Oh, my

Apparently Angela Merkel, who is the Chancellor of Germany, thinks multi-culturalism has failed. Maybe everyone should learn the language of the country, I'm OK with that. But everyone should adopt Christian values? Why? This is the type of thinking that says there are only radical Muslims, although Merkel herself acknowledges that Islam is part of Germany.

What about the remaining Jews? Remember them? Something God-awful happened to them in Germany about 70 years ago, and it took until the 1960s for anyone to be able to talk about it. Jews should adopt Christian values?

And just what exactly is a Christian value, anyway? How does it differ from regular values?

If you want to stop subsidizing people who don't support Christian values, whatever they are, because you feel it dumbs Germany down, stop letting them into your country to live.

I feel differently about immigration in this country, because we have a different policy, which is to let everyone practice his or her or no religion. I think it's weird that in France you can't wear a kipah or a burqa. I can't imagine how that's harmful, other than that it speaks to something other than French unity. But if in this country, we are unified despite our religious differences about things like 9/11, I'm not sure why it's important to be religiously similar. I'm glad our Constitution's First Amendment says what it does about religion, ie "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Sources, I got your sources:

Merkel says German multi-cultural society has failed

BERLIN (AFP) – Germany's attempt to create a multi-cultural society has failed completely, Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the weekend, calling on the country's immigrants to learn German and adopt Christian values.

Merkel weighed in for the first time in a blistering debate sparked by a central bank board member saying the country was being made "more stupid" by poorly educated and unproductive Muslim migrants.

"Multikulti", the concept that "we are now living side by side and are happy about it," does not work, Merkel told a meeting of younger members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party at Potsdam near Berlin.

"This approach has failed, totally," she said, adding that immigrants should integrate and adopt Germany's culture and values.

"We feel tied to Christian values. Those who don't accept them don't have a place here," said the chancellor.

"Subsidising immigrants" isn't sufficient, Germany has the right to "make demands" on them, she added, such as mastering the language of Goethe and abandoning practices such as forced marriages.

Merkel spoke a week after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in which they pledged to do more to improve the often poor integration record of Germany's 2.5-million-strong Turkish community.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, in a weekend interview, also urged the Turkish community living in Germany to master the language of their adopted country.

"When one doesn't speak the language of the country in which one lives that doesn't serve anyone, neither the person concerned, the country, nor the society," the Turkish president told the Suedeutsche Zeitung.

"That is why I tell them at every opportunity that they should learn German, and speak it fluently and without an accent. That should start at nurseries."

German President Christian Wulff was due for a five-day visit to Turkey and talks with the country's leaders on Monday.

The immigration debate has at times threatened to split Merkel's conservative party, and she made noises to both wings of the debate.

While saying that the government needed to encourage the training of Muslim clerics in Germany, Merkel said "Islam is part of Germany", echoeing the recent comments of Wulff, a liberal voice in the party.

Horst Seehofer, the leader of the CDU's Bavarian sister party, CSU, who represents the right-wing, recently said Germany did not "need more immigrants from different cultures like the Turks and Arabs" who are "more difficult" to integrate.

While warning against "immigration that weighs down on our social system", Merkel said Germany needed specialists from overseas to keep the pace of its economic development.

According to the head of the German chamber of commerce and industry, Hans Heinrich Driftmann, Germany is in urgent need of about 400,000 engineers and qualified workers, whose lack is knocking about one percent off the country's growth rate.

The integration of Muslims has been a hot button issue since August when a member of Germany's central bank sparked outrage by saying the country was being made "more stupid" by poorly educated and unproductive Muslim migrants with headscarves.

The banker, Thilo Sarrazin, has since resigned but his book on the subject -- "Germany Does Itself In" -- has flown off the shelves, and polls showed considerable sympathy for some of his views.

A recent study by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation think tank showed around one-third of Germans feel the country is being "over-run by foreigners" and the same percentage feel foreigners should be sent home when jobs are scarce.

Nearly 60 percent of the 2,411 people polled thought the around four million Muslims in Germany should have their religious practices "significantly curbed."

Far-right attitudes are found not only at the extremes of German society, but "to a worrying degree at the centre of society," the think tank said in its report.

