Danielle

Quote from Ghandi, how applicable to our current war:

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?"

i was totally blown away by "300", and now i am officially obsessed with it. i went to see it a bit kicking and screaming, dragged by my boyfriend, and i walked out a convert. what a beautiful, epic tale, full of emotion and love, heroism, glory and myth. to me, it had everything you want in a movie. the visuals are so stylized, but you buy them in the opening scene and never look back. the love story is also incredible -- the king and his undying love for his beautiful queen. behind every great man is a great woman. between that and the abs, i'm going to go see it again in the theater.

ps, how sexy is Gerard Butler as King Leonidas?? Answer, i'm still having hot flashes.

tragedy, not travesty

I have to write a little post about one of my biggest pet peeves these days. Everyone seems to be using the word “travesty” when they really mean to use the word “tragedy.” I have been seeing this everywhere lately, and for some reason, it’s driving me nuts.

Here’s the Heritage Dictionary’s definition of the word travesty:

1. An exaggerated or grotesque imitation, such as a parody of a literary work.
2. A debased or grotesque likeness: a travesty of justice.

Here would be a correctly used sentence with the work travesty in it:

“The entire Iraq war was a *travesty* of justice, based on lies, greed and arrogance.”

However, here are some recent examples that I’ve read using the word travesty, when, in my opinion, what the speaker really meant to say was “tragedy.”

Valerie Plame Wilson, testifying before the House Committee:

Lives are literally at stake. Every single one of my former CIA colleagues, from my fellow covert officers to analysts to technical operations officers to even the secretaries, understand the vulnerabilities of our officers and recognize that the *travesty* of what happened to me could happen to them.

Doesn’t she mean tragedy? How is what happened to her a satirical farce?

When Justin Timberlake won Best Male Video at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, he said, accepting the award, that it was a "travesty" that Johnny Cash didn't win for his video "Hurt." Timberlake said he grew up listening to Johnny Cash and that he deserved the award.

Again, doesn’t he mean tragedy? How is Timberlake winning an award a parody of something?

I got this letter for the Sierra Club in the mail, and the opening paragraph said:

The Bush administration has proposed selling off 800,000 acres of our National Forests and public lands -- literally handing our forests to the highest bidder.

From coast to coast, this wholesale assault threatens our few remaining old-growth forests...the forests of the Southern Appalachian Mountains...the beautiful hardwood forests of the Great Lakes region...the San Juan National Forest in Colorado...the magnificent ponderosa forests in Arizona and New Mexico.

We need your immediate help to stop this terrible *travesty*.

??? Tragedy, right?

December 7, 2006


Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
United States Senate
476 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510


Dear Senator Clinton,

First of all, I would like to begin this letter by stating that you are one of my great personal heroes. I am 29 years old, and the first time I heard your name was when I was a freshman in high school and President Bill Clinton announced his candidacy for President. Throughout my formative high school and college years, you were undoubtedly a personal inspiration to me for a myriad of reasons. I always have felt that your values were in step with mine and I have always admired your outspokenness and integrity. I have a great respect for your many professional accomplishments, and I have often found myself using your early professional choices – especially how it seems that you let your passions and your heart guide you – as a yard-stick for the choices that I have made.


Lately, it seems that everyone is hounding you whether or not you are going to run for President. 10 years ago, I hoped that we would be here, and now we are. Even if you don’t run, the fact that you are the front runner is proof enough to me that my ideals and values – which I believe you represent – have a place in this country. If you do decide to run, I can’t help but think that I’ll pull out my checkbook, and volunteer my time and cell phone minutes to your campaign.


However, I also want to express another concern of mine that has been brewing for a period of time. I have found myself, like so many others, seduced by the junior senator from Illinois. Lately, I have found myself perusing youtube.com and Google videos and watching his interviews on Charlie Rose, on Meet the Press, or even Jay Leno and The Daily Show, etc. I have also been watching segments of you – for example on ABC’s Nightline (day on the campaign trail), CNN 9/11 5 years anniversary segment with Wolf Blitzer, etc. etc.


