Odds and Ends and News as I see it

I love Mark Morford!

Jesus Bans 'Christian' Group
Shocking announcement sends militant Focus on the Family organization into crazed tailspin"

(I'm also embarrassed to say Focus on the Family is a client of ours)

Rock on! Dykes on Bikes(TM)

We are two countries separated by a common language:

UK:

'Narnia represents everything that is most hateful about religion'

Children won't get the Christian subtext, but unbelievers should keep a sickbag handy during Disney's new epic, writes Polly Toynbee

US:

C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was the product of a Great Britain that had just been through a war of survival. The story neither was about World War II, nor was it an allegory for it, and yet it was informed by the moral absolutes and challenges of the wartime period: There's the presence of darkest evil, which can't be avoided but must be faced head-on.

UK:

Officers involved in the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes on the Tube could face charges, it has emerged.

US:

One day after federal air marshals shot and killed an unarmed airplane passenger in Miami, Florida, the White House defended the marshals' actions.

Europe:

Ms Rice re-iterated that the US did not practise or condone torture, but said she could not rule out future abuse scandals.

"Will there be abuses of policy? That's entirely possible," Ms Rice said at a news conference.

"Just because you're a democracy it doesn't mean that you're perfect."

UK:

Secret evidence that might have been obtained by torture cannot be used against terror suspects in UK courts, the law lords have ruled.

The decision means the cases of eight detainees facing deportation are expected to be reconsidered by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission.

It is a victory for eight men who had been held without charge.

Vagabond or Have Red Robe, will Travel!

Ganked from beccak1961:

The places I've lived in my life so far, and approximations of duration.

Conceived: Vallejo, CA
Born: Blackfoot, ID (moved 7 weeks later)
Norfolk, VA (not sure how long)
Philadelphia, PA (not sure how long)
Norfolk, VA (again)
Anchorage AK, 1963-1964 From just before the holidays through the Good Friday Earthquake. Here is a photo of the Government Hill elementary school where my older cousin, Carol, went to kindergarten. We lived about six blocks from that school.
Washington D.C. 1964-1966
Long Beach, CA, 1966
Anchorage, AK 1966
Yokohama Japan Aug 1966-Feb 1969 (with a 3 month trip to Anchorage when my grandfather died)
Alameda, CA 1969
Washington DC/Springfield VA 1969-1971
Anchorage AK, 1971-1974: August of 1974 my father retired after 20 years with the Navy
San Diego, CA 1974
Commerce, TX 74-76
Marshall, TX 76-79
Denton, TX 79-83
Pilot Point, TX 83-84
Dallas, TX & London, UK 84-85
Corsicana, TX 85-86
Dallas, TX 86-87
Pocatello, ID 1988-89
Dallas 1989-1991
San Mateo, CA 1991
Palo Alto, CA 1991-1994
Oakland, CA 1994
Santa Clara,CA 1995-2003
New York, NY, 1998-2001 (as w/London I maintained two residences)
Oakland, CA 2003
Berkeley, CA 2003- present