What the hell happened?  Dementia?  Early Alzheimer's?

My husband suspects shame, that most of the women of my generation stayed stuck fearing and ashamed of their own sexuality, but it is so powerful at some points in our lives we cannot escape it.  Is this the case?

Now I'm afraid to leave the house because I may screw getting back in..

Lyle Denniston weighs in at ScotusBlog, writing:

One day before the fourth anniversary of its most important ruling during the government's "war on terrorism," the Supreme Court confirmed emphatically on Monday that it is not now inclined to further second-guess the government's detention policy.  Without one noted dissent, the Court turned down seven separate appeals by Guantanamo Bay prisoners, and refused to review an appeal by U.S. citizen Jose Padilla -- one of the best-known prisoners captured as a terrorism suspect, who was complaining of torture during his detention in a Navy brig.

The Court swiftly denied the Padilla case, on its first look, but it did not act hastily on the Guantanamo cases.   It had examined those repeatedly, very likely going over them one by one in search of possible issues it would find worthy of review, but apparently finding none.   The practical effect is that the D.C. Circuit Court now functions as the court of last resort for the 169 foreign nationals remaining at the U.S.-run military prison in Cuba, and that court has a well-established practice of overturning or delaying any release order issued by a federal judge, when the government objects.    One dissenting judge on that court has protested that the result is that there is very little left of the Supreme Court's historic ruling in Boumediene v. Bush, decided four years ago tomorrow and giving Guantanamo prisoners a legal right to challenge their continued captivity.

"Without one noted dissent" is what stood out for me.  I'm struggling to understand the unanimous nature of the denials, and coming up with nothing that makes sense.  

BTD: "I'm sort of back, but really not. Works is piled up on my desk."

(Sigh!) Something to look forward to.

Anyway, it's morning only in the technical sense, because it's 1:20 a.m. Tuesday and I'm having trouble sleeping.

We're in Nha Trang tonight, at the conclusion of the first leg of a road trip that will eventually take us to the Vietnamese royal capital of Hue. We spent this afternoon touring Cam Ranh, which one of Vietnam's two major deepwater port cities (Haiphong in the north being the other). Those of us who grew up with images of an Vietnam as a messed up war zone would be surprised to see the extent of development and modernization in the country. Amazing what a generation of peace does for a country.

Cam Ranh Bay itself is a beautiful place. It's actually two bays, one inner and one outer, and the inner bay is ringed almost 330 degrees by mountains and hills, with one opening to the ocean. This is also the place I've seen the most traditional sampans, fishing being a primary occupation for most villagers along the coasts.

There is also a lot of aquaculture going on here, prawns being the most common product. (One can wonder who benefits most -- the people who operate the prawn farms, or the egrets that hang out all over the place, looking for an easy meal.) Common, too, are the manmade salt flats, salt being another major product here.

One thing that surprised me was the fact that I saw my first large statue of Ho Chi Minh today, in Cam Ranh. Without a doubt, Ho's presence still permeates the country, given the extent to which he is clearly revered as the country's founding father, and one sees his photograph hanging on walls in a lot of places.

But it doesn't appear to be a traditional hagiographical revery, like I saw in the former Soviet Union in 1985, with statues of Nikolai Lenin on practically every third street corner, it seemed. The people's respect for Ho is more grounded. And while Vietnam is nominally a communist country, I've yet to see a single statue in the former South Vietnam. It remains to be seen whether that's the case up north. We'll see.

Tomorrow, we head to Montagnard country, the Central Highlands and Pleiku. I'm really looking forward to that, as this os arguably the most beautiful part of Vietnam.

Obama 263 Romney 240 Tied 35

Jerry Sandusky's defense team filed a motion Monday that asked permission for a psychologist to testify about histrionic personality disorder, a psychiatric disorder characterized by dramatic, emotional and attention-seeking behavior.

The former Penn State assistant football coach is charged with 52 criminal counts of sexual abuse involving 10 boys over a 15-year period. The motion was intended to discount the prosecution's argument that letters from Sandusky to the boys were not "grooming behavior" to lure them into an inappropriate sexual relationship.

The first witness in the trial, known as Victim No. 4, said the former coach sexually abused him and sent him "creepy love letters." The defense said a psychologist will explain that the "words, tones, requests and statements" made in the letter are consistent with a person who suffers from a histrionic personality disorder, according to the motion.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, defines people with the personality disorder as having an excessive need for approval and exhibit inappropriate seductive behavior. The condition usually begins in early adulthood, and people with the condition are usually dramatic, energetic and flirtatious. "Histrionic" is a term meaning "dramatic or theatrical."
According to Cleveland Clinic, people with the disorder usually have good social skills, but they tend to use those skills to manipulate others to make themselves the center of attention.

Maybe they'll get lucky and some Penn State fans on the jury will hang their hats on this when holding out for acquittal--if a judge allows the testimony.

And he is talking to his phone...and the phone is talking back.  He even asks for a joke and the phone cannot remember the punch line.

It this unintentionally and hysterically funny to anyone else but me?  Or a sad comment on society?  Bordering on Elder-abuse or what?!

In any case, I will never go into Verizon to purchase a phone that is my sole source of entertainment and conversation...and I don't think that is what the advertisement was shooting for!

~ an abused spouse with a gun feels threatened and kills their spouse?

~ a black guy with a gun feels threatened in a crowd of white guys and kills them?

(30) The term "passport" means any travel document issued by competent authority showing the bearer's origin, identity, and nationality if any, which is valid for the admission of the bearer into a foreign country.

If you're interested.