After watching so many segments of you and him in juxtaposition, I’ve realized that what personally strikes me as the most defining difference – broadly – between you and Obama is the difference of tone. Let me clarify. Both you and Obama talk about uniting the country. Obviously, everyone feels that bi-partisanship has hijacked the entire political debate, and more and more it seems that politicians seem overly reluctant to acknowledge common ground. While it is probably true that this distasteful trend in the political culture was started – or at least fuelled – by Gingrich, etc, and perfected by Rove, that doesn’t make it any less distasteful now. What I am admiring more and more about Obama is that he seems to take the higher ground. His tone seems always … always … conciliatory and respectful. In interview after interview, he never resorts to pettiness or slander. Even when he is critical of the Bush administration or the fiasco in Iraq, he is neither haughty nor patronizing.


While I think you have more experience than Obama, and your positions are more in line with mine that Obama’s, I can’t help but feel that when it comes to “uniting the country,” which very well may be the defining campaign issue of ‘08, he seems more willing to lend an ear to the conservative voices. He is willing to acknowledge that they are doing what they think is best for this country, even if it isn’t what he thinks is best for this country.

While I personally can’t stand Bush or his administration or what he has done for this country, and I even have my cynical suspicions that his/Cheney’s motivations are purely self-interested, I really admire the way that Obama gives him, and all conservatives for that matter, the benefit of the doubt. He doesn’t talk about them like they are idiots. He talks about them as if we are all good people even if we disagree. In that way, his voice is refreshing.

But back to you. What I am asking is simple. I want you to let other people sling the mud and I want you to be above it. While the administration deserves criticism, they were also voted into office by half the country and deserve some respect if only because of that. Sometimes I feel your contempt for Bush is written all over your face. Not that I don’t feel the same way, but as someone I admire, I want you to appear on television as the gracious and elegant woman that I know you are. I think the American people are exhausted by how petty politics has become, and most of all, I think we’re aching for a true Statesman to come into office and to make us proud to be American again. I believe you have the potential to be that Statesman, and I want to want to vote for you for President if that time comes.

All my respect,

Danielle Costa

THE MIDDLE CLASS IN AMERICA.

I believe that besides the war on terror, there are 2 major threats to the so called American Way of Life.

The first would be the slow degradation of the environment.

The second would be the slow dissolution of the American middle class.

It seems to me that the basics of what we would call "the american middle class lifestyle" is harder and harder to achieve. Can middle class americans still afford to buy a house, afford comprehensive health insurance, afford to send their children to good schools, and afford to retire at 65? It doesn't seem so .... The question is often raised, is the middle class being squeezed?

I think to start to answer this question, i would need to answer the following questions:

- What is the american middle class?
- Who is the american middle class?
- What was the american middle class before?
- What are the forces that are driving the socio-economic changes to the middle class?
- Was the idea of the america middle class merely ideology [insert Jimmy Stewart "It's a wonderful life"], but not based on the realities or statistics of the time?
- What are the lifestyle goals of the american middle class now? what did the goals used to be? Interesting and related quote from CNN that i read today: Vicky Markham, director of the Center for Environment and Population, said the United States has become a "supersize, metro-nation with a fast-growing population, and supersize appetites for housing, land and resource consumption."

So, today I ran across this article on bbc.com: "The CIA is running a network of secret prison facilities around the world to hold high-profile terror suspects, according to a US newspaper report. Such prisons are, or have been, located in Eastern Europe, Afghanistan and Thailand, the Washington Post claims."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4400728.stm

What's strange to me about this is that America seems to believe that we have a mandate to enter these countries and assume authority over foreign citizens. Granted, the article doesn't mention whether or not these "Overseas US Prisons" are sanctioned by their respected countries, but ... to me, at least, it feels like once again, we're overstepping any sort of respect for a foreign nation's sovereignty and autonomy.

It seems to me that what might end up being the most pertinent legacy of September 11th will be escalation of US authority, specifically Executive Authority. The Patriot Act, Invasion of Iraq without due reason, now Overseas US Prisons ... These are all examples of increased Executive Authority and increased disregard for foreign national sovereignty.

