John Kerry’s boat buddies seem to be rallying against him. Apparently his Viet Nam stories are full of more holes then his plans for, well, just about anything else.
It turns out that the decorations he received during Viet Nam, that he is so proud and ready to throw in anybody’s face who isn’t tired of the mantra yet, were awarded under questionable circumstances. I won’t go into the details here, but it’s pretty much all over the talk shows and in the new book that is out called, “Unfit For Command”.
The Editorial Review in Amazon.com says, “The charges leveled against Kerry in this book are severe and include filing false operating reports; lobbying for and receiving three Purple Hearts for minor wounds, two of which were self-inflicted; receiving a Silver Star under false pretenses; offering false confessions of bogus war crimes in both print and testimony; and recklessness in the field, including the burning of a village without cause or direct order. The book also claims that Kerry left Vietnam after serving just four months instead of the usual one year tour and that he returned home and accused his fellow soldiers of atrocities without offering any evidence, endangering POWs in the process.”
John Kerry and the Democratic Party have tried everything possible to attack our current president. Most of these attacks seem childish and not worthy of a grade school playground, much less a presidential candidate. One such attack was to make fun of George W. Bush for joining the National Guard instead of going to Viet Nam.
It was a time when the draft was in effect. At a time when many men ran away to places like Canada to avoid their duty, George W. Bush and John Kerry both joined a separate arm of our defense forces. Kerry joined the Navy, went to Viet Nam and weaseled his way out early, this does not make him some big hero and George Bush not. At least Bush did not create bogus injuries to shirk his duty to his country.
It’s hilarious watching events heading toward this election unfold. Now John Kerry is agreeing with President Bush that knowing what he knows now he still supports President Bush’s actions concerning Iraq. So just what the heck does Kerry bring to the table in an offering to elect him? So far, I see nothing.
The funniest thing is listening to Liberals trying to defend John Kerry, or to try and make up some strange reason to hate George Bush. This comes out in shows like, “McEnroe”, which I’m embarrassed to admit that I watched tonight. It came on after "Dennis Miller", and I knew it was going to be Liberally-biased so I thought I’d see what the left side of the country was saying.
I can report that George Bush is probably a shoe-in for the upcoming election if this is all they have to go on. John McEnroe showed three pictures of President Bush, one in what appeared to be an Asian shirt, one as a cheerleader for Yale with the comment that he played for the team as a cheerleader, and finally a picture of the President picking his nose at a sports event.
Now, I don’t know about you, but if I had a camera on me 24/7 there would be times when I was possibly scratching, picking, or rubbing things that I would have been trying to do discreetly. Would this make him a bad president, or a human being?
Then McEnroe, the pillar of the tennis world by-the-way, shows a part of Bill Clinton’s speech at the Democratic Convention and declares, “Great speech by Bill Clinton last night don’t we agree?” The audience sort of clapped a little seemingly to humor McEnroe, but you could tell it was not a big agreement. John tries to cover by saying, “A lot of Republicans in the audience tonight”.
No John, Bill Clinton was a disgrace to the position of President and many people do not consider him a leader in any stretch of the imagination. He reminds me of a used car salesman, and I get pissed off knowing all the crap he pulled while in the office of President and he still remains in the public eye like he did nothing wrong.
It worries me that John Kerry not only has the same used car salesman act, but he performs it worse then Clinton did.
I’m not necessarily a Republican, Democrat, or any particular party affiliation. Heck, if the Democrats came up with a candidate that had great ideas and made sense I would consider them, but John Kerry is not that man. He is certainly not man enough to fill our current president’s shoes and take over the leadership role of this country at this time.
Is President Bush perfect? No. Are any of us? No.
When I see John Kerry I think of the Walt Disney movie that was made years ago starring Kurt Russell called, “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t”. At the moment we see him, but after November he will slink back into the undergrowth of politics where he came from.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
ON SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS
This article was sent to me in e-mail. It was written by LTC(RET) Dave Grossman, RANGER, Ph.D.,author of "On Killing."
It is an excellent analogy of how people are basically sheep, wolves, or sheepdogs. Sounds simple enough, but reading how it is all put into perspective from this point of view hits home.
Take it from a sheepdog, you should read this article to see where you fall in the flock of life.
And now, the article...
"Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for?" - William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997.
One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.
Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.
Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.
I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful? For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.
"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.
"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf."
If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed
Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids' schools.
But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.
The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.
Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa."
Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.
The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.
Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?
Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones.
Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.
There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population. There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.
Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.
Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, "Let's roll," which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business people and parents. -- from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.
"There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men." - Edmund Burke
Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn't have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.
If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.
For example, many officers carry their weapons in church? They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones.
I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, "I will never be caught without my gun in church." I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy's body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?"
Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for "heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids' school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them.
Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, "Do you have and idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?"
It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.
Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn't bring your gun, you didn't train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear, helplessness and horror at your moment of truth.
Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: "...denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying itisn't so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling."
Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level.
And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes.
If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself..."Baa."
This business of being a sheep or a sheepdog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other.
Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.
It is an excellent analogy of how people are basically sheep, wolves, or sheepdogs. Sounds simple enough, but reading how it is all put into perspective from this point of view hits home.
Take it from a sheepdog, you should read this article to see where you fall in the flock of life.
And now, the article...
"Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for?" - William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997.
One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.
Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.
Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.
I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful? For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.
"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.
"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf."
If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed
Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids' schools.
But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.
The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.
Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa."
Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.
The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.
Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?
Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones.
Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.
There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population. There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.
Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.
Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, "Let's roll," which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business people and parents. -- from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.
"There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men." - Edmund Burke
Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn't have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.
If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.
For example, many officers carry their weapons in church? They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones.
I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, "I will never be caught without my gun in church." I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy's body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?"
Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for "heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids' school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them.
Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, "Do you have and idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?"
It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.
Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn't bring your gun, you didn't train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear, helplessness and horror at your moment of truth.
Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: "...denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying itisn't so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling."
Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level.
And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes.
If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself..."Baa."
This business of being a sheep or a sheepdog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other.
Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.
Flying Deer
Today started like any other day on the road for work.
Some of you know my job often has me driving all over the Northwestern part of the United States, through the mountains and valleys, near the lakes and the streams.
When I began this day, I never would have thought that I would have seen something that I had never seen before, and will more then likely never see again. I saw a flying deer.
No, this is not an article about Santa’s reindeer, nor is it fictional. For those of you who now doubt my word, I can offer my friend who was traveling with me at the time as proof. He witnessed this event as well. It was a spectacle that left us both gasping in disbelief.
Okay, enough misdirection. As you may have guessed by now, the deer was flying because it was struck by a car.
While heading from the Canadian border toward the little town of Curlew Washington, we were following a car and as we rounded a corner we saw something fly up and over the car and land on the opposite side of the road.
I’ll spare you more details of the incident, because it is obviously a sad thing to watch occur.
We stopped to check and see if the family that was in the car was alright. Luckily, nobody was injured but they were understandably shaken up a bit.
Heading closer to home we entered the blast zone of high winds (apparently about 70 mph). Visibility was low due to the amount of dirt in the air, and the wind apparently snapped and toppled trees, sparked fires, downed power lines and just generally created havoc throughout the Spokane Washington area.
We were fortunate that it seems all of our trees have survived the storm intact, and the trash cans were not yet placed outside for their Tuesday morning pickup.
Tonight we’re surrounded by strong winds, lightening, and rain. We went from 95 degrees to 71 degrees as I write this (11:30PM).
There are times we go about our daily lives ignoring nature, and then there are days like today were nature pops up and demands to be acknowledged.
As my daughter and I brought in the cushions from our patio furniture, I noticed that the back of the house is covered with a variety of spiders. We have been doing battle with spiders in the house too. We now have 10 spider traps placed throughout the bottom two floors of our home.
There is nothing more unnerving then watching a quarter-sized spider cruise across your floor while you’re watching television. While smacking one of these big brutes the other night as he crawled along my fireplace brickwork, he jumped on my hand and ran up my arm before he fell on the carpet. I am not normally afraid of spiders, but that gave me the heebie jeebies!
With the storm, fires, power outages, and spiders, it seems only natural that this day also included a flying deer. This night I will pay tribute to Mother Nature. Today I was reminded that we are not the rulers of the Earth; we are merely living here in concert with a variety of other creatures.
