after I got my new laptop. So, I was like, this is it! Finally I will join the proud tradition of Hemingway and Satre and write something (erm...email) in a...cafe! So I got out the laptop and was disappointed to find that you had to pay for the Internet. :( So today I looked on the Internet to find a place with a free connection and here I am! It is a gay/lesbian coffee shop, I think. I fit right in with my hair. I bet that are many a pushing 40 lesbian gal that thinks I look lik quite a propect! Hehehehehe. Well, I guess I shouldn't get crazy...

Anyway, yesterday my friend of 20 years said words I never expected to hear... Hey, you were right and really saw this coming. I should listen to your more often. Maybe she shouldn't rush into this. After all, she might have to wait quite awhile for more payback.

Anyway, we were just talking and she told me about a horrid crime in Knoxville. Four or five men carjacked, kidnapped, raped, and murdered a UT student and her boyfriend. I don't know if he was a student. You might be thinking, "Well, who cares whether he was a student..." I am coming to that. I said like, "What? When? Why haven't I read about this on CourtTV? Then it became clear. The victims were white and the perpetrators were black. She asked me why I though I should have heard about the crime. Didn't things happen like this all the time? I told her this is yet another media bias in crime reporting based on race of victims and perpetrators. I said the lack of reporting on the crime will eventually become national news and indeed it did... I saw a story about it on MSNBC yesterday.

Naturally, the bias in news reporting is generally to ignore non-white victims of crime. This is perhaps most obvious in cases of kidnapping/murder of young girls and women. Chandra, Lacy, Natalee, the runaway bride, and now that English child that was kidnapped at some foreign resort... (It is rather strange that violence against women and girls is usually considered completely unimportant and boring with these few exceptions.) This obsession with missing white girls/women is commonly noted in the press. I almost felt that the media was pretending to be interested when they focused for awhile on two missing black sisters. Anyway, the reason for this media blindspot is clear. Our society doesn't value non-white people. They are not quite "like us" and therefore do not merit the same attention from the media, police, or criminal justice system (unless it is to arrest them.) It is not really a conspiracy because each media outlet rightly decides that their readers are not interested. If you read the CourtTV news on a given day you will get the impression that only white people are the victim of crimes. I mean, I should really stop reading this racially discriminatory reporting but...I am one of those weirdos who really likes to follow the crime news. I have an especially unhealthy interest in missing persons. I always wonder...where are they??

There are several aspects to this crime that make it CourtTV worthy regardless of the racial/ethnic background of the victims or perpetrators...

1. The crime involved a COLLEGE student. I guess this is one of the good children that the public cares about.
2. Multiple victims.
3. Multiple perpetrators. (A woman was one of the perps, too!)
4. Sexual abuse of both victims (i.e. a man which is way more interesting than yet another woman).
5. The length of time of torture between kidnapping and death.
6. The possibility it could be a hate crime (i.e. victims of different races).
7. Murder of a couple.

Believe, you make it big on CourtTV with a WHOLE lot less...

I am a chosen person!! I think we all pretty much suspected that I must be somehow "chosen" for something. I found out from a DNA test from the National Geographic genographic project that I am most likely an Ashkenazi Jew on my mother's side. Subsequently, I read that most of the people who were murdered by the Nazis were Ashkenazi Jews. :( It seems that our end was written in the name. Eek. Am I the only one to ever notice that? I called my mother and told her the good news. She remarked, "you know, I always thought I was Jewish!" And I said, "Me too!" She said that she thought she was Jewish because her dad looked Jewish. I probably just thought if anyone was a choosen person it should probably be me. Also, my last name is German and I have never liked the Germans (or Japanese for that matter) for their post-WWII weasel-ways.

I posted my DNA results on a website and a woman with my dad's last name contacted me. So, we are both "haplogroup k" on our mothers' side (so we likely have an ancester in common) and one of her relatives has my dad's side's last name.* Hmmm. It is probably just my lack of understanding of genetics that makes this interesting to me. Ahh, the joys of ignorance.

More about me and where I have been all this time. Two things have driven me back...

1. Lack of people to talk about "Second Life" with...
2. Lack of people to talk about celebrity news with...
3. Well, there is one more. I was about to break with Paris Hilton over her acting like such a child over her upcoming imprisonment and I was faced with previously listed problem number 2. (She posted an apologia on her blog so that break is postponed pending further developments.)