And, considering our ridiculous and inept president, this makes my stomach hurt.

i'm watching "born on the fourth of july" right now ... one of the netflix queue movies i signed up for while in the throes of oliver ...

of course it's a movie, and maybe an exaggeration, and maybe one man's point of view ... but since i was not alive in the 60s or for most of the 70s, i can only take these depictions of that time for what they're worth.

and what strikes me the most are both the similarities and the differences that the americans of those past generations have with my generation today.

certain things haven't changed. for one, the college educated left wing minority, generally still believe that war is wrong. period. that we are part of a larger humanity that is not determined by artificial boundaries and nationalities and that ultimately, these distinctions are at best meaningless and at worst potentially explosive.

that, by in large, those who support the war are more inclined to fall in line behind a common idealism, they believe that america is someplace unique and that our way of life is both at risk and worth dying for. some believe that god is on america's side.

and the differences.

the most striking difference, and i know i'm not the first to notice this, is that today, my generation is largely apathetic. we don't carry the flag, or burn it for that matter, and we certainly don't take to the streets. everyone says, just wait for the draft, but that seems unlikely in any event.

vietnam was fought in such a different era. there was a sense, i believe, that americans were up against a real threat -- a serious threat that would eradicate the fabric of life which we relied on. and there was also the precedent of the previous world wars -- those wars where right and wrong perhaps seemed more black and white then the right and wrong of terrorizing and shooting at civilians ...

vietnam changed everything for us.

my generation was brought up knowing that america was not infallible and that we had blundered in our past. there was no glory. we've all known about the horrific mistakes that we've made both individually and cumulatively.

we stopped believing that our leaders were statesman, and held them at best to be shakeable forgivable politicians. there's not much that shakes our way of life. yes, september 11th ... but that's all a cloud now ...

this war in iraq has nothing to do with september 11th. this war is about corporate agendas and consumerism. it's not about greater ideals.

what's happened to the conversation of greater ideals? that's what's different now ... then, they thought they were fighting for an ideal -- no matter which side they were on. now, i'd say we've lost hope in ideals, but the truth of the matter is that we never had them to begin with. i never had them. i don't believe that america is the greatest place on earth. i believe it's pretty fucking great place in the sense that my life is pretty fucking easy. but i don't think we're "right", just because we wrote a constitution. i really believe that fortune now lays in our bed, and one day, she won't anymore.

that's truth. that's life.

this entry, while not really funny, might be interesting to some.

i've recently had a little email exchange with an undergrad at U. of Hawaii that might be of use to other paper writers out there ...

-----------

From: University of Hawaii Undergrad
To: Danielle

hello danielle, my name is XXXXXX and i'm an undergrad out here in Hawaii. i'm doing a paper over the differences in german and japanese war guilt, and covering a different array of topics discussing it. i was wondering if you could tell me anything about the post war occupation and the deal with the government. i'm trying to make a case for arguement that the whole reason japanese government denies apologies for warcrimes and is so rightwing/conservative is because the same conservative leaders that were alive during the war (and perhaps involved in it) were voted into office post WWII. any bit of help would be phenomenal, thank you!

-----------

From: Danielle
To: University of Hawaii Undergrad

well, as you might know, the japanese people as a whole were shamed at the end of the war and accepted the american occupation as terms of their defeat. they were also very grateful to the american people for treating them well and to general mccarthur specifically. i think that both mccarthur in japan and marshall in germany realized that it was not in america's best interest to morally debase the populations of germany and japan, because it would only foster resentment and a possible reinstatement of nationalism. in other words, they weren't going to make the same mistake they had made in versailles after WWI.

that said, besides the war tribunals, overall the german people or the japanese people were not generally held accountable for their war atrocities. the leaders were persecuted, but civilians were not. this was part of a campaign to restore normality back to the countries as quickly as possible. also, you have to understand, the americans were primarily interested in rehabilitation and restoring economic trade (and dependency to american markets) first and foremost -- not delving in any witchhunts that would be overly costly and detrimental to their primary goals. the marshall plan was one such instrument for rehabilitation and maybe arguably for stimulating trade and dependency on american products.

