Get out of my house!

Things like this piss me off so bad, I cannot even think straight. Seriously, who the hell gave anybody rights to peep into a private citizen’s home when he is explicitly not doing anything criminal?

Smoking foes try to stop parents from lighting up-Metropolitan-The Washington Times, America’s Newspaper

Anti-smoking activists who are driving cigarettes from public places across the country are now targeting private homes — especially those with children.

Their efforts so far have contributed to regulations in three states — Maine, Oklahoma and Vermont — forbidding foster parents from smoking around children. Parental smoking also has become a critical point in some child-custody cases, including ones in Virginia and Maryland.

In a highly publicized Virginia case, a judge barred Caroline County resident Tamara Silvius from smoking around her children as a condition for child visitation.

As a parent, I understand smoking around kids is bad. My husband smokes, but he is only allowed to smoke in the yard and never around our son. That is something we decide for ourselves and we don’t need someone snooping around to make sure my husband is not smoking around our child.

Think about it - fatty food is bad for kids too. It makes them obese and condemns them to an extremely unhealthy life. Is the government going to levy fines on parents who feed their children bad food? Is the government going to feed the kids and force them to exercise every day since it is really all about the children ™? This is such lunacy, that I hope enough people get outraged with this stuff that they quit snooping on private citizens - especially when they are not doing anything remotely illegal.

Apprentice Finale

Trump is an asshole! He sucks to have out Randall on a spot like that since his lovable little Becky didn’t win the Apprenticeship. Man, I completely fail to see one merit in that woman except her irrational love for Toral. Since Trump couldn’t hire her without pissing off an entire contingent of TV audience who can clearly see Randall is heand and shoulders above Rebecca, he had to hire Randall and try to force him into hiring Rebecca too. What a horrible move! I am glad Randall stood up for himself and asked Trump to shove his Rebecca love where the sun don’t shine!

Update: Here is how I see it. Trump has been so in love with Rebecca that through the episode he was extremely careful to praise Randall and Rebecca - maybe, Rebecca more than Randall to the point that he was overtly pushing for Randall to submit and agree to have a co-winner. If I were Randall, the very fact that some one is trying force me to make a decision a certain way would be enough to piss me off to the point I will do the exact opposite, consequences be damned!

Feminism under the hijab

Here is a post at Feministe about the story of a “brave” little girl who loves wearing the hijab - Feministe - Consider the Hijab: Blogging Against Racism. Apparently she is a brave feminist since she chooses to wear it and the hijab is not “foisted” on her by anyone else. Here is some food for thought - what if you were brought up in a culture and by parents who believe you are a slut for exposing your head and the only way you can be a good, little girl is by wearing a hijab or a long skirt or a chador or whatever it is that makes you a non-entity covered up by shapeless wear…is that foisting?

Just because someone ingrains in your brain since childhood that you are supposed to do something just because you are a girl and you believe it, does that mean those ideas were not foisted on you by a patriarchy?

I love the spunk displayed by the girl in standing up for herself and applaud the fact that she seems to be a confident young woman. Does that mean from now on we take the wearing of a veil by a woman as a feminist trait since she is standing up to the “sexualized” society?

Again, before people start putting words in my mouth, I am not saying the girl is wrong in wearing her hijab or that there is anything wrong with her at all - all I am saying is that it is a little nuts to equate her perpetuance of something that has had a long history of subjugation and oppression towards women as a feminist statement.

Remember, a lot of women willingly sat on the pyres to be cremated along with their husbands during the Sati days - does that make them feminists since they are standing up to the god-less morons who believe burning women is wrong? A wrong is a wrong regardless of the society it is being done in and regardless of the person carrying it out. It is quite disheartening to see feminists fall in the familiar trap of multiculturalism and endorsing things they shouldn’t.

update: Here is Gaurav’s take on a similar issue that raises some interesting questions about free will or lack thereof.

Am I an old fogey?

Should I consider myself an old fogey if I am bothered by IM short-cut-speak over IMs?

Oh and here is something that happened while I was coming back from India. I had to open my carry-on bag in Bombay to be searched and the security lady trashed all my home-made chilli powder saying that it was illegal for me to carry it on the plane. Fair enough, right? I then walk into the duty-free shop to buy my friends some gifts and for sale is a cute combo-pack of curry powder/garam masala. I bought a bunch of those along with the teas for my friends and walk into the plane - as I got settled in, I try to read the list of ingredients on the curry powder and guess what? It is made with….chilly powder

Cafe Salmonella?

Wea re stuck in the ersatz elevator ;)
Althouse: Cocoliquot.

A cool new restaurant in Madison, specializing in small plates. A tiny coq au vin in a crepe. A little risotto. A cold (!) omelette. A trio of tiny soups. It’s very dark in here, and very stylish:

Somehow, the first thing that popped into my head when I read this Ann Althouse post - especially the part about “very dark and very stylish” - was Esme Squalor from Lemony Snicket’s “The Ersatz Elevator”. Remember darkness was in when the Baudelaire orphans first visit her and her extremely “in” cafe, the Salmonella… :)

I have been thinking of writing about the Lemony Snicket for a while now, so thanks Ann, for giving me an opening.

Anyone read the “Penultimate Peril” yet? My sister gave me and Amazon gift certificate for my last birthday that I bought the 11-book set with and thus started my journey into the miserable world of the Baudelaire orphans. I found the series funny, full of pop culture references and very engaging, if not a little repetetive. The biggest problem as I see it now with these books as compared to my Harry Potter collection is the “rereadability”. Every time there is a new HP book released, I read all the previous books to freshen up my mind about what happened so far. I love going back and reading those books. When I got the “Penultimate Peril” though, I thought of going back and reading “The Grim Grotto”, which was the 11th book and just could not get myself to do so. I guess the author’s warnings about how miserable the books are, are a bit true.