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Inappropriate Laughter...
...has been someting of a running theme today.
Back in December, part of my haul from winter-gift-giving-holiday was a dragonfly-motif votive candle holder. I thought it was pretty cool -- I love dragonflies, and I'm as into candles as the next pagan -- but I forgot all about it until today, when I needed something that turned out to be next to the candleholder and decided it was past time to take it out and use it.
It's sitting next to my potted palm and some tulips I picked up last week, and it's quite pretty.
A company called "Olde South Candle Company" made it, as well as the candle that came with the holder and which I lit. They have a website here, which I decided to check out not so much because the address was on the packaging, as...
Well, see...
I live in New England, so I'm of course familiar with Cape Cod Candles. (There's one in every mall in the area, so when I have to be in one, I either pass on the opposite side of the mall-median, or hold my breath so as not to be nauseated by the overpowering, sickly sweet blast of fragrances.) Naturally, I wondered what the deal was with this other candle company -- what made it "southern"?
On the package right next to the website address, it says, Made in China.
I don't normally buy stuff made in China, because China has a charming habit of arresting political dissidents and, while they're being held without charges or trial, forcing them to work in factory conditions manufacturing cheap junk for export. Not everything made in China is a product of this slave labour, of course, but it's impossible to tell which products are which.
So I see the Made in China legend, and, well, my immediate thought was: Made by slave labour, that's what makes this candle southern.
And laughed so hard my throat was sore afterwards.
Then I got online. My ISP, in what I'm sure it thinks is a service, displays headlines from USA Today.com -- "for fans of Fox New Channel who like to read!" -- when I first connect. (They used to give us NYTimes.com headlines, which actually was more helpful than not.) One of the two "news" headlines (the other categories are "sports," "money," "life" and "travel" -- two each, and they don't even differentiate regional, national and international) informed me that "Shiite militias control parts of three Iraqi cities."
The United States declared victory over Iraq a year ago, destroyed its military infrastructure and even much of its civilian infrastructure, minor things like schools, hospitals, water and power. Iraq's meagre caches of conventional weapons were seized or destroyed by U.S. occupation forces, and military strategists were hunted down and taken into custody. Yet mere months later, indignant, defiant Iraqis have managed to retake at least part of not one but three different cities at once?
Cue another bout of sick, helpless, spastic laughter.
You can read about how real U.S. control over Iraq currently isn't -- there are ongoing battles with Sunni combatants over other cities as well -- at the Radio Free Europe website, the Scotsman website (Scotland), the Globe and Mail website (Canada), the Khaleej Times Online website (United Arab Emirates), the People's Daily website (China), the CNN website, the Seattle Times website, the Washington Post website, the New York Times website, and the PBS website.
All news links ganked from Google's new Google News feature. Google continues to kick ass. Links to USA Today's and Fox News's sites not provided entirely on purpose.
ETA: While I was composing this post, various news sources began to report that the Iraqui militia forces have now taken control of two of those three cities.
Good for you, guys. Keep it up. If the Viet Cong could kick the American imperialists out of their country, so can you.
Back in December, part of my haul from winter-gift-giving-holiday was a dragonfly-motif votive candle holder. I thought it was pretty cool -- I love dragonflies, and I'm as into candles as the next pagan -- but I forgot all about it until today, when I needed something that turned out to be next to the candleholder and decided it was past time to take it out and use it.
It's sitting next to my potted palm and some tulips I picked up last week, and it's quite pretty.
A company called "Olde South Candle Company" made it, as well as the candle that came with the holder and which I lit. They have a website here, which I decided to check out not so much because the address was on the packaging, as...
Well, see...
I live in New England, so I'm of course familiar with Cape Cod Candles. (There's one in every mall in the area, so when I have to be in one, I either pass on the opposite side of the mall-median, or hold my breath so as not to be nauseated by the overpowering, sickly sweet blast of fragrances.) Naturally, I wondered what the deal was with this other candle company -- what made it "southern"?
On the package right next to the website address, it says, Made in China.
I don't normally buy stuff made in China, because China has a charming habit of arresting political dissidents and, while they're being held without charges or trial, forcing them to work in factory conditions manufacturing cheap junk for export. Not everything made in China is a product of this slave labour, of course, but it's impossible to tell which products are which.
So I see the Made in China legend, and, well, my immediate thought was: Made by slave labour, that's what makes this candle southern.
And laughed so hard my throat was sore afterwards.
Then I got online. My ISP, in what I'm sure it thinks is a service, displays headlines from USA Today.com -- "for fans of Fox New Channel who like to read!" -- when I first connect. (They used to give us NYTimes.com headlines, which actually was more helpful than not.) One of the two "news" headlines (the other categories are "sports," "money," "life" and "travel" -- two each, and they don't even differentiate regional, national and international) informed me that "Shiite militias control parts of three Iraqi cities."
The United States declared victory over Iraq a year ago, destroyed its military infrastructure and even much of its civilian infrastructure, minor things like schools, hospitals, water and power. Iraq's meagre caches of conventional weapons were seized or destroyed by U.S. occupation forces, and military strategists were hunted down and taken into custody. Yet mere months later, indignant, defiant Iraqis have managed to retake at least part of not one but three different cities at once?
Cue another bout of sick, helpless, spastic laughter.
You can read about how real U.S. control over Iraq currently isn't -- there are ongoing battles with Sunni combatants over other cities as well -- at the Radio Free Europe website, the Scotsman website (Scotland), the Globe and Mail website (Canada), the Khaleej Times Online website (United Arab Emirates), the People's Daily website (China), the CNN website, the Seattle Times website, the Washington Post website, the New York Times website, and the PBS website.
All news links ganked from Google's new Google News feature. Google continues to kick ass. Links to USA Today's and Fox News's sites not provided entirely on purpose.
ETA: While I was composing this post, various news sources began to report that the Iraqui militia forces have now taken control of two of those three cities.
Good for you, guys. Keep it up. If the Viet Cong could kick the American imperialists out of their country, so can you.