getting back to your paper, as we know the germans have paid back israel, and war victims, but the japanese were even denying the existence of comfort women, even as late as 1995.

personally, i believe that the reason for this has probably more to do with the 2 different cultures. the germans are a confrontational bunch in general, and there is a history and precedent in germany of muck-racking and dissension. i think that the german people felt a responsibility towards the crimes that they had committed as a society and there was a cultural mandate to try to right the wrong.

in japan, on the other hand, there's much more of a reluctance to talk and deal with the bad things in life. i want to say that there's a japanese word for this, but i can't remember what it is. something about "pleasentness" or "nicities". i think that your argument that the japanese leaders who had been involved in the war were immediately re-elected and therefore unwilling to be held accountable for any wrong doings might be partially true, especially for the years that immediately followed the war. but when in the 1990s they were still denying their war crimes -- i think that has more to do with a societal propensity to turn a blind eye to issues. i mean, i remember once reading a report that "there was no AIDS in japan" -- another symptom of the same problem.

hope this helps,
danielle

-----------

From: University of Hawaii Undergrad
To: Danielle

words cannot explain how helpful your info is. thank you SO much. i have one more thing, i hope its not a bother. i am trying to make the argument in my paper/presentation that one key reason for the lack of guilt among the people of japanese culture and the emense guilt among german people is location and propaganda. in germany, the war was in the front yard and all around-the holocaust happened right in front of the people and nothing was done......as for japan, well, its an isolated nation. an island nation. the people only knew of what happened over seas through the biased media, saying how great they were when they actually were massacring a people (nanking). the battle was never at home, so they didnt feel any of the effects UNTIL the a-bomb.....thus a sense of victimage developed. does this make any sense? i'd try to be more clarevoyant but i have to run to class. what do you think about it? once again, your insight is marvelous and VERY appreciated...thank you danielle!

(^_^)---Aloha!

-----------

From: Danielle
To: University of Hawaii Undergrad


hmmm ... it's an interesting theory. alongside that theory, you could talk about how while the japanese victimized the koreans and the chinese, the germans victimized the germans. much closer to home, so to speak.

however, i'm not 100% sure that after the war, the germans had an open dialogue about what they had done. for example, my mother is german, and was born in 1943, and didn't even know what the holocaust was until 1963 when she went to england for the first time and a perfect stranger told her. she said that nobody had talked about it, and her parents had never mentioned anything to her. even though they had all lived through the war and it had been a big part of their life, they did not talk about everything. they were too ashamed.

likewise, i think that it's also true that people did not talk about it in japan either. however, i do remember seeing this amazing japanese film called "muddy river" that was about post war japan and some of the returning soldiers struggles with their conscience. in the movie, the father had just come back from china and was traumatized by what he had seen, and ashamed of what he had done in the name of japan. he also felt betrayed by the japanese government for largely ignoring their vets and not providing them any benefits or acknowledgments.

so, while by in large the germans did have their war crimes closer to their heart, that's not to say that they necessarily want to deal with it more than the japanese did. at least initially.

one thing you might consider as an explanation is the long japanese history of honor and valor in war in regard to the emperor. in WWII, the japanese were fighting in the name of the emperor -- their sun god, in the shinto religion. the soldiers were following the doctrines of Confucianism by honoring their paternal leader and they were in a way, acting nobly, regardless of their heinous acts.

on the other hand, the german people on the whole had a much different take on the nazis. of course, the nazis were the ruling party, but there were plenty of germans who did not necessarily support the nazis and even more who did not consider themselves nazis. in fact, when hitler first stormed the Hofbrauhaus in munich in the early 20s, he was generally mocked by the german media. eventually, he became the leader of germany, but it cannot be said that he had a cultural mandate, and it especially cannot be said that he had a spiritual mandate (like the emperor of japan).

in this sense, you could argue that the japanese people would have forgiven themselves their wrongdoings in the war easier than the germans would have. there is a history in japan of nobility of fighting for the emperor (bushido) and not the same kind of history in germany.

