Yes indeedy

The English boys did it again today. They beat Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 today. They played a bit sloppy but closed the deal in the last 10 minutes of the game. Even better, both goal scorers play for Liverpool - with Beckham serving up a beautiful cross for Crouch to head in at the 83rd minute, and Gerrard scoring a blazing left-footed shot into the top left corner of the net at the beginning of stoppage time.

Good on ya!

Key West Pictures ... Finally

I'm sorry there are no captions, but I had captions and about 10 pictures loaded into Blogger earlier, and all was lost when I tried to save the draft and work on something else for a while. Grrr.

So, without further ado (or any real info), here are some pics.

Bringing a knife to a gun fight?

Not a problem if you are a Marine.

Stephens says one of the attackers had a shotgun and another had a pistol.

The suspects eventually caught up with Autry. But Autry — who managed to pull a knife out of his backpack — kicked the shotgun out of one of the attacker's hands. He stabbed a teenage girl who jumped on him and a man who attacked him.

I'm sure glad I didn't cancel

the comprehensive coverage on our 11 year-old Accord a couple of weeks ago...

Looks normal from here, right?


But take a closer look at the window...


Closer...


And then, the ignition...




What was in the driver side floorboard? Well, that would be what's left of the external bits of the ignition (now on the bed for photographic purposes).


It sure looks like someone tried to steal our car last night. Here are the keys we found in the front passenger seat. Odd, huh? All class with the Playboy symbol and the "support my habit" (those are little marijuana leaves) key chains.


And, yeah, this happened in our driveway overnight.

A politician who gets things done, apparently...

Maybe the governor of Missori should run for President.

Inevitable

Think the government's big now? Wait until they start trying to regulate the internet. It will happen.

So Sue Me

This game-night theme is absolutely fantastic!

In case you're wondering ...

why I haven't posted. Let's see:

I've just checked my last email from last Thursday, so now I can start on Friday's. There are two loads of laundry on our dining room table - folded, three loads of laundry on a chair in our living room - unfolded, and two loads of laundry in the washing machine and dryer - waiting. The dishwasher is full of clean dishes, with a sink full of dirty ones waiting for space. And there's a ten foot (square) pile of tree limbs and brush in the back yard.

Since April 14, I have been to Charleston, Austin, Boston, Cleveland, Key West, Orlando, and Murphy NC.

I will post pictures from Key West eventually. Maybe this weekend. As soon as I can.

See ya!

Flying here, driving over this to get here, staying here, all to attend a wedding here.

Talk to you late next week. If we come back.

Interesting

We’re getting fatter, and according to health alarmists and nannies, that means we’re all unhealthier, will die more often and earlier of cancer, heart disease, and stroke. The obesity “epidemic” is horrible for our collective health in America.

Really?

According to a recently released report:

ATLANTA - In what appears to be an amazing success for American medicine, preliminary government figures released Wednesday showed that the annual number of deaths in the U.S. dropped by nearly 50,000 in 2004 — the biggest decline in nearly 70 years.

The 2 percent decrease, reported by the National Center for Health Statistics, came as a shock to many, because the U.S. is aging, growing in population and getting fatter. In fact, some experts said they suspect the numbers may not hold up when a final report is released later this year.

Nevertheless, center officials said the statistics, based on a review of about 90 percent of death records reported in all 50 states in 2004, were consistent across the country and were deemed solid enough to report.

The center said drops in the death rates for heart disease, cancer and stroke accounted for most of the decline.

I know that lower death rates don’t equate to lower incident rates of these diseases, and that fewer deaths probably only mean delayed deaths from these diseases. I’d be interested in seeing how the rates of actual occurrences have changed over the last few years. It’ll also be interesting to see what happens with the final numbers.

Rent

I finally got the movie version from Blockbuster for a trip, and I will be buying it. Maybe it’s because of everything I was dealing with in the summer of 1997 when Stacy, Erica, and I saw this on stage. Maybe it’s the message. Or both. Definitely – both.

525,600 minutes. 525,600 moments so dear.
How do you measure a year in the life?

There’s a lot of this movie that I don’t agree with politically. But this is just one of those where the politics just don’t matter to me. It hits me somewhere many other things (music, movie, stage, whatever) don’t.

There is no future
There is no past
Thank God this moment’s not the last
There’s only us
There’s only this
Forget regret
Or life is yours to miss
No other road
No other way
No day but today

And the voices! Those voices. It just takes my breath away every time I listen to it. Yeah, I bought the Broadway recording immediately after I saw the show almost nine years ago. I still can't believe it's been nine years.

Traveling...

My recent and future schedule, April 14 through May 10.
two days - Charleston, SC - personal
one night, one day - Austin - work
(I really wish I could have stayed longer)
one day home
four days - Boston - personal
half day home
two days - Cleveland, OH - work
a week home
five days - Key West - personal
three days - Orlando - work
HOME

I'm not complaining, just a bit overwhelmed. Yikes. I'm also happy that it's split work and personal. Of course, I'll be working during some of the personal. Oh well. It's still a kick-ass life.

New web addiction

Previously my web addiction, besides the blogs and political commentary, has been the Internet Movie Database. I can hardly watch a movie at home without the laptop open and IMDB pulled up online.

For a few months, I've been lamenting the lack of a music version of this kind of database. I don't know why I didn't just do a google search before tonight, because when I thought to do that, I found AllMusic (by AMG - the guys who keep all the CD information that shows up on your burned CDs).

This is fantastic! Enter a name, and it pulls up several tabs, including Overview, Biography, Discography, Songs, Credits, and Charts & Awards. Within the overview tab, you'll see links to similar artists, influences, other writers whose songs they've performed, a timeline of their musical life, genres, pictures, etc. etc.

Don't question an arrogant 20-something year old "man"

Tonight, Dave and I decided to go try a sushi place down the road that we'd heard was great. It was good, but we still prefer the place close to our house.

We were enjoying ourselves, and the atmosphere was nice and relaxing. That is, until two guys came in and sat next to us at the bar. The first impression came when they sat down, leaned back in their chairs, and put their knees up against the sushi bar. Sure, I've done this before in some places, but never in an austere sushi restaurant.

Then the conversation begins. The one who monopolized the entire conversation begins talking about work (sounds like he's a sales manager), and lamenting the disrespect he feels is directed his way "because he's in his twenties." I'm sure that's it. It doesn't have anything to do with the fact that he's an arrogant jerk. No, that couldn't be it. His view...

"There's this woman at work who's like 55, and tells me how she has 25 years of experience in the industry. Listen, anyone in their fifties and still working in the same industry - no, anyone in their fifties who doesn't own their own business is a schmuck."

Seriously, this guy's enourmous ego is so fragile that someone discussing her experience in the industry (I do know time doesn't necessarily translate into knowledge and success) is immediately percieved as disrespect.

The definition of schmuck:
Shmuck: another of the many Yiddish words for "penis." Although it has the same basic meaning as putz, a shmuck often refers to someone with greater power or social/emotional status; someone who's intentionally nasty or uses their power for ill, whereas a putz is more ineffectual, easier to dismiss because he's beneath consideration or has no real effect on your life. (It's the difference between "jerk" and "total a$$hole.") (It's a very subtle difference, I grant you, and the line is often blurry...)

Turns out he's the schmuck.
Hehe.

Tishamingo

Hey, I've heard of them, but would love to know if any of you have heard their music or seen them live. We're thinking about going to see them at The Windjammer on Isle of Palms tomorrow night. For $8, I'm sure we can't lose, but I'd like to have some ammunition, if I need to convince my dad to go, and our friends to meet us there. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!

And have a wonderful Easter.

How hard is it to understand?

Some people just don't get it, but Gunner does.

I think that most of you who read this will certainly appreciate Gunner's response to an editorial writer at Athens' student-run (not affiliated with the University) Red and Black newspaper.

