the Black and White cookie

There is a name for the L & O trademark sound, "ching-ching", which calls me to the TV.

ADA Serena Southerlyn (Elisabeth Rohm) outed Jack McCoy's "weird obsession with the clash."

ADA Serena Southerlyn outed herself as gay when DA Arthur Branch (Fred Dalton Thompson) fired her.

Wait for it, wait for it, there it is!  Lenny Briscoe delivers his wisecrack at the end of the "aftermath;" the aftermath is the opening clip before the opening credits.

Location managers aim to select for shooting based on what the scenes require.  They will select a "hub" to include a few city blocks.

The orig. Law & Order premiered 9/13/90, SVU premiered 9/20/99 and CI premiered 9/30/01, Crime & Punishment 6/1/02 - ended, Trial by Jury 3/3/05 - ended, Conviction 3/3/06 - currently ended.

Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) has experienced two ADAs being killed: Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy) & Alexandra Bourgia (Annie Parisse)

Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty) the ADA before Jack McCoy makes me think of the old miniseries Holocaust; I think that is why I dislike him.

Detective Partnerships: Max Greevey(George Dzundza) and Mike Logan(Chris Noth), Phil Cerreta(Paul Sorvino) and Mike Logan, Lennie Briscoe(Jerry Orbach) and Mike Logan, Lennie Briscoe and Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt), Lennie Briscoe and Ed Green(Jesse L. Martin) , Joe Fontana(Dennis Farina) and Ed Green, Joe Fontana and Nick Falco(Michael Imperioli), Joe Fontana and Ed Green*the only detective to return after a serious injury. 

Adam Schiff, the orig. DA, leaves to pursue war criminals.Lennie Briscoe's date of birth is January 2, 1940.

Steve Zirnkilton reads the opening lines, "In the criminal justice system…"

After Jerry Orbach's death my DH pointed out a newspaper picture of him in a store window near Columbus Circle, thus almost fulfilling my dream of walking by him on a NY street and nodding my head, saying "Hey," and having him respond in kind.

I know you stayed home today to watch Katie Couric farewell America for three hours; by the end I think you'd be cheering for her to get off the air already… forget about poverty/Iraq/NEWS… Katie's leaving!

Since you are so news savvy you have no doubt heard about the Unity 08 movement.  These guys were on the PBS newshour tonight & the website is interesting.  I don't know how this will really go down, at one point in the FAQs they answer the question "Do John McCain and Hillary Clinton know about this?" that got a giggle from me.  But it is an interesting idea.  If it did work they would be putting 1 dem 1 rep in the White House and the assumption is that would get things done, less of this party politics.  To me it would seem like the Congress would rebel as they recoil in shock, but that's probably just me. 

Too soon to tell, but I am interested to keep an eye on them. 

DH is living in the new house, the one I'm living in is over 100 years old.

It is hotter today in MI than it will be in GA, guess who has central air?  Air in their car?

Guess who has no painting to do….while I have four + rooms……

*end scene*

Thursday the Senate, those furthest out of touch with the common man, passed an (Anti)Immigration Bill.

This idea will either sink or sail on the back of the Pres…..if he endorses this it may be because he wants to look like he is getting something done.  This might really look good for Rep. in Congress.  No matter what happens I already know how I am voting.

What about his wall?

"Both the Senate and House versions of an immigration bill to keep unauthorized migrants out of the United States rely on the construction of hundreds of miles of new physical barriers, high-tech gadgetry and more manpower along the Southwestern border. But from Western Europe to the Far East, the evidence shows that anything short of complete militarization of borders will not deter illegal entry by determined, economically motivated migrants. Partial militarization only rechannels illegal migration, it doesn't reduce it overall. If the probability of apprehension isn't uniformly high, migrants will continue to cross in areas where risk of detection remains relatively low." latimes.com

The LA Times cites recent incidents in Spain as relevant to the type of anticipated reactions to such a wall.  But what if our building of this wall is more like what Hadrian built in England before the Roman Empire started to contract?