Some of you know my job often has me driving all over the Northwestern part of the United States, through the mountains and valleys, near the lakes and the streams.
When I began this day, I never would have thought that I would have seen something that I had never seen before, and will more then likely never see again. I saw a flying deer.
No, this is not an article about Santa’s reindeer, nor is it fictional. For those of you who now doubt my word, I can offer my friend who was traveling with me at the time as proof. He witnessed this event as well. It was a spectacle that left us both gasping in disbelief.
Okay, enough misdirection. As you may have guessed by now, the deer was flying because it was struck by a car.
While heading from the Canadian border toward the little town of Curlew Washington, we were following a car and as we rounded a corner we saw something fly up and over the car and land on the opposite side of the road.
I’ll spare you more details of the incident, because it is obviously a sad thing to watch occur.
We stopped to check and see if the family that was in the car was alright. Luckily, nobody was injured but they were understandably shaken up a bit.
Heading closer to home we entered the blast zone of high winds (apparently about 70 mph). Visibility was low due to the amount of dirt in the air, and the wind apparently snapped and toppled trees, sparked fires, downed power lines and just generally created havoc throughout the Spokane Washington area.
We were fortunate that it seems all of our trees have survived the storm intact, and the trash cans were not yet placed outside for their Tuesday morning pickup.
Tonight we’re surrounded by strong winds, lightening, and rain. We went from 95 degrees to 71 degrees as I write this (11:30PM).
There are times we go about our daily lives ignoring nature, and then there are days like today were nature pops up and demands to be acknowledged.
As my daughter and I brought in the cushions from our patio furniture, I noticed that the back of the house is covered with a variety of spiders. We have been doing battle with spiders in the house too. We now have 10 spider traps placed throughout the bottom two floors of our home.
There is nothing more unnerving then watching a quarter-sized spider cruise across your floor while you’re watching television. While smacking one of these big brutes the other night as he crawled along my fireplace brickwork, he jumped on my hand and ran up my arm before he fell on the carpet. I am not normally afraid of spiders, but that gave me the heebie jeebies!
With the storm, fires, power outages, and spiders, it seems only natural that this day also included a flying deer. This night I will pay tribute to Mother Nature. Today I was reminded that we are not the rulers of the Earth; we are merely living here in concert with a variety of other creatures.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Supermarket Etiquette
Life here in the handbasket always provides me with a rich source of stories that I can share with you all.
Sometimes I wonder if I will ever run out of things to write about, and then some event happens through the course of the day and…ta da!
We’re getting used to not having to stand in line at the checkout for most stores these days, because they seem to be very proactive when it comes to maintaining short wait times. After all, they know that if you have to stand in line for 20 minutes while your milk sours and your frozen foods become naught, you will probably be finding someplace else to shop.
My tale begins while standing in an unusually long line at Albertsons.
The lady in front of me is reading one of the impulse magazines while waiting for her turn to checkout. Her little girl is swinging on the candy bar-filled “closed” rack that can be used to shut down a checkout line, and her son is playing some hand-held Gameboy device. The son, in between rounds on the Gameboy, was running from isle to isle, grabbing handfuls of candy bars and other health foods and tossing them in the basket.
Once the belt became free for her to start placing her groceries onto it, she bends over slightly and picks up one item, and slowly places it on the belt. While she is performing this ballet move, she has not taken her nose out of the magazine.
Obviously it was a good article, because she repeated this maneuver over and over as her items moved down the belt like an episode from “I Love Lucy” where her and Ethel were working in the chocolate factory. One piece at a time.
Now the checkout lady was watching her since she had a line of folks and this lady was slowing her down, as she had to wait for each item to make it to her little scanning device.
Finally, we thought relief was on the way when she backed up, still reading I might add, and let her son load the groceries on the little belt.
You know how they say you set the example for your children? Her son began placing items, one at a time, onto the belt while playing on his Gameboy.
The rest of us in line began sharing those looks that people do when you all want to just scream at someone, but you’re being polite. Have you ever just felt like yelling at the top of your lungs, “Oh c’mon lady!”?
Apparently she had finished the article, because she had reached back and placed the magazine back in the rack. No wonder she did not want to stop, she had no intention of purchasing the magazine, she just wanted to read it all in the store.
As the cart emptied out, I noticed an empty can of Cherry Pepsi sitting on that little seat where kids sit. I can only surmise that one of this carefree group drank it while in the store and did not include it in their purchase. You know the type. The people you see grazing on things in the produce isle.
By this time, checkout lady was trying to get their now empty basket pushed through the walkway so they could start loading it up on the other side. Which was great because they had just left it between the conveyor belt device and me.
Her focus finally on the matter at hand, this lady was intently watching the total as the last pieces of her groceries made the conveyor journey. Can you guess what happened next? That’s right, she exclaims in a surprised voice, “Oh, this is going over $200”.
With a great show of patience, the checkout lady began removing items so that the total would make it under $200. Since she had a limited budget, why on Earth did she just sit there and watch her kids throw armloads of candy into her basket?
I’m sure many of you have been in the situation where you did not have enough money to pay for something and had to go through the “put it back” scenario. This was not really what made this situation amusing. The amusing part was the entire series of events, and watching it all unfold right in front of me like a well rehearsed sitcom.
The scary thing is that this lady goes forth from the grocery store and functions every day, all day long, just like this. I can’t imagine her dealing with driving.
Most people in the front of a very long line will show a sense of urgency. Most people who know they only have a certain amount to spend at the grocery store would not just throw tons of extra stuff in their cart. Most people would be controlling their kids at least a little.
This was my shopping experience last night.
Sunday I take off for Baltimore, MD for a week, and I can almost guarantee that I will have things to share with you from my trip.
Sometimes I wonder if I will ever run out of things to write about, and then some event happens through the course of the day and…ta da!
We’re getting used to not having to stand in line at the checkout for most stores these days, because they seem to be very proactive when it comes to maintaining short wait times. After all, they know that if you have to stand in line for 20 minutes while your milk sours and your frozen foods become naught, you will probably be finding someplace else to shop.
My tale begins while standing in an unusually long line at Albertsons.
The lady in front of me is reading one of the impulse magazines while waiting for her turn to checkout. Her little girl is swinging on the candy bar-filled “closed” rack that can be used to shut down a checkout line, and her son is playing some hand-held Gameboy device. The son, in between rounds on the Gameboy, was running from isle to isle, grabbing handfuls of candy bars and other health foods and tossing them in the basket.
Once the belt became free for her to start placing her groceries onto it, she bends over slightly and picks up one item, and slowly places it on the belt. While she is performing this ballet move, she has not taken her nose out of the magazine.
Obviously it was a good article, because she repeated this maneuver over and over as her items moved down the belt like an episode from “I Love Lucy” where her and Ethel were working in the chocolate factory. One piece at a time.
Now the checkout lady was watching her since she had a line of folks and this lady was slowing her down, as she had to wait for each item to make it to her little scanning device.
Finally, we thought relief was on the way when she backed up, still reading I might add, and let her son load the groceries on the little belt.
You know how they say you set the example for your children? Her son began placing items, one at a time, onto the belt while playing on his Gameboy.
The rest of us in line began sharing those looks that people do when you all want to just scream at someone, but you’re being polite. Have you ever just felt like yelling at the top of your lungs, “Oh c’mon lady!”?
Apparently she had finished the article, because she had reached back and placed the magazine back in the rack. No wonder she did not want to stop, she had no intention of purchasing the magazine, she just wanted to read it all in the store.
As the cart emptied out, I noticed an empty can of Cherry Pepsi sitting on that little seat where kids sit. I can only surmise that one of this carefree group drank it while in the store and did not include it in their purchase. You know the type. The people you see grazing on things in the produce isle.
By this time, checkout lady was trying to get their now empty basket pushed through the walkway so they could start loading it up on the other side. Which was great because they had just left it between the conveyor belt device and me.
Her focus finally on the matter at hand, this lady was intently watching the total as the last pieces of her groceries made the conveyor journey. Can you guess what happened next? That’s right, she exclaims in a surprised voice, “Oh, this is going over $200”.
With a great show of patience, the checkout lady began removing items so that the total would make it under $200. Since she had a limited budget, why on Earth did she just sit there and watch her kids throw armloads of candy into her basket?
