general life stuff

Yesterday I met Liza. She is cute! She's very sweet, very friendly, got beautiful eyes. Ever so snuggly. And the softest grey fur... :-)

There's a grey kitty that I and my housemates have seen at various times wandering around outside our place. I came home yesterday and she was strreched out on the boardwalk that leads from ym driveway to my door. After a bit of cajoling and cat-talk, I was able to persuade her to come over and let me pet her, at which point she didn't want me to stop! :-) I noticed she had lost some fur on her tail and that there were a couple of sores or scabs there. I went inside and asked M if she thought we should do something (the kitty didn't have a collar to say who, if anyone, she lived with). M and I agreed to consult C when she got home. C volunteered to go around and ask at various neighbors', so we snagged Miss Kitty and put her in a carrier with some food, and C started around the neighbors. Turns out kitty lives next door to us with our (sort of) newest neighbors (I don't count the people who live in Orthanc), is named Liza, and used to be an indoor cat. We returned her to her owner, who seems nice enough and who promised to get her acollar, but who really ought not to lett her out, given the foxes and racoons that live in our neighborhood.

After dinner, M and I played L5R (the Legend of the Five Rings card game) for the first time in months. It was ever so much fun. ( snipped for people not interested in games )

Tonight DC United is playing the LA Galaxy; I'm hoping that we can produce another win like last weekend, but maybe put a few more goals on the board. One is enough to win, but we need to be scoring more; a late-game slip in a 1-0 game can make the difference between a win and a tie (or even a loss!) I can't wait for Chiba Martins to get back in "healthy" squad; we're missing his size and speed up front.

Gay Marriage Is Risky. But Banning It Is Riskier.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/nj/rauch2004-05-19.htm

Thougtful and interesting piece. Thanks to chelona for pointing me to it.

Bosnia on the shores of the Mediterranean?

Israeli troops on a raid in southern Gaza have called for a mass surrender of male residents in part of the Rafah refugee camp.

Reports say army loudspeakers told males aged 16 or over in the Tel Sultan area to gather at a local school or risk demolition of their family homes.

from the BBC

Israelis fire on crowds in Gaza

Israeli troops have opened fire during a protest by Palestinian demonstrators in the town of Rafah in southern Gaza.

At least 10 people were killed and 60 injured, though some reports put the number of casualties higher.

The army expressed deep sorrow for the loss of innocent life, but said tanks and a helicopter had fired warning shots to stop crowds entering the area.

US President George W Bush called for restraint from both sides and said he had asked Israel for "clarification".

"It is essential that people respect innocent life in order for us to achieve peace," he said.

But Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called for international observers to protect his people, describing the events in Rafah as "atrocious crimes".

Reuters news agency quoted the UN special human rights envoy in the Palestinian territories, John Dugard, as saying that the strikes were "war crimes" and amounted to collective punishment violating humanitarian and international human rights law.

The Israeli military said it was too early to say exactly what had happened, although it suggested that explosives laid by Palestinians could have been responsible.

from the BBC