"By the time Hadrian became Emperor in 117 AD the Roman Empire had ceased to expand. Hadrian was concerned to consolidate his boundaries. He visited Britain in 122 AD, and ordered a wall to be built between the Solway Firth in the West and the River Tyne in the east "to separate Romans from Barbarians". AboutScotland.com

When nations build walls to protect their borders, are they officially on the decline?  America is the new Rome afterall.

Let me state for the record I did read the book, but long after the initial fanfare.  I am infact so cheap/lazy I did not go to the library, but waited for the publisher to bring it my local airport in paperback.  Consequently, the plot and some details are still fresh in my mind.

The DaVinci Code movie

Any religion that is so weak as to be worried that followers will believe in a book publisher as fiction should be worried I guess, but not for the right reasons. I find many of the theories put forward plausible.  Now, that many possibilities int hat combination & now we're talking about betting against the house! I do not believe the Bible should be read literally because, afterall, it has been written & rewritten by man.  I was shocked when at 19 I discovered there were other books to the Bible - Thomas?!?  So who's to say things have not been kept from Christians?  And it does stand to reason that someone had something to gain by doing this.  King James is rumored to have rewritten to give men more power over women.  Seems reasonable to me, if I had the power to do so I wonder what I would do……

Now, of course, it is fashionable to believe absolutely in The Bible.  I guess that's is why some politicians wrap themselves in such religious ideology, because those that follow any religion blindly might as well follow politicians blindly; quite a covettable demographic.  The Church, before Catholics and Martin Luther was an offshoot of Abraham.  The Church ruled Europe through the Middle Ages as a government.  Guess who else is an offshoot of Abraham? Islam and Judeism.  I love the fact that we are scandalized when Muslims or Jews defer to the religious rule of their countries, but we are so much better, we have "separtion of Church and State." (Does Bush know about this?)

 Religion aside, it is a movie… Based on a book you find under fiction…..Who cares if Dan Brown is now a "believer?"

I just love a good conspiracy theory!

If "nothing" is not an option what advice/encouragement would you give 7/8th graders?
I speak to the members of the National Junior Honor Society tonight & picked these things outta my quote book:

1. "…the will to excel is the thing that endures.  This quality is so much more important than the events that occur." Vince Lombarti
2. "I'd like to say that the quality of any man's life is a full measure of that man's personal committment to excellance and to victory, regardless of what field he may be in." Vince Lombardi
3. "If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem wonderful at all." Michelangelo
4. "People always talk about playing over your head when you are up against someone really good.  Maybe you don't play over your head at all.  Maybe it's just potential you never knew you had." Fran Tarkenton
5. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”Theodore Roosevelt
6. "Where will I be five years from now? I delight in not knowing.  That's one of the greatest things about life - it's a wonderful surprise."  Marlo Thomas
7. "Life is full of beginnings.  They occur every day and every hour to every person.  Most beginnings are small and appear insignificant, but in realit they are the most important things in life." (cannot find the credit for this - any help out there?)
8. Going to school doesn't make you a student anymore than going to the garage makes you a car. (I think I'll leve out the orig. wording of going to church doesn't make you a Christian)
9. We are morally responsible for every wrong we have the power to correct.
10. Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them.
11. "Of all the peoplle you will know in a lifetime, you are the only one you will never leave or lose.  Tot eh question of your life, you are the only answer.  To the problems of your life, you are the only solution."
12. "Achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you.  Success is being praised by others, and that's nice too, but not as important or satisfying.  Always aim for achievement and forget about success." Helen Hayes
13. "Part of the art of living is knowing how to compare yourself with the right person.  Dissastisfaction is often the result of unsuitable comparison."  Dr. Henrick Sobotra

I love all of these, cannot use them all (obvs.), but enjoy writing them out.  Any predictions on which/how many I will actually use?

The Al Gore film, An Inconvenient Truth, has me rethinking Gore; as are many other Americans.  The robotic Gore of the past, who invented the Internet, who was Clinton's B!tch, who was just The "un-Hillary" has had a personality transplant.  Tonight on PBS' Newshour a couple of things got me thinking about how differently I view Gore than back in the 2000 election.  And if this movie & publicity are making me think that, what's America thinking?