"Hardly eight weeks have passed since publication of Sarrazin's theory of decline, and the longer the debate continues to a lower level it falls," the weekly Der Spiegel commented Sunday.

Another recipe

Spring Rolls
8 or so shrimp
lettuce (NB: the children don’t like this meal when parsley is used instead of lettuce)
Rice noodles/Cellophane noodles if you have ‘em
Rice paper
Cilantro if the guests dig it—my permanent guests don’t.
Satay sauce
Peanuts

• Boil the shrimp until they turn pink, really just 3 minutes or so. Take them out and put them under cool water. Peel them. (Or peel them first. Who the hell cares? Really, the fact that you’re in the kitchen yet again is more than enough.)
• Cook the noodles for about 3 minutes in some boiling water. They get soft quick. Drain them.
• Cut up the lettuce so it’s bite size for all who are eating dinner that night. I like to do this with a kitchen scissors. Knives are so not my friends.
• Put the rice paper into some water and let it sit there until it becomes soft. Then take it out. This will not take more than 2 minutes a paper. Dry off the paper a bit.
• Open the satay sauce, spoon into bowls.
• Crush up some peanuts and put them on top of the satay in the bowls.
• Cut up the shrimp.
• Put some shrimp, lettuce, and noodles just below the midpoint of the rice paper, fold like a hoagie. Serve. Everyone can dip into satay if they want, individually. If low on things to put inside the rolls, you could scramble up an egg to add.
• Yummers!

Recipe

This comes from a book of recipes I was forced to write for myself. This is the working title:
For the independent woman who has to feed children about 50 times a day and who knows there is nothing joyous or wonderful about cooking. It’s just fuel, dammit.
Is she the only one on the planet who gets that? Jesus.

All recipes end with the word "Yummers!" I am without a doubt the crappiest cook in the world, so I try to give myself an extra little boost.

Pasta w/Sauce
Garlic, 2-3 cloves
Green pepper, 1
Small onion, 1 or half a big one
Tomato sauce, a fat can
Olive oil, enough to cover pan
Two chicken breasts, boneless and skinless unless you don’t mind wet-dog stench in your kitchen.
A squash or zucchini if you have it
1 pound of pasta
Seasoning

• Cut everything up, except the garlic cloves.
• Brown the chicken in another pan. It doesn’t have to be all the way done, but certainly mostly.
• In another pot, get the water going for the pasta.
• Heat the pan and add the oil.
• Add the green pepper, it takes a while to cook. Stir them around.
• A couple minutes later, add the onions. Be more vigilant about stirring than before.
• Press the garlic into the pan, cut off remnants into pan. Don’t let it burn, turn down the heat.
• If there’s a squash, it goes in now.
• Add the browned chicken. Cook it for another minute or so.
• Add the tomato sauce. Turn it down so it’s simmering. If it’s splattering like a mofo, it’s too hot, you’ll burn dinner, and have a big mess on the stove and floor. Is this why you work so hard? Don’t be a schmeggege, just turn it down already.
• Put the pasta into the boiling water.
• Now is the time to season the sauce with whatever’s on hand that you like that the eaters will eat.
• When the pasta is done, drain it, put it in a bowl, and pour the sauce on top.
• Yummers!

Wrongful, shameful

I was wrongfully terminated from my job in mid-August. I say that because my boss knows I have a disability, and discriminated against me because of it. She also didn't follow internal policies.

Looking for a new job is an all-encompassing endeavor. I know this because I do it every single day. I have a lot more education than a lot of people (B.A., M.A., J.D.) but it really doesn't seem to matter. I am looking just like everybody else.

The whole process is one rude wake-up call. There is one institution on which I have given up b/c every time I apply for a job there, my name is immediately thrown out of contention. So if that place thinks I'm ever going to contribute a dime, that's hilarious.

People don't get back to you like they say they will. People don't call back, even for jobs like document review.

All I can say is, thank you American taxpayers for unemployment compensation. Even though most of the people who work at UC are jerks, every now and then, you find some helpful soul.

Stand down, jerk

Does anyone care that "Wayward" Hayward has lost the coveted CEO title? Here's a tip: When you are the CEO of the company, that company is your life. You do not say things such as, "I want my life back" nor do you stand idly by while your chairman says things like, "We care about the small people." There is no one who is dependent on Gulf water for their livelihood who is "small," moron.

