I almost forgot! It’s Tummy Tuesday, and I promised you a shot of Gracie’s stitches. And these are the OLD ones, from the first operation.

I really don’t want to take another picture of her tummy as it is now. I can’t stand it. Can’t wait to have the staples removed, and can’t wait for her fur to grow back. My poor Gracie is a major ragamuffin kitty, and she isn’t supposed to be.

Gracie came to bed last night sometime after I fell asleep, and sometime during the night, decided that she’d rather sleep at the foot of the bed (her accustomed spot) than on my left side. But as she’s not her usual self, she didn’t leap over me as usual. She walked over me. I was sleeping on my side, and I felt the pitter-patter of little kitty feet walking down my hip and legs to get to the foot of the bed.

Made me smile.

She seems to be getting stronger. She’s resisting the pill and ear-goop more. Well, there are six more days of ear-goop and quite a long time of pills, but only ten days left of twice-a-day pills.

I got a few brief seconds of deep, throaty purr this morning. I can’t wait until those damned staples come out, so we can get back to our morning bellyrub.

The new UN Human Rights Council (known in this blog as the Human Wrongs Council) is holding its third session on Israel since its creation. In June.

GENEVA Nov 13, 2006 (AP)— The new U.N. Human Rights Council said it will hold a third special session Wednesday on Israel, focusing on alleged rights abuses in Gaza.

The council, created earlier this year to replace the highly politicized and much-maligned U.N. Human Rights Commission, has drawn fire from the United States for spending a great deal of time criticizing Israel. The U.S. is not a member of the body.

This week’s meeting in Geneva was requested by Bahrain and Pakistan on behalf of Arab and Muslim groups “to consider and take action on the gross human rights violations emanating from Israeli military incursions” in Gaza, the council said in a statement on Monday.

Buried deep at the end of this short piece is this information:

The U.N. top rights watchdog, which took over from the former Human Rights Commission in June, held two special sessions this summer to discuss an earlier Israeli offensive in Gaza and the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon.

U.S. officials say the council has made a slow and discouraging start and says it serves as a forum for political games.

Both those paragraphs should have been in the lead, where they’d show up in your local papers “International” section. The result of putting them down there is that only the first few paragraphs, which talk about how evil Israel is, show up. The anti-Israel media bias of the AP, as usual.

If the HRC has managed to talk about anything but Israel, it’s tough to find at their website. But it’s great to know the Dems want to remove John Bolton, the one man at the UN who tells them what a bunch of anti-Semitic creeps they really are.

Say, remember that weird numbness that put me in the hospital over the summer? Well, I had a follow-up visit with the neurologist, who had me get bloodwork done for every possible scenario up to and including Lyme’s disease, and the bloodwork came back—completely normal. So I can’t blame a low thyroid for my weight gain.

The facts are in: I gained weight this year because I ate more and exercised, well, not at all. The probable suspect of my numbness is now a pinched/aggravated nerve, possibly caused by the weight gain/lack of exercise.

The answer, of course, is diet and exercise.

Goddammit. There goes my last excuse.

I have figured out what I’m going to do for my birthday. I’m going to the rock climbing gym, suiting up, and hitting the walls.

It’s a start.

Hamas is not an intelligent organization. All they had to do was lie to the world about recognizing Israel, or at least pretending to, and the money would have come pouring back. But no, their hatred of the Jewish state in the midst of the Islamic “waqf” is unbearable. Reuters’s first report:

Nov 14, 2006 — GAZA (Reuters) - The governing Islamic militant group Hamas said on Tuesday the agenda of a proposed unity government would not recognize Israel or accept a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“We reject the two-state solution, which is the vision of U.S. President George Bush, because it represents a clear recognition of Israel,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told Reuters. “Our position in this regard remains unchanged. We reject joining in any government that recognizes Israel.”

And the one where they throw in the spin:

Nov 14, 2006 — GAZA (Reuters) - The ruling Islamic militant group Hamas said on Tuesday a planned Palestinian unity government would not recognize Israel or accept a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict.

Hamas’s stance could undercut Palestinian efforts to form a unity government acceptable to Israel and its closest ally, the United States, casting doubts on whether an eight-month-old Western economic boycott would be lifted.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the agenda of the proposed unity government between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction “will not recognize Israel and will not include accepting the two-state solution.”

“We reject the two-state solution, which is the vision of U.S. President George Bush, because it represents a clear recognition of Israel,” Barhoum said. “Our position in this regard remains unchanged. We reject joining in any government that recognizes Israel.”

“Casting doubts” on whether the boycott would end. Gee, ya think? If the world holds still to the demand that Hamas recognize, negotiate, and honor past agreements with Israel, I’d say Hamas saying they would never do any of the three might be a cause for doubt. And I’m not even a paid media pundit!

You know, the title “Caveman” on an email automatically kicks in my spam detector. But it was from some guy with a normal-sounding name, and I figured I’d take a look at it and see if it was legit.

This is what it said:

Hi Meryl. My name is John Lehr and I play one of the Geico cavemen. I saw on your site that you like the commercials. I’m doing two more but they haven’t aired yet. I think they should start running them in the next few weeks.

If you liked the cavemen spots, I think you might like ‘10 Items or Less’ which airs on TBS (yes TBS) this fall. I act, write and produce the show. I’m very proud of it so I’m trying to get the word out. Oh, and did I mention I’m Jewish?

Check www.johnlehr.com for more info.

Thanks,
john

Okay, now raise hands, other bloggers, who have ever gotten an email from a Geico caveman. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

And he’s funny. Check out his comedic lectures. “Tolerance” made me start my day with a laugh.

I got an email from a Geico caveman. That will be my meme for the day at work.