I had Friday and Saturday off. Friday was spent mainly doing errands (yawn), but I did go out for Mexican with my mom. (Which reminds me to ask Sonia for the name of that Mexican place in Dunedin... how about it?)

We also went shopping for plants Friday, pre-dinner. I only went because of a misunderstanding (I thought we were going for groceries after), but I ended up talking teh Moms into finally letting me do the herb garden I've been wanting for like ever. We now have a pretty window box style planter chock full of young, healthy sweet basil, chives, thyme, and flat-leaf Italian parsley. I also started the seeds from the mini garden I bought at Ram's Head back in November (or was that December?). Moms also decided she wanted tomatoes, so now we have cherry and beefsteak tomato plants (some already with flowers!).

I wish I'd had my camera to take pics of how loaded her car was coming back from Lowe's. (In all fairness, she did also go with a neighbor of ours, but still. $80-ish of plants for her; $200-ish for us. Adds up to a. LOT. of plants.)

I also wish I could find my camera to take pics of my amazing work digging and planting. The new planters and garden all look really cool, especially since we went to Target after Lowe's and bought marigolds and onions to plant alongside the tomatoes. Teh Moms assures me this keep bugs away from the red stuffs. We shall see...

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I swear.

The irony is, I actually find Vin Diesel rather atrocious.

See, Philip Nel (omgyum) posted a link to a story about people organizing a blacklist against Prop 8 supporters.

This makes me uncomfortable, even more so than the number of Prop 8 like things that passed (including in my home state of FL). Those I figure will be overturned, eventually, as they are so very clearly unconstitutional.

But blacklisting people? Isn't that kind of a, um, right-wing thing? McCarthyism, anyone? It's just as wrong when it supports OUR causes. We ALL have the right to choose our political (and moral) stances, even when asshole-y people make bad choices and try to take that fundamental right of CHOICE from others.

So, yeah. Disappointed. Not *as* disappointed as I was to hear about the increased level of threats against a president-elect--Obama's apparently garnered more than any of the others in the history of the Secret Service--and various versions of hate- and/or race-based crimes since the election.

Doesn't ANYone out there learn from the past these days?

And by "This," I mean the McCain-Palin invocation of Kissinger as a diplomacy god. While I won't deny that he's done good work, his dismissal of universal jurisdiction laws as mere "witch trials" really pisses me off.

A. LOT.

Those laws allowed crimes against humanity to be brought to trial, including the Pinochet case in Britain and the cases against the perpetrators of the Rwandan massacres, among others.

And in case you're wondering why such a great diplomat might dismiss such laws, he's faced accusations under them for his questionable actions in Chile.

I highly disagreed with "W" when he argued that the US was right not to intervene in Rwanda because the genocide there was too removed from our national interests, and I highly disagree with anyone who opposes universal jurisdiction or the International Criminal Courts' work.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

am loving the Opening Ceremony

am NOT loving the coverage or commercials

especially not the commercials

for future reference? Limited interruptions, plzkthx

It's 8:55, and I'm

H.O.N.G.R.Y.

Someone please to fix.

I love Treat Williams as Berger in "Hair."

And I don't care who knows it.

My inner hippie is rocking out, and I'm just along for the ride.

I'm not really one to jump on the boycotting bandwagon, though I do generally avoid Wal-Mart like the plague, and this may very well be the first time I've ever started a boycotting movement (amongst my friends or no).

But well... Dunkin Donuts deserves it. Not just for their calorie-laden fare, shoddy "lunch" menu (those new sandwiches are disGUSting), and not even for hiring the woman with possibly The Most Annoying Voice Ever (Rachel Ray) for their spokesmodel.

No, Dunkin Donuts stepped in it this time by pulling some spots featuring Rachel in what one conservative blogger said looked like a keefiyeh. Never mind that some designers have already brought the keffiyeh to the US and made it a somewhat trend. Never mind that the one Rachel sports in the ad is chock full of baby blue, ultra-girly paisley.

Never mind, either, the blatant caving into fear-mongering. That Rachel has every right to wear the scarf as simply a fashion or *gasp* a political statement. (The scarves were sometimes worn by Jewish people in the UK in the 60s and 70s who bravely supported the Palestinian people. Not terrorist, people.)

Never mind that for f*ck's sake, the damn thing is draped around her neck. Not on her head. Not covering part of her face. Not in any position in any of the terrorist beheading and torturing videos the conservative blogger was so concerned about.

[By the way, Dunkin Donuts holds a monthly lottery to choose 50 members of the military who'll receive free coffee. All they had to do to counter the bad publicity of possibly supporting a possible terrorist supporter (seriously--- I think I've strained my eyes this morning rolling them) was to publicize that side of things, maybe boost the numbers a little, maybe run a spot or two advertising the program, maybe take out a page in NY Times or the like addressing the keffiyeh thing and redirecting it to positive imaging of supporting the troops.]

We've already surrendered the swastika to the Nazis. Do we really need to surrender a perfectly innocent scarf worn by many, Arabic or no, terrorist or no?

Do we really need another reason "Arabic" should be seen as code for "terrorist?"

If you agree with me that the pulling of the spot is far scarier than the keffiyeh as a trend, do something. Write your own post. Link to mine. Call the company at 781-737-3000. Email Customer Service through this page: https://www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/contact/Feedback.aspx?type=5. (Find me an actual email address I can post!) Stand outside stores with signs. Get the word out. Get something done. Contact them at the address or phone number below:

Dunkin' Donuts Consumer Care
130 Royall Street
Canton, MA 02021
Tel: 800-859-5339