AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/20/2004 11:12:00 PM
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JUST TO REITERATE - I have moved off blogspot. You can stop my my new place at www.patrickprescott.com
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/14/2004 10:46:00 PM
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Patrick is not here. He has risen. He has moved off Blog*spot. Go to Your Daily Prescott at www.patrickprescott.com
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/14/2004 09:39:00 PM
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DO NOT GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT -
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Dylan Thomas
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/14/2004 08:31:00 AM
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SONNET 14
Batter my heart, Three-Person God
For you as yet but knock, breathe, shine and seek to mend.
That I may rise and stand
Or throw me and bend your force
to break, blow, burn and make me new.
I like an usurped town to another do labor to admit you
But, oh, to no end
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend
but is captive and proves week or untrue
Yet dearly I love you and would be loved, feign
But am betrothed unto your enemy
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again
Take me to you, imprison me
For I except you enthrall me, never shall be free nor ever chaste
Except you ravish me
John Donne (1573-1631)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/13/2004 10:57:00 PM
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AS BOOMERS AGE - MSN sometimes has interesting brief articles about careers or lifestyle stuff. Today there was a story about the clash between Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers in the work place. There were a few sentences that struck a chord with me.
To get ahead," says Raines, "boomers learned to be diplomatic, to believe in people skills. But Xers see boomers as schmoozers, full of doublespeak." Put this mix into the workplace and watch tensions rise.
I know this is likely a generalization, but my personal experience has been the same. I find it difficult to tolerate the whole schmoozing, read between the lines, "I can't be honest about this because there are "considerations" stuff.
It's hardly a news flash. The big bulge of boomers is aging. About 10,000 boomers turn 55 every day, and many will leave in the next few years. At half the boomer size, Gen X can't begin to fill all the jobs. The coming-up group, known as Millennials or Generation Y, is a muscular 76 million. But its oldest member has scarcely reached 21.
Looks like moving up might get easier soon.
Today's anytime, anywhere workplace has pushed cumbersome, hierarchical firms into being nimble and collaborative. Power is now hands-on and directed to the front lines.
Try working for a government organization. Talk about cumbersome and hierarchical. Rules are rules. That's just part of the job I guess.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/12/2004 08:37:00 PM
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STREET LIGHTS - If you're into urban design or history or just the history of street lighting in Los Angeles you might enjoy this photo gallery. Click on the links on the left of the page to see the pictures.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/12/2004 08:31:00 PM
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GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY HEALTH CARE, YOU DAMN DIRTY APE! - Look, modern health care is a good thing. I wish everyone could afford it and I think we can get to some basic health coverage for most everyone without the meddling of people the likes of Hillary Clinton and the rest of her colleagues (Democrat and Republican) fiddling around with it. Let the market work. Get out of the way and quit assuming that there has to be a "program" or that that there is one right way to do things. If doctors and patients realize a need for information sharing and more efficient delivery of services they'll figure out a way. In fact, there is a service that is offered that will put your medical records at the touch of a few buttons. See, no Hillary, no socialized medicine. Just be patient and don't make matters worse.
Don't lament the poor people dying in the streets starving and without health care while the "market" figures things out. It doesn't happen like that. (Not in America anyway.) Those that die in that way are usually so far out of the "system" that socialized medicine wouldn't help them. I'm sure there are exceptions, but you cannot over burden an entire population with taxes and dump horrible health care on them because of the "exceptions."
Some doctors, hospitals and pharmacies already use electronic health records in areas like paperless prescriptions. But electronic medical records aren't widely used, and Clinton says a government-created system with special standards could change that.
Her new legislation also would increase research on the quality and effectiveness of care, and provide the public with a standardized reporting system that would allow patients to compare performance on hospitals and other providers.
Again, let patients and their doctors figure out the best way. ("A deeply personal decision between a [person] and [his/her] doctor and [his/her] God is a phrase I've heard before from Clinton I think.) What works in Pocatello might not work in Los Angeles.Clinton, D-N.Y., fought unsuccessfully a decade ago to expand affordable health care. The initiative died after industry interests and many members of Congress resisted to what they called a confusing bureaucracy.
Clinton has said she learned lessons from the failure.
Lesson learned: Sneak in your crummy socialized health care little by little with garbage legislation like this.
Oy! Wake up people.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/12/2004 08:12:00 PM
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WHO ME? - You know what? Something just dawned on me. What if, I'M the asshole?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/12/2004 08:09:00 PM
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TRADERS JOE'S - To the individual who got here looking for "trader joes - rancho cucmonga." Your closest Trader Joe's is in Upland which is ridiculous, I know. Rancho definitely has the demographics for a Trader Joe's. Write a letter.
By the way, if you just type in www. the name of the business . com. You will more than likley find the website without having to use Google.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/12/2004 08:03:00 PM
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COULDN'T CARE LESS - The post below uses the phrase "couldn't care less." One of my pet peeves is the misuse of the saying "I couldn't care less." Many people say, "I could care less," which indicates that you do in fact care a little bit. If you say that you couldn't care less it means that you have no concern at all. This one ranks up there with people attaching a "th" at the end of the word "height." Not "th." It's height. Not heighth.
Ok, so I'm a nerd. "Nerd alert!" Go to this great site for more of this sort of stuff.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/12/2004 08:01:00 PM
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THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS - I know most people couldn't care less about my food consumption, but this is getting out of hand. Why am I so damn hungry all the time?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/11/2004 12:20:00 PM
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RANDOM OBSERVATIONS –
HOMELESS LABEL WHORE – I was sitting at the window in Starbucks having coffee and I saw a homeless-looking guy with a shopping cart pull up to one of the tables outside. He pulled out a one liter bottle of Coke that was nearly empty. Then, he pulled out a full bottle of Safeway Select Cola to pour into the Coke bottle. Hey, even the homeless have their standards! I’m not even sure the man was homeless. The cart and clothing indicate that maybe he was, but for all I know he’s some eccentric millionaire from San Marino.
SKYWRITERS – Seen in the skies over Pasadena yesterday. Skywriters writing this: www.boeing.com/careers. I was especially impressed with the slash.
LIKE FATHER LIKE SON – I had dinner out (sushi, mmmm) with my parents, my grandmother, my youngest sister and her boyfriend. My father cracked me up, which is HIGHLY unusual ands unless my siblings and I are actually laughing AT him. We were waiting for our food and my father gestured to a young girl sitting with her friends. Get this, she was eating Taco Bell. My little brother (who was our waiter) said that they are regulars and the big blond girl doesn’t like sushi. My brother tells the owner to ask them to eat their Taco Bell elsewhere. My father leaned over and gestured toward the Taco Bell girl and this was the dialogue that ensued.
Dad: I don’t like her.
Patrick: Do you know her?
Dad: No. She just looks like she’s a real bitch.
Patrick: You’re right; she’s a big bitter, obese woman waiting to happen.
God, I’m mean sometimes. At least I know where I get it.
COFFE BEAN – I saw this sign in front of Coffee Ben and Tea Leaf. “The Man Doesn’t Want You To Have the Mocha Latte.”
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/10/2004 01:15:00 PM
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DEAN SUPPORTERS SUICIDE WATCH - This should be very interesting! Chemical weapons in Iraq? We'll have to wait and see how it pans out. What is it? 48 hours that we're suppose to wait to see how things go? You know, I'm gonna piss my pants if this is true. Man, if the Dean people we're crying when we got Saddam they're gonna be jumping off buildings now. (Not that I encourage such things, of course.)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/10/2004 12:51:00 PM
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I DON'T REALLY LIKE IT EITHER, BUT... - From Miss Flowers of The Mother Country I came across this. I had to force myself to finish reading it. Apparently, some people in Britain are a little peeved about the finger printing and photographing of CERTAIN visitors to our country. I'd like to say a few rods about this Live Journal post. However, I'd first like to say that every American would much prefer that such measures were not being used, but we also prefer to avoid the alternative. I would also like to point out that this is really no concern of Brisingaman because he's from one of the countries that do not require a visa to visit the United States. Therefore he won't be photographed or finger printed. By the way, you won't be stripped and cavity searched you'll be finger printed and photographed just as every Californian is when we renew our driver's license. It's really not so bad. No ink, just a bright flash and a bit of momentary blindness.
Some government bureaucrat made statements on Radio 4 in Britain that being photographed and finer printed were for the safety of the American. Mr. Live Journal (brisingamen) doesn't care because, well, he's not American and he doesn't live to assure the safety of the American people. Fair enough. I don't sit awake at night concerned for the welfare of your outdated monarchy, so I guess we're even.
Let me say a few things in response to the rest of the post.
...the way my life runs, the security of the American people, even those I know and love, is not a constant and present consideration. I don't get up in the morning and think 'gee, what can I personally do to improve the security of the American people today.'
It's not your job to place the security of Americans a constant and present consideration. That's why we have Homeland Security and the military. Hence, the safety measures at airports. Further, many American do in fact wake up every morning and consciously wonder how safe things are. We live with the thought in our mind that the next shoe could drop at any moment. This isn't to say that we don't get on with our lives and live normally, but I'll bet if you asked a lot of people they'd say that it crosses their mind at least once throughout the day.
I realise this is very un-American of me but, you see, I'm not actually American. I'm British, and over here, on the whole, Blair notwithstanding, we mostly tend to work on the assumption that people are innocent until proven guilty.
First, how is this a matter of innocence or guilt? Second, who is being prosecuted?
Put it this way, if you were hustled away at an English airport, fingerprinted, photographed, interrogated, bullied, harassed, and slapped in handcuffs for complaining, then told that you shouldn't mind because it's for the safety of your allies, the English people, because one of you Americans might conceivably be a bomber, you wouldn't like it, would you? No, so I'm not quite clear why you think doing this to people coming into your country is not going to damage your tourist and travel industry at all. Oh, of course, silly me, because we're protecting the American people, aren't we?
Who is being slapped and bullied? I don't believe that the procedure is 1. Fingerprint 2. Photograph 3. Slap 4. Bully. Shall I share with you my experience with the little snarling English twit that interrogated me when I arrived at the airport in London a few years back? Talk about a beating, maybe not literally, but definitely brow beaten. I was such a sunny, innocent, dorky, American and this guy was ready to crush me like a bug. Not a great way to start, but London more than made up for that jerk. (Thanks London! I love you. Really!)
It doesn't matter to me or any other American whether anyone in any other country cares about our security. The fact is that WE care and because you're coming to OUR country for a visit you're just going to have to suck it up and deal with a finger printing and electronic finger printing. It's a bore, I know, but it's necessary for now. Besides, what does this Brit care? He's from one of the countries that don't require a visa to visit, correct?
Rather as the Sun does not revolve around the Earth, neither does the rest of the world revolve around the USA, or place its welfare first, however much you might like to believe that. Yeah, I know it's a bit of a shock, but hey, hang on in there and you'll get over it. The sun set on the British Empire and we've pretty much managed to deal with it. You'll cope.
Yes, we are very aware that most people are not concerned with our liberty and security (although they should be because theirs also depends on it.) We also know that there are those that would seek to destroy our liberty and our security. That?s why we?'re doing this. If you ask me, people like this Brisingaman fellow are the ones that think the world revolves around them. As is we care that they don't like our security measures. Well, maybe you can write a letter to Mr. Ridge. I'm sure he'll be glad to ring you up if you include your telephone number.
Exactly what would you have us do? Racial profiling? I'm all for it considering we have a pretty good idea of who is trying to do us harm, but that is considered a no-no. Fine.
And you'll cope a lot better if you start remembering that all those people coming into your country are mostly your guests rather than your enemies, and that they've come to visit the Land of the Free, a beacon of fairness and democracy in this benighted world.
What's unfair and undemocratic about finger printing and photographing?
...thirty years of IRA bombing campaigns on the mainland has made us Brits very vigilant, but you'll notice that life went on during that time, but vigilance is very different from the measures your administration is currently putting in place. Vigilance is an ongoing low-key kind of thing that involves people quietly observing and doing what needs to be done, not this arm-waving 'we're all going to die if we don't stop every brown-skinned person coming into our country' hysteria.
Terror from within is much different than terror from without. You see, you can't really check people at customs if they're already here.
Further, your racism is showing. You refer to "brown skinned people." Now, I know that most Brits are pasty white like me, but you surely have seen people from the Middle East. Some of them are whiter than I. You also seem to think that Americans have a problem with so-called "brown skinned people." I'm not sure where you visited in the US, but you really have a caricatured view of us. I suggest another visit. Maybe to Los Angeles. We've got plenty of "browned-skinned" folks here. Seeing as you won't have to be cavity searched (unless you're into that) you shouldn't have any trouble getting here.
You could, for example, start getting to grips with the fact that most names are not unique, and that there's a good chance that the little old Chinese lady with the same name as the person you're looking for is maybe not the actual person you're looking for.
That's a really silly thing to say, because you know and I know that that is not the case at all.
Yours used to be a fine country, Mr. Government Affairs Spokesman; I liked the straightforward way most people went about their business, and the 'how can we make things work for you' attitude. It was invigorating and I got a real buzz out of visiting. Now I'm not so sure I want to come and visit.
Oh well. So we loose another "white-skinned" visitor. (I'm assuming you're white. I may be incorrect.)
So, Mr Government Affairs Spokesman, you'll excuse me if I don't get all excited about your conviction that knowing I'm ensuring the security of your people will somehow make everything better, because, actually, it won't.
To repeat, we don't care if YOU care. However, we have to care.
In closing we have the requisite moral equivalence which is standard these days. I will not comment on it because it stands on its own. (Or falls, I suppose.)
The USA is no longer a healthy country, and this is clearly demonstrated in the way it deals with the rest of the world. 9/11 WAS A TERRIBLE THING, IN AND OF ITSELF, BUT SO WAS BOMBING AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ BECAUSE YOUR ADMINISTRATION THOUGHT THE PERPETRATORS MIGHT BE HIDING THERE, even though it had few grounds for thinking so, and even fewer now that weapons of mass destruction are providing elusive. (emphasis mine)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/10/2004 12:05:00 PM
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EVERYBODY SMILIN', SUNSHINE DAY! - Hey, get a load of this forecast. I think I'll go for a walk outside, yeah...catch me some of those raaaaaays. Ev'rybody's smiling sunshine day!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/10/2004 12:01:00 PM
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WELCOME - To everyone visiting from Relapsed Catholic. Feel free to stop by anytime.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/07/2004 10:34:00 PM
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BLOGPOT - This is sort of odd. Have any of you ever mistakenly left the "s' out of blogspot when typing an address? Well, give it a try with any blogspot blog and see what happens. Go ahead. I'll wait..................Ok, isn't that weird? Who? What? Where? Does anyone have any idea what this is about?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/07/2004 10:23:00 PM
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HELLO KETTLE? THIS THE POT - It's rather ironic that I should rant about obesity earlier. Since Sunday morning I have been eating NON STOP. I'm not talking fruits and vegetables either. It began with brunch on Sunday. Eggs Benedict, and Mimosas (yuck). Bacon and eggs three days this week. Lamb and pork for dinner. Two pieces of pie on Tuesday. THREE pieces of cheesecake today. Cookies and peppermint patties, malt balls and pretzels. (There has been a lot of food at work these last three days and one of the secretaries said she's bringing brownies tomorrow!) I have eaten a Big and Tasty Value meal at McDonald's. A personal size pepperoni pizza and bread sticks from Pizza Hut on Tuesday (with Diet Pepsi of course) and a Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger as well. Do you have any idea what a DOUBLE Western Bacon Cheeseburger from Carl's Jr. looks like? LOOK! I'm so ashamed. I'm going to stop tonight. Really. I can quit if I want to. Seriously, I have no idea what is up.
This afternoon, one of the secretaries called me to the front and asked me to sit in a chair. The office staff and one of the other planners staged an intervention. They thought they were so funny. It was funny, but I was a little embarrassed. When the brownies were mentioned they said my chin stuck out and my eyes got wide. I think I have a problem.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/07/2004 07:19:00 PM
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YOU GO, GRANNY! -
I’ve meant to share a funny story from yesterday.
I was walking out of the building for my lunch break and I spotted an old lady walking slowly along the walkway. She was old and hunched over. She had a bad dye job, excessive make up and moved as slow as molasses going uphill in January. She shuffled along and got to her car. That is when I cracked up. She climbed (and I mean CLIMBED) into THIS.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/07/2004 12:57:00 PM
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GEE, YA THINK? - Study links kids, fast food, and weight
No kidding. I used to teach. There were some serious porkers in my 6th grade class. I don’t recall any of my childhood classmates being obese. Sure there were a few chubby kids, but once they hit puberty that all seemed to disappear. It was that “baby fat.” Now it seems that baby fat is merely the first layer of many layers of fat that Americans will be packing on for the rest of their lives. That is of course unless they take some personal responsibility and get off their butts and do something about their health. I know, I know, some people have “glandular conditions” or eating disorders. But, COME ON! That many people?
Look, we have choices every day.
1. In ‘n Out, Double-Double with grilled onions, fries and a Chocolate shake (mmmmm) OR - A turkey sub, Baked Lay’s and a Diet Coke at Subway.
2. Watching a rerun of Sienfeld for the FIFTH time or using that half hour to take a walk.
3. Super Big Gulp or a bottle of water (or at the very least diet soda).
4. Burger King Breakfast Croissant with hash browns (mmmm) or yogurt, cottage cheese or cereal at your desk.
5. Whole milk in your coffee or non fat non-dairy creamer.
6. BBQ Potato chips or pretzels for an afternoon snack from the machine in the break room.
7. Choosing a side with dinner at a restaurant: French fries or fresh fruit, which will it be?
8. Sit eating ice cream while watching television or do a few sit ups during commercials.
9. Spend 20 minutes looking for a parking spot close the entrance or park a bit further out and walk for a few minutes. (Women shopping alone are exempt from this one. PARK AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE!)
10. Buy a morbidly obese child a super size value meal for dinner and then let him sit in front of his game cube all evening or spend 15 minutes making a decent meal and then drag his butt outside for a walk.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/07/2004 12:56:00 PM
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IT’S CALLED “SOFT DIPLOMACY” - Pepsi Plans to Relaunch Its Cola in Iraq
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/07/2004 12:56:00 PM
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THE MAN HAS HIS STANDARDS - Dean says public will see his wife, but she won't be a ``prop'' But Jesus will.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/05/2004 10:21:00 PM
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SCHOOL -Classses begin again tomorrow evening at 7PM for this reluctant student. GIS for Grad Students. It should be a blast.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/05/2004 09:23:00 PM
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OFF THE DEEP END – Some people have been asking if I have fallen off the deep end. My New Year’s Day post was admittedly a bit over the top. I considered revising it and, in frustration, even deleting it . However, after considering it I decided to keep it as it is. This blog is obviously not a professional site. It is a sometimes daily account of some of my thoughts and reactions to things I encounter in the real world and online. My moods change. My temper flares. My heart breaks. I just write about them. Sometimes I’m a little more coherent than others. Sheila suggested that I try to appreciate my commenters and try to grow intellectually from them and try not to alienate them. (Advice I will try to heed.) I know that I have likely alienated some and I regret that that has happened. Nevertheless, this blog is not a single post and my whole person is not summed up in even a month of posts. This blog is barely a little sliver of who I really am at any given time. You might get a decent idea of the sort of person I am through reading what I post, but I doubt anyone would be surprised to learn that the person whose blog they read every day is actually a much more intellectually and emotionally intricate person than might appear here. Welcome to my brain. Now feel my pain.
By the way, I still hold to my New Year’s resolution.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/05/2004 09:17:00 PM
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THE READERS ARE ALL FIRED UP! – First. Thanks to all the people who read this blog and offer their thoughts in reponse to what I have written. Thanks especially to Janina whose comments I will try to respond to here. From comments to this post.
“Your view is simplistic Patrick because your sister was safe in your house while someone else's sister was killed in Israel and someone else's sister was killed in Iraq and those people wouldn't have died if your country hadn't intervened in situations that did not need the complication because your sister is not the only sister in the world. Terrorists are people too and your country is causing terror for a lot of innocent people but you refuse to see it.”
Let me get this straight. My view is simplistic because my sister is safe, but there are people being killed elsewhere? I believe that I have failed to make my point clear. I get ticked off BECAUSE my sister and her family are safe in their homes while others are dying. The same death that is the fruit of the fairy tale world of Islamo-fascism in the Middle East and elsewhere is wished upon my sister. For those who don’t quite get it, in the post my sister and her daughter represent millions more like them in this country and elsewhere. I’ve been hearing from people who seem to think I support the war on terror simply because of my one sister and her one daughter. Can you give a guy some credit here?
People are dying in wars around the world. This is true. That’s the nature of war and no war is without death. That’s why they call it war. Things get broken and people die. It’s awful and seemingly inhuman. That’s why we try to avoid it if possible. People are dying not because of American involvement in the world. (Wait, isn’t America supposed to engage the world? Wasn’t there a fear in Old Europe that America would become isolationist when Bush was elected? More on American involvement later) People are dying because the civilized nations of the world were content to sit in cushy chairs in hushed conference rooms, safely ensconced behind the walls of offices of “international bodies.” They died before the war and they die now (in vastly fewer numbers than before) because spineless diplomats were unable to accept their failure to convince tyrants and despots to disarm and allow their people and their neighbors freedom and peace. They die because nations have put they’re corrupt business dealings before liberty for millions. They died because Western nations, the United States included, have for many years been willing to trade “stability” for liberty in certain parts of the world. See Bush’s remarks at Whitehall. You might have missed them amid the clamor of an often irrational Bush-hating-bunch assembled to greet him throughout his stay in the Mother Country late last year:
We must shake off decades of failed policy in the Middle East. Your nation and mine, in the past, have been willing to make a bargain, to tolerate oppression for the sake of stability. Longstanding ties often led us to overlook the faults of local elites. Yet this bargain did not bring stability or make us safe. It merely bought time, while problems festered and ideologies of violence took hold.
“and those people wouldn't have died if your country hadn't intervened in situations that did not need the complication because your sister is not the only sister in the world.”
As much as people will deny it, some really do blame America for the world’s problems. (Maybe they’ll agree to generalize about some of our achievements as well. At least that would seem a bit fairer.) My commenter seems to conveniently ignore the fact that the killing that took place under Hussein’s rule is now ended. Heard anything about those mass graves and torture chambers? How about the public spectacle of mutilating “criminals?”
It’s time for people to be honest. Most don’t give a flying fig about whether people live or die. They are more concerned with portraying the Bush administration as evil and imperialistic. If they happen to look compassionate and broad minded while doing it that’s just swell. Further, people who support the war happen to feel horrible about the people who have died. Iraqis, Afghanis, and Americans. If I support the war it does not mean that I feel no compassion for those who suffer because of it. If I support the war it does not mean that I do not have moments that I wish it would just all go away. If I support the war it does not mean that I am a blood thirsty imperialist Nazi.
We can only be involved in the international stage if we agree with a few little countries in the middle of old Europe or are we allowed any self-determination? Are we allowed to disagree with Old Europe and chart our own course? I’ve heard a great deal about America strong arming her allies into supporting this war. Do the critics fail to see that they have attempted to do that to America? See, the Blame America Firsters don’t really want us involved. They just want to use us to work toward their own ends. Sometimes our goals are the same, other times not. When our goals diverge and we believe that our national security, our liberty or our sovereignty are threatened then we will have to part ways with our allies in that particular instance. We'd be fools not to.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/05/2004 09:15:00 PM
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LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! BEHOLD: ZOMBYBOY, THE STUPID HEAD! – I was wondering when that really stupid guy would wake up and realize how really stupid he is. We’re just simple. Simple, simple stupid heads! Simple, simple stupid heads!
See, Mr. Starkman finally sets Z-boy straight:
It's the "Stupid factor," the S factor: Some people -- sometimes through no fault of their own -- are just not very bright.
It's not merely that some people are insufficiently intelligent to grasp the nuances of foreign policy, of constitutional law, of macroeconomics or of the variegated interplay of humans and the environment. These aren't the people I'm referring to. The people I'm referring to cannot understand the phenomenon of cause and effect. They're perplexed by issues comprising more than two sides. They don't have the wherewithal to expand the sources of their information. And above all -- far above all -- they don't think.I don’t know this writer but I'd like to think that judging from the last line he was being facetious in order to make a point. We can hope.
“You know these people; they're all around you (they're not you, else you would not be reading this article this far)."
Oh dear God I can hope can't I?
Arrogance and Elitism, thy name is “The Left.”
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/05/2004 01:51:00 PM
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ARE THESE PEOPLE FOR REAL? - The title given to this BBC news article about MoveOn.org's "contest" seems to imply that it's just a simple little contest.
Bush ad contest names finalists
In fairness, the story mentions the controversial Bush=Hitler ads that were at the site. The title just bugs me. So I’m sensitive. Sue me!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/05/2004 01:47:00 PM
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GO NASA! - New rover sees red planet with 3D eyes
I’m no Libertarian, but I wonder if this would have been possible solely through the private sector. Maybe if there was some financial incentive. I’m just wondering.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/02/2004 06:17:00 PM
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BODY:
THE ROSE PARADE - To all the people who camped out overnight on Colorado Boulevard to see the Rose Parade: Thanks for leaving all your crap on the sidewalks and in the street.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/02/2004 06:13:00 PM
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BODY:
TALK ABOUT BEING IN THE KNOW! - Yesterday evening I was at my parents' house and I was checking email and the blog after dinner. My three year old nephew came up to me and said, in his raspy, deep voice, "Unka Pat, can you log me on to Disney?" I was a little dumbfounded. I asked, "well, sure what's the web address, Daniel?" He replied, "Um, I think it's Disney.com" How could I not log the kid on? After I "logged him on" I tried to help him by pointing out that he would need to left click on the things he wanted to see. He shrugged me away and said, "I know how to do this!" Well, excuuuuuse me!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/02/2004 05:11:00 PM
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BODY:
IN THE KNOW - I'm glad Pat Robertson is so in the know. Maybe he can get Saturday's lottery numbers for me. Sheesh! What a maroon.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/02/2004 04:28:00 PM
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BODY:
A FEW "SIMPLISTIC" THOUGHTS - I've decided to move a conversation in my comments here. The comments are too long and I thought maybe some people do not read comments. I think this is an interesting conversation. Let me know what you think.
In my New Year's Day post I was pretty forceful in some of my statements. Some people disagreed very strongly. This post is where it began. A gentleman named Brad left a comment that I believed required a response. Here is the response. I responded. And then it got more interesting.
Brad:
simplistic = simply, distinct, unambiguous, without doubt.
Therefore, by definition, your worldview (black and white) IS simplistic. But let's accept that and then examine the not-so-simple behavior pattern of our president: he agrees with you that terrorists are evil, and says we will not distinguish between terrorists and nations that harbor them. Yet he supports Pakistan, which harbors terrorists. He supports Saudi Arabia, and 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, and there is strong evidence to suggest that they received Saudi support. And Bush has forgiven Libya for supporting terrorists who killed 270 people over Lockerbie 15 years ago. How black and white is that?
Contrary to your reply, I never suggested that you are not allowed to judge things individually. However, your logic as stated suggests that you are not thinking as an open minded individual but rather embracing the jingoistic views of Americans who blindly support any military cause. There are many soldiers wh
(Unfortunately Brad's comments were truncated because they were longer than 1,000 words.)
My response:
1. Find a statement of Bush's in which he states that he has "forgiven" Libya's terrorism. Give me a break Brad; if he had gone in there with the military you would be screaming "Unilateralism! Unilateralism!" (And most Americans, including myself would probably oppose it.) Bush is not simplistic. He knows how to work things. Libya presented an opportunity to solve a problem without the use of military force. This is a good thing and we will take advantage of it. See, we don't automatically resort to force. I hope you make this distinction between issues. To not make the distinction is rather simplistic.
2. If believing that certain things (note: I did not say ALL things so quit ignoring that fact, please) are "distinct, unambiguous and without doubt" means that I am simplistic, then fine. My world view is simplistic. However, I'll wager a bet that your world view is much more simplistic than you can even imagine.
3. Bush is not "supporting" Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. He is using them as far as he can to achieve our objectives. They know this. Bush knows that the Saudis and Musharaf can't simply hand over their country to the US. Besides, we don't want them to. We want them to change. If that means allowing them an opportunity to save face and move more slowly than we'd like, then maybe that's a good thing, no?
You state, Brad, that I am allowed to judge things individually and yet, you seem to look at the matters of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Libya in very clear cut terms as if they should all be dealt with in the same manner. You see, I'm just not that SIMPLISTIC.
4. Ah, there it is, I agree with the President and I am unthinkingly embracing jingoism. No real critique. Just: You're jingoistic.
5. I defy you to read this entire blog and find a thought or writing that indicates that I blindly support any military action. You won't find it. (Such a sweeping generalization is very simplistic.) Do you honestly think that I or any other American would have not preferred to avoid military conflict? You need to try to understand this country a little better than you seem to have been able so far.
6. Open minded individual: If you knew me rather than imposing your seeming prejudice about who you assume me to be, you would know that I am indeed a relatively open minded individual. However, I am slow to open my mind without some examination of a matter for fear that my brain might fall out. Open mined doesn't mean my brain should function like a plankton filter in a whale's mouth, just letting every notion pass through. I believe that true open-mindedness means that after careful examination of an idea I decide whether or not to open my mind and let it in.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/01/2004 03:44:00 PM
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BODY:
A CONTRADICTION? - I've been asked by some whether or not I see a conflict in the post about the war on terror immediately below and the one I posted about "The Hound of Heaven." One seems to be so much different than the others, what with the profanity in the previous post and all. My answer to the question is simply: NO. But thanks for asking.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 1/01/2004 02:35:00 PM
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BODY:
I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND - The reality of the war on terror hit home for me last night/this morning at about 1 AM. I was talking with my sister Kathleen who was holding her youngest daughter Claire who is four years old. Claire had finally given up and fallen asleep in my sister's arms. I was sitting on the fireplace hearth and my sister was sitting on the arm of the sofa. I commented that we'd made it through another New Year's Eve without any sort of terrorist attack. She sighed and said, "Yeah. I don't understand those people. They're the same age as Nicole, these suicide bombers." She was staring off and brushing Claire's hair with her hand. I could see the weight of the world on my sister's face. Her life is about her children and her husband. She wants nothing else but to be happy and healthy and have a strong, faithfilled family. Yet, the weight of the outside world presses in upon her and I could see it in her face and in the way that she was staring off to nowhere. I imagine that she sees that all the goodness that surrounds her could be taken away in one instant if we were to relent and not be aggressive about crushing the terrorists like the filthy cockroaches that they are. We chatted a little more and I made the comment that no matter how surreal all of this might seem to us right now, it is far better to be hated by the entire world than to even for a moment allow the terrorists to think that we will not fight. I would rather be hated and still be free and safe than bow to the terrorists and the fear they wish to impart.
My New Year's resolution for 2004 will not be too difficult to keep. Fuck the world if they can't see the severity and the urgency of this very real war we are engaged in. Some might say, "Fuck the world. Typical American cowboy." Guess, what, if that makes me a cowboy, then tough shit. See, I don't look at this war on terror in terms of oil, diplomacy, the balance of power, alliances, UN bullshit, etc. I look at this war in terms of my sister and her four year old daughter and the fact that it makes me absolutely furious that there are people who would kill them in a heart beat if it meant that they could advance their corrupt and wicked agenda. Our way of life is better. Our way of life acknowledges the individual and values liberty and freedom of thought. Our way of life and our economy allows me and my country men and women the opportunity to think, create, explore and innovate and actualize our God-given talents and abilities.
I'll repeat my motto for 2004. Fuck the world! I'd rather be safe and free than worry about what they all think of me and my country! I'm not just talking about France and Germany. I'm speaking here to all the people who read this blog and all the people I will never meet who harbor irrational hatred for my country and my president. Most of whom have never been to this great country and if they'd make a visit they would see what a great place this is. Maybe then they would quit their incessant bitching and moaning and instead see that our way of life, while not perfect by any means, is pretty damn great! They also might get a chance to see how we really live rather than basing their asesment of our nation and its leaders on some ridiculous stereotypes and caricatures.
Phew. Now that I have that off my chest I think I'll head to my parent's house to have dinner with the family. Turkey, tamales, beans, etc. All a bunch of holiday leftovers served with love by my mother and surrounded by family, fellow Americans. Good hearted. Faithful. Giving. Loving. One hand guarding our family and our way of life and the other lifted majestically in the air flipping off the world and all those in it who would rather see us fail.
Happy New Year everyone. Brace yourselves. It's going to be a hellavuh year!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/30/2003 09:19:00 PM
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BODY:
The Hound of Heaven -- by Francis Thompson
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat - and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet -
"All things betray thee, who betrayest Me."
I pleaded, outlaw-wise,
By many a hearted casement, curtained red,
Trellised with intertwining charities;
(For, though I knew His love Who followèd,
Yet I was sore adread
Lest, having Him, I must have naught beside.)
But, if one little casement parted wide,
The gust of His approach would clash it to.
Fear wist not to evade as Love wist to pursue.
Across the margent of the world I fled,
And troubled the gold gateways of the stars,
Smiting for shelter on their clangèd bars;
Fretted to dulcet jars
And silvern chatter the pale ports o' the moon.
I said to Dawn: Be sudden - to Eve: Be soon;
With thy young skiey blossoms heap me over
From this tremendous Lover -
Float thy vague veil about me, lest He see!
I tempted all His servitors, but to find
My own betrayal in their constancy,
In faith to Him their fickleness to me,
Their traitorous trueness, and their loyal deceit.
To all swift things for swiftness did I sue;
Clung to the whistling mane of every wind.
