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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Terry Karney's LiveJournal:
| Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 | |
| 2:22 pm | This is what a stateman looks like Imagine a veteran, who opposed a war, advocated for the environment, wanted to impeach a president, and fought for his constituents. Imagine him being elected. Imagine him being in office for 16 years. Imagine he was a Republican. His name was Pete McCloskey and he's part of why I am going back to Calif., because (apart from the Pombos, the Cunninghams and the Feinstiens), I know a lot of Californians like him. Lead from the Front |
| 2:14 pm | This is some of what you missed The seminar was recorded. I have an invitation to speak in Oakland, so when I'm settled, there will be more of me speaking out. |
| 11:46 am | The world is, thankfully, not full of evil people But news like this is enough to make one wonder: ALBUQUERQUE (CN) - A clinic nurse first removed her intrauterine birth-control device without permission, the patient claims in a federal action, then told her that "having the IUD come out was a good thing," because "I personally do not like IUDs. I feel they are a type of abortion. I don't know how you feel about abortion, but I am against them." Yeah... She feels they are a type of abortion. She, personally, doesn't like IUD's, and it coming out, "accidentally" is a good thing. Why do I mock the idea of accident? "Defendant Olona stated, 'Everyone in the office always laughs and tells me I pull these out on purpose because I am against them, but it's not true, they accidentally come out when I tug.' "Everyone in the office always laughs." Makes me wonder how many of these "accidents" she has. This is, apart from the arrogance of it, a pretty big deal. IUDs can be difficult to get. When Maia was trying to get one, Kaiser refused. Mirena, which advertises, includes, "have a had a child" in it's list of factors when considering getting one. Because of the Dalkon Shield the public perception of them is less than stellar. Other women I know, who haven't had kids, had to fight to get an IUD. Which means getting it replaced, after one of these, "accidents" is not trivial. The nurse who removed it... refused to replace it. "Too bad, so sad." They can be painful to have inserted (esp. if one has not had a child). The insertion ranges from, "felt like an intense PAP" to knock you on your ass, and leave you in bed with horrific cramps for three days. I've had a couple of partners who used them. Know several more women who got them. By all accounts, it takes more than a "tug" to get them out. One of my partners had to get the strings trimmed. I went in with her, and her GYN was talking about it, manipulating them, so she could get the forceps on them, and the scissors in to snip. Forceps, compared to, "they accidentally come out when I tug". One wonders why she is tugging in the first place. Short story, sounds like a revocation of license offense to me. Long story... This sort of thing is going to continue. The fight for choice isn't about Roe v Wade, not really. It's about Griswold v Connecticutt The "conscience objections" the pharmacists who make enquiries about marital status when filling prescriptions for birth control, the emergency room doctors who won't prescribe EC if someone wasn't raped... All of that is about the right to privacy. It's about controlling people (esp. women). It's about freedom. |
| 11:02 am | This ought to be interesting Bertie "It ain't torture if they don't die" Gonzales has finally landed a job. Texas Tech has hired him, ...as of Aug. 1, Gonzales will join the Texas Tech University System to assist both Texas Tech University and Angelo State University (in San Angelo) with recruiting and retaining first generation and under-represented students. " Because as a member of the Bush Aministration he has so much experience with supporting that sort of thing. But, for those who think he ought to work to his strengths, never fear, he also will teach a junior-level seminar course, “Contemporary Issues in the Executive Branch” in the Department of Political Science at Texas Tech. As a visiting professor Gonzales will guest lecture to classes across the campus. Because we know he has an encyclopedic understanding of it, able to recall the least details of what went on during his tenure as a legal counsel and then Attorney General. |
| Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 | |