Well-said, Gunner.

One Nation

Issues of the Patriot Post are emailed a few days each week. This is a conservative newsletter with which I agree more often than not. Their newsletters are heavy, chock full of well-researched and interesting information. Though I don't always agree with the opinions in the larger essays, they are consistently well-reasoned and detailed.

Today's essay covering immigration was particularly good, though. I believe it requires a subscription - well worth it.

E PLURIBUS UNUM?

Out of many, one.

That was the national motto proposed by Benjamin Franklin, John
Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1776. Both simple and elegant, it
embodied the notion that all who had come to America's shores, and
all who would come, must be united---must all form one front---in
defense of freedom and liberty. For 200 years, we were, largely,
one people united behind constitutional republicanism. But soon
after the social turbulence of the '60s and the economic woes
of the '70s, that unity began to crumble. This was the era in
which multiculturalism emerged---the era in which ethnocentricity
became chic.

Arthur Schlesinger, a former Harvard professor and senior advisor
to JFK, published a retrospective on this era in 1991 called
"The Disuniting of America." Schlesinger wrote primarily about
the orthodoxy of self-interested hyphenated-American citizen
groups---who, rather than unifying to become one, were diversifying
to become many. He warned that the cult of ethnicity would result
in "the fragmentation and tribalization of America," the natural
consequence being that these special-interest groups would be
co-opted by the political parties...

Security Concerns...

... A formidable security wall along our border with Mexico would also
provide a measure of safety against terrorist incursions, but there
are already serious security problems brewing within our borders.

...The Hispanic reconquest movement is on the verge of violent
nationalism---if it hasn't already become just that---with all its
terrorist implications. If they do in fact resort to violence, all
bets are off in regards to the status, guest worker or otherwise,
of any illegal alien in this country from south of the border.

Economic Concerns...

The essential protectionist argument against the provision
of guest-worker permits is that these workers take jobs away
from Americans and reduce wages for everyone. There is, however,
little factual basis for those arguments. As Former House Majority
Leader Dick Armey was fond of noting, "Demagoguery beats data." In
other words, an emotional rant tends to be louder than a reasoned
analysis.

With U.S. unemployment now at 4.8 percent (with most of these
being the chronically unemployable), we need immigrant workers
regardless of the ruckus that protectionists might raise...

Social Concerns...

... We are now beginning to bear the social consequences of
multicultural politicization in both American and immigrant
minority populations. "Progressive" policies---bilingual education
being the worst offender---have the effect of insulating and
ultimately ghettoizing otherwise hardworking and well-intentioned
immigrants. For fear of appearing "culturally imperialistic"
by forcing newcomers to learn our language, history and laws,
we've condemned them to permanent impoverishment. But then,
such policies have always bred Democrat votes.

Conclusion...

... Additionally, we strongly endorse free enterprise and free trade,
including the regulated in-sourcing of low-skill labor through
time-limited guest-worker visas.

I can't possibly quote all that I want to from this without just copying the entire piece, which isn't fair to its authors or the site on which it was originally published.

Iraq

Oliver North provides a point by point rebuttal to John Kerry's the-Iraqis-must- have-a-functioning-government-in-30-days plan here. Good stuff.

For Dave D.

Just for you...

Freedom? Nah, we don't want that...

We want to be sure that we'll have a house, tv, car, and cell phone; never hurt or be hurt; never be hungry; and never die of something unpleasant.

As usual, The Agitator sums up the new American view of Freedom.

Advocates for liberty are increasingly facing a new challenge. Used to be that our main fight was against the ever expanding size and scope of government. But it's fast becoming the case that half the battle is convincing people that freedom is actually a good thing in the first place. People would rather have a massive government that makes all of their decisions for them, ostensibly because they'd rather have someone other than themselves to blame when they make the wrong decisions. Hence, the uncomfortable number of smokers who support smoking bans because they think it'll help them kick the habit.

Is it time for a revolution, yet?

Aha

I've seen something like this before, but this is a more detailed explanation about why men don't listen to women. Interesting.

Radney Foster

Ah, he's got a new CD coming out (so does Keane! - June 20), and he's playing the Opry on Saturday. If you live in Nashville, or will be there, you should totally go see him. He actually doesn't play outside of Texas too much anymore, so it's a great chance. I hope he comes back to Georgia for this album.

What I did on Saturday

Stacy and I drove to the Sheraton on Courtland downtown and met up with Russ. From the outside, this is a hotel clearly built in the 50s or 60s. On the inside, it has a pool, lots of trees, and the balconies make it look like New Orleans. It's really really cool.

Anyway, we went down there to try out with Russ for the VH-1 World Series of Pop Culture Trivia. Russ has a full breakdown of the experience, but he has left it to me to tell the story of my middle name.

If there's any question about my connection to and love of pop culture, it is put to rest when the story of my middle name is told.

When I was born, my parents did not give me a middle name. There's a bit of a legacy here, but just for simplicity's sake, I'll leave it at that. Anyway, when I was about six or so and going to school, I realized that everyone else had middle names. At the same time, I was a big fan of The Facts of Life, and tomboy through and through. I thought Jo was the coolest girl ever. Today, she'd be a lesbian, but back then, she was just a cool tomboy with a motorcycle. So, in school, I started putting Whitney Jo on everything. The school even sent my progress report home with that name on it. My parents had no idea where it came from and why I started using it. I kind of moved on beyond it for a while, but in the seventh grade or so, starting using it again. And as a Christmas gift that year, my parents legally changed my name. This is not expensive, but also not an easy task, and they went to a lot of trouble to do it. It was such a great gift.

So that's the story of Whitney Jo. It's not, like most people think, because I'm from the South, but because I loved Jo on Facts of Life. Actually, there's an irony there that I've never realized before. And it goes back to the reason I never had a middle name in the first place that I wasn't going to tell. My grandmother and some of her 10 brothers and sisters all had good small town southern names like Betty Ruth, Emma Lou, Hugh Frank, etc. My grandmother hated it, so when she had children, she insisted on only giving them one name. Because of that my mom and her sisters only have one name. And, when my parents had me, they only gave me one name. Then, I ended up with a very southern name, when in fact the single name thing goes back to my grandmother's distaste for the classic southern double-naming tradition. I never thought of it that way.

OK, moving on. It's time to do lots and lots around the house: laundry, clean the kitchen and bathroom, vaccuum, and catch up on my DVR watching. Hope you have a nice Sunday.

So out of it

I was in NYC yesterday and gave six hours worth of presentations. It was actually the same presentation four times. I enjoy visiting New York and wish I could have stayed a little longer. I've been five times now, and two of thsoe times, my hotel room had a view of the Empire State Building. I've still never been there, though. I also rode by it in a cab on the way to my hotel Wednesday night.

Day trips are so hard, though, and I'm completely out of it today. Traveling is getting harder for me, not easier. What's up with that?

More on SWAT

How long is it going to take before people realize this REALLY is a problem?

Elderly couple injured by SWAT team invading the wrong house.

From The Agitator - link on the blogroll to the right.

SWAT

While watching V for Vendetta, I kept coming back to the agitator's focus lately on the over-use of SWAT teams in our country. More and more often SWAT teams are being used to serve warrants for non-violent crimes. Regardless of whether or not I agree that gambling with your friend in your own home or smoking a little pot should be illegal, it's ridiculous that SWAT teams are being employed to bust these type of criminals.

Balko links to a recent BBC piece on SWAT teams, and does his own review primarily of the study often used to debunk the claim that SWAT raids are often excessively violent.

2) Those who cite Klinger's study as evidence that that the massive increase in SWAT deployments is harmless wrongly assume that the only harm done by paramilitary raids is done is when shots are fired. That's most certainly not the case. I've documented dozens of cases in my upcoming paper in which SWAT teams have broken down the door to the wrong home, and needlessly terrorized an innocent family -- and it's almost certain that the number of actual botched raids like these is exponentially higher than the number reported in the media.

