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None too surprising

Ann Coulter insults TCNJ students, calls liberals (expletive)

Yeah, that's what we all expected. No riots, either. The protests went off as expected, without violence.

Many of the dissidents wanted to draw attention to the nearly $24,000 price tag her attendance garnished from TCNJ’s student finance board, which is funded in large part by fees included in the semester’s tuition, according to the TCNJ chapter of the College Republicans.
“Coulter has said things in the past that are extremely offensive and racist, and I don’t think that my tuition should go towards hateful speech,” said a soggy Marlowe Boettcher, a political science major, as he clutched his protest sign.
The hype behind Coulter’s appearance has been months in the making. She was supposed to present in January but was forced to postpone because of a broken jaw, according to her Web site.
Sophmore Dena Lago said that the injury was “poetic justice.”

You said it, Dena.

Skinny bleach blonde evil at TCNJ

Professional hatemonger Ann Coulter was expected to finally make an appearance at TCNJ tonight. From the Times of Trenton:

Coulter, whose latest book, "Guilty: Liberal 'Victims' and Their Assault on America," was released Jan. 6, has been booed, jeered and even hit by pies during past speaking dates, but members of the TCNJ community insist they expect no such antics.
"I'll put nothing past liberals, but I think generally speaking, with the way the event has been planned and the security we have in place, we have planned an informative, entertaining lecture and we don't expect there to be any problems," (president of the College Republicans Brian) Hackett said.

He'd put nothing past liberals? What does he expect? The riots predicted by comedian Rush Limbaugh to finally happen? Luckily for our wingnut "patriots," there's extra security against those horrible left-wingers!

Ah, but what protest do our crafty liberals have in store?

Protesters clad in black with white armbands plan to quietly walk out of the auditorium at a certain juncture during the lecture, at which point they will gather at the student center to hold a discussion on topics such as halting prejudice, ending the Iraq War and the impact of the recent presidential election. (junior Matt) Hoke says protesters will also be handing out pamphlets before Coulter's talk that will attempt to persuade audience members to join the walkout.

A peaceful walkout during a biased, hate-filled speech.

I have hope for this world yet.

(I was unable to find an updated news report or a fresh blog post about the event. I'll post something tomorrow if I can.)

The iPod Project, or, Too much of a good thing?

At the library where I work, a patron who came in regularly would chat with me about my iPod. At the time, I had a small iPod (that they don't even make anymore) and my husband had the larger one that held up to 20,000 songs. My patron couldn't wrap his head around this.

"How will he ever listen to 20,000 songs?" he'd ask.

Now, neither my nor my husband's iPod was full (even though he had a lot more than I did on his), but it was an interesting question- how will I ever listen to all the music I have on my iPod? So I decided to find out. I will listen to every song I have - just songs, mind you, not podcasts or tracks of audiobooks - in alphabetical order. I guessed it would take maybe a few months.

It's been 8, so far, and I'm only on the Ss.

I only listen to my iPod while walking by myself or doing yardwork. I walk 2-3 hours a week and yardwork is seasonal, but that gives an idea of how long this is taking me. Folks who listen in their cars on long commutes or other places would take much less time to pull this off. But it's been an enlightening exercise for me.

I have songs I forgot I had. Stuff I got free from iTunes and never deleted. Things I can't imagine why I put on there. Old albums I didn't even remember having on CD. Audiobooks I forgot to delete when I finished listening to them that come up in rotation.

Mind you, my new iPod is nowhere near full- and I have pictures eating up memory, too.

This project has been a lot of fun- it makes for some great segues. I have a CD of Yo-Y0 Ma's cello performances that are titled with the composer's name- Bach. After listening to a whole CD's worth of lyrical music, the next song alphabetically was AC-DC's Back in Black. Sometimes Gorillaz finishes and a Sandra Boynton song comes on. Gotta love it.

So my patron is right about one thing- it's difficult to remember what's there. But I can't say it's too much of a good thing to have that much memory; after all, I can still add more pictures, and I've been building up podcasts I haven't listened to yet. In theory I could add movies, if I wanted to watch on a tiny little screen. The capacity of the device may not be used up, but I'm having a lot of fun with it anyway.

It's warm out today. Maybe I'll take the dogs for a walk, and see if I can get to the letter T.

(Originally posted on my Info Tech class blog)

Come home safe, and soon

Our Fair State's National Guard 1150th Assault Helicopter Battalion is being deployed, first for training, then for Iraq. For many this is their second tour overseas.

I wonder what the aliens thought

Pictures of the Inauguration- from space- at Stephen Shankland's Underexposed.

He spoke to me

In speaking about terrorism, President Obama* spoke about me. Didja hear him? Listen:

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.
We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.

Catch that one word? "Nonbelievers."

He included me.

I'm not used to that. For once, those of us who don't believe in religion were included when talking about Our Fair Country. I heard some pundit on the radio today saying it was the first time that nonbelievers had been mentioned in any major presidential address- I'm unsure of the accuracy of that statement, but it certainly is exceedingly rare.