But whether they swept, smoothly fleet,
The long savannahs of the blue;
Or whether, Thunder-driven,
They clanged His chariot 'thwart a heaven,
Plashy with flying lightnings round the spurn o' their feet: -
Fear wist not to evade as Love wist to pursue.
Still with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
Came on the following Feet,
And a Voice above their beat -
"Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter Me."
Now of that long pursuit
Comes on at had the bruit;
That Voice is round me like a bursting sea:
"And is thy earth so marred,
Shattered in shard on shard?
Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest Me!
Strange, piteous, futile thing!
Wherfore should any set thee love apart?
Seeing none but I make much of naught" (He said),
"And human love needs human meriting:
How hast thou merited -
Of all man's clotted clay, the dingiest clot?
Alack, thou knowest not
How little worthy of any love thou art!
Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
Save Me, save only Me?
All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
Rise, clasp My hand, and come."
Halts by me that footfall:
Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?
"Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,
I am He Whom thou seekest!
Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me."
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/26/2003 12:09:00 AM
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BODY:
CHRISTMAS AT THE PRESCOTT'S - It was raining this morning as I drove to Chino to my parent's house for breakfast and opening presents. Not a bad drive at all. Just a bit slower than usual. Breakfast was the usual Christmas breakfast. Bacon, eggs, oj, a really good Danish Kringle thingy from Wisconsin that is shipped to us every year as a gift from a client of the family business or a friend of the family, I'm not sure. There are also always sliced oranges on Christmas morning for some reason. This year it was just my parents, Grandma Prescott, Suzanne and her son Nicholas, my brother Mark and my little sister Nicole. My brother James was at his girlfriend's house having breakfast with her family, much to my mother's consternation. All the other siblings were at home with their children. It was a pleasant morning.
Around noon my uncle and his boyfriend came over and hung out for a while. This is when I of course made my first big blunder. It came up that the pastoral administrator of my family's parish is married to someone who is not Catholic. I expressed some shock at that and my little sister, said, "oh, Pat.* Get this. She's Episcopalian." My response? "Oh my God! EPISCOPALIAN! That's the worst! I'd rather she was a Lutheran!" We were laughing because we were only half serious. What I didn't know is that my uncle and his boyfriend no longer attend a Lutheran Church. They in fact now worship at an Episcopal church. My bad.
It gets better. The topic of President Bush came up. Now, in the past this would not have been a problem with my uncle. However, when his boyfriend got up and left the room grumbling I began to think I made another mistake. A few minutes later Howard Dean came up and I said something like "Yeah, let's elect Dean and then we can sign ourselves away to the French." Well, guess who happens to have a Howard Dean bumper sticker on his car? Yep! My uncle.
In my family it is usually safe to bring up politics and religion when my Mom's side of the family is not present because we are all Catholic and we are also all Republicans. I guess I need to hang out with the family a little more. I had no idea that my uncle had done such a 180.
I'm just going to keep my big mouth shut from now on. Riiiiiight.
*Only my family and very old friends cal me "Pat." Ever since I was 18 and worked with two other Pats, both of whom were women, I have gone by Patrick.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/25/2003 11:50:00 PM
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BODY:
I'M CONFUSED - What are we to make of the the different conclusions drawn about the cancellation of flights from Paris to Los Angeles?
BBC - France terror hunt reveals little.
WASHINGTON POST - U.S. government officials said yesterday they believe some of the passengers boarding one of the three Air France flights from Paris to Los Angeles that were canceled this week because of security concerns might have intended to hijack it and crash-land in Las Vegas or another city along its flight path.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/25/2003 11:42:00 PM
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BODY:
I HOPE WE CAN HELP THESE PEOPLE - Major Earthquake Hits Iran, Many Feared DeadIranian television said the magnitude 6.3 quake leveled about 60 percent of the houses in Bam, 630 miles southeast of the capital, killing many people as they slept. Authorities put out a call for blood donations.
I can't imagine what these people are going through. This is one of the reasons I fear earthquakes so much. So unpredictable and so devastating. The ancient constructions methods of course contribute to the problem and such a quake would do less harm here as we saw this week. The size of the quake that hit California earlier this week was similar in size than this quake (a bit bigger, actually) and you can see the difference in damage and death.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/24/2003 05:37:00 PM
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BODY:
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! - I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A PEACEFUL AND RESTFUL HOLIDAY AMONG PEOPLE YOU LOVE. IF YOU BECOME DEPRESSED DURING THESE HOLIDAYS, I PRAY THAT YOU WILL FIND COMFORT IN YOUR STRUGGLE TO FIND PEACE IN YOUR HEART AND MIND. YOU ARE LOVED. TRUST ME ON THAT.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/24/2003 09:19:00 AM
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BODY:
SO, WHICH IS THE PARTY OF THE WEALTHY? - According to the New York Times: Kerry Takes a Mortgage of $6 Million on His House.
Ah yes, the "working man." That's what they're all about. For crying out loud, a six million dollar mortgage against his house! I don't want to hear the Democrats spout their "working man" blather ever again. All the Dems are from just as much privilege as Bush, if not more. For instance US News says that Bush, Dean, Lieberman and Kerry all attended Yale.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/22/2003 08:16:00 PM
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BODY:
BY THE WAY - I hate you. And wipe that stupid look off your face you dumb ass. Oh, and Merry Christmas.
Move the trial indeed...
P.S. I hate you too.
P.P.S. You too.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/22/2003 05:37:00 PM
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BODY:
AH, CALIFORNIA - I've already described my fear of earthquakes here so I won't bother with that. What I would like to point out is that I was reading the LA Times coverage of the quake and I noticed a comment left by a reader describing his experience of the quake. When I read it , I had to laugh because it said so much about California all in one little comment.
I was at our beach house in La Jolla lying in bed with my boyfriend and I felt an abrupt rolling motion, then the doors and windows started shuttering, ad the walls were creaking a little.
Submitted by: Tim Thornton
4:50 PM PST, Dec 22, 2003
California was just about summed up in that comment (at least the stereotypes, which are of course based in real experience).
1. A house on the beach.
2. Lying in bed at 11:15 in the morning.
3. Tim was lying in bed with his boyfriend.
4. Abrupt rolling. Earthquakes.
Is there anything else?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/22/2003 04:27:00 PM
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BODY:
CHRISTMAS WISHES - If I have to listen another sappy Christmas wish fulfilled on KOST 103 (pronounced Coast 103) I think I might heave.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/22/2003 01:23:00 PM
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BODY:
NO ROOM IN NIRVANA FOR THE MOTHER OF GOD - You know, this is the sort of crap I have to deal with all the time. Isolationist people who would prefer to pretend that they are not part of the larger community seal themselves off behind gates and create draconian regulations in order to prevent themselves from having to face the reality that the world is not perfect and no matter how many rules and regulations you devise there's this thing called reality. Then, when they have problems with their neighbors and the association is unable to handle it they turn to the city government which they seemed to have forgotten they do not need. I understand that if they allow the statue of the Virgin Mary, then they'd have to allow the ostentatious lions or the cheesy windmills. However, surely they can come up with some sort of compromise. For instance, have a clause that permits religious emblems and statues up to a certain height. Perhaps they can also make use of the city's front yard setback rules and prohibit the placement of such items anywhere within the 25 foot front yard setback area. (Or whatever the local front setback standard is.)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/22/2003 12:33:00 PM
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BODY:
YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK - Barneycam
Ok, so some of your tax money was spent making this video and maintaining it at the White House web site. I think its worth it. Why?
1. A little levity is a good thing. Especially these days.
2. President Bush deserves to have a little fun. He's got a rather rough gig, you know.
3. It shows a human side to the folks at the White House, rather than just the caricatures we get in the news.
By the way, can anyone tell me the origin of the word "gig" in reference to a performance date?
UPDATE: Maybe you prefer to use Real Player. You can go to the White House web site and choose to view the Barneycam with Real.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/22/2003 12:28:00 PM
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BODY:
THE IMPERFECT GREETING - The spam subject line of the day: Pervy Santa Pick-up lines!
This is the problem with Spam. They have no idea that they have sent an email to someone who avoids Santa Christmas cards and would prefer that he be replaced by St. Nicholas in the popular imagination. To make matters worse, I despise the crudification (I hereby declare “crudification” a word) of traditions, especially Christmas. The folks at Perfect Greeting are really beginning to annoy me. Someone sent me a card through them once and now I get their crappy spam all the time.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/22/2003 12:26:00 PM
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BODY:
WHOWHATWHENWHERE...HUH? - Man Arrested at Miami Airport With Blades in Shoe.McIntyre, who was traveling with his wife and children, told authorities he forgot the blades were in his shoe, said Detective Joey Giordano, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade police.
QUESTION: Who in God’s name carries razors and hack saw blades in their freaking shoes? Was he wearing those tennis shoes (sneakers, trainers, whatever) from the 1980’s that had the little zipper pocket on the sides?
Ok, so let’s pretend that carrying razors and hack saws in your shoes is the norm. How could you forget to remove them before going to the airport? This is like the idiots who unbelievably have to be told to turn their cell phones off in the movie theatre. Some things are just common sense. No phones at the movies, no razors in your shoes when you’re flying. Oh, never mind.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/20/2003 07:44:00 PM
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BODY:
AUDBLOG - If you do not like the sound of your own voice, you will probably not like Audblog. I decided to do this free trial audblog post. You can call in the post, which is pretty cool. Maybe everyone should do this so we can put a voice with the blog. This is my audblog post.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/20/2003 02:28:00 PM
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BODY:
NICE HAIR - What is it with dictators and hair dye?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/20/2003 02:24:00 PM
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BODY:
YIKES! - Can someone please debunk this for me?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/20/2003 02:21:00 PM
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BODY:
F*CK CHE! - Looking for last minute gift ideas? Here's a great idea from Babalublog.This one is just as lovely.
Hey Val, do you think I could get this on one of those trendy trucker's hats?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/19/2003 03:13:00 PM
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BODY:
I NEED A DRINK - It's only 3:15, but as the song says, It's five o'clock somewhere.
P.S. This post is just for you, Eric.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/19/2003 02:50:00 PM
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BODY:
DIPLOMACY - Believe it or not there is a group of about five or six well meaning gray haired folks who stand at the corner of Lake and Cordova every Friday between 11:30 and 1 PM protesting the war. In fact they have a sign inviting everyone to join them "every Friday between 11:30 and 1 PM." From the looks of it no one has taken them up on their invitation. One of the signs they have says "US + UN = Peace." Oh man, I could have fun with this one. Suffice it to say that that is the biggest load of hogwash. The US was "+" the UN for a long while and during that time the people of Iraq suffered and the terrorists built their network. Another sign says, "Diplomacy. Not War." To this I say, to paraphrase Val of Babalublog from a comment on another post, "I got your diplomacy RITE HEAH!" Or to put it more succintly, in the words of our Ambassador to Egypt, quoted at Little Green Footballs:Nyier Abdou: Whether or not you want to call it abuse, there certainly is a distinction between showing somebody in this manner and showing them in a more dignified way. I think what makes people angry is that the US fails to see how this kind of imagery will inflame people, and that they do it anyway, and that’s what really makes people angry. It is a misunderstanding of what is going to convince people.
Welch: I think your moral compass has gone crazy. I think you should be looking at the Iraqi people and their reaction to this. Your reaction puzzles me to be honest. Can we move on because this is boring...
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/19/2003 02:27:00 PM
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BODY:
SCARY CHRISTMAS - I try to be level headed about terrorist threats, but news like this from ABC makes me nervous. I got chills reading it. Man, if I ever saw some sort of suicide bomber I hope I'd be able to do what the Israelis teach their people to do. Grab them and do everything you can to control the arms of the bomber, even to the point of breaking their arms. Of course, you'd have to be able to tell what they were about to do. The problem we face here in SoCal is that there is such a mix of people that no one really stands out as "different." It's also colder lately so people are wearing jackets and bulky clothes in the evenings. If I had any inkling that someone was trying to do something to hurt people I'd probably flip. I don't know. Would you through yourself on top of a suicide bomber to try to prevent others from being hurt? Even if it meant losing your own life? I think I might.
This article quotes one of the terrorists:
"Two years after Tora Bora, the American bloodshed started to increase in Iraq, and the Americans have become unable to defend themselves or even defend their big criminals such as Wolfowitz," he said.
"We are still chasing the Americans and their allies everywhere, even in their homeland," he said.
I say, bring it on you little Islamo-fascist bitch! What these people don't realize is that unlike their chicken shit run and hide "leaders" Americans are willing to stand up and fight and die if necessary. How can they not yet understand that when you mess with one bean, you mess with the whole burrito? We all might have our differences in the United States, but seriously, you mess with one of us or one of our cities and you will reap the whirlwind that follows. I promise.
Man this pisses me off.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/18/2003 04:32:00 PM
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BODY:
DAMN, I'M THIRSTY! - Get a load of the humidity today. Dry enough for ya?
Pasadena, CA
12-18-2003, 19:00 EDT
Temperature 75
Relative Humidity 12
Winds WNW, 4 MPH
Barometric Pressure 30.06
Visibility SUNNY
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/18/2003 03:10:00 PM
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BODY:
4000 - My sitemeter registered 4,000 hits as of 2:41 AM today. Thanks to the unknown individual in the Eastern Time Zone using Level3.net
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/17/2003 10:20:00 PM
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BODY:
QUEER EYE FOR THE TYRANT GUY - You've probably already seen this, but just in case.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/17/2003 10:02:00 PM
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BODY:
THE FEDERALIST PAPERS IN ARABIC -From Oxblog Reader A.W. points out that the American Embassy in Amman, Jordan sells copies of an Arabic translation of the Federalist for $9.70 (US). The embassy in Cairo sells, among other titles, Common Sense, The Road to Serfdom, Dahl's On Democracy, a primer on free and fair elections, Democracy in America, and many others.
So, if we already have Arabic translations of all of these, it couldn't possibly cost that much to have a more aggressive outreach program, especially in Iraq, where we give them away for free ...
Hmm, maybe there's a project for us here....
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/17/2003 12:44:00 PM
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BODY:
UN CHIEF DEMANDS CLEAR IRAQ ROLE -The United Nations role in Iraq needs to be defined much more clearly, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says.
Let me clarify what your role should be. Nothing. Niente. Nada. You had a chance to be part of this. Furthermore, haven’t the UN already bailed on Iraq cuz they got sceered?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/16/2003 07:25:00 PM
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BODY:
NELSON MUNTZ WEIGHS IN ON SADDAM HUSEEIN - Courtesy of On the Fritz.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/16/2003 03:03:00 PM
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BODY:
DESPERATION- Val mentioned the crazies coming out of the wood work after the arrest of Saddam Hussein. Ain't that the truth? It's like a panic. I can hear it in their voices and the weird shit that comes out of their mouths. I mentioned on Babalublog that I was listening to talk radio last night and people were calling in talking about how Gorbachev ended the Cold War. (For the record.) Huh? What the hell does that have to do with Saddam Hussein? It was as if they had nothing left and just had to be sure that they had at least one thing they could try to get out. Apparently, their irrational hatred of Reagan is similar to their irrational hatred of GWB.
The irrational nature of the comments are not just the Reagan comments or the comments from Carrie B that she will regret till the day she dies. (She's been quoted on national radio.) I hear it in the calls for fairness at a future trial, accusation of mistreatment of the dirt bag, etc. Calm down poeople. Don't assume the worst. You know this is a good thing, but you're insistent about non issues to try to convince people that the USA is the bad guy and is too strong and powerful to be trusted.
I've had it! Hey all you cynics and accusers! Get your ass on a plane and hang out here for a few weeks and see how free and fair things are here. For the cynics and accusers resident in the US, lay off the mary jane for a day or two and realize what you've got here.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/16/2003 02:49:00 PM
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BODY:
FED UP - I've just about had it with some of the the morons running my Church these days. Hey Martino! Shut your yap!
Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican's Justice and Peace department and a former papal envoy to the United Nations (news - web sites), told a news conference it would be "illusory" to think the arrest of the former Iraqi president would heal all the damage caused by a war which the Holy See opposed.
"I felt pity to see this man destroyed, (the military) looking at his teeth as if he were a cow. They could have spared us these pictures," he said.
"Seeing him like this, a man in his tragedy, despite all the heavy blame he bears, I had a sense of compassion for him," he said in answer to questions about Saddam's arrest.
Compassion? Either I'm a horrible person or this Cardinal is a bone head. I'sn't this taking the whole Christian love thing a little far? Compassion? Oy vey!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/15/2003 10:24:00 PM
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BODY:
SLEEPY HOLLOW - To the person who got here using the words "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Chino Hills" I would like to clear up some confusion. The legend is the legend of Green Mist. To get to Green Mist you take Peyton Road until it ends and then make a right and a quick left into the row of Eucalyptus trees. Follow the winding road through the hills and that where Green Mist is. Beware of the Pig Man and keep you eyes out for the missing Boy Scout troupe. Youwill eventually dead end at a gate to the Aero Jet facility. This facility used to manufacture munitions for the military, but I am not sure it is still operational. When I was in high school there was a camera on a post at the gate watching our every move. If you see the camera just flip it off, they like that. Sleepy Hollow is a tiny village in Carbon Canyon, between Chino Hills and Yorba Linda. Perhaps they have their own legend. I'm not sure.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/15/2003 10:02:00 PM
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BODY:
BEWARE, THE ZOMBY - Zombyboy takes on some of the more outrageous statements following the apprehension of Saddam Hussein.
I'm reading the comments on the Dean Blog for America, and I'm disturbed (disgusted) by some of the comments. The far left really is a petty little place, isn't it?
Here's an example of the garbage being pumped out at the Dean - Blog for America.
Ha- the Iraqi resistance just attacked the Palestine Hotel. Take that Bu$h!
Let's see how many coporate media a$$holes bought
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/15/2003 09:41:00 PM
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BODY:
POINTS TO PONDER -
1. Why are there "No Smoking" signs all over city hall? I suppose they were necessary at one time, but really, would anyone dare light up a cigarette in the building at this point?
2. Do you think that maybe it's the Europeans who are misinformed about history and lacking in enlightenment? I mean, they sure do make a stink about us. You know how they say people usually tend to project their insecurities onto others? I don't know. Just thinking...
3. Why does Barbara Streisand sing Christmas music?
4. You know those signs you saw in high school and college that said "Get Involved?" Shouldn't they read "Become Involved?"
5. Why does the State insist on constructing carpool lanes? They're always either empty while everyone else is at a stand still or they're just as backed up as the other lanes. Besides, I know I do not feel safe sailing along at 70 mph when other cars are moving at 30 mph. I don't trust that one of the dim wits in the fast lane will not pull into the carpool lane unexpectedly and driving at 30 mph.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/15/2003 09:33:00 PM
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BODY:
STRAIGHT OUTTA LITTLE ROCK - I'm digging this song right now. I was a little unsure about Evanescence when I first heard Bring Me To Life. I eventually decided I liked that song, but I really like My Immortal. Click the the song name and you can listen to the song or watch the video. This girl's got a good voice. Let me know what you think.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/14/2003 08:16:00 PM
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BODY:
CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN THIS? - This picture is odd. First, can someone tell the Iraqis that what comes up must come down? Second, what's with the crown on the roof of the car?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/14/2003 06:55:00 PM
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BODY:
OUCH - US singer blasts Catholic Church at Vatican Christmas concert. "I'm not here to celebrate, like you, the birth of Christ, but to ask you why you are not in mourning for his death in this place,"
My first reaction to this was, “ouch, that’s got to hurt, but someone has to say something to these guys.” My second reaction was, “shut up, bitch!” Then I thought that she was probably not going to accomplish anything other than getting the kids at my alma mater to smash her CDs in the middle of campus. Finally I thought to myself, “who the hell is Lauryn Hill to attack the Church? I’d like to see her morality credentials.” (And what’s up with that hair? She looks like one of the characters from that 1971 Charlton Heston movie Omega Man.)
This reminds me of a story from my time in Rome. I had just moved to Rome in October 2000. One evening I went out with a coworker and fellow FUS grad Jaime. She and I walked to Piazza Navona to meet some friends for a drink. It was a fun night and let’s just say that I had a little too much to drink. What the heck, I didn’t own a car in Rome so I knew I wasn’t going to have to drive! I begged Jaime to hail a cab, but she refused. She said I needed to walk off the beer. “Tough love” she kept saying. “Tough love.” We were new to the city so it took us a while to walk home. We weren’t necessarily lost. We just took the long way home. Ultimately, we had to pass through Vatican City to get to our neighborhood near Stazione S. Pietro. - This is our street. I’m actually surprised to find this picture online because this is the street we walked down every day to get to work or anywhere for that matter. - As we walked through Vatican City I was yelling at the top of my lungs. I was telling the bishops and cardinals to come out of their ivory towers and see reality. See what they were doing, or not doing to the Church. (I’m no liberal, which might be precisely why I had such issues with the leadership.) I was equally mad at the traditionalists, conservatives, liberals and Marxists. I said a few other things I won’t go into. I also used some bad language. Jaime stopped me and I apologized for yelling. Then, the normally very proper Jaime said, “No, keep going, just don’t use anymore profanity.” Man that was quite a night. Very fun and quite a memory! So, I guess I can relate with Lauryn Hill’s anger. Uh, sort of.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/14/2003 01:12:00 PM
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BODY:
PANIC, DISMAY, CONFUSION, DEAN AND CO.- Evangelical Outpost has shared a couple of the comments from the Blog for America that are rather enlightening.
I can't believe this. I'm crying here. I feel that we now don't have a chance in this election.
Posted by Carrie B at December 14, 2003 10:03 AM
Oh brother. She gets to vote.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/14/2003 12:41:00 PM
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BODY:
MANIPULATING THE NEWS - This is a subtle manipulation of the news that I noticed while watching CNN a moment ago.
First, this is a portion of PM Tomy Blair's statement today regarding Saddam Hussein. I happened to have watched it via MSNBC this morning. The full text can be found at 10 Downing Street. The shadow of Saddam is finally lifted from the Iraqi people. We give thanks for that, but let this be more than a cause simply for rejoicing. Let it be a moment to reach out and to reconcile.
To the Sunnis whose allegiance Saddam falsely claimed I say there is a place for you playing a full part in a new and a democratic Iraq. To those formally in Saddam's Party, there by force and not by conviction, I say we can put the past behind us. Where his rule meant terror and division and brutality let his capture bring about unity, reconciliation and peace between all the people in Iraq.
Saddam has gone from power. He won't be coming back. That the Iraqi people now know and it is they who will decide his fate. And in Iraq today we work hard, the Coalition forces from thirty different nations and Iraqis who love their country and who work hard with us to rebuild Iraq to nurture its wealth for all its people, to bring prosperity and freedom to those people.
This statement indicates that this capture is an opportunity for reconciliation among Iraqis. Sunnis and Ba'athists, etc. However, CNN attempted to portray Blair's statement as an appeal for international reconilation. The portion of his words that they just aired ended here:
The shadow of Saddam is finally lifted from the Iraqi people. We give thanks for that, but let this be more than a cause simply for rejoicing. Let it be a moment to reach out and to reconcile.
This was followed by Christian Amanpour in London who proceeded to explain how even the French and Germans have stated that this is a good thing. It's as if she wanted us all to know that see, these folks are still our chums. It seems that CNN is thinking like their Democratic contenders. "This is great, but we should take this opportunity to internationalize the war." Huh?
First, how does "internationalizing" follow from Saddam's capture? Second, what do you call the coalition we have fighting the war? France and Germany aren't there so it's not internantional? That's a bit arrogant, no? (Explains a lot about what's happening with the EU constitution these days.)
John Kerry continued this meme by insisting that we include our "traditional" allies in this effort now. Again, how does that follow from the capture? I do not see how they are related. Further, perhaps someone should inform Mr. Kerry that we tried to get our "traditional" allies on board a long time ago. They declined the offer.
This is what Xrlq has to say: Let's just hope that the trial of Saddam takes place before next January, while we're still guaranteed to have a President who knows that it matters whether Saddam is tried by the U.S. (where he'd face execution) or the ICC (where he'd face 20 to life and a stiff fine).
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/14/2003 09:56:00 AM
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BODY:
THIS IS INTERESTING, NO? - Terrorist behind September 11 strike was trained by Saddam.
I wonder how this will pan out. I hope it doesn't get buried in the news because of Saddam's capture.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/14/2003 08:12:00 AM
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BODY:
WAS HE HUMILIATED? - There are people saying that Hussein was humiliated when he was captured. What about the Geneva Convention? What about blah blah, mumble, mumble....grrglfglelldld..... Give it up people!
Man they need to shave his beard and cut his hair so he doesn't get any sympathy. He's a murdering tyrant people! Would you have felt bad about Hitler being captured just because he was disheveled and looked pathetic?
Death to the tyrant, I say!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/14/2003 08:07:00 AM
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BODY:
SADDAM'S CAPTURE - I know that no one comes here for "breaking news." These are just some links for you. An important thing that bloggers are pointing out is the way that some people are actually disappointed about this. They are spinning it every which way. It defies belief.
Tim Blair and sadness about Saddam's capture.
The Command PostCoalition of the Pissy
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/14/2003 01:01:00 AM
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BODY:
STUPID, LAZY WHITE MAN - I neglected to make you aware of a project at Babalublog called "Blog Cuba." Val has assembled some great writing from the blogosphere about things Cuban.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/13/2003 03:16:00 PM
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BODY:
AH, CHILDREN - Last night my brother related a couple of stories about his children that were very funny so I thought I'd share them with you.
First, the neighbor called the other day to say that Marlie and Daniel Jr. were in her back yard. "What?" My brother asked. He looked in the back yard and saw some toys stacked against the wall that they had used to climb over. They had done the same on the other side in order to get back. Apparently they wanted to play with the neighbor's Chiuhuahua.
Second, and this is the best, My sister in law was in the kitchen and she saw a flash of white move past the front window. She stopped what she was doing and went into the living room to find the window open, the screen removed and my 3 year old nephew in his Buzz Lightyear costume zooming across the front lawn. When my brother apprehended him he insisted that there was a man outside that he had to "get." Imagine, a little three year old boy in a Buzz Lightyear costume charging after you on the street. What would you do?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/13/2003 03:04:00 PM
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PRESCOTT PARTY PALACE - A good time was had by all at my first annual family Christmas cocktail party. Even Grandma "P" made it. We dragged her up the stairs in her wheelchair like a princess. Grandma "I" was unable to make it. All but three of my siblings and theirs wives were able to make it. (Next year.) It was the largest number if people I have ever had here at once and it was the first time most of my family had been over, which is horrible considering I've lived here since last January. Most everyone went to dinner at Burger Continental on Lake Avenue before hand. Burger Continental is surprisingly, not a burger restaurant. It is a "mediterranean" restaurant, complete with belly dancers.
A few things I learned last night.
1. When people go out to dinner at a mediterranean restaurant they will likely not be hungry when they get to your party.
2. Don't let Daniel and Mark have sharp objects for they will surely end up "shanking" one another in the dining room.
3. Do not try to wrestle your 26 year old brother who got a wrestling scholarship when he graduated from high school. Not only is it bad to do this in the dinging room it causes pain in the lower back and neck the next day.
4. A couple vodka cocktails before the family arrives makes the season bright.
5. Mom still leaves price tags on gifts. She doesn't mean to, but she often does.
6. Warn your brothers that you camera is recording their words.
7. Don't buy cheap chocolates. Stick with See's.
8. Being around your family and laughing at the simplest comment, joke of movement is the best.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/12/2003 02:06:00 PM
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BODY:
BUSH AND THE BBC - Is it just me or does the BBC make an effort to use the most unflattering photos of President Bush? Either unflattering or seemingly chosen to make it seem as though he is really under the gun or overwhelmed or incompetent?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/12/2003 12:36:00 PM
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BODY:
COLD MOUNTAIN - I intend to see this movie, but don't you think it's funny that a movie about the American Civil War stars an Englishman and an Australian? Maybe that says something about America. You know universal ideals, everyone can relate, blah blah, etc. Or maybe it just says something about who is hot in Hollywood right now. ht
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/12/2003 11:31:00 AM
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BODY:
EU MELTDOWN? - Constitution Deadlock Plunges EU Summit Into Gloom Aw gee, what a shame.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/12/2003 11:29:00 AM
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BODY:
IRAQI RECONSTRUCTION - I think Andrew Sullivan explains this issue very succinctly.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/12/2003 10:43:00 AM
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WHICH MUPPET ARE YOU? - This is that serious post I've been promising.
You are Sam the Eagle.
You are patriotic and devoted. And extremely anal.
HOBBIES:
Patriotism, Being appalled at what everyone else is doing.
FAVORITE MUSIC:
The National Anthem of America
FAVORITE MOVIE:
"An American In....America"
LAST BOOK READ:
"Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, Eagles are from America"
QUOTE:
"Please stop that now! It's un-American!"
What Muppet are you? brought to you by Quizilla
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/11/2003 12:28:00 PM
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BODY:
SERIOUS BLOGGING - I will try to get something more substantial posted to this blog this evening.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/11/2003 12:16:00 PM
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BODY:
INFLUENZA - Do you think I should get a flu shot?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/09/2003 11:21:00 PM
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BODY:
WILLA CATHER - I just randomly picked up Willa Cather's My Antonia the other day and began to read it again. I have to tell you that I love Willa Cather and I love My Antonia. However, O' Pioneers is still my favorite Willa Cather novel.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/09/2003 09:19:00 PM
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BODY:
HOLY SCHNIKIES! - I'm number 17 in the Dogpile search results for Holy Schnikies Spell.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/09/2003 09:15:00 PM
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BODY:
OK, I'VE HAD ENOUGH - Ok ya'll, let me tell you how much I am over the grocery workers' strike. On Sunday I went to the Ralph's on Lake and Walnut (Which is dumpy to begin with.) and it was like grocery shopping in a communist country. The shelves were nearly empty. The produce was nearly gone. The dairy cases were also nearly empty. To top things off, the lines were ridiculous. This evening I decided I need to go to a store that is big enough to carry all the standard name brand stuff and would be fully stocked. That leaves out Ralph's, Pavillions, and Vons, of course. It also leaves out the more boutiquey stores like Trader Joes and Wild Oats. Gelson's is out of the question because they spend way too much on decor (which is really nice, by the way) and pass on the cost to the consumer. So, where is a boy to go? I went where angels fear to tread. I went north of the 210 to the Food 4 Less on Lake Ave. First, I hate Food 4 Less. I hate the name, the layout, the dirtiness, and the fact that I have to bag my own groceries. Well, I was able to do the shopping that needed to be done for the cocktail party on Friday night. That was a relief.
After loading my groceries into the trunk I got in the car, closed the door, turned the ignition and....guess what. The battery is dead. Oh, I do not have to tell you the lovely words that came forth from my sailor's mouth. So, I called my brother Steve, the one who helped me with the tree, and he confirmed that is was indeed the battery based on the noise he heard via my cell phone. He said he'd call AAA, because of course I do not have AAA. I said I'd get a jump start and he told me that I probably shouldn't ask anybody there. I asked a young couple coming out of the store and they were more than happy to help me out.
The battery is dead. The car won't start again. I'll be late for work tomorrow because I have to go buy a new battery and put it in. So look for me tomorrow at around 8AM walking two blocks to Target to buy a freaking battery and then lugging that damn thing back.
Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to have some dinner. Or maybe I'll just eat chips and drink wine.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/09/2003 01:29:00 PM
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BODY:
ANGER -This son of a bitch. Did something to this girl. He needs to die. He should have died a long time ago. The death penalty was made for people like him. You see, the death penalty is not about revenge or eye for an eye. It is a last resort when there is no other means by which society can protect itself from evil people like this.* This rat bastard piece of human debris, despite the fact that God loves him and Jesus died for him (Sometimes Christianity is scandalous, no?) needs to be put to death quickly. I think the family of his victim should first have the opportunity to beat him with a club.
I’d like to be hopeful and believe that Dru is alive in a basement somewhere or some abandoned cabin in the woods. However, considering the fact that her blood was found in his car and one of her shoes was found near a river, my hope is waning. Another young life full of potential destroyed by a worthless, hopeless, good for nothing piece of shit. I love the gift of free will, but sometimes what humans do with it is infuriating, to say the least
*CCC #2267- Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.
If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.
Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent."68
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/08/2003 12:48:00 AM
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BODY:
FYI -
1. The glass ornaments they sell at Target do not come with ornament hangers.
2. The Sav-On on Arroyo Parkway does not have ornament hangers.
3. Target on Colorado Boulevard is out of ornament hangers. (Unless you rummage through the foil tinsel and find a pack.)
4. 500 white lights fit a 6 foot Douglas Fir quite nicely. (And they're only $1.62 per 100 at Target.)
5. A six foot Douglas Fir needs at least 75-100 glass ornaments to look right.
6. A six foot Douglas Fir requires three 28ft strands of silver beads.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/07/2003 06:11:00 PM
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BODY:
IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS - I just bought my first "on my own" Christmas tree. About darn time! I've never thought one was necessary. I lived with my parents or on my own in a place I didn't like or out of the country since college. However, this year, I'm living somewhere I really like and I'm having the whole fam damily over this Friday for a little cocktail party. Gotta have the tree ya know?
Buying the tree was alittle nerve wracking. I was alone and I called my brother Steve to get some professional Christmas tree advice. He's a year older than I, but he's been married for about eight or nine years and so he's been buying trees for that long. However, he goes to one of those Christmas tree farms and reserves the tree ahead of time and then takes his four boys to cut it down. (My brothers are pretty good dads, I have to say.) Anyway, he assured me that some of the needles fall off naturally and that if I drag my hand down the branches and none of the needles come off then it's a go. (I already knew that, but I was just a little paranoid.) I must have looked like quite a nit wit standing there with one hand on the tree and the other holding my cell phone. I don't have to tell you how inadequate I felt when some soccer mom walked over and started grabbing trees and spinning them around and throwing them up on the pile if she was not satisfied. When she was walking out hauling the tree the employees offered to help carry it and help tie it to the roof of her car and she's like, "nope, I've got it." Damn show off.