I’m sure many of you have been in the situation where you did not have enough money to pay for something and had to go through the “put it back” scenario. This was not really what made this situation amusing. The amusing part was the entire series of events, and watching it all unfold right in front of me like a well rehearsed sitcom.
The scary thing is that this lady goes forth from the grocery store and functions every day, all day long, just like this. I can’t imagine her dealing with driving.
Most people in the front of a very long line will show a sense of urgency. Most people who know they only have a certain amount to spend at the grocery store would not just throw tons of extra stuff in their cart. Most people would be controlling their kids at least a little.
This was my shopping experience last night.
Sunday I take off for Baltimore, MD for a week, and I can almost guarantee that I will have things to share with you from my trip.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Big Whoopi
Let’s get something out in the open before I begin.
I think everyone is a fair target for comedians, and I for one love to laugh at not only political figures, but movie stars and all manner of people that are representative in our society.
Sure some jokes may be rude, crude, and socially unacceptable, but funny is funny. I firmly believe that everyone needs to lighten up now and then, and yes, even laugh at themselves!
One day at work I was working on some computer systems at the Canadian border. I was wearing some Eddie Bauer jeans (which I will never buy again I might add), when they ripped down the inseam of the leg. I have since had several pair of these type of jeans all rip near the same location. Other jeans do not do this, so I figure it’s a weakness in the Eddie Bauer jeans.
So there I was, a long way from home, with my leg split from hip to knee on the inside. What could I do? The guy I was working with and I had a great laugh. Heck, we even stopped on the way home to get a bite to eat at a small gas station. Again, more laughs were had at my expense, but it was truly funny! A bit embarrassing, but funny.
Now I admit when jokes are purposely told to be hurtful, then there is a limit. For example, surrounding someone and making fun of them merely to get a reaction directly from them is in bad form. This is more along the lines of teasing rather then telling jokes.
Apparently, the other day at a John Kerry fund raiser, Whoopi Goldberg and some others were poking fun at the current administration. I feel this is perfectly okay to do. After all, what would a comedian tell jokes about if the politicians are off limits.
What makes this a different situation is that Whoopi is also a spokesperson for Slim-Fast. It sounds as though, in the course of the roasting of our current president, Whoopi made some poor choices during her performance. The obvious association with our presidents last name and female body parts did not go unmentioned.
I’m hearing people complain that Whoopi’s right to freedom of speech has been infringed upon, or that this was somehow a racial thing (don’t you get sick of that one?).
Slim-Fast was merely making a business decision, not a political one. When a company hires someone to represent them there is always certain expectations. If a spokesperson goes nuts, or in this case, says things that are not appropriate for the customers, a company has the right to once again evaluate that persons usefulness as a representative for their product.
In Whoopi’s defense she says, "I've done material on every president in the past 20 years, from Reagan to Carter, from Clinton to Bush. I have used portions of the material I did at the fund-raiser in shows, speeches and even on national television and it seems now that people from the other side are using this to further their own agenda,"
Many spokespersons have probably done many things they are not too proud of, or that might get them fired if word got out, or someone made a big deal about it. The point here is that a big deal has been made of her “material” and the public was not impressed.
Slim-Fast knew what they were getting when they hired a comedian to represent them, and I think they really didn’t care what she did during her various acts. The problem came when she chose a very high-profile forum at which to perform her material.
If Janet Jackson would have had her “wardrobe malfunction” in a different venue other then on television at the Superbowl halftime, there would not have been such a backlash in her case either.
Some good can come of these things though. Just like in Aesop’s Fables, these tales have a moral. Do what you want, but in the end, you are the only one responsible for your actions.
If you’re a comedian, tell your jokes about the president in nightclubs and places were people go to laugh about irreverent topics. I would suggest you don’t go to the Whitehouse to deliver that same material. Using that same line of thinking, don’t go to a political rally, where you know your actions will be watched closely and criticized, and then rudely berate our current president.
You know, many of us have just about had enough of the constant lying by the democratic party about the current administration. I get so sick of hearing all of the accusations for which not one drop of any credibility or evidence is brought out, just accusations after accusation. It reminds me of a school yard bully who says, “Oh yeah, well you pick your nose and eat it!”
Okay, that was gross, but you get the idea. If I actually read a decent article outlying ANYTHING that President Bush had done illegal, or morally wrong, then I might consider the wind being blown from the opposition.
When I hear a democrat say they hate Bush, and then when asked why they hate him, they have no answers! Zero! They have no idea; they just spew forth the comment like that alone makes it true!
John Kerry is such a whiney butt that I can’t stand it. He waffles back and forth on important topics depending on who he is talking to at the time, and I love this picture of him with Jane Fonda protesting the Viet Nam war. You remember Hanoi Jane don’t you?
Now I’m not one to hold a generational grudge on someone like Jane Fonda, but many people will go to their grave hating this woman for what she did long ago. How do you think these folks will enjoy seeing Jane Fonda and John Kerry together protesting the war?
John Kerry thanked Whoopi and the rest of the celebrity acts and said they, "conveyed the heart and soul of our country."
In the typical waffling Kerry fashion, the Democratic Party refused to release footage of the event so that the people of this country could hear for themselves what Kerry thinks their hearts and souls conveyed.
When I make a decision, no matter what the audience is, I stick by that decision. My decisions are not always correct, but at least I admit that! Sometimes more frequently then I care to. I just wish Kerry would do the same and he wouldn’t look like such an idiot.
The Democratic Party is always so quick to say people should apologize to the country for remarks and actions made, how about a big fat apology from Kerry for the poor choice of material from the entertainers at his fund raiser?
Just as I thought, the answer would be a “no”.
Now I’ve gone and spun completely off the subject, but I had to get that off my mind as well tonight. The picture just bugged me that bad.
Be careful what you do in the public forum, because if it’s dumb enough, someone may just bring it back up to haunt you at a later date. John Kerry is finding this out the hard way.
I think everyone is a fair target for comedians, and I for one love to laugh at not only political figures, but movie stars and all manner of people that are representative in our society.
Sure some jokes may be rude, crude, and socially unacceptable, but funny is funny. I firmly believe that everyone needs to lighten up now and then, and yes, even laugh at themselves!
One day at work I was working on some computer systems at the Canadian border. I was wearing some Eddie Bauer jeans (which I will never buy again I might add), when they ripped down the inseam of the leg. I have since had several pair of these type of jeans all rip near the same location. Other jeans do not do this, so I figure it’s a weakness in the Eddie Bauer jeans.
So there I was, a long way from home, with my leg split from hip to knee on the inside. What could I do? The guy I was working with and I had a great laugh. Heck, we even stopped on the way home to get a bite to eat at a small gas station. Again, more laughs were had at my expense, but it was truly funny! A bit embarrassing, but funny.
Now I admit when jokes are purposely told to be hurtful, then there is a limit. For example, surrounding someone and making fun of them merely to get a reaction directly from them is in bad form. This is more along the lines of teasing rather then telling jokes.
Apparently, the other day at a John Kerry fund raiser, Whoopi Goldberg and some others were poking fun at the current administration. I feel this is perfectly okay to do. After all, what would a comedian tell jokes about if the politicians are off limits.
What makes this a different situation is that Whoopi is also a spokesperson for Slim-Fast. It sounds as though, in the course of the roasting of our current president, Whoopi made some poor choices during her performance. The obvious association with our presidents last name and female body parts did not go unmentioned.
I’m hearing people complain that Whoopi’s right to freedom of speech has been infringed upon, or that this was somehow a racial thing (don’t you get sick of that one?).
Slim-Fast was merely making a business decision, not a political one. When a company hires someone to represent them there is always certain expectations. If a spokesperson goes nuts, or in this case, says things that are not appropriate for the customers, a company has the right to once again evaluate that persons usefulness as a representative for their product.
In Whoopi’s defense she says, "I've done material on every president in the past 20 years, from Reagan to Carter, from Clinton to Bush. I have used portions of the material I did at the fund-raiser in shows, speeches and even on national television and it seems now that people from the other side are using this to further their own agenda,"
Many spokespersons have probably done many things they are not too proud of, or that might get them fired if word got out, or someone made a big deal about it. The point here is that a big deal has been made of her “material” and the public was not impressed.