I cried along with everyone else when I watch the inauguration. I shook with anticipation for where our country can, and will, go. I beamed with pride and made sure the children saw the speech. But I never expected to be included in it in any way; I expected the usual "With God's help" and "God Bless America" only. Of course that was there, because President Obama is a man of faith and most of Our Fair Country has some measure of belief or religious identification.- but he acknowledged that I'm part of America, too.

Our country is truly a more inclusive place today.

* I don't know if I'll ever tire of this phrase. President Obama, President Obama, President Barack Hussein Obama.

"Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred."

CNN ran the film of Dr. King's I Have A Dream speech today at noon. The whole family sat down to watch it together. (One of those teaching moments that you can't miss when they come.) Youngest asked if there were white people there that day- apparently, even though the crowd shots clearly showed faces of all colors, it's hard to tell the difference in B&W.

I kinda hope that we can see past the color differences in other ways, too.

"When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!""

Flashback: January 17, 2001: The Onion

Remember the last time we got a new president? Let's walk down memory lane, Onion-style.

"Bush: Our Long National Nightmare of Peace and Prosperity is Over"

... Bush swore to do "everything in [his] power" to undo the damage wrought by Clinton's two terms in office, including selling off the national parks to developers, going into massive debt to develop expensive and impractical weapons technologies, and passing sweeping budget cuts that drive the mentally ill out of hospitals and onto the street.
During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.
"You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration," said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. "Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?"
On the economic side, Bush vowed to bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession, which would necessitate a tax hike, which would lead to a drop in consumer spending, which would lead to layoffs, which would deepen the recession even further.
...
Continued Bush: "John Ashcroft will be invaluable in healing the terrible wedge President Clinton drove between church and state."
...
"After eight years of relatively sane fiscal policy under the Democrats, we have reached a point where, just a few weeks ago, President Clinton said that the national debt could be paid off by as early as 2012," Rahway, NJ, machinist and father of three Bud Crandall said. "That's not the kind of world I want my children to grow up in."

Last night, at a gathering of friends, someone remembered this Onion article and read it out loud for us. We definitely laughed, but by the end, we were silent, knowing how it all turned out. The foresight of the Onion's editorial staff- and many Americans, by the way- was pretty impressive.

It's so time for a new day in America.

Added a widget

I just added the Goodreads widget on the sidebar. If you're on Goodreads, let me know and we'll hook up there.

I'm also on Shelfari, but folks don't seem to be updating that one as much- however, drop me a note if you want to compare notes there, instead.

We need our libraries more than ever

Folks are flocking to the library, a cozy place to find a job:

A few years ago, public libraries were being written off as goners. The Internet had made them irrelevant, the argument went. But libraries across the country are reporting jumps in attendance of as much as 65% over the past year, as newly unemployed people flock to branches to fill out résumés and scan ads for job listings.
Other recession-weary patrons are turning to libraries for cheap entertainment -- killing time with the free computers, video rentals and, of course, books.

Free internet. Free/cheap DVD borrowing. Free book borrowing. Free help from librarians who really want to help. What's not to love?

One step forward, one step back

In less than two weeks, the country- the whole world- will witness the inauguration of the first non-white president of these United States. This historic event is a huge step forward.

Here, in Our Fair State, we took one step back recently:

A Gloucester County mayor who reported death threats and racist vandalism during his two years in office has declined to serve another year.
Charles Tyson will remain on the South Harrison Township council, which chooses a mayor each year. But Tyson said he doesn't want to put his family through more threats.
The 66-year-old retired computer technician says he received a dozen threatening calls and several e-mails calling him a 'dead man' and using a racist epithet. His tires were also slashed and "KKK" was written on a campaign sign on his lawn.

We mentioned his story a while back. It's horrible that someone fears for his family because of their race. Especially in this day and age.

Especially on this day.

Another year over, A new one just begun

Happy New Year from The Center of NJ

10 memorable political moments in NJ

Long time Jersey political blogger Jay Lassiter put this together. Take ten minutes to review the Top 10 for Our Fair State for 2008. Enjoy.

Green eyed lady, lovely lady

Gypsy, in her younger days.

Our oldest cat, Gypsy, left us rather suddenly in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve.

If she loved you, she loved you completely. If she didn't, you thought she was pure evil. Which is the way she wanted it to be. Proud and beautiful was our Gypsy.

She loved us, and we loved her. We will miss you, Green Eyed Lady Lovely Lady.

Me, Here, Now

Rob tagged me for this particular meme. I read his post while at work, but could not take the pic until I got home; so as soon as I got home, I dropped my coat and found the camera.

This is me, here, "now" (actually about 40 minutes ago- I had to read to Oldest before bedtime, so the post is delayed.)

Now for the rules:
1) Take a picture of yourself right NOW!
2) DON'T change your clothes, DON'T fix your hair... Just take a picture.
3) Post that picture with NO editing.
4) Post these instruction with your picture.
5)Tag 10 people to do this..

