We hear the word "hero" often, sometimes in reference to a baseball player who scored in the bottom of the ninth inning, a firefighter who rushed in when normal people were rushing out, etc., but today we must all stand and salute many, many people in Iraq. The candidates for office, those who ran the polling places on election day, and ordinary Iraqis who braved death to go vote have engaged in the bravest, most heroic activities a mortal human can endure.
The "insurgents" who attempted to stop the elections in Iraqi just don't get it. They don't want to get it. They want to force their world back to the Stone Age. Ultimately they will lose. They will lose because people want to be free.
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Friday, January 28, 2005
Wisdom of the ages
Yesterday I was in a storm and fog mood. Today is Friday, so it's time for a different view of the world. I'll share a few insights gleaned from experience (none are original - these are extracted from one of those e-mails that circulates through the universe):
Some days you are the pigeon; other days, you are the statue.
If you lend someone $20.00 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
Never buy a car you can't push.
Nobody cares if you can't dance well - just get up and dance.
The second mouse gets the cheese.
Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
A happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
The early worm gets eaten by the bird, so sleep late.
People are like crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty, and some are dull. Some have weird name and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
Some days you are the pigeon; other days, you are the statue.
If you lend someone $20.00 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
Never buy a car you can't push.
Nobody cares if you can't dance well - just get up and dance.
The second mouse gets the cheese.
Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
A happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
The early worm gets eaten by the bird, so sleep late.
People are like crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty, and some are dull. Some have weird name and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
Thursday, January 27, 2005
a few serious notes
Well, I haven't "blogged" in weeks and I am sitting here waiting for the rush hour traffic to thin out, so I have vented my spleen with three notes on dark and heavy subjects. Blame it on the weather or the time of the year. Next time around I'll brighten up.
Radical Islam, and Germany under the Third Reich
The explanation for why so many people of the Middle East hate the U.S. and supporters of Israel, and are willing to die while killing innocent people, runs along the following lines: They are poorly educated, live in poverty, see no hope for their own futures, hate Israel and the U.S. because they are outside the restaurant window looking at the feasting with their noses pressed up against the glass, and are fueled by religious teachings that promise Paradise if they go out in a blaze of glory.
Now, consider Hitler, Nazis, and Germans who willingly worked to exterminate Jews and conquer Poland and France: They were educated, did not live in the same sort of dirt-poor poverty, had reason to hope for their futures, and were not motivated by religious teachings that promised Paradise except for believers of the Christian faith.
You are thinking, but how about religious teachings to the effect that the Jews were the Christ-killers and deserved to die, coupled with the Nazi mind-set that the world conspired against Germany after World War I and the Jews were the chief conspirators? You are getting to my point, which is that human nature is fundamentally evil, malicious and destructive, and religion is fuel for the fire.
God, who turned us all loose to exercise free will, must weep daily.
Now, consider Hitler, Nazis, and Germans who willingly worked to exterminate Jews and conquer Poland and France: They were educated, did not live in the same sort of dirt-poor poverty, had reason to hope for their futures, and were not motivated by religious teachings that promised Paradise except for believers of the Christian faith.
You are thinking, but how about religious teachings to the effect that the Jews were the Christ-killers and deserved to die, coupled with the Nazi mind-set that the world conspired against Germany after World War I and the Jews were the chief conspirators? You are getting to my point, which is that human nature is fundamentally evil, malicious and destructive, and religion is fuel for the fire.
God, who turned us all loose to exercise free will, must weep daily.
abolish the death penalty
There is a TV show coming up soon that tells the stories of six people who were on death row but who were reprieved after their innocence was established.
Four of them were on death row in Florida.
Because I have no confidence that our criminal justice system will always convict the guilty while letting the innocent go free in every case, I no longer support the death penalty. Life imprisonment is bad enough for a crime you did not commit, but your hope of redemption ends forever when they throw the switch.
Four of them were on death row in Florida.
Because I have no confidence that our criminal justice system will always convict the guilty while letting the innocent go free in every case, I no longer support the death penalty. Life imprisonment is bad enough for a crime you did not commit, but your hope of redemption ends forever when they throw the switch.
China
For those who would like to believe that China is our friend because they see so many goods made in China sitting on the shelves of all the major retailers in the U.S., consider this news item today:
At least three people, including a woman in her 70s, were punched
They were among some 60 people who pinned white paper flowers
If you mourn the passing of Zhao, you must be an enemy of the state. This is something to remember the next time you are in Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, Home Depot, Target, and other stores where it is difficult to find a product not made in China.
China rounds up, beats mourners for deposed leader Zhao: witnesses
Thu Jan 27, 6:40 AM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - China has detained dozens of people, some of whom
Thu Jan 27, 6:40 AM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - China has detained dozens of people, some of whom
have been severely beaten, for trying to mark the death of former
leader Zhao Ziyang, witnesses said.
The allegations came as the government intensified security to
The allegations came as the government intensified security to
prevent mourners attending Saturday's funeral in Beijing for Zhao,
the former Communist Party secretary general purged for opposing
the 1989 military crackdown on the Tiananmen democracy movement.