In other words, there's significant harm done when heavily-armed tactical units break down doors in the middle of the night, and drag innocent men, women, and children out of their beds at gunpoint, even if shots are never fired. Two of the more infamous botched SWAT raids resulting in death -- Alberta Spruill in New York and Accelyne Williams in Boston -- involved no gunfire at all. Both died from heart attacks after SWAT teams mistakenly raided their homes. There are also several cases of botched SWAT raids resulting in the death or injury of innocent people due to misuse or malfunction of the "flashbang" grenades police often use to distract the targets of a raid.

3) We also need to ask ourselves, quite simply, if we want to live in a society where its appropriate to serve warrants on nonviolent offenders with cops dressed in battle garb. I sure as hell don't. Does a pot smoker really deserve to have his door beaten down while he's sleeping? To be sworn at, forced to the ground at gunpoint, and handcuffed? Go back to that Churchill quote: "Democracy means that when there's a knock at the door at 4 am, it's probably the milkman." What does it mean that we've reached the point where not only can we no longer be sure it's actually the milkman, but that police don't even bother to knock?

I certainly know how I feel about this. Do you? If you don't see that this is a problem, why not?

V for Vendetta

Saw it this weekend. As a movie and entertainment, it was great. Fun, good acting (especially Stephen Rea and Stephen Fry), pretty well-directed, and enjoyable. As a political statement, it was heavy-handed, especially when it showed a flag made out of the American and British flags with a big swastika in the middle.

I can't get behind the idea that this movie is all that risky, either. It's nothing people haven't been saying for years. The book was written in the early and mid-eighties, actually, referencing the Thatcher government. And of course there's the obligatory pharmaceutical companies are in league with the government conspiracy bit. Also nothing new.

But it was still fun to watch. I think that says a lot, since I generally disagreed with the message.

And I do agree that governments should be afraid of their people, just not because I think our government is going to outlaw homosexuality and Islam.

SP, Isaac Hayes, etc.

In my first post on this topic, I wondered about the Isaac Hayes protest being staged. Another interesting tidbit here.

So now I wonder again, if the whole thing wasn't staged for publicity's sake, even the Tom Cruise protest and all.

South Park ... I'm pissed

So after Comedy Central advertises the showing of "Trapped in the Closet" on both TV and their website for last night, they show the stupid Sundance Film Festival episode! I'm furious.

Update: So apparently, as a sue-happy Scientologist, Tom Cruise has his panties in a wad over this episode. Comedy Central and Paramount (which is distributing Mission Impossible 3) are both owned by Viacom. So very aware of his power it this situation, Cruise decided to let Viacom know that he wouldn't do publicity for MI3 if Comedy Central aired the episode (that has already aired once). Well, I guess figuring they'll make more off of MI3 than they do off of South Park, Viacom and Comedy Central caved.

(Props to my friend Adam who called it within five minutes of the wrong episode starting on Wednesday night. He said, "I bet Comedy Central pulled it for some reason. They've caved before.")

I bet Matt and Trey are so angry and can't wait to see how they cover this in another episode.

I don't have contacts at any of these companies to verify this story, of course. It's simply a rumor traveling the web.

South Park

I kind of wonder if Isaac Hayes' decision to leave South Park and announcement of that decision today isn't a little staged. The episode in question aired back in November, but he's just announcing his departure today? Today happens to be the day the episode is being aired again. Hmmmm.

If he is serious, his argument that this time South Park has crossed the line of satire to "intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others," holds no water. But you see, tonight, it's his religion they're picking on. And that just won't do. From Opinion Journal, I think we have the best remark on this whole story...

Well, after all, it's one thing to mock Jews, Muslims, Mormons, Catholics, Evangelicals, blacks, gays, whites, Mexicans, Asians, Canadians, Frenchmen, people with birth defects, women, transsexuals, Democrats, Republicans, lawyers, cops, cows, people with red hair and freckles, goths, the handicapped and fat kids. But satirizing Scientology--that's just intolerant!

Pet Peeve

I would say that abuse of the word "literally" is my biggest pet peeve. And it certainly does come up more often than another one that I have. But it's not as important in the grand scheme of things. My number one pet peeve is...

people who continue to talk about America being a democracy. This bothers me when anyone does it, but I can somewhat understand it from the general public. They've been told over and over and over again, in school and elsewhere, that ours is a democratic government. The ones, though, that really infuriate me are those who most definitely know better. It would seem that these people refer to America as a democracy because of ulterior motives. Take the New York Times, for instance.

The Times does not like the Electoral College because it enables a candidate that did not win the popular vote to win the presidential election. The problem for them? The Electoral College for US presidential elections is mandated in our Constitution. It's difficult to get an amendment to the Constitution ratified. So, they're in favor of a new idea that would eliminate the need for a constitutional change. I have two major problems with their justification of this process.

Americans are rightly cautious about tinkering with mechanisms established by the Constitution. But throughout the nation's history, there have been a series of reforms affecting how elections are conducted, like the ones that gave blacks and women the vote and provided for the direct election of United States senators. Sidestepping the Electoral College would be in this worthy tradition of making American democracy more democratic.

I agree that Americans are cautious about changing the Constitution, and that they should be. But then they justify this attempt to disregard constitutional intent by referencing changes to eletoral process that were actually changed by amending the Constitution. Right to vote for blacks - Amendment 15. Right to vote for women - Amendment 19. Direct election of Senators - Amendment 17.

And in the last sentence we come to the pet peeve, "making American democracy more democratic." As I said before, these are the ones that infuriate me. The writers at the NY Times know very well that this is not a democracy in its form of government. We are a republic. As a matter of fact, our founders abhored the idea of a democracy as a form of government.

"... democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths, " James Madison, The Federalist Papers "Essay #10".

We may be a democratic society, but ours is NOT a democratic form of government. The Times knows the distinction. They are not talking about a democratic society in this context, but a democratic form of government. Whatever their disagreements with the Electoral College, they should present their arguments on a factual, reasoned basis, instead of closing with two sentences full of distortion. If this was some random blog, I might be more forgiving, but it's the NY Times. There is should be no question that they know the truth, and insist on printing lies instead. Then again, if their editors do not know the truth, that is an entirely different, and perhaps more disturbing, situation.

Thanks to Opinion Journal.

Another Hills Review

Odd Todd posts funny reviews and he goes to see lots of movies. I always check to see what he says, even if I don't agree. He's a real guy talking about movies, not a movie critic being paid to find symbolism that doesn't exist in shitty movies. Anyway, he gave Hills Have Eyes two cookies, which I think is too much. But he said exactly what I was thinking in many places, particularly, these quotes...

It's totally a shame that I had to break my long movie fast by chowing down on this near-rancid overcooked slab of blecch. But whatever. Movie beggars can't be choosers. But by the way, Hey Hollywood! If I hear you complain once more that people aren't going out to your movies anymore because of dvd piracy I'm gonna yack! Look at the stinky chum you're now consistently churning out! At this rate you're eventually gonna put the friggin dvd pirates out of business! I can steal movies all day if I want to! But I don't because I like seeing them on the big screen! Everyone I know likes the big screen! The people who are really busy stealing your precious movies are your friggin kids who have megaplasma giant screen surround sound in their houses! The same kids who burn your Oscar screeners and put them on the market for friggin X money! Clean up your own backyard before pointing fingers at us regular folk! Eh? Feh! Ok.

All in all don't bother with this. Besides being stupid-- they stoop into desperately tacky here and there. Put it this way, (although this is a slight spoiler. sorry.) Just because they can have a gross mutant faced freak hold a gun to a baby's head while he sucks breast milk from the mother's boob -- doesn't mean they have to go there. Sort out your issues with your shrink on your own time.