Gore waves off the requests to run again, but as pointed out on tonights news, what a brilliant strategy.  To be the UNpolitician is brilliant.  Gore could certainly beat someone currently with approval ratings near negative that he actually beat via the popular vote eight years ago couldn't he?

The last time I lived in Georgia I voted for Nader (c'mon, did you doubt how GA would go?).  If Gore ran this time I'd be tempted to check his box instead of writing someone in.

Put aside gender and race, for the moment.  How do you envision Americans movin' on up?  I thought I had a pretty clear picture of what needed to be done.  I really only had part of the picture it seems.

I was certain the work I needed to do was in education alone.  I never thought time would always be tough for me, I always assumed I was just starting at zero and any money I would encounter would be through my own toil.  In 1992 my father earned around $19,000.  This was noteworthy only because as I filled out my FAFSA for college my college cost just over $18,000.  Because I worked hard and I was starting out at a disadvantage I went to college for free, meaning I qualified for free money and all types of loans, but I took that as free - they couldn't stop me from showing up because of money. 

According to this NPR article, the four components of "class": income, education, occupation and wealth tell the rest of the story. While income can for the most part dictate occupation and income it does not guarantee wealth, which is the passing of "intergenerational money."  I thought about people I considered (relatively) 'rich' growing up.  Many of these people were not upper-middle/middle class because they lacked this component.  THink about the paradigm shift it takes to move from an 'eat-while-there's-food, spend-it-while-we-got-it, or let's-show-those-Jones' mentality.  I still struggle with spending money as fast as I can get it.  I still know the chances of a huge windfall of null, yet I have the most difficult time setting money aside for the future, let alone the next generation.

I wonder if it will be my children who need to take the next step forward on this.  Is my upbringing so permanently engrained in me that only my children, raised middle class, will be able to see their next step as now saving toward that intergeneration wealth to pass on?

"Class Mobility: Is the American Dream a Myth?" by Ed Gordon of NPR

TGIF at a local bar in the vicinity after work today.  I usually don't make it to these, but due to my margianlly single status & since the Doggy can't tell time, I showed up.

One of the guys I work with is in the Natioanl Guard.  I had mentioned how I am troubled by the dispropotional amount of poor & middle class in the armed forces and that I think that's why most politicians don't mind fighting the war, because their families are not involved in it.  This guys response was to bring back the draft.  Well I was sure that wouldn't work.  Do you really want gus next to you that don't want to be there?  He said he sure didn't want guys there that were solely motivated by money.  That's how it is lately when people join.  They join for the signing bonus; now let's see, which class is joining just for money…… Okay, he had my attention.  He said if there was a draft, it would be more (never perfect) even distribution throughout society.  Then more people would have to ask if this, or any, war was worth it.  And it wouldn't just mean poor to middle class young adults, but their young adults.  It would be a country wide cost analysis, instead of the President telling me it is worth the lives of the kids I grew up with & the kids I teach now.  I begain to think about this in another way that only beer provides, the rich & powerful in country never needed to be pursuaded to support the war, they didn't have the same human interest the low-middle class does.  We were spoonfed the propaganda, we were told to support the war for the troops, not to make this another vietnam.  Who was going to speak out against that??? *sigh*

Wouldn't that be something, to see a senator base a vote on his own son's life?  I bet there;d be a lot less war.  I think I'd be okay with a draft….

Things to do before I move:

1. paint three rooms downstairs
2. paint the entire upstairs
3. carpet the front two rooms
4. put in a tub (just shower for the past … so long)
5. clean/pack my classroom by 6/9
6. store my classroom stuff for awhile until I move at end of June/start of July
7. have a killer yard sale
8. transport some of my fav. plants to GA - - - shhh, don't tell DH
9. get tested for Allergies - needles!
10. watch all the Law & Orders I have on Tivo, but haven't watched yet.
11. learn to burn DVDs from my computer.
12. Get my desktop back up & running.
13. work on 'The Paper'