I don't think I can come up with ten who would both read this and bother to do it. But just in case, here we go: Andrew, VeeganMD, Tami (who has more important things on her mind just now but may find this later), jayananda, SciFi Pie, Greg (Oh!! Wait- Greg already did it. Never mind.) Janet, and the next four people who show up here via Google- please leave me comments so I know you were here.

Some good news

But we can't get complacent.

Donations and emergency aid keeps food banks operating

A heartwarming collection of simple acts of charity coupled with a $45,000 infusion of emergency state funds are making the holiday season more nourishing for residents caught in the unrelenting economic spiral.
And it could not have come at a better time.
The Trenton Area Soup Kitchen reports an 8 percent increase in food demands, but a devastating 60 percent drop in contributions of children's toys, warm coats, gloves and hats for the wintry season.

So, in other words, we're stepping up- but we have to keep going.

We Can't Let This Bank Fail

The Community Food Bank of New Jersey needs our help this holiday season. Everyone's help.

Some facts about the Community Food Bank of NJ: It annually assists charities serving approximately 500,000 people in need in 18 of Our Fair State's 21 counties. CFBNJ has distributed more than 300 million pounds of food and groceries valued at more than half-a-billion dollars. Today, the FoodBank distributes over 21 million pounds of food and groceries a year, ultimately serving nearly 1,700 non-profits including 436 programs served by its Partner Distribution Organizations (PDOs). If you don't know where the food pantries are in your part of the state, the Statewide Emergency Food and Anti-Hunger Network has helpfully provided a list by county.

At the Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ), requests for food have gone up 30 percent, but donations are down by 25 percent. Warehouse shelves that are typically stocked with food are bare and supplies have gotten so low that, for the first time in its 25 year history, the food bank is developing a rationing mechanism.

Did you get that? They have to ration out food. That's how low the stocks are. That's a horrible situation.

Check with your local food pantry as to their needs. Also, I bet your library/workplace/school/house of worship/fire department/municipality/scout troop/etc. is having a food drive right now- give generously. I will, too.

I've said it before- Our Fair State is a collection of the wealthiest, best educated people ever assembled in the history of the planet. In this great place, in this level of prosperity, no kid should ever have to go to bed hungry.

We can help. We must help. This bank simply can't fail.

The 100 participating blogs in Our Fair State:

JerseyBites.com
RedBankGreen.com
Jersey Girl Cooks
Simply Sable
John and Lisa are eating in South Jersey
Padma's Kitchen
Chefdruck
Life Lightly Salted
My Italian Grandmother
Cook Appeal
Crotchety Old Man Yells at Cars
Mommy Vents
This Full House
Paper Bridges
Motherhood Avenue
The Kamienski Chronicles
Down the Shore with Jen
Fits and Giggles
House Hubbies Home Cooking
Nourish Ourselves
Partybluprints.com
Tommyeats.com
Off the broiler
Mrs. Mo’s New Jersey Baby
IamNotaChef.com
SimplyBeer.com
HistoryGeek.com
Savy Source Newark
Momlogic New Jersey
SurvivingNJ.com/blog
SurvivingNJ.blogspot.com
JerseyGirlGuide.com
Best of Roxy
Citizen Mom.net
Lynetteradio.com
Jersey Beat
Pop Vulture Phil
JerseySmarts.com
LongBeachIslandSummers.com
WildwoodSummers.com
Mike Halfacres Blog
Somerset08873
Family, Friends and Food
KateSpot.com
NewJerseyMomsBlog.com
JCRigister.com
New Jersey Real Estate Report
Riverviewobserver.com
More Monmouth Musings
Man of Infirmity
Another Delco Guy in South Jersey
SweetNicks.com
Average Noone
Cleary’s Notebook
Welcome to my Planet
The Center of New Jersey Life
Sharon’s Food Blog
Morristown, Chatham, Summit, and Madison NJ Real Estate
Midtown Direct Real Estate News
New Jersey Real Estate
BlowUpRadio.com
LazlosDen.com
The Ridgewood Blog
Book a Week with Jen
Banannie
Cartoongoddess.com
Matawan Advocate
Take Back the Kitchen
The Joy of Toast
Route 55
Montclair Kids.com
SaveJersey
Stompbox
Joe the Blogger
Environmental Republican
Stacey Snacks
Subversive Garden
New Jersey Pathfinder
Cooking With Friends Blog
Triple Venti
Read All About It
Rich Lee on Media
Likelihood of Success
Cape Cuisine
The Business At Hand
NewJerseyTaxRevolution
Figmentations
MiddletownMike
Caviar and Codfish
A Day in the Life
Mack’s Journey Through Life
Alice’s Restaurant
Tiger Hawk
Politics Patrol, The Bob Ingle Blog
The Food Chain
Henson’s Hell
Cranbury Conservative
Baristanet
New Jersey: Politics Unusual
Jersey Shore Blog

Blogging Out Hunger

Tomorrow is the big start date for the Blogging Out Hunger campaign!

More important than reading about it, however, is doing something about it. Get some food ready for donation, and get some time set aside to help out.

People need help this winter. Right now.

Prop 8: The Musical

Marc Shaiman's all-star musical tribute to hate rearing its ugly head in California.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die