So, the tree is in the stand and I'm going to eat someting and then get to decorating. I've got 500 white lights!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/07/2003 02:36:00 PM
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BODY:
HAVE WE FORGOTTEN? - December 7, 1941. A day that will live in infamy. Don't forget these boys. Or these.
"...we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain..."
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/07/2003 02:35:00 PM
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PEOPLE OR GROUPS THAT SHOULD NOT RECORD CHRISTMAS MUSIC -
Macy Gray
Destiny’s Child
‘N Sync
Baby Face
Back Street Boys
Barbara Streisand
This list will grow as Christmas approaches.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/07/2003 01:48:00 PM
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BODY:
THE BURNING BABE -
As I in hoary winter's night stood shivering in the snow,
Surprised I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow;
And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire was near,
A pretty babe all burning bright did in the air appear;
Who, scorched with excessive heat, such floods of tears did shed
As though his floods should quench his flames which with his tears were fed.
"Alas," quoth he, "but newly born in fiery heats I fry,
Yet none approach to warm their hearts or feel my fire but I!
My faultless breast the furnace is, the fuel wounding thorns,
Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke, the ashes shame and scorns;
The fuel justice layeth on, and mercy blows the coals,
The metal in this furnace wrought are men's defiled souls,
For which, as now on fire I am to work them to their good,
So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my blood."
With this he vanished out of sight and swiftly shrunk away,
And straight I called unto mind that it was Christmas day.
-Robert Southwell
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/06/2003 07:47:00 PM
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GROWTH OF A CITY - LA Basin, 1908LA Basin, 1988LA Basin 2001This is what is looks like during the day. Pasadena is the cluster of buildings in the foreground. Downtown LA is just beyond that in the center of the picture and in the distance is the Pacific Ocean
Oh, and yes, LA did once have a thriving downtown. It will again someday soon.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/06/2003 10:15:00 AM
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THE SKY IS FALLING -Demand for 'Kyoto tax' on the US. Or: Impotent chicken littles try to be hard asses.
I agree that we must be good stewards of the earth and its resources. I believe that we must strive to conserve resources and look for renewable sources of energy. I believe that we should all try to live a bit more simply. However, I do not think that the end is imminent. I have faith in human ingenuity and in our ability to solve our problems without throwing ourselves back into the pre-industrial age like a bunch of Luddites. We've been told that the world would collapse any day now for the last sixty or so years. The suggestion by these individuals meeting in Milan that non Kyoto signatories should face a special tax on their goods is preposterous. Whether or not this "global warming" problem is what some scientists believe is another matter that someone more qualified than I can take up if they wish. I'm not qualified to discuss the scientific questions or the economic ones. However, I would like to clarify a point of basic American civics and then a historical point for our friends at the BBC.
The BBC reports that:
Some critics say President Bush's decision that the US, which emits more greenhouse gases than any other country, would not ratify the protocol has already condemned it to irrelevance.
1. The President does not ratify treaties. The Senate does.
2. Second, the Kyoto protocol languished in the Senate under Clinton, NOT Bush.
I hope they can make a correction. I've sent them an email regarding the matter.
Correction: I have been duly corrected for an error in this post. The Kyoto treaty was in fact voted down in the Senate. The vote was 95-0. Read President Bush's 2001 statement about Kyoto. Thanks for the correction Scott.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/06/2003 10:14:00 AM
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BODY:
SOCAL BARBIE - I received this via email. The person who came up with this is not credited, but if anyone knows who it is let me know so I can give them credit. Whoever it is grew up here sure gets around. The Fontana and Riverside Barbies are outdated, but they're still funny.
Mattel recently announced the release of Limited-Edition
So-Cal dolls for the Southern California market:
Irvine Barbie
This princess Barbie is only sold at The Irvine Spectrum. She
comes with an assortment of Kate Spade handbags, a Lexus
SUV, a long-haired dog named Honey, and a cookie-
cutter house. Available with or without tummy tuck and face
lift. Workaholic Ken sold only in conjunction with
"augmented" version.
Tustin Barbie
This modern-day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford
Windstar minivan and matching gym outfit. She gets lost
easily and has no full time occupation or secondary education.
Traffic-jamming cell phone included, headset sold separately.
Van Nuys Barbie
This recently paroled former "Porn Actress" Barbie comes
with a 9mm handgun, a Ray Lewis knife, a Chevy with dark
tinted windows, and a methlab kit. This model is only available
after dark and canonly be paid for in cash. Preferably small,
untraceable bills. Unless you are a cop, then we don't know
what you are talking about.
Santa Monica Barbie
This yuppie Barbie comes with your choice of BMW convertible
or Hummer H2. Included are her own Starbucks cup, credit
card, and country club membership. Also available for this
set are Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper. You won't
be able to afford any of them.
Fontana Barbie
This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two
sizes too small, a NASCAR shirt, and Tweety Bird tattoo on
her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Coors Light and a Hank
Williams, Jr. CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick
mullet-haired Ken's ass when she is drunk. Purchase her
pickup truck separately and get a confederate flag bumper
sticker absolutely free.
Newport Beach Barbie
This collagen injected, rhinoplastic Barbie wears a leopard
print bikini and drinks cosmopolitans while entertaining
friends at the beach house. Percocet prescription available.
Riverside Barbie
This brassy-haired Barbie has a pair of her
own high-heeled sandals with one broken heel from the time
she chased Beer-Gut Ken out of Fontana Barbie's house.
Her ensemble includes low-rise acid-washed jeans,
fake fingernails, and a see-through halter top. Also
available with a mobile home.
Laguna Beach Barbie
This doll is made of actual tofu. She has long straight
brown hair, arch less feet, hairy armpits, no makeup, and
Birkenstocks with white socks. She prefers that you call her
"Willow". She does not want or need a Ken doll, but you if
purchase two Laguna Beach Barbie's and the optional Subaru
wagon, you get a rainbow flag sticker for free.
Long Beach Barbie
This Barbie now comes with a stroller and infant doll.
Optional accessories include a GED and bus pass. Gangsta
Ken and his '79 Caddy were available, but are now very
difficult to find since the addition of the infant.
Rancho Santa Margarita Barbie
She's perfect in every way. We don't know who Ken is because
he's always away working.
City of Industry Barbie
This Spanish-speaking-only Barbie comes with a 1984 Toyota
with expired temporary plates and three baby Barbies in the back seat,
but no car seats. The optional Ken doll comes with a meat-packer's uniform
and is missing three fingers on his left hand. Green cards are not
available for City of Industry Barbie or Ken.
West Hollywood Barbie/Ken
This versatile doll can be easily converted from Barbie to
Ken by simply adding or subtracting the multiple "snap-on"
parts.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/05/2003 01:37:00 PM
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BODY:
BUMPER STICKER THEOLOGY - Observed on a bumper somewhere in the Los Angeles region today.
This day is God's gift to you.
Enjoy it with his blessings.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/04/2003 03:06:00 PM
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BODY:
WHAT? - Woman gets 10 years for running over McDonald's manager
I think it might be time that we sit down as a nation and have a long talk. Really, this is just ridiculous. What is it that causes a person to think that running over another human being is a valid expression of anger? Furthermore, what sort of person wants mayonnaise so badly that she would become angry that it was unavailable? I refuse to believe that it's a matter of anger management. I think it's something more profound that we are overlooking. Something to do with how we perceive each other. It has something to do with an exaggerated sense of self-importance fed by a deep seated insecurity.
Besides, it's McDonalds, not Burger King. You can't "have it your way."
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/03/2003 08:51:00 PM
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BODY:
ART AND RELIGION - I am no big fan of Asian art. I can’t quite figure out why. Perhaps it has something to do with my inability to find part of me in it. I’m not sure. Whatever the reason, I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that I am an unwashed heathen.
A few weeks ago, knowing that I needed to try to appreciate Asian art a little, I made my way to the Norton Simon Museum to have a look at the Asian art stuff that is displayed downstairs. So many Buddha’s.So many Hindu gods. They all looked the same. Then about half way through the exhibit something hit me. Many of the images were surrounded by smaller images,lesser deities as well as humans. In some instances, images of the benefactor who paid for the art were included in the presentation. This reminded me of the way Christian art, at least the older stuff, used the same sort of presentation. For instance, the image might show Christ crucified surrounded by saints or contemporary church figures and benefactors. Or the image might be of a saint surrounded by angels ands again the benefactor who commissioned the art. I know there are differences in intention and meaning, but the similarities between the two religious expressions in art were interesting.
I have to admit that after viewing the Asian stuff I headed upstairs to have a look at the portraits. I felt sort of drained after really trying to "get" the Asian art. The old portraits are my favorites. I enjoy imagining their lives, who they loved, who they feared, what their voices sounded like, etc. One portrait in particular that mesmerizes me for reasons unknown is this one of Baron Joseph Vialetes de Mortarieu.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/03/2003 01:49:00 PM
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BODY:
TO INFINITY - AND BEYOND! - Milky Way Days: Returning to the new frontier.
When President Bush delivers a speech recognizing the centenary of heavier-than-air-powered flight December 17, it is expected that he will proffer a bold vision of renewed space flight, with at its center a return to the moon, perhaps even establishment of a permanent presence there. If he does, it will mean that he has decided the United States should once again become a space-faring nation. For more than 30 years America's manned space program has limited itself to low Earth orbit; indeed, everyone under the age of 31 — more than 125 million Americans — was born since an American last set foot on the moon.
I'm not sure what to make of this, but I've always been fascinated by colonization of other planets. I know the moon is not a planet. I'm speaking more of Mars here. Why don't you readers tell me what you think about this?
Linked Via Drudge
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/03/2003 01:26:00 PM
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BODY:
HEY, I'VE GOT A GREAT IDEA! - Let's celebrate the birth of the Christ Child by sending greeting cards advocating a procedure that destroys unborn human life. I think Christmas is great, but maybe Christians should take a year off in protest to distinguish the real Christmas from the vague pagan "holiday season." Maybe we can just reassign the day and let the pagans celebrate Saturnalia on December 25. If you want to give gifts and dress in red sweaters that's fine. However, if you do not believe in Christ you're not celebrating Christmas. You're celebrating "The Season," whatever the heck that means. (Or you have a severe case of cognitive dissonance.) The holiday is Christmas - Christ Mass.
I'm disgusted by these cards. Why bother sending greeting cards for a holiday which you leave unmentioned and which celebrate a procedure that is the antithesis of that aforesaid unmentioned holiday?
Linked Via Relapsed Catholic
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/02/2003 10:13:00 PM
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BODY:
IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID! - Well, in that case, let’s have a look at the economy, shall we?
U.S. Stocks Rise, Lifting S&P 500 to 18-Month High; Merck Gains Factory Growth Fastest in 20 Years US manufacturers hit 20-year record pace
All Linked Via Drudge
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/02/2003 09:27:00 PM
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BODY:
HOWARD DEAN AND THE SOVIET UNION - Fellow bloggers - can we please not let this one die? I want to hear EVERYONE talking about it. Bush would never hear the end of it if he said something like this.
The key, I believe, to Iran, is pressure through the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is supplying much of the equipment that Iran I believe mostly likely is using to set itself along the path of developing nuclear weapons. We need to use that leverage with the Soviet Union, and it may require us buying the equipment the Soviet Union was ultimately going to sell to Iran, to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Right, Howard. It's those damn Soviets!
Hey, maybe Howie thinks that Jimmy Carter did in fact get re-elected back in 1980. That would explain why he thinks the Soviet Union is still in existence. Of course, if Carter had been re-elected he would have reached a "final solution" in the Middle East conflict and Howie Wowie really shouldn't be talking about Middle East, right? Get that? Jimmy Carter used the phrase "final solution" in reference to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I know Carter is not advocating Hitler's "final solution," but do you think Bush would get away with a huge mess up like that? Heck no.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/02/2003 09:21:00 PM
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BODY:
QUOTE OF THE YEAR - Read at Oxblog BEST LINE I'VE EVER HEARD IN A POLITICAL ARGUMENT: "Sit down, Josh. I want to berate you at length." -- A friend after dinner (and after after-dinner drinks) tonight.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/02/2003 01:05:00 PM
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BODY:
HATE IS NOT A FAMILY VALUE - From the party that pretends to be all about peace, love and tolerance comes the Hate Bush rally. Lovely, no? Aaron posted some information about a Luvya Dubya Rally this evening at the location of Hate Bush meeting of Hollywood nincompoops.
The Luvya Dubya Rally will be held this evening, December 2, at 6PM in front of the Beverly Hilton Hotel - 9876 Wilshire Blvd, in Beverly Hills, just west of the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica Blvds. Anyone want to go?
UPDATE: Aaron has been blessed (?) with an Instalanche as a result of the post about the event. Go Aaron!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/01/2003 11:11:00 PM
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BODY:
MY FAMILY - I mentioned my family in a post about Thanksgiving so I thought it would be nice if you could see a picture of my brothers and sisters and I. The picture was taken just before Mother's Day this year. This is just my brothers and sisters. My parents are not in the picture. Notice my oldest brother in the top right hand corner of the picture. The Lakers were playing an important game and he was very angry that he had to be there.
My friend Eric is hosting the picture for me because I am too lazy and cheap to pay for an upgraded blog.
You'll have to guess which one is me. If you know already don't tell.
Here's the picture. Some of our faces are a little tweaked. My fault. Not Eric's.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/01/2003 11:03:00 PM
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BODY:
CALIFORNIA - Regular readers of this blog know that I love California. Even with or perhaps because of all of its idiosyncrasies and problems, I love this place. However, I have noticed something interesting and only today began to understand it. (I was reading Electric Venom and I ended up commenting with a list of great things about the State.)People like to bash California. I know, I know that's no big discovery. Hear me out. People in the United States like to bash California like people in other countries like to bash the United States. I guess you could say that the US is California writ large.
California bashing in America is like America bashing among non-Americans. Both are bashed for similar reasons. Misunderstanding and jealousy are the main reasons.
- California has a distinct spirit. A distinct lifestyle that might seem foreign and unbelievable to many of our countrymen and women. Sound familiar?
- Our fine state in many ways dominates the nation culturally, economically and politically; in much the same way that the US dominates the world.
- No one in the rest of the country can figure out why we voted for the leader we have just like many people in the world don't understand why Americans like George Bush.
- We're all proud of who we are as a state, but a little conflicted perhaps about some of our problems and strange little quirks that set us apart form the rest of the Union. There is a similar feeling among many Americans relative to our place in the world.
These are just a few observations I have made. I'm sure there are more. Maybe you readers can add some insight here.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/01/2003 10:38:00 PM
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BODY:
NEW BEAR FLAGGERS - The League continues to grow, much like our population as well as our budget deficit.
Welcome to
E-Talking Head
And
Jockularocracy
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/01/2003 09:25:00 PM
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BODY:
MY NEW COMPUTER - My new computer is up and running and let me tell you something. It kicks ass. I have never used a computer that moved this fast, at school or at work. Wow!
Update: Even the Accidental Jedi's blog loads quickly. I'll have to check out Resurrection Song to see how that one goes. It usually took me a while to open.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/01/2003 02:23:00 PM
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BODY:
POPE JOHN PAUL II -
You will forgive me, ladies and gentlemen, for evoking this memory, but I would be untrue to the history of this century, I would be dishonest with regard to the great cause of man which we all wish to service, if I should keep silence - I who come from the country on whose living body Auschwitz was at one time constructed.
-Pope John Paul II
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/01/2003 11:03:00 AM
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BODY:
You are Fresh Mint.
You are caring and friendly. You have a nurturing personality and always help out a friend in need. You are fairly outgoing, and always show a friendly face. You truly care for other people, and you show it. However, you may neglect your own responsibilites or become over involved in your friends' personal affairs.
Most Compatible With: Orange
Which Tic-Tac Flavor Are You? brought to you by Quizilla
Linked Via Accidental Jedi
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 12/01/2003 11:02:00 AM
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BODY:
NEW COMPUTER - My new computer was delivered to my work address today. Exciting. However, I have a City Council meeting tonight so the big set up will have to wait.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/30/2003 10:17:00 PM
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BODY:
SAINT YEVGENY? - A very interesting story about a young Russian apparently martyred by individuals who demanded he remove the cross he wore and denounce his faith.
Interesting side note: In the NYT article, an official of the Orthodox Church claims that sainthood by popular acclaim breaks religious law. The historical fact is that this is how saints were proclaimed in the "olden days." Things got a little out of hand and it was decided by the Roman Church to standardize the process. I'm not sure of the process used by the Russian Orthodox.
Linked Via Burton Terrace.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/30/2003 11:43:00 AM
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BODY:
GOD PARENT SHORTAGE - This was yelled by my pregnant sister-in-law on Thanksgiving: "Does anyone want to be a god parent?" It's baby number five for her and we're running out of god parents. I've got three god sons and that is more than enough. I think we better make some more Catholic friends.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/30/2003 10:47:00 AM
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BODY:
THANKSGIVING WITH THE PRESCOTTS - My brother Steve is the man of the house so he led "grace before meals." It was the first Thanksgiving he and his wife, Deanna, have hosted. Bless us O Lord, and these thy gifts..... I was in awe and not really paying much attention to the prayer. I was blown away my my family. I spoke later with mother and she also was distracted during the prayer. She got choked up looking at all of her thirteen children and their spouses and 22 grandchildren.
My family was never and is still not wealthy. I spent the first 12 years of my life in a small three bedroom home with one bathroom to share with 11 brothers and sisters and two parents. We never had much and I know it sounds cliche, but I never realized that we were all that different. This of course changed as I got older and I began to realize that my family didn't take yearly trips to Disneyland or rent vacation houses in Newport Beach.
We moved to Chino when I was 12. It was a big step for us. The house was much bigger (two story!) and the neighborhood much nicer. We thought we had found the promised land. Well, not quite, but the family home in Chino is symbolic of my family finally getting out of the "barrio" in La Puente and moving up in the world. (Don't talk smack about me in Spanish because I can understand most of what you're saying, or at least get the gist of it.) Things suddenly changed in my family after we moved.
It's amazing what a change of scenery can do. My father quit his job when I was 18, and started his own business. The business is doing amazingly well and has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 14 years. - Imagine how much courage it took for a 50 year old man who finished high school after a stint in the Navy at the age of 20, with nine dependent children, to start his own company. We're glad he did. - As I said, the business is doing great. It employs half of my family and provides health insurance and college funds and retirement funds for them as well. This is what was so amazing to me. I look at my brothers and sisters and their families and I am impressed by how far we have all come. Materially speaking, they own beautiful homes, drive nice cars, take family vacations, own boats, etc. That is all peripheral though. What struck me most was how we all get along. No one is strung out on drugs. Most everyone goes to church still or is very involved in their parishes. My siblings are generous to a fault. They are always helping people, volunteering, coaching youth sports, etc. They have big hearts. They get this from my parents, no doubt. We always had stragglers at our house - kids that didn't have real families to go home to and latched on to the Prescotts. I guess 13 children were not sufficient for my parents. If my father would give in my mother would be taking in foster children. She's nuts. The babies are still coming. My family loves children and 22 grandchildren is just the beginning. There are 2 on the way. There is real love in my family. Not smoochy-smoochy fakeness. In fact, very un-touchy-feely in my family. Just a genuine affection for each other and a love that causes me pain because I worry for them all them time.
So, what am I trying to say? Well, just that I'm thankful to God for all of his blessings, material and spiritual. I'm thankful to God that I live in this great country. A country like no other. Where a 19 year old girl and a 21 year old boy who dropped out of high school to join the Navy can get married, have a whole mess of children start a business and prosper. A country were we are free to be who we are and not who a centuries old social structure dictates. A country that not only allows, but encourages me and my countrymen and women to stretch the limit. To invest in ourselves and our economy and come up with the most insane ideas and ways of prospering. A country that is full of faithful and good-hearted people. A country were I can become more like the man God wishes in that I am able to manifest all the greatest gifts he has given me and become more fully human and more fully myself as God intended. Do I sound "parochial?" Do I sound "Ameri-centric?" Yeah, probably to some people, but that's the way it is. It's not arrogant to acknowledge how great this country is. In fact, it should humble us that we have been so blessed.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/30/2003 10:38:00 AM
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BODY:
A READING RECOMMENDATION - One of my favortie blogs to read is Redheadeed Ramblings. Sheila has quite a flair with words and she comes across some of the most interesting things. Lots of literary stuff. She talks about the things that most of us wish we knew more about and had a greater appreciation for. Two recent posts highlight this.
Happy Thanksgiving with a great excerpt about America and American food from Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Grey and Brown, which is an excellent little post about a cool foggy Rhodes Island day. She'll take you there. I promise.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/27/2003 11:45:00 AM
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BODY:
HAPPY THANKSGIVING - Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Have a great holiday. Enjoy some rest if you can. Give thanks to God for all of His blessings, big and small. Skip the sales tomorrow morning and sleep in.
Below is the Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation. Enjoy! (I've emphasized one or two sentences.)
Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving Day
October 3, 1863
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
A. Lincoln
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/27/2003 11:43:00 AM
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BODY:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! - Hey everybody! Go say hi to Sheila and wish her a happy birthday. She's a great gal and very bright too, if you ask me. All the best to you Shelia!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/26/2003 07:18:00 PM
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BODY:
SPAM EMAIL SUBJECT LINE OF THE DAY - Turkey Day Message
A spam email advertising porn. Very nice. Not to mention the fact that the whole turkey day thing sorta bugs me.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/26/2003 08:57:00 AM
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BODY:
ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE -
Now thank we all our God, With hearts and hands and voices;
Who wondrous things hath done, In whom this world rejoices.
Who, from our mother's arms, Hath led us on our way,
With countless gifts of love, And still is ours today.
O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep still in grace, and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills, in this world and the next.
All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given;
The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest heaven;
The one eternal God, Whom earth and heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.
--Martin Rinkart (1586-1649) Lutheran minister, Now thank we all our God
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/26/2003 07:27:00 AM
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BODY:
APOLOGIES - I apologize to anyone who has come here looking for something interesting or possessing even the slightest amount of depth. I could say I've been lazy, but I think I'll instead use the "holidays" excuse, which is sort of true really. You try to be Martha Stewart for a day and then tell me how much time you have for blogging!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/25/2003 09:22:00 PM
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BODY:
SAY WHAT? - Loz linked to this this morning and it cracked me up. Imagine suddenly having to speak with an English accent. **shudder** Just kidding of course. I love England.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/24/2003 10:25:00 PM
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BODY:
GREAT TIMING FELLAS! - In a move likely to alienate even more customers, the Teamsters have decided that they will no longer deliver groceries to stores involved in the strike.
Note to Teamsters: It's two days before Thanksgiving you jerks.
In a service economy the nature of unions and the nature of strikes have to change. People need food. They have to come up with a better way to settle their disputes with their employers. Besides, businesses exist to make money, not to employ people or pay their health benefits. Those are just nioce side effects. Got it? (Thanks to Mrs. Prescott, my mother, for reiterating that to me last night during dinner at Wabi Sabi. Shh, don't tell Aaron that we went to Wabi Sabi.)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/24/2003 10:13:00 PM
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BODY:
AH, SUGAH - This evening, I went to to Vons to do some grocery shopping. (Yes, crossing that darn picket line.) I had to get stuff for the holiday and I wasn't about to stand in line for an hour at Ralphs surrounded by Pasadena's best and brightest. Besides, who the hell does the union think it is? They can't tell me where to shop! "Ralphs is ok. See how nice we're being? We don't want to inconvenience you." You're too late! I've been inconvenienced! Anway, what was I gong to say? Oh! This evening I picked up a five pound bag of sugar and the little sucker slid right through my hands and on to the floor. The bag tore open and suger spread everywhere. What a mess. I looked up at the replacement worker who was stocking the shelves like a five year old boy who had just broken his mother's favorite vase and he smiled and said, "Don't worry about it sir. I'll clean that up. Just grab another one." Nice guy. I wonder if he was on his best behavior because he thinks that the grocery chains are going to crush the union and he will have a permanent job?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/24/2003 12:17:00 PM
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BODY:
AMBER ALERT - SAN DIEGO -- Police issued an AMBER Alert Monday morning after a 4-year-old boy
was abducted from National City.
Daniel Peralta was kidnapped from the 1700 block of E. 8th Street at about 9
a.m., according to a statewide alert issued by the California Highway Patrol.
The boy is described as a Filipino, 3 feet 6 inches tall, weighing about 30
pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray
sweatshirt with a blue shirt underneath and blue pants with a yellow stripe. The
boy has a scar on his forehead.
The abductor was believed to be driving a Nissan Quest minivan with California
license plate 3EGF038. The van had tinted windows and a bumper sticker that read
"I (heart) Latin Mass."
Anyone with information on the van or the child should call the National City
Police Department at (619) 336-4411.
Let's hope that traditionalist abductors don't become a problem.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/22/2003 06:59:00 PM
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BODY:
DOO DAH, DOO DAH -
Hey you! You live in SoCal? Don't foget the Doo Dah Parade tomorrow November 23 at 11:30 AM in Old Pasadena! The Doo Dah Parade spoofs the Tournament of Roses Parade.
Here are some photos of previous Doo Dah Parades.
Lady in Orange Coat Lady in a Carriage Human BurritoScarey!One of my favorites
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/22/2003 03:57:00 PM
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BODY:
CALIFORNIA IN 1850 -
Do you know what happened this week back in 1850?
California became a state.
The state had no electricity.
The state had no money.
Almost everyone spoke Spanish.
There were gun fights in the streets.
So basically, it was just like California today only the women had real breasts.
Harharhar...
UPDATE: I did not come up with this myself. I am not sure who wrote this. It came to me in one of those usually irritating forwarded emails.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/22/2003 10:08:00 AM
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BODY:
MY MUSIC - Has anyone seen my Style Council CD? Don't you hate it when you realize you've lost a CD and you want to listen to it RIGHT NOW?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/22/2003 09:56:00 AM
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BODY:
COP KILLER - I hope the they find the little bastard that did this very soon. What kind of person can kill an innocent person, especially a police officer? This shows such irreverence for life, authority and law. Things like this make me worry because this incident might be isolated, but I know from having grown up in certain places in Southern California that the mentality that inspired the murder of this officer is not isolated.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/21/2003 05:09:00 PM
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BODY:
HOW LONG YAHWEH? - Dear God. ABC 7 is on Michael Jackson Watch. They interviewed an old gal in Vegas saying it was great because she loved all the hoopla. My 91 year old grandmother just said, "Oh for crying out loud, you old bag."
Some dumb ass shop owner from Santa Barbara just said that she liked when Jackson was up to his "shenanigans" because it brought attention to the city and that was good for business. Yeah, it's too bad some poor child dying of cancer had to be molested, but it sure is good for business. I'm so tired of this already. Please God, let Jackson either confess or do himself in and let's just get this over with.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/21/2003 03:41:00 PM
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BODY:
CHILD ABUSE, AMERICAN STYLE - I think that child beauty pageants should be illegal. If I were a legislator I would sponsor a bill. Anyone else?
American Child Abuse Plucked Eye Brows and mascaraDisgustingWhat would you say to this mother?More Here, Here (Scroll down)
And Here
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/21/2003 08:27:00 AM
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BODY:
NEWS FROM THE MOTHER COUNTRY - Pub lunch ending Bush's UK visit
Mr. Bush and wife Laura had a meal of leek and potato soup followed by fish and chips with mushy peas at the town's Dun Cow Inn.
Thank God for immigrants and their food. We’d be eating “mushy peas” for lunch, otherwise.
Mr. Blair shows off his Trimdon home
I sure would like to see more of this home. From the tight shot the BBC provides it looks as though Blair lives in a rough and tumble row house in Liverpool.
"We have made a mockery of this visit and it deserves to be made a mockery of because they wanted to make a mockery of us.
Hate to tell you this pal, but you make a mockery of legitimate dissent. You loathe Bush and you are blinded by this irrational hatred. You would rather see a murderous tyrant in power in Iraq. Shame on you and your friends.
"They wanted to use this visit to launch President Bush's election campaign."
Again, I hate to be the one to have to inform you, but the media here hardly covered the jaunt across the pond. What makes this guy think that a three day visit to the UK would mark the beginning of a presidential campaign? Does he think that GW is running as the Tory candidate to represent Berwick-upon-Tweed? Doesn't he think that maybe a nationally televised state of the union address might be a better opportunity or maybe even his party’s convention next summer?
All in all, it was a good trip for Georgie. I envy him, actually. I liked London very much when I visited in 2001. Well, I guess now it’s back to Washington and the business of poisoning the drinking water, killing babies, depriving old people of health care, kicking dogs, littering and all the other evil stuff I’m certain that this eeeevil fellow does.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/20/2003 08:31:00 PM
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BODY:
KITCHEN FURNITURE - By Saturday morning I will be drinking my coffee in the kitchen at my newly refinished table and chairs. Here's the dealie-oh. My friend Kate gave me a table when she moved back to New Hampshire recently. It's one of those pine, butcher block looking tables. She had already stripped all the laquer off of it so a couple of days ago I stained it a dark maple and now the second coat of polyurethane is drying. The legs are white and tomorrow they will be painted a nice shade of "Canyon Black" with a satin finish. It's gonna look way boss. Then, I'm going to paint two of these chairs black and stain the seat with the dark maple stain. What do you think? Do you think I should stain the chair and paint the seat black instead? This is pressing stuff, man! I need your input!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/20/2003 07:37:00 PM
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BODY:
A LITTLE HUMOR - This is a bit of Internet humor from some of our friends in the Great White North.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/20/2003 03:20:00 PM
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BODY:
HELP! –I’ve lost all sense of reality. Won’t you please help me? Please?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/20/2003 02:24:00 PM
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A POLITE REQUEST – I beg you not to wish me a “happy turkey day” next week. It bothers me very much, almost as much as people saying Christmas is all about children or some vague "seasonal spirit." Look, the day is THANKSGIVING. It is a day on which we pause to give thanks to God for the blessings of the past year. You could eat a bowl of Campbell’s Cream of Celery Soup and it would still be “Happy Thanksgiving,” not “Happy Campbell’s Cream of Celery Soup Day!”
As far as Christmas being all about children or it being a holiday for children. I say, no! It is not a holiday about children. It is holiday (holy day) about a child. One child in particular. Got it?
Now, back to work. I've got letters write and phone calls to make. Whoop! Whoop!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/19/2003 10:18:00 PM
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FIGURING OUT WHO ALL OF YOU ARE - I’m fascinated by the idea that there are people I have never met or linked to or emailed that read my blog. Please feel free to leave comments or email and introduce yourself.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/19/2003 10:09:00 PM
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JIHADISTS - I'm not one of those people who believes that Israel is perfect and immune from any criticism. However, I am no fool. I know who the terrorists are. I happened upon this site that displays pro Palestinian posters. Notice in the images that not one of them portrays the truth of Palestinains terrorists bombers with explosives strapped to their chests, detonating them on buses and in restaurants. That's terrorism and anyone who can't see that is blinded by prejudice. Notice also that all of the images but one portray a David and Goliath image. The stones being thrown, the sling shot. This is propaganda and its worst. Completely ignores reality.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/19/2003 10:05:00 PM
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BODY:
PETA HATES HUMANS - So no one is allowed to make comments anymore without being reprimanded and humiliated by the despotic assholes on the far left? Give me a break. Who do these people think they are? Apparently it’s ok to hate your fellow human beings, to absolutely loathe them because you think they are so unenlightened and intellectually inferior to you. However, if you express dislike for animals, freaking house cats, you are anathema. You are not fit to make a living, vote or have your existence until you come around and embrace the religion of the left. A religion overflowing with golden calves. You must repent and offer an oblation to the gods of the far left. You must promise to never utter the profanities of truth, but only speak the new “truth” as dictated by the priesthood of the spoiled, urban, disillusioned fringe. I hate cats too, but that’s mostly because I’m allergic to them. Hey PETA! I hate cats. I eat meat. I wear leather. I eat chickens raised in cages. Get over it!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/19/2003 03:54:00 PM
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QUESTION – When Michael finally gets punished for diddling little boys (Oh, sorry, IF Michael Jackson is convicted of sexually molesting children), will he be allowed to wear his fake nose in prison. He might want to consider not wearing it. It might be the only thing about him that is freaky enough that even the prisoners would avoid him.
Look, I know he probably doesn’t have a fake nose, but I just can’t help but make fun of child molesters. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Child molesters should face public humiliation (sort of like the old puritan stockades) followed by public execution. Harsh. Yep. Warranted? You bet. Look, it’s not as though I hope molesters go to Hell. I just think they need to be relieved of their breathing faculties. Whatever happens to them after that is entirely up to them. After they have dealt with Jackson they should go after whichever pervert or madman it was that messed him up and give him the same as Jackson gets.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/19/2003 03:52:00 PM
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BUSH IN LONDON - It’s the charge of the Dolt Brigade! Can someone explain what this dumb ass is trying to say? I know he thinks he’s being clever. Bush is a Hindu? Or is that blood from a bullet hole. Oh, right these are the people who are for peace? Wait. What? Oh, he’s a Muslim cleric with a bullet between his eyes? Talk about confused. This dingbat pro fascism demonstrator can’t figure out which way is up. If Bush is a Muslim cleric then these dimwits should loooove him, especially if he’s a Muslim cleric who supports terrorism. Come on. I appreciate clever. I appreciate real political satire and argument. This stuff is just so pathetic. It’s irrational.
