Boring Life

I spent half my day yesterday and today in the train. I will again tomorrow, the day after, and then on Monday. I haven't been so busy since I'm on vacation. My summer job ended, and I thought I would get some well deserved rest, but I just don't.

Anyway, being on the train all the time, I don't have time to check out the Internet, or write, since I don't own a laptop. My life therefore gets pretty boring, and the best part of my day today was getting a question I asked answered by Meg Cabot on her "Ask Meg" forums. She is one of my favorite authors, but still, that is pretty pathetic.

So, before I bore any of you to death, here is the quote of the day :

The saying "Getting there is half the fun" became obsolete with the advent of commercial airlines.
Henry J. Tillman

We could say the same about trains. Except trains don't have this tendency to crash in the middle of the ocean.

Bad Day

You know those days when, for no specific reason, you're feeling bad, tired tec? I'm having one of those days. No comment.
On a side note, I won't post for the ext two days, due to visiting my grandparents, who don't own a computer, so no Internet for me.

Quote of the day

The scientific name for an animal that doesn't either run from or fight its enemies is lunch.
Michael Friedman

The Meatrix Again

I sent the link to the Meatrix to many of my friends, inlcuding one whose father is a vet. She asked her father about more details, and here is what he had to say :

Becky,

They sure present it as everyone who eats meat, are really bad, stupid people. It isn't that simple.

Do you remember when we had chickens and biggest roosters would keep the rest of the hens and smaller roosters from eating and they would peck at each other? That is the way nature is. Our chickens were not overcrowded nor raised in bad conditions. But in an intensive raising facility they would have been debeaked them as day old chicks, so they wouldn't be able to peck at each other. Cannibals are what they are! The dominant male wants to control the group and reserve all breeding rights.

Yes, chickens and pigs are raised in small pens, which keep them fromhurting each other. Ventilation is good, or they will get pneumonia and die and that isn't profitable. Happiness is measured by rate of gain and production of eggs. If animals aren't healthy or content, they don't have the best production.

Antibiotics are fed to dairy cattle today for a specific reason. We recommend one called monesin. It is an ionophore (antibiotic) that isn't absorbed thru the stomach or intestine. But in a ruminate, it changes the bacteria populations that digest the forages in the ration in the rumen. It will inhibit some bacteria and encourage others, so the cow will have more 3-carbon structures available to absorb thru the rumen wall, which is healthier for the liver and the cow and encourages more milk. It also inhibits a endemic parasite that causes diarrhea called coccidia. Approved in the US for use, only after decades of studies to prove safety and efficacy. It is interesting to note that imported food products, have few or no rules as to products used in production. While this product was studied here, it was used internationally.

Free range animals as left to the forces of nature, won't produce enough protein to feed the world. Success in western culture has come because of the successes of American agriculture. We only spend 11 cents of the dollar on food, so we have lots of cash left for everything else.

I don't know of any factory farms, all of the farms locally are owned by families. They all have a human element.

Enough rambling?

I know nothing about this whole subject. I linked to the Meatrix, because it is, wether truth or lies, a really well done movie.

I know my friend Becky's Dad, and he's totally not a liar, and doesn't support any huge factory. He lives in southern Wisconsin, and belive, there are indeed not factory farms out there (or if there are, they're well hidden, since I have yet to see one, and I was there just a couple month ago).

So there. I'm not saying the Meatrix is telling lies, more like not the entire truth. As usual, the world is not entirely black and white, there are lots of shades of grey.

PS : and before you ask, I have no idea what the part with the ionophore was about. I gave up science class over a year ago, and I'm proud to say I managed to forget all I learned in that space of time.

Bad choices

This is what happens when politicians want to put their friends in high positions : they get caught when a bad disaster strikes.

You've got to love the NYTimes columnists. My favorite is Maureen Dowd, but you would have figured that out by the number of times I have linked (and will do it again) to one of her columns, but then I do that because I'm just as liberal as she is.

I don't really know what newspapers are more conservative. Could anybody tell me so I can try not to be so biaised?

Peaceful Dawn

This is a piece of Harry Potter fanfiction I wrote a few weeks ago. I thought any Harry Potter fans out there might enjoy it.

