I know it was only on the 24^th the last time I said something, but I don't care.

Today is August 27^th at 3pm Central time - just three days later - and the number of Americans Killed in Iraq is now 974.  I am appalled by that number.  Further, nowhere in the headlines have I seen anything about this. 

Instead, we're consumed with What John Kerry did and didn't do in Vietnam and who's going to be unruly in NYC.  As always, I'm certain that they're waiting for the nice round sexy 1000 until it becomes news agains.

And, yes, yes, yes, I know, people die in wars and these soldiers volunteered and isn't the world better off without Saddam Hussein and blah, blah, blah .... Be that as it may, don't we owe it to these men and women to publically acknowledge them and publically mourn them and try to do everything we can to stop adding more people into their ranks?

Now, I know that numerous protesters are heading to New York to protest - that's not really what this is about.  All I can say about this article is, "by holding their convention in a city that overwhelmingly votes Democrat in presidential elections, did the Republicans expect anything less?"

Published on Wednesday, August 25, 2004 by the Associated Press

GOP Delegates Met With Anti-Bush Signs

by Sara Kugler

NEW YORK - In case their discontent isn't already clear, protesters are spelling it out. "Stop Bush Now" signs and other anti-GOP messages are appearing throughout the city well before delegates arrive for the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday.

Bright blue tarps, painted with glaring yellow letters, are going up on dozens of rooftops in Brooklyn, under the flight paths into busy New York airports. Thousands of delegates and convention guests peering down at the city might see messages like "No more years" and "Re-defeat Bush."

"We just hope that they'll look down and ask themselves, 'Why, why do they feel so strongly? Why is it that New York feels this way?'" said Genevieve Christy, who has painted more than 80 banners since thinking of the idea a few weeks ago.

The movement is so popular in her neighborhood that Christy, a 57-year-old consultant, is putting orders on a waiting list. She even brought supplies with her on vacation so she could keep working.

The banners and signs, Christy said, are a form of safe, silent protest that many New Yorkers prefer over the dozens of rallies planned throughout the week of the convention.

Five blocks from convention headquarters at Madison Square Garden, where President Bush is to be nominated Sept. 2, a 25-by-75-foot banner screams "Save America. Defeat Bush."

The sign hangs from the offices of the Unite Here union, which represents 440,000 workers from various industries, including hospitality, gaming and textiles.

It's not just the views from above that are being used. For months, protest groups have been slapping stickers and posters on subway platforms, train cars, traffic signs, park benches, light poles and anywhere else they can find space.

GOP convention spokesman Leonardo Alcivar did not return calls for comment.

One group, called the No RNC Poster Project, has printed tens of thousands of posters to distribute throughout the city. Other groups have created Web sites advocating their poster movements.

"Let no Republican look anywhere in this city without seeing our message," says one site, promoting an image of a black "W" inside a red circle with a slash through it. "Let's make the entire city our canvas and let the RNC know that they've grossly miscalculated their choice of venue."

Thomas Gallagher, a 35-year-old graphic artist, printed 3,000 fire-engine-red posters with white letters that proclaim, "World Says No to Bush." Hundreds have gone up in parts of Brooklyn and Queens and throughout Manhattan.

"The Republicans have made a huge mistake in coming here, so the idea of the signs was to get these up all over the place so you create a buzz ... that New York is not with them and does not support this candidate at all," Gallagher said.

Norman Isaacs, who owns a record store on Cooper Square in the East Village, was eager to send that message to Republicans who might wander by.

"Hopefully," Isaacs said, "they'll get the impression that not all of America is with them."

© Copyright 2004 Associated Press

I know that my last few posts have pretty much been on the same topic, but I don't care.  There are now 966 American Soldiers killed in Iraq.  Since the 'transfer of sovereignty' 57 days ago, 112 have died.  That is an average of 2 people per day and does not include Iraqis or any other nations' soldiers. 

The worst part about it is that the American media is too focused on Olympics and minutiae like who was and was not being shot at on the Mekong Delta in 1968 ....

Is that our priority?  Are dead soldiers not 'sexy' enough to rate being reported?  Are the news rooms waiting for a nice round number like 1000 before talking about it?  At the rate these men and women are dieing, that will be September 15^th.  But at least it they won't tarnish the Republican Convention or intrude upon our Labor Day picnics.

I just looked for an update and the death toll in Iraq has risen to 952 American Soldiers.

That number just horrifies me. 

The first anti-war protest I attended was in 2002.  I thought going to Iraq was wrong then.  I thought it was wrong last March.  I think it's wrong now.

I was just looking back a few posts and it was only 8 days ago that 932 American Soldiers had died in Iraq.  Now, a dozen more mean and women are dead.  The new death toll is 944.

On a related note, my brother was activated this past Sunday for a training period before being sent to Iraq for the second time.  He fought in the first was on Iraq - I really hope he can survive this second one as well.

In the mid-80's when I was a college student and just coming out, the American culture was not very supportive of gay people.  The AIDS hysteria was at it's height and it was still considered a 'gay' disease that many thought we deserved.  The military and federal gov't was still arguing that gay people are security threats.  The Moral Majority seemed to be everywhere.

Initially I became a gay activist.  I protested.  I wrote letters to politicians.  I did the things that I was 'supposed' to do as a good little liberal activist and encountered a lot of hate in the process.  After a couple years, I stopped being so politically active - many activists are too intense to be around ALL the time.  But since I had come out already I still encountered the hatred. 

It's easy to build up a tough exterior to keep all the bad things at bay.  It's much harder to look at the world without using the filter that exterior provides. 