Check out the whole review. It's great, though I'm a little confused how this got a higher rating than Flight Plan, which wasn't great, but certainly didn't suck worse than The Hills Have Eyes. Not even close. He also gave it a higher rating than Longest Yard and equal to Sahara. I know the ratings are meant to be exclusive to the movie being reviewed, and reviews always come down to initial expectations, but this one was just horrible - I'd have given it no cookie. No cookie for you!

Walking out of the theater...

So, for the first time in my life, I left a movie theater in the middle of a movie. We even got in on "free" passes paid for by credit card points.

Spoiler alert! But seriously, I'm saving you time and money here.

The Hills Have Eyes. Awful. So many horribly cliche'd characters. Violence for the sake of violence. Gore for the sake of gore. Disgustingly gross mutant sexuality. Terrible "plot," if you can call it that. I was begging for them to kill at least two of the characters within the first 20 minutes. They all make the absolute stupidest decisions ever. Take a dirt road shortcut through the New Mexican desert? Sure! Terrible car accident in the middle of nowhere? Why don't we leave the women and 15 year-old boy behind, while the two adult men split up (!) to go find help? The dog runs off for the eighth time? Fifteen year-old boy should chase it a mile and leave the women and baby alone until after dark because he slips and falls - getting knocked out. One of the men who goes to find help, finds a crater full of old cars and decides to bring a teddy bear he found in one of these old cars back to his baby daughter. By all means, take the random (radioactive) teddy bear back to your baby girl.

Then the mutants show up for real. Don't even get me started. We left after one mutant beats the crap out of one of the girls and tries to rape her. Another mutant then attacks the other woman (the mother of the baby girl). So that he will leave her baby girl alone, she lets him suck milk from her breast. I'm serious. That's when we left. The is the same mutant that bit the head off a lovebird and turned it up to pour the blood in his mouth. I wish I could say we didn't even stay this long. But we did. There was also a man burning at a stake, another man blowing his own head off with a shotgun, and an ear in a Styrofoam to-go container. I think that about covers it.

E-mail everywhere

Over the last few months, my job has slowly devolved from that of Strategic Alliances Manager whose responsibility is to maintain productive working relationships with my company’s partners, which drives increased revenue from my channel to Strategic Alliances Manager whose primary function is writer/responder of email. I have responsibilities outside of email (see the first description of my job). Productive, revenue-producing relationships cannot be created and maintained solely through email.

While my job is primarily tactical in nature, there are certain strategic goals that I must accomplish. As I try to schedule my time to include strategy development and deployment, I find myself doing only one thing all day, every day – writing damn emails. And even though it seems this is all I do every day, at the end of each day and week, I have more unread emails in my mailbox than I had when the day/week began. I work within a time management system in which everything is scheduled in my calendar. I find myself skipping most scheduled items in favor of email (there are already four hours each day scheduled exclusively for email). I go to meetings, and come out with more to-do items that generally require communication via email. That’s if I even get to the to-do items from meetings because I’m always ANSWERING EMAILS!

I know I’m not alone in this, but I had to vent. I feel like I’ve gotten absolutely nothing done this week. But I’ve got lots of emails to show for my time. 146 emails sent so far this week, to be exact. That’s only sent, not received. There are another 32 from this week that are due responses (11 from earlier weeks). That comes out to about 4.45 per hour. Doesn’t sound bad, right? But these are all emails that require some sort of work or research prior to response. And this doesn’t take into account the 8.5 hours of meetings I had this week, pushing the total up to 5.65 emails per hour. That’s 11 minutes per email to read and respond. Sure, some are quick – “yes”, “no”, “what the hell are you talking about?” – responses. But most aren’t. And that’s why I’m frustrated.

So, if you’re someone with whom I usually communicate via email on a personal basis and you’ve noticed that I just don’t reply as much anymore, now you know why. I’m sure it will change. I’ll get a handle on it and figure out how to manage it. I’ve been through this before. It’s not the first time or the last, and I know I’m not the only one (here or at any other business). In the meantime, though, this is why you may not get a response to every email or you may not hear from me as often.

- While I was writing this, I could have answered three emails -

Update: it's now 5:45pm, and I've sent another 28 emails since this original post. Going home now.

Has it really been four years?

Wow, today is our fourth anniversary, which is just wild. I can’t believe it’s been four years already.

Mush warning …

If you’ve found the right person, I highly recommend marrying him (or her). It isn’t always easy, but what great thing is?

I love being married to Dave, and my life is better simply because of his presence in it. There is absolutely no one else on this earth I would rather spend my days and nights with. He is a wonderful husband.

shortest 24 recap

potato face vs. spawn (characters by Television Without Pity)
potato face wins

leland palmer as vice president

edgar!

Your life's theme song

Apparently mine is Can't Help Falling in Love by UB40, because it was number one on my 18th birthday.

Number one on my actual birthday was Jive Talkin' by the BeeGees, which is on the Funkle Ester set list. I find that amusing.

What are your songs?

Six Degrees of Obscurity

The other night I was watching the alternative videos show on VH1 Classic, and an old video by a band called X came on. I thought I recognized the lead singer.



Turns out, I did. His stage name is John Doe, and he's also a character actor who has worked in tons of movies and tv shows. I specifically remembered him from Road House. Yes. Road House. Major guilty pleasure of mine.

Back to the six degrees. The female singer in X was his wife at the time. After they divorced she married Viggo Mortenson and had a son. I just think that's kind of interesting. She and Viggo Mortenson have also since divorced.

And I can't think of anything else to write about today.

By the content of their character

Seems that this latest generation of folks - one behind us slackers/gen-x types - are more and more diverse in their relationships - friendships and intimate relationships. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Dream is becoming a reality.

Ryan Knapick and Josh Baker have been best friends since fifth grade. Colette Gregory entered the picture in high school. She and Josh are dating now. Knapick is white, Gregory is black and Baker is half-Hispanic. To them, race doesn't matter.

"People are finding people with common interests and common perspectives and are putting race aside," says Knapick, 22, a May graduate of Indiana University who works at a machine shop and lives with his parents in Munster, Ind.

For some, though, this is a problem. And you might (or not, depending on your cynicism) be surprised by whom this threatens.

"People think this sort of colorblindness is a kind of progress, but I see it as more pernicious than that," says Tyrone Forman, an associate professor of African-American studies and sociology at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

His research, based on data from the University of Michigan's annual Monitoring the Future survey, suggests a troublesome side to racial colorblindness.

Even though young people report having friends of other races, Forman says, those friendships don't necessarily lead to a reduction in negative attitudes toward a racial group, because people view their own friends as an exception to whatever stereotype may exist.

Such feelings, along with studies that show less concern for racial issues among white high school seniors in 2003 compared with 30 years ago, makes him believe there should be more and not less talk about race, Forman says.

Did you know that often, I think people are stupid? I don't think my own friends are stupid, of course. But in general, people are stupid. Does that make me prejudiced against people? Sure, en masse, but not against individuals when I meet them. We all traffic in stereotypes, and we all exclude ourselves and our own social circles from those stereotypes. This is a human condition, and has nothing to do with race, specifically, but the general tendency to stereotype. It happens to everyone for many reasons besides skin color.

Do you know what other improvement Mr. Forman thinks is bad?
"In 2003, 17% of students said they were 'never concerned' with hunger and poverty, compared with 7% in 1976, he says. And on race, 27% were 'never concerned' three years ago, compared with 13% surveyed in 1976."

Seriously, fewer children have grown up wondering if they're going to eat every night, and this is bad? And I wonder what the racial breakdown is of those who said they were "never concerned" with race? What if there are black people among that 27%? That means this is an even bigger improvement, socially speaking. If someone is black and hasn't been "concerned with race," wouldn't the implication there be that they haven't felt discriminated against because of their race?

Don't worry, though, the author is sure to point out that Mr. Forman is black and is married to a white woman. And another white contributor to the article who is concerned about this "problem" used to be married to, and has a son with, a black man.