*I would state my slightly unusual last name but I don't want to go down the same ugly path of seeming like an idiot by having someone who knows me actually...read my blog.

The old Sarah who was interested in INXS Rockstar is dead dead dead. We did see INXS in Vegas last year and as per my usual reactions to concerts I nearly fell asleep.

I was just looking at my blog for an example of a silly blog post (a short order on this blog) to post on a blog for a class about social computing I am taking. I was totally to surprised to find that I have had a blog since 2003! I have sadly neglected it in the last few years but it seems pretty clear that I used to enjoy posting stuff! Maybe if I work really hard to make this relevatively interesting my one reader will return! My sister! Well, and her friend Lee.

I remembered my blog today because I was checking out Stumble Upon for my social computing class and I randomly stubbled upon a website from a young man who is suffering from chronic EBV...according to his doctor in Phoenix! Naturally, I jumped all over that... A doctor in my state who believes that people suffer from chronic EBV... Hopefully he will cough up the name.

Then, I got jealous of his site and remembered that my blog was my former best outlet for complaining about my health struggles and misadventures... Also, for posting goofy pictures...

So, we are back for the moment!

Hehehehe. I can't believe my last post was about INXS Rockstar! Well, we saw JD in Vegas a couple of months ago to fulfill the promise of attending a concert of the winner. Personally, I hoped it was Marty but I think INXS made the right choice. JD was a good replacement for the dead guy and was very dynamic.

Anyway, I am prompted to write in my blog to protest the stupidity of the criticism of Jill Carroll's statements supposed "anti-American" statements in her video. These people where know killers and 99 percent of the public would have done the exact same thing. Her wisdom and strenght brought her home alive.

My newest obsession...

INXS Rockstar...or Rockstar INXS... I can never remember...

For someone who supposedly "doesn't watch tv" I have yet again fallen under the spell of a show. This is an especially strange choice for me since I really do never listen to music (as opposed to my never watching to tv which does result in occassional tv...)...

I was flipping through the channels (or rather, between my two channels) and the show caught my eye because the singers seemed just as good as the professional singers one sees on tv... I did realize later that they are all professional singers...just not very prominent ones.

The depth of my devotion to the show is shown by the fact that I watched my recorded tape of the show...twice. Not on the same day or anything.

I lay in bed for several hours (not on purpose, I couldn't sleep) wondering...who would win?? None of them are quite right for INXS. Really, the only one who would seem right would be someone like their former lead singer. Even with my little music knowledge, I knew who he was, though I didn't know he was dead...

The only real contenders are JD and Marty. JD has the best stage presence and is very cute, but he has been rather obnoxious so I don't know if INXS would want to work with him. Marty is a good performer and has some star quality, but INXS has already said that they can't figure out how his performances relate to INXS... Maybe that leaves Mig because he seems more maleable so maybe INXS would think they could mold him into what they want him to be... I am not sure he could hold a stage for two hours though...

I think Ty will be voted off next...if Suzie gives another great preformance.

Good news, friends and family! I escaped the wrath of the tsunami.

It didn't make it to Dayton.

Fortunately for the yeasties...

Well, though it is true that I have an overly active eye for things to beat Bush over the head with, but...he seems quite unconcerned with the 2 or 3 thousand missing Americas... I guess a natural disaster does not have the glamour of a terrorist attack, but I would expect a little more action out of someone who wailed so much about the dead of the 9/11 attacks. I suppose he has not thought of a political advantage to the tsunami situation yet.

$15 million dollars? Oh my, I guess we don't have much left after project "rule the world." This doesn't really help project a "superpowerly" image, though...

In anti-yeasty tsunami news, "Pfizer will contribute approximately $25 million worth of the company’s healthcare products which includes the anti-infective products Zithromax, Zyvox and Diflucan."

Another pretty picture of me...

Sarah v. The Tick

One of the many downsides (constant worry about a squashed cat, having to let him in and out every 30 seconds) of letting Bean go outside is that he has aquired one of the world's most hated creatures as a friend...a tick.