I was astounded when the gay marriage debate flaired up.  How could we have moved forward so far that marriage is even on the mainstream political radar?  The sodomy law in Texas had just been invalidated the previous summer.

But, looking on CNN today, in response to the news about James McGreevey, (you know, NJ Governor resigning over having an affair with a man) CNN did a quickvote question asking whether or not people would vote for a gay politician.  Of 154,000 responses, 67% answered yes.

Now, I know that poll is not statistically valid as it's only the viewpoint of internet users (from whatever country) that read CNN.com and choose to participate.  That said, my filter tells me that 67% is astoundingly high even for that faux demographic.

Perhaps public opinion has actually changed.  Perhaps my Reagan-era opinions are obsolete.  Maybe social issues have continued to move forward and I just failed to notice.

I certainly hope so.

I've read various articles and commentaries about the Bush campaign only allowing people to hear political speeches if they are Republican party members and/or sign statements that they will vote for Bush/Cheney in November.  I've also read about keeping protestors far out of sight.

What I haven't seen are similar stories about the Kerry campaign.  (well, beyond the free speech concentration camp set up at the convention, that is ...)  So, I wonder if both parties are doing this and I just missed those articles or whether it's predominately a one sided thing.

As a secondary question, why are they doing this?  (other than the obvious desire to look on the evening news)  Isn't the whole purpose behind stumping around the country during a campaign to convince voters that your vision of the future is the one they should back?  Have we progressed to the point where it's more important for a candidate to look good for the media than for the people who actually want to hear what a candidate has to say?  Am I being old fashioned and naive?

Ok, talking about the weather may not be the most interesting form of small talk, but I’m going to do it anyway….

Yesterday evening I went outside and it felt chilly when the wind blew.  It was in the mid 70’s.  This morning, it was 62 when I left for work and I considered grabbing a jacket on my way out the door.  The average August temp in Dallas is 86 – there are often evenings that it’s still in the 80’s around midnight.

We reached a decision on what to do about my kitty.

To back up to last Friday, once Gilbert was done being mad about the cat peeing again and I was done being upset over him bitching at me, we had a very good conversation and sorted things out.  It comes down to this: 

Boris is getting old.  He’s beginning to show signs of an onset of a feline dementia which may or may not be a symptom of his hyper-thyroid condition.  From that, the vet thinks he’s developing separation anxiety and the peeing is just a manifestation of that.  Our choices, as we see them are to either lock him up at night and whenever we’re away or have someone stay home with him – neither of which is a good answer.

So, I found a no-kill shelter that has a program for geriatric cats that is willing to take him.  I’m surrendering him tonight.  Luckily, I will be able to visit him but I’m still entering a mourning period.  I cried last night as I cuddled him – I’m sure I’ll cry again tonight when I give him up.

I’ve had Boris since he was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand.  I’m going to miss him and I hope this is the best thing to do for him….

Geoffrey's Note:  This post has, by far, generated the highest number of comments of anything I've put in here this year.  I'm a big part of that by responding to comments - but, considering some of the political stuff I've posted, I'm surprised this one is the hot button issue .....

As of today, August 10, there have been 932 American Soldiers killed in Iraq.  The last time I mentioned the number of dead was on July 23^rd where the number was 906. 

At that time I was complaining about the average of 2 Americans killed each day since the alleged handover of sovereignty occurred.  Since then, 26 more Americans have died.  (this number is, of course, ignoring the non-American soldiers and civilians killed in the same period)  So, the average over the past 18 days is 'down' to 1.5.

That means only 3 American Soldiers have been killed every two days for the past 2 and a half weeks.  I'm not sure what is worse - that the dead keep mounting or that the mainstream media is more concerned with other matters.  What are they waiting for - the number of dead to hit a nice round number? 

Gilbert's pissed off at me.

The Cat peed on the sofa again.  (which has become a regular occurence)  I hate it too and I've tried the cat-away spray stuff, i've taken him to the doctor and learned about his hyper-thyroid condition .. but he's still doing it. 

I've tried everything the vet suggested and everything I could find online - now I'm out of ideas.

He's 15, has a hyper-thyroid and a urination problem so finding a new home would be difficult.  I don't want to take him to have him euthanized.  But I don't want him to argue about him anymore ....

I don't know what to do.

This was emailed to me without a proper by-line so it's either now part of the public domain, or I'm a plaigarist.  Either way, I felt free to rearrange it to follow my own preference .....

My  favorite is...

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama Bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." - George W. Bush, Sept. 13, 2001

"I don't know where he is. I have no idea, and I really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." - George W. Bush, March 13, 2002

George W. Bush - Steadfast in his Convictions

The next time someone criticizes John Kerry for being a flip-flopper, remind them that:

Thursday is typically Layoff day here at Ericsson.

Yesterday, (which was a Thursday) my boss came and got me for my semi-annual review (which I always hate doing - but that's not the point).  The guy that sits next to me saw us heading toward a conference room with a packet of papers.

His first thought was 'Oh, Shit!  They're getting rid of Geoffrey!'  Now part of me is flattered that he would be upset about me being let go.  More of me wishes I had scheduled Friday as a day off so that I could have left after the review and really got the office gossip churning.

I don't want to start a word of the day thing as that can quickly become pretty lame.  However, sometimes I just have to share new finds out of the treasure trove that is the English Language.  This may prove to be a better word than 'Wal-Martian' simply because I know more people that fit into this category and will be able to use it more often:

fauxhemian