Slim-Fast knew what they were getting when they hired a comedian to represent them, and I think they really didn’t care what she did during her various acts. The problem came when she chose a very high-profile forum at which to perform her material.
If Janet Jackson would have had her “wardrobe malfunction” in a different venue other then on television at the Superbowl halftime, there would not have been such a backlash in her case either.
Some good can come of these things though. Just like in Aesop’s Fables, these tales have a moral. Do what you want, but in the end, you are the only one responsible for your actions.
If you’re a comedian, tell your jokes about the president in nightclubs and places were people go to laugh about irreverent topics. I would suggest you don’t go to the Whitehouse to deliver that same material. Using that same line of thinking, don’t go to a political rally, where you know your actions will be watched closely and criticized, and then rudely berate our current president.
You know, many of us have just about had enough of the constant lying by the democratic party about the current administration. I get so sick of hearing all of the accusations for which not one drop of any credibility or evidence is brought out, just accusations after accusation. It reminds me of a school yard bully who says, “Oh yeah, well you pick your nose and eat it!”
Okay, that was gross, but you get the idea. If I actually read a decent article outlying ANYTHING that President Bush had done illegal, or morally wrong, then I might consider the wind being blown from the opposition.
When I hear a democrat say they hate Bush, and then when asked why they hate him, they have no answers! Zero! They have no idea; they just spew forth the comment like that alone makes it true!
John Kerry is such a whiney butt that I can’t stand it. He waffles back and forth on important topics depending on who he is talking to at the time, and I love this picture of him with Jane Fonda protesting the Viet Nam war. You remember Hanoi Jane don’t you?
Now I’m not one to hold a generational grudge on someone like Jane Fonda, but many people will go to their grave hating this woman for what she did long ago. How do you think these folks will enjoy seeing Jane Fonda and John Kerry together protesting the war?
John Kerry thanked Whoopi and the rest of the celebrity acts and said they, "conveyed the heart and soul of our country."
In the typical waffling Kerry fashion, the Democratic Party refused to release footage of the event so that the people of this country could hear for themselves what Kerry thinks their hearts and souls conveyed.
When I make a decision, no matter what the audience is, I stick by that decision. My decisions are not always correct, but at least I admit that! Sometimes more frequently then I care to. I just wish Kerry would do the same and he wouldn’t look like such an idiot.
The Democratic Party is always so quick to say people should apologize to the country for remarks and actions made, how about a big fat apology from Kerry for the poor choice of material from the entertainers at his fund raiser?
Just as I thought, the answer would be a “no”.
Now I’ve gone and spun completely off the subject, but I had to get that off my mind as well tonight. The picture just bugged me that bad.
Be careful what you do in the public forum, because if it’s dumb enough, someone may just bring it back up to haunt you at a later date. John Kerry is finding this out the hard way.
Friday, July 09, 2004
A False War?
I have yet to finish moving all of my articles over to the new website, but the news today has prompted me to write an article before the grand reopening of the website.
It amuses me that the big direction of the news today seems to be that the United States went to war under false pretenses.
Their point is that our intelligence was flawed, and if we knew then what we know now, we would not have gone to war. Would we really, or is this just a bunch of political crap spewing forth just before our election?
Let’s skip over the fact that we should have done many things in history different if we knew then what we know now. How many football games have you watched and quarterbacked from home while yelling at the coach and the television? It’s easy when you’re not in the moment making the decisions for yourself isn’t it?
Same thing applies here. With the information that was available at the moment in time that Congress voted to take action against Iraq, it was the best course of action we could have taken. Perhaps we should have analyzed the information we were being fed a little more closely, but we didn’t. It’s time to move forward, not waffle in the past.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the factors that moved us to attack Iraq.
1. So Damn Insane built up the fourth largest army in the world then invaded Kuwait. In a reaction to this the world unceremoniously kicked his butt back into his own country. He was then told to surrender and was given the conditions for that surrender. One such condition was to declare all of his weapons of mass destruction and to allow inspectors to enter the country unchallenged to verify that no such weapons existed.
2. For years Sadaam refused to work with the United Nations, or tried to stifle any effort to properly inspect his country. He was given years of chances to cooperate and failed to do so at every turn.
3. Iraq has routinely supported terrorists, and funded terrorist activities against the United States.
4. When confronted with the United States hitting the end of their patience with Iraq not cooperating with the United Nations, Sadaam still refused to fully work with the U.N. inspectors and basically continued business as usual.
Although the Weapons of Mass Destruction angle was the most publicized reason for going into Iraq, we went into Iraq because Sadaam refused to cooperate with the United Nations.
To second guess our reasons for going to war with Iraq and cleaning out a festering regime is ridiculous.
Perhaps the intelligence that was gathered was not perfect, but it was not the only reason we went into Iraq. To blow this report out of proportion to try and make it look like it was some huge mistake is wrong.
They talk of “connecting the dots” for going to war, and that, “the dots never existed.”
Based on what I have laid out above I say the dots did exist. Having the additional dots of finding WMD’s would have been nice, but not the sole reason for the war.
The information all of the news stations seem to be wanting us to believe, is that the existence of WMD’s was the only reason we went to war. It was the narrow-minded, central focus for going into Iraq with guns a blazing like the cowboys that we are.
We can research why we did things in the past. We can discuss how we may have done things different, or that if we had, speculate on what the outcome may have been. We can do all of this, and we should, so that we can learn from our mistakes.
What we should not do is to study the past, and then try and twist the thinking of the people of this country into a line of thinking to derail a president and his administration. This is what is happening right now. This is not news to learn from our past. It’s news with one purpose in mind. To convince the American people that the war in Iraq was wrong and unjust. That is a load of 100% crap.
They say that television is an idiot box, it rots the mind and is a vehicle of Satan. In this case they may be closer to the truth then they thought. I am planning on addressing television and its contribution to this society in a future article.
Think for yourself people. Were WMD’s the ONLY reason we removed Sadaam from power and liberated his country?
I’d love to hear some feedback from you all on this latest development. Surely someone has a different opinion, or the news would not be so proud of the finding.
It amuses me that the big direction of the news today seems to be that the United States went to war under false pretenses.
Their point is that our intelligence was flawed, and if we knew then what we know now, we would not have gone to war. Would we really, or is this just a bunch of political crap spewing forth just before our election?
Let’s skip over the fact that we should have done many things in history different if we knew then what we know now. How many football games have you watched and quarterbacked from home while yelling at the coach and the television? It’s easy when you’re not in the moment making the decisions for yourself isn’t it?
Same thing applies here. With the information that was available at the moment in time that Congress voted to take action against Iraq, it was the best course of action we could have taken. Perhaps we should have analyzed the information we were being fed a little more closely, but we didn’t. It’s time to move forward, not waffle in the past.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the factors that moved us to attack Iraq.
1. So Damn Insane built up the fourth largest army in the world then invaded Kuwait. In a reaction to this the world unceremoniously kicked his butt back into his own country. He was then told to surrender and was given the conditions for that surrender. One such condition was to declare all of his weapons of mass destruction and to allow inspectors to enter the country unchallenged to verify that no such weapons existed.
2. For years Sadaam refused to work with the United Nations, or tried to stifle any effort to properly inspect his country. He was given years of chances to cooperate and failed to do so at every turn.
3. Iraq has routinely supported terrorists, and funded terrorist activities against the United States.
4. When confronted with the United States hitting the end of their patience with Iraq not cooperating with the United Nations, Sadaam still refused to fully work with the U.N. inspectors and basically continued business as usual.
Although the Weapons of Mass Destruction angle was the most publicized reason for going into Iraq, we went into Iraq because Sadaam refused to cooperate with the United Nations.
To second guess our reasons for going to war with Iraq and cleaning out a festering regime is ridiculous.
Perhaps the intelligence that was gathered was not perfect, but it was not the only reason we went into Iraq. To blow this report out of proportion to try and make it look like it was some huge mistake is wrong.
They talk of “connecting the dots” for going to war, and that, “the dots never existed.”
Based on what I have laid out above I say the dots did exist. Having the additional dots of finding WMD’s would have been nice, but not the sole reason for the war.
The information all of the news stations seem to be wanting us to believe, is that the existence of WMD’s was the only reason we went to war. It was the narrow-minded, central focus for going into Iraq with guns a blazing like the cowboys that we are.