Disclaimer : Harry Potter and co. all belong to JK Rowling. I'm not making any money out of this story.

It wasn’t at all what he had imagined. He thought that after the victory, he would feel terrible about killing someone. He thought the Order would be counting its dead, and that there would be no rejoicing, just more funerals. He had been wondering how many of his friends he would bring to the grave. This wasn’t it at all.
The morning was peaceful. Just last night, he had found Nagini. She had been fourth on his list of Horcruxes to destroy before going after Voldemort. He hadn’t expected Voldemort to go after him right after finding his pet snake dead.
What Voldemort hadn’t counted on was that Harry had destroyed four other Horcruxes already, and that by that time, he was mortal again.
Voldemort had cornered Harry right when he arrived in Godric’s Hollow, where Ron and Hermione were waiting for him. Harry was exhausted and in no state to fight. He had thought he was over and done with, when Ron had managed to come behind Voldemort and kill him, just as dawn came. Voldemort had died as the day began, by the hand of Ron Weasley. It made sense to Harry, now. The prophecy was just that, a prophecy. It wasn’t the future, it was what people made of it. Harry had, in one sense, killed Voldemort by going after and destroying five Horcruxes. The final touch had been Ron’s.
Harry knew that the war wasn’t over yet, there were still too many Death Eaters at large, but he felt at rest when Hermione approached Voldemort’s body and confirmed that he was dead. Their part was over. The ministry could deal with the others.
Harry had one thing in mind, as the sun rose. There was one person he wanted to find.

***

Ginny Weasley was watching the sun rising. She had to get to work soon. Some people might think that working for her brothers would mean less hard work, but they obviously did not know Fred and George Weasley.
They had hired her when she told them she was bored beyond sanity at the Burrow. Hogwarts hadn’t re-opened for her sixth year, and since she was the only Weasley still underage, she was spending her days with her mother. There was only so much cleaning that could be done in a house inhabited by two people, which meant that Ginny spent her days with nothing to do.
The twins needed to hire someone. Their business being one of the few in the Wizarding world to extend in those times of darkness, extra help was very welcome. That was how Ginny had found herself working in Diagon Alley every morning for the past few months.
She had expected it to be more interesting. Working in a joke shop seemed like fun, but she discovered an entire new side of the twins, the one with which they had made Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes so successful. They were business driven, and made her work hard.
Ginny didn’t mind, though. It took her mind off things. She could stop wondering where Ron, Hermione and Harry were off to, for a few hours.
They had stopped a couple times at the shop, to get stuff she had no idea what they used for. It didn’t look at first as if Puking Pastilles would be of any use to kill Voldemort, but they seemed to think it did.
Those visits always overjoyed her. The Trio rarely came to the Burrow, it looked like they spent most of their time in Godric’s Hollow, or went off to places known only by them.
The first time they came, Harry had somehow managed to get Ginny alone and had kissed her senseless. He hadn’t talked to her after that, just smiled and left. She had spent the next month wondering whether it had really happened, when he came back and did the same thing all over again. Each of the Trio’s visits would finish with a wonderful snogfest.
She never really knew if she was angry at Harry or elated after those few minutes spent together. She just found herself waiting more and more for the next visit, when they would come back from wherever they had gone.
Ginny had been wondering exactly what they were doing, since they were supposed to be trying to kill Voldemort, but Tom Riddle seemed very much alive. She wanted the war to be over just like the next person, but even more because so many people she loved were deeply involved.
The sun was completely up. The sky had lost its pink, and there wasn’t a cloud to see for miles. The air was pure, and she could see the next town from her bed.
She moved away from the window to get dressed, and then get to work. There was something peaceful about that morning, and she was eager to get going.

