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Progress in the paper chase...
May. 29th, 2005 07:20 pm...but not as much as I had hoped. Nevertheless, I will continue apace.
In other news, the French electorate appears to have rejected the EU Constitution (54+% voting "no"), which ought to put a kink in the undies of major politicos over there, given all of the political capital that had been invested in trying to convince people how important it was to approve said Constitution. Not to mention the short-term adverse effect on the euro.
Elsewhere in Europe, a story in the International Herald-Tribune reports:
Here at home, we've recently had an untramelled view of the future (as reported by indystar.com) when a judge prohibited parents from exposing their child to "non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals." (The parents practice Wicca, described in the article as a "contemporary pagan religion that emphasizes a balance in nature and reverence for the earth.")
I predict an increasingly strident tendency to relegate parental authority to the dustbin of history, both in the area of religion and outside of it.
The money quote for me? Check this out:
I get the feeling we're witnessing a real Niemöller moment here (the Niemöller who wrote the poem that starts, roughly, "First they came for..."), not because I think there's any immediate threat of imprisonment for the parents, but because I would be mildly surprised to find many "fundmentalist" Christians defending the rights of these parents in this case.
* * * Got a call from the sister-in-law the other day, regarding Galina's invitation. The folks at the local bureaucracy have filled her head with requirements that, simply put, are unknown at Russian consular offices within the United States. I suggested she simply provide plain-vanilla answers and that we'd handle the issue from this end as required.
It would appear my Baikonur client is reluctant to let me leave for the assignment even one day earlier than planned (understandable, considering what happened last November; not understandable, considering how difficult it is to get from Here to There in one day), so I am seriously considering eating the expense for that part of the trip that takes me to New York, so that I can get in position a day or two in advance - affording me an opportunity to visit the folks - and leave at a rational time. Alternatively, I can get into a serious discussion with the agency arranging all of this to see if we can't come up with a reasonable approach to resoving this issue. I'll probably have to jump on this pretty quick, too, to take advantage of possible discounts.
I've probably overdone the food today. In addition to a couple of bowls of solyanka, I had a portion - probably closer to two portions once you consider nibbling and sampling - of corned beef and cabbage that Galina found too salty (which I mention because that's sort of like a chain-smoker noticing second-hand smoke).
Back to work.
Cheers...
In other news, the French electorate appears to have rejected the EU Constitution (54+% voting "no"), which ought to put a kink in the undies of major politicos over there, given all of the political capital that had been invested in trying to convince people how important it was to approve said Constitution. Not to mention the short-term adverse effect on the euro.
Elsewhere in Europe, a story in the International Herald-Tribune reports:
A mobile phone ring tone based on the sound of a revving Swedish moped was expected to top the British singles chart on Sunday.After looking around the web, I managed to find a copy of this phenomenon as an mp3, and now I'm confuzzled. Either Swedish mopeds sound a lot like old Eddie Murphy movie soundtracks (what I heard was the main theme of Beverly Hills Cop, repeated techno style), or the IHT has a very loose definition of what it takes for something to be "based on" something else. (Or I ran across a different mp3 of the same title.)
Through Friday, "Crazy Frog Axel F," the first tune created for mobile phones to cross into mainstream music charts, was already outselling the new single of the group Coldplay by about four to one, the Official UK Charts Co. said.
Here at home, we've recently had an untramelled view of the future (as reported by indystar.com) when a judge prohibited parents from exposing their child to "non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals." (The parents practice Wicca, described in the article as a "contemporary pagan religion that emphasizes a balance in nature and reverence for the earth.")
I predict an increasingly strident tendency to relegate parental authority to the dustbin of history, both in the area of religion and outside of it.
The money quote for me? Check this out:
The parents' Wiccan beliefs came to Bradford's attention in a confidential report prepared by the Domestic Relations Counseling Bureau, which provides recommendations to the court on child custody and visitation rights. Jones' son attends a local Catholic school.Gotta love those confidential reports! (Especially those written by illiterates.) After all, anything is worth stopping those "divergent belief systems" before they take root! Yassah!
"There is a discrepancy between Ms. Jones and Mr. Jones' lifestyle and the belief system adhered to by the parochial school. . . . Ms. Jones and Mr. Jones display little insight into the confusion these divergent belief systems will have upon (the boy) as he ages," the bureau said in its report.
I get the feeling we're witnessing a real Niemöller moment here (the Niemöller who wrote the poem that starts, roughly, "First they came for..."), not because I think there's any immediate threat of imprisonment for the parents, but because I would be mildly surprised to find many "fundmentalist" Christians defending the rights of these parents in this case.
It would appear my Baikonur client is reluctant to let me leave for the assignment even one day earlier than planned (understandable, considering what happened last November; not understandable, considering how difficult it is to get from Here to There in one day), so I am seriously considering eating the expense for that part of the trip that takes me to New York, so that I can get in position a day or two in advance - affording me an opportunity to visit the folks - and leave at a rational time. Alternatively, I can get into a serious discussion with the agency arranging all of this to see if we can't come up with a reasonable approach to resoving this issue. I'll probably have to jump on this pretty quick, too, to take advantage of possible discounts.
I've probably overdone the food today. In addition to a couple of bowls of solyanka, I had a portion - probably closer to two portions once you consider nibbling and sampling - of corned beef and cabbage that Galina found too salty (which I mention because that's sort of like a chain-smoker noticing second-hand smoke).
Back to work.
Cheers...