We can research why we did things in the past. We can discuss how we may have done things different, or that if we had, speculate on what the outcome may have been. We can do all of this, and we should, so that we can learn from our mistakes.
What we should not do is to study the past, and then try and twist the thinking of the people of this country into a line of thinking to derail a president and his administration. This is what is happening right now. This is not news to learn from our past. It’s news with one purpose in mind. To convince the American people that the war in Iraq was wrong and unjust. That is a load of 100% crap.
They say that television is an idiot box, it rots the mind and is a vehicle of Satan. In this case they may be closer to the truth then they thought. I am planning on addressing television and its contribution to this society in a future article.
Think for yourself people. Were WMD’s the ONLY reason we removed Sadaam from power and liberated his country?
I’d love to hear some feedback from you all on this latest development. Surely someone has a different opinion, or the news would not be so proud of the finding.
Monday, June 28, 2004
Where Am I Now?
For all of you Blog readers this message was originally on my website so don't panic, the blog is remianing right here...
Life In A Handbasket is on the move again.
This will be the last article on this Internet address. Read this entire article for the location of the new website. If you are confused, please feel free to drop me a line or make a comment here.
Thanks to a friend of mine a new and improved Content Management System (CMS) similar to the one we are using now has been found.
As you can see, the site address www.ninthportal.net/cpg is similar to this one.
The new site is not really ready for prime time yet, but if you'd like to come on over and watch me slowly rebuild the website, and maybe read some of the older articles as they scroll back through the system, then you're welcome to do so.
I am also having you all register again since there are not many users yet, and I don't want to mess anything up trying to move the user accounts.
Hope to see you all make the move to the new site.
Life In A Handbasket is on the move again.
This will be the last article on this Internet address. Read this entire article for the location of the new website. If you are confused, please feel free to drop me a line or make a comment here.
Thanks to a friend of mine a new and improved Content Management System (CMS) similar to the one we are using now has been found.
As you can see, the site address www.ninthportal.net/cpg is similar to this one.
The new site is not really ready for prime time yet, but if you'd like to come on over and watch me slowly rebuild the website, and maybe read some of the older articles as they scroll back through the system, then you're welcome to do so.
I am also having you all register again since there are not many users yet, and I don't want to mess anything up trying to move the user accounts.
Hope to see you all make the move to the new site.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Elizabeth
This morning I awoke at 3:00am because I was thinking about you. When this happens there is only one cure for me, and that’s to get things out of my head and into words.
I have known your father since we were kids riding our bikes together in Southern California. I have known your mother almost as long. Your grandparents are like a second mother and father to me.
Your father tells me that you have recently become engaged, and that the target of your affection is now serving this country in the Army. As you know I have served over twenty years in the Air Force and am now retired.
This letter is being written in an open forum, because I have had this talk with many young folks, and I feel that it applies to a large number of people just getting started in life.
The first reaction may be that you are not just getting started, and that you are now an adult, able to make your own decisions, and that older people just don’t understand.
I have watched you grow from a newborn baby, to the adult you now are, and I can say with confidence, you are still just getting started with your life.
Up until this time you have been under the protection of your family. If you made a bad mistake, your family was there to support you, to wipe away the tears, and to comfort you. They have given you advice, and whether or not you chose to follow that advice, your family was there to help you through the consequences.
Being in the military for almost half of my life, I have seen many young people get married. On a rare occasion, this has worked out okay for them, as far as I know today, but more often then not it has ended in divorce.
It’s not because they didn’t love one another at the time, or that they thought they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together, it was because neither of them had actually began their lives.
As a young adult, you are just being set free into the world to make your own way. I believe I can say with some certainty that you still do not know what direction that is.
Having a dream, and living your life, quite often become opposite ends of the spectrum. This is evident by the overwhelming number of people who are not working in the same career field their college degree was in.
For what it's worth, here is a typical young military family lifecycle as seen through my experienced set of eyes.
After getting married young to be together, you move around a lot. This takes the wife away from her family and all that she is used to. Since being together was the reason for the marriage, there starts to become a strain on the relationship because now the wife begins to feel like a roommate to this guy she is finding out is a slob, doesn’t like the same things she likes, drinks too much with his buddies, or whatever the typical wedge becomes for that particular couple.
Being in the military, the husband is away more then he is at home. There are a few exceptions, but I can tell you that a majority of the guys who are overseas either for a long tour, or short tour, cheat on their wives. I won’t get into the psychology of why I think this happens, just know that it does.
Most military marriages end with the wife telling the husband that he needs to quit the military. Sometimes the husband will get orders, and the wife flat out tells him she is not going to wherever they are supposed to move next.
Does this mean military people should never marry? Absolutely not!
People that have been in the military long enough to make it a career tend to get married and stay married. This is because they are now comfortable with the lifestyle, and they are able to explain to their future wife what exactly that lifestyle is all about.
Young folks who marry while the husband is only in for a short time have things even worse if they are still together when he gets out. Now, he must find a job. If he has spent the past four years working on his degree, or toward a career he can go into when he gets out, things may be okay.
A typical military guy has wasted his four years drinking, dating, and acting like he was in a college fraternity. The problem is, guys in college fraternities are going to college and getting degrees, he is not.
Married, the still young couple gets out with not only no decent prospects for the husband to earn a good income for his family, but they usually have two kids as well! Now, they will spend the rest of their lives stressed out over money issues because both the husband and wife are working two jobs trying to keep clothes on their children and food in the house. Sound like the dream family life you’re looking for?
Am I saying all of this to tell you not to get married? Certainly not!
My advice to you, as someone who loves you and your family very much, is to wait. If this was meant to be, and you both are truly in love, then waiting will do nothing but strengthen that bond.
I’m not talking about waiting four months, or a year, I’m talking about waiting until you both know exactly what you want to do with your lives. If he decides to make a career in the Amy that’s great and you will know this going in to the marriage. When he gets out, wait until he finds work and begins his new career to make certain it’s what you want as well.
Getting married for love alone is great in fairy tales, but the concept falls short in reality.
So here comes my advice to you Elizabeth, and to everyone who is young and thinking of getting married before they actually know the direction their life is going to take them.
Wait.
After reading this article I think you know how long you need to wait. Wait until you find a man who has a career already, and knows the direction he is going. This way you can make sure it’s the same direction you have wanted as well.
Just because a guy is studying to be a lawyer in college does not mean you are marrying a lawyer. Wait until he graduates, gets his first job, and begins to actually live the life he has planned.
During the wait, he may very well find another sucker, er, woman who wants to marry him now. That’s fine, let her.
I hate to use the cliché, but it fits so well.
There are plenty of fish in the ocean.
As a beautiful woman with a good head on her shoulders, you need to be selective and throw back the small ones. Wait for the big catch that will be able to feed the family you are planning to have someday.
I have known your father since we were kids riding our bikes together in Southern California. I have known your mother almost as long. Your grandparents are like a second mother and father to me.
Your father tells me that you have recently become engaged, and that the target of your affection is now serving this country in the Army. As you know I have served over twenty years in the Air Force and am now retired.
This letter is being written in an open forum, because I have had this talk with many young folks, and I feel that it applies to a large number of people just getting started in life.
The first reaction may be that you are not just getting started, and that you are now an adult, able to make your own decisions, and that older people just don’t understand.
I have watched you grow from a newborn baby, to the adult you now are, and I can say with confidence, you are still just getting started with your life.
Up until this time you have been under the protection of your family. If you made a bad mistake, your family was there to support you, to wipe away the tears, and to comfort you. They have given you advice, and whether or not you chose to follow that advice, your family was there to help you through the consequences.
Being in the military for almost half of my life, I have seen many young people get married. On a rare occasion, this has worked out okay for them, as far as I know today, but more often then not it has ended in divorce.
It’s not because they didn’t love one another at the time, or that they thought they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together, it was because neither of them had actually began their lives.
As a young adult, you are just being set free into the world to make your own way. I believe I can say with some certainty that you still do not know what direction that is.
Having a dream, and living your life, quite often become opposite ends of the spectrum. This is evident by the overwhelming number of people who are not working in the same career field their college degree was in.
For what it's worth, here is a typical young military family lifecycle as seen through my experienced set of eyes.