I, for one, am thrilled that the person who will now come in and act as CEO is someone who is actually from the region. Robert Dudley has been a head of a disaster management unit. He got his MBA at SMU and did his undergrad at Illinois (Urbana-Champaign). He grew up in Mississippi.

I think he understands that there is no wishing for his life back or small people. And the fact that an American is running a London-based company says something about how important this particular market is to BP.

Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10757751
http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2010/07/bp_expected_to_name_american_r.html

Utter crap

This is a story about dreadful customer service. I'm not naming companies b/c getting sued is less adorable than you might think. Company X had my ex-husband and me on an auto policy. Obviously, we are now divorced. I moved my policy to the same company but a closer office to my house. He still has his policy at that office.

Last month, they charged me the entire amount for both our policies despite my having changed over to the other office. They eventually paid me back, and gave me an additional $1.06 for my trouble. This month, they took the money to cover HIS policy out of MY bank account.

I don't know how to think about this other than to call it stealing. This company has been pretty blase about the whole thing.

Who thinks I might need a different company, despite the fact that I've been with these people since 1996?

Odd trio

Gary Coleman, Dennis Hopper, and Rue McClanahan. An odd trio who all succumbed to Mr. Reaper (Mr. Reaper? Calling Mr. Grim Reaper? Please report to Gate C-3.) this week.

I'm wondering whether they ever attended Hollywood events together. My guess: no.

Dereg

It's a pretty simple concept. When you leave people/corporations (same thing now) to police themselves, they don't. Deregulation is a terrible idea. I'm not for more government oversight, but this is something that used to be/still needs to be part of governmental responsibility.

See: Countrywide, Wall Street, airline industry, Bernie Madoff, BP, etc. etc.

Random thoughts about NIH

So, I have to show up at NIH in a few weeks and stay there for close to a week. This is all because I have this hereditary disorder in which they're interested. It's a federal building, so just like the airport, you have to show up early. Happily, we have friends who live about a one-minute drive from NIH, so that's helpful. They also told me if I'm driving not to have any weapons, alcohol or pets in my car. Duly noted. Leave goldfish, machete and Mad Dog 20-20 at home.

I'm a little bit scared. They need to do a muscle biopsy, which is when they'll take a chunk of my thigh out. (You're jealous, I can tell.) That won't feel great, after the meds wear off. I also need to do another barium swallow. Have to do that before the last day, b/c who knows how long it will take to reach the Maryland House or the Chesapeake House? Not me.

I don't think of myself as sick or handicapped, although I did ask someone to get up on the bus today b/c he was sitting in seats prioritized for disabled people, and I don't have enough control over my legs to make sure I don't wind up in someone's lap, which has happened, to my ever-lasting embarrassment. (It'd be different if I didn't see the guy into whose lap I crashed every single day on my train.)

I'm going there b/c I need answers. There is no cure for what I have, so it's just a matter of palliative management. It will eventually kill me, but not for a long, long time. But there are some steps I can take, and I'd like to know what they are.

I had to can my neurologist b/c he couldn't/didn't give me answers. I told him words like "docile" and "passive" simply don't apply to me, and not to expect me to be like that, and that I wanted answers. But he in his buzzkill way didn't have them. This is why he's no longer my doctor.

Kagan

So, about Elena Kagan. I would think Congress would be doing backflips b/c finally there's a candidate for the Supremes whose record can't be easily ascertained. She's not a lefty, she's not a righty. She's extremely pragmatic. She works well with others.

The military recruitment thing is out of hand. No law school wanted to have military recruiters on campus b/c of "Don't ask, don't tell," a very wrong-footed policy. But when they realized they'd lose federal funding, they all zipped it, realizing you have to go along to get along. That's exactly what then-Dean Kagan did. It's what the deans of almost all law schools did, so why is she being singled out?

We all know that Justice Scalia is the archetype judge activist, despite his cries to the contrary. We all know that Chief Justice Roberts is about as pro-business as they come. I think it's refreshing that this woman can't be pigeon-holed into a box.

Toyota

I drive a 2005 Toyota Camry, not part of the recall. I've been very pleased with this car. But that was before Toyota started putting shareholders before customers. Now their big concern is: do they pay the $16.4 million the US is demanding, thus admitting some culpability, or do they fight it, ensuring more dreadful publicity?

