General Blah Blah Blah and a Google Trend or Two

Today I went to Brooker Creek Preserve in Pinellas County. It's one of the few truly wild spots in this county that boasts being the most densely-populated county in the state of Florida. I went with my sister and niece. My niece is only two and a half, so we didn't get to stay very long. We did see some freaky spiders. They were huge. I don't like spiders, generally speaking, but these were pretty cool. They were far enough away that I could enjoy their beauty. If they were in my house or within arms reach, I would be shrieking like a banshee. But, these giant spiders reminded me of one of my favorite poems: "A Noiseless, Patient Spider" by Walt Whitman.

"A Noiseless, Patient Spider"
Walt Whitman

A NOISELESS, patient spider,
I mark’d, where, on a little promontory, it stood, isolated;
Mark’d how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding,
It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself;
Ever unreeling them—ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you, O my Soul, where you stand,
Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing,—seeking the spheres, to connect them;
Till the bridge you will need, be form’d—till the ductile anchor hold;
Till the gossamer thread you fling, catch somewhere, O my Soul.

Tomorrow night is the Perseid Meteor Shower. I am going to go outside and check that out. I have seen it in years past, but it was sort of cloudy. I didn't get to see much. I am hoping this year to get a really good view. I think Mars is supposed to be pretty visible, too. Perseid Showers is one of the Google Hot Trends for this evening, by the way.

This is mostly a big blah blah, not very cohesive blog tonight. Sorry about that. I'll try to do better tomorrow.w

Stacy's Take . . . Google Hot Trends at 8:08 PM on 8/9/2007

OK peeps. Here are my thoughts on what Google is tracking as the "hot keywords" this evening as of 8:08 PM.

Chris Ivery: I am not totally sure who this dude is, but I guess he is some sort of producer. Apparently he is marrying this chick, Ellen Pompeo. She is on Grey's Anatomy. I don't watch that show but from what I read, this chick plays Dr. Meredith. ANYWAY . . . the interesting new, yawn, for this story is 1) she and this Ivery dude are getting married, and 2) she comments on the way media focuses on irresponsible, spoiled rich girls behaving badly. She says it's wrong to focus on these spoiled, rich, irresponsible heiresses and starlets because it sets a bad example for the youth of today. Blah blah blah. We know.

The problem, though, isn't the media alone. Sure, they contribute. One of the problems is parents not instilling kids with a sense of responsibility and self-worth. The second problem is fame is the name of the game, sista! I mean, this broad gets press coverage for dissing the press. She gets quoted on FOX News for saying how crappy this young, party girls are. She is famous. And, for some reason, it seems every other girl in America wants to be famous too. I think fame is not all it's cracked up to be. But, who knows! There must be something to it.

Holy Cow . . . I'm Tired

Hey Peeps . . . I am way too tired to write about Google Hot Trends tonight. One cool one is the shuttle lift off. They sent a teacher up . . . this chick trained with Christa McAuliffe, the teacher that died during the Challenger explosion in 1986. It's nice that this teacher was able to live out that dream and reach the goal that Christa McAuliffe was aiming for.

Man, I am freaking tired. OK . . . have a great evening.

Google Trends -- Hot Trends on August 7, 2007 at 8:40 PM

OK, folks . . . here are a few Google Hot Trends that I thought would be interesting to chat about this evening.

Black Vault: So, check this out . . . this dude named Josh Greenwald has a unique website and, apparently, a whole lot of time on his hands. He runs a site called theblackvault.com. On this site he has made over 2,000 Freedom of Information Act requests, he claims, to the government to get information about UFOs. He takes the documentation he receives and scans it for posting on his website. He has some tips (click here to read the article) for any people interested in using the Freedom of Information Act to get documents and info from the government: don't be too vague and don't be too specific. Either case can be used to reject your request. He does have proof on his website that Area 51 exists. It comes in the form of a letter from the Department of Energy stating that Area 51 was annexed by the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1958 and is now part of Neville Air Force Base.

This guy has been doing this research since he was in high school in the 1990s. He has made this into his career. He is called on as a UFO expert, he produces documentaries on the subject, and does a weekly podcast. I say rock on! If I could take a hobby (obsession) and turn it into a career, well . . . that would be the bees knees!

Battle at Kruger: this is just a video that somebody took at Kruger National Park. It will be featured on ABC's i-Caught (the user-generated content show on ABC tonight). The video linked to this hot keyword is pretty cool. The life-death struggle of a baby water buffalo. First he is caught by lionesses. Next a crocodile is playing tug-of-war with the bison and the lionesses. Then the herd of water buffalo come and start beating the crap out of the lionesses. "Circle of Life" of life my butt on this scene. Simba would be toast if he tried to get in the mix with these water buffalo.

OK. That's all I feel like writing about. Peace out!

Google Trends -- Hot Trends on August 6, 2007 at 7:26 PM

OK. Here are a couple of the Hot Trends for this evening at 7:26 PM that I just have to share with you guys:

Wholesomewear: this keyword is marked as "en fuego." I only found one article, though, from the Washington Post that was published on July 14, 2006. I guess it's possible that people are only just now reading and ranting about it (there a several blog posts out there and one that was published an hour ago).

