Recently in Random Category

A while back I made a donation or two to the USO.

Now, I know that nonprofits try to eke out a little extra revenue by renting their lists to other organizations. However, I was careless and didn't make sure to request that they not share my name. As a result, my name is apparently being shopped to every right-wing outfit out there. Thanks for the Reagan Ranch calendar, guys! I'm not going to be able to chip in on the cost of transforming it into a shrine or whatever, but best of luck to you!

One of my favorite pieces of mail, though, came from Republican house leader John Boehner. It features a rather unflattering photo of Nancy Pelosi, whose "radical liberal agenda cannot be allowed to go unchallenged."

The letter is four pages in length, and I will spare you the whole thing, but page three is of some interest, as I think it reveals the Republican's party's true agenda.

When I am Speaker of the House, my Republican colleagues and I will listen to the concerns of men and women like you, and we will fight for programs and policies with your best interests

in mind...We will curb government spending and eliminate wasteful programs...

...That means we will not raise your taxes - please do not forget that every tax bill must originate in the House...

...We will strengthen border security, end the "catch and release" of illegal immigrants and guarantee our sovereignty by stopping out-of-control illegal immigration.

All pretty standard Republican lines, yes? Well, here's where it gets interesting:

... We will implement an "all of the above" energy policy that creates jobs, lowers coasts, and ensures we are free from dependence on foreign sources by drilling for oil here at home...

Lowers... coasts?

Oh my goodness... the Republicans must be planning to push California into the ocean! And the other godless liberal coastal states too. Can't say I'm surprised!

Oh sure, it COULD be an innocent typo. But I think it reveals their NEFARIOUS PLOT!

And honestly, if I can spell "nefarious" correctly... can't the Republicans be bothered to get a simple word like "costs" right? Gee, maybe I should donate to poor Boehner's campaign, just so he can afford to hire a proofreader. Sniff.

(P.S. I realize that the word "boner" has double meanings and considering that I'm talking about a Republican here, can easily be misinterpreted...)

(P.P.S. Links to the fundraising letter can be found here: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4)

Only on SFGate.com would the statement that a man who had a restraining order taken out against him for battering the mother of his children isn't the best candidate for taking said children after their mother has been brutally murdered (albeit by somebody else) be remotely controversial.

Spam o' the day:

Your Online Banking Account needs to be verified to allow you have access to online banking: So we have issued this final warning message to you

This email is sent from our secure server to verify your Online Banking Account as there have been a multipe error logons and Account failure.

Your access to online banking has been suspended temporarily for security reasons by Bank Of America, N.A

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Who is yuvaz.com when they're at home, anyway? And I bet I know what they want to do with my informations...

I'll post an actual piece of writing one of these days, I swear. In the meantime, admire how cute my child is! Just look at her!

Though it's been a mere six hours at this writing since the news was confirmed that self-proclaimed "King of Pop" Michael Jackson was dead at age 50, everybody and their mother (well, if their mother is of a certain age) has already weighed in with their thoughts on the meaning of his career, life and death. So why shouldn't I join in?

It's hard to reconstruct now, 26 years after the fact, but at the time "Billie Jean" first hit the airwaves, it sounded like nothing else before it. It sounded, well, ominous, but incredibly catchy at the same time. A brilliant song, and everyone responded to it. And then there was the rest of Thriller. Hit after hit after hit. Unlike now, when music stations and charts have fractured into a million subgenres which never find a common audience, everyone heard these songs. And everyone saw "Thriller" the music video. As the line goes, "No mere mortal can resist / the evil of the thriller."

His music also fit the mood of my high school. I always thought of my group of friends as the "not reallys" - not really fitting neatly into any particular clique, category, or race. So Michael Jackson, together with Madonna (who "sounded black") and Prince (who simply enjoyed tweaking everybody's expectations and minds) made the perfect soundtrack.

And the last 26 years? Not so good. It was another four years before Michael Jackson would release another album, and I didn't like it. The one after that was even worse. And then there was the clusterf*ck that was his life... the bizarre marriages, the animals, the money wasted, the dangling baby, the plastic surgery, the lawsuits, the allegations of sexual abuse against children... it went on and on.

I think part of the reason I'm finding it hard to stop thinking about his life and death is that it's sobering to think that he had basically completed his best work by age 25. And that was pretty much it. 50 was young to die, but it was still a quarter century past his peak. He spent more half his life disintegrating in public.

I don't think it had to be that way, and it's a shame that it did (and I feel even worse about his children. Imagine living with that ghost floating over your shoulder for the rest of your life.)

In the meantime, I'll dig into my music collection and pull out my favorite Michael Jackson songs: "Working Day and Night", "Shake Your Body Down to the Ground", "Off the Wall", and "Don't Stop Until You Get Enough". And I hope that even the "haters" can recognize that once upon a time, he really was a genius. 

Edited to add: It's also strange to realize that our president is two years younger than Michael Jackson was, and that he must have also grown up with his music as a soundtrack....

As I was racing downtown to try to drop off a stack of petition signatures at Senator Feinstein's office on the way to BART, I got a phone call. While on the phone, I passed a couple of youngish people waving clipboards with pictures of children on them and trying to get my attention. "Sorry, I'm on the phone," I mouthed. They kept trying to talk to me. I shook my head.

"But it's really important," a young man insisted, stepping out in front of me.

I neatly skirted him and kept going. In my irritation — I thought it was pretty obvious I didn't want to stop and talk, but they kept pushing me — I also said, "That's really rude!"

"No, THAT'S really rude!" he called out as I raced away.

Although the encounter lasted all of five seconds, it made me think about fundraising. I have to admit that I'm not a fan of direct solicitations, either by phone or on the street. Although talking directly to possible donors can be powerful and effective, the person you're talking to has to be somewhat receptive — not in the middle of something else and cranky. Unfortunately, all too often, that's the case when you're intruding on somebody else's time.

My personal preference is to give online on my own schedule. That way, I can do my research, read more about the organization at my own pace, figure out myself how much I'm comfortable giving, and do it all without feeling I'm being guilt-tripped into doing something I don't want to do.

Sometimes I'll see nonprofit solicitors on the street and think, "Hmmm, I don't want to deal with this right now, but maybe I'll look their organization up later and see if this is a group I want to support." The young man I encountered yesterday could have gotten me to check out his group's website later.

However, by being pushy and insisting on arguing with me — and getting the bitchy last word in — he made sure his group will go to the bottom of my list. He was an exceedingly poor representative of the organization he works for, and I have to assume he is representative of their approach. (Lest you think I'm being too harsh, please keep in mind my whole career has been spent at nonprofits... and, knowing my limits, I've wisely stayed away from the public fundraising side of things.)

Sure, I care about children, but there are other groups that help them — groups that don't waste money paying people to stand on street corners in San Francisco harassing people.

By the way, I finished my phone call a few minutes later and made it to Senator Feinstein's office building just in the nick of time, although I dropped the stack of signatures at one point and had to gather up nearly 100 sheets of paper from the sidewalk (bad karma payback! you happy, pushy street solicitors?).

-----Original Message----- From: Support [mailto:support@securitycenter.com] Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2009 10:23 AM To: undisclosed-recipients Subject: B a n k of America Notification. Importance: High

Dear B a n k of America member ,

- You were qualified to participate in $50.00 credit reward surwey.
- Just take part in our quick 5 question survey.
- Please click on the link below to take your survey:

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B a n k of America - Survey Department.
2009 B a n k of America. All rights reserved.

I did not bother to click on the link (fmykgb.com is a GREAT domain name though). I imagine the "surway" questions were along the lines of:

1. Did you know the word "gullible" is no longer in the dictionary?
2. How much money do you have in your account?
3. What is your bank account number?
4. What is your maiden name?
5. What is your social security number?
6. May we defraud you again sometime?

The latest newsflash from the closest thing we have to a real national newspaper (sorry USA Today): Teenagers greet each other with hugs. Some people like to be hugged, others, not so much. And....er... that's about it.

Aside from the silliness of building an entire news story around this slender not-much-of-a-concept, there's the question of how the reporter and his/her friends greeted each other when teens. Did they have some complicated sets of hand gestures? Did they bow? Perhaps they developed a complicated ritual greeting dance involving ping-pong balls and exchanges of sock monkeys? In any case, at my school, we merely hugged each other, us brave trend-setters, and it did NOT make the New York Times*.

* Although Alice Kahn did write a wonderful piece on Berkeley High student fashions in which my friends and I make a cameo, and that got published in the East Bay Express and in book form... but I digress.

Interesting new twist on an old scam... I'm a "lucky consolation prize winner"!?!? Oh, and "Afro booklet representative" is totally my new band name.

From: Ms. Sandra Rowland (Ca Za) Canada Lottery/Ontario 49 Soccer World Cup 2010 Promotional Draw 1550 Princess Street Kingston, ON, Canada, K7M 9E3 canadian.southafrilotpromo@yahoo.ca

Attention: Customer AFRSA680
Ref: EAAL/851OYHI/09

WINNING NOTIFICATION

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We wish to congratulate and inform you on the selection of your email coupon number which was selected among the 6 lucky consolation prize winners. Your email ID identified with coupon No. REF: EAAL/851OYHI/09 and was selected by our E-games Random Selection System (ERSS) All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Website through computer Ballot system and extracted from over 500, 000, 00 companies and personal e-mails addresses.

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In view of this, your US$2,000,000.00 (Two Million United States Dollars) would be released to you by an accredited commercial Bank in South Africa . Our African agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact our African Agent's office.

All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through computer draws system and extracted from over 100,000,00 companies and personal e -mails. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by unscrupulous elements. Please be warned!

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Email: travelallenagent@aim.com or canasa.canadiansouthafrilotpro@gmail.com

Congratulations! Once more from all members and staff of this program that has ensured that you won this competition.

Thank you for being part of our Promotional Lottery program.

Yours Sincerely,
Ms. Sandra Rowland

Attachment: Congratulations You've Won.doc [not a chance in the world I'm going to open it]

Report: More Parents Choose Not to Vaccinate, says the Chronicle.

"ARGGGHHHHHHH," growl I.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: parents who refuse to vaccinate their children because of vague fears, something they read 10 years ago, or some random website their friend told them about, piss me off to no end.

I remember reading an article in the local weekly in college. Some earthy-crunchy Santa Cruz mom was quoted as saying basically, "I didn't vaccinate my kids. Why should I? They're perfectly healthy!" Even at the young age of 19, I knew that didn't make sense. Of course they were healthy — the diseases that could make them sick had been eradicated by... mass vaccinations. Duh.

Anyway, when it comes to immunization, my mind hasn't changed much in 20 years. Sure, when our daughter was born, we did opt for a modified schedule which called for fewer shots at each doctor's visit, but more frequent visits. This was something our pediatrician was quite happy to do, and it kept us on schedule. Nothing wrong with that. She still had her shots.

But when somebody posted to a mailing list I read asking about skipping vaccinations, and she got several enthusiastic responses ("I want to continue on this healthy path!" etc.) I couldn't take it anymore.

Yep, somebody was going to jump in at some point and say something - well, I'll be the meanie.

I am all in favor of modified immunization schedules - in fact, we did one ourselves. (Figured that if our daughter had any bad reactions, it would be easier to identify the culprit.) But not do them at all? No way in hell. Sorry, unwilling to risk my kid's future health, and perhaps more to the point, I am unwilling to risk the health of people with compromised immune systems (including close family friends) and those out there who
truly are medically unable to be vaccinated.

The science just isn't with you, nor are the facts. The researcher behind the paper that started the whole MMR/autism scare? He falsified his data! (http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/Autism/12850) In the UK alone, measles rates skyrocked after that paper came out, because people stopped getting the shots for their kids. And measles is hardly a risk-free illness. And he was not the only anti-vac quack.

Yes, drug companies can be bad, yes, we don't have adequate regulation in this country thanks to the last 8 years. Let's do something about the regulation.

But you can't deny that people used to die all the time from childhood illnesses before vaccines were introduced. My cousin's wife walks with a limp thanks to a childhood case of polio. And she was one of the lucky ones. Don't want to see that again. But human memories are short, I guess.

I'm sure you all mean well. But then again, I am sure that the parents who refuse to seek any kind of medical treatment for their kids, trusting g*d to heal them, also mean well. Sometimes, meaning well just isn't enough.

If you wish to avoid hearing this kind of thing from me, please take the discussion offline and to a community which is all for this sort of thing. And good luck to you and your family.

Katherine the grouchy

So what kinds of well-reasoned responses did the anti-vac people have? Sure, I can understand them being annoyed at being asked to "take it offline." Freedom of speech and all. But it didn't end there.

Yes, let's definitely have an private discussion group. I am always so interested that even a discussion of this topic seems to provoke such heated discussions. I would never tell another parent how to make this choice themselves..I would just challenge all of you to do some research. Unfortunately, most parents accept unquestionally what is told to them and don't read up. I've done a lot of research and would love to share it if anyone is interested. Much of what is mentioned...such as what was said about the Wakefield study....is inaccurate. Wakefield lost his career, not because of any evidence but because of critics who simply said that he falsified his data. Apparently all you have to do these days is slander someone to call into question all their work. Anyway, I don't want to get on a high horse about this, but it upsets me when people repeat things they have read that are not factually correct. If you're interested, read The Sanctity of Human Blood by Tim O'Shea and then check out his references in a very carefully researched book that calls into question most of what we think we know in modern science.

I googled Tim O'Shea. He's a chiropractor. Huh.

Next:

I respect your decisions to immunize your children, and I wish you could respect other people's different decisions in this matter instead of taking this one-up tone, like you personally need to correct these free-thinking mamas.

I believe your accusations of putting the whole community at risk are incorrect, and your statements about not wanting your children to have contact with unvaccinated children just come across as discriminatory rather than rational.

Its also interesting that you're giving the initial e-mailer exactly what she said she had already had too much of, which is pressure to vaccinate.

Guilt-tripping, but not exactly evidence against my points.

This is obviously a topic that is near and dear to all of our hearts in having to make such important decisions in relation to our children's health. I think it's important to remember that there are many different opinions, theories, emotions, etc. and to keep an open mind and respect the many intelligent women in this group.

The main reason people vaccinate is for fear of endangering their child(ren) or society. Fear is incredibly powerful...expecially when fearing something for the sake of our most prized possessions!

There are so many articles with statistics on both sides (for and against vaccinations) that it can be a very difficult decision to make, again with fear in the background. To write someone off as irresponsible or endangering society is quite harsh, especially when there are a number of factors besides vaccinations that are attributable to the decline of so many diseases in our society (hygiene, nutrition, strong immune system.) In addition, there are serious concerns about the detrimental effects of vaccinations.

This forum has been such a great resource for me, and I hope it remains a safe place for people to discuss such important issues.

Gee, sorry I hurt your feelings. Again, guilt-tripping, but no links or facts.

This one was the most off-the-wall... kind of a temper tantrum!

such uninformed and stupid crab. If vaccination is so important - and your kids are vaccinated (which is a crime in my eyes) what do you fear? The whole community at risk.... it is a shame that people judge others and are blind to their own uninformed and stupid decisions.
I don't care what anybody thinks of me... all I know is that I am a holistic healer and my child will never get any chemicals in her body.
No western medicine, no vaccinations..... I know many parents that have chosen the same thing, but they don't speak up, because they are tired of the reaction of uninformed and stupid people.
So there it goes - kill me if you like

and

and you have a right to tell those people that you decided not to vaccinate your child and its ok.... If you only know half of the story - maybe you should shut up

and

what you do and how you do it - thats you, what I do and how I do it - that's me I don't care - I am a great mother and healer

and

stone me, kill me, On this forum - who do you think you are why is it ok to call people that don't vaccinate their children a risk to the community.... Yogamomas... so what, because I practice Yoga I have to take all this crab.... Whatever I am done with this "Forum" of .......

So on the pro-vaccination side we have evidence that the guy behind the study supposedly showing a link between vaccines and autism falsified his data, and we know that some illnesses are making a comeback thanks to lower vaccination rates, and if we've been paying attention the last century, we've noticed that kids aren't dying at the rates they used to thanks to the eradication of many illnesses through immunization. On the anti-vaccination side we have... gee lady, don't point out my decisions might hurt public health and get people sick, you're hurting my feelings!

One more thing. This winter is the first one where my child has been in preschool. When the rains started, she got sick. A Lot. Every week. And it has been a truly miserable experience — both for her, because she doesn't understand why she feels so lousy, and for us, her parents, because we're helpless to do anything to make her get better faster. And these are harmless bugs, for the most part — a cold here, a stomach bug there, a flu over here, even though we got her the FluMist vaccine. It's normal for a young child to get lots of illnesses when young.

Why would you want to add serious, entirely preventable illnesses to the mix? I just don't understand. It isn't, it can't be a rational choice. It's completely botched risk analysis.

And I just hope it doesn't kill anybody.