| 4:12 pm | Sarah Palin Insomuch as I am not personally acquainnted with her, I don't like her. I don't like her in the same ways I don't like Rudi Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Trent Lott, etc (Dick Cheney and George Bush get a different level of dislike, with them it's personal). Which is to say, her policy positions, and public statments on things are strange to the point of incoherence. She preaches hate and practices, "IOKIYAR". All of which are bad, some of which are vile. But that doesn't justify the things being said about her becuse it's a her. Her being a woman isn't material. David Letterman was out of line. People who said it was funny, were out of line. Stuff like this: Rachel Sklar: Wow. Sarah Palin. Was it something that Todd Purdum uncovered but didn’t publish? Was it those really tight spandex pants in Runner’s World? John MacNamara Because everything I'm now going to write about you in this public forum is a total lie: Ready? ...You should wear longer skirts because your legs are an embarrassment. And in the future, the words "quitter," "diva," "crybaby," "psycho," and "Little Miss Pouty Pants" will never be used against you. I hate your hair, especially when it's kind of down and loose and... y'know. There were a lot other gibes in there, which were legit, but those... no. They weren't about her actual behavior, they were about her being female. It seeps into even otherwise straight treatments. Andy Ostroy slips this little corker into his piece. The most famous MILF in America, What? Would he drop, "Obama, the most famous Young Buck in America?" I hope not. Yeah, that's over the top. So is reducing a female public figure to a fantasy object for wankers. That she's a reactionary republican is no reason to abandon treating a woman on her merits, not her plumbing. We can do better than that. We should do better than that. To do otherwise is to be hypocrites. |
| 3:25 pm | Cool beans I'd be swooning too. Some of the best times I had in High School were the learning, and then running, of Linotype. |
| 1:22 pm | Medical stuff Michael Jackson's death has actually had a direct effect on my life. One of the more reasonable explanations for his death is the possibility he had a mild form of Lupus, and; because the symptoms were mild was less than consistent when it came to taking his meds. Result, secondary artheriosclerosis. Lupus, for those who don't know, is an auto-immune disorder, with inflammatory processes. Guess what Reiter's Syndrom is? It's been known for people with Reiter's to have anomalous heart attacks. I have it. I have minor little aches and pains which I know are related. On the other hand it doesn't seem so bad I need to be popping the Indomethicin all the time. Except, maybe I do. Which sucks. One, they upset my stomach. Didn't used to, but lately... taking my meds is like having a hangover. Not fun. About the time it fades away, I get to take some more. Even with the Omepremazole, it sucks. I'm hoping that (as I get back to a routine usage) it will fade. If it doesn't, I'll be bringing it up at the VA when I start seeing my new rheumatologist. |
| 10:11 am | Hat in hand. This has been a year that didn't go as it was planned. The summer even less so. I was planning to move to SLO, in the middle of August. At this point I am moving to Aptos, near Santa Cruz. I've got a place to go, but right now I'm, effectively, broke. In part because of the economy here being more depressed now than when I got here, and in part, I suspect, because I had to be gone for the seminar. So I am a little short of money. To make the jump, at the level of, doable; but nervous, I need about $700 more than I have now. To be "comfortable" I need about $1,700 (my potential landlords are willing to be flexible on paying "last", but I'd like to have the cushion of paying that, a second month's rent, and some food money. I am pretty sure I can get a job adequate to the costs I'll have (about 800 a month, net, will have me poor, but secure; until the GI Bill comes into play). To be doing it, "easy". I need about $3,500, because that will let me get a bike, and so have independent transport. So, if you can afford to buy a print... this is the time. If you'd like to help, and can't afford to buy a print, I have a "donate" button for Paypal. Just to explain, CG is the catalyst. No denying that the idea of two LDRs, one a "mere" 250 miles, and the other some 2,500 is just a bit much. This changes one of them to 50 miles. There are, however, other advantages.. The VA hospital in Palo Alto. A bettter economy for finding a job. The cost of living is about the same. A better, general market for selling photographs. More of my friends in the area. I'd just tough it out, manage to find a job (even, if needs be, greeter at Wal-mart; evil though I think them to be), and move when I have the money, but the place I have a line on is realy good. Nice people, affordable, close to a school, a great Aikido Dojo, close, but not too close to CG, etc. So, if you are so inclined, I can't say how grateful I'd be for what you can spare. |
| Saturday, July 4th, 2009 | |