another factor could also be sense of nationalism in japan versus germany since WWII. i think that you could make a case that the japanese people in general have a stronger sense of national pride, and likewise, shame for japanese wrongdoings, than the germans do. this sense of national belonging is a big part of japanese culture, and has its roots in Confucianism. in a sense, you could make the argument that in japan, identity with a group is stronger than in germany. and, if that is the case, it would be harder for the japanese people to live up to the downfalls of their group than it would be for the germans. in fact, the germans may not individually identify with the actions of the nazis whereas the japanese might be more inclined to identify personally with the atrocities done in japan's name.

i think it's an interesting topic that you're tackling, which has led me to think about it a bit for you. (i also have some free time today which is a bit unusual).

hope this helps ...

danielle

i just wanted to point out to all those out there that "roque pine" means rock hard penis in french.

and it's also the name of the street that buf's on.

at the roque pine facility there are over 50 young 20-something men, working amongst especially attractive female coordinators and producers, stationed at computers all day (most likely porn surfing ...)

is this a coincidence ... or not???

we all know the drill ... waxing, shaving, plucking, squeezing ... these are all unfortunate parts of an american girl's uphill battle to stay hair-free. about a year ago, i decided to epilate.

what is this, you might ask?

it's a devise -- mine's made by braun -- that looks somewhat like an electrical razor, but actually is a series of tweezer that rotate along a spinning wheel and pluck your hair out by its roots.

i decided to start epilating when my good friend ken's mom suggested it to me. i had told her that shaving was irritating my legs and actually causing an outbreak of excema everywhere. she told me -- forget it! use an epilator. you only need to use it once a week, and after you've used it for several years, you won't get any hair growth at all on your legs.

this was all i needed to join the club.

i bought an epilator on amazon. don't try to find one in a store. they're not excessively popular. i soon found out why.

the first time i used it, i realized that i probably should've taken a painkiller first ... maybe heroin, maybe opium? something strong for sure. it felt like ... well, like each hair on my leg being ripped out one and a time, rather carelessly, by a spinning machete. i don't know really how i made it through the episode, but i'm sure it had something to do with the $60 i spend on the device that i didn't just want to throw out.

by the second time, it was already much better. it hurt, but i developed some techniques. like, if you grip your leg hard enough, you can substitute your attention to the pain of you fingernails, rather than the pain of the epilator. this is strangely effective. also, if you press the epilator hard down on your skin, it almost tickles / plucks you simultaneously, which gives you a kind of sadomasochist pleasure / pain thrill.

i'm proud to say that i've been epilating now for almost a year, and yes, i can say that my hair growth has subsided.

if you're considering epilating, know this: it will irritate your skin slightly less than a razor in the long term. also, you don't need to do it that often -- once a week is perfect. however, you will not have smooth hairless skin. you won't have much hair, but you won't be completely hairless. my leg hair is blonde, so it doesn't really bother me much.

overall, i'm happy with the device and will keep using it. i'm still holding out for the day when i "won't have any hair growth at all."

we'll see.

so, this morning, after my usual 4 shots of espresso on an empty stomach and a second cup of coffee at a morning meeting, lo and behold, i started to feel a growing knot in my tummy. now, like clockwork, i start overanalyzing the situation. immediately, i start wondering ... what is the cause for this anxiety? my job? the film? do i have cancer and don't knnow it? maybe it's the horrible war in iraq? all of these things start spinning in my mind and cause me distress.

then, 2 hours later, after lunch and a liter of water, i'm back to my normal state, staring out the window and happy as a clam.

oy veh.

so ... yesterday morning i woke up to the most heart breaking news. cheyenne calls me early and wakes me up and starts the conversation, "danielle, i have something to tell you. um ... i don't know how to tell you this, but ... have you had any news about your car?" my car. my beloved first car. "no," i groggily reply, "what's up?" "oh danielle," she answers. "i'm sorry."

she then proceeds to tell me that yesterday, she went to my apartment to pick up my mail, like she does every month. as she started weeding through the letters, and piecing together the whole tragic event, this is what she found out:

although i had left my car in a no permit, non restricted parking zone, at some point the city of LA set up a "temporary tow zone" (fucking film crews!!!!!), and towed my car on august 6th. on august 15th i got a letter from the tow company about its whereabouts. then, on august 20th, i got a letter from the department of transportation of LA city that they were going to auction my car on september 14th, at 10 AM. cheyenne read this piece of news on september 14th at 5 PM. 7 hours later. oh, those 7 hours. in a panic, cheyenne calls the tow company to find out if the car was still there. the guy at the desk says, "oh, the little white honda, huh. yup. that car is sold."