So as people become less and less concerned with race, and we all continue "mixing" on a grand scale, what then? Do we still live by the old "one drop rule" of heritage? Used to be that was the way racist people maintained as much power over others as possible. I imagine that in the near future it may be the only tool a whole different set of racist people have to maintain as much power over others as possible - and the only way the people who make a living off of racism will be able to keep their own jobs.

Thanks again, to The Agitator.

Herman Cain

I voted for Mr. Cain in a primary for either the Senate or House in the last election. He didn’t win, but I’m proud to say that I voted for him. He sometimes subs for Neal Boortz, and it’s always a joy to listen to him. He subbed last Friday, and I wanted to blog then, but just haven’t had a chance. Anyway, check out his site if you have a chance. We need more people in this country like him.

Some excerpts:

They Think You’re Stupid
A wakeup call... Work on the right problems to achieve the right results for issues that are vital to America's future. Both political parties are failing the citizens of this country. There is a solution. We must innovate and not just renovate in order to sustain the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

In addition, the dynamics of wealth building and individual achievement have changed dramatically in just the last 20 years. Upward mobility from generation to generation is the norm. Today's white collar workers and small business owners are the sons and daughters of yesterday's blue collar union members. Women now make up a significant percentage of the workplace. Racial minorities are more upwardly mobile and represented in every aspect of society. Over half of the U.S. workforce owns financial investments such as stocks and bonds. More young people have college educations and advanced degrees than ever before. The marketplace for goods and services, ideas and innovations is global in scale. Perhaps most important, history has shown us the inefficiencies of centralized government programs and command economies. Yet, due to political pressures and a lack of leadership in most corners of state and federal government, we continue to place band-aids on an infrastructure that requires major reconstructive surgery.

What I learned yesterday

What I learned today
Did you know that "perk" is derived from the word perquisite? I didn’t. Some context from here. It wasn't until the end of the second paragraph until I realized what they were talking about. They are talking about perks.

Perquisite problems

Another benefit that companies might shift away from as a result of the proposal is offering perquisites. Many executives and experts argue that the SEC is going too far by lowering the threshold of perquisites that need to be disclosed from $50,000 to $10,000. "When you look at the total scope of executive pay, $10,000 is nothing," says Robbi Fox, a consultant at Hewitt Associates.

Experts expect that many companies will protest this requirement because it is too time-consuming to catalog. Further, only a few companies offer such extravagant perquisites.

Of course, about five words later, they said perks. I'm just glad I figured it out before then.

Of Memories and Music

On my way home tonight, I was listening to the music on my new toy (paid for by our overpayment to the US and GA governments). I like the album shuffle feature, because, well, I like albums. The play all songs is fun sometimes, but I really like to get into the groove that is an album. (Kindof ironic that this toy may spell the end of albums. whatever.) So the American Graffiti soundtrack came on. Something I find interesting about where this took me is that this is the music of my parents’ childhoods originally, not mine. But they’re straight baby boomers (OK, Dad was a few weeks early), and in the mid-eighties, with The Big Chill and the boomers getting all nostalgic, this became some of the music of my childhood, too. So I was instantly transported to the parking lot of what I think was Horseshoe Bend Country Club in Roswell. I’m in my dad’s Alpha Romeo Spider with the top down, listening to oldies while my parents are playing in their Alta matches. It must have been 1986 or 1987. I remember so much detail.

And it made me wonder about when we get all nostalgic for the 80s. We already have, but I wonder if there will be a Big Chill type movie with our stories when we’re hitting our early forties. I’m sure we’ll listen to eighties music all the time, then, like we do now. Will our kids remember that as music of their childhoods, too?

For the love of Jake Ryan and Lloyd Dobler (an internal conflict)

SO, thanks to The Agitator, I found this article about the undying love for Lloyd Dobler that so many women our age have. In the opening, the writer mentions an article two years ago about Jake Ryan. I have to admit that Jake Ryan was my first movie love, so there's a special place in my heart for him. But I also love Lloyd, and certainly Say Anything.

"I don't want to sell anything, buy anything or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought or processed, or repair anything sold, bought or processed. You know, as a career -- I don't want to do that."

And don't forget that Eric Stoltz and Jeremy Piven are in it, too.

There's not much I can say about the article that isn't already said better than I could, so I'll just leave this with some quotes. But I do have to argue with the comment about being in love with Lloyd Dobler, not John Cusack. I'm also in love with Martin Blank. Probably more than with Lloyd.

Two Valentine's Days ago, in the Style section, it was discussed at great length why women still think about Jake Ryan -- the cool-mannered, Porsche-driving, completely fictional hunk from the 1984 teen flick "Sixteen Candles." Then came the e-mail. Women (and some men) wrote in for months, mostly affirming this fantasy. One dreamer in Dallas talked about the lady down the street with toddler sons named Jake and Ryan. There was much linking and blogging. Even now, once in a while, Google will lead the Jakelorn our way. A New York documentary filmmaker came by last summer and set up lights and rearranged furniture and interviewed me -- she was making an entire movie about Jake Ryan.
"But what about," she finally asked, "Lloyd Dobler?"

Shawna Shepherd, 28, an associate TV producer, agrees. "I am always on the hunt for the Lloyd Dobler type. Unfortunately the ones I've dated so far pale in comparison to the Hollywood character," she says. "Sure they were quirky, and the mix tapes award-winning -- I still listen to them -- but a shower and a treat to dinner every now and then would have been nice, too. And let's face it, if a guy stood outside with a boombox playing music outside my window, I'd be unimpressed and slightly freaked out."

Chuck Klosterman, a complicatedly dorky New York rock critic who has ascended to omniscient pop-culture sageness (more powerful in his observations than even the combined forces of all those loudmouths on nostalgic VH1 shows), makes quick work of Lloyd Dobler in the very first pages of his 2003 book "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs":

"Fake love is a very powerful thing," Klosterman observes. "I once loved a girl who almost loved me, but not as much as she loved John Cusack. . . . It appears that countless women born between the years of 1965 and 1978 are in love with John Cusack. . . . But here's what none of these upwardly mobile women seem to realize: They don't love John Cusack. They love Lloyd Dobler. When they see Mr. Cusack, they are still seeing the optimistic, charmingly loquacious teenager he played in 'Say Anything.' . . .

Chuck Norris bandwagon

The guys at Best Damn Sports Show booked Chuck Norris, and had him read some off the list. He's clearly embarassed by it at some points, but he's a great sport. YOu'll have to find the link on the website, cause I couldn't find a direct one. Sorry.

Scrubs

OK, I watched Scrubs in its first season, but was turned off by one episode in particular and stopped watching. Then a few people at work commanded me to watch Scrubs again, and The Office. And you know me, I just go along with the herd. That, and the fact that Arrested Development is no longer on (after tonight's season/series finale - yeah, seriously on a Friday night at 8pm!) and I need a random comedy fix, brought be back to Scrubs. (I'm enjoying The Office, too, but that's not what this post is about.)

So anyway, today I'm asking for help. Can someone out there please help me find a clip of Turk's Air Band audition to Bel Biv Devoe's Poison (you can hear a sample at this Amazon.com link, too - just scroll down a little ways) online, so that I can link to it. First of all, it's hilarious. "Why is it hilarious?" you might ask. First of all, the song selection is priceless. The lip-synching was perfect. But what really put it over the top is Donald Faison's amazing dancing. Seriously, this guy is incredible. I've probably watched it five times already. And it will stay on the DVR for some time to come.

To aid in the search, the episode title is "My Half Acre."

Doing what you love or loving what you do

We’ve all heard it said that if you do what you love, it won’t seem like work.

You know what’s funny, I’ve had a couple of experiences and found out that with me, when I do what I love for work, it just makes what I love seem like work, and ruins both the thing I love and my work. So that stinks.