At least three people, including a woman in her 70s, were punched
and manhandled by police officers outside the government offices
which receive complaints in the Chinese capital, witnesses said.
They were among some 60 people who pinned white paper flowers
to their clothes, a traditional Chinese symbol of mourning, said a
bystander who took pictures of the beatings and posted them on
overseas websites.
If you mourn the passing of Zhao, you must be an enemy of the state. This is something to remember the next time you are in Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, Home Depot, Target, and other stores where it is difficult to find a product not made in China.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Dear God, would you please cut it out?
God, we are told, has a sense of humor. If so, it is a macabre sense of humor evidenced by mean, nasty practical jokes being played on Planet Earth. . .or else His attention has been distracted by rebellious life forms on another planet in another galaxy far away.
It's been twelve years since Hurricane Andrew (seems like yesterday to Floridians), and since then we've endured (I mean "we" in the universal sense of all humanity) forest fires, floods, melting and shrinking polar caps, four hurricanes that pounded Florida in a matter of weeks, record snowfall in the Rockies accompanied by avalanches, huge boulders smashing down on an Interstate Highway in Colorado and a railroad line near the Utah border, a monster Tsunami in Asia that obliterated more than 200,000 innocent people according to the latest guesstimates, heavy rains and mudslides in California that killed 28 people at last count, a 110-foot-diameter sinkhole in Florida that swallowed an entire house and parts of neighboring houses. . .the list goes on. The latest piece of evidence that strange things are happening on Planet Earth comes from Venice, Italy:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/01/13/venice.reut/index.html
Dear God, if you read blogs like this one, would you kindly restore this planet to order? This is all driving us crazy, which is a short trip for many of us.
It's been twelve years since Hurricane Andrew (seems like yesterday to Floridians), and since then we've endured (I mean "we" in the universal sense of all humanity) forest fires, floods, melting and shrinking polar caps, four hurricanes that pounded Florida in a matter of weeks, record snowfall in the Rockies accompanied by avalanches, huge boulders smashing down on an Interstate Highway in Colorado and a railroad line near the Utah border, a monster Tsunami in Asia that obliterated more than 200,000 innocent people according to the latest guesstimates, heavy rains and mudslides in California that killed 28 people at last count, a 110-foot-diameter sinkhole in Florida that swallowed an entire house and parts of neighboring houses. . .the list goes on. The latest piece of evidence that strange things are happening on Planet Earth comes from Venice, Italy:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/01/13/venice.reut/index.html
Dear God, if you read blogs like this one, would you kindly restore this planet to order? This is all driving us crazy, which is a short trip for many of us.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
"TCO"
My New Year's Resolution for 2005 is very simple: T.C.O.
That stands for Throw Crap Out. My wife and I tend to be pack rats. I inherited the trait from my father who, although not as bad as I am, saved every one of his income tax returns from the 1940's onward. Nineteen years in the same house, a house with no basement and no attic, have generated a mountain of stuff in our garage. Some of that stuff is now history thanks to our kids, and more is destined to go out soon. This is true in my office as well, where an amazing pile of stuff has accumulated in four point five years. I'm discovering something that is liberating. Once you start moving crap out, you want to get rid of more of it. You begin to see floor space and table tops you haven't seen in a long time. Less does mean more. With less stuff sitting around I can find the few things I actually need because they aren't buried. Dang, I wish I'd discovered this sooner.
That stands for Throw Crap Out. My wife and I tend to be pack rats. I inherited the trait from my father who, although not as bad as I am, saved every one of his income tax returns from the 1940's onward. Nineteen years in the same house, a house with no basement and no attic, have generated a mountain of stuff in our garage. Some of that stuff is now history thanks to our kids, and more is destined to go out soon. This is true in my office as well, where an amazing pile of stuff has accumulated in four point five years. I'm discovering something that is liberating. Once you start moving crap out, you want to get rid of more of it. You begin to see floor space and table tops you haven't seen in a long time. Less does mean more. With less stuff sitting around I can find the few things I actually need because they aren't buried. Dang, I wish I'd discovered this sooner.
how to impress your son's fiancee
I haven't made an entry here since. . .oh. . .last year sometime, so it's time to get caught up. We had a great Christmas, with all four of our kids home plus our son's fiancee, who arrived the day after Christmas. In keeping with our desire to impress our prospective daughter-in-law, our heating system died, followed immediately by the dishwasher. On New Year's Day, my son and I contracted a touch of food poisoning, which is an effete way of saying we woke early upchucking. She participated in the Great Clean the Garage Project, which means she saw nineteen years worth of family "stuff" stacked up in no particular order, in what serves as a substitute for a basement in a Florida house. (She gets the credit for discovering my passport, which I knew was "around here somewhere.") The night before they left the clothes dryer croaked, leaving our son a small pile of wet tee-shirts for him to pack. They are still engaged, the last I heard. Good choice, Son.
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