Is this really hard? They've already admitted wrongdoing. They knew about this months ago and only had a recall in January. So if they've learned anything, like not to put shareholders before the safety of customers, just pay the fine already. $16.4 million is cake compared to the ongoing cost of fighting it.

Say, "My bad." Put on your big-boy pants. Pay it and continue to work hard to earn back customer trust. It's really not that hard.

Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100406/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_recall

Not so good

Today I read that Osama Bin Laden has decided that if we execute Khalid Sheik Mohammed, considered the architect of 9/11, he will immediately kill everyone who is American who is currently being held by Al-Qaeda.

So, my questions begin:
1. Were people being detained by Al-Qaeda being treated with respect prior to this moment? I remember the beheading of Daniel Pearl and countless others, so I'm thinking no.
2. If we don't execute KSM, that rat bastard, will we all of a sudden have diplomacy with a terrorist organization? Again, no.
3. Al-Qaeda isn't currently holding any Americans, but its mutant sister group, the Taliban's Haqqani group, is. Does everything that goes for Al-Qaeda go for Haqqani? Secondarily, would Haqqani have any funding if it weren't for Al-Qaeda?
4. Do I actually need to pay attention to a guy who has been living in caves since 2001 and has been described on more than occasion as dead?

Sources, I got sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100325/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bin_laden

Good Guys

So, all I ever read about when it comes to football players are the cretinous things they do when they're not on the field. They're drunk, they use drugs, they get in fights, they got shot, they shoot, etc. Which is why it's very refreshing to read about two football players who made some very kind gestures.

1. Keith Bulluck gave out 9 $1,000 scholarships to Tennessee kids in honor of his fallen teammate, Steve McNair (#9). He did so despite the fact that he'll almost certainly be leaving the Titans.

2. Scott Fujita, who is definitely leaving the Saints for the Browns, got $82,000 in playoff winnings, and donated half of it to coastal restoration of New Orleans.

Sadly, it's become clear that most people who are public figures are nothing to emulate. But it's nice to see examples of when people step up to do the right thing.

To celebrate

It was 20 years ago today, Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play...

Well, OK, that's not really the point. 20 years ago today, Nelson Mandela walked out of prison. The day before, de Klerk had announced he'd go free the next day.

The thing is, when democracy happens, it happens quickly. Who knew the Wall would come down as quickly as it did in Berlin? It's people doing the right thing, despite the potential negative consequences.

I boycotted all South African products until everyone there could vote, and I felt good about that choice when Mr. Mandela walked. Now he's 92 years old, generally retired from political life. Still, he's been an inspiration to me while in prison and out.

So it's something to celebrate on a day of digging out.

And also, happy birthday, Auntie.

Ugh

Here's all I have to say on the matter:

Rush Limbaugh blows. Ditto Pat Robertson. They are each spectacular in their lack of compassion for the human condition, unless it applies to them.

Should I have prayed for Rush to have complete and total heart failure while he was rushed to the hospital for chest pains? Maybe. But I didn't. It's that darn liberal bias, making me think that everyone deserves compassion, even asshats like these.

Get out there, Ted!

Theodore Olson and I agree about virtually nothing. He's a conservative. I'm anything but. He has argued in front of the Supremes many times. I have argued in front of family members, cashiers, and "customer service" reps. He argued in front of the Supremes for Bush, not Gore. And won.

But I have respect for this man who is very different from me. We're both lawyers, it's true. I respect him not just because he's arguing on behalf of the right of gay people to marry in California. But to listen to him speak, you realize that it's nothing more than an issue of civil rights.

People who don't believe that gay people are entitled to marriage should read both the US Tax Code and the 14th Amendment. There's simply no way to get equal protection, taxwise, if you can't marry. Domestic partnerships and civil unions simply don't qualify. The arguments used by conservatives to decry gay marriage as a slap to the institution of marriage should read Loving v. Virginia (cited below) because the same arguments were made about inter-racial marriage. We seem, as a nation, to have moved past that (Mr. Bardwell notwithstanding).

Another plus about Mr. Olson is that if it does manage to get to the Supremes to hear, as is seeming increasingly likely, he has a lot of experience there.

Now get out there, Ted. Score some points for We The People.