By the way, someone needs to tell gramps that the “transition lenses” are so 1980’s.
Relax George. You’re surrounded by soldiers. The loonies protesting in the street can’t get to you. Judging from the image that the white haired fella is carrying they’d like to get heir hands on you, these peaceful people that support murderous tyrants. (Gawd, what short-sighted nincompoops.)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/19/2003 01:58:00 PM
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BEAR FLAG REVIEW - From up and down the great State of California the Accidental Jedi has gathered a new Bear Flag Review. If you haven't taken the time to read some of these great blogs now would be a good time. Hop to it!
Now, back to work!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/19/2003 07:19:00 AM
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MODERN STUFF - I was not a fan of modern furniture and architecture until very recently. I like the clean lines and simple unadorned materials used in the architecture and the smooth lines of most of the furniture. I have a growing appreciation for it, but I do not like some things that I think are unnecessary. For instance, I do not undertsand why some architects insist on using horizontal wiondows, asymmetrical window placement and oddly pitched roofs. I doubt I will ever have the opportunity to review and approve a modern home where I work, but if I do I hope the architect realizes that he should see things my way.
What do you think, Val?
I've been fortunate enough to get the hand-me-down editions of Dwell magazine from my cubicle neighbor. Great stuff to look at.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/19/2003 07:12:00 AM
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GIVE A LITTLE WHISTLE - I had never heard of a whistling language until one of my coworkers pointed out this story. I thought is was odd that they were going to such great lengths to preserve it, but what do I know?
When I was a youngster my brother would whistle a series of loud whistles. These were those really loud, high pitched, fingers in the mouth whistles. Inevitably someone a block or two over would respond and repeat what he had whistled. We never figured out who it was. Maybe my brother is part of the whistle language people.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/18/2003 11:07:00 PM
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MARS - An incredible picture at the BBC website (They ain't all bad, ya'll.) I'm in awe. I'm scared. I'm excited. It looks like the southwestern United States. Oh, the possibilities. They could probably use a Starbucks for starters!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/18/2003 11:00:00 PM
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SUCKER FOR CATCHY POP MUSIC - I'm a sucker for pop tunes. I also am a sucker for some of the really great contemporary Christian music that is being produced.
Staci Orrico is a contemporary Christian musician that has hit the mainstream recently. I like her song "More to Life," very much.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/18/2003 10:53:00 PM
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UNEMPLOYMENT RATES BY PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATIONS - Thanks to the Left Coast Conservative for this link.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/16/2003 12:23:00 AM
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THE ROOTS OF DESPOTISM- Friends, I am beside myself with disbelief. This evening I was minding my own business, listening to Talk Radio 790, KABC when I heard perhaps the most shocking thing I have heard in a long time. That's saying a lot considering some of the stuff that's come out of organizations like ANSWER in the last year or so.
One of the Saturday evening hosts is Ira Fistel. He generally gives his listeners the opportunity to guide the direction of the show. He often has guests and talks about history and it can be somewhat entertaining. I came in on the middle of a call and Ira was having a discussion about the economy and taxation with a caller. This is how it went. Some of this is paraphrased. The important and unbelievable parts are as exact as I can make them based on memory.
Caller: No one has ever taxed themselves into prosperity.
Ira: That's exactly what we've done.
Caller: It is my money and it is criminal for the government...(Ira interjects)
Ira:It's not your money! It's our money. You live in a society that allows you to make money.
Caller:It is my God given right to keep my possessions...
Ira:You have no God given rights.
Caller: Oh yeah? Doesn't the Declaration of Independence say that we are endowed by our Creator with the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?
(Brace yourself)
Ira:The Declaration of Independence is wrong. Thomas Jefferson knew it was wrong. He didn't believe it.
I switched stations at this point.
Why is this more shocking than the ideologues from ANSWER calling Bush "Hitler?" Well, name calling from the ANSWER folks is understood by most people to be the drivel and psychotic rambling that it is. To deny the most foundational elements of not only American democracy, but of human liberty in general is mind boggling. Not only that, it is dangerous. We can have an honest discussion about whether or not the Founding Fathers lived up to the words of the founding documents or whether or not they failed to see the contradictions in what they wrote and how they lived. However, to deny that what was written is false begs the obvious question. On what then do we base out liberty? Is our freedom at the mercy of the government? If so, can that government decide that certain liberties are no longer permissible? At what point does the government cease to have the power to deny these rights, or shall we say gifts? If there are no inalienable rights than we are nothing more than savages at the mercy of the hoped for goodness of the state. My only consolation is that Mr. Fistel's hair is very gray. I hope that our educational system fails the students who are being taught to think like Fistel and that his philosophically bankrupt beliefs will die with him.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/15/2003 01:47:00 PM
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MAKE LIFE SWEETER -
- Visit your grandmother.
- Eat by candle light. (Even if you live alone.)
- Splurge on a nice sweater.
- Master at least one recipe.
- Drink wine out of nice glasses.
- Visit a museum.
- Write a real letter to a friend rather than an email.
- Tell corny jokes.
- Take a nap.
- Sing loudly at church, even if you think you have a bad voice.
- Take a walk.
- Remember people's birthdays.
- Tell someone how nice they look.
- Greet your friends with a hug.
- Decorate your home for the holidays.
- Grow plants from seed.
- Ask someone at least three things about themselves when you meet them.
- Send a Mass card when someone dies.
- Introduce yourself to the new neighbor.
- Say, "I love you" before you hang up the phone.
Anything else?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/15/2003 01:18:00 PM
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TOO MUCH - There is so much to read and comtemplate that it is overwhelming. The intelligence and insight of so many people I encounter through blogs is incredible. For instance, Sheila is constantly linking to things that I try to save or print just so I can read them when I have spare moment. (Where does she find these things?) I was reading this particular gem while waiting for my clothes to dry yesterday at the laundromat. My conclusion? Balance, people! It's all about moderation. Don't give yourself up to one radical philosophy. Examine everything while grounded in some basic principles of understanding and reality. Find the truth in everything and discard the rest of it into the ash heap of excess and failed ideas. (Do you ever feel like you miss the point entirely? I mean, someone else will read this article and say, "What the hell are you talking about, Patrick?")
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/15/2003 12:48:00 PM
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DUNS SCOTUS'S OXFORD - Towery city and branchy between towers;
Cuckoo-echoing, bell-swarmed, lark charmed,
rook-racked, river-rounded;
The dapple-eared lily below thee; that country and
town did
Once encounter in, here coped and poised powers;
Thou hast a base and brickish skirt there, sours
That neighbour-nature thy grey beauty is grounded
Best in; graceless growth, thou hast confounded
Rural rural keeping - folks, flocks, and flowers.
Yet ah! this air I gather and I release
He lived on; these weeds and waters, these walls are what
He haunted who of all men most sways my spirits
to peace;
Of realty the rarest-veined unraveller; a not
Rivalled insight, be rival Italy or Greece;
Who fired France for Mary without spot.
Gerard Manley Hopkins
To ponder all the greatness that has gone before us is a wonderful thing. Like Hopkins I have been in a place that causes me to imagine the bold and incredible men and women that have walked the same roads and corridors as I. When I lived in Rome I walked through St. Peter's square almost daily. I visited the interior of the basilica at least weekly for confession or just to wander around and take in the beauty. It always floored me to imagine that many men like me had done the same thing for hundreds of years. They walked through the same doors and upon the same stones as I. They too stood upon the place where the Holy Roman Emperor was crowned - and I imagined the drama that unfolded there. I heard echos of music that has been sung for a thousand years. It was all quite overwhelming. All of this was maginfied when I visited the Norton Simon Museum recently and I came upon a painting of the interior of St. Peter's Basilica. The painting was about three hundred years old, but the basilica looked the same as I remembered it when I was there, down to the holy water font, which you can see on the right hand side at the first columns just behind the cluster of people in the foreground. Incredible.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/14/2003 01:59:00 PM
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WHAT A JACKASS -Does this qualify as treason or at the very least sedition?
Thanks to Xrlq for the link.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/13/2003 11:38:00 PM
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SPEAKING OF MAKEOVERS - Does anyone else watch this show? I can't get enough. It trips me out. Say all you want about internal beauty, which is great and the most important, but tell me this is not impressive. Tell me that this doesn't make you happy for these people.
KennaLizPeter Check out the chompers in the before pictures. I'm hoping he doesnt wear the makeup after the show. It creeped out my coworker Eric a little.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/13/2003 11:32:00 PM
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ONLY 5,000? - So what are we waiting for? Let's get in there, kick some serious ass and get this crap over with so I can get on with my life and have nothing to worry about except the next Queer Eye For the Straight Guy makeover and the several totalitarian governments poised to develop nuclear weapons capable of reaching the continental United States.
UPDATE: There was an error with the link that should be fixed now.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/13/2003 11:24:00 PM
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100,000 DEAD - What are we to make of this? I'm not sure. On one hand it could be a big Islamofacist blowhard trying to scare us. On the other hand, he could be serious. How are we to know? I guess we can only be "vigilant" as they've been saying for the last two years. (Two years? really?)
Threats like this bring two things to mind.
1. We just don't know when something might happen. I happen to think the chances of another major attack in the US are slim. Maybe I'm just being irrationally optimistic, but it hasn't happened in two years so we must be doing something right.
2. The people who mock us and say that we are being paranoid and using the War on Terror as an excuse to crush individual liberty and freedom of expression are really stupid. (I have yet to see this.) They have spent most of their adult lives denying that some things are in fact black and white. They deny that there is this thing called evil and that some people embrace it. They deny reality, if you ask me. This is very arrogant and the very attitude that will only result in more attacks.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/13/2003 11:12:00 PM
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BLINKER TROUBLE - I mentioned in another post that my turn signals were not working. The lights would go on, but they would not blink. I tried replacing a fuse, but that didn't work. Val and Deb gave me suggestions, but I wasn't able to make the lights blink. I decided to try the hazards to see if they were also not working. Sure enough, the lights went on, but they would not blink. I pulled out the fuse for the hazards, scraped the metal prongs a little with my finger nail, put it back in and lo and behold, the turn signals work again! I don't know why it worked, but it did. I'm sure you'll all rest easy now, knowing that my turn signals are once again operable.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/13/2003 03:40:00 PM
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WHAT THE...? - Storms' Combination Punch Staggers Parts of Southland:'Extremely Rare' 5-Inch Deluge Floods Streets, Cuts Power The best pictures in the picture gallery are numbers 9 and 10. Looks straight out of the the Midwest. The picture of the boys in shorts playing in six inches of hail is pretty good too.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/13/2003 01:49:00 PM
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CRAZY AMERICANS - Dean offers up this very insightful explanation of something unique about Americans. I had never thougth of this, but it seems true enough.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/13/2003 01:48:00 PM
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BEAR FLAG UPDATE- Ok, the Blogroll has been updated. If you are a member of the Bear Flag League and I have neglected to include you in the list please let me know. Also, if you prefer that your blog be listed by a name other than what is listed please let me know. Wow! I've got a lot of blog reading to do!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/13/2003 11:06:00 AM
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THIS IS BEAUTIFUL - As much as Sullivan irks at me at times, I love it when he comes up with this sort of stuff. Like the Instapundit said, don’t these people know about Nexis? Man, I love the Internet. Ain’t nobody getting’ away with jack now. I think we should get as many people to post this as possible then send in email to everyone and then do the same when another item like this pops up. What do you think?
BAIT AND SWITCH:
"President Bush sketched an expansive vision last night [at his American Enterprise Institute speech] of what he expects to accomplish by a war in Iraq. Instead of focusing on eliminating weapons of mass destruction, or reducing the threat of terror to the United States, Mr. Bush talked about establishing a 'free and peaceful Iraq' that would serve as a 'dramatic and inspiring example' to the entire Arab and Muslim world, provide a stabilizing influence in the Middle East and even help end the Arab-Israeli conflict. The idea of turning Iraq into a model democracy in the Arab world is one some members of the administration have been discussing for a long time." -- New York Times editorial, February 27, 2003.
"The White House recently began shifting its case for the Iraq war from the embarrassing unconventional weapons issue to the lofty vision of creating an exemplary democracy in Iraq." -- New York Times editorial, today. (November 13, 2003)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/12/2003 11:33:00 PM
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BEAR FLAG LEAGUE - Big news! I am now officially a member of the Bear Flag League! The League is a group of California bloggers. Some nice person recommended me and she has my thanks.
You'll notice the change on my blogroll including the addition of the image of the state flag of California. Ain't she a beaut? I'm working on adding the rest of the Bear Flag League bloggers and I will likely finish it tomorrow evening after work. In the mean time, you can go to the Bear Flag League page and link to all the members.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/12/2003 06:16:00 PM
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80'S MUSIC - If you are a fan of music from the 1980s' then you are certain to like this site. Club977.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/12/2003 01:16:00 PM
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STUPID AMERICANS - Apparently there are some "celebrities" who think Americans are stupid. Whatever. Does anyone know where I can find the educational levels, academic achievements and IQs of Hollywood types? I could really have some fun with that information. Some of the celebrities mentioned in the MSNBC article leave me wondering how we determine who is a celebrity.
Martin Sheen? The last thing of his I watched was on Insight television in elementary school. He played an alcoholic. I think I've watched about 2 whole minutes of the Left, er, I mean West Wing. The man is so unimpressive.
Edward Norton? Wouldn't recognize him if I saw him.
Sandra Bernhard? Haven't seen her since Roseanne was on the air.
Johnny Depp? The only Depp feature I have seen in its entirety is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. (Oh! And 21 Jump Street.)
Michael Moore? Never read one of his books or seen one of his "documentaries." (I use the term documentary VERY loosely.) The sight of him annoys me.
Cher? Do you believe in life after love? Do you believe in life after voice synthesized music production?
Rob Reiner? Didn't he have something to do with that ridiculous cigarette tax? I caught his glorious acting abilities on an episode of All in the Family on "Nick at Nite" recently.
Ted Turner? Ah yes, the same man who said to some of his Catholic employees on Ash Wednesday, "shouldn't you be working at FoxNews?" (They had ashes on their foreheads.)
Jane Fonda? Traitorous collaborator during Vietnam? Oh THAT Jane Fonda!
What I'm saying is that if I wanted to boycott any of these people it would be VERY easy.
Thanks to Val at Babalublog for the link.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/12/2003 10:38:00 AM
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YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED - borderline
Which Personality Disorder Do You Have? brought to you by Quizilla
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/12/2003 10:01:00 AM
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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY - On this day, in 1960, my parents were wed in a ceremony at St. Dominic Savio Catholic Church in Bellflower, California. Forty-three years, thirteen children and twenty-two grandchildren later they are still married. Quite impressive, no? If you knew my father you'd be even more impressed. :-)
Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/11/2003 11:02:00 PM
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BEAR FLAG LEAGUE- I love being a Californian! Thirty-five million strooooong! And growing!
By the by, how many states' flags say Republic?
Thanks to the Accidental Jedi for the link to the links.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/11/2003 07:17:00 PM
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MORE ABOUT LARRY FLYNT AND JESSICA LYNCH - Sheila agrees with Cold Fury. Larry Flynt is a scumbag.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/11/2003 07:02:00 PM
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PASADENA, CA - There are some really weird and rude people in Pasadena. Snooty for no good reason. Insecure and rude to cashiers. Dismissive of people they deem less than them. Many people also have very trite bumper stickers that drive me absolutely insane. The "War is Not the Answer" sticker is one that irks me. They think that they've made some big statement. It's like those bumper sticker theologians. "Goddess Bless You," "Jesus Saves," and the all time most irritating, "In Case of Rapture,This Car Will Be Unmanned."
There was one bumper sticker that angered me so much when I saw it on a car in a parking lot (That's a "cah pahk" for my British readers, and a "pahking feild" for my lost in time readers from Boston) that I wrote a note castigating the driver on a napkin and stuck it under the windshield wiper. The sticker said, "Join the Army. Travel the world. Meet interesting and unique people. And kill them." What sort of historically illiterate, self-satisfied, spoiled, middle-class, comfy, and ungrateful, psuedo-intellectual f*** would put such a thing on a bumper sticker? How uninformed was this person about all the good that our military men and women have done? Man, I wish I could have spoken with the driver in person. Of course, I'd probably be blogging from the prison library right now if I had.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/11/2003 06:55:00 PM
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BODY:
CAR QUESTION - I need the advice of someone who knows a little about cars. This is not an engine problem. I have a problem with my turn indicators. The light goes on, but it doesn't blink. On Monday the lights blinked rapidly then suddenly stopped blinking altogether. I have tried to replace fuses, but that didn't have any effect. I drive a 2002 Chevy, Malibu. Other than recommending another car, can anyone help me?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/11/2003 06:44:00 PM
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VETERAN'S DAY - I am a pathetic excuse for a patriot. I have failed to post a single word about remembering our veterans. I have luxuriated in this day off, sanding and painting some stuff and making a trip to OSH,Crown City Hardware,Blockbuster and Trader Joe's.
I failed to visit a cemetery or say a prayer for veterans, living and dead. I'm sorry. Let me take this moment to say thank you to all our veterans. To those living, may you be blessed with every spiritual and material blessing you desire. For those who have died, both in conflict and after, thank you and God bless. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.
Today is the 85th anniversary of the end of WWI. It seems like a long time ago, for sure.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/10/2003 08:39:00 PM
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BODY:
JESSICA LYNCH - In a previous post I stated that I did not care about the whole Jessica Lynch story. However, due to this report on Drudge Report I have to ask a question.
Exactly how many women have posed for nude photographs? This is just odd. To the best of knowledge I do not know a single woman that has posed nude for photographs. What are the chances that some random girl from West Virginia posed nude for photos THEN ended up being the subject of a dramatic rescue in the Iraq war? Does this test anyone else's ability to accept that this is a mere coincidence? This is too perfect, if you ask me. Therefore I believe one of the following three things is true.
1. God has a really sick sense of humor.
2. Jessica Lynch was so desperate to get out of her podunk West Virginia town that not only did she join the Army, she also posed nude for a photographer.
3. These photos were taken recently, following the events in Iraq.
By the way, I'm sure the photos were "very tastefully done."
UPDATE: It seems that Lynch did not "pose." Rather these were candid photos of her before she shipped out to Iraq. Still, what are the chances? This also should be a lesson to people everywhere. If you're going to "frolick nude" be sure that there are no cameras around.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/10/2003 03:46:00 PM
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BODY:
CARNIVAL OF THE CAPITALISTS - The Accidental Jedi has posted the Carnival of the Capitalists. The Carnival homepage is here.
The Carnival of the Capitalists is, "Posts on business, management, marketing, accounting, finance, economics, sales, capitalism; anything of that nature that logically fits something called 'Carnival of the Capitalists."
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/10/2003 03:06:00 PM
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DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN - The worst Swedish album covers.
Linked via Andrew Sullivan.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/10/2003 02:48:00 PM
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PATHETIC - This is another great example of how the Democratic Party operates. You might insist that the Republicans operate in the same way. I’d be willing to acknowledge that. Show me an example and I'll post it here. No conspiracy theories and it must be from a legitimate source. Indymedia or Moveon.org stuff doesn't count.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/10/2003 02:45:00 PM
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BODY:
MOVE ON - Speaking of moving on. Someone needs to tell Gore that it’s time to move on. Whether or not the Patriot Act is a good idea or flawed is a legitimate debate. Gore, like most Democratic leaders and candidates, doesn’t care about making distinctions, clarifying points, or being honest. He throws out George Orwell references. It makes me sick to listen to him. I watched him for a few minutes on C-Span this weekend. I had to change the channel because he is so annoying. He’s like a melodramatic teenage girl who is trying to make people understand just how devastated she is that her best friend has betrayed her. Total drama. The problem is that Gore is a horrible actor. You can tell he doesn’t believe half the crap he says and I don’t think he ever has. This is my biggest problem with him and his former bosses, the Clintons. They aren’t concerned with truth or principles. They are concerned with maintaining power. They rant in generalities and plant half-truths and distortions in the minds of their followers. They know that if they repeat something often enough, whether it’s true or not, it becomes “true” in the minds of people. At the very least it plants seeds of doubt. It doesn’t seem to me that this is as much of a problem with the Republican Party, but maybe the Republicans are just better actors.
Gore, like all the Democratic candidates for president only complains and criticizes. He doesn’t offer any alternative to what he perceives is a wrong headed approach to national security and foreign policy other than the failed policies of the past. The same foreign policy that got us into the mess we’re in. All he can do is complain. The fact of the matter is that the Democrats have no idea what to do. All they know is that Bush is baaaaad. They offer no real alternative, even if one was necessary. I happen to think it is not.
By the way, if Gore is not running for election, why does he act like it? Fish or cut bait, Al.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/09/2003 10:55:00 PM
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BODY:
WISHLISTS - If there are any wishlists on this site under my email address they are intended for my brothers and sisters who think I'm difficult to buy for. Whatever!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/09/2003 10:24:00 PM
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BODY:
HURRAHING IN HARVEST – Summer ends now; now, barbarous in beauty,
the stooks rise
Around; up above, what wind-walks! What lovely
behaviour
Of silk-sack clouds! Has wilder, wilful-waiver
Meal-drift moulded ever and melted across skies?
I walk, I lift up, I lift up heart, eyes,
Down all that glory in the heavens to glean our
Saviour;
And, eyes, heart, what looks, what lips yet gave you a
Rapturous love’s greeting of realer, or rounder replies?
And the azurous hung hills are his world-wielding
shoulder
Majestic – as a stallion stalwart, very-violet-sweet!-
These things, these things were here and but the
beholder
Wanting; which two when they once meet,
The heart rears wings bold and bolder
And hurls for him, O half hurls earth for him off under
his feet.
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Barbarous in beauty. You know what he's talking about. You see it in nature and in other people. You glance up to the mountains and you catch a glimpse of heaven. You have to gasp or at the very least pause. You may not know that you do it, but the beauty, the barbarous beauty demands it of you. You spot a beautiful man or woman and you pause. Your heart skips a beat. You almost wince from the pain of it. That beautiful pain. That barbarous beauty that assaults you unsuspecting.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/09/2003 10:07:00 PM
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BODY:
NEW FAVORITE SONG - By Black Eyed Peas
Shut up
Just shut up
Shut up [3x]
Shut it up, just shut up
Shut up
Just shut up
Shut up [3x]
Shut it up, just shut up
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/07/2003 09:42:00 PM
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BODY:
SO WHAT? - Stories in the news that I couldn't care less about.
Jessica LynchPrince CharlesKobe Bryant
What story do you think is getting too much coverage? Which news item makes you say, "There has GOT to be something more important happening in the world."
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/07/2003 08:40:00 PM
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BODY:
IT'S JUST A STEP TO THE RI-I-I-I-I-IGHT - This really is amazing stuff.
The numbers you're about to see are the changes in party identification since 9/11 in key swing states for the 2004 election. Although I have often said that I believed 9/11 moved America a couple of steps to the right, even my jaw dropped when I saw this...
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/07/2003 12:30:00 PM
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BODY:
DIARY FRIDAY - Sheila O'Malley, someone I will have a blast with if I ever get to meet her in person (I'm certain of this), has a new diary entry to share. It's a good one. Patty-cake, patty-cake with a big bouncer, Emerald Queens, and some guy named Pat. Very good.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/07/2003 12:08:00 PM
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BODY:
HISTORY, CBS STYLE - Betsy Ross, Crack Whore
Linked via Right Wing News
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/07/2003 11:53:00 AM
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BODY:
MORE GOOD NEWS - Unemployment Rate Falls to 6.0 Percent; Payrolls SoarThe U.S. economy added more than twice the number of jobs expected in October and the jobless rate fell, the government said on Friday in a report offering many signs of broad job market recovery.
Average hourly earnings also rose, rising to $15.46 from $15.45 the prior month.
At its last policy-setting meeting on Oct. 28, the Fed kept its key federal funds target rate at a 45-year low of 1 percent and said it could hold it there for a considerable period.
When does a recovery become an expansion?
Compare US unemployment with countries in Europe.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/07/2003 10:44:00 AM
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BODY:
A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS - The last few posts have been uber-serious in nature so I thought I'd try to lighten up a little, for my sake as much as for everyone else's.
Things I like.
1. Clear mornings in the San Gabriel Valey when you can make out the shape
of the trees on the mountains. Those bright, bright mornings.
2. Sitting in the living room with all the lights off except the lights on the
Christmas tree and talking to my mom or brothers and sisters.
3. Spending half the day in my boxers and a t-shirt, drinking coffee, sitting
around, reading and blogging.
4. Thin, crispy crust pizza, made by my hands, fresh out of the oven.
5. Sitting around the table with friends drinking wine and laughing.
6. Finding a book to read that I can't put down.
7. Walking into grandma and grandpa Itzaina's house on Thanksgiving and
smelling the turkey cooking. (My grandpa died in 1991 and we hadn't had
Thanksgiving there for several years before that. Still, when I walk into my
parents' house and smell the turkey I think of grandma and grandpa's
house.)
8. Going to Mass when the priest does not try to be "Father What-a-guy" and
reverently, rightly celebrates Mass according to the rubrics.
9. Old hymns. The King of Love, Nearer my God to Thee, The Triumph of
These Forty Days, etc.
10. Clean sheets, bills paid, apartment cleaned, well-fed, excercised and tired
and fallng into bed with not a care on my mind.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/06/2003 04:44:00 PM
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BODY:
I JUST DON'T GET IT - I’d really like to see these doctors’ faces. I would like to see the face of someone so void of human decency and conscience that they would go to great lengths to ensure that the barbarous act from which they make their living remains legal. I’d like to see their faces and then see them face to face and then spit in their face. Intolerant? You betcha. I tend to be rather intolerant of evil. (Ok, so maybe I sound a little over the top here, but this is just "one of those things.") Seriously, this just gets my blood boiling. At what point does someone decide that they are OK with this procedure? A late, third trimester pregnancy. The baby is delivered up to his or her neck, feet first. The skull is punctured at the base of the skull on the nape of the neck, then the brains are sucked out. The skull collapses and the dead baby, murdered by a man or woman who pledges to defend life, is taken from the mother’s womb and disposed of like so much waste. A few years ago, some kids were riding their bikes in a grass field in the Chino Hills and they came across a box with aborted babies in it. This is how they were disposed of. Lovely, no? This all just makes my stomach turn. I’d like to know what situations require this procedure. I’d like to know how ANYONE can justify this. It’s not possible. And DON’T EVEN give me the “reproductive freedom” or “deeply personal decision” lines. Those are nice political platitudes that can be used to sway people’s emotions. Give me truth. Give me a defense for this procedure. Let’s avoid abortion in general. Show me some reason to allow this procedure in particular.
Also read what Rosemary at Dean’s World has to say. Here and Here.UPDATE: (This began as a comment, but I thought it was important enough to include here.)
Partial birth abortion is definitely repugnant. I oppose "abortion on demand," but I try to keep in mind those women who have chosen to abort. I know that for many of them it is something that haunts them. I know that many women come to the decision in a way that we would not understand. Often they have come to a point of desperation. In another situation their judgement would be clear, but the events that lead up to the abortion are something we can not comprehend until we talk to a woman. I think if every pro-life person were to try to understand this, the nature of the whole debate would change. The pro-life platitudes are just as irksome to me as the pro-abortion platitudes. I think we need to turn our attention to caring for post abortive women and their needs. (And working to change the culture.) I have never had animosity for women who have had abortions. My beef has always been with the barking politicians who pretend to care about women when they say they are "pro-choice" and with the doctors who profit from abortion.
We really need to focus on changing the culture, as President Bush has said since his first day in office. He's not out to overturn Roe v. Wade. He thinks the change needs to come from within the hearts of individuals.
I don't think even the most fanatical pro-abortion person would say that abortion is a good thing. (Well, maybe I'm being too hopeful here.) If we could at least get that acknowledgement it would be a start.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/06/2003 02:14:00 PM
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BODY:
O'MALLEY ON SMITH - Musician Elliot Smith chose a horrible way to kill himself. There's no good way to kill yourself, but this way, stabbing yourself in the heart, seems particularly gruesome. Sheila has some thoughts on Smith and his life and music.
Smith's songs are like that for me.
There is a profound melancholy suffusing it all. It is hard to put your finger on where that melancholy is. Is it in the tune? Not really ... The lyrics are admittedly bleak - But he sings them in an extroverted way ... not self-absorbed ... However, if you add them up, the songs are a treatise on depression
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/05/2003 09:44:00 PM
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BODY:
RACE, GUNS, GOD AND GAYS - In a speech today in Tallahassee, Florida, candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, Howard Dean made a shocking statement that should not be overlooked or taken lightly. Dr. Dean’s statement is an incredible insight into many aspects of his political and cultural beliefs as well as his inability to really understand the electorate; a problem that seems to be plaguing the entire Democratic party lately.
Dr. Dean said that southerners should quit basing their votes on “race, guns, God and gays.”
Upon reading this I immediately had several thoughts. First, Dr Dean has a very caricatured view of the South. Second, Dr. Dean has a dangerous and unpopular opinion regarding certain constitutional matters. Third, Dr. Dean does not believe a person’s faith should inform his or her life, including the way in which he or she casts a vote.
Howard Dean, northeastern liberal, has a very outdated and misinformed view of the south. Apparently the phrase “The New South” has not entered his lexicon. He assumes that southerners base their votes on race. Let me say first that I think this true in some cases, but the same could be said of urban blacks in the north who vote for a candidate because they are black. I suppose we could assume that Dean was speaking to this tendency as well. However, judging from the other categories upon which southerners are being told not to base their votes, I doubt this is the case.
The Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees Americans the right to keep and bear arms. This is a long cherished and very important part of our cultural and legal heritage. Dean can hardly hold it against someone for basing his or her vote on whether or not a candidate understands and appreciates the entire Constitution. Similarly, the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees Americans freedom of religion. This freedom is sacred and one of the most fundamental of human freedoms. It is due to the faith that has been such a part of this nation that this freedom is cherished so strongly. The faith that causes Americans to understand and cherish this freedom is the same faith that informs the moral and ethical decision making of many citizens.
I am not suggesting that Howard Dean is opposed to freedom of religion. However, I am saying that he has a very limited view of this freedom is he wishes people to limit their belief in God to their minds and never allow it to see the light of day. Faith informs morals and those morals guide daily decision-making including decisions regarding voting. I doubt very seriously that Dr. Dean would prefer that Americans ignore the principles that their faith inspires and vote solely on cynical self-preservation.
The issue of “gays” as Dean refers to gay men and women; (I.e. “The Gays.”) is admittedly a difficult one because on one hand it involves matters of personal liberty and equality under the law. On the other hand it involves very fundamental beliefs about the nature of man and woman and the teachings of most Churches. Nevertheless, Dr. Dean incorrectly assumes that southerners will base their votes on “gays’ one way or the other. His assumption is that “gays” vote for Democrats, which is increasingly not the case. He also assumes that most southerners are so wrapped up in the issue of homosexuality that they will base their votes solely on this issue.
Howard Dean does not understand America. He especially does not understand the south or southerners, a fact that is made evident by his statement today. His perception is that southerners are gun-toting, racist Bible-thumpers determined to quash all rights and freedoms of non-white, non-believing, non-heterosexuals. He'll probably believe this when he loses the presidentail election if the Democrats are foolish enough to nominate him.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/05/2003 01:11:00 PM
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BODY:
NUTRITION INFORMATION - Here! Quit your whining!
McDonaldsBurger KingCarls JrDel TacoKFCTaco Bell Pizza Hut
This is a start. You can figure out the rest.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/05/2003 01:02:00 PM
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SLOTH AND GLUTTONY - The BBC Reports: A bill ordering many chain restaurants to include nutritional information on menus is to be proposed in US Congress. Democraticcongresswoman Rosa DeLauro is sponsoring this bill. She really needs to find something to do with all the extra time she apparently has.
The CSPI said many consumers had no idea that typical dinners such as lasagne, burritos and even foods marketed as "low fat" still contain excessive amounts of fat and salt.
If they really cared, they'd ask. People who play dumb like this are just looking for sympathy for their inability to control what they take into their bodies. (N.B. People with eating disorders or glandular problems are exempt from this comment, but even still, they know that stuff is bad for them and it's not as if this information will stop them from eating this food.
Maybe the people who gorge themselves on this crap food should quit being so lazy and do some digging on their own. Such unnecessary paternalistic government meddling! The nutrition information is available online, on the wall in some restaurants and if you ask they will give you a nutrition information card. Besides, all you need to know is that fast food is fattening. Whoever doesn’t know this is an idiot has been in a cave for the last 20 years. Furthermore, who goes to a fast food restaurant interested in the fat content or calories? When I eat fast food it’s an indulgence and I know that I’m dumping unnecessary amounts of fat and salt into my body. Sometimes, after a night of drinking, a Chicken Spicy Jack Quesadellia from Del Taco is worth the health risk.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/05/2003 10:12:00 AM
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BODY:
WHERE HAVE THEY BEEN? - Latino culture sweeps across US.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/05/2003 10:12:00 AM
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BODY:
FEELING DUMB - Do you ever feel like a complete idiot at work?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/04/2003 04:42:00 PM
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BODY:
LOZ'S WORST NIGHTMARE - Hello readers. I thought you'd like to be made aware of an offer from British Airways.
3 days only - London for USD100* from any British Airways US departure city - Celebrating 100 Years of Flight (one-way based on round-trip purchase).
For only USD100*, you can travel to London from ANY British Airways US departure city from November 11, 2003 through April 4, 2004 (excluding December 18-23, 2003). Great prices are also available for the spring and fall seasons, with fares from New York to London remaining at USD100* and all other US gateways being offered for just USD150**. Summer season fares are just USD250**.
