Nec Hoc Nec Ilud

* The death toll in Syria is now above 300 for the weekend. They continued the extra brutal attacks today.

* Egypt arrested 19 Americans as part of their crackdown on NGO's. Y'all know how I feel about that.

* Israel keeps denying they are behind the assassinations in Iran, even though it's looking more and more like they are behind them.

* I don't know if I've mentioned lately how grateful I am that we have a president able and willing to deal with foreign policy questions in an intelligent and nuanced way. In a campaign season where all but one remaining major Republican candidates are demanding we unilaterally invade more Middle Eastern seemingly at random, it's a huge comfort to know we have a calm, intelligent person making those decisions instead.

* There is an embarrassingly racist campaign add playing in Michigan. I will not link it; I'm sorry I saw even part of it. This time they are trotting out stereotypes of asians. Guess which party is indulging in racist stereotypes here? Go on guess! I bet you got it in one, right? Yep, Pete Hoekstra is a Republican. How did you know?

* I see Republicans are out attacking Republican politician, director, and actor Clint Eastwood for doing a Chrysler ad in the super bowl. After all, anything that praises working class Americans or mentions the economy is improving clearly helps Obama, so therefore Mr. Eastwood must be commie pinko liberal scum, right? Him being a former Republican Mayor, Schwarzenegger appointee, and short listed for Republican VP at one point are facts, so don't matter. (For the record, he's one of those moderate pro-choice Republicans, like Megan Mccain, instead of those lets turn the clock back to 1850 folks).

BTW, they used photo shopped footage of Wisconsin protests with the signs changed in the ad, which is weird.

* Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado are voting tomorrow. Colorado and Minnesota are non-binding caucuses. Missouri's a non-binding primary, with a caucus in March, so none of this really matters. Newt Gingrich didn't make the Minnesota ballot, so santorum is pushing hard there and he's all over Romney there. In Colorado, it's a tug of war between traditional base groups, the economy, and changing demographics. After all, Colorado is one of the states where they tried to disenfranchise POC, service members, the poor, and the elderly en masse and failed. It will be interesting to see how the folks in those groups who vote Republican will respond to the dissolve medicare/social security, invade Iran and Mexico, abolish birth control, and overtly racist campaign messages. However, that's where Romney is putting his effort right now, and he's attacking santorum hard on the grounds that santorum refused to completely wreck the economy by voting to raise the debt ceiling. Sigh.

there is no way to talk about a santorum surge without sounding dirty. Certainly the thought of it makes me queasy.

* Rory Gould, an important trans activist in Washington State recently died of cancer. He and I couldn't stand each other personally (he repeatedly called me a sociopath), but I have nothing but respect for what he and his wonderful wife have done for trans folk in his state. He was a pillar of the community and his energy in organizing, voice for educating, and fierceness in defense of his own can not be underestimated and may not be replaceable. I grieve for his wife who is an all around wonderful person, and can imagine how devastating this loss must be for her. If this is how his enemies feel, imagine what a blow it must be for his friends. So a moment of silence for Rory Gould. The community needed him and still needs him, and the world was a better place for a whole lot of people with him in it.

* Fingers crossed on the latest Prop 8 ruling.

* They found an interesting Nara era pot in Japan. Alas no pictures and the translation is poor: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/202936/7719196.html

* I locked the Beasties in with me. LM responded by picking fights. Hector spent three hours howling until I got his psych meds, at which point he calmed down and took a nap. Knock three plus hours off my sleep cycle. The cat eating ogre, or nice young blond plumber, came before lunch time. There was, of course banging, thumpimg, a strange voice, doors opening and closing, and sawing. The cats realized that this is why I'd locked them up and were grateful. It worked fine until it turned out there was an issue with the fuse and he had to go into my room. Repeatedly. Cats: "End of the world! Panic! Panic!" LM escaped to squirrel's room, but as that was the end bit, it was fine. On release, the Butt went patrolling. My guys stayed uder the bed for a while, just in case. I skipped out on key errands as between the sleep disruption and what I suspect is influenza, I wasn't going anywhere. Instead I dreamed of various museum's Egyptian collections, and ultimately, zombies. Goosh was had by all, though, so that was okay. There is some hope that we will spend less money on heating eater as it was the hot water soaking the carpet.

* "The Ghost of Identities Past:" http://passionandsoul.livejournal.com/1309035.html

* In my head, I'm imagining the strange dude on the bus in the conversation is an old school spy trying to make a drop, only rm is not quite getting the countersign right. http://lettersfromtitan.tumblr.com/post/17186771506/horrible-bus-story

* Social media explained: http://lettersfromtitan.tumblr.com/post/17157479644/buttersmanyparsnips-emergencysalsa-tumblr

* This made me smile: http://lettersfromtitan.tumblr.com/post/17120847147/dontbearuiner-things-that-are-true

* Cake: http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2012/2/5/sunday-sweets-super-bowl.html

* Does this count as culture without context, I wonder: http://youtu.be/VoHbI-955uQ