| 11:43 pm | Fireworks I like them. I like setting them off more than watching them. I prefer watching them to just hearing them (that can be unpleasant actually). Tonight we (my father, sister, a friend of hers) went to watch the show on the river. It was nice. It was a year ago that CG and I first met. It was at a party, and there were fireworks. Tonight I had the next best thing to her being here (well, no, second best. I would, perforce have preferred to have ![[info - personal]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small} commodorified present, if CG couldn't be here, and vice versa).I had CG singing on my iPod while I watched. The last bits of the show I was listenig to Fernando, while the mist of the river drifted like smoke over the hillside I was sitting on, and the crescendo of lights was being blanketed by the powder of the bursting charges. Not as much fun as loading the tubes, and running the wire, but I didn't have to strike the frames either. On balance.. a pretty good evening. |
| 7:22 pm | Some poesy A clumsy word, a thoughtless phrase and he's waiting for the axe to fall. it probably won't rise to that but the mind is a muddy place and the heart is in hopless thrall The lover is a foolish slave: living by looks and dying by glances, with so much at stake, and so much to lose it amazing that anyone chances So he sits by the phone, and starts at the post Looking for the reprieve and dreading the warrant: waiting for the axe to fall |
| 4:02 am | Housekeeping My post about my new girlfriend was, for those who noticed, a bit vague on some details. Not least, I didn't mention her name. I'm not going to. The poly aspects of her life are not out to her family, and so I am not going to risk one of them finding out about it from me. I could make a filter, and use her name behind it, but that's not fair to those who might want to comment, and it's poor security for her. It would put a burden of keeping track of the filtering of my posts before they made reference. I've done the dance of circumspection before. Marna and I were involved before Maia and I broke up, but the poly aspects of my life were less known then, and I didn't want people to think my involvement with Marna was part of the breakup (it wasn't). So... what can be in the open, is in the open, and what can't be, isn't. The players in my romantic life are Marna/ commodorified (occasionally referred to as, "my Canadian Girlfriend), and CG (which is a shorthand for, "CrushGirl) which was the way Marna teased me about her when I started talking about her; right after we met, a year ago Friday) is the reason for my understated squee of yesterday.If I seem to be somewhat secretive on things, that's the reason why. |
| Friday, July 3rd, 2009 | |
| 7:06 pm | Oi... Sarah Palin has resigned. One wonders why. It would be foolish for me, who has no contacts in the circles of Alaskan politics to speculate on specifics, but I can't help but think something is going to break which is would be worse if she were still in office. That's the first part. The second... I never thought she was brilliant. Clever, cunning and perhaps gifted at the arts of politicking. That's one thing. But real smarts... not so much. Not stupid but not brilliant. I think, looking at her resignation speech, I may have to reconsider. This wasn't a silly gaffe, off the cuff (like Dan Quayle on "potatoe"), this was something she had time to craft. Every one – all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We’ve won! But it hasn't been cheap - the State has wasted THOUSANDS of hours of YOUR time and shelled out some two million of YOUR dollars to respond to “opposition research” – that’s money NOT going to fund teachers or troopers – or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the “politics of personal destruction” … Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn’t cost them a dime so they’re not going to stop draining public resources – spending other peoples’ money in their game. It’s pretty insane – my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with THIS instead of progressing our state now. I know I promised no more “politics as usual,” but THIS isn’t what anyone had in mind for ALASKA. If I have learned one thing: LIFE is about choices! And one chooses how to react to circumstances. You can choose to engage in things that tear down, or build up. I choose to work very hard on a path for fruitfulness and productivity. I choose NOT to tear down and waste precious time; but to build UP this state and our country, and her industrious, generous, patriotic, free people! Life is too short to compromise time and resources... it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: "Sit down and shut up", but that's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out. And a problem in our country today is apathy. It would be apathetic to just hunker down and “go with the flow”. Nah, only dead fish "go with the flow". No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time... to BUILD UP. What? This is important? This use of CAPS FOR EMPHASIS is what she chooses to present to the world? This air of, "how could they do this to me?" is what she wants to be in her last official statement? If this was some attempt to move out of the pressure cooker of active politics, to line up for a run in 2012.... well she doesn't have even the political chops I thought she did. |