Ok, Loz. I like my tea without cream and sugar. As far as where we'll have dinner, I'll leave that up to you. :-)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/04/2003 12:47:00 PM
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BODY:
THIS IS DISTURBING - When the highest court in the land, the final arbiter of a law's legitimacy in many cases, begins to lose it like this they probably need someone to give them a gentle reminder of who they are and what their purpose is. I'm not an attorney, but it seems to me that by referring in their judgements to laws outside of the United States that the Supreme Court might usurping the role of the Senate to approve treaties. Does that make any sense? Xrlq?The final line from Ms. Schulz's piece:Two hundred thirty years ago, we fought a revolution so that Americans wouldn't be governed from Europe. It's high time the High Court was reminded of that bit of American history.
Linked via Instapundit.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/03/2003 09:29:00 PM
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BODY:
BLOGS TO CHECK OUT - These are some blogs I've been reading lately. They'll be on the blogroll from now on, but let me introduce them to you here.
Secular BlasphemyOxblogThe Irish Lass
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/03/2003 08:28:00 PM
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BODY:
HUMANITARIAN, PEACEMAKER - LOUIS FARRAKHAN - This evening on "MTV News Now" a show I have never seen before, but happened upon while channel surfing after work, the "Minister" Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam was interviewing, nay exorting, Ja Rule to settle his differences with 50 Cent. (Warning: Prepare to have a gun pointed at you at this 50 cent site. Freaking irresponsible mo-fos at Sony.) I was beside myself and had to grip the arm of the sofa to be sure that I was still present in the physical world and had not entered some parallel universe. I guess "Minister" Farrakhan has some free time seeing as all the social ills of America have been resolved, and it's awfully nice of him to take on such an important task as resolving the Ja Rule-50 Cent feud.
From a prayer offered by the good "Minister" at the end of the sequence:
May God bless hip hop.
May God bless 50 Cent and the crew that he rolls with.
I kid you not.
UPDATE: Maybe he said "the crowd that he runs with." Maybe. I've been thinking about it and I am trying to give Farrakhan the benefit of the doubt. Still, it's a bit odd, no?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/03/2003 08:17:00 PM
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IRONY REVISTED - In one of my recent posts I asked what was ironic about a group of Catholic school girls who attend a high school called St. Maria Goretti beating the crap out of a flasher. Val Prieto of Babalublog answered correctly.
The school's namesake, St. Maria Goretti, was killed while trying to save her virginity.
Val is a blogger from Miami. You should stop by and say hello. Maybe he'll offer some Cubanism such as Por si las moscas, which I have every intention of using as soon as Lupe in Administration gets back from vacation.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/02/2003 11:03:00 AM
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BODY:
I WAKE AND FEEL -
I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day.
What hours, O what black hours we have spent
This night! what sights you, heart, saw; ways you went!
And more must, in yet longer light's delay.
With witness I speak this. But where I say
Hours I mean years, mean life. And my lament
Is cries countless, cries like dead letters sent
To dearest him that lives alas! away.
I am gall, I am heartburn. God's most deep decree
Bitter would have me taste: my taste was me;
Bones built in me, flesh filled, blood brimmed teh curse.
Selfyeast of spirit a dull dough sours. I see
The lost are like this, and their scourge to be
As I am mine, their sweating selves; but worse.
-Gerard Manley Hopkins
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/02/2003 10:39:00 AM
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BODY:
SHEILA'S DIARY FRIDAY - I sadly forgot to mention last week that you should stop by Sheila's place and give her a read. Every Friday there's a post from her old diary. I hope the blog hasn't replaced your hand written diary, Sheila! The historians might not be able to access old blog files.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/01/2003 08:09:00 PM
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BODY:
NOT SO DEEP THOUGHTS - Does anyone else ever imagine what inanimate objects might say if they could talk to you? For instance a shirt might say, "hey, how come I always get the wire hanger?" Your sauce pan might say, "I'd really like something besides rice in me once in a while." The ugly coffee mug: "Why don't you just throw me away if you're never going to use me?"
Anyone?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/01/2003 08:50:00 AM
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BODY:
CAN WE SPEAK HONESTLY HERE?- I originally intended to say a few words about the Church and Islam. I wanted to point out that the Church officially wants to be at peace with Islam and view them as "people of the book" as they would say. It's a nice thing to imagine. Jews, Christians, Moslems all working together as believers in the same God holding hands and serving our fellow man. Nice image (sort of), but the reality is entirely different. If we're all going to “get along” as Rodney King once admonished us, then we need to be honest. If we're honest, then maybe we can make some real progress in our relationship with Islam. Think about it. If you're having problems with your husband or wife does it do your relationship any good in the long run to ignore it and force a smile and pretend that your husband didn't just do something horribly offensive to you? So, I think we need to first understand Islam and its historical relationship with the West and then maybe make some progress in understanding the belief structures of Islam.
This article, linked via Little Green Footballs, is a good introduction to the history of Islam and its relationship with the West.
The Church and Islam. “La Civiltà Cattolica” Breaks the Ceasefire“...we may state in historical terms that in all the places where Islam imposed itself by military force, which has few historical parallels for its rapidity and breadth, Christianity, which had been extraordinarily vigorous and rooted for centuries, practically disappeared or was reduced to tiny islands in an endless Islamic sea. It is not easy to explain how that could have happened. [...]
In reality, the reduction of Christianity to a small minority was not due to violent religious persecution, but to the conditions in which Christians were forced to live in the organization of the Islamic state. [...]”
This is fascinating. While, there surely was and is violent persecution, the organization of the Islamic state, the goal of Islam, is the cause for the decline of Christian communities in these places.
“In Sura 9:29 the Koran affirms that the “people of the Book,” apart from being constrained to pay the two taxes mentioned above, must be placed under certain restrictions, such as dressing in a special way and not being allowed to bear arms or ride on horseback. Furthermore, the dhimmi may not serve in the army, be functionaries of the state, be witnesses in trials between Muslims, take the daughters of Muslims as their wives, be the guardians of underage Muslims, or keep Muslim slaves. They may not inherit from Muslims, nor Muslims from them, but legacies are permitted.”
However, make no mistake, the history of Islam is a history of conquest of “infidel” lands. The Koran calls for it. Read on.
“According to Islamic law, the world is divided into three parts: dar al-harb (the house of war), dar al-islam (the house of Islam), and dar al-‘ahd (the house of accord); that is, the countries with which a treaty was stipulated. [...]”
“Obedience to the precept of the “holy war” explains why the history of Islam is one of unending warfare for the conquest of infidel lands. [...] In particular, all of Islamic history is dominated by the idea of the conquest of the Christian lands of Western Europe and of the Eastern Roman Empire, whose capital was Constantinople. Thus, through many centuries, Islam and Christianity faced each other in terrible battles, which led on one side to the conquest of Constantinople (1453), Bulgaria, and Greece, and on the other, to the defeat of the Ottoman empire in the naval battle of Lepanto (1571).”
Is it hateful or anti-Islam to point out historical fact? I don’t think so. If we point out the violent history of Islam do we thereby deny or ignore the violence that has erupted in the West over the centuries. No. What needs to be pointed out, and I think that the author of this article does this, is that violence is inherent in Islam, whereas, violence is an aberration in Christian lands and the Gospel contains a message that attempts to calm the violent streak in mankind. Despite the fact that evil people have used the Christian Gospel to justify all manner of wicked actions, the fact remains that the Gospel itself is contrary to violence and evil.
What can learn from this history, then? I think what we should take from this is a sobering acknowledgement that we can try all we like, but nothing short of an Islamic "Reformation" of sorts will change this jihad mentality. Islam has never had the chance to mature and refine itself the way Christianity has. Historically speaking and especially in the last century, when liberalizing ideas entered Islamic thoughts they were quashed and inspired a radical Islam in reaction to it.
“These events provoked a harsh reaction in the Islamic world, due to fears that the secularist ideas and “corrupt” customs of the Western world, identified with Christianity, would endanger the purity of Islam and constitute a deadly threat to its very existence. This reaction was fed by strong resentment against the Western powers, which had dared to impose their political rule upon Islam, “the greatest nation ever raised up by Allah among men” (Koran, s. 3:110), and against their customs “despised” by the “nation (umma) that urges to goodness, promotes justice, and restrains iniquity” (ibid, s. 3:104).
Thus was born “radical Islam,” which set itself up as the interpreter of the frustrations of the Muslim masses. Hasan al Banna, Sayyd Qutb, Abd al-Qadir ‘Uda in Egypt with the Muslim Brotherhood; Abu l-A‘li al-Mawdudi in Pakistan, and the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran are its most significant witnesses, and their followers have spread from Dakar to Kuala Lumpur. [...]”
This is the frame of reference with which radical Islam approaches the West. No honest progress can be made with such a mindset. Either we cave in to radical Islam and allow its advance into Europe unchecked and with it its oppression and its slavery or we face it honestly and tear it out at its root. Am I saying we should launch a “crusade” to crush the “Saracens?” I’ve got news for everyone, a holy war has already been launched. It’s called jihad. They are after us. Some might say this sounds irrational or paranoid, but I’d ask those people to show me otherwise. We are the infidel and these extremists will not stop until we either crush them or they conquer us. Someone has got to win and I have no intention of leaving this problem to the next generations.
Harp and cry and pretend to care about the Christians Crusades of old all you want. Use them to beat Christians over the head every time we want to speak out about evil. Fine. We know all about the Crusades and do not dismiss them. However, having failed in one area doesn’t mean that an individual or group or organization can’t change and grow. What? Because of past mistakes we are not able to make moral judgements today? That’s like telling a British person that they can’t condemn colonialism or imperialism.
You’ll never be convinced. You want to keep your head in the sand and ignore a threat that even the Pope warned us about in 1981 (not surprisingly, he was sot shortly thereafter). You can play dumb if you want, but maybe you should try walking the streets in a burka to see if you can handle it. Maybe you can handle slavery. If yes, then maybe you don’t think sharia is such a bad thing. Fine. Why not cut out the time lag and just move to an Islamic state. I’d ask you be sure to visit once in a while, but if you’re a woman you’ll need to bring your husband or father along with you.
There is a war that we didn’t ask for. It has been brought to us. Should we just sit and let it happen? A crusade has been launched against the West. A crusade against liberal democracy. The West has gone through too much bloodshed to come to this point. We can not let a thousand years social evolution be forced back into the ninth century by religious zealots of any stripe. What choice do we have, but to fight? Note: Religious zealots. Does this include all Christians, Jews and Muslims? No. However, I have not seen all the so-called moderates materialize. I’m sure they’re out there. I’m just wondering where they are. When over-the-line types like Pat Robertson make asinine statements there are always Christian leaders who denounce him if he is wrong or is twisting the Gospel. I’m just not seeing the same sort of thing from Muslim leaders.
Show me otherwise. Show me how moderate Islam is embraced by the majority of Muslims. Let me hear the voices of Muslim leaders loudly denouncing the extremists.UPDATE: I have modified some of this post and those minimal changes are in bold.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 11/01/2003 08:44:00 AM
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BODY:
RANDOM – Ants: Does anyone know how to get rid of ants? They keep appearing in my kitchen. They wander aimlessly on the counter. If you know me then you’ll agree that there is likely no food for them anywhere. The kitchen is always near spotless. I really don’t want to have to spray anything, but I will if that is necessary.
Christmas Gifts: I like to shop at Pier 1 once in a while because they have cool little things that are not expensive. For instance, the greatest coffee mugs for $4 each. If you go their web site you can search things by category. They have a gift section and then you can select a price range and the site give you a list of suggestions with pictures. Do you do gift exchanges at work? With family? Those usually have a cost limit. The limit with my family is $40, which is a steal when you compare that to the other option which is to buy a gift for each of my twelve siblings, my brother-in-law, and my seven sisters-in-law.
Weather: It rained last night and the forecast is for more rain today, but I’m not sure it will come. I woke this morning to bright sunshine. This is the best weather. Cool and sunny. Everything got a light bath last night too so a lot of the ash has been washed from the plants. My apartment is on the south west corner of the building, which is bad news in Summer. However, right now it’s great because the sun is warming things up. It’s so odd that last Saturday the weather was hot and dry and the fires were raging.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/31/2003 10:13:00 PM
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BODY:
ISN'T IT IRONIC? - Catholic School Girls Nab Flashing SuspectThe students from St. Maria Goretti's High School for Girls in South Philadelphia said the man had been flashing students since the middle of September. He typically hid behind a van, waited for students and then jumped out and exposed himself, police said.
But on Thursday, store owners in the area saw the man flashing girls and started yelling at him. The students then chased him down the street and subdued him with the help of a passer-by, authorities said.
First of all, this is classic! Nothin' like bad-ass Catholic girls takin' care of business. YaknowhudImean?
Secondly, you might be wondering why the title of this post is "ISN'T IT IRONIC?" Well, I'm going to leave that up to ya'll to figure it out. If I have to give clues I will, but if someone can tell me the irony in this news item without the hints you will prove yourself very knowledgeable and I will dedicate an entire post to you so my readers will visit your site, thereby increasing your site traffic by eight hits.
HINT: Think patron saints.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/30/2003 05:15:00 PM
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BODY:
MY FORTUNE - Zombyboy shared his fortune the other day. I complained in his comments that I always get really lame fortunes. Well, today I got one that I thought I’d share with all of you.
Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together as they do in you.
Gotta love that!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/30/2003 08:41:00 AM
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BODY:
A-HEM! - Economy Grows at Fastest Pace Since 1984.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/29/2003 12:11:00 PM
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BODY:
WATCHER OF WEASELS - I have to say I am only vaguely aware of what the Watchers Council is. Apparently someone nominated me for this weeks’ best post list. I’m flattered. I’m listed under Non-Council Links list. I’m going to have to take some time to check out all of the blogs listed. So many that I have never heard of.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/29/2003 10:41:00 AM
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DIDO – I’ve decided I like Dido. That “White Flag” song is great. I’m wondering if anyone else like Dido. I’m wondering if she is way uncool and I’m just not aware of it. It wouldn’t change my opinion of her. I’m just wondering. I guess I need to know just how uncool I am.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/28/2003 05:15:00 PM
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WAR ZONE - I think people use the “it looks like a war zone” description too much. However, in the case of the neighborhoods destroyed by these fires I would have to agree with this description. Look at this picture. It could be from any war zone. Bosnia? Iraq? The poor little fella probably has no idea what to make of all this. I’m not sure why his parents are OK with him walking through the ruin. This was the front page photo in the LA Times.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/28/2003 04:37:00 PM
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MILESTONE? - I was going to mention that my modest little blog finally surpassed the 2,000 hits mark this week and then Andrew Sullivan had to go and post this. The big show off!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/28/2003 01:50:00 PM
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WHAT A MAROON - Dude, where's your brain?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/28/2003 11:23:00 AM
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SCARED MUCH? - This is proof positive that the recall election was not about a "vast right-wing conspiracy." It was about a large part of the California population that was fed up with the government of our state. This sudden turn around on the driver's licenses for illegal immigrants issue highlights the fact that the recall worked on more than one level. Not only did it remove an ineffective and corrupt governor, it sent a very clear message to the legislators that they were next. I'm anxious to see how they back their sorry selves out of this one.
"The people have to understand that the Democrats do listen. They listen to the constituency, and if there's some way we can fix something to make it better, we do so," Assemblywoman Gloria Negrete-McLeod, D-Montclair, said Monday. Negrete-McLeod supported the bill because she wanted to reduce the number of illegal immigrants who drive without automobile insurance and without first learning the rules of the road. But in retrospect, she understands that security can not be taken for granted in a post-Sept. 11 world, and hopes to find a way to reconcile the two issues.
Negrete-McLeod is trying to make us think that she and her party comrades are being responsive. Yeah, they're responding alright. Responding to a threat to their cushy jobs. They knew that we opposed this law from the get go. The polls were not ambiguous. In fact they passed this law in the midst of the recall campaign and Davis signed it prior to the election. They did this even though they knew that that was one of the reasons we despised Davis so intently. These legislators are like terrorists. You can talk nice to them all you want, but they can only be dealt with by force.
"I guess I do in a way understand the fear of some people, she said. "They are fearful of a lot things they wouldn't have been before."
Right. It's all about fear. We're just scared widdle kids who need Momma Sacramento to watch out for us. Ms. McLeod, you just don't get it! We're not fearful. We're reasonable. Fear we can handle. It's the stupidity and the blessing of illegal immigration that you and your party want that is the real problem.
They've gotten the point of the recall. At least on this particular issue. Now, if the voters of this great state can just get over this cognitive dissonance which causes them to fail to see the connection between bad laws and the idiots they keeping re-electing, we'll be in great shape.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/27/2003 05:31:00 PM
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JUSTICE - Yes, I think this would be an appropriate punishment for someone who was the cause of human and animal death, the destruction of homes, and other personal property, multi-million dollar fire fighting costs, etc. Unless of course he or she was repentant, then they should just go to jail for a very long time. Riiiiight.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/27/2003 02:55:00 PM
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BONNIE TYLER - The music they play on the phones here is set to KBIG 104. The volume on my phone goes up and down depending on how irritating the music is. Right now they're playing "Turn Around" by Bonnie Tyler. Gotta love that song! Beautiful in its near cheesyness and power to inspire feelings of nostalgia.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/27/2003 12:49:00 PM
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FIRE NEWS - This is some local coverage of the fires provided by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. There are some intersting photo galleries that are worth a look.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/25/2003 08:46:00 PM
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FIRE UPDATE - Over 100 homes gone and over a thousand threatened. Over 1000 fire fighters involved.
There is a danger than looms after the fires are extinguished. Winter rain. If there is heavy rain, the barren hills and mountains will become mud and run off into the canyons and deluge the neighborhoods in the foothills that have not been destroyed.
Weather Forecast for tonight and Sunday: Red Flag Alert for Los Angeles City, County
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/25/2003 06:38:00 PM
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FIRE - These fires seem to be getting worse. The fire in San Bernardino is in a dangerous spot. If the winds die down too much the fire could head up into the forest. The San Bernardino National Forest is a tinderbox. Not only is it suffering from a lack of rain, but the forest is infested with bark beetles. The mountains that still have the trees are brown. The slopes that have been cleared of dead trees are bare. According to a co-worker who has a home up there it is not even the same place it used to be. They had to remove several trees on their own property. If the west blowing Santa Ana winds pick up the fire will be pushed down into an area of thousands of homes.
Meanwhile, the Grand Prix fire near the cities of Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana is still burning.
Now there's a new fire in Simi Valley.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/24/2003 03:54:00 PM
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SEPARATED AT BIRTH? - Kelley of Suburban Blight and Virginia Madsen.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/24/2003 12:48:00 PM
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RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! - This is what hapens when you build in the foothills along the edge of Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests. Fire is part of the ecology here. Certain seeds will not germinate unless they have been scorched. Native trees have extremely thick bark to protect them from brush fires.
The light outside looks like it does when there is an eclipse. The the sun is reflectiing orange on the white stucco walls and the sunlight is very muted. I looked out my kitchen window to see the smmoke over the valley and I saw ash drop in front of my window.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/24/2003 12:30:00 PM
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REAGAN - In an attempt to manipulate public perception of Ronald Regan, CBS presents a lovely little movie for sweeps. I think they might be thinking the same think I’ve been talking about. Namely, that if Reagan dies during the 2004 presidential campaign it will not be the Left who will benefit. They know that it is essential to sully the image of Reagan. If Reagan has a bad image, then Bush will not refer to him or his vision or policies.
I know it might seem sort of crass to think of using the death of a beloved president for political gain. However, whether or not it is intentionally political the Republicans will of course make reference to the accomplishments of Reagan. If anyone should benefit it should be the party to which the man belonged. It was after all, morning again in America. Reagan was reelected by a landslide in circumstances that are remarkably similar to the current economic and geo-political climate, as I’ve previously noted.
Remember when Reagan was called a cowboy? Remember when his strong rhetoric was going to bring on WW III? Remember how his tax cuts were going to bankrupt the nation and do nothing for the economy? Remember how he took a hard line against terrorists? Remember? Well, just as then, it’s morning again in America.
Learn the truth about Reagan, his policies and his vision for America. You might be surprised how much you agree with. You might also be surprised by how much the truth about Reagan has been twisted.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/24/2003 12:04:00 PM
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AH, SWEET DESPAIR - I heard about this site on KABC radio here in Los Angeles. Mr. KABC show to be precise. Check out Despair.com.
You know those ridiculous motivational posters that the positive thinking types seems to think actually motivate employees when they actually only serve to annoy? Well, Dr. E.L. Kersten has a response to all of this mularkey. I'm a bit of a cynic by nature, but I'm not without hope. I tend to be very positive about many aspects of my life and the world in general. I do not think we're going to hell in a hand basket, but I am realistic. I know there are real problems and real struggles. I happen to believe that the positive thinking, self-esteem b.s. we've been fed for the last 25 years or so is just that, b.s. I think all of this psycho-babble detracts and distracts from making real progress toward one's dreams and achieving the goals we set for ourselves. When we do not depend on the "power of positive thinking" and some vague notion of "self-esteem" then we are truly free. Otherwise we make ourselves dependent on our feelings and the feelings of others. We make ourselves like a dry leaf in the wind, blown from place to place and feeling to feeling. Just shut up, suck it up and do it.
the way, the whole notion of self-esteem is bullshit if you ask me. There are plenty of folks on death row with high self-esteem. Also, if you've ever been a teacher then you know that some kids could use a shot of low self-esteem. Spoiled brats...
Some of my favorite "Demotivators":
GET TO WORK, You aren't being paid to believe in the power of your dreams.INDIVIDUALITY, Always remember that you are unique. Just like everybody else. POTENTIAL, Not everyone gets to be an astronaut when they grow up. BITTERNESS, Never be afraid to share your dreams with the world, because there's nothing the world loves more than the taste of really sweet dreams.
And perhaps my all time favorite:
DELUSIONS, There is no higher joy than soaring high on the wings of your dreams, except maybe the joy of watching a dreamer who has nowhere to land but in the ocean of reality.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/24/2003 11:56:00 AM
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SHOCKING, I KNOW - ACLU joins husband in battle to stop feeding of brain-damaged woman.
Linked via Drudge.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/22/2003 11:40:00 AM
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BLOGGING TONIGHT - I'll be blogging this evening after work. Today is one of those days during which I suddenly realize that I forgot to do certain very important things and now I must catch up.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/21/2003 08:50:00 AM
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MORE WEATHER - Despite the heat this week, it does get cold enough to snow here once in a while. Well, at least in the mountains above the city. This is what it looks like from down in the valley after it snows in the mountains.
Can you tell IÂ’m really looking forward to winter? ItÂ’s the best time to live here. The rains come (such as they are) and everything turns green. There are days when the mountains are covered with snow. The rain from the night before is drying and the temperature hits the mid-70s. Its days like thaat remind me of one of the reasons I stay here.
This is what it looks like up in the mountains today. UPDATE: There is a fire east of here and the desert winds are blowing in out of the west, which means the smoke from the fire is blowing toward the San Gabriel Valley/Pasadena area. I've been watching the live web cam at Mt. Wilson and the smoke that is moving in to the right side of the picture (At 5:30 PM, October 21, 2003) was not there an hour ago.)
UPDATE: There are apparently several fires burning in the area. This is sort of late. Fire season is usually late August to Mid September. (5:56 PM)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/21/2003 08:29:00 AM
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IT'S GETTIN' HOT IN HERE - As far as I can tell, it's going to be in the mid-90s today. That's not right.That's not of God. Now the church marquees are going to say, "You think it's hot here?" Haha. Yeah, they use that one all the time.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/21/2003 08:22:00 AM
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HEY! I KNOW YOU! - I know all of you! I went to high school with you. You were the kids who always made like you were having a great time. You pretended you were all such good friends, but that was not necessarily the case. What mattered to you was not that you were actually having a good time or enjoying genuine friendships. What mattered to you was that everyone THOUGHT you were. You needed them to think that things were great because you thought that that was how it was supposed to be. When that was not the reality you engaged in faking it. See, for me, it was better to eat lunch alone or just hang out with my one friend Christina. Sure I got lonely, but I could never fake the whole “a friend’s a friend forever, if the Lord is, the Lord above...” stuff. Perhaps that’s a weakness in me. Perhaps this is my insecurity manifesting itself. Maybe it was I who was afraid to put myself out there and take a risk with friends. I don’t know. I’m still the same way. I’d rather stand in the back of the crowd than try to insert myself into a group of people about whom I know little or whom I trust very little. Even now as an adult, when I go out with friends I usually prefer to sort of sit back and observe and wait for a real opportunity for conversation. I look for a genuine connection with people. Maybe I miss out on talking to good people, because I might misread them. I don’t know. Does anyone get what I’m saying? Can anyone relate?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/20/2003 10:44:00 AM
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GO BAR, GO! - Barbara Bush Calls Democrat Line-Up a 'Sorry Group'Fiercely proud of their son's achievements, former President Bush said his wife treated the president like any other member of the family, recently telling him after a run to get his feet off the table in their bedroom.
However, Mrs. Bush said the current president frequently declined to do what she said. "He still doesn't take my advice, that dirty dog."
You gotta love moms.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/20/2003 08:53:00 AM
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REMEMBRANCE - A girl I used to work with named Jami Dixon died this month. She was only 35. When I worked with her I was 19 and she was about 25. We worked at a bank in Ontario, California. We'd go to lunch and smoke cigarettes and complain about people we worked with. I remember how proud I was of her when she lost a bunch of weight. I hadn't seen her in about four years. This Friday my sister called me to tell me that she had heard Jami died. I was shocked. I haven't allowed myself to think about it all weekend. I'm still not really thinking about it, because I need to sit quietly with it for a while. It's not as though we were close. Like I said, I hadn't seen her in years. Nevertheless, it saddens me and it is very unsettling. I think I've mentioned before that death effects me differently than it used to ever since 9/11/01. That day made death so real. I began to see that death meant that people die. I know that might sound stupid, but I was always so detached from death. It was just something that happened. Even when strangers die it bothers me now. I become emotional mostly when I think of what their lives must have been like and how they must have felt as they neared that final moment. Rest in peace Jami.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/19/2003 12:46:00 PM
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MISSING PERSON -
Another question in me
One for the powers that be
It's got me thrown
And so I put on my poker face
And try to figure it out
This undeniable doubt
A common occurence
Feeling so out of place
Guarded and cynical now
Can't help but wondering how
My heart evolved into
A rock beating inside of me
So I feel such a stoic ordeal
Where's that feeling that I don't feel
There was a boy who had the faith to move a mountain
And like a child he would believe without a reason
Without a trace he disappeared into the void and
I've been searchin' for that missing person
Under a lavender moon
So many thoughts consume me
Who dimmed that glowing light
That once burned so bright in me
Is this a radical phase
A problematical age
That keeps me running
From all that I used to be
Is there a way to return
Is there a way to unlearn
That carnal knowledge
That's chipping away at my soul
I've been gone too long
Will I ever find my way home
He used to want to try to walk the straight and narrow
He had a fire and he could feel it in the marrow
It's been a long time and I haven't seen him lately
but I've been searchin' for that missing person
-Michael W. Smith
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/19/2003 12:43:00 PM
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FEELING HOT, HOT HOT! - I've had enough of Summer. Check out this forecast. The heat usually susides by now. I had to use my a/c yesterday and probably will today. That's just not right!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/18/2003 09:06:00 AM
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PAPISTS - Does anyone else think that the word "Papist" used in reference to Catholics is offensive? It's used by people who do not believe Catholics are worthy of the name Christian. The use of this word is part of the paranoid anti-Catholicism which has deeps roots in this country. Know Nothing Party, Nativists, KKK, etc.
Have any idea what millions of Catholics have gone through? For better or for worse we are largely assimilated at this point. The real turning point was of course the election of a Catholic to the presidency. Still, the anti-Catholicism persists. It is often very subtle and the really frustrating aspect of it is that people do not realize their bias and the anti-Catholicism inherent in some of their statements. As Fulton Sheen said, "The enemies of the Church often do not hate the Church: they only hate what they erroneously believe to be the Church."
Update: The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable PrejudiceFrequently Asked Questions About Pope Pius XII and the HolocaustPotshots hit Catholics, again The Critics Rave!Catholicism Under Attack
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/17/2003 08:19:00 AM
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THE FRIDAY DIARY ENTRY- It's Diary Friday at Sheila Ashtray's Redheaded Ramblings (Whew! Long Name!) This week, enter into the mind of a fourteen year old girl. Or if that seems too scary just read some of the other things on the blog.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/16/2003 10:27:00 PM
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THE WORLD - No comment.
Wait. I do have ONE comment. The Chinese spying? Nooooo! I bet we do too when we're up in space. So what? Bring 'em on. I'll whoop their narrow little asses!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/16/2003 09:59:00 PM
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OVERHEARD AT THE TRADER JOE'S CHECKOUT THIS EVENING:
(I was buying wine.)
Cashier: (This guy was all of 22 years old) Hi, How are you doing?
Patrick: Fine, thanks. How are you doing?
Cashier: Fine, thanks. May I see your I.D. please?
Patrick: Wuh?
Cashier: May I see your I.D. ?
Patrick: (Smiling) Sure.
Cashier: (Checking my date of birth) Wow! I was way off!
Patrick: Sorry?
Cashier: Your age. I was really off on your age. I was thinking 23 or 24.
Patrick: (Laughing) Yeah, you're about nine years off kid.
OK, maybe I can pass for late 20's, but 23? I think this boy is crazy or half blind, but I'll take the compliment. (That is a compliment, right?)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/16/2003 09:20:00 PM
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ELECTION 2004 - First, doesn't the title for this post remind you of a cheesy local newscast? STORM WATCH 2003... Dum dum dum dumdumdum. That's what they say when it sprinkles in L.A.
Anyway, I really do want to say a few words about the 2004 presidential election. (Pause, say a prayer...) StumpJumper over at ResurrectionSong got me thinking a little about the upcoming election. I've actually noticed quite a few people making predictions about the election. Some urge caution. Others predict a landslide for Bush. For instance, Michael Williams is urging caution because we have not seen who the Democrats will put up. He also mentions that some people are comparing the 2004 election with the 1992 election. (More on that later.)
StumpJumper goes out on a limb and predicts that George W. Bush will win by a landslide, getting 65 % of the Electoral votes. He makes some good points, but first he issues this disclaimer:
A lot can happen in the next year. Hence, I reserve my right to change my opinion on this issue (and take the public fisking that will surely follow). That being said...
Here are a some reasons he believes Bush will wind handily.
- The Economy (read StumpJumper's analysis please.)
- Iraq
- Terrorism
- Religion
- Arnold ( I love how people refuse to dare spell out Schwazenegger. It's not as if anyone else knows how to spell it!)
Then SJ (Not Society of Jesus, StumpJumper) wraps it all up. You really should read the darn post people.
I commented on the post and then though I'd like to include these thoughts on my own blog so here the are.
Are you ready?
I'll go further and predict 70%
Think of Reagan in 1983:
-Economy recovering from recession/mini-depression
-Over 8% unemployment
-Effects of a huge tax cut fully kicking in after 2 years
-Suicide bomber attack at Marine dormitory in Beirut
-Ongoing, long term and increasingly expensive cold-war
-Ineffective far left Democratic candidate with no alternative other than the fact that he wasn't Reagan. (Some will disagree with me on this one. However, even though I was only 11 years old in 1984 I am fully capable of reading and believe it or not I followed politics then.)
Reagan received 59% of the electoral votes. I predict a greater landslide for Bush because I think the current situation is even more extreme and the American people are very aware of the need to retain a leader who has shown a willingness to protect this country. I also think that the Dems are self-destructing due to lack of any real purpose so their candidates are even more vulnerable.
Take the California state house into account and this increases the chances of a Bush win in that State.
If Reagan dies sometime in 2004 I can't even imagine how well Bush would do. There would be no stopping the "It's Morning again in America" references. The Dems wouldn't be able to get a word in edgewise and Bush will be able to insist that his fight against terrorism is the same sort of fight that Reagan waged against the "evil empire." Remember he was mocked and derided for that comment. That damn cowboy. The old feelings about how good it is to be an American will be revived and the city on a hill theme will reemerge.
N.B. You might also want to hear what Reagan had to say about terrorism.
What do you guys think?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/16/2003 04:47:00 PM
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BRITNEY SPEARS - This is pretty impressive if you ask me. Scroll down the page to be sure you see all the pictures. Now tell me, what do you think?
Linked via: Michael Williams
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/15/2003 10:40:00 PM
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CREATIVE COMMUTING SOLUTIONS- I thought this story from the BBC was fascinating. I can't imagine depending on such a method of transportation to get to work, but I guess it works. I've never heard of this phenomenon. Odd.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/15/2003 12:59:00 PM
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FURTHER PROOF THAT THE ARAB WORLD LANGUISHES IN THE DARK AGES - I know this is not a very politically correct thing to say, but Islamic and Arab cultures need to be bitch-slapped into reality. Seriously, any culture that in any way accepts so-called "honor killings" is in serious need of a wake up call. Do you think these freaking maniacs would have even gone to court in a country in which a theocratic Islamic government or Islamic monarchy ruled?