life's little -- or not so little -- tragedies.

i know that many of you think it's ironic that cheyenne had to break the news to me that my car had been impounded and auctioned off. how many people do you know who that's happneded to? well, now one.

one sad little one.

any suggestions for a replacement? i'm thinking a scion. aX.

*sniff*

so ... download a couple madonna songs off limewire, and bang, everything's a mess ... now iTunes crashes my system everytime it's on. this is a disaster!!

it seems like a memory problem, but why did this start all of a sudden? I guess the obvious thing would be to delete the files, but ... they took awhile to download and i'm too lazy to redo. and come on, the mp3s aren't gonna be trojans or something.


HELP!!!!


Later ...

ok -- it seems to be better? the medicine?

2 doses:
1) reset open firmware (reboot while holding command-option-o-f. at the prompt first type: reset-nvram. then: reset-all.)
2) i deleted my iTunes preferences file. when asked again, i opted NOT to have iTunes connect to the internet on launch. figured i'd keep the functions to the bare minimum.

before this summer, i never really realized quite how amorous and charming french men are. it can be quite bewildering to the innocent american girl, and i'm finding that it's all too easy to fall prey to their seductions ...

So ... yesterday, i fell into an old habit that started in college ... it's an old habit that especially comes out when i'm high ... i started defining things in my life in terms of trigonometry. in this case, it happens to be my current relationships ...

it started off when i thought about my *beloved* corey, and i realized, no matter what, we would always be (sin x). always. even when i think things have gotten better, it's just the upswing.

then, i got to thinking about chey. chey is really 1/2(sin x) + 1. we never really hit the negatives.

chamonix ... very little fluctuation there, she's kind of on an even steven upswing. so i think she's a y = .2x. Same with sherm.

ken's an interesting case ... over the years, we've definitely become closer ... but it seems to happen in spurts. therefore, .1(sin x + x). (sin is so handy!)

todd's clearly an inverse parabola ... i'd say -6x^2 + 6x. maybe - 4x^2 + 4x.

my other new relationships ... too soon to tell ... :)

by the way, except for chey, notice that all these graphs start at 0,0. of course, right, everyone when you meet them is at a neutral place.

check it out ... truly awesome ...

http://202.212.245.207/mov/trailer480.mov

thanks to josh for the link ...

"You can't walk and lick your feet at the same time!"

-- Pierre Buffin, Buf Companie

Q: How many PAs does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: Wait, we needed a lightbulb?

Q: How many stuntmen does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: 6. 1 to screw in the lightbulb, and 5 to tell him how awesome he looked.

Q: How many actors does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: 1. The actor holds the lightbulb, and the world revolves around him.

Q: How many grips does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: Not my department - ask electric.

Q. How many producers does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. What's wrong with the old one?

Q. How many teamsters does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. 10. 1 to do it, and 9 to stand around watching.

so, i've recently decided that yes indeed, deep down, i've always wanted to go to croatia. yes, croatia. now, this may surprise some of you because you probably think of croatia as this war-torn eastern european country, but actually, it's very beautiful from the pictures i've seen. and supposedly, all the marble from italy was imported from the pristine beaches of croatia. i'm flying in on the 6th of november by myself, and i'll travel for 3 weeks in croatia and a week in england visiting marianne and elizabeth and others ... i'll be back on the 4th of december. if any of you brits check this out, e-mail me and we can get together. :)

so ... maybe i was a bit optimistic when i thought i'd be better by today. but, an end is in sight. this crappy wisdom teeth experience maybe soon be over. i've had to go back to the dentist twice, just to have him check me out, and each time he's shoved this disgusting-tasting gauze down my left hole, but hopefully it'll prevent infection. i'm also taking antibiotics just in case.

friday, baby. friday will hopefully be steak day.