| 4:40 pm | Time, flowing like a river A biography of one of the greatest men this country has ever produced: Time wastes too fast: every letter / I trace tells me with what rapidity life follows my pen. The days and hours / of it are flying over our heads like clouds of a windy day never to return... He died, 185 years ago tomorrow. Someday, may we see his like again. |
| Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 | |
| 1:47 am | The Conference My flight into SF was easy. Got off at SFO, took the tram to the BART, BART to CalTrain, CalTrain to Palo Alto. I was silly drunk with being in Calif. It was good to be home. The hills were rounded, and there were degrees of brown, oaks and eucalyptus (the smell of Gum Trees is homely to me, as the smell of humus is to those who live in the mid-west). I hauled myself to Caffe del Doge, ordered a cappuccino and waited to be picked up. I was being given the use of a car for Friday and Saturday, that I might not be dependent on others/cause them to be obliged to carry me. I thought this eminently kind of the organizers. So I was collected and in the course of delivering Diana to her home, was taken on a side trip, and given a gift card to REI. I had been asked if there was anything they could do to show their appreciation, and my first thought was, no. I then recalled my day to day hat had disappeared a few months ago, and said “why yes, now that I come to think of it, there is a hat I wouldn’t mind.” Someone had been sent to find it, but the comment was, “they have a lot of hats”, and so I was dispatched to get my own. I did, and a membership to REI (since Maia and I had shared one). Friday I went to a piece of the serial line of parks known as “Bayfront”. This was the same one I went to last year, when I was visiting Maia. The water wasn’t as red, but there were more birds. I also used the time to work some more on my general ideas for the conference opener. It went, I think, well. Friday night was a panel. Each of us had about 10 minutes to talk, and then we did Q&A. I was first out of the box. I did not have a script, I did not have notes. I took the lapel mike and stood up. I explained how it was I came to be there. The arc of my journey from civilian, to interrogator to someone who spends too much of his time speaking out against torture. My best line might have been, “If you had told me, eight years ago, I’d be speaking at conference, in front of a church group, on the Friday and Saturday of Pride Weekend in San Francisco, I’d have laughed in your face.” I was happy to know there were a few people who had come to see me. One of them from my Bn. A couple from Lj. The other speakers were good. Ray McGovern was pretty good. No, he was better than pretty good. He had props (printouts of the torture memos). He knew dates, and places. He was a lot like George Carlin; with less swearing. Jean-Maria Arrigo, the woman who asked me to come to the conference was also very good. She’s a psychologist, and won’t come to a conference like this unless she has a person like me, who was in the military, there to make sure the subject isn’t gone into without someone there to prevent it going pear-shaped from ignorance. She spoke of other interrogators she knew, and the price they had paid to speak out. The last speaker (whom, I must confess I forget the name of Ben something) is a minister, and he had his presentation scripted. It was good and moving, and something like a sermon. After the Q&A (which was, blissfully, shy of most of the worst aspects of the genre; there was only one person who got up to rant, and only a few questions which were too loosely put together to be certain of subject), we broke. I went to dinner with Matt and Cristina. I was talking to commodorified as I headed for the diner, remembering the diner we ate poutine at in February. I’d said to go ahead and order an appetizer. Steak fries (i.e. chips) with parmesan and truffle oil may not be poutine, but it was damned fine.Drove to my hosts in Mountain View. Got some sleep. In the morning I wasn’t up for going straight in, so I had a cup of coffee and chatted with voidampersand (who was a splendid host. The hospitality I was shown was top-notch. Given the eccentricities of my schedule things were perfect; from my being late to arrive (because I’d forgotten to write the address out of my e-mail) to my wandering in late from going into SF on Sunday, I was never made to feel I was the least imposition. I could not have done half so well without the quiet support that lent me).Drove to Palo Alto again, got to the church and spoke for an hour. The first forty minutes were, again, free form. Where the first night had been, “how did I get here (letting the days go by... )?", the morning was, “torture”. I gave them a handout with excerpts from the Palo Alto Online article. I stunned them with my hand hitting the table (next time, I’ll be smart, like Ray McGovern, and bring props). I quoted treaties. I gave them snippets of truth we teach to students. I was