FINALLY, THE WEEKEND!

I've been working hard - the next person that teases me about the short day of a teacher, I'm going to thrash to within an inch centimeter of his/her life. I was able to leave on Thursday evening with a clear desk. Not last night, however. I didn't worry - on Monday, I have a workshop day in my room, so I'll get there early and tidy up. The bigger issue was scurrying around getting the sub lesson plans ready. It's so much trouble to be absent, I seldom am. But, Monday's absence is mandatory. It should be a good day, since I'll be working with the other Physical Science teachers. We'll have time to coordinate our plans for the rest of the semester.

For some reason, my laptop doesn't want to recognize the shift key (sometimes). So, I find myself seeing that a particular character doesn't show up capitalized, and I have to backtrack, delete, and use the Caps Lock to get it right. Yet, othertimes, like now, it works fine. I hate intermittent problems. They can be a real bear to solve, since they never seem to reproduce when the tech guy is looking at the computer.

Since I'm experiencing some issues with the network (it sometimes cuts out), I'm writing this post in steps, saving drafts every so often. I've had a few posts that were great (IMHO), but got lost when they failed to post, or the power flickered. Maddening!

I've been seeing a local tree with brightly-colored blossoms - usually hot pink or fushia. I asked a local today, and it's called a Crepe Myrtle (see below). It's quite pretty, and gives a refreshing spot of color to the landscape.



I just checked CNN online, and found that:

Nearly 1,000 detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison were released this week at the request of the Iraqi government, Multi-National Forces said Saturday.

That should start some chatter in the blogs.

Cindy Sheehan is still in the headlines, saying:

she plans to expand her focus to Congress, starting with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Bush ally and fellow Texan. "The president is not going to meet with us, probably," Sheehan said. "We the people need to influence our congressional representatives."

The part that got to me was "The president is not going to meet with us, probably".

Oh, you THINK? After all those histronics, you THINK PROBABLY he won't see you?

Can't imagine why he wouldn't want to meet with the woman who has publicly accused him of being a killer.

NARAL, after a brief pause to heal from having shot themselves in the foot, is back.

The new ad, featuring smiling families and an American flag in the background, emphasizes a phrase in a 1981 Roberts memos: the "so-called right to privacy," and points out that he co-wrote a government memo saying the landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion was wrongly decided.

"There's just too much at stake to let John Roberts become a decisive vote on the Supreme Court," the ad says.

The new ad will run on CNN and during cable programming in the Washington, D.C. area. NARAL says it is using part of its $500,000 slated for the original buy to pay for the new ad.

HALF A MILLION DOLLARS!

Where are they getting the money? The don't have the membership they used to. I just checked the annual report, and their campus e-newsletter is going to only 1,000 subscribers. You can't count the numbers of literature printed up as an indication of the interest in their organization - many of those will be trashed as junk - to be fair, just as all advocacy literature is.

In their 2003-2004 annual report (the latest one I could find on their site), they brag about the many pieces of literature they have distributed on college campuses - over 200,000. How many of those landed in the nearest receptacle?

They claim to have "made contact" with 12 million voters in 2004, to influence the election. They claim to have been able to "mobilize millions of voters". But they state only that they were able to "mobilize thousands of volunteers".

You do the math. Less than 10,000 volunteers, 12 million voters. So, they're taking credit for each volunteer reaching more than 1,200 voters?

I think that's why the NARAL group isn't making more headway against the "anti-choice" forces - they're tuckered out from the election frenzy of activity.

Go to the NARAL Pro-Choice site, download the report for yourself. Just before the Financial Overview (p. 17), there's a picture of a young woman holding up a sign stating:

I'm marching today so my children won't have to

Um, right. If you kill them off today, they won't be alive to march later.

The income statement is the tell-tale sign. In 2003, they only brought in 4.6 million. Yet, in 2004, they show 11.5 million dollars in income in the field of "Membership dues, contributions, and bequests". Unless a lot of old folks kicked the bucket, or the membership drives suddenly had a LOT more success, that sounds as though they got a few Mr./Ms./Dr. Moneybags to pony up some lucre. I can't believe that they will find endless rivers of cash every year, so the organization may be nearing the end of its effective life. After all, it took over 6 million to raise that pot of gold.