Animal lover that I am (well, I thought there was a small space in my heart for even ticks...), I tried to live with the tick being on Bean for several days... Finally, I couldn't deal anymore and purchased a glorified pair of tweezers in the form of the Tick Lifter.

The directions for use alone made me want to barf.

Directions for use: Push button to open claw. Grab tick firmly at skin surface. DO NOT PULL! Turn entire device slowly several times counterclockwise until ENTIRE tick lets go.

The emphasis is not my own. The directions are really like that!

Since my friend April was coming over to see my new rat that I found WALKING AROUND OUTSIDE (that is another blog entry) I decided to sucker her into helping by acting like ticks are no big deal. Luckily, she was strangely unfamiliar with ticks (???) and she readily agreed to use the Tick Lifter on Bean... It seemed to good to be true and indeed it was. More later...

One would think that the forsaking of TV would leave me time for you, my dearest bloggy... Alas, it has not been so. Last night I longed for the solace of TV as one might pine for a lost love. I went to the closet to drag it out, but it looked so heavy and the chances of getting any reception were so slim that I lost heart and went to bed. I woke up this morning with an unreasonably heavy heart and my mind again turned to TV. I called my friend Dan to see what he was doing. He was watching scantily clad gentlemen (not how he described it but as it appeared in my mind's eye) jump around the sand volleyball court... (The Olympics is a bitter time not to watch TV. ...) So, I went to see a movie. But the movie ended. So now I am back at home without the sweet release provided by the boobtoob. I am going to have a drink.

Oh, lucky me and God bless my policy of not answering the phone... I just got a call from the Bush/Cheney folks. Apparently John Kerry hates health care. Who knew...

I miss the boob tube... As was perhaps mentioned before, as I was casting around for something to blame for the sorry state of my affairs (i.e. my refusal to start on my project proposal which is due July 15), my roving eye fell on the television. I have been watching an totally exorbitant amount in the last few months... So, I unplugged it on Friday. Then, later, I disconnected the cable cord. Not trusting myself, I dragged it into the closet...

Oops, Dan has arrived to go on a walk. This is my second walk today!! Erm, so much energy, erm...so little to fill the time... I took two naps today, too...

The love affair seems to be one sided... 

Yeek. I am scaring myself... 

Phantom with her new haircut... 

Hi Dearest Bloggy,

You look a little different since I last saw you. Ooh, you keep getting better and better and I imagine one fine day I am going to have to pay for you. That is okay. I am not one of those cheap bastards who doesn't appreciate something that is free, if only for awhile... Really, I think that it what is wrong with people in general. We want to shift the burden of our existence onto others... Now, people in my family, i.e., my sister, would probably remark at this point that I don't seem to proud to weasel stuff out of my relatives, i.e. my mother... But, if anyone is responsible for supporting my continued existence I think it should be the one is most directly responsible for it... It fits in well with my new "total blame" theory of parental responsibility (a mere slip of theory compared to the Unabomber's, it turns out, as I read yesterday)... I don't think that man took responsibility for anything in his entire life. Well, rightly so, according to the total blame theory. My mother tried to get mad at me the other day for being my normal obnoxious self... "Look at the hand," (or whatever) I said to that (mentally because she was being so bitchy I didn't want to further inflame her), "and look within to see who created the monster."

Back to my original point. People have such a weird sense of entitlement and very little pride... Okay, too lazy to go on with this but I assure you it is a big problem.

Yeek. Phantom is throwing up. Well, see, not all free stuff is good. Ooh, maybe I can post pictures of Phantom's new haircut... I will see.

Hmm. I thought that I read that my Blogger account was canceled... Testing...

Random thoughts...

Cicadas awaken after 17 years to discover their short lives have been shortened by being trapped under concrete - unintended consequence of urban sprawl...or conspiracy?

Why did Sarah, who can't even abide the icky feeling of the short freefall of the most pitiful roller coast and has had a lifelong fear of dying in a plane wreck, throw herself out of an airplane...adventure seeking...or suicide attempt?

Why does the onslaught of random thoughts stop when one tries to list them...

Ahh, the march of progess... The head of the Selective Service is suggesting that women should register too! And raise the age to 35! Alas, by the time women have to register, I will be too old to protest registration by refusing to register... :(

Erp...