After getting married young to be together, you move around a lot. This takes the wife away from her family and all that she is used to. Since being together was the reason for the marriage, there starts to become a strain on the relationship because now the wife begins to feel like a roommate to this guy she is finding out is a slob, doesn’t like the same things she likes, drinks too much with his buddies, or whatever the typical wedge becomes for that particular couple.
Being in the military, the husband is away more then he is at home. There are a few exceptions, but I can tell you that a majority of the guys who are overseas either for a long tour, or short tour, cheat on their wives. I won’t get into the psychology of why I think this happens, just know that it does.
Most military marriages end with the wife telling the husband that he needs to quit the military. Sometimes the husband will get orders, and the wife flat out tells him she is not going to wherever they are supposed to move next.
Does this mean military people should never marry? Absolutely not!
People that have been in the military long enough to make it a career tend to get married and stay married. This is because they are now comfortable with the lifestyle, and they are able to explain to their future wife what exactly that lifestyle is all about.
Young folks who marry while the husband is only in for a short time have things even worse if they are still together when he gets out. Now, he must find a job. If he has spent the past four years working on his degree, or toward a career he can go into when he gets out, things may be okay.
A typical military guy has wasted his four years drinking, dating, and acting like he was in a college fraternity. The problem is, guys in college fraternities are going to college and getting degrees, he is not.
Married, the still young couple gets out with not only no decent prospects for the husband to earn a good income for his family, but they usually have two kids as well! Now, they will spend the rest of their lives stressed out over money issues because both the husband and wife are working two jobs trying to keep clothes on their children and food in the house. Sound like the dream family life you’re looking for?
Am I saying all of this to tell you not to get married? Certainly not!
My advice to you, as someone who loves you and your family very much, is to wait. If this was meant to be, and you both are truly in love, then waiting will do nothing but strengthen that bond.
I’m not talking about waiting four months, or a year, I’m talking about waiting until you both know exactly what you want to do with your lives. If he decides to make a career in the Amy that’s great and you will know this going in to the marriage. When he gets out, wait until he finds work and begins his new career to make certain it’s what you want as well.
Getting married for love alone is great in fairy tales, but the concept falls short in reality.
So here comes my advice to you Elizabeth, and to everyone who is young and thinking of getting married before they actually know the direction their life is going to take them.
Wait.
After reading this article I think you know how long you need to wait. Wait until you find a man who has a career already, and knows the direction he is going. This way you can make sure it’s the same direction you have wanted as well.
Just because a guy is studying to be a lawyer in college does not mean you are marrying a lawyer. Wait until he graduates, gets his first job, and begins to actually live the life he has planned.
During the wait, he may very well find another sucker, er, woman who wants to marry him now. That’s fine, let her.
I hate to use the cliché, but it fits so well.
There are plenty of fish in the ocean.
As a beautiful woman with a good head on her shoulders, you need to be selective and throw back the small ones. Wait for the big catch that will be able to feed the family you are planning to have someday.
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Family Days
We have set aside a few days each year to remember family. Father’s, Mother’s, and Grandparents.
What do these days mean to you? Leave a comment here to share your thoughts with us, or better yet, venture into the forum area and start up a conversation!
Remember to register or login to the website first, so that you can post your feedback.
For now, it’s my turn to share with you my feelings toward these days.
I think it’s great! No argument from me.
The best thing about these family days, is that it gives us a chance, or should I say an excuse, to drop what we’re doing in our busy lives and acknowledge those who have raised us, who love us, and who we love.
It seems these days our lives run at full speed. To where, I have no idea, but we’re sure in a hurry to get there!
This year we had the pleasure to go to my wife’s parents home. Her brother and sister got to come as well, which is great because the family covers the West coast, East coast and Mountain region of the United States. It’s not often these days that they can all get together in one place.
I’m just like many of you. Most days I tend to be too busy to stop and smell the roses. In this case the roses are family.
We live in another state from just about every family member we know. I have a cousin nearby, which is nice to have at least some part of my family where I live. I’ll be the first to admit though, that there are many times that I miss my family and friends.
Things would be much easier if family and friends always and forever lived near each other. The reality is, we move, they move, and eventually the ideal situation is gone.
Being retired from the Air Force, I have friends scattered throughout the world! The nice thing about e-mail and the Internet is that I tend to keep in touch with everyone a little better then if I had to rely completely on “snail mail”.
So here we are, the sun is shinning (which is good because it has rained for the past three days here), and we’re all preparing for a nice BBQ by the pool.
Before I go down and join in the festivities I had to do a little work on the local computer here. It tends to be my job wherever I go, but it doesn’t bother me, because it’s what I enjoy doing.
The computer is now updated, and some other research is done so I’ll be on my way to helping with the food preparation, or maybe just watching the kids in the pool. Either way, it’s time to enjoy the family, and relax on this day, my day, Father’s Day.
What do these days mean to you? Leave a comment here to share your thoughts with us, or better yet, venture into the forum area and start up a conversation!
Remember to register or login to the website first, so that you can post your feedback.
For now, it’s my turn to share with you my feelings toward these days.
I think it’s great! No argument from me.
The best thing about these family days, is that it gives us a chance, or should I say an excuse, to drop what we’re doing in our busy lives and acknowledge those who have raised us, who love us, and who we love.
It seems these days our lives run at full speed. To where, I have no idea, but we’re sure in a hurry to get there!
This year we had the pleasure to go to my wife’s parents home. Her brother and sister got to come as well, which is great because the family covers the West coast, East coast and Mountain region of the United States. It’s not often these days that they can all get together in one place.
I’m just like many of you. Most days I tend to be too busy to stop and smell the roses. In this case the roses are family.
We live in another state from just about every family member we know. I have a cousin nearby, which is nice to have at least some part of my family where I live. I’ll be the first to admit though, that there are many times that I miss my family and friends.
Things would be much easier if family and friends always and forever lived near each other. The reality is, we move, they move, and eventually the ideal situation is gone.
Being retired from the Air Force, I have friends scattered throughout the world! The nice thing about e-mail and the Internet is that I tend to keep in touch with everyone a little better then if I had to rely completely on “snail mail”.
So here we are, the sun is shinning (which is good because it has rained for the past three days here), and we’re all preparing for a nice BBQ by the pool.
Before I go down and join in the festivities I had to do a little work on the local computer here. It tends to be my job wherever I go, but it doesn’t bother me, because it’s what I enjoy doing.
The computer is now updated, and some other research is done so I’ll be on my way to helping with the food preparation, or maybe just watching the kids in the pool. Either way, it’s time to enjoy the family, and relax on this day, my day, Father’s Day.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
And Justices For All?
Today the Supreme Court handed down their ruling on the issue of the words “…under God” in our national Pledge.
Some of you who have been faithful readers here know my position on this. Since the Supreme Court decided to bless us with their lofty opinions, I think it only fair to take the gloves off and yes, disagree with the highest court in our land.
Don’t leave now, please read further and hear me out.
First of all, the decision was not really a shocker to me. After all, the Supreme Court has dodged dicey issues in the past, and this one was no different.
Have you ever watched a movie, television show, or perhaps read a book, where someone was granted a wish or two? What normally happens is that the person granting the wish turns out to be mischievous in some way and never fulfills the wish exactly how the recipient would like.
A great example of this is the movie “Bedazzled” in which Elizabeth Hurley plays the devil and grants seven wishes to Brendan Fraser. If you have seen this gem, you know that Brendan never actually gets any of his wishes just how he thought they would turn out.
In this same spirit the Supreme Court found their much needed loophole by basing their ruling on the legal standing of Michael Newdow to be able to bring this to these judicial gods on Mt Olympus. Because this was a matter of who had the custody of his daughter in the state of California, the point of whether or not the words in the Pledge were constitutional or not were basically a non-issue.
The news is giving the impression in its reports that the Supreme Court ruled that the words “under God” can remain in the “Pledge of Allegiance”, when in fact they have ruled no such thing. The fact is they never took the opportunity to debate the issue of the constitutionality of the words in the Pledge.
Some of the judges attempted to toss in their two-cents though, and some of their statements are a bit scary.
Justice O’Connor, for example, stated that, “It is unsurprising that a Nation founded by religious refugees and dedicated to religious freedom should find references to divinity in its symbols, songs, mottoes, and oaths.”