Here's the deal: WholesomeWear is for women who want a more modest swimsuit than what the mainstream department stores carry. When I say more modest, I mean just that. It's not quite the full coverage of the burquini, but it's comparable to swim wear circa 1920. In the Washington Post article, Joan Ferguson (sales director and mother of the owner of the company) considers the swim wear a Christian ministry.

Ummmmmm . . . yeah. I am a Christian, and I do agree that there are a lot of immodest swim suits out there, but I don't want to wear a freaking dress to swim in! That's ridiculous. How can you enjoy range of motion and ability to flit through the water when you have a heavy, wet dress to lug with you. That's ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is the fact that they don't offer "modest" wear for dudes. Hello! How come only women have to cover up? I think a guy in a Speedo, even a hot dude, can be much more disturbing that a chick in a bikini!

Caroline Giuliani: Oh snap, Rudy! Caroline Giuliani is a Barack Obama supporter. How would you like to know that your own daughter is not only supporting an adversary but a whole other party!?! She apparently had something posted on her Facebook profile that indicated that she is liberal and a member of a group called "Barack Obama (One million strong for Barack)." Her liberal leanings apparently began to circulate across the Internet. This morning at 6:01 am she removed herself from the Obama fan club, and after an article was posted on Slate.com, she removed her entire profile. I wonder if that was voluntary or an order from dad?

Google Trends -- Hot Trends on August 5, 2007 at 10:50 AM

For now, I am only going to write about one specific Hot Trend. I just have a lot to say about it.

Jesse Spielman
Jesse Spielman is one of the soldiers involved in the March 2006 rape and murder of a teenage girl in Iraq. Her parents and sister were also murdered. Spielman received the harshest sentence: 110 years in prison. He did not actually murder anyone himself, and he did not take part in the rape. He was considered guilty because they felt he acted as lookout and was fully aware of the plan prior to entering the family's home.

If this were something that happened in the United States or another country that is not war-torn, I would say nail this despicable jerk to the freaking wall. I would be enraged and disgusted. I think in some circumstances, rapists and pedophiles should receive the death penalty (although I have my misgivings about the death penalty -- so at least they should receive the harshest available sentence). But, since this happened in the middle of war, I feel uneasy. Not because I think what he did was right but because I wonder if we put somebody in a situation he wasn't ready for; therefore, we endangered a family and a poor, young girl.

Do I think he deserves punishment? By all means YES! Would he have allowed something like this under sane, civilized circumstances? I don't know. I think war does something to people and makes them something they aren't. That doesn't negate personal responsibility, but I think sometimes we can't fully understand what we would do in a situation because -- praise the Lord -- we never have to be in such horrible situations.

Granted, I don't know all the facts -- only what I read in the Washington Post online article. Just imagining myself in this guy's place makes me wonder what I would have done. Here's the scenario as I IMAGINE it. I stress "imagine it" because I don't know the facts. As I imagine it: you are in enemy territory with your fellow soldiers. They start doing DESPICABLE, HORRIBLE acts (I don't dispute the horror of what these men did). You have a choice: keep watch for enemies out to kill you, or do the harder thing and keep your fellow soldiers from committing these heinous acts. You keep them safe, and you are probably getting out alive. You leave the lookout post to try and save that family, and you leave yourself open to be killed either by the men you are serving with or the enemy you are fighting against. It takes guts to do the right thing. The right thing was definitely to help the family, but I understand that if you are stuck in a situation where you are in fear for your life, you may not do the right thing. The instinct for self preservation is strong.

It's easy for us to say that we would do the right thing. I think I would, but I don't know that for sure. I have never gone to war. One thing we do know, something happens to some people during war. They lose something that makes them human. According to Wikipedia.org, during World War II it's estimated that the Russian Army raped over 2,000,000 German women and girls. Yes, 2 million. An estimated 200,000 died as a result. They died from injuries, were murdered or committed suicide. It's hard to believe that every single man who participated in those atrocities would have been considered a horror under normal, civilized circumstances. I guess it's possible that they were all animals that had no feelings, that they were savages. But, is that probable? Rapes happen in every war. It's the big "screw you" to the nation that is being invaded. It's an insult to the men of the country. It's a way to drive the women and their families out. It's been happening since the Old Testament times. Doesn't mean it's right, but we shouldn't be surprised that it happens.

I am not excusing any of these actions, but I also think we some times create our own troubles. Jesse Spielman has to take responsibility for his lack of action in protecting that family and that girl. But, I also think we shouldn't be surprised when this stuff happens during war time.

One thing to make totally clear: I KNOW NOT ALL MEN WHO FIGHT IN WAR RAPE. There are so many noble, honorable men and women fighting in Iraq. I hate that these weak men who succumbed to animal savagery are even publicized as US soldiers. I respect and support the brave and good men and women who fight for our country. I thank you. You do what I could never do, and I appreciate you so much.

It's very sad. When I think of how scared that girl was as these men violated her and hurt her, I feel like crying. When I think of her family agonizing over this and being murdered, I am sickened. War or not, rape is an ugly, sickening, degrading crime. It's inexcusable.

I hope that this is not something that is happening on a larger scale than we realize. It's scary enough to be a woman in a civilized country. Rape happens everyday in the United States. I can't imagine what it must be like in a country that is in such strife.

Please say a prayer for our soldiers and the people they are protecting.