confident, and controlled, and, at times quietly arrogant in my assurance of my ability to do my job; of being able to get the information without torture. I took questions. At which point we broke for lunch. While I was standing with my pasta salad, a woman came up and told me her husband has sent her the link to the Palo Alto Online article, and she was amazed at how brave I was (because I participated), because comments terrified her. I, being still a bit pumped up from the platform time, was, perhaps, a tad dismissive. I smiled, and told her that honestly, the comments in the Palo Alto Online were pretty mild. Which they were. The people who were advocating torture were outnumbered; sadly that’s not usually the case in newspaper comment sections. We had some breakout rooms after lunch and I had about ten people come in to ask me questions, and I answered them. When the day was done I went to dinner with Jean-Maria and her husband, and we talked about the oddities of this sort of thing. I’m the first non-Regular Army interrogator she’s had to be present. She says it’s different. How I address the issues; the forcefulness of my opinions is not the same. I pointed out that even when I was in, I was; by and large, free of the sort of restraints and repercussions they faced. She pointed out they all joined the army right out of high school, and it was all they’d ever really known as adults. I have an invitation to come up and speak to another group when I get back to California. I’m going to take it. Given the chance, to be honest, I’d be willing to go just about anywhere to speak on this. It matters. Torture is a moral issue. If not me, who? If not now, when? |
| Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 | |
| 11:56 pm | A small bit of begging What with the conference (and the adventures of the trip home), money is tight. I've worked out a way to get prints made, and shipped, from Canada. There's a printer there I've used, who's very good. There is a framer there, who is also very good. There are pre-fabbed frames which can be used, or the framer can do them to suit. I have a reliable agent in Canada to oversee the work, so it will have hands-on care, and quality control from beginning to end. Anything at Terrence Karney Photography should be available (I think I have all the parent files wth me; thought it's possible I'll have to dig them out from the "negatives"). Prices are dependant on sizes, but the they start at about $200 (US) for a mounted print, framed at 12"x16". Shipping adds a bit more (as I recall it's about $30). The price quoted is for a pre-made frame. Custom will be higher. I've also found a canvas printer. They have three styles; unstretched (with a 2 1/4" border, for stretching). Stretched, ready to frame, and "gallery" (which I think of as, "bleed", but there you go). The Gallery Mounted prints are on a deeper bar set, and the image goes all the way back to the wall. Prices for them start at $50 US for an unstretched 8x10, to $550 US, for a Gallery Mounted 36x48. More practically speaking a 16x24 (poster sized) would be $120/200/250(unstreched/ready to frame/Gallery Mount). Shipping to the continental US is $15. Nott all of my images are standard sizes, so prices will vary some. If you want it on canvas, you can have it, but I'll let you know if I think something won't look good that way, becaus some images aren't really suited to that medium. |
| 11:33 pm | Personal stuff Apart from the seminar, I went to the Bay in the hope of meeting some people, and seeing some others. Mostly, I didn't get to do that. I did have a nice time meeting ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} tiger_spot and Brooks Moses. Other people I thought I was going to see, I didn't get to.Next time. I did... to my great amazement, have something else happen. I've had a crush on somone for a while. She and I met at a party, and passed comments here, and some other places. Critiqued each other's photos on Facebook, had dinner (and failed to have dinner), etc. All the usual things of a vaguely distant not quite romance; not quite not romance. What with the sturm und drang of my life the past nine months (or a year), I'm not surprised she got mixed messages from me. I wasn't really getting any strong sense of interest from her. I was wrong. Clueless and obtuse; or something. Friday she was at the seminar (and one of the things I was hoping was she'd be at one of the events). There were some sparks. There were some more sparks on Saturday. We went to breakfast on Sunday. She took me to the airport, and dropped me off at the hotel when my flight didn't work out, so that I'd not have problems making the airport in the morning. We are, in short, somewhat besotted. Life could be a lot worse. |
| 8:47 pm | Back to Tenn. Oi.... Such a trip home. Minor delays caused me to be late to the airport. This wouldn't have been a big deal, if the check-in kiosk, had been built the way I expected it to be, but it wasn't. While I was fishing for my passport (because it didn't recognise my bankcard), the kiosk closed. So I got in line, and by the time I got to the counter (another couple of minutes) it was too late to check my bag. No problem, the bag could be sent to me; my companion was willing to send it along. By the time this was figured out, the counter-staff decided there was no time for me to get to the gate, and so I was told to come back in the morning; stand-by back to Tenn, as I was on a red-eye and there was nothing else going out that evening. Grabbed some In-n-Out, and a room and the shuttle to the airport the next morning. Two hours later I was at the head of the line, where I was asked if the crew the night before had continued my ticket. Seems the, repeated, assurances that all I needed to do was come back, weren't quite the case. Luckily my ticket hadn't been cancelled and I was duly listed as a standby to Dulles, and then to Knoxville. I get to the plane, and the waitlist (which I was 3rd on) isn't moving. As the time draws near it seems the flight from Sydney has been a bit delayed, and clearing customs hung up enough people that all of us got on the plane. Dulles. Dulles is a strange airport. I get to the commuter terminal and it's packed. There are three agents, and everything is being done at the gate. The flight to Albany is overbooked, and when I go to let them know I'm here, I get told to come back 30 minutes before my flight. It turns out that between my walking from the counter to the gate, the fight was moved from 9:54 (24 minutes from then) to 11:25. By 11:00 all the flights pending, save mine, are out. The plane is going to be no problem to get on. Except... I'm not on the stand-by list. I am, in fact, no where to be found. They call the help-desk and the help desk asks how I got there; because I'm not supposed to be at Dulles. I produce my baggage claim. They are confused, and as helpful as they can be. They call for a manager, and poke about the guts of the system. At that point I have no ticket. To get home I'll have to buy a ticket. I confess... I started to get upset. It was late, I'd been travelling for about 24 hours. I took a breath, and apologised. The baggage guy had come in and he laughed. If that was my idea of "losing my cool" I was just fine with them (the guy who looked like he was going to blow a gasket because the flight to Dayton wasn't boarding as quickly he wanted). The manager showed up, and asked confusing questions. Then the baggage guy asks about Kuwait. The manager does too. Somehow the second leg of my flight was coded to Kuwait, and I am, even then, missing my plane. For values of missing my plane which don't involve any interest in catching it. They cut me a ticket (no standby), I call a friend in DC, and spend the night at her place, get to the airport... where it takes more than an hour to clear security (of all the airports I've been in, I think Dulles does the worst at layout for TSA, but with a couple of hours planned I made the flight, and back to Tenn. My bag was waiting for me and so I am back. Work to do, but right now I'm collecting myself and recovering from a 40+ hour saga of planes and automobiles (with a small dash of trains while in SF). |
| Thursday, June 25th, 2009 | |
| 11:13 pm | Informations Reply (comments screened), if you want to give me/get from me, contact info. |
| 11:10 pm | Meeting OK.... The idea of having someone suggest something has been less than effective. Here is my present plan: I will be available in the evenings, after the conference. Sunday I will be in SF: I am meeting someone for lunch in the near vicinity of the 24th St. BART station. I am open to suggestions. I intend, after lunch, to wander about the city, amusing myself, and taking pictures. If you want to meet me, feel free to comment. I will open another post, and screen comments, should you wish to share contact information. |
| 8:30 pm | Lay of the Last Minstrel Canto Sixth I Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land! Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd, As home his footsteps he hath turn'd, From wandering on a foreign strand! If such there breathe, go, mark him well; For him no Minstrel raptures swell; High though his titles, proud his name, Boundless his wealth as wish can claim; Despite those titles, power, and pelf, The wretch, concentred all in self, Living, shall forfeit fair renown, And, doubly dying, shall go down To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, Unwept, unhonor'd, and unsung. II O California! stern and wild, Meet nurse for a poetic child! Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, Land of the mountain and the flood, Land of my sires! what mortal hand Can e'er untie the filial band, That knits me to thy rugged strand!... Which is to say, I am, for the next few days, home again. The air smells right, the hills look right, the mix of people is as it should be. The quality of light is proper, and I feel as if I fit. Tomorrow the conference, today the restoration of the soul. |