What amazes me is that she can acknowledge the need for religious freedom, yet indorses the brainwashing of children to recite the mantra “under God” daily.
She goes on to discuss “ceremonial deism” and the references to God in traditional patriotic songs, mottoes and our money.
Again, most of these things are not really relevant to the issue at hand. I can overlook the mention of God that is sprinkled throughout our nation, but to me the entire issue is very simple. If you remove all of the doubletalk from the justices, to me it boils down to one thing. Does the government have the right to force a child to recite the Pledge with the words “under God” in it? The answer is absolutely not!
Justice O’Conner claims that, “…the appearance of the phrase ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance constitutes an instance of such ceremonial deism.” She says that this is based on her evaluation of these four factors. These factors, as far as I can tell, are etched on her own self-created measuring stick.
I’ll take a look at each factor since she felt they were so important to her decision.
History and Ubiquity
Justice O’Conner claims basically that since the pledge has been around for 50 years, and recited by “millions of children”, that the words “under God” no longer have a religious meaning to them. She also asks the question that if it bothered people so much why was it only the third such challenge in the past 50 years?
Your honor, does the ritualistic brainwashing of millions of young children over the past 50 years make it right simply by shear volume of victims and the longevity of the ignorance?
Let’s take this a step further and state that slavery is okay because it has taken place over thousands of years by most of the countries on this planet? By your thinking slavery is not illegal, and should be reinstated immediately!
Why wasn’t it challenged more frequently your honor? This ridicule and obnoxious pro-Christian stance to defend any Christian stronghold makes it a very taboo thing to challenge. Michael Newdow is probably being attacked daily by every pro-Christian group on the planet, not-to-mention all the grandmothers of the country. This case was decided before it even went to the Supreme Court based on the stance that everyone form the administration on down has taken.
Absence of Worship or Prayer
In a nutshell because the words do not denote worshipping or prayer, it has “lost through rote repetition any significant religious content”. So, let me get this straight. The government can force young children to repeat a religious allegiance over and over again, and if it is done by millions of children, this negates its meaning?
Oh my goodness Justice O’Connor, does this mean the entire pledge is now meaningless? What kind of psychobabble is this?
Absence of Reference to Particular Religion
Now this one amuses me as well. Again, the illustrious justice says that, “It does not refer to a nation ‘under Jesus’ or ‘under Vishnu,” but instead acknowledges religion in a general way: a simple reference to a generic ‘God.’”
Again, more misleading crap talk. Justice O’Connor, do you not know that a capitalization of “God” is used to only mean the Christian God? And what other generic God are you referring to? This once again does not address the fact the children are reciting a pledge to their country with a religious statement added to it for no other reason then a Christian one!
Minimal Religious Content
Now this one cracks me up. In this “factor” Justice O’Connor says that, “…the presence of these words is not absolutely essential to the Pledge, as demonstrated by the fact that it existed without them for over 50 years.”
Did you catch that last part? The pledge did not have the words “under God” in it for longer then it did! And guess what, the words are not essential to the Pledge. Then why the hell don’t we just remove them again? What are the Christians afraid will happen?
Let’s move on to Justice Thomas, and look over some of his viewpoints.
Justice Thomas talks about a case that was cited in a decision which talked about students and graduations. Even though the ceremony was optional, “peer pressure” caused the students to have a “reasonable perception” of being forced to pray, because the prayer was at the ceremony.
This is one instance of “peer pressure”, how about everyone in class every single morning of your school life! If that’s not peer pressure I don’t know what is. Should we add in the fact that very young children are forced to do this when they are too young to even make any religious decision for themselves? You say they are not forced? Let’s see, they are told to stand up, recite the Pledge, and told the words to say. They do it over and over again before they are even old enough to know any different.
Although Justice Thomas says that, “I conclude that, as a matter of our precedent, the Pledge policy is unconstitutional.”, he also ends his statement by saying that, “It follows that religious liberty rights are not in question and that the Pledge policy fully comports to the Constitution.”
So where do we go from here?
I would like to see the words removed from the Pledge. If they are truly “not essential” then let’s just remove them once again and be done with it. After all, we are pledging our allegiance to the flag and this country, not to God. Everyone should be happy by removing the words. Oh but wait! People are still fighting this vehemently. Why is that if these two words are “not essential”? It’s because IT IS A RELIGIOUS ISSUE!
Some of you who have been faithful readers here know my position on this. Since the Supreme Court decided to bless us with their lofty opinions, I think it only fair to take the gloves off and yes, disagree with the highest court in our land.
Don’t leave now, please read further and hear me out.
First of all, the decision was not really a shocker to me. After all, the Supreme Court has dodged dicey issues in the past, and this one was no different.
Have you ever watched a movie, television show, or perhaps read a book, where someone was granted a wish or two? What normally happens is that the person granting the wish turns out to be mischievous in some way and never fulfills the wish exactly how the recipient would like.
A great example of this is the movie “Bedazzled” in which Elizabeth Hurley plays the devil and grants seven wishes to Brendan Fraser. If you have seen this gem, you know that Brendan never actually gets any of his wishes just how he thought they would turn out.
In this same spirit the Supreme Court found their much needed loophole by basing their ruling on the legal standing of Michael Newdow to be able to bring this to these judicial gods on Mt Olympus. Because this was a matter of who had the custody of his daughter in the state of California, the point of whether or not the words in the Pledge were constitutional or not were basically a non-issue.
The news is giving the impression in its reports that the Supreme Court ruled that the words “under God” can remain in the “Pledge of Allegiance”, when in fact they have ruled no such thing. The fact is they never took the opportunity to debate the issue of the constitutionality of the words in the Pledge.
Some of the judges attempted to toss in their two-cents though, and some of their statements are a bit scary.
Justice O’Connor, for example, stated that, “It is unsurprising that a Nation founded by religious refugees and dedicated to religious freedom should find references to divinity in its symbols, songs, mottoes, and oaths.”
What amazes me is that she can acknowledge the need for religious freedom, yet indorses the brainwashing of children to recite the mantra “under God” daily.
She goes on to discuss “ceremonial deism” and the references to God in traditional patriotic songs, mottoes and our money.
Again, most of these things are not really relevant to the issue at hand. I can overlook the mention of God that is sprinkled throughout our nation, but to me the entire issue is very simple. If you remove all of the doubletalk from the justices, to me it boils down to one thing. Does the government have the right to force a child to recite the Pledge with the words “under God” in it? The answer is absolutely not!
Justice O’Conner claims that, “…the appearance of the phrase ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance constitutes an instance of such ceremonial deism.” She says that this is based on her evaluation of these four factors. These factors, as far as I can tell, are etched on her own self-created measuring stick.
I’ll take a look at each factor since she felt they were so important to her decision.
History and Ubiquity
Justice O’Conner claims basically that since the pledge has been around for 50 years, and recited by “millions of children”, that the words “under God” no longer have a religious meaning to them. She also asks the question that if it bothered people so much why was it only the third such challenge in the past 50 years?
Your honor, does the ritualistic brainwashing of millions of young children over the past 50 years make it right simply by shear volume of victims and the longevity of the ignorance?
Let’s take this a step further and state that slavery is okay because it has taken place over thousands of years by most of the countries on this planet? By your thinking slavery is not illegal, and should be reinstated immediately!
Why wasn’t it challenged more frequently your honor? This ridicule and obnoxious pro-Christian stance to defend any Christian stronghold makes it a very taboo thing to challenge. Michael Newdow is probably being attacked daily by every pro-Christian group on the planet, not-to-mention all the grandmothers of the country. This case was decided before it even went to the Supreme Court based on the stance that everyone form the administration on down has taken.
Absence of Worship or Prayer
In a nutshell because the words do not denote worshipping or prayer, it has “lost through rote repetition any significant religious content”. So, let me get this straight. The government can force young children to repeat a religious allegiance over and over again, and if it is done by millions of children, this negates its meaning?
Oh my goodness Justice O’Connor, does this mean the entire pledge is now meaningless? What kind of psychobabble is this?
Absence of Reference to Particular Religion
Now this one amuses me as well. Again, the illustrious justice says that, “It does not refer to a nation ‘under Jesus’ or ‘under Vishnu,” but instead acknowledges religion in a general way: a simple reference to a generic ‘God.’”
