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Sunday, November 8th, 2009
toshibi
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9:44a
Sunday ~ ~ Patriotic
Statue of Daniel Webster, native of my home state of New Hampshire. With the House passing their bill and the health care debate now turning to the Senate, we could use someone like Webster to push through health care reform. Let's see if Mr. Reid and his crew can manage some similar level of success and not screw things up.
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(comment on this) Saturday, November 7th, 2009
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bitchphd
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9:41a
NO on Stupak
http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/2009/11/no-on-stupak.html Whose Leaning on Stupak? Is it Your Rep? RHRealityCheck.org
From RHRCheck:
The House will vote this morning on an amendment to the health reform bill that if passed will effectively ban private insurance plans from providing coverage for abortion care.
Where does your rep stand?
These Dems lean pro-choice but need shoring up. Click here to find your representative and tell them to vote no on Stupak.
Arcuri (D, NY-24)
Bean (D, IL-08)
Bishop, S. (D, GA-02)
Boswell (D, IA-03)
Butterfield (D, NC-01)
Cardoza (D, CA-18)
Chandler (D, KY-06)
Cooper (D, TN-05)
Costa (D, CA-20)
Doyle (D, PA-14)
Edwards, C. (D, TX-17)
Etheridge (D, NC-02)
Gordon (D, TN-06)
Kratovil (D, MD-01)
Langevin (D, RI-02)
McMahon (D, NY-13)
Michaud (D, ME-02)
Minnick (D, ID-01)
Neal (D, MA-02)
Nye (D, VA-02)
Obey (D, WI-07)
Owens (D, NY-23)
Ruppersberger (D, MD-02)
Ryan, T. (D, OH-17)
Salazar (D, CO-03)
Space (D, OH-18)
The Wonk Room reports they have the votes to pass Stupak so we have to shave off support; so even if your rep isn't on this list, send a message.
I know. It's Saturday. But what else you got to do?
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bitchphd
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7:52a
In the Name of the Most Merciful God
http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/2009/11/in-name-of-most-merciful-god.html 
We believe in God, and in that which has been sent down on us and sent down on Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac and Jacob, and the Tribes, and that which was given to Moses and Jesus and the Prophets, of their Lord; we make no division between any of them, and to Him we surrender.
-Chapter 2, verses 135-136, the Holy Koran
The splitters, the dividers, the haters, the impious and the blasphemers, the traitorous trolls are trying to exploit the Fort Hood outrage to turn Americans one against the other.
They will, of course, fail.
They know they will fail but, in the interval, they hope to subvert our national grief and turn it into something ugly, something filthy, something they can employ to deface our American people and make us as ugly as them. They want to shame our country but they only shame themselves.
I stand with the followers of Islam against the haters. I stand with the Muslims of our country against the liars. I will not tolerate any slanders against the Muslims of our country because that is a slander against our country.
With our Muslim countrymen and countrywomen, I pray for those lost and wounded at Fort Hood and for their friends and family. With them, I pray for our country.
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(comment on this) Friday, November 6th, 2009
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bitchphd
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9:33a
A Vacation From Unemployment
http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/2009/11/vacation-from-unemployment.html Well, we're coming up on the end of week three of my being unemployed, and so far I haven't managed to write a single blog post. I'm kind of sad that no one seems to be worried about me! But I'm fine. I could blame it on the fact that we don't have internet at home, which I'm waffling on whether we should get, but that's probably not the real reason. The real reason is that I'm unemployed, which is harder work than actually working.
But I'm taking a vacation from being unemployed today. No, today I'm not unemployed--I'm on vacation. Or taking a sick day. Whatever. Because yes, I am on my fucking period and my whole life I have wanted to be able to just take the day off on that dreaded Day One of menstruation where I am lethargic, bloated, tired, and writhing with cramps. But no, there has always been school or work or It's The Weekend And I Must Do Stuff. My last period Day One I had to spend the entire day packing and moving and trudging up and down the 3 flights of stairs to my old apartment approximately thirty times.
Today, my friends, I can take the day off. So far I have reorganized all the apps on my phone, deleted the ones I don't use and downloaded some new ones, and formulated plans to go to a fancy event at an art gallery alone tonight which I will probably end up not fulfulling because no one is counting on me and I am lazy. I have made eggs with the crumbly, salty Salvadoran cheese from the market up the street that I am currently obsessed with. Other than that, I have laid in bed. It is glorious.