Do you think Tafarak and Rafaqat Hussain think they did anything wrong? How on earth can you think some jacked up sense of family honor is more importrant than a person's life? In my family we consider family honor when someone in our family is hurt or offended. The offense is not blamed on the person offended. That's just stupid.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/15/2003 12:39:00 PM
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HEROES - Zombyboy at ResurrectionSong has helped me out and posted some photos from one of my friends who fought in Iraq. You should have a look at them.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/15/2003 08:35:00 AM
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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY - Happy anniversary to a man who has had an enormous impact on this world. For those of my readers who do not like him or disagree with one or another of his pronouncements and decisions, I respectfully ask that you refrain from leaving any negative comments. (They will be deleted.) I admire the pope and consider him a man of great intelligence and compassion. He is also a man of conviction and courage. If you haven't read his bio by George Weigel I suggest you pick it up. It's over 1,000 pages, but well worth the time. You should try to have a basic understanding of the life that formed a man that helped bring about the fall of the Soviet empire and has left an indelible mark on the late 20th century.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/14/2003 09:57:00 PM
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NEWSFLASH – Hey Scott, she’s not that cute! The pregnant wife of yours that you either had killed or killed yourself? She was beautiful. She was also carrying your son, you sick bastard.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/14/2003 09:44:00 PM
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CULTURAL CONCERNS - I caught the very end of Knee High P.I. last night. One question, What the…?
Don't miss 49 inches of hot private dick action! Hank Dingo is a pint-sized P.I. with a short fuse. He's proof that danger can come in small packages, and he's always willing to hide in a watermelon to get his man.
Isn't this one of the signs of the Apocalypse?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/14/2003 09:34:00 PM
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FAITH FIGURES - These figures are very interesting. Actually, they're startling.
More Americans believe in God than in angels, miracles, and even heaven. And while half attend worship services on a regular basis, a majority thinks religion plays too small a role in people’s lives today.
Fully 92 percent of Americans say they believe in God, 85 percent in heaven and 82 percent in miracles, according to the latest FOX News poll. Though belief in God has remained at about the same level, belief in the devil has increased slightly over the last few years — from 63 percent in 1997 to 71 percent today.
They say a lot about America and Americans. I'm proud to live in such a nation. I better not try a long analysis because I don't have the extended entry feature. However, I'm sure you can see how this sort of belief effects the way our country is run and why the overwhelmingly agnostic Europeans can't figure us out. (In my experience continental Europe is quickly becoming an agnostic and pagan place, with the exception of Muslims, of course. God help us.)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/14/2003 09:32:00 PM
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SPEAKING OF THE TRANSIT STRIKE - This strike is a good argument for private transportation. I'm a city planner so I'm all for public transit in principle. I believe it is a great asset for any city. However, strikes like this highlight the fact that transit riders are beholden to the whims of unions and managers. That's not a place I'd like to be when it comes to getting to work and keeping my job. This might seem like a big mess, but if that's the only way to get to work, I guess I'd have to do it. I'm fortunate in that I have a very quick and easy reverse commute, going east rather than west toward Glendale, Burbank and downtown L.A.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/14/2003 09:15:00 PM
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ANOTHER STRIKE IN THE SOUTHLAND - This one centers around health benefits as well. I don’t know, if you can barely speak proper English like the gal I heard on the radio this morning and you have only a high school diploma or GED, then I sorta think you should be happy making nearly $19 an hour working for MTA. What’s $5 a week for health care? Who else in this country gets free health insurance besides those on the dole?
Mark my words, the Democrats will use this to highlight what they think is a need for socialized medicine. Of course, they’ll call it national health insurance for “the working family” or for “the children.” (By the way, who are these "working families?" My parents? Probably not, because they own their own business. That makes them capitalists and "management" and that means that they're the baddies.)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/14/2003 09:12:00 PM
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FILE THIS UNDER: WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING? – The “Stay at Home Mom” market is big, which is very apparent in the blogosphere. However is it really necessary to be this “realistic” in an ad? It's not that I'm a prude. I have 12 brothers and sisters and 21 neices and nephews. It's not as if I've never seen a woman breast feeding. I just think this ad goes a little far.
Thanks to Eric for scanning this and uploading to his site.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/13/2003 08:26:00 PM
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OUCH - I used to check out Lileks daily. I’m not sure why I don’t anymore. I miss a lot when I skip Lileks. Michael Williams tipped me off to this fisking of this opinion piece by Colleen Rowley, the FBI “whistleblower.”
Lileks rips this gal to shreds.
“The intimidation in this country that’s been whipped up by this official fear and warmongering has been far more effective that any Patriot Act in whittling away our civil liberties.”
And yet she dares to write the lead guest edit on the front page of the most widely-read newspaper in town, on the day with the biggest circulation. How she got past the guvment sharpshooters in the book depository across the street from the Strib I’ll never know. Hell, those boys have been eager to ping someone since Ruby Ridge. You should read whole thing.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/13/2003 07:57:00 PM
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AMERICA, SUCH A YOUNG COUNTRY - This excerpt was handed to me by a co-worker today. I though it was fascinating.
Consider this: Half of all offices and malls standing in America today have been built since 1980. Half of them. Eighty percent of all the housing stock in the country dates from 1945. Of all the motel rooms in America, 230,000 have been built in the last fifteen years. Just up the road in Gatlinburg [Tennessee] is the town of pigeon Forge, which twenty years ago was a sleepy hamlet – nay, which aspired to be a sleepy hamlet – famous only as the hometown of Dolly Parton. Then the estimable Ms. Parton built an amusement park called Dollywood. Now Pigeon Forge has 200 outlet shops stretched along three miles of highway. It is bigger and uglier than Gatlinburg, and has better parking, and so of course gets more visitors.
From A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson
In Dolly’s defense, I’m sure her intention was to help out the poor little “hamlet” of Pigeon Pass in which she grew up. The author might be romanticizing the whole sleepy hamlet thing a bit.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/12/2003 10:45:00 PM
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SHEEN - Great men and women are just that. Great. I happen to be a big fan of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen who gained popularity in the mid 20th century with his television show, Life is Worth Living. I believe that it beat I Love Lucy in viewership.
Read what Sheen had to say about Islam in 1956. That 1-9-5-6. Man, oh man. Forethought. Gotta love Fulton Sheen. We could use a few more like him these days.
If Moslemism [Islam] is a heresy, as Hilaire Belloc believes it to be, it is the only heresy that has never declined. Others have had a moment of vigor, then gone into doctrinal decay at the death of the leader, and finally evaporated in a vague social movement. Moslemism, on the contrary, has only had its first phase. There was never a time in which it declined, either in numbers, or in the devotion of it followers. (From "The World's First Love," 1956. As quoted in "The Quotable Fulton Sheen," Doubleday, 1989.)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/12/2003 10:19:00 PM
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HOLY SCHNIKIES! - Scientists in North Carolina have built a brain implant that lets monkeys control a robotic arm with their thoughts, marking the first time that mental intentions have been harnessed to move a mechanical object.MENTAL INTENTIONS HAVE BEEN HARNESSED TO MOVE A MECHANICAL OBJECT!
The mind of Man amazes me. What about you? I am not one of those people who think that man is inherently moving toward perfection or that man's perfection is imminent in his nature, but I think that man, created in God's image and likeness is destined for amazing greatness. Such amazing creativity and innovation! I think that we have only experienced the tip of the ice-berg.
One of the proofs of God's existence is that the fact that we can even conceive of Him is proof that he exists. Now, does this also then mean that if we can conceive of something that it is possible? For instance, the fact that we can conceive of time travel means that it is possible. The fact that we can conceive of intelligent life on other planets means that it is possible or likely. Look at science fiction. The old stuff has prefigured some of the technology that we take for granted in the modern world. This is all unsettling, yet exciting.
Special props go out to our simian friends who are so important to this sort of research.
Linked via Drudge Report.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/12/2003 10:10:00 PM
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HUH? - Nancy Pelosi on the FBI investigation if Philadelphia mayor, John Street.
"The probe raises serious questions about the timing of it," said Pelosi, D-Calif. "Also that they would announce that it's not campaign-related raises even more questions about whether it is campaign-related."
It's not campaign-related so it raises questions about whether it is campaign-related? Ok, Nancy. Stop and breath. In...out. In...out.
Does this make any sense to anyone? Ok, we got rid of Davis. I think after we deal with Boxer and Feinstein we can deal with Pelosi. That gal needs to go. However, judging from the 80% vote against the recall last week in Pelosi’s 8th Congressional District, I doubt we can hope for any such thing. Sigh...
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/12/2003 09:22:00 PM
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Z-BOY FRAMES THE DEBATE - I do not link to ResurrectionSong nearly enough. I’m not sure why. I guess I figure everyone always hits that blog daily. Maybe not. Anyway, I want to direct readers to a particular post on the site. It’s called Framing the Debate and it deals with the debate over Iraq; whether we should have gone in there to begin with and how we should be handling matters now. Check out Zombyboy’s thoughtful analysis and then stick around the blog and see what his partner in crime, StumpJumper, has to say as well.
I refuse to call this the "money quote," but here it is anyway: Any sense of safety, or even of finality, in this war is premature. Like the rebuilding of Iraq, and the installation of a representative government, this is not a short term project. Neither is it a task from which we can afford to walk away.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/12/2003 04:55:00 PM
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BANNER ADS - There has GOT to be a way to get those banner ads at the top of the page to change. Why on earth are there things about Hillary Clinton and her husband? And Gray Davis of all people! I've got to post something new quickly!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/12/2003 04:46:00 PM
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CONJOINED TWINS - If all goes well these little fellows are soon going to see each other for the first time.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/12/2003 04:41:00 PM
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RED VINES - I do not think that there is anyone who loves Red Vines more than I.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/12/2003 04:36:00 PM
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STRIKE – It seems that the grocery store union folks are on strike. It’s a selective strike. Only the employees of one chain are striking, in order to “limit the inconvenience to the customers.” So, guess which one is striking. Vons. The one I go to. (The other chains are locking out their UCFW union employees.) The store parking lot was empty today and I couldn’t figure out if it was because the customers were honoring the picket lines or because they just didn’t want to deal with the chaos inside. There was an odd feeling in that store. The shelves were not full and neat. There was a “spill on aisle 5” that had not been attended to. The handful of us customers that were there all sort of looked at each other in a way that said, “are we jerks for being here?” “Doesn’t this place seems oddly quiet and disorganized?” “Who is going to restock these shelves and replenish the meat?”
A customer was asking a “replacement worker” where the bread was. I looked up and he had no idea. He was looking at the signs above the aisles and then he looked at me and I just pointed to the other side of the store. He quickly turned to the customer and said, right over there ma’am.
Then, it happened. It was check out time. The replacement workers (aka scabs) were all huddled around the registers in there street clothes and Vons name badges with their names written in black marker. The coupons were not scanning. The cashiers were slow. The baggers were clueless. Usually when I shop at Vons everyone says hello, stops in the aisle and asks if I’m finding everything ok and they say, “thank you Mr. Prescott. Have a good day.” Or, “do you need help out to the car, Mr. Prescott?” These scabs couldn’t find their asses with both hands and they were as slow as molasses going up hill in January. (A side note: Almost the entire replacement staff was black. It seemed so odd to me. Like, where did they go to find all these workers? Just weird, if you ask me.) One of the customers was reaching over the counter to the registers and hitting keys and showing the cashier how to swipe the coupons. She actually told her how to back out an error and re-enter the numbers. Funny if you’re not the next one in line.
I do not know the full details of the strike, but I acknowledge the employees’ right to form a union and to strike when they feel that there interests are not being taken into consideration. I hate the way some people make a religion out of their union. It just seems so false to me.
I have decided that I will not go to Vons as long as the employees are striking. Not because I’m a real man o’ the people, but because I felt so uncomfortable and weird in the store today. To make matters worse the other chains are apparently locking out their UFCW union employees. This means that all of the stores will be like Vons was today. I hope this strike ends quickly. There’s always Trader Joes, but their meat and produce are sub-par. (Wait. Are they part of this strike too?)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/10/2003 12:47:00 PM
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NEW LINKS - I've added two blogs to the blogroll.
Michael Williams and mtpolitics. You should check them out!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/10/2003 12:18:00 PM
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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS - Monday is Columbus Day and all across this great land of ours college students and their professors will be marking the day with protests denouncing Columbus’ supposed about ethnocentrism, genocide and European imperialism. There are also other groups dedicated to rewriting history. However, Capitalism Magazine offers a response to the anti-Columbus crowd that is worth a few minutes of your time. On Columbus Day, Celebrate Western Civilization, And Not The Cruel Hoax of Multiculturalism
And Christopher Columbus: Multiculturalism vs. Objective History
Linked Via: Relapsed Catholic
The author of the first article states:
The values of Western civilization are values for all men; they cut across gender, ethnicity, and geography. We should honor Western civilization not for the ethnocentric reason that some of us happen to have European ancestors but because it is the objectively superior culture.
How’s that for a controversial statement? Controversial? Yes. Untrue? I don’t think so. Western Civilization is not perfect by any means, but can you think of something better than Western culture living up to its ideals? I think this is especially obvious when we consider the contrast between Islam and the culture that it seeks to supplant, namely liberal, Western democratic culture. The author of this article does not deal with Islam. He refers mainly to the discovery of America and the cultures that Columbus encountered. However, after I read the article my first thought was of Islam and the cultural clash we are experiencing with it. I do not make the distinction between so-called “radical Islam” and moderate Islam. This is because despite the positive aspects of Islam I believe that it is lacking in what is essential to preserving the best of Western Civilization. It is Western Christianity that gave rise to European culture, which in turn has given rise to the modern Western liberalism. In other words, the liberties we enjoy can be attributed to the essential principles of Christianity as they manifested themselves in Western European thought and culture.
I acknowledge the contribution that early Islamic thinkers made to Western culture. Particularly in bringing the classical texts back to our attention and in mathematics. However, the question needs to be asked. What have you done for me lately? What great innovations have sprung from Islamic cultures say, in the last three hundred years or so? What great advances in human liberty, technology or philosophy? I sincerely would like to be directed to some book or web site that might enlighten me. I’m sure there is much to be commended in Islam. However, I’m just not seeing it manifested anywhere.
Ok, so back to Columbus. Don’t let the leftist baddies convince you that he was a bad man. Celebrate Christopher Columbus on Monday and in doing so celebrate Western culture, which we have been blessed to be a part of, warts and all.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/10/2003 11:45:00 AM
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SARA MC LACHLAN - Sara Mc Lachlan's music is so beautifully sad, don't you think?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/10/2003 11:38:00 AM
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FAMILY FEUD - If anyone is interested in seeing my beautiful little sister and my beautiful sisters-in-law win some money on Family Feud, tonight is the night. Look for the Prescotts. I think I might even show up when the camera pans to me when my sister was explaining which of her brothers was in the studio for the taping. In Los Angeles, the show is at 7 PM on KCAL 9. I'm not sure when it's on in other places.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/09/2003 11:58:00 AM
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THURSDAY, THE NEW FRIDAY (FOR ME ANYWAY) - Yes, it is true I only work three days a week. Four, nine hour days. I am ashamed to admit that I am much like a Frenchman. (Not a word Loz!)To make matters worse I work for a municipal government. City hall is closed on Fridays. This is one of those schemes to reduce the number of automobile trips. Whether or not this has any positive impact I don't know. You might think, "Wow Patrick, with an extra day you must be really productive. You must be writing or working on some project that will make you a million dollars." Sadly, no. I visit my 91 year old grandmother and my parents on most Fridays and I also do laundry. I lead such an exciting life, no?
So, why am I talking about Thursday? Well The Accidental Jedi says she hasn't gotten the hang of Thursdays. Apparently, she's decided to make Thursday corny Joke Day. Check out the links in the following post as well. Ceeeelebrate good times! Come on!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/09/2003 10:47:00 AM
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ACCENTUATE THE POSTIVE - There are lots of good things to talk about. This list includes only a few. Do you have anything else to add?
White House, Congressional Budget Officials See 2003 Deficit Below $400 Billion
Yes, this is postive...
New Jobless Claims Lowest in Eight MonthsThe Dow Surges Wal-Mart's September Sales Top Forecast Search, Advertising, Fee-Based Services Give Yahoo Much To Cheer About In Q3Change at Top Lifts Hope for Better TimesConstruction Set to Start on March Business Park (This is good news for the region in which I work.)
UC San Diego Colleagues Win Nobel2 American Doctors Win Nobel Prize in Chemistry
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/09/2003 08:13:00 AM
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EXCESSIVE - I've always thought the whole Clinton legacy thing was overblown. I know some people really loved the Bill and Hillary presidency and continue to be enamored with them. However, the reality of their power is not hat the perception is.
Dean Esmay linked to a blog that shows, in pictures, just how little influence the Clintons exert on the culture in general. I wonder of the Democrats will wake up and realize that Bill Clinton is the "kiss of death."
A great line from Dean's comments section: Oh, its been a great 12 years for the Clintons...but its been an utter disaster for the Democrats.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/08/2003 08:51:00 AM
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RECALL VOTE BY COUNTY - This really says it all. Look at the percentages in all counties excluding LA County and the Bay Area. This is why we have the Electoral College in presidential elections. The highly populated urban areas would rule the nation. Oh, the county with the highest percentage of no votes was San Francisco with 80% opposed to the recall. Shocking, I know. San Francisco City/County is that little square at the tip of the peninsula in the Bay.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/07/2003 11:24:00 PM
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MORAL DELIMMAS - I spoke about the recall with mother this evening. She told me that when she and my father went to vote she voted yes on the recall, and then she voted for Arnold. She walked away crying because she felt that she had compromised her principles. She wanted to vote for McClintock, but she was so afraid that she would contribute to a Bustamante win that she didn't vote for the man she preferred. My mom doesn't just prefer McClintock. She believes that he is the only morally acceptable candidate. It was painful for her to vote for a man that is pro-abortion. She runs a crisis pregnancy center, so this is a major issue for her. She has dedicated a great deal of her life to promoting a respect for human life. She does this in her family life as well as in the work she does outside the home.
Two things: 1. My mom is a woman of conviction and the fact that she ignored her convictions in this case was devastating to her. She takes this very seriously and I have no doubt that she will deal with this internally for a while. 2. This is but one example of how seriously Californians took this recall election. Don't let yourself be convinced that this was just a free-for-all or a circus. It was so much more.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/07/2003 11:22:00 PM
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VOTING - This is a touching account of how incredible it is that we have the right to vote for our leaders. I'm not sure she intended it to be touching, but it was.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/07/2003 10:31:00 PM
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BUSTAMANTE - I was watching Bustamante's concession speech and it dawned on me why he bugs me so much. He speaks like a liberal, sappy priest. Blech and Double Blech and Blech again.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/07/2003 09:58:00 PM
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MORE RECALL STUFF - So the recall passed and Arnie is the new governor. I guess that's good news. Davis is horrible and he needed to go. I'm not a big Schwarzeneggar cheerleader, but I am cautiously optimistic at this point. I could say a lot more. I could go on about the implications for the rest of the country and the presidential election next year, etc, etc. However, there are plenty of people who are already doing that and discussing other aspects of the recall.
FoxNewsCNNdamnum absque injuriaCalblog
Etc.
Me? Right now I'm watching Legally Blonde on Showtime.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/07/2003 05:36:00 PM
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I'M GONNA PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE! - If I have to hear one more person talk about California being a laughing stock, a circus or whatever I’m going to punch them in the nose. It’s been a loooong while since I’ve actually hit someone (high school I think) but I’ll do it! So help me God, I’ll do it!
Laughing stock? How about a $38 billion dollar deficit? How about driver’s licenses for illegal aliens? How about outrageous workman’s comp costs, how about tripling the vehicle license fee? How about imposing onerous health insurance requirements on small business owners? (Which is really just socialized health care by stealth.)
I work for a city government. When I was complaining about Davis’ crap job and the taxes he wants to raise, a co-worker informed me that the cuts the Republicans are talking about means my job. I almost lost it. Instead I said in a very stern tone through the cubicle wall that I would rather have a solvent, non-socialist state where people are prosperous, even if it means that my job could be cut. If the state government would get off everyone’s back the economy would be able to absorb a few hundred city employees statewide and part of the 40,000 new state employees that have been added to the payroll in the last few years.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/07/2003 09:50:00 AM
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THE RECALL - I voted this morning and other than the fact that the guy checking my name could not figure out that Prescott comes before Preston and thus if he turned back one page he would see my name, there were really no problems. We use a punch card ballot here in Los Angeles County (Pasadena) and I was sure to check that none of those dear little chads were pregnant or hanging or otherwise unclear. I did have to wait in line, which is highly unusually, but being 10 minutes late to work is excusable in this case. The ballot question was very clear. It even explained in parentheses that recall means replace. I reviewed my sample ballot last night so I knew the number to punch for the candidate I wanted. It was all very simple.
I have to admit that it was rather exciting to vote this morning. I know outsiders might think this is something of a circus. The circus accusations were more media hype than reality. However, I think it is a very important and historically significant election. (See my previous post on circuses.) Recalling a governor, a provision in our state constitution as in some other state constitutions, is a big deal and I do not take this lightly. (See CA State Constitution, ARTICLE 2 VOTING, INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM, AND RECALL, SEC. 14. a through b. ) I believe that most Californians understand the seriousness of this election.
I hope that tomorrow morning I will wake up and my governor will be replaced. I voted yes for the recall, but I’m not ready to reveal for whom I voted to replace him.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/07/2003 08:39:00 AM
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THIS JUST READ ON THE BBC WEB SITE - The BBC's David Willis: "Gray Davis is gaining in popularity"
On what planet or in what dimension? Is this fellow on drugs?
Honestly, I am amazed at the international attention this election is getting. I am equally amazed that people from other countries have decided who they think would be the best candidate. A guy in the UK commented that he believes McClintock is the best candidate. I guess California is more significant than I realized. Either that or these folks need something to do. OR, perhaps our democracy is more unique than we think and people cannot understand how any joe-schmoe can run for office. Maybe they just don’t understand America as much as they’d like to think. I’m sure it is appoint of fascination and a cause of bewilderment that an actor is running for governor in the richest US state. (That’s how the BBC constantly refers to California, “the richest state.”)
Thinking out loud here folks. Just thinking out loud.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/07/2003 08:22:00 AM
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EEEEEEWWWW! - Here's an image I didn't need in my head at 8:30 AM. Probe into 900 people orgy.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/06/2003 08:56:00 PM
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THIS IS FUNNY - Why can't I get a SMART troll?
Linked via: Dean's World
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/06/2003 08:30:00 PM
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PUNK ASS BITCHES - The national media has only now begun to cover this. There's no way I can prove it, but I think it might have something to with this gal who has diligently covered the story on her blog. It's the bloggers folks. The bloggers!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/06/2003 08:05:00 PM
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OVERDUE - I've added a couple of names to the blogroll. This is long overdue. Val Prieto at Babalublog and Dave Tepper at Interrobang. You'll enjoy these blogs. I promise.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/06/2003 07:57:00 PM
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THIS JUST HEARD ON FOX NEWS - Bustamante will need a huge turnout by Latino voters if he is to prevail. Major, what sort of thing is that to say? Have you fallen for the notion that all Latinos are Democrats? Tsk, tsk.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/06/2003 07:46:00 PM
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SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE - ARNOLD ACCUSER IS DRUGGIE, PROSTITUTE, FORGER
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/06/2003 03:20:00 PM
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RECALL - Now THIS is funny! I guess the LA Times isn’t all bad. Linked via damnum absque injuria.
Here's a sample.
Sept. 27: Unable to squeeze the name "Schwarzenegger" into a front-page headline, The Times instead opts for "Davis, Actor Go Head to Head." One reader complains of bias, saying, "If you're going to describe one candidate by what he really is, then you should describe both that way. How about 'Moron, Actor Go Head to Head'?"
Sept. 28: Bustamante is still under the gun for accepting $4 million from Indian tribes. Craig Kilborn says this "may explain why his economic plan is 'Let it all ride on 14 red.' "
Oct. 1: Davis continues to sink in the polls. "I'll give you an idea of how unpopular he is," Leno says. "Today, he called a prisoner on death row to pardon him, and the guy wouldn't take the call."
Oct. 2: The Times reports that six women accuse Schwarzenegger of groping them. "Six women," Letterman exclaims. "I'm telling you, this guy is presidential material."
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/06/2003 10:54:00 AM
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WHATSOEVER YOU DO... -Michele is working on a special project for Iraq. Give till it hurts and reap the fruits of your generosity. Happiness. Peace. Liberty. Prosperity.
Linked via The Accidental Jedi, via Resurrection Song.
This is how it all started.
I think we can see this as part of the War on terror. Doing our part to show the world the sort of actions that American values inspire. Besides that, you get to bring a little happines to the life a child in Iraq.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/06/2003 10:12:00 AM
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WHO? ME? -
INFJ - "Author". Strong drive and enjoyment to help others. Complex personality. 1% of the total population.
Complex? Yeah, you could say that.
Linked via Kelley at Suburban Blight. However, I took the Myers Briggs rather than the Big Five Personality Test.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/05/2003 11:09:00 AM
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WHOLE LOTTA MONEY - Last night I was withdrawing some money from the ATM and two receipts came out. One was mine. The other must have belonged to the person who used the machine before I did. The receipt stated the current available balance in the checking account was over $14,000! Who keeps that kind of money in a checking account? My first thought was, "Wow! Who does this belong to and do they need a date?"
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/03/2003 04:46:00 PM
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TO AUTUMN -
John Keats
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,--
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/03/2003 04:40:00 PM
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ANOTHER CHUTNEY - I recently posted a recipe for pear chutney. Here's another chutney recipe. This one I made from the memory of it on some fish I had at a restaurant. You can add or subtract the amounts according to what you prefer.
Pineapple-mango chutney.
1 Fresh, ripe pineappple (Canned just doesn't work. It has to be fresh.)
1 Fresh, ripe mango
Cilantro
Red onion
Cube the mango and pineapple. Mix. Dice the cilantro and oinion and add them according to taste. I recoemmend slowly adding onions. They can overpower the taste of the other ingredients and you'll only need a little. Same goes for the cilantro. If after adding the onion and cilantro you think you need more, add alittle bit at a time. Some people like to add diced cucumbers as well, but I don't like cucumber. Simpler is better.
You can eat this by itself or as a sort of salsa topping for fish, pork or chicken (especialy curry chicken, mmmm).
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/03/2003 03:36:00 PM
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COUNT ME IN - This is either proof of the existence of a common mind or maybe it's just that the world seems so out of control and mean and uncertain right now that we all need a break. Whatever it is I'm joing the ranks of David, Val,David, Michele, et all and declaring a holiday. Worry Free Weekend has begun. Let the world spin without me for a few days. Any other takers?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/03/2003 11:47:00 AM
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HELP! JANE! STOP THIS CRAZY THING! - Stop the world. I want to get off. UPDATE: Prayer is helplessness casting itself on Power, infirmity leaning on Strength, misery reaching to Mercy, and a prisoner clamoring for Relief. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. (1895-1979)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/02/2003 02:14:00 PM
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JOHN PAUL II -The Pope has been the news a lot lately because of his poor health. I believe that he will probably die soon. However, I will not rejoice as some of the more snide and hateful people might. I believe he is a great man and will go down in history as John Paul The Great. A title reserved for very few popes.
Perhaps it's time to remind everyone what his contribution to the world has been.
Modern Society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyles.
Pope John Paul II
An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded. Pope John Paul II
From now on it is only through a conscious choice and through a deliberate policy that humanity can survive.
Pope John Paul II
The historical experience of socialist countries has sadly demonstrated that collectivism does not do away with alienation but rather increases it, adding to it a lack of basic necessities and economic inefficiency. Pope John Paul II
More to come.
Courtesy of Brainy Quote
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/02/2003 01:53:00 PM
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SOME GOOD NEWS ITEMS - I don't have a great deal of time to blog right now, but I hope to be able to this evening. In the mean time, here are two news items that I intend to comment on. They are both from Zombyboy at Resurrection Song.
The first: School vouchers
The second: Wal Mart and public financing for corporate expansion
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/01/2003 05:58:00 PM
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THIS IS SORT OF INTERESTING - This was a pop-up ad when I linked to the Hindustan Times to read the story about Kuwaiti security officials intercepting smuggled biological and chemical weapons out of Iraq. That in itself in a compelling story and it would certainly be interesting if it’s verified. Just the beginning, maybe? We’ll see.
Culturally speaking this is a much more interesting web site. In the western world the dating sites have several options: friendship, serious relationship, “discreet encounters,” (oh brother). However, this site is not a dating service. It is a matrimonial search. You select bride or groom. There is no Male seeking Female or Male seeking Male, etc. In the religion section of the profiles there is a subheading called “Sub-Caste.” Yikes! What’s even more odd is that a self-described liberal, white, Christian girl from Ottawa has a profile at the site.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/01/2003 01:21:00 PM
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SITEMETER - Can anyone tell me what it means when a refering URL is Instapundit? I had another odd one yesterday for some site on which I could find no reference to his blog. Odd.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/01/2003 12:45:00 PM
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'BOUT DAMN TIME - A ban on partial-birth abortions could be on President Bush's desk by as early as next week, after a conference committee yesterday finished with the bill and sent it to be cleared by both chambers. In a partial-birth abortion — also known as dilation and extraction — the baby is partially delivered before its skull is pierced and its brain extracted.
How ANYONE could support the legality of such a procudre is beyond me. This is one of those "can't quite get my mind around that one" sort of things. There are people who are so rabidly pro-abortion that they cease to be reasonable.
Here's a rather graphic description of the procedure. Tell me you support this being legal. Tell me and you'll convince me that you are a heartless, soul-less bastard!
Do I hate women who have opted for this procedure? No. I pity them and I shudder at the pain they now feel as well as the pain and struggle that must have been so sever that they felt that this was the only answer. Do I hate their doctors? Yes. Money grubbing abortionists.
Sadly, the story quotes Boxer and Feinstein, both of whom are my senators. How depressing.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/01/2003 09:59:00 AM
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SPEAKING OF THE FRENCH - As I’ve already mentioned I attended a planning conference from Sunday through Tuesday this week. It was overall a pleasant experience. I’ll have to discuss the socialist, social engineering, leftist tendencies of the planning establishment sometime, but what I really wanted to mention here is that on Sunday I got food poisoning. Yep. Away in beautiful Santa Barbara and I got food poisoning. Yep, a nice reception with food and drink and I was sick. How did I become ill, you ask? Well, when I arrived early Sunday afternoon I was a little hungry, but I didn’t want to eat a full meal and ruin my appetite for the evening. I decided to buy a snack at a market near the hotel. I bought cheese, crackers, some juice and Diet Pepsi. I had my snack and then took a little nonny-nonny. When I woke up I was not feeling well and as the evening proceeded I grew more and more ill with flu-like symptoms. Yes, I was shivering, fever, aching, stomach in knots, etc. I was sure it was food poisoning. This was confirmed when I forced myself to um, - how can I say this politely? - uh, get rid of the food that was poisoning me. After I took care of that ugliness I was still a bit feverish and I slept at twenty minute intervals all night.
What sort of cheese had I eaten? Why, it was Brie of course! Made in France no less. It was a plant. They know how I feel about them and they planted it in the store, fully aware that I would be in Santa Barbara that day.
I should have gone to McDonalds.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 10/01/2003 09:44:00 AM
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T'AIN'T FUNNY MCGEE - Oh, those Frogs are just so clever, Loz. So very funny. NOT! Actually, it's not funny at all. It's rather scary that some people equate the government of the United States with the corrupt, murderous thugs that ruled Iraq. How sad. How very, very sad.
Someone aught to come up with a deck of playing cards with all the idiot socialists who have destroyed the economies and national cultures of European nations like France.
UPDATE: My friend Loz seems to think I have no sense of humor. Well, I do. It's just that this is not funny, s'all. Actually, the only funny part about these ridiculous things is how hysterically ill-informed and conspiracy fixated their creator must have been. Anti-semitic references, statements that Rumsfeld knew about the events of 9/11 before they happened and planned to use them to advance American military objectives, James Baker arranged for the seizure of Iraqi oil fields by American interests (show me where this has happened), collaborators of the Moon Cult (?), people with religious convinctions are extremists, and apparently there is a famed international terrorist in the Bush administraion, etc. According to these cards, the entire Bush administration is corrupt and part of a vast cultic, military/industrial (is that not a cliche at this point?) conspiracy to use imperial force to "persuade" foreign nations to accept our power, control their governments and assasinate their leaders and allow our corporations to control their economies. Talk about nut jobs. Sorry, I don't buy conspiracy theories. These cards are offensive and only serve to advance unfounded rumors and conspiracies. I'll stick to reality, thank you very much.
I was also disappointed to see Loz sink to the level of the Democrats and other Bush haters in her assessment of the President's intelligence which is entirely flawed.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/30/2003 09:30:00 PM
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OK, SO I'M LATE WITH THIS - This is a few days late because I was out of town and believe it or not I do not have a lap top that I can hook up to some hotel Internet portal or wifi sumthin' or other. Anyway, Kelley has a new Cul-De-Sac and it's the biggest one yet. This gal works so hard to give all of us hard working bloggers some encouragement and keep us all linked up with each other.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/30/2003 09:02:00 PM
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NEW LINK - E-Claire is new to the blogroll. Check her out.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/28/2003 11:07:00 AM
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SANTA BARBARA - I will probably not be blogging for the next few days. I'll be at a planning conference in Santa Barbara. The California Chapter of the American Planning Association is holding this year's conference at Fess Parker Resort. Last year it was in San Diego. Next year? I'm not sure. San Francisco would be nice. With my luck it'll be in Los Angeles.