I guess that means that I didn’t love writing or photography enough. But if that’s the case, then I don’t love anything enough to want to make a career of it.

So what is one to do?

What if there is nothing that you see yourself dedicating everything to, besides your spouse and family? What if there is nothing you’re willing to make such sacrifices of time (and money) for. What if you love something so much, but the talent just isn’t there to make a living at it? Or you aren’t smart enough to think of a way to turn whatever it is into a career?

So I guess the key is to find something you love that you do well (two steps, not just one). But what if you don’t even know what you love enough to do all day every day? I do envy those people, like my friend Jenni who’s known since she was 12 what she wanted to do, and she’s doing it. And this guy.

Of course, knowing what you love and going for it all can be a huge risk. But if you love it so much that you’re willing to take that risk, then you’re half-way there.

So that leaves me, at this stage, with loving what I do. Well, I don’t love it in the sense of that described above. But I do like it enough to enjoy myself at work and enjoy the people I work with every day, and yeah, I’m pretty good at it (even though I think I just fake it really well). This is a huge blessing that many people don’t have in their lives. I recognize that, and I’m thankful for it every day. So maybe I’m one-third of the way there.

It's about time...

It seems that plans are in the works to build a Victims of Communism Memorial in Washtington DC. Unfortunately, it won't have as prominant a location as many of the other memorials, but at least there will be something.

This column in the Wall Street Journal Opinion section details several other sites around the world, as well. I think the most interesting tidbit is the mention of how quickly many in Eastern Europe switched from Fascist to Communist at the end of WWII. Those two may seem rivals in ideology, but are certainly not so in practice. They simply seek to control people using different propaganda. But the goal was always the same - domination through oppression and fear.

Quick poll: If you haven't hit the link, do you know how many deaths have been attributed to Communism?

The Communists clearly out-classed the Fascists in death-toll category, partially due to the longer term of widespread "success."

But of course, let's not forget that Communism is all about equality, even if as George Orwell so astutely pointed out in Animal Farm "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". Many will tell you that Communism's 100 million death toll only "happened" because it hasn't been done right, yet. It really is a good and wonderful theory (in the non-scientific definition of the word). Never mind that it's antithetical to human nature, and any such system can only be implemented through - guess what - oppression and fear.

Pure Poppy Goodness

VH1 Classic has quickly become my favorite channel, since getting digital cable. As a matter of fact, I have the DVR set up to record Pop Show every time it comes on, and I watch these episodes in the morning while I'm having breakfast and getting ready. And whenever there's nothing on TV, I go to the DVR for relief. And there are my five or six episodes of Pop Show (and Edge of Country from GAC). Oh, and just let me mention that next week on CMT, Lyle and Bonnie Raitt will be playing on CrossRoads. I haven't seen an episode this season, but I know Radney Foster used to do the interviews. I don't know what I'm going to do if Radney and Lyle are on the screen together. I can't wait. But that is SOOO off topic.

I started this post because of the pure poppy goodness that was the January 28th episode of Pop Show. Almost pop perfection in its ability to take me back to so many great times. These are the videos in order of appearance:

"One More Night" Phil Collins, 1985
When I was in the forth and fifth grades, I thought this was one of the saddest songs I'd ever heard. I mean, I was 9, and I knew it was depressing. I was right. It still is. Actually, looking through his singles list on Billboard, I'm realizing that Mr. Collins sung a lot of damn depressing songs.

"Tell It To My Heart" Taylor Dayne, 1987
You have to be kidding me! This song? Look at that hair. The extensions don't even match the rest, and the bangs are crimped - CRIMPED. Did anyone wax their eyebrows in the 80's? She's in a black dress with what looks like a plastic chastity belt of some sort. But I can't help but be taken back to 1988 and want to dance at some horrible middle school dance in the cafeteria. Yep, that's right, not the gym, but the Cafeteria.

"La Isla Bonita" Madonna, 1987
It's never going to stop. They're dragging me through my childhood here with infinitely danceable tunes. True Blue was one of my first albums. I still have it.

"She Don't Use Jelly" Flaming Lips, 1995
Whoa, slow down here! You just hit the skip button and jumped right into college. Seriously, we just went from early Madonna to The Flaming Lips? This is great. I haven't fast forwarded through a song yet.

"Ironic" Alanis Morissette, 1996
Yeah, yeah, we all know it isn't ironic, after all, but I still can't bring myself to fast forward through this one, either. All four years at Georgia were so incredible, and this is one of those songs that takes me right back there in two seconds. I'm walking back to Myers from Park Hall, weaving my way through bus stop traffic in front of Tate with the headphones in and whatever mix tape turned up so loud that there is nothing else but the music, the sidewalk, and hundreds of feet in my periphery.

"End of the Road" Boyz II Men, 1992
Alright, slight rewind here, to the end of high school. Yeah, this is a break-up song, but we all know that songs relate to where we are in our lives. We were at the end of high school. I think this was actually Spring 1992 (is that right, Stacy?), and this was a senior song everywhere (we were juniors). I don't know that our senior class used it as theirs, but I do know it was in the yearbook slide show for the Seniors section. I think there were even some pictures of couples that had broken up. Or something like that. I may be making that up. It was in the slide show, though. That was a great slide show. Anyway, some of our friends were leaving for college, and we were about to be seniors. What a great time. That summer between junior and senior years is one of the best times of my life.

"I Wish I Was Your Lover" Sophie B. Hawkins, 1992
Wow, right about the same time. Again with the bushy eyebrows. You know, she's not an unattractive woman, but she's all butched up for this video. Of course, they were the days of flannel. This was a scream-along-with-the-radio-in-the-car song. Should I be ashamed of that?

Halfway through, and still haven't fastforwarded yet. This is the longest streak yet.

"I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" Hall & Oates, 1981
We're way back on this one. I'm in Dad's station wagon (olive green with wood paneling). I think it was a Plymouth Volare. And we're driving at night in the rain. "I Love a Rainy Night" by Eddie Rabbitt puts me in the same place.

"You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" Leo Sayer, 1976
Yup, there had to be one that made me fastforward. This is it. That horrible falsetto and white man's afro. Good grief.

"Don't Leave Me This Way" Thelma Houston, 1976
Yeah, yeah, it was released in the disco days, and I don't remember it from my childhood, but well, it's all about Funkle Ester here. If I wasn't typing, I'd be dancing. I absolutely can't help but dance to this song. I was once in NY and had to wake up at 5:30 AM. This was the song on the radio when the alarm came on, and I had no problem waking up that day. Where's my shaker?! Damnit, Funkle Ester better play soon.

"Kiss" Prince and The Revolution, 1986
He's such a tiny little person. What are those heels, 4 inches? And his waste, 24? But just damn. Great song, great delivery. He's just fantastic.

"Young Turks" Rod Stewart, 1981
Video replete with terrible 80's choreography trying desperately for a West Side Story vibe. "But there ain't no point in talkin' when there ain't nobody listnin'" Wow, 1981 really does sum it up nicely.

"Cruel to Be Kind" Nick Lowe, 1979
This was somewhat alternative for my parents' taste when I was a kid, so I didn't discover this song until much later. Probably after college, actually. But it's just a great song, and Nick Lowe has aged really really well. Also, this actually had a narrative video. In 1979, where did these air?

Oh, we're at the end. That was the best hours of music videos I've seen in ages. Thank you VH1 Classic.

Being lazy and quoting others today

Most people would rather be certain they're miserable than risk being happy.
-- Robert Anthony

Bad Radio Bits, Superman, and Jack Bauer

Morning radio is awful. I wish they would just play music, do traffic, news and gossip, then play more music. This is all I want from morning radio. No games. No silly bits. No fake advertisements.

This morning wasn't much different. A radio station did a horrible bit this morning about Jack Bauer's "personnel file." I hated all except this one...

"Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas."

the.best.24.EVER

You read my file, the first thing I'm going to do is take out your right eye ...

After tonight, it's a toss-up.

Aaron

Jack

Aaron

Jack

Aaron's quiet, unflinching obedience to his duty, and willingness to sacrifice his job in order to do the right thing may have won out for me this time.

But then there's Jack's violent, unflinching obedience to his duty, and willingness to sacrifice his freedom in order to do the right thing.

See why I'm conflicted?

I'm it

i've been tagged...

4 Jobs I've had
1. Waitress
2. Video Store Clerk
3. Events Photographer
4. "strategic alliances manager" - sounds cool, huh?

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. Sixteen Candles
2. Casablanca
3. Lost Boys
4. Gladiator

Four places I've lived (in chronological order):
1. Alpharetta, GA
2. Dunwoody, GA
3. Athens, GA
4. Roswell, GA

Four TV shows I love:
1. 24 aka The Jack Bauer Power Hour
2. House
3. Arrested Development
4. Mad About You

Ten highly regarded and recommended TV shows that I've never watched a single minute of:
1. My Name is Earl
2. Carnivale
3. Entourage
4. The West Wing
5. Boston Legal
6. The Shield
7. Aqua Teen Hunger Force
8. The L Word
9. Prison Break
10. Commander-In-Chief

Four places I've vacationed:
1. Australia
2. New Zealand
3. Hilton Head Island
4. Key West

Four of my favorite dishes:
1. pasta
2. fresh grilled fish
3. fried catfish from Riverbend in Thomaston, GA
4. sushi

Four sites I visit daily:
1. Blogs
2. Bank Account
3. my company's intranet
4. News

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Maloolooba Beach
2. Charleston
3. Any beach that's warm and sunny
4. On a boat

Four bloggers I am tagging:
1. Dave
2. I think everyone else has been tagged

Unbridled anger resulting in tears

So I'm a girl. When frustrated, I cry.

This Agitator post caused spontaneous tears. After everything I just posted, I don't know why I went there. It always angers and frustrates me. I was asking for it.

This is what did it:

This isn't the first time this has happened in Virginia. A few years ago, the Virginia Beach police department sent a SWAT team to break up a suspected gambling operation at a country club. The sting ended with the death of a security guard, who by all indications thought the place was being robbed (it had been robbed just a few months earlier). The SWAT team knocked on the window to the car where he was stationed, then shot him when they thought he was reaching for a gun. His last words were, "I was reading a book. Why did you shoot me?"

Are any of you angry, yet?

Where to go ...

If we leave the US in disgust, are we abandoning the fight? Yeah, I guess we are. And, looking at this Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom, there are countries above the US, but those all limit social and personal freedoms on a greater scale that we do - today. And except for Hong Kong and Singapore, they're all damn cold places to live.

I think I'll write a letter to my congressman - like it will help. Maybe I'll have a conversation with Jack tonight.

Congress shall make no law ...

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

From Websters online dictionary...
Main Entry: abridge
Pronunciation: &-'brij
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): abridged; abridg·ing
Etymology: Middle English abregen, from Middle French abregier, from Late Latin abbreviare, from Latin ad- + brevis short -- more at BRIEF
1 a archaic : DEPRIVE b : to reduce in scope : DIMINISH (attempts to abridge the right of free speech)
2 : to shorten in duration or extent (modern transportation that abridges distance)
3 : to shorten by omission of words without sacrifice of sense

Do you see that? Websters uses the First Amendment as a reference point for the definition of "abridge." Doesn't that say something about how plain this should be, especially those who are tasked with supporting, upholding, and protecting the Constitution?

I have rarely read anything that has made me so angry as this editorial today on the Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal online.

George Will has been banging this drum from day one of McCain-Feingold. And while I understood what he was saying, it never quite hit me like this piece did today.

The piece by Brian C. Anderson (author of South Park Conservatives) is long, but well worth the read. It's information that everyone needs to know and understand.

Most of the column is about the push McCain-Feingold gets from the left. While that is infuriating to me, I understand it. They can't win elections lately with their ideas, so they want to stifle the information going to voters. Fine, dirty play, but that's politics. I think the worst part of all this is that George Bush didn't veto this damn bill when he had the chance. Apparently he expected the Supreme Court to overturn it and wanted to avoid a fight with John McCain. Are you freakin' serious? I go back to the FIRST Amendment. First First First! They didn't say "here are the amendments to the Constitution, in no particular order." They put it first for a reason. Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech... I'm sorry, do I not understand what the McCain-Feingold Bill is. Isn't it a law made by Congress, and doesn't it abridge the freedom of speech? And, when the founding fathers wrote this, they were talking specifically about political speech, which is exactly what this bill outlaws. That is worth fighting for, even if there are supporters in your own damn political party. And not only did our president sign it after admitting it is unconstitutional (no really, he did), but then the Supreme Court - defenders of the Constitution in the face of assaults by Congress - upheld it, too.

Clarence Thomas and the three other justices who voted along with him in the first challenge to McCain-Feingold had it right.

In his powerful McConnell dissent, Justice Thomas spelled out "the chilling endpoint" of the court's reasoning: "outright regulation of the press"--exactly what the campaign-reform theorists ultimately seek. "Media companies can run pro-candidate editorials as easily as nonmedia corporations can pay for advertisements," Justice Thomas explained. "Media corporations are influential. There is little doubt that the editorials and commentary they run can affect elections." The Supreme Court has found little to distinguish media and nonmedia corporations. Asked Justice Thomas: "What is to stop a future Congress from determining that the press is 'too influential,' and that the 'appearance of corruption' is significant when media organizations endorse candidates or run 'slanted' or 'biased' news stories in favor of candidates or parties?" Answer: Nothing. "Although today's opinion does not expressly strip the press of First Amendment protection," Justice Thomas warned, "there is no principle of law or logic that would prevent the application of the Court's reasoning in that setting. The press now operates at the whim of Congress."

But there were only four of them. There should have been nine. And so far, there's no telling how the new court will look upon this. I'm not holding out hope, based on what I've heard so far.

Just like I don't want to hear that the Republicans are the party of small government until they actually act like it, I do not ever again want to hear that Democrats are the party of freedom. That's just absolute BS. They are for freedom to express their own ideas, but not those of anyone with whom they disagree. Simply look at the speech codes on any college campus. Simply try to say that you do not approve of someone's choices (not that they don't have a right to make those choices, but only that you disagree), and you are engaged in hate speech - which is a punishable offense.

But, this is all about avoiding corruption in politics, not free speech? Well, if avoiding corruption (perceived corruption, mind you) means voiding the very first amendment to our Constitution, then the method they've chosen to use to avoid corruption is unconstitutional. But that doesn't matter, really, since they don't agree with the speech, and someone may have more influence than another by virtue of their ability to communicate their ideas. In their eyes are all equal and should have absolutely equal influence on the political process. Nevermind that it's an impossibility, we'll do everything we can to make it happen. It's their Utopia. That already didn't work, but they'll keep trying.

To eradicate "corruption," leading theorists of campaign-finance reform, such as Ohio State University law professor (and former Ohio state solicitor) Edward Foley, Loyola law prof Richard Hasen, and radical redistributionist philosopher Ronald Dworkin, want to replace privately financed campaigns with a system in which government would guarantee "equal dollars per voter," as Foley puts it, perhaps by giving all Americans the same number of political "coupons," which they could then redeem on the political activities of their choice. This superpowerful government would ban all other political expenditures and require all political groups to get operating licenses from it, with stiff criminal penalties for violators. The experts have even started calling for draconian media restrictions to achieve their egalitarian aims. In Foley's view, the chilling of speech is "the necessary price we must pay in order to have an electoral system that guarantees equal opportunity for all." But when these experts pen law-review articles with titles like "Campaign Finance Laws and the Rupert Murdoch Problem," you know it isn't the New York Times or CBS News that they have in mind.

