I love Beavers

CNN "If you're a property owner vexed by beavers, you'll probably have to pay for the remedy yourself provided you get the proper permits. Licensed commercial trappers charge several hundred dollars per animal, and a large pond can support dozens of them. Most communities frown on tearing up dams, dynamiting lodges or stocking beaver ponds with hungry alligators (a ploy tried in Mississippi without success in the late 1970s)."


I think we should get some beavers in New Brunswick.

I was hoping to wake to 10 inches of snow. Instead, everything was wet. Today is like this post: Blah.

On Returning to High School Past

Returning to my former high school now no longer holds any interest for me. Erik and I went back once over winter break freshman year; this was mostly because we still had friends there at the time. I lost an entire afternoon during my winter break and decided that would be the last time to return to Lakeland as an alumni. [returning as a member of angry mob to burn it down has not been entirely exorsiced from my thoughts]

People in high school are always wankers; in some cases, time and experience will change the wankers into decent people. But what happens when you have matured and the wankers have not? These interactions can of course be observed at the local bar the wednesday before Thanksgiving. I avoid the local bar as much as possible. People are however, still more likely to marry someone they knew in high school then any other person they meet ala Sex in the City.

As a side note, I recently came across "Mind & Spirit", the literary magazine of my middle school. What wankers we were then.

Polyester Pants

Do old men wear polyester pants simply because these are the last pants they bought in their youth, circa 1975? Or will we too when we are elderly, wear polyester pants? For me, when I am old, I think sweat pants will be much more comfortable, and no one expects old men to be dressed well anyway.

Boston Tea Party

Tonight I was hoping to enjoy fresh baked atlantic cod from Boston Market. I sampled the delicious fish last Friday and felt that today would be another perfect dinner. Unfortunately, the manager had other plans.

Apparently, the Atlantic Cod is a "special" and absolutely must come served with New potatoes and String beans. I instead wanted macaroni with cheese and creamed spinach. The reasons are obvious; boston market macaroni with cheese is amazingly cheesy and creamed spinach is a pretend healthy alternative to mashed potatoes. On the other hand, boston market new potatoes are slimey, dripping in nasty oil. The string beans are not fresh, and often hard or soggy, but never crisp. (And this evening, the green beans were cold; another patron asked the manager to reheat her green beans since they had already gone cold).

So in either case, I order the Atlantic Cod with Macaronia and Spinach. The manager says I can't have that since the speacial comes with new potatoes and green beans. I ask if I can get the fish without any sides and order my two small indivual sides-- this is apparently an impossibilty. When I ask to substitute the macaroni and spinach for the new patotoes and green beans, this too seems equally impossible. I leave and eat at McDonalds.

I'm not sure what offends me more: I am a reguarly customer who spends 15 - 30 dollars a week at this particular boston market or the fact that McDonalds seems more willing to compromise about the food selection than the pricier alternative (ask for no pickles, thats what you get. Don't want fries with that? No problem!)

Anyway, I am presently so incensed that I've decided to write a letter to Boston Market Corporate.

Wow.

Hollywood Rethinking Faith Films After 'Passion': "In his pitch to the networks, he said, he cited polls in which 78 percent of Americans said they believed that the events of Revelation would occur and 39 percent said they believed that those events would happen in their lifetime."

Assuming these statistics are at least close to accurate, I think I finally understand why the Chinese are closing the science gap.

Turnpike Troubles

Leaving the house at a reasonable hour (reasonable being of course, subjective; it is reasonable only in the sense that it is reasonable to get me to work on time, but completely unreasonable when considering the greater impact of waing up at the ungodly aweful hour of 730am) I was cruising up the turnpike at 80 mph.

Despite this, I was of course, stuck in the middle of traffic on the western spur making me arrive in Lyndhurst at 855am. It would take me another ten minutes to get coffee, making me late for the office. I decided to risk it and get my hazelnut coffee.

In the parking lot of the seven-eleven, the parking spaces were all full; Then a van pulls out and eager with anticipation of getting my hazelnut coffee, put my blinker on indicating I want the parking spot.

The van instead put itself into reverse and started coming towards my little civic; I thought for sure he was going to hit when after holding on the horn he failed to stop. He seemed confused that anyone might actually be behind his van in a crowded parking lot.

While he didn't hit me, I lost the parking space to Mercedes benz. I guess even rich poeple like cheap coffee from seven-eleven.

Cheese

I have not eaten very much cheese lately.

Time to Get Them off Our Campus

U. contemplates suing military - The Daily Targum - Page One: "U. contemplates suing military
Controversy stems over recruitment policies
By Sean Havey, Correspondent
Published: Tuesday, March 9, 2004
A resolution passed by the University Senate last month urged University President Richard L. McCormick to seek authorization from the University's Board of Governors to join a lawsuit against current Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

The Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights is claiming Rumsfeld is in violation of First Amendment rights. Rumsfeld has adhered to the 1996 Solomon Amendment - which states any college or university that denies military recruiters full access to its students is liable to lose all federal funding - even though FAIR said military recruitment practices are unconstitutional and are against University guidelines. "


If the military is going to continue to discriminate against homosexuals, then they have no place at Rutgers University. While many students, friends of mine, have benefitted from the ROTC program, there is no reason why the military should have unequal access to Rutgers for recruiting purposes when they fail to meet the guidelines.

What if J&J refused to sign the Equal Opportunity Contract; doesn't the university have an obligation to force them to comply even if they threaten to withdraw the large sums of money their corporation contributes? There is an obligation on the part of the State university to ensure that its citizens ( in this case, students at the state university) are treated equally under the law. The military should not be allowed to discriminate against other poeple-- women, minorities, or religious groups, and sexual preference should not be basis for discrimination either.

It is time that injustices and prejudices perputrated by the conservative fringe of our nation be attacked on all fronts; we are in a cultural war between poeple who want to strip us of our individuality, of our choices, of our innate liberties, and we must fight on every front available. There is no longer room in our society to allow conservative propoganda to further infiltrate our lives.

I support Rutgers University's decision to sue the shit out of anyone who would take away my rights, or anyone else's rights.

More Like Me.

I have been criticized for keeping this blog too void of myself with too much emphasis on the world around us. I will endeavor to make it more like me.

To answer Clayton's inquiery: I had turkey cheese burgers, baked beans, and creamed spinach for dinner.

In other news I have submitted a short story to Poplish.com. The story was Butterfly Empire, previously known as "The Women of Jackson Pierce".

Perverted Christianity

CNN.com - Baylor in same-sex marriage flap - Mar. 3, 2004

It seems to me whenever the righteous Christians jump on Gay Marriage as evil, and unlawful, it seems to me they are violating their own tennents. It was my understanding that to be a Christian was to respect your neighbor. No one is forcing Christian churches to conduct gay marriages within their walls; simply put, gay marraige is equal protection under the law, not under god. I never thought that to be a member of organized religion was justification for being a bigot segregationalist.

Government Stalking us.

RFID Tags in New US Notes Explode When You Try to Microwave Them

It seems we ahve lost yet another freedom: the freedom to buy things with cash.

The findings of this informal 'scientific study' (if placing things in the microwave and watching them explode is considered a study) then to avoid having your money tracked, it seems a simple hole bunch of Jackson's eye might be enough.

Just remember this the next time you are buying a dime bag with a twenty dollar bill.