This is the first time in my adult life that I've had both nothing to do and no prospects of having anything to do. Since age 18, I've gone from job to school to job and back again in an endless loop of productivity. But right now, there are no future plans for me except 1) I am going to California for Christmas; and 2) I am getting married in Wisconsin next August. Other than that, I've got nada. Zip. Zero. No job interviews, no social plans, no weekend visitors for whom I must prepare the house. No projects to complete, no papers to write, no briefs to file or status conferences to attend. No court dates. No lunch appointments.
But I still feel busy. Because I am unemployed, I feel like I must take care of everything else that is not working. I feel like I must plan the meals, I must do the shopping, I must assemble the IKEA bookcases, I must do the mountain of dishes that keeps on coming and coming and coming, I must do and fold the laundry. I must pay my bills on time and I must, above all, Take Care Of Business. Because there are no clients to call or meetings to keep or memoranda to draft, if I want to feel like I'm getting anything done I must always be sending faxes and sending out resumes and emailing people and networking and running errands of various kinds.
So yesterday I got my DC drivers license, which is unconscionably ugly, and got the car inspected. I did a huge shopping trip and bought a semi-boneless leg of lamb which I cooked up for dinner. I spent several hours trying to find a reasonably-priced flight to California (result: there are none). I certified my claim for unemployment benefits, which I will probably not receive because I worked for three days at a temp legal job which was well-paid and the most boring thing I have ever done. I wanted to lie about it, but papa don't play like that and I am not about to get in trouble. I made calls to the insurance company, the bank that owns my car, and the insurance company again. I filled out forms to get forbearance on my voluminous student loans. I filled out forms to try to get me and my dude admitted to the District of Columbia bar, which I'm really wondering if we're going to be able to do any time soon because it costs a fortune.
Are you bored yet? I am.
And then after all that there are the dishes, which will not stop coming. Seriously. How does a "family" of two produce so many goddamn dishes? Since I am unemployed and we have basically no money, our eating-out frequency has gone from very high to almost zero. Maybe things would be easier if I just fed us lean cuisines or sandwiches or something, but I can not bear to eat that crap and so everything we eat is a production made from scratch which dirties each and every one of the five pans we own.
I feel guilty. I feel guilty for not doing more. The house is still basically in shambles. We have way too much stuff and this apartment is pretty small (although gloriously delightful and in a fantastic location) so there is nowhere to put it. The dresser is overflowing with clothes, there are stacks of books on the floor. There are boxes everywhere, empty and full. We have no couch. And I have no idea where the next money I'll get will come from. But I feel like I should be doing Everything, because hey, I don't have a job. I am realizing that I would make a very, very poor housewife. I like cooking, but I like it in that "event" way, the way that dana says a lot of young men like to cook. I like cooking elaborate things that I have never cooked before. I like a challenge. I do not like things that are rote or routine or things that I am sure will not be a complete failure. I hate all other household chores that are not cooking, except maybe cleaning the bathroom because it is easy and satisfying and disgusting. I hate sitting at home wondering when my boyfriend will get home to entertain me. I hate feeling like I should only go places that I can walk to because why should I spend money on gas or the metro if I don't have to?
There are hardly any jobs. The job announcement pipeline is pretty hollow and echoey. I haven't heard about a position that interests me and that I'm qualified for in over a month. At this point, I'd be satisfied with some more temp work just to get some money in my bank account, but I have no idea whether that will come tomorrow or two months from now.
But I'm done whining. Today is my vacation day, and tomorrow I go back to the "work" of being unemployed. And really, it's good. My health is good. It is joyous beyond description to be back with my best friend and partner again, to share the banal moments of living, to wake up and chatter nonsense at eachother in the dark of morning, to stay up fighting late into the night, to fuck at noon on the weekend before brunch. I kind of like not having anywhere I have to be, and having time to reflect on my career and my goals. The fall weather in DC is beautiful and the trees are shocking colors of red and yellow.
So, it's good. But very different.
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(comment on this) Thursday, November 5th, 2009
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(comment on this) Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
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queenofhalves
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10:37a
any thoughts from parties more knowledgeable than me on recent studies suggesting that large daily doses of vitamin D reduce the incidence of illness?