UPDATE: The California APA conference will be in Palm Springs next year. The National APA will bein D.C. The national APA Conference will then be in San Francisco in 2005. Cool.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/28/2003 10:07:00 AM
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DOVE E L'ELETRICITA?- I lived in Rome for a while. It was not exactly an organized place. It was a bit chaotic at times and the slightest thing out of the ordinary threw the Romans into a dither. They have their own idea of what the world is all about and how it should function and they are almost incredulous that anyone can think differently. I believe that it is not normal for your building to be without water unexpectedly one morning. Paying all of your bills with cash at a Bank/Post Office place called BancoPosta is really inconvenient and inefficient. Thankfully the 1.2 milliion Lire I payed for my shoebox studio apartment is now thankfully a more comprehendable 600 or so Euros. Anyway, I was happy to not be in Italy when the Euros was introduced because of the confusion that it likely caused.
I can not imagine what it must be like in Rome without electricity! The first reaction was probably surprise. Followed by a pointless political discussion among the communists, socialsts and facists (yes, they've got all three of these parties and they are not the fringe of the Italian political world). Then, everyone probably had a smoke and the kids started a soccer game in the piazza. Meanwhile, the Polizia and the Carabinieri were likely hanging out smoking and checking out the girls and trying to get phone numbers.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/28/2003 12:19:00 AM
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BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP - At least that's what my mother always said. Kelley makes some good comments about beauty, youth and morning breath. She also links to this disturbing web site. Humans are weird. It's just that simple. What kind of cultutre makes a place for people who do THIS to themselves?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/27/2003 12:10:00 PM
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COFFEE, CULTURE AND CRY BABIES - Kelley at Suburban blight posted a link to an article about Starbucks opening a store in Paris. This is big because France is one of those countries with a coffee culture. They supposedly disdain American coffee and I am sure there will be some initial resistance to Starbucks. There will be cries from the elite to shut it down and save French culture. People will claim not to like Starbucks, but the stores will thrive and not just in tourist areas. Besides, Starbucks always plays cool Jazz music and the French have a pretty good appreciation for Jazz and other sorts of black-American inspired art forms. I enjoy good coffee. I had some very good espresso when I lived in Rome and Paris wasn’t half bad either althogh I usually take my espressso with a little bit of sugar, not attitude. When I’m travelling I prefer to try to experience something that I could not experience at home; even in the States. Why go to the same chain restaurants you could visit at home? (This is becoming more difficult as American regional cultures are becoming more homogenized.) That being said, I’d be tempted to go to Starbucks because those darn Europeans do things like charge you extra to sit in the cafe or in front of the cafe. What is that all about?
The fear among some Europeans that American culture is consuming their own cultures is not a complaint that I really pay much attention to. I think the Europeans need to realize a few things.
1. A massive influx of unassimilated Muslim and Third World immigrants is a greater threat to their cultural identity than a Big Mac or a Grande Royal With Cheese.
2. An even greater threat to the national cultures of Europe is the appallingly low birth rate on the continent. (Americans are not much better in this regard.)
3. Their cultures have for a very long time been burning on the fumes of the fuel that once gave structure and impetus to their national cultures. That fuel is Western Christendom and for better or for worse that is long gone and has been steadily disappearing since the Protestant “Reformation.” If a nation looses or abandons the very thing that gave rise to their unique cultural identities then that culture will not survive for very long.
4. America is not out to consume the cultural identities of European nations. On the contrary. The culture that has evolved in America is the offspring of European culture, run through a wringer, mixed with new ideas and people, and sent back as a fresher, more vibrant expression of the culture that inspires it. A culture cannot remain stagnant or it dies. At what point do the French or others want to say no to American influence? Microsoft? Movies? Music? Television? What’s the big fear?
5. Lastly, I would like to point out to non-Americans that we in the States deal daily with cultural influences that were not part of the founding cultural mix. I can drive anywhere in Southern California and see signs in Spanish, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Italian, Greek, and so forth. I live on the western edge of what is know as the Asian Belt, the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California. Glendale, the city immediately west of Pasadena has an enormous Armenian population. Persians are also a large minority in the area. I hear at least five non-English languages spoken almost daily. The dry cleaners are mostly Korean, the manicure industry is dominated by Vietnamese, Chinese people have the restaurants (even non-Chinese restaurants), the Indians, Pakistanis, and Arabs dominate the mini-markets and gas stations and even the engineering profession. Go to most hospitals and you will see mostly Filipino doctors and nurses and they speak Tagolog which I happen to not understand.
The joke in my family is that one day someone will ask, “Hey do you know the Prescotts?” And the reply will be, “Oh, you mean that nice Filipino family down the street?” I have seen the future, and it is brown my friends. Just come on over to my parents’ house for a barbecue and see the rainbow coalition known as the Prescott family and you’ll be convinced.
I guess what I’m saying is this: Worried about loosing your cultural identity? Cry me a river and I’ll drown in your tears. We’re all dealing with it. Learn to live with and better yet, learn to enjoy some it.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/26/2003 12:42:00 PM
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IT'S DIARY FRIDAY - "Red" at Sheila Astray's Redheaded Ramblings has posted the Diary Friday excerpt.
I recommend giving it a read. It's a nice insight into the mind of a woman on the edge (of greatness).
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/26/2003 12:35:00 PM
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I'M MAD AS HELL - I resent the fact that Arnold Schwarzeneggar is being shoved down my throat! What are my choices? Vote for McClintock and watch BustaMeCHA get elected? (Bye-bye California if that happens.) Or vote for Ahnuld and deal with his soft Republicanism? He doesn't have any real ideas from I can see. McClintock is the only one who can bring this state back from the brink and back into the United States of America. However, if the choice is between having a socialst like BustaMeCHA in office and voting for Ahnuld, then I guess I have to vote for Ahnukld. I have never been this conflicted about a candidate. It is very frustraing. If Ahnuld really cared about California, he'd drop out and endorse McClintock.
One more thing. Bill Simon pisses me off too! He endorsed Arnold. Give me a break Simon. I have lost all respect for you.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/26/2003 12:20:00 PM
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CHUTNEY - I've become a bit of a domestic since I moved into my new place last January. I've tried all sorts of recipes. Today, my day off, I'm at my folks' house visiting my grandmother. I decided to try out a new recipe. Today's creation is Pear Chutney. I gots to tell ya'll. It is velly, velly good.
Pear Chutney
1/4 cup of walnuts
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, minced
2 ripe but firm pears, cored and cut in 1/4-inch dice
6 tablespoons cider vinegar (I recommend less)
3 tablespoons honey
4 whole cloves
1/4 cup golden raisins
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread walnuts in a single layer on a small baking sheet and toast until fragrant and browned, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool, and roughly chop. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat, and cook until pears are tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Discard cloves and stir in raisins and reserved walnuts. Remove from heat. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Courtesy of Martha Stewart. (blech)
UPDATE: Grandma says that the pear chutney goes well with corndogs.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/25/2003 04:59:00 PM
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SCHOOL - I start classes again tonight at 7 PM. I'm not really looking forward to it, but I've only got about a year left to finish the masters program in Urban and Regional Planning at Cal Poly Pomona. I'll be taking Land Use Planning and Design. Methods of analyzing how people use and perceive public space. Principles of land-use organization and design. Translating design concepts to guidelines and policy. Concurrent enrollment required. 3 seminars, 1 three-hour laboratory. I'm still not sure how I'm going to pay for this quarter, but I'll figure it out. The city reimburses me for education expenses related to my job, but that's after I receive my grades each quarter.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/25/2003 12:34:00 PM
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SULLIVAN ON GAY MARRIAGE - I know that it is not good form to attack other bloggers, particularly one of Andrew Sullivan’s stature. I do not want my comments here to be seen as an attack. They are legitimate observations and a critique of one bloggers posts. Besides, Andrew Sullivan is not just another blogger. I suppose my comments will inevitably include what some might term “personal attacks,” but they are really more a fair critique of Mr. Sullivan’s argument in favor of gay civil marriage and tendency to take pot shots at the Church.
I would first like to address Mr. Sullivan’s jabs against the Pope and the Vatican. E.g. But the point of equal marriage rights is not that individuals want Gillespie or anyone else to be forced to approve or condone our "evil" relationships (I use the Vatican's adjective). Why is it necessary to include that parenthetical insert? Is her trying to be cute? Is he trying to prove a point? Is this post about Republicans or is it about the Church? This is but one example of consistent behavior on Mr. Sullivan's part.
I prefer to discuss family matters in private rather than dragging my family’s problems out into public and pointing out their failings. This is very dishonorable. I assert that once a person has stepped outside the Church (which Andrew has, de facto) then he ceases to be free to make comments such as this. You don’t get to criticize the family when you leave it. It’s like a man divorcing his wife and then expecting to have a say in where she lives and who she dates. Therefore, Mr. Sullivan should make his break with the Church official. Then his snide comments and bashing of the Pope can be seen for what they really are: an ex-Catholic who would rather criticize Church teachings than live up to them. Fine. Criticize them. Question them. Try to understand them differently. That doesn’t mean you get to change them. That’s called Protestantism. Have fun Andrew. At least let us know where you’re coming from. I hate to say it out loud, but you are not a “faithful son” of the Church. Just accept that and then admit it to everyone else. It’s hard. Trust me, I know. I just don’t see how one can attempt to reconcile bareback sex fetish, bear fetishism, abortion, divorce, transexualism, etc. with the Roman Catholic Church. It boggles the mind.
Now the argument for gay civil marriage. Sullivan writes:
Gillespie, as a Catholic, presumably opposes second mariages, like that of Ronald Reagan. And yet he lives in a country where what the Vatican calls "evil" (the Reagans' marriage) is legal and civilly valid. Because Gillespie accepts legal divorce as a citizen doesn't mean he is being forced to approve of it as a private person or as a Catholic. Would he say that the supporters of civil divorce are religious bigots for promoting something that is anathema to the Church? I doubt it.
Comparing gay marriage to divorce is like comparing apples with oranges. One deals with the indissolubility of marriage the other with the foundational nature of marriage itself. To use Catholic terms, the matter (physical) of the sacrament of marriage must be present. That is, one man and one woman. (This is like the necessity of the matter of bread and wine for the Eucharist and water at baptism, your spoken words and your contrition for the sacrament of Reconciliation.) To ask a Catholic to see marriage in any other way is to ask him to deconstruct his entire perception of the universe. Catholics are incarnational. The world is seen as a world of spirit and matter. There is an ordered, natural world which is the living, breathing, physical expression of divine life and love and God’s grace builds upon this natural world. The marriage bond is part of this. Part of the order is that man and woman become one in marriage. A physical and emotional/psychic complimentarily is essential to marriage. One that does not exists between members of the same sex in the way that it does between members of the opposite sex.
One could argue that Mr. Sullivan and others who support gay civil marriage are not asking for Catholic to rewrite their doctrine of marriage. However, it must be acknowledged that marriage as we know it has always been defined by and dependent upon a religious understanding of it. (Notwithstanding historic misuses of the sacrament for political or personal gain.) In the Western world this has been defined by Christianity, primarily Catholicism. It is more honorable to say that marriage is a construct of Western Christian thought and reject it altogether rather than to deny its spiritual and religious origins and attempt to redefine it.
That being said, I believe a form of legally joined relationship should be available for homosexual persons. This would preserve legal rights and be a public acknowledgement of the commitment the two individuals have made if they desire such an acknowledgement. However, this would not be marriage. The nature of marriage does not allow it. This is not a question of whether I or anyone else believes that gay relationships have dignity. It about the nature of marriage. Homosexual relationships are not the same as heterosexual relationships. They share many things in common such as devotion, camaraderie, mutual support and respect, cooperation for the success of the household, etc. Nevertheless, they are intrinsically different. Why not then, create a civil acknowledgement of gay relationships that acknowledges its differentness and distinguishes it from a marriage of man and a woman? (Separate but equal arguments do not fly here. Black people are not intrinsically different from white people. That whole thing was based on ignorance and racism.)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/24/2003 05:05:00 PM
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WOW! - Now THIS is very interesting. A national map indicating the Bush counties vs. the Gore counties in the 2000 election.
Linked via Randall Robinson
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/24/2003 01:10:00 PM
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DREAMS - Does anyone know anything about dreams? Kurt has been having some weird ones.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/24/2003 12:49:00 PM
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TEXAS. THE NEW CALIFORNIA? - This sure makes it seems like it. I don't want to hear about how weird Californians are. Ever again!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/24/2003 12:20:00 PM
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DNC BLOGGERIA - If I were to devlop a blog for my politcial party I would focus on the policies and goals of my party. The DNC has a "blog," The sole focus of which seems to be to bash Bush. This just goes to further show how void the Democratic Party is of any agenda other than acquiring and maintaining power. It's all about self-preservation. No ideas. No alternatives. Sort of like most of the unions these days.
LINKED VIA Brain at Resonance.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/24/2003 12:14:00 PM
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RECALL - Andrew Sullivan asks:Which real Californian wouldn't vote for someone with a body as good as that?
Uh, me.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/24/2003 12:09:00 PM
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OOPS - Thursday is Casual Day, the day we wear our city shirts rather than ties. Today is not Thursday. Today is Wednesday. I thought it was Thursday. I showed up to work in cords and a city polo shirt. Oh, Patrick. Silly, Silly Patrick.
I hope they don't think I'm being intentionally rebellious.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/23/2003 11:48:00 PM
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BLOGROLL ADDITIONS - I've added a few new blogs to the blogroll lately. The most recent is The Accidental Jedi. Go visit and say hi. You'll be impressed by the nice looking site and the thoughtful content
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/23/2003 12:55:00 PM
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I’LL BE YOUR BEST FRIEND… - I found this great post from Andrea Harris via Suburban Blight. I recommend reading it. It is sort of related to some of the things I say in the post below. This is further evidence to me that America is finally reaching a point of national awareness that has been just below the surface, but is now emerging more vividly. An awareness of our goodness as well as our failings. My fellow Americans, it is not arrogant or jingoistic to acknowledge that. It’s ok to be proud of our country. Really. Those who would constantly raise the bar for America without holding the rest of the world to the same standards should know this: America will always rise to the occasion. We accept some of the expectation sthat go with our power. (And if you think that we are not held to a higher standard I direct you to the constantly changing requirements before the war and now the level of perfection expected of us as we working to establish democracy in Iraq. E.g. no war deaths are acceptable and it is taking too long in Iraq. Give me break. Six months?!)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/23/2003 11:21:00 AM
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ARE AMERICANS PRUDES? - I found these stories via the Drudge Report. I was a little surprised, but not entirely.
This brings up something I have been contemplating for a while now. Other nations think they know us based on their media reports and the movies, music and television we export. We are called puritanical, uptight about sex and sexuality, or naïve and provincial. The statistics in this report tell another story. Some may argue on the other hand, that we are sex-obsessed and that may be true to some degree. However, I do not believe that we are more sex-obsessed or than any other western nation. I think the difference lies in how we go about expressing that “obsession.” (Some may call it prudish, but I disagree.)
When I lived in Italy for eight months back in 2000-2001 I observed a very sexually charged culture. I also observed it in other European countries; even (Gasp!) in England. The difference I have noticed between these nations and the United States is that these other countries seem to pursue this “obsession” uncritically. They have no qualms about sex and sexuality. Whereas, Americans tend to be a bit more analytical and questioning about the goodness or appropriateness of the apparent sex-obsessed tone of our popular culture. Some people call this being uptight. I call it prudence and thoughtfulness and moral conscience.
Most people, if offered the choice, would rather be thought a prude than an unthinking animal acting on sexual impulses and ignoring any part of their human nature that is beyond the merely physical. If you think that this is not true of a good number of Europeans I suggest you walk into a church in most European countries on Sunday morning. If you’re young, be prepared to be stared at. The physical has trumped the spiritual or metaphysical. This is obvious in their political structures. They insist on the government taking care of their every physical need with seemingly little or no concern for how that might affect them spiritually.
In the United States there seems to be an understanding among many people, even if not conscious, that it is not good for a person to be a ward of the state. (This is not all people, but I think a good majority of “regular Joe” type working people.) One’s physical needs might be taken care of in such a cradle to grave socialist state, but we need to be concerned how that will affect the autonomy and personal freedom of the individual. Where is the dignity in being dependent upon the state for your every need? This sort of dependence ignores the satisfaction that is born of suffering through the difficulties and proving yourself and discovering new strengths and in the process contributing to the good in other people’s lives. I prefer this traditional American ideal of individualism to the communalism of many other western nations.
This idea of the tension between the physical and spiritual as expressed in political structures may seem unrelated to what the topic was at the beginning of this post. However, the two are entirely related. We ignore our spiritual selves at our own peril, whether it has to do with or sexuality or the form of government we choose. I hope that America will continue to choose the spiritual freedom that comes from autonomy and individual effort. I hope that Americans will continue to question and critique this apparently sexually driven popular culture, not to suppress sexuality, but to elevate it and make it something very human and very liberating.
I look forward to your comments and criticism.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/23/2003 10:41:00 AM
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THIS SUCKS - Remind me never to drink Angel’s Trumpet tea. Seriously, as stupid as this kid was for drinking the tea, you’ve got to feel bad for him. No? Think about it. No penis and no tongue. That boy is screwed.
Linked via Drudge Report, of course.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/22/2003 06:00:00 PM
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PREPARE THE TIN FOIL HATS - Do people actually believe this stuff or does it merely feed their irrational hatred of the United States or its government, specifically G.W. Bush and Co. ?
I would like to access this program somehow. I can just imagine that it strings unrelated events and facts together to come to some outlandish conclusions. Sort of like Michael Moore.
It's almost as if they WANT to believe the conspiracy stuff. American imperialism? Give me a break. If we wanted to colonize, we'd freaking colonize. We wouldn't bother with the peace keeping, oh-so-careful crap that gets our soldiers killed. Imperialsim. Agh! I'm so sick of this drivel!
Link via Blahblahflowers.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/22/2003 01:37:00 PM
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COMPLICATING MATTERS - This is just a little too much. Really. Should life be this complicated? Isn’t life tough enough without consciously adding to the difficulties?
Etheridge, 41, and Michaels, the 28-year-old star of TV's "Popular," met two years ago. They live in Southern California with Etheridge's daughter and son.
Etheridge shares custody of the children with former lover Julie Cypher, who had the children through artificial insemination using a sperm donation from rocker David Crosby (search).
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/22/2003 08:46:00 AM
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THE CUL DE SAC - Hey folks. Kelley at suburban blight has a new Cul de Sac for your reading pleasure. Go check it out!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/21/2003 11:37:00 PM
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WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE! - When I was in college I often complained to my philosophy professors that the language of phenomenology was made up. I insisted that St. Thomas would never use such words and I found the words and phrases phenomenologists used to be very irritating, especially this: “a due and adequate response.” The professors insisted that every field of study has its own language and develops it own vocabulary to speak of the subject with which it is concerned. I gave in. I accepted this explanation. However, I have now developed the same problem with the blogosphere. There are words that I had never encountered and those which I have, but are used way to excessively. Here is the beginning of a list of words I promise never to use on my blog. If I do, please correct me. I reserve the right to add to this list as I see fit.
1. Fucktard
2. Asshat (and all variations including asshattedness)
3. Idiotarian
4. Moonbat
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/21/2003 11:14:00 PM
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QUESTION - Is Allah a woman? Just wondering. Just a bit suspicious.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/19/2003 11:00:00 PM
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GIMME A BREAK - Access Hollywood and MSN Entertainment ask the question we all have no doubt pondered. How do stars survive break ups? Uh, probably like the rest of us. Alcohol and sleep.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/19/2003 01:10:00 PM
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112 REASONS TO HATE THE FRENCH - Ya'll are gonna love this. It was published in 1945. The more things change...
This was linked via BlahBlahFlowers. Thanks, Loz! Whoop!Whoop!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/19/2003 12:05:00 PM
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SHEILA O'MALLEY'S DIARY - Ya'll should have a look at Sheila's Diary Friday entry. Very entertaining. And how many times do you get to read what a girl writes in her diary? I mean, without risking getting caught?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/19/2003 11:30:00 AM
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SIRENS - I guess that loud screech, boom, horn honking non-stop was indeed a car accident. I hope no one is hurt. Should I be a lookey-loo and stand on the street? Remember when there was something big in your neighborhood and everyone would come out of their house. You’d talk to neighbors for the first time and perhaps for the last time. The moms would have their robes on and the dads were in their wife beaters. (What is it about a crisis or semi-crisis that causes people to think that they don’t need to cover their bodies when they go outside?) All the adults stood around, arms folded, shaking their heads at the teenager who drove up on the old Dutch couple’s lawn, destroying the beautifully trimmed hedges. (Of course it was beautifully trimmed! They were Dutch.) This also happens when there’s an earthquake. Neighbor’s pools are turned into wave pools and the water splashes out and then runs down the side of the house into the street. (Or into their living rooms if they’re unlucky.) Weird how sirens draw people out of their homes. Funny. Nothing else seems to.
Some woman is howling outside. I think something bad happened. I’m afraid to look. So much for beautiful Pasadena. Well, at least the street is lined with palm trees.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/19/2003 11:23:00 AM
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PASADENA (CA) - I was chatting with Kurt this morning and I mentioned how much I like living in Pasadena. Have I ever mentioned how much I like living in Pasadena? I really do. I am so fortunate to be able to live here. Sure it gets hot in the summer and sure the smog sometimes sits in this valley, but that’s just a few days a year. Where else in Southern California can you find this? And this? What about this? You’re not gonna find this in Newport Beach, I assure you. There are plenty of images of Pasadena here. You have seen Pasadena more than realize because many films are shot here, at least parts of them. The film crews are here all the time because Pasadena has an old town sort of feeling with tree lined streets and beautiful old homes and grand public buildings like this. Museums, shops, restaurants, and its own symphony orchestra. On top of all of this there is THIS. I live in the middle right section of the photo. This too. What about this? If you ever want to visit and would prefer to not sleep on my sofa bed you can stay here. Or here. Seriously, come on out. I’ll show you around. It doesn’t get much better than this. Now if we could just do something about that governor of ours...
Oh! Here's a web cam in Old Town.
Sheesh, the Chamber of Commerce should pay me for this.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/18/2003 05:02:00 PM
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MORE STRANGENESS IN ATHENS - Woman Gets $150,000 for Bad Hair Job
Do you have anything to say about this David?Kelley?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/18/2003 12:37:00 PM
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NO! THAT'S NOT ME! - I linked below to 94.7 KTWV. I think I should explain that the Pat Prescott who hosts the morning show is not me. In fact SHE looks nothing like me.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/18/2003 11:25:00 AM
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YIKES! - This a little unsettling. Linked via Electric Venom.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/18/2003 11:08:00 AM
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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING PREPARED - Below is a checklist for making yourself earthquake prepared. Consider creating two preparedness kits, one for home and one for your car. After all, you probably spend more time on the 405 than you do at home!
1. Extra Cell phone batteries.
2. Case of Dasani,Evian or Voss, sparkling or flat. (I recommend against the Voss as it comes in glass bottles so you risk broken glass.)
3. Comfortable walking shoes. (Preferably something stylish. The boys in West Hollywood are gah-gah for New Balance these days.)
4. Extra bottles of anti-depressants.
5. Detailed maps showing emergency exits at Beverly Center, Glendale Galleria, Sherman Oaks Galleria and Newport Fashion Island. (These should be kept on your person and not in the trunk of your car.) If you shop at The Block at Orange, Ontario Mills, or Santa Ana Mainplace, you’ve got bigger problems than needing an exit route.)
6. Yoga/stretching mat. (If you’re stuck on the freeway after an earthquake you are definitely going to need some “me time” so it’s best to be prepared.)
7. Sunblock
8. Soy products. (I’m not sure why. It’s just best to be prepared for anything.)
9. Flash light.
10. Portable radio, set to 94.7 (KTWV - The Wave, smooth jazz and new age type music. You’ll need to relax. ) If you live in the 909 area code you may want to tune to KFROG 95.1. Wait, scratch that. No one cares what happens to the people in the 909.
11. Hand gun. Loaded.
12. Reading material to pass the time. (This is tricky, because you’ll need to consistently update the US, People and Entertainment Weekly magazines, but it will be well worth. I promise.)
Important numbers to have on hand.
1. Therapist
2. Psychic friend
3. Astrologer
4. Sav-On Pharmacy (For refills)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/18/2003 10:44:00 AM
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FEELING LEFT OUT ON THE LEFT COAST - Michele at a small victory is surprised that there wasn’t some sort of west coast vs. east coast fight regarding Isabel. Truth be told, we are so absorbed in or own issues right now, such as the recall and the difficult task of getting our domestic help to their jobs what with the horrible lack of public transportation in Southern California, that we have failed to notice the “big news” story back east. Come on, there’s not even a car chase involved. How “big” is that?
However, with all this talk about Isabel, we on the west coast, specifically California, are feeling a bit left out. Our inflated sense of self-importance cannot bear the attention-sucking Isabel. Are we going to have to get Vanilla Ice to run for governor to get your attention?
Anyschmay, we are the world’s fifth largest economy despite Gumby Davis’ attempts to destroy the State of California. We give the world so much, why not give us the attention we deserve, nay, demand? Bad things happening here are much more serious and news worthy. With the recall temporarily in a holding pattern. I thought it would be a good idea to turn our attention to a disaster that could strike at any moment single handedly wiping out Van Nuys, the porn production capital of the world. An earthquake.
Look, cry all you want, but you at least you get a warning about impending hurricanes. These earthquakes just sort of sneak up on you. Imagine the ground you walk on, the only consistent and seemingly stable thing in your life with the exception of your weekly tithe to the Church of Scientology, suddenly slipping out from under you. It is not a pleasant experience.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/17/2003 11:54:00 AM
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ITS’ LUNCH TIME! – I’m off to the cleaners and then to get some grub. I rarely eat out for lunch so this is a big day for Paddy-P. Depending on which time zone you live in, I've posted some stuff below for your lunch time or mid-afternoon break reading pleasure.
Coming Tomorrow: The Frustration of Irritatingly Uninformed and Intentionally Incorrect Statements About Iraq.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/17/2003 11:53:00 AM
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PAGING MR. ORWELL, MR. ORWELL TO THE COURTESY COUNTER - I don’t like this one single bit. Am I going to have to start cutting my finger tips off, gouging out my eyes, and wearing a tin foil hat? I hate using the supermarketclub cards as it is. I just don’t like the idea that I’m being tracked. Paranoid? Maybe. There’s something to be said for the feeling that you’re not being stalked every moment of your life.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/17/2003 11:50:00 AM
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FRTIZ IS GONNA LEARN YOU HOW TUH DRIVE RIGHT - Fritz expresses some of my own frustration while driving on the freeway. Look, I know you are in a hurry because you are “supermom,” but get your SUV off my ass and use the lane available to the left of you. I’m driving 80 freaking miles an hour as it is! Oh and wipe that stupid look off your face!
Another common site on the freeways of Southern California (yes I capitalized Southern as if it’s part of the proper name. Get over it all you northerners) is the old truck piled high with crap, often yard clippings or discarded appliances stacked precariously and tied to the bed of the truck with bits of twine. Further, this sort of truck is usually found in the fast lane (not the carpool lane) and the cab is loaded with about five illegal immigrants. (You know, the ones we’re gonna be giving driver’s licenses.) Apparently they think the far left lane is for them because they have more than one person in the truck. Newsflash: The far left lane is not automatically the carpool lane. Furthermore, simply having a high occupancy vehicle does not qualify you for the carpool lane if there happens to be one. A certain rate of speed is required. Let me explain. People who use the carpool lane do so because the rest of the freeway is moving too slowly. It makes absolutely no sense to use the carpool lane if you are going the same rate of speed as the rest of the congested freeway! Even further, I realize that your rear field of vision might be hindered by that Kenmore that’s about to drop off the back off the truck onto that BMW with the “USC Alumni” license plate frame. He is after all, too busy talking on his cell phone to cautiously avoid your idiocy, but please pay attention to the fact that you are being passed by “Wide Load” Peterbilts hauling houses. Ok, that is all.
I don’t mean to seem so bitter, but this overloaded-work-truck-in-the-fast-lane thing is high on my “If I were king for a day” list.
Fritz will now give you further driving instructions. Trust me. Learning to drive will make life so much nicer for all of us.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/16/2003 08:55:00 PM
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PET PEEVES - Sheila mentioned a billboard she disapproves of and I began thinking of signs that bug me. I noted in Sheila's comments section that the signs that read: “ATM Machine” really bug me because the machine at the end is redundant. Then I got to think that maybe I shouldn’t let things like that bug me. Of course, I turn my head when driving down a certain street in Pasadena in order to avoid having to look at a big horrbile garage that does not fit in the neighborhood of beautiful old homes with detached garages. I hate it when the garage dominates the front of the house. Oh! also, I do not like signs that say "Get Involved." Shouldn't that be "Become Involved?"
What about you?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/16/2003 08:53:00 PM
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CIRCUS? I’LL SHOW YOU A CIRCUS! – The California recall election is not a circus. The Constitution of the State of California establishes the process for recalling a governor. The process has been followed to the letter. Now the liberals on the infamous 9th Circuit have decided that the people of California really don’t know what’s good for them. Besides that, the ACLU says that minority voters are too stupid to use punch card ballots.
News flash: The two counties in California with the highest rate of voting errors are predominantly white counties in the northern part of the state. I could go on, but I’ll let Mickey Kaus do the work. He’s got more information and insight than I could ever muster.
As promised, this is what a circus looks like.
1. $38 Billion deficit brought on not by a recession, but by outrageous increases in government spending. (This number is what Gumby is telling us this month. The figure is likely to change.)
2. Driver’s Licenses for illegal aliens.
3. Acceptance of Matricular Consular cards. (IDs issued by the Mexican government, can be used as valid ID.)
4. Tripling of the car tax. (This means that if I hadn’t bought my car in the month of October, after which the increase goes into effect. I would be paying nearly $400 to register my car! I drive a Chevy Malibu. Imagine my poor brothers with multiple vehicles of much greater worth.)
5. Outrageous workman’s comp insurance costs, a burden borne by small business owners who, unlike the larger corporations, can’t afford to flee the state taking their jobs with them.
6. Blackouts. Electricity contracts made in a panic. Tripling of utility bills.
And so much more. When you have to deal with this sort of stuff you can talk to me about circuses.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/16/2003 12:40:00 PM
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COMING SOON - Punch Card Ballots, The Racism of the Left, Annoying Signs and Other Pet Peeves, and The Frustration of Irritatingly Uninformed and Intentionally Incorrect Statements About Iraq.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/15/2003 10:22:00 PM
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HUMANS ARE DA CRAZIEST PEOPLE! - We've all had to deal with "difficult people" at work. I'm not talking about difficult co-workers or bosses. I'm talking about clients and customers. This is a classic example.
I work for a city in SoCal and we often get calls from people who do not live in our city and they want to know if they can pay their water bill at our city hall. We also get questions about the zoning for properties in other cities, development standards, etc. It blows me away. They still want you to help them after you've explained that they've called the wrong city.
How about you? What are some of the dumb, insane, odd, or bizarre things you have been asked or told at work?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/15/2003 09:47:00 PM
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POLITICS AND BLACK CHURCHES – There is something that has been bothering me for a long while. Why is that when it comes to black churches and politics, no one seems to care that they mix. So many people are up in arms about the separation of church and state, yet they turn a blind eye to this mingling of the two. This is a prime example. I can not recall an instance where a politician addressed a Sunday congregation at a church that was not a black church. I sincerely would like to see photos or a story that shows otherwise. It just seems odd to me, because most churches go out of their way to avoid partisanship. (The Christian Coalition and organizations like it do not count. They are a political organizations, not churches.)
My former pastor insisted that fliers listing congressional voting records not be placed on windshields in the church parking lot on Sunday. The fliers highlighted the voting records regarding right to life issues. Even those were forbidden. We always tried to keep things non-partisan. They register people to vote after Mass, but even then, no campaigning or proselytizing is permitted, even if they register as Democrats. *Grin*
I think that people do in fact turn a blind eye to this mingling politics and religion in black churches. I have a theory why this is the case. Historically, the church has been a base of organization and inspiration for black people in their struggle for equal treatment under the law. I think that this is why there is no outcry when Clinton or (Gray)Davis or Gore visit a church and speak to the congregation. I remember a visit Gore made to a black church during the 2000 campaign. He took a black preacher persona and began to preach as if he was leading a tent revival. I found it offensive and condescending to the people present. Sadly, they seemed to eat it up.
As I said, I would like to know if I am mistaken in my assumption that this mingling of politics and religion is given a pass when it occurs in a black church.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/15/2003 09:38:00 PM
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YES TO SOVEREIGNTY - I congratulate the Swedes on their vote to keep their national currency. The importance of a nation’s currency is more than symbolic. Changing a nation’s currency changes the cultural lingo that is inspired by that currency. For instance, imagine the United States without the greenback, twenty bucks, fifty G’s, etc. Imagine Britain with the pound, thirty quid, fifty p., etc. This may not seem like a big deal to some people. However, it is significant.
The Swedes’ vote to keep their currency is not a little thing. As Zombyboy says, the vote against the Euro was just as much a vote against many of the policies of the European Union. It was a vote to preserve national sovereignty.
I was thrilled at the "no" vote by Sweden on the Euro--not because of any direct effect on either the Euro or America, but because it is less a rejection of the monetary unit than it is a rejection of the policies that go with it.
I applaud the Swedes for their courage and their commitment to maintaining their autonomy in a Europe that has given birth to a Leviathan of a socialist mega-state. Let’s hope the Danes and the Britons follow their lead.
Thanks for the link Zombyboy.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/15/2003 09:33:00 PM
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HE'S BAAAAACK - I took a bit of a break from my blog. I think I now have a better idea of what I want this to be. The posts and updates will be fewer during the day. The posts, I hope, will take on a more substantial and thoughtful form. I'm not saying they'll be full fledged essays or anything like that. I just want to try to be more consistent and more coherent. I'll let my faithful three readers be the judges.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 9/13/2003 09:26:00 PM
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We interupt this blogging hiatus to bring you this important bulletin.