Again, please read Amendment I.

Now they want to include the internet as an avenue of political speech to be regulated by the Federal Election Commission (bloggers beware).

Liberal reform groups like Democracy 21 say no. "We do not believe anyone described as a 'blogger' is by definition entitled to the benefit of the press exemption," they collectively sniffed in a brief to the FEC. "While some bloggers may provide a function very similar to more classical media activities, and thus could reasonably be said to fall within the exemption, others surely do not." The key test, the groups claimed, should be whether the blogger is performing a "legitimate press function." But who decides what is legitimate? And what in the Constitution gives him the authority to do so?

Political radio is also a target. As usual, not able to win with their ideas, they'll just change the rules of the game like a seven year-old brat at recess.

What's scary about this is there seems to be no stopping it. Not only will the president sign an unconstitutional law and the Supreme Court uphold it, these rules they have imposed, and seek to expand, make it more and more difficult for political upstarts to get their ideas out and, therefore, get elected. This ensures that the sleazy politicians who voted for these regulations will stay in office. They are gerrymandering the Constitution.

Zero Tolerance

Zero tolerance policies have invaded our schools with the purpose of eliminating administrators' need to actually think and reason when determining punishment, or even whether to punish at all.

Now it seems that zero tolerance policies have invaded the college sports world, as well. To summarize: basketball coaches cannot enter the court for ANY reason whatsoever. If they do, they will receive a technical foul. They will even receive said technical foul if they collapse from a heart condition and are carried off the court on a stretcher. Seriously.

At least these refs have been reprimanded.

Magical Firearms

This story about the boy who accidentally shot a little girl in daycare is horribly tragic. The fact that she was shot in the arm will certainly help. I hope that he's young enough that this will not ruin the rest of his life. But, from what I've read about his father, whose gun this was, there's not much hope for this kid. It's sad that at such a young age, there's so little ahead of him. That, I think, because the girl was not killed or more badly wounded, is the biggest tragedy of this whole thing.

That dismal view, however, is not what this post is about. This post is about the way the Associated Press writer decided to phrase certain parts of this story.

"The boy had the weapon in a backpack and was playing with it when it went off, said Montgomery County police spokesman Derek Baliles."

Notice my quotation marks are around the entire sentence, with no single quotes around what the police spokesman said, according to the writer. That means that the writer isn't quoting the spokesman, but paraphrasing him. I would like to know what the actual quote is, but without being able to find that, I will assume that the words "it went off" are the writer's.

Did you know that guns are magical and go off all by themselves when children are playing with them? No, of course they're not. That poor child may have accidentally pulled the trigger, but the gun didn't just go off. I know they may be trying to spare him the responsibility of shooting the girl by saying the gun went off, instead of that he accidentally pulled the trigger while playing with the gun - or that he accidentally shot the girl or he accidentally pulled the trigger. But since reporters are supposed to report facts, that's exactly what this reporter should have said.

People are understandably afraid of guns, but why do they need to instill these objects with special powers like going off by themselves? Guns can be intimidating; they are powerful and dangerous in the wrong or in careless hands. People should treat them with great respect and focus. But don't be afraid of the gun, be afraid of the felon who owns guns illegally and leaves those loaded guns out where his eight year-old son can find them and take one to school. I guess it's just easier to be scared of the gun.

Stayed tuned...

when work's over, the political blogging begins. I'm angry.

Learning to dance

Footloose has been on HBO lately, and, well, I can't help but watch it. While watching last week, I wondered out loud what had happened to Chris Penn. I mean, I know he'd still been acting, but I had forgotten how slim and cute he was back in the day. Lately, he's been bloated and not so cute.

I was sad to hear that he was found dead in his condo yesterday.

Ah, immigration

I have to say I admittedly know very little about the immigration issue from an academic sense. And I can also tell you that, after this weekend, I have learned that I have very different views on it from my grandparents. I guess there's really no surprise there.

I simply go with my gut on this one, and I say up front that I back this with very little fact and have no way on knowing where to begin in implementing such a turnaround in policy. That being said, I do believe that making everyone who's here illegally now a legal resident of the US is a terrible idea. I do think, though, that it should be much more difficult to get here both legally and illegally. I think immigration to the US is fantastic. I think there should be more of it in a legal and documented way. I also think that along with that, we should make it virtually impossible to get here illegally, and if discovered, illegal immigrants should be sent home immediately, and legal immigrants that are convicted of a crime should also be deported.

I say all of this, just so I can link to a post by The Agitator. I might as well just make my blog one big link to his. Anyway, the net of his post is that immigration is showing to be good for the US - even if it taxes our infrastructure. Yeah yeah, bad pun. I'll stop now.

Apparently, it's only up from here

January 23rd is the worst day.

Yay!

Golden Globes
Actor, Drama: Hugh Laurie, "House," Fox

I would have loved to have seen that speech, but, well, Jack Bauer was on. That's a tough choice. It'd be like Dave trying to choose between two different Kate Beckinsale movies.

24

My favorite from Television Without Pity for the first episode of 24 this season...

"It's 7:11:22 as she invites him to breakfast and walks away from his door. Kiefer says he'll be right there, and closes the door so he can hide his gun before joining her. His handgun, I mean. It's not really clear whether he's been hiding his other gun in the landlady."

It's a good thing that Funkle Ester

covers 70's songs. Because I just heard Hurdy Gurdy Man by Donovan for the first time. If they covered 60's music, I would be a very bad wife and never ever go to shows.

Drugs really are a bad thing. The end of this song is proof ...

Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy gurdy he sang
Here comes the roly-poly man
He's singing songs of love
Roly poly, roly poly, roly poly poly he sang
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy gurdy he sang
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy gurdy he sang
Roly poly, roly poly, roly poly poly he sang

I take requests ...

and happen to have a scanner. So, per a request at dinner this evening, I present to you in alphabetical order: Jennifer F., Stacy G., and Whitney H. as high school seniors.

Cool for me, I guess

I'm not the only one who fell on NYE, and at least mine didn't get photographed. Well, I haven't seen all the pictures, so maybe it did. Here are the shots of the incredibly crowded New Year's Eve event that Funkle Ester played.

Crashing, too

Stacy had to go and make me the crazy one.

Damn

I feel bad for USC, but they've got two already. And I'm really happy for Texas. Incredible game on both sides, but Vince Young and Texas really stepped up.

Wow

two points converted.

There's still some game left.

What a great one!

Maybe not...

19 seconds left. Texas just went up by one, and they're going for two after this timeout.

The Game

I'm writing this as Vince Young is running for a long stand-up touchdown to bring the score within 6 points. The PAT now brings it within five after .

But, saying that, USC has finally faced a team with a great defense, and they are (barring a miracle for/by Texas) about to prove once again that they are the best team in the country. At least it's been a good game.

3rd and 7 with 2:22 left. Texas can still get the ball. This is fun stuff.

I still don't think the Pac 10 is the toughest conference in the country, though.

Sugar Bowl

Wow, this is depressing so far (0-14 with 6:14 left in the first), but just saw a close-up of this guy. Too funny. Now I'm waiting for him and her.

Happy New Year ... OUCH

Well, New Year's Eve was fun. Today wasn't so much, though. There was supposed to be food at the bash, but I never saw it. I had a bowl of chicken soup at about 7 before leaving, and then got to the party and started drinking. And drinking. And dancing. Lots of dancing.

Boy, did I hurt today. One of the top five hangovers in my life. So that sucked. That's not so bad. The worst part is that I was that person last night. I fell on my ass. Then a little while later, I fell flat on my back. I'm lucky I didn't crack my head open, because I was close to the stairs. Seriously, I fell twice. How embarassing. Oh well. Nothing to do about it now.

Some pictures ...


The place was packed


And everyone was having tons of fun.


Brett, Bryan, and Russ


The Boys


Stace and I