You can't overestimate the importance of turf in government activities. It's impossible.

Well, I hope I'm proved wrong. But right now - I don't have that faith anymore. And when you can't even believe in craven self-interest, what the hell can you believe?

What was that document again? Oh yeah -- the CONSTITUTION.

Bush has called the Constitution "just a piece of paper." And on three separate occasions he's been heard to joke that he'd like to be dictator.

Zillow appears to be unaware of my neighborhood

ION, Alias will return in the spring to finish its final season: [link]

(I think Susan W. found an agent this week as well as the amazing David and Allyson news.)

Plus Corwood got his contract this week too, I expect.

It's NOT A REAL WAR.

It's a NotReal war that will never be over. Executive Uber Alles! It is - as Betsy's long ago tagline posited - the very premise of 1984. "We have always been at war with EastAsia."

My feeling about Bush is that he isn't a really important person in the administration. There are a few things he wants to do and does work on, but generally just likes being the President a lot more than actual Presidenting and doesn't cercern himself a lot with what the administation is doing except at the most superficial level.

And when you can't even believe in craven self-interest, what the hell can you believe?

This is the city that pays $200 for a hammer. (Actually, when I lived in DC and worked for a government contractor, somebody finally explained to me how this is so. Not that the hammer costs $200, but there are two factors:

1) Unrealistically low budgets during the bidding process require funny receipts later. (I think this has decreased, as the Reagan era has gone by.)

2) If you request one hammer in November, you'll get 12 of them the following August. Because the US budget closes in the third quarter of the year, and nobody wants to come in under budget at the end of the year, or else they'll get less next time.

That's just hammers. When it comes to who is allowed to get all up in whose business? Bigger deal.

A friend unexpectedly arrived to the university. I hadn't seen her in forever. So we both ran out and had a really long really late really yummy lunch together and now I'm spoiling myself with actually catching up here. What a nice day this is turning out to be.

You pretty much need english, huh? Or do they translate it? I have no idea.

Here it's totally in English. It gets to the point where the only Hebrew words in the sentence are those connecting between all the English words that compose most of it. And some of the swearing that accompanies debugging is done in English as well (um, on top of Arabic. Hardly any of the Hebrew swearing is actually done in Hebrew).

msbelle, take care.

Zillow appears to be unaware of my neighborhood

Mine neither. "There are no homes at [my address]." Which could just be because it's an apartment building, but even when I put in the whole street (which does have a few single-family homes), it couldn't find any. Woe is me!

I had a post. It was about the tradition of having hubs to international areas. Blackberry ate it. Miami is one from the US to the Caribbean and S America, as Toronto functions for Canada. They're getting more diverse now, though.

Pain management kicked my ass. I may take a sick day. Who likes to go into the office after crying? Not me, for sure.