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toshibi
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6:19a
Wednesday ~ ~ Set Sail
This will be the last pumpkin shot. I just thought it would be appropriate since nine years ago, Stacy and I set sail(literally and figuratively) when we boarded a boat, headed out into the Gulf Coast and tied the knot. Happy Anniversary Stac'.
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(comment on this) Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
bitchphd
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9:34a
An insider’s primer (or rant) on 'pork'
http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/2009/11/insiders-primer-or-rant-on-pork.html Work, as usual, is kicking my ass. Tomorrow I’m supposed to take the Metra train out to the end of the Milwaukee West line to pitch a conservative GOP congressman’s staffer on why they should include my organization on his list of projects for the FY11 fiscal year. It'll be my third such meeting in the past month - which means I’m submitting 3 proposals to 3 different congressional offices for earmarks. Yeah, I’m talking about pork!
When folks get upset about 'pork' it's really clear they have no frakking clue what it takes to get it. And when politicians get huffy about it, it makes me even angrier because they should freaking know better. (I'm talking to you, McCain!)
The whole process is a crap shoot - especially if you're not a hospital, museum, research facility, university or extremely loaded agency with juiced up board members and/or lobbyists or consultants. If you’re like my agency, you send someone like me to talk to a staffer, pitch your org, gauge their interest and then fire a short proposal into the air and if it lands, we all cross our fingers.
Because the process doesn’t stop there.
If you're lucky enough to actually get through the district staffer then you have to get through the DC staffer, who'll be creating the priority list for the congressman/senator to review and approve. And then, if you survive that round, you still might not make the final list submitted to the appropriations committee. (If you’re submitting in a competitive district then the office only wants to back up proposals that have a good chance of making it. And if the environment is hostile toward earmarks, staffers want to make sure they beat the odds. So your little bitty proposal is competing with hundreds, when the office only wants to submit four. Nice, huh?) If you make it onto the committee list you might have a chance of making it through to the omnibus bill, but it all depends on how the budget negotiations for that fiscal year proceed.
In other words, when you're not hooked up with a lobbyist or a personal connection to the elected official, if a little org like mine gets 'pork' it is a frakking miracle. And sheer luck.
But once you get it, you don't really 'get' it. The process shifts from being discretionary ('hey, they do good work and could use some support') to a formal grant process, with all the attendant headaches. Have you ever written a grant proposal for a federal agency? They are frakking long, complicated and onerous. Most human services agencies don't have the capacity to write one because it takes an experienced team to do one well. There are budgets, narratives, assurances, logic models, research, and metrics that have to be submitted. In other words, these congressional awards aren’t a walk in the park - they make you work for your pork. They want every staffer or dollar accounted for - if you say you're going to spend $87.50 for a brochure, at the end of the award year your expenses better damn well reflect $87.50 spent for a brochure.
If you survive the grant application process (which could take a while) then it needs to be reviewed by their legal and compliance folks, which takes even more time. Then, if you are up to muster, you finally become a contractor with the federal government. When it comes to pork, you don't just receive a fat check in the mail to do with what you will. They either disburse it in small chunks per quarter or you incur the initial cost of providing the service and they reimburse you for the expense - later.
There is nothing ‘easy’ about pork.
And don't even get me started on how long it takes for this process to roll out. If you're applying for the FY11 appropriations year, anticipate getting money in your hot little hand maybe 18-24 months after you submitted your proposal. That's FY13. Do you have any idea what that does to an organization’s budgeting and forecasting process? How can you plan/hire for that program when the means for that program won't exist for another 18-24 months? And how do you count that money? Is that included in your FY11 budget or the fiscal year of the receipt of the pork?
And?!? This is one-time money. That's it. One year of funding to pilot or support a program and then - poof! Gone. It's a lot of effort for brief relief.
On the other hand, it’s a lot of effort for a community org to get funding to provide services to needy populations. It can mean the birth or expansion of a program, the survival of staff and the strengthening of a community. That's the only payoff that makes pursuing pork worthwhile.
So don't talk to me about how pork is ‘evil’ until you’ve walked over the coals to get it. Grrr.
Ok. Work-rant over. Carry on.
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pleased