***

Harry Potter arrived in Diagon Alley two hours after Voldemort’s death. The street was gloomy. Half the shops were closed. Harry felt shivers walking by Florean Fortescue’s, remembering the summer before third year, and all the free ice creams he got. He hoped that wherever Florean was now, he was happy that the war that had cost him his life was over.
People were walking fast, not yet knowing that there was much less to be afraid of. Hermione had sent a report only to the Ministry to announce the death, and where to find the body. They needed the Wizarding community to learn the good news as fast as possible, and they knew the Ministry would announce it faster than you could say Quidditch. Scrimgeour would take good news any day. The Minister wasn’t exactly popular at the moment.
Hermione and Ron had taken off for some alone time right after that. They needed to talk a lot, and hopefully, Harry thought, do more than that. Ron was shaken from killing someone, but had no regrets whatsoever.
The joke shop had just opened. Harry first noticed Ginny when he saw her red hair clashing with the purple and green window. He had been dreaming of that moment for months, the moment he would tell her it was all over.
She had been so mad when Hogwarts had closed before she could even sit for her O.W.L.s. She had been pretty angry when Harry, Ron and Hermione took off after Fleur and Bill’s wedding. However, no matter how mad she was, – and deserved to be – she hadn’t minded when he told her, in more actions than words, that she was still the one he was thinking about when he went to sleep at night.
Harry opened the locked door with his wand. Without turning around, Ginny said, “We’re not open yet. Please come back in ten minutes.”
Harry didn’t answer at first, waiting for her to move from her task. When she didn’t, he looked closer, and saw her tense up and slowly move her hand towards her wand. Idiot, he thought. She thinks I’m a Death Eater.
“Ginny,” he said simply, to calm her down.
She turned around suddenly. She took her time taking in his appearance. He still had some blood from Nagini on his cloak, his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, and he had dirt on his face from the moment Voldemort had cornered him. She smirked.
“Well, someone looks like shit.”
The sound of her voice was all it took. In a few strides, he covered the distance that separated them and kissed her.
It was very much like their first kiss, unexpected, but so much awaited. They kissed as if their lives depended on it, until they were rudely interrupted by George.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”
He had a huge smirk on his face that made it impossible to know whether he was thinking of endless teasing or simply just happy for them.
“Are you celebrating something?” Fred asked, joining his twin’s side.
“No,” Ginny answered, just as Harry said “Yes.”
She looked at him quizzically.
“Voldemort is dead,” he answered. “It’s all over.”
Fred, George and Ginny stayed quiet for a minute pondering this news. Harry watched them going form disbelief to realisation. Then, Ginny said, “You’re wrong, Harry. It’s not over.”
It was his turn to look at her quizzically.
“It’s only the beginning.”

Thank you to PythonBlossom for beta-ing!

Quote of the day

If you're holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time.
JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

9/11

I know I've linked to this blog before, but you really should check out today's entry. It's very sad, but represents excactly what happened four years ago.

I suppose everyone remeber where they were four yuears ago, and what they were doing.

I was at school when it happened, but I only found out about it when I came back home. My sister called and said "There was a terrorist attack in New York and Washington". Due to time changes, this was in the afternoon for me. I spent the rest of the day watching TV, not quite believing what I was seeing. I cried. I was thinking of all the people who had died, not having a clue why they died. I was shaking. I called my friend Stéphanie, and we spent half an hour wondering who could have done something so horrible.

Some idiots said that America deserved it, the same idiots who are saying the US doesn't deserve our help with Katrina today. That's all they are. Idiots. I may disagree with how the war on terror is lead, but I certainly don't disagree that we need a war on terror. The people who organized this need to face trial. Everyone who died that day, the one who died in the falling of the building, the ones who burned to death, the ones who jumped through the windows to escape the heat, the ones who went in there to help and were rewarded by dying, they deserve justice.

This is sad entry, but I needed to make it clear. When countries like France don't go on war with the US, it's not because we disagree on war on terror, it's because we disagree on how it's done. We've had terrorist attcks. We know what it is to be afraid to leave your home. We're on your side, believe me.

I love America...

... and it seems that despite websites such as the ones I linked to in the post"Getting Worried", America kind of likes us too. This is most likely politics, but it makes my heart a lot of good, after reading what French haters had to say about us.
It goes to show the diplomacy is not overrated.

The meatrix

Do you want to know what it is?

Quote of the day

Here is one of my all times favorite...

There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
Douglas Adams