WHOA! BABY! - For the life of me I cannot understand how anyone can be pro-abortion. I just can't get my mind around it. It's not like a difference of opinion in which we can understand how two different people can come to different conclusions about a political or moral issue. One would have to have a completely different belief about the value of human persons. I just don't get it. You might as well tell me that you think rape is a deeply personal decision between a man and his god. Seriously.
Ok, so why say this now? Check out this picture and then check it out at Drudgereport as well. Unbelievable!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/27/2003 09:50:00 AM
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BLOGGING – I’ve decided I’m not so sure about this whole blogging thing. I’m going to step away from it for a while. I’m sure this will disappoint my three readers. :)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/26/2003 02:29:00 PM
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NOT JUST A NAME FOR BEER - This quote from Samuel Adams is up on the title banner for Voice from the Commonwealth. I appreciated it so much I thought I'd throw it on my blog. We come from great beginnings folks. No doubt about that.
If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen. - Samuel Adams
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/26/2003 02:24:00 PM
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HUH? - Now this is just plain stupid! Quiz: Is your guy 'girly'? Nothing like a fun little quiz chock full o' stereotypes.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/25/2003 06:36:00 PM
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WELFARE BURGERS, ETC. - David at Sketches of Strain is lamenting his, shall we say, "limited" dinner options. I feel his pain. I'm trying to think of my most creative poor man's dinner and it would have to be, left over rice, frozen peas, left over zucchini, some onions and some canned corn all mixed up in a skillet with soy sauce. It wasn't half bad. It was lacking in protein and any sort of culinary quality, but it was decent and I was full when I finished. Thankfuly, these nights are not common. The few times have been right before pay day. (I'm not using credit cards if I can survive without them! Besides, where's the sense of "making it" if you never have to actually "make it?") My less than wealthy childhood was a lesson in making it. My mother actually longs for those days sometimes. One credit card - Sears. A ridiculously low mortgage payment on a house bought in 1960, simpler expectations than we all now have (Especially since the success of the family business!) and children who had never eaten out except for a Happy Meal on their birthdays and where accustomed to government cheese sandwhiches on day old bread. Man, that woman could work wonders with rice and cream of mushroom soup. Of cousre, this wasn't a consistent situation. Just during some particularly trying times (years). Ah, the seventies.
What was your most creative poor man's dinner? - Or supper depending on where you're from. (Or even "tea" as in "Have you had your tea?" I've been told this by a Londoner. Is this true Loz?)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/25/2003 12:47:00 PM
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AH, THE FRENCH. SO CIVILIZED - French heat victims lie unclaimed
Surprisingly, even the French press was upset by this.
"It's not up to the Father State to take care of our elderly. It's up to us," wrote Figaro columnist Renaud Girard under a headline "French barbarity."
Average French person's response: "The Father State takes care of everything. How were we supposed to know that they would not be there for the old folks? Granted there was probably a strike conducted by the Senior Care profession, but surely the government would have provided for this contingency. No? Oh, Je suis désolé."
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/25/2003 12:31:00 PM
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KELLEY, YOU'RE MY HERO - Kelley at SuburbanBlight hit the nail on the head with this post about the chiiiiiildren! Look, children are wonderful. I have none of my own, but I grew up with 12 brothers and sisters and I have 21 neices and nephews and one on the way, which is to say, I am not one of those obnoxious, know-it-all, single-for-life types who refer to children as "those dirty little kids," or ""damn screaming brats." HOWEVER, I think people spend too much time entertaining children rather than actually teaching them lessons, explaing the world, forming them in virtues, etc. This "doitforthechildren" crap is too much. Am I hopelessly idealistic when it comes to child rearing?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/25/2003 11:40:00 AM
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TROLLS - Fritz has created a new blog called On the Fritz - Troll Alert! which is "dedicated to providing information and support for bloggers who have experienced the unpleasantness associated with Internet trolls." Very funny and very creative. There are even Troll Alert buttons for your blog. Check it out.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/25/2003 07:45:00 AM
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LYRICS - I am amazed by the fact that I can own a CD for a long time and never really hear all the songs. Sure, I listen to the music, but there are usually a few songs or maybe only one that I really enjoy and know. This is the case with an older Martina McBride CD that I was listening to on Sunday, when I heard the words for the first time. Maybe we only hear the words when we come to a point where they mean something to us.
Sometimes we come to a point in our lives when we realize that it is time to cut loose from our past and not let it weigh us down. It’s not just the difficult parts of the past that sometimes have to be abandoned. Sometimes we even need to cut loose from the good stuff in order to be free to live in the present. So, this is where I am now. Trying to cut loose from a few things.
So, what song is moving you these days?
Martina McBride - From the AshesMy right hand holds matches. My left holds my past. I hope the wind catches and burns it down fast. I’m gonna step into the fire with my failures and my shame and wave goodbye to yesterday as I dance among the flames.
So, don’t try to save me now. Let the walls of my world all burn down. Just stand back and wait ‘til the smoke finally passes and I will rise from the ashes. From The ashes. From the ashes.
For all that I’m loosing much more will I gain. The hard part is the choosing to change what needs changed. My step will be much lighter with these demons off my chest. I’ll be born a better spirit and lay the old to rest.
So don’t try to save me now...
I’ll walk away stronger. I will be flying higher and truer than I’ve flown before.
My right hand holds matches. My left holds my past. I hope the wind catches and burns it down fast.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/25/2003 07:38:00 AM
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WEIRD PEOPLE - For some strange reason my blog was number one on the yahoo search engine when these words were used.
pictures of dooky
What the hell kind of weird people are we producing?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/21/2003 03:05:00 PM
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CHINO - I no longer live in Chino, but I have a special place in my heart for this burb. That is why I was so pissed off to see that the city was portrayed as a white trash trailer park on the TV show "The OC" on Fox. What a bunch of crap. Chino is not perfect, by any means, but it has a low crime rate, decent schools, a very active church going population, and tidy quiet neighborhoods. It has it's less desirable parts, to be sure. However, the way in which it was portrayed got a lot of people upset, including the mayor who ended up on the local news. I've seen some pretty trashy parts of Newport Beach and the rest of Orange County, meth addicted, 40 year old surfers come to mind. Santa Ana anyone? Buena Park?
Obviously I feel protective toward Chino. It has such good people and such potential. I hope they don't screw up the development of the former agricultural preserve. Click on the Land Use Plan link if you're interested in that sort of thing.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/21/2003 02:48:00 PM
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LUNCH - I braved the family's favorite sushi bar today. The lunch was on my sister. However, for three of us we were only charged $39.00. Normally a sushi lunch for three would be considerably more. They love my family. The owner calls my mom Mamma-son. He came over for Easter last year and takes my nephews snow boarding. We run into peole we know there all the time. Chino (my home town) is funny. Everyone seems to know everyone else and there are nearly 70,000 people. You would not believe how often I hear "Are one of THE Prescotts?" when I use a credit card in a store or restaurant here. However, they usually follow that with, "Hmm, I've never seen you before. I went to school with your younger brother." Which one? I've mentioned here before that I have 12 brothers and sisters, right? Nine of us went to the public schools in Chino. In fact, there was a time when there was a Prescott at every level at Chino High. My teachers are now teaching my nieces and nephews who are now at Chino High.
So, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, Sushi. Very good. I had salmon sashimi (I do not like cooked salmon, but I love it uncooked.), spicey tuna roll, and pieces of of my sisters' Mexican roll, rainbow roll, and other various things they ordered. I am full and I feel like I need a little nonny-nonny. However, it's my grandmother's 91st birthday today so I'm going to spend some time with her. The old gal isn't doing half-bad. Happy Birthday Grandma! Someone get this message to her. She can't operate a computer. She shuffles past the computer in my parents' family-room when someone is online and she just sort of pauses and takes a look and shakes her head and moves on. I wonder if she'd like to learn how to use this thing. I wonder if anyone has ever asked her.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/19/2003 06:52:00 PM
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TOM MCCLINTOCK - I have decided to support Tom McClintock in the upcoming recall vote. I urge you to go to his web site and read what he has to say. The man has common sense and he has the right attitude about the role of government. The following is some of the information that can be found at the site. Very eye opening. Davis must go!
The state's problems are not a shortage of revenue. AFTER the car tax was reduced and AFTER the dot-com collapse, and AFTER the state's revenues plunged, we're still taking in 28 percent more revenue than four years ago while the population and inflation combined have grown only 21 percent, yet Davis has increased spending by 40%.
When you go to the site look at the flash presentation on the right hand side of your monitor.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/19/2003 05:10:00 PM
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ARRRRGH! - Yet another example of how Christians are the only group you're allowed to mock. People like the GQ folks think it's cute to super-impose GW's face on an image of Christ. They think it's really quaint the way the President admits his faith. They think he's a knuckle head for even having faith. Arrogant bastards! I suggest they have a look at the words of past presidents (Slick Willy excluded) and see how much they refer to Providence, God, The Creator, The Universal Being, Heaven, faith, hope, virtue, etc. Start with George Washington and read up through the other George W.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/19/2003 04:53:00 PM
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NEW MUSIC - The new Sara Evans CD was released today. I had a Borders gift card from my birthday so I decided to go pick up the CD. I'm glad I did. The woman has an incredible voice. My favorite is, of course, The Back Seat of a Greyhound Bus. Click on the song title to hear a sample.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/19/2003 04:40:00 PM
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DINNER AT THE FOLKS' - I am at my parents' house right now. My dad is barbecuing steaks tonight so I couldn't say no to that invitation. My dad is so proud of his new patio and patio furniture. He and my brothers paved the patio with brick and put up a new fence all the way around the back yard. The patio furniture is the same as one of my brothers'. It's some sort of teak wood and when my dad saw my little brother's he knew he had to have it too. Funny the things people fixate on.
NEW SOFA - I am fixated on a sofa I want very desperately. If anyone feels like buying it for me I'd be happy to accept the gift. I have the picture of this sofa torn from a magazine posted on my refigerator.
What thing are you fixated on? What is the one thing you really want right now, the thing you must have? (Not world peace or anything like that. I'm talking cars, houses, clothes, furniture, etc.)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/19/2003 04:30:00 PM
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TIME OFF - I am enjoying my time away from work very much. I was supposed to go to Denver, as I said before. However, even though the wedding was cancelled I knew I had to get out of the office for a little while. I have only thought about one thing at City Hall and that is the outcome of an appeal to the City Council. It is one of my projects so I have been fighting the temptation to call. hey Eric. If you read this, maybe you can let me know what happened by putting it in the comments section all anonymous-like.
It is so nice to sleep in, stay up late, take walks, visit touristy stuff and just have a generally relaxing week.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/19/2003 04:26:00 PM
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IRAQ - I'm not sure what I should say after the bombing in Iraq. I guess we need to be patient and vigilant and persistant. It's just so frutsrating. I do not understand unreasonable people. Why would they want a Taliban type regime? Why would they prefer to live under a brutal and controlling theocratic government? Maybe I suffer from that American curse called naivete. Maybe I should go vist Europe again and become incredibly bitter and cynical at least for a few weeks after my return. I'm convinced that this will all work out. If we can get the little fucks doing this shit maybe we'll be able to get electricity working and water running again.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/19/2003 04:16:00 PM
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ONTARIO MILLS - This afternoon I violated a self-imposed banishment from Ontario Mills. (In Ontario, California, not Ontario, Canada, although the founders of the city were two brothers from Canada.) The place is a complete nightmare. Outlet malls, typically are. This one is even more than an outlet mall. There are 50 movie screens in two theatres, Dave and Busters, Rainforest Cafe, all that eating/shopping/entertainment crap found throughout the rest of the country. (I tried to insert a link to the photo gallery here, but it didn't work. You're on your own.) There are little gangsters cruising the mall and leering at anyone who happens to make eye contact with them. The parking lot lacks sufficient landscaping so it serves only to magnify the already outrageously hot temperature. I loathe the place. I really do. I thought I might save some money by buying towels and things at an outlet store. Mistake. Big mistake. It's not worth it. My new goal is to be very rich so that I will never have to deal with outlet stores unless I want to. They say that Ontario Mills, is "A Shopping Trip." It's more like a freaking nightmare!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/15/2003 03:54:00 PM
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VACATION - I'm on vacation until August 25. I was supposed to go to Denver, but the wedding I was to attend was cancelled. I decided to stay around L.A. and do all the stuff that I promise myself I'll do but never get around to. Yesterday I took the new Metro Goldline from the Lake Avenue Station to downtown and finally saw the new cathedral. I was surpised at how much I liked it because it is very modern Very simple, but very beautiful. I haven't been to the beach all summer. This is borderline sinful considering I live so close to it. The beach is on the agenda for next week. I'm also going to hike in the San Gabriel mountains next week. I really enjoy getting up above the urban sprawl. The Huntington Library in San Marino would be fun. I'm also going to get to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. That's only five minutes from home. I know this sounds boring, but I really want to see the Pasadena Public Library and City Hall. I plan to be busy and sleep in a lot and go out with friends a lot. Should be a good week.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/15/2003 03:52:00 PM
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FACTS ABOUT THE NEW CATHEDRAL -
1. Approximately 27,000 square feet of Alabaster was used in the Cathedral windows. This represents teh largest application of alabaster windows in the world.
2. The Cathedral's tapestries were woven on a computer-driven loom in Bruges, Belgium. They are the largest tapestry illustration in the world.
3. The Cathedral stands on elastomeric seismic isolators, essentially shock absobers. The Cathedral is the only one in the world that is seismically base isolated.
4. The Cathedral has the largest use of architectural concrete in California and is reminiscent in its color of the early California missions.
5. The Cathedral measures 64,000 square feet; the Conference Center measures 56,000 square feet.
Facts courtesy of the Cathedral Of Our Lady Of The Angels.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/15/2003 03:50:00 PM
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THE NEW CATHEDRAL - As I mentioned above. I was very surprised to discover that I like the new cathedral. There are of course some things that I think are a bit odd such as the fact that no two walls form a ninety degree angle. Nevertheless a beautiful structure. The side chapels are not adorned yet, but there is one that is a chapel for victims of sexual abuse. There is a rough cross on a stand in the little side chapel and there are pictures of some of the victims of abuse tacked to it. I was very moved to see these pictures. Some were old pictures, some were more recent. They looked like the kids I went to Catholic school with. Some in their uniforms, some in their cassocks and surplices. There was even a picture of a little girl in her first communion dress. This chapel was the most moving part of my visit. It was so simple. You could imagine these poor kids carrying this burden behind their smiles. The make shift chapel had a definite sadness about it. However, you could also sense that these victim saw this chapel as a means of attaining some sort of justice. They have the small consolation in the knowledge that they are believed and they no longer must bear their silent pain alone.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/15/2003 03:45:00 PM
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WHAT REALLY SUCKS? - Two words. STUDENT LOANS.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/13/2003 11:21:00 AM
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SLAVERY - I asked a Southerner if he would date someone if his/her family owned slaves. For me the answer is obvious. If they do not own slaves now (Who does besides Africans? Ironically enough.) and their family owned slaves over one hundred years ago, then it’s not a problem. However, I was wondering if maybe a Southerner might have a different take. If there was perhaps a cultural stigma or maybe if that might create some sort of tension among people.
Now I’m thinking, as I have before, about the practice of slavery. It is beyond my comprehension how someone could even begin to justify slavery. Totally bizarre. I’m also fascinated by St. Paul’s admonition to slaves to bear their burden patiently and masters to be kind (or something like that). What are the cultural differences between slavery as it was manifested in the ancient world and how it was practiced in the United States? I realize slavery is slavery, but I don’t appreciate it when people are unable to make distinctions between then and now. Just because things appear to be the same does not mean that they are so. I just don’t want someone ranting about the Church and slavery or St. Paul and slavery. A rational argument that acknowledges the failures of both, but doesn’t dismiss them out right seems more appropriate.
Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to just keep these questions to myself…
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/13/2003 09:12:00 AM
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PLANNING - I’m registering for the CCAPA Conference today. (California Chapter of the American Planning Association.) This year it will be in Santa Barbara. Should be nice, especially since my employer pays for it. The registration application has a box to mark for “Spouse or Significant Other.” How would you like to be the “significant other?” It just sounds sort of odd. Almost like a philosophical term or worse yet, a statistical term. Besides the regular sessions I have chosen two mobile workshops to attend. These are workshops that are, well, mobile. The first mobile workshop is Urban/Suburban Affordable housing. The second is Urban/Suburban redevelopment. The way I see it the two are part of the same. Maybe I should do the Santa Ynez Wine Country/Casino workshop. Believe it or not, this is a legitimate workshop. There’s a whole subsection of the planning profession called Tourism Planning. It’s big because cities are trying to draw as many tourist dollars as possible.
After re-reading this post I’m realizing how boring my profession might seem to other people. Maybe it’s my writing style. I’m going to have to find a way to liven up my writing about the subject.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/12/2003 12:30:00 PM
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GETTING OLD - We've all promised that we would never be like our parents or grandparents. "When I'm old I am NOT going to be like that." I say the same thing and my hope is that it will be the case. I figure I just need to be aware of it. I can take steps to prevent myself from becoming one of those old curmudgeons that gets upset about the dumbest things. The first and most significant step to avoiding that conspiracy theory, senior citizens are the center if the universe and the youngsters owe me something attitude is to avoid retirement communities. I don't mean the medically necessary kind. If you're sick, you're sick. I'm talking about those "seniors only" type places. Why on earth would anyone want to live with a bunch of people who are exactly like them? White, old, retired, self-centered... Nope. I'm going to live in as normal a neighborhood as possible until the drag my dead body out in a bag. I want to live where there are children playing on the side walks, young couples taking their evening walk, birthday parties, Christmas lights, trick-or-treaters, lemonade stands, etc. The kind of stuff I've been surrounded by growing up. I dread the thought of becoming old and grumpy and developing a sense of entitlement. Please God, preserve me from that.
For instance, why would you want to live at some place called "Serenade?"
If you're old or are planning for the future here's a listing of some other old-people-only places in California.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/12/2003 12:17:00 PM
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COMMENTS - The comments feature is down this morning. It should be back up and running soon for all the thousands that frequent my site.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/11/2003 05:24:00 PM
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OH, THIS IS FUNNY - Congratulations!! You're a shot of some good old hard liquor!
What Drink Are You? brought to you by Quizilla
Thanks again to Kelley for the link.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/11/2003 05:21:00 PM
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ALL EXCEPT THE VEGETARIAN CELIBATE THING - You were Gandhi!
You led a life of non-violent and highly effective protest. People were in awe of your example and followed it. Because of your actions, the nation of India won its independence from the mighty British Empire without ever firing a single shot. Unfortunately, your life came to a sudden and violent end when an assassin shot you in 1948. The nation, indeed the world, mourned your passing.
Which Leader Were You in a Past Life? brought to you by Quizilla
Go see who Kelley at SuburbanBlight was.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/11/2003 04:25:00 PM
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RECLAIM THE CALIFORNIA DREAM - Folks, I’m not sure what it will take, but we need to take back the State of California from the far left. They are turning this great state into a bankrupt socialist state. There are going to be more people sucking from the teat of the State than thee are those paying for it. This has to stop.
Here are a few things we might try in order to reclaim the Golden State. These ideas are completely disorganized and not very detailed but I think they make sense.
1. Cut corporate taxes. Corporations are fleeing to Arizona and Nevada. We need to stem the tide.
2. Enforce Prop 187 and limit social services to illegal immigrants to emergency health services.
3. Cut personal income taxes.
4. Roll back the “temporary” gas tax increases approved after the last few big earthquakes.
5. Revert the Vehicle License Fee rate to the level it was before Davis illegally tripled the fee, which means that if I paid $160 dollars to register my car last year I will now be required to pay nearly $500 to register my car. (Bastard!)
6. Fire all the political hacks er, I mean “consultants” who are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for “consulting” for a few hours a year.
7. Send a bill to Mexico for the health care, and education graciously provided to its citizens for the last few decades by the citizens of California as well as the millions spent to incarcerate their criminals.
8. Sue to get the State out of the asinine contracts that Davis made with the energy providers.
9. Widen and repave Interstate 5 between Sand Diego and Oregon.
10. Invest massively in freeway improvements and use the power of imminent domain to force the NIMBYs out of the way. (God! I am so sick of a handful of people making life
difficult for the rest of us. The improvements planned for the 101 Freeway from LA through the Valley were stymied by a very small group of people, including one old man who didn’t think his tract home should be sacrificed so that the 12 million other people in the region could have an easier time of it on the freeway.)
11. Cut the salary of every State Assembly and Senate member. (If ever merit pay sounded like a good idea…)
12. Cut taxes on television and movie production companies so they will return home from Canada.
13. Reduce the power of the state education department and the teachers' union and devolve decision making power back to the local school districts and individual schools.
14. Deport Gray Davis to France.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/11/2003 04:20:00 PM
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SPAM EMAIL SUBJECT LINE OF THE DAY - ill ass passwords
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/11/2003 01:40:00 PM
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FASHION QUESTION – Can I wear slip on dress shoes with pleated and cuffed trousers or are slip on shoes only appropriate when wearing flat front pants without cuffs? Gosh, the dilemmas we face every day. You know?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/11/2003 01:21:00 PM
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TUPPERWARE AND BLIND PEOPLE- I was scarfing rice out of a Tupperware bowl during lunch and for the first time I noticed that the numbers stating the size of the bowl (e.g. 4 ½ cups) is printed in brail on the bottom of the bowl. This begs the question: What would a blind person need with that sort of information? It's a bit like the brail on the drive up ATMs. It just doesn't make sense. Or does it?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/07/2003 02:50:00 PM
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SPAM EMAIL SUBJECT LINE OF THE DAY -
20 pics of a lollipop sucking brunette ...
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/06/2003 04:28:00 PM
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RELIGION AND GOVERNEMNT IN THE UK - Loz linked to this story on the Guardian web site on her blog and as I read the story this lined popped out at me:
The Observer can reveal that Blair is to allow Christian organisations and other 'faith groups' a central role in policy-making in a decisive break with British traditions that religion and government should not mix.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t the King or Queen of England also been considered the head of the Church of England for about 464 years now? So which tradition is being broken?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/06/2003 12:59:00 PM
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DOES LARRY FLYNT WISH THE PRESIDENT DEAD?- Yesterday evening on the Al Rantel show on KABC 790 in Los Angeles, Al interviewed Larry Flynt regarding the "satire" on his website that asks people to pray for the death of Bill O'Reilly. Al pressed Flynt on this and asked if he really wished O'Reilly dead and stated that it was a pretty serious thing to say. Then, Flynt said something about wishing George W. Bush dead and that there are probably plenty of people who agree with him. Al sort of skipped over that quickly and I was wondering how the Secret Service would deal with this. After all, they pretty much freaked out about the Michael Ramirez cartoon in the L.A. Times.
I'm surpised Al Rantel didn't pursue this with Flynt because I would have liked to have heard what Flynt would say if pressed further. I'm surprised no one else has picked up on it. Maybe I should order a transcript of the show.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/06/2003 10:51:00 AM
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Yikes! Am I really this needy?
Do you need a boy/girl friend now?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/06/2003 10:49:00 AM
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Apparently I'm a stud.
Which [Smallville] Characters are you?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/04/2003 02:09:00 PM
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CHANGE OF HEART - I’ve decided I have something to say today.
The top ten things I wish I did not have to read about in the paper or online, or hear on the radio or see on TV.
1. Kobe Bryant – Enough already! Who really cares? It’s not as if it’s so unbelievable that a professional athlete could actually do this to a woman. Come on, athletes have a sense of entitlement. They are catered to, babied and helped along from middle school on. They think they are above everyone else. I’m not saying the guy is guilty. I’m just suggesting that people should be so damn incredulous. I’m sick of turning o the radio and the TV and hearing about this damn story! When there is no war, famine, revolution, etc. then, AND ONLY THEN, should Kobe Bryant top the evening news. Basta!
2. Ben and Jen – Does anyone really care about this frickin’ fabrication of a romance? Does anyone actually believe it’s real? Has no one ever heard of the way the studio put these publicity marriages together? Are there really people who have nothing better to do with their lives than follow the love lives of a bunch of spoiled, over-paid entertainers? Get a life people! The big ass and the literally big ass should not occupy an amount of your time beyond telling them you don’t care whether or not their so-called fairy tales romance is “on the rocks.”
3. Andrew Sullivan on Gay Marriage – The whole issue is an absolute bore to me. Sullivan’s neurotic obsession with it as if it is the end-all-be-all is absolutely frustrating. The reality is that men and women are different. Their relationships with each other are intrinsically different than same sex relationships. The nature of marriage in civil law has its origins in theological and philosophical teachings. This is why civil unions are the answer. Protect the rights of gay couples, but please let’s not kid ourselves. Heterosexual marriage is not the same as a gay relationship no matter how committed. I’m not talking about equality of dignity of the human person. I’m talking about an intrinsic difference in the nature of the relationships. Even Andrew Sullivan, in his recent article about the gay Bear phenomenon, says,
For the first time, we have a critical mass of older generations of gay men who have always been out but who don't identify with the boyishness and effeminacy of the old-school gay subculture. And they're not looking to replicate or mimic the male-female relationship in any way. Yes. there are "daddies" and "boys" and "bears" and "cubs." But you are just as likely to find two mature, big guys who are simply into each other. As equals. As men.
He says that “they are not looking to replicate or mimic male-female relationship in any way.” Except of course when it comes to marriage, right? I would expect someone of Andrew Sullivan’s intellectual ability to recall the importance of making distinctions. You can not compare apples and oranges. That’s what this gay marriage issue is. It’s comparing apples with oranges.
4. Andrew Sullivan on Leaving the Catholic Church - Most Catholics would probably say that Andrew has already left the Church. Divorce, contraception, abortion, gay marriage. Whether I agree or disagree with any of these things is not the issue here. What I’m saying is that Sullivan’s positions on these matters are pretty much the opposite of Church teaching.
5. Ecclesiastical Audacity – I do not think that a group of men who knowingly sheltered, nurtured and cooperated with pedophiles and then denied it and STILL refuse to acknowledge their failings, should be making moral pronouncements of any magnitude such as the recent Vatican instruction about preserving marriage as well as some bishops’ and priests' pronouncements. There is further irony in the fact that many of these bishops and their priest assistants and secretaries are themselves gay and have ensconced themselves in a sub-culture that preserves their “closeted-ness” and allows them to continue to live afraid of discovery.
So sad.
Relapsed Catholic wrote this : Hey, guys: thanks again for coming out. Nice to see how fast the Church can shift itself when the issue is lay homosexual behaviour (no pun intended) rather than gay seminarians and man-boy-love priests and secret payoffs and lawsuits and whatnot.
But hey, that's why we pay you the big bucks.
6. Gay Bishops - Just sick of the whole gay issues thing. Geez, enough. Can we stop and pick it up again in the Fall?
7. Heat wave in Europe - Come to my neck of the woods this September, when it really gets hot.
8. Celebrities of any kind (See also #2 above.)
9. Hillary Clinton – She hasn’t been involved in any big news lately. S he’s just annoying and I do not want to hear her flapping he gums or see her ugly mug. Is that too much to ask?
10. France – Enough said.
Thanks to Relapsed Catholic, Suburban Blighte-Claire, and Drudgereport for the links.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 8/04/2003 12:19:00 PM
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BLOGGING - I just don't have it in me right now.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/31/2003 03:44:00 PM
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MY BLOG TRANSLATED INTO VALLEY GIRL - In case you run into one of those Valley Girls (and yes, they do exist) you might want to pick up some basic Valley Girl. Here's what my blog looks like when translated. Totally! SARTRE WAS RIGHT – Hell is totally other shoppers. Like, however, I need other shoppers. What is totally that all about? Like, I am so sure! Y ou know that feeling that you wish everyone would just fuck off and croak Overlay that with the feeling that you need someone else. Very confusing. On top of this, I totally have been wrestling with some gnarly feelings lately. I totally have this feeling of nervous anticipation, a feeling that I should be expecting something. It’s sort of like not being able to sleep Christmas Eve when I was like, you know, child Anyway... Sooo, like, this feeling of anticipation is totally also made up partly of dread, as if something terrible is totally likely to happen. Hmmm, maybe I should cancel that trip up to San Mateo this weekend.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/31/2003 11:25:00 AM
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WORK? WHAT WORK? - Sitting at my desk. Avoiding three staff reports. Eating a Kit Kat and wondering if I’ll have enough time to run all my errands during my lunch break. Staff barbecue today. I can grab some food, eat at my desk and then take my “real” break afterward. That should put in a better position to get all that crap done. Meanwhile, the staff reports…
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/31/2003 10:58:00 AM
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SARTRE WAS RIGHT – Hell is other people. However, I need other people. What is that all about? Y ou know that feeling that you wish everyone would just fuck off and die? Overlay that with the feeling that you need someone else. Very confusing. On top of this, I have been wrestling with some odd feelings lately. I have this feeling of nervous anticipation, a feeling that I should be expecting something. It’s sort of like not being able to sleep Christmas Eve when I was child. This feeling of anticipation is also made up partly of dread, as if something terrible is likely to happen. Hmmm, maybe I should cancel that trip up to San Mateo this weekend.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/31/2003 09:14:00 AM
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NAVEL GAZER - Kelley of SuburbanBlight is feeling a bit bored. Stop by and see how moments of quite and introspection can cause a person to be more aware of themselves. Rarely do such people share these revelations, but Kelley has been gracious enough to do so.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/31/2003 09:02:00 AM
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PRISONS FOR THE TRANSGENDERED - I know I opposed that gay only high school in NYC. However, in this case I would support something similar for this transgender person. This Donnie gal is going have nothing but trouble. If I were her, I’d cut my hair and butch it up. Of course, there’s still the problem of being a snitch. That never goes over well with prison inmates. You know those criminals, they have standards for good ness sake!
"I've lived in constant fear from the murderers, rapists and violent inmates I've had to co-exist with. I don't think I'll ever feel truly safe again," Hendrix said. "I've sat by helplessly as I've watched my body slowly revert back to the stage I was years ago -- before beginning hormone therapy -- because I was refused comparable medication."
Sad, but should the state supply the necessary hormones? I agree she should at least be protected.
Actually, you know what? This is way beyond anything I want to try to figure out. Mamma mia! This is all so freaking weird.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/30/2003 03:00:00 PM
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HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/30/2003 11:51:00 AM
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A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE - The US military presence in Iraq is in shambles? Really? Based on what? A bunch of disgruntled journalists who ask assinine questions and get in the way of the soldiers doing their job? Or maybe those people who wish more than anything that the US does in fact mess up in Iraq and they hope that the daily killings of our soldiers continue so that they can point their self-satisfied fingers and say "I told you so!" They have no concern for Iraqi or American life. They never have, not even when they protested the war. Their concern has always been the destruction of the Bush administration and the advancement of their own political agenda. The Euro-wankers and teh American left are absolutely astonshed that we Americans have rejected their party line. They cannot understand that someone would not embrace an anti-American, anti-capitalism, pro-tyrnnaicl dictator (Castro, et al) Socialist agenda.
Shambles, eh? Let's see.
Ba'athist Regime is destoyed.
Saddam is deposed and on the run.
Saddam's sons are dead and gone.
Key body guards arrested.
Ruling council and nine-member presidency established.
Water and electrical infrastructure being rebuilt.
No more torture chambers.
No more beatings of athletes for loosing a soccer match.
No more random rapes innocent women and girlsand feeding them to the lions.
No more genocial liquidation of the Marsh Arabs.
Freedom of the press flourishing.
Freedom of speech because there is no fear of retirbution form the Ba'athists.
Yeah, it's a fucking mess in Iraq. A fucking mess.
Sorry Loz. On this I must respectfully disagree.
GIVE ME A BREAK! It is a typical failing of the left to have absolutely no historical perspective. Take a look at Germany after WWII, there was resistence, there was no infrastructure, no order, and it seemed like no future for the German people. Now look at them! Over-fed, overpaid, over-taxed, underworked Socialists. Wow! The Iraqis should be so lucky!
As far as the "troops going off message." I would not call it going off message. I would call it insubordination. Bunch of snivlers that called for Rumsfelf to resign. Why the fuck did they sign up for military service? Think about it. Guns, tanks, bombers, bullets. What the hel did they think the army was about?
Grrrrrrrrr.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/29/2003 04:14:00 PM
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AFRICA - I have recently been honored with an invitation to contribute to a site dealing with the African continent. This is a well designed site and is the work of zombyboy of ResurrectionSong. Take a look. AfricaBlog is going to be a very enlightening experience for the contributors as well as the readers. Please visit and make comments and join in the discussion.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/28/2003 05:56:00 PM
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THE GOLD LINE - A great day for public transportation. The new Gold Line opened this weekend. It’s a new leg of the light rail system in Los Angeles. What? You didn’t know that L.A. had public transit? It’s true. This is exciting stuff. Well, maybe for planning nerds and mass transit types. I disagree with the libertarians who think that the government shouldn’t have spent money on this. I disagree that the market would have responded to this need. It didn’t. How long should we have waited?
Now, I will be taking the Metro into downtown rather than driving. Granted, I’m only about 10 miles from downtown, but on the 110 Freeway it’s a long 10 miles during rush hour and after a Dodgers game. I won’t be traveling during rush hour so the biggest bonus for me is that I’ll be able to take visit the new cathedral , Cal Plaza, the Bradbury Building, the Old Bank District, Angels Flight and the new Disney Concert Hall without having to worry about traffic and paