Valerion's Page

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

It seems that the good people in Bellevue have gotten upset because Knotty Bodies, a bikini barista stand, has been opened. And it has been opened not too far from a water park for children! *gasp!* Oh noes, the childrens might see some woman wearing a bikini! The horror! (Never mind the fact that the owner of the stand ensured there was no back window- the side of the stand facing the park.)

I mean seriously- children have already seen women in bikinis- at the pool, at the beach, beer commercials on tv, MTV (which is a helluva lot worse than just seeing scantily clad women). And said tots are savvy enough to find this stuff (and more!) on teh intarwebs if they are so inclined. Please, people, stop yammering about this stuff and educate your children already. Skin is skin!

But in the meantime what should really get people upset seems to be just barely registering a blip on the radar, maybe because it is in the name of "SECURITY" (You will respect mah ahthoritay!). And that is the announced installation of five (5!) whole body imagers at SEATAC airport. These are the imagers that allow the TSA to conduct a digital strip search of whomever is in the imager. Yup, they can see your entire body, sans clothing, in glorious digital black and white (with your face conveniently blurred for your privacy!).

So now we get to be treated even more like criminals before boarding the airplane to go somewhere, anywhere, other than here. "Excuse me sir/ma'am? But before you can proceed to the terminal we need you to step into this box over here so we can ogle your Knotty Body. Don't worry, it is in the name of security. We have blurred your face and there is no way these images can be recorded and/or downloaded to the internet. Trust us."

Gee, if you really want to see me naked I can just strip down for you right here. Lets save all the hassle of me going through the box, you can see it all right here- and trust me, it ain't Memorex!

Of course most people probably aren't going to be this willing to have their bodies exposed, even though the TSA claims that most people prefer this method to being patted down (yet another indignity having to be tolerated in the name of security). Hmmmm... you can humiliate me by fondling my body or you can put me in a box that shoots x-rays at me and exposes my entire body to whomever is behind the curtain? (Maybe I should get paid for the peepshow!)

And let's not forget the cultural/religious implications here as well. How many different cultures/religions have some sort of taboo on seeing their body in anything less than full clothing. (Specifically thinking of Muslims here, but they are the terrorist enemy so who cares what they think, right?) How many non-English speakers are not going to understand? And what about children? Please tell me that some child pornographer isn't sitting behind the screen to see my childrens' bits.

Come to think of it, I will more than likely protest, and rather loudly, at the suggestion that my children be scanned. I mean, seriously, where does this all end?

In the name of security we will do a strip search on you- against you will. Just think of all the terrorists we can stop with this neat-o technology! And we are constantly adding more cameras to your cities' streets with facial recognition software. We know where you go and what you do. What you buy and who you screw.

Welcome to the new world order where baristas cannot show a little skin but we can peer at you naked against your will. Welcome to the world of Big Brother.

Links:

Bellevue Bikini Baristas:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/bellevueblog/2010339374_bikinibaristasstirringthingsupincrossroads.html

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/412631_baristas25.html

Whole Body Imagers:

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/412606_naked24.html

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=179598280013

http://privacycoalition.org/stopwholebodyimaging/

http://epic.org/privacy/airtravel/backscatter/ (This one includes locations of these machines)

http://www.tsa.gov/approach/tech/imaging_technology.shtm (as does this one)

The good folks from Penguin swung by today and replaced some of our windows. Yaay for new windows and being forced into clearing some counter space. (Now the hard part- keeping it clear.)

Email the word "meep" to the Danvers High Principal. He has apparently banned the word from being used on campus because he is afraid that students would use it to disrupt classes. New York Attorney Theodora Michaels sent an email to the principal with the subject line of "meep" and a body of a single word of "meep." The vice principal responded by stating that her email had been forwarded to the police.

The principal's email address can be found in the body of the linked article.

(And just for the record, I did!)

that photopagan lives in Everett I would swear he was posting comments to the Seattle Times.

From one Ray S. concerning Ghadaffi hiring a bunch of models and then attempting to convert the to Islam, You can rent 200 models? Wow I got to try that...

Do you want to quit? Do you want to be part of a clinical trial of a new smoking cessation product? Here is your chance.

There is a new nicotine vaccine that is in clinical trials now that appears to be effective from earlier trials. The company needs volunteers to test that meet the following criteria:

Eligibility



Please feel free to cross post this elsewhere. Thanks.

We made it back safe and sound last night and got some pretty decent sleep (yaay for the sleep!)

The weekend went very well.  Arrived early Friday for Brenda to set up registration- which by all accounts went smoothly.  The first of the offerings to the Fey and the beginning of what I will simply refer to as the Festival of the Walking Wounded.  More than a couple of people (myself included) slipped and twisted some part of their body.

Saturday- Despite offerings to the Fey asking for nice weather we became a bit concerned at one point when not only did it start raining, but there was the attendant thunder and lightning followed by hail and (according to at least one person) snow(!).  I threatened (as I am certain many others did as well) to withhold the rest of my offering should this crap continue.  Needless to say, by the time we were ready to kick off the ritual things had cleared up quite nicely and the evening was incredibly beautiful.

Main Event!  By the time we were actually invoked I was still having pre-performance jitters up to and including the fear of dropping a line or forgetting some other equally important bit.  I stood by the fire and waited for the masses to come from the dining hall so I could  delivered my purification speech at the fire.  (As close to a shrine scene as I have ever gotten and I am very pleased that it went well.)  The call to Hecate was beautifully performed by the attendees (although I admit to shuddering at one point as someone said, in a voice that sounded just a bit angry, "Hecate, we call you out!"  This immediately brought forth images of Hecate coming out ready to fight and since 1_wolfsong was Hecate I could actually see her coming out ready to fight!) The veil was parted and the clans went to their paths. 

There was some idle time at the fire- though not mis-spent as the prison ministry had offerings to the dead from those who are unable to attend because of where they reside. 

The clans started to return and one of the moments that I was dreading arrived- keep the people entertained whilst waiting for all to return from the other side of the veil. So I started with a story (and if you heard the story, it was a true story- the sailor was me!) and asked if anyone else had something to share.  Crom Dubh (one of our godforms) stepped forward and told a lovely creation myth, libraryraven and others shared songs from the venerable SJ Tucker,and photopagan told a tale of getting arrested by Canadian border guards (ask him, not me!).

We honored and released the dead.  And was it just me, but did it seem as though practically everyone in attendance had someone to release this year? Or was it because I had a different perspective of things this year?

The godforms departed and, we the Druids, closed the veil. Big sigh of relief- let's go devoke. This is the first time I have ever had problems coming back into my appropriate state of mind- I think primarily because I had to keep "one foot in this realm and one foot in the other" while the ritual was being performed and the sheer number of people remembering their beloved dead built a lot of energy that I was unaware of as being there.  I found myself crying as I devoked and this huge lump of unresolved something in my chest.  After an assist from leeotch13 and being ordered by TJ to get some food- which helped immensely- I was feeling much better.

Beads and cords proceeded after dinner and I got my five year bead.  Wow!  I have been with the ATC this long?!?  Sigh.... How quickly time passes.

Sunday- Packed our shit, offered the last of my gift to the Fey for the lovely ritual weather, closing circle and GTFO right after Brenda handed back the work duty deposits.  Ok, so not quite..... There was one young lady still standing around after everyone else had left.  Her husband was supposed to be coming to pick her up, but he was nowhere to be seen.  So Brenda and I got her over to the Ranger's house and she called hubby and arranged to meet him in Anacortes.  We got her to the ferry safe and sound and made sure that she was picked up before we headed home ourselves.


Thank you one all with whom I worked this weekend- cast or attendee.  You guys all make this so worth the time and effort.

And now to find my monologue for SMF auditions.  (Already?  eep!)

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/09/19/vo.fox.steals.golfballs.kusa

I am uploading pictures from my camera to my computer and realized that I have taken right around 2000 pics!  Between the Kitten Sundae concert and then September Crown I completely filled my 8GB card and about 1/2 of my 4GB card.

The Seattle School Board is nuts!!!! They want my daughter to walk- WALK!- 2.5 miles from our home to school. In the dark. In the rain. With a backpack full of school supplies. Over a route that runs along roads that might or might not have side...walks and lighting. What kinds of drugs are these people taking? I really will not be voting for any of the existing school board members. srsly.  And this would be a walk of at least an hour in ideal conditions.  One way.   grrrrr........

Pepsi anyone?

Sadly it is true.  Disney has acquired Marvel Comics.

I think I am now frightened of going to Disney theme parks.  (And now that I think about it- isn't there already a theme park that has Marvel characters running around?)

Photography is Not a Crime.

I have been reading this lately and is quite well done.

Time has created a list of the Most Memorable Robots in Cinema.  Quite good, actually.

Chris Brown to serve five years probation + 1400 hours of 'labor-oriented service."

I am a fan of neither Chris Brown nor Rhianna, but this sentence for domestic violence absolutely sucks.  This jerk deserves to be spending time in jail + the labor + the courses about domestic violence and anger management.  I think this sentence sends a very bad message to a lot of people- beat your girlfriend and get a slap on the wrist- especially if you are rich.  Not only that, but the young (mostly black) people that follow Chris Brown are going to expect the same kind of leniency if they get caught up in the same situation.  sigh.... what a fucked up Justice system.

And speaking of Justice....

I am totally unsure as to how to take this next article: Michigan courts can order the removal of religious garments.

Essentially the ruling stemmed from a case where a Muslim woman refused to unveil her face so a judge could watch her facial expressions as she testified about a car she had rented getting broken into and the rental company charging her a couple of thousand dollars in repairs.  She told the judge that she would remove her niqab- a facial veil that leaves only the eyes visible- in the presence of a female judge.  He told her that  a female judge was not available and that if she did not comply with the request he would dismiss the case.  You can probably guess what happened.

On the one hand I can see instating a rule that simply says that all persons testifying in a court of law need to have their face visible so that the judge (in particular)  and jury can watch facial expressions and demeanor.  The face is a world of communication and it is sometimes difficult to determine what a person is saying based upon just their vocal expressions.

On the other hand by enacting a broad rule that allows for the removal of "religious garments" there is the possibility that a pious Christian judge could order the removal of any religious garb that he deems offensive.  And that would not be a good way to conduct legal business based upon religious discrimination.  again sigh.....

While browsing throught the news section of snopes.com I came across two articles of interest:

Maserati traded as a clunker

and

Plant eats rats 


(I am still having a hard time envisioning a Venus fly trap big enough to consume a rat, but still....)

This is amazing- an exchange between Senator Barney Frank and someone who asked why he supported Obama's Nazi policy.