Again, more misleading crap talk. Justice O’Connor, do you not know that a capitalization of “God” is used to only mean the Christian God? And what other generic God are you referring to? This once again does not address the fact the children are reciting a pledge to their country with a religious statement added to it for no other reason then a Christian one!
Minimal Religious Content
Now this one cracks me up. In this “factor” Justice O’Connor says that, “…the presence of these words is not absolutely essential to the Pledge, as demonstrated by the fact that it existed without them for over 50 years.”
Did you catch that last part? The pledge did not have the words “under God” in it for longer then it did! And guess what, the words are not essential to the Pledge. Then why the hell don’t we just remove them again? What are the Christians afraid will happen?
Let’s move on to Justice Thomas, and look over some of his viewpoints.
Justice Thomas talks about a case that was cited in a decision which talked about students and graduations. Even though the ceremony was optional, “peer pressure” caused the students to have a “reasonable perception” of being forced to pray, because the prayer was at the ceremony.
This is one instance of “peer pressure”, how about everyone in class every single morning of your school life! If that’s not peer pressure I don’t know what is. Should we add in the fact that very young children are forced to do this when they are too young to even make any religious decision for themselves? You say they are not forced? Let’s see, they are told to stand up, recite the Pledge, and told the words to say. They do it over and over again before they are even old enough to know any different.
Although Justice Thomas says that, “I conclude that, as a matter of our precedent, the Pledge policy is unconstitutional.”, he also ends his statement by saying that, “It follows that religious liberty rights are not in question and that the Pledge policy fully comports to the Constitution.”
So where do we go from here?
I would like to see the words removed from the Pledge. If they are truly “not essential” then let’s just remove them once again and be done with it. After all, we are pledging our allegiance to the flag and this country, not to God. Everyone should be happy by removing the words. Oh but wait! People are still fighting this vehemently. Why is that if these two words are “not essential”? It’s because IT IS A RELIGIOUS ISSUE!
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Freeloading Women
Have we gone completely mad?
Today there was a ruling by J. Frank Vespa-papaleo, director of the New Jersey state Division on Civil Rights, that establishments can no longer offer “ladies night” discounts such as waving a cover charge or reduced drink prices.
This civil rights clown actually agrees with David R. Gillespie who whined that it wasn’t fair that women can get into the Coastline nightclub for free and get reduced cost drinks, while men have to pay a $5 cover charge and full price for their drinks.
Is it just me, or does this seem like a petty thing to not only complain about, but for any official to even make a ruling on?
How could this even make it as far as it had without someone just laughing real loud and obnoxiously into Mr. Gillespie’s face? I’m sure his friends are very proud to know him, and he’s just a real hit with the ladies.
This is not discrimination folks, it’s a promotion to try to get more women to come into a bar so that the men have a reason to go there as well. While we’re at it, lets outlaw wet t-shirt and bikini contests! I know some of you would say great, but whether you enjoy them is not the issue.
The fact is that some members of our society like wet t-shirt and bikini contests, they even like the fact that a nightclub owner is trying to attract more women into their bar so that more men will be drawn to come in and spend their money.
Do you realize the shear number of gender-based promotions and advertisements in this country? Should we abolish them all in the name of civil rights? Let’s just cut the hair of all the women short, make them all wear pants, and outlaw makeup while we’re at it!
Let’s face it men and women are different. We are attracted to different things, we have different drives, and the same things that motivate men do not motivate women.
Discrimination to me is if someone is being hurt by the actions of another based on their gender, race, etc… Nobody is being denied anything. The only thing going on is women are getting a discount to be lured into a nightclub.
I’ll bet Mr. Gillespie wants to take away discounts for Senior Citizens as well based on age discrimination. Those darn old people should not be able to eat cheaper then us! It’s not fair!
Grow up Dave, and welcome to the real world! It’s not Dave’s world, or the playground. Not only am I annoyed that this even happened, now I’m annoyed that I got so worked up over this that I actually was driven to write about it.
It was time for another culture piece anyway, and I knew the world would not let me down. Having a pool of idiots to draw from, always assures there will be fresh stories to write about. Instead of glorifying people like David with any attention, they should be ignored. Better yet, maybe we should build some more asylums for those people who can’t handle life.
You know the type I’m talking about. There are those people who go to work, but don’t want to do any work, so they sit around complaining about other people not doing enough of the work so they can relax a bit more.
Then there are customers who take the term, “the customer is always right” to new levels. Sometimes customers are just a big pain in the butt!
You are not right when you abuse a sales clerk. You’re a jerk. You’re not right when you scream at a customer service person like a child. You’re a jerk. You’re not right when you whine about not getting in free like the women, or cheaper drinks. You’re a jerk David.
David will be some great prize for one of those women at the nightclub. Hopefully they’ll be able to see him coming from a mile away. He’s probably the guy still wearing the polyester suit and colorful shirt unbuttoned down to his navel.
The funny thing about all of this is I’ll bet ya David walks into the same nightclub and brags about being responsible for teaching all of those freeloading women a lesson. Of course, now they’re no longer there, and with any luck the remaining guys will take David out behind the bar and smack him around a bit. Why? For being a jerk!
Today there was a ruling by J. Frank Vespa-papaleo, director of the New Jersey state Division on Civil Rights, that establishments can no longer offer “ladies night” discounts such as waving a cover charge or reduced drink prices.
This civil rights clown actually agrees with David R. Gillespie who whined that it wasn’t fair that women can get into the Coastline nightclub for free and get reduced cost drinks, while men have to pay a $5 cover charge and full price for their drinks.
Is it just me, or does this seem like a petty thing to not only complain about, but for any official to even make a ruling on?
How could this even make it as far as it had without someone just laughing real loud and obnoxiously into Mr. Gillespie’s face? I’m sure his friends are very proud to know him, and he’s just a real hit with the ladies.
This is not discrimination folks, it’s a promotion to try to get more women to come into a bar so that the men have a reason to go there as well. While we’re at it, lets outlaw wet t-shirt and bikini contests! I know some of you would say great, but whether you enjoy them is not the issue.
The fact is that some members of our society like wet t-shirt and bikini contests, they even like the fact that a nightclub owner is trying to attract more women into their bar so that more men will be drawn to come in and spend their money.
Do you realize the shear number of gender-based promotions and advertisements in this country? Should we abolish them all in the name of civil rights? Let’s just cut the hair of all the women short, make them all wear pants, and outlaw makeup while we’re at it!
Let’s face it men and women are different. We are attracted to different things, we have different drives, and the same things that motivate men do not motivate women.
Discrimination to me is if someone is being hurt by the actions of another based on their gender, race, etc… Nobody is being denied anything. The only thing going on is women are getting a discount to be lured into a nightclub.
I’ll bet Mr. Gillespie wants to take away discounts for Senior Citizens as well based on age discrimination. Those darn old people should not be able to eat cheaper then us! It’s not fair!
Grow up Dave, and welcome to the real world! It’s not Dave’s world, or the playground. Not only am I annoyed that this even happened, now I’m annoyed that I got so worked up over this that I actually was driven to write about it.
It was time for another culture piece anyway, and I knew the world would not let me down. Having a pool of idiots to draw from, always assures there will be fresh stories to write about. Instead of glorifying people like David with any attention, they should be ignored. Better yet, maybe we should build some more asylums for those people who can’t handle life.
You know the type I’m talking about. There are those people who go to work, but don’t want to do any work, so they sit around complaining about other people not doing enough of the work so they can relax a bit more.
Then there are customers who take the term, “the customer is always right” to new levels. Sometimes customers are just a big pain in the butt!
You are not right when you abuse a sales clerk. You’re a jerk. You’re not right when you scream at a customer service person like a child. You’re a jerk. You’re not right when you whine about not getting in free like the women, or cheaper drinks. You’re a jerk David.
David will be some great prize for one of those women at the nightclub. Hopefully they’ll be able to see him coming from a mile away. He’s probably the guy still wearing the polyester suit and colorful shirt unbuttoned down to his navel.
The funny thing about all of this is I’ll bet ya David walks into the same nightclub and brags about being responsible for teaching all of those freeloading women a lesson. Of course, now they’re no longer there, and with any luck the remaining guys will take David out behind the bar and smack him around a bit. Why? For being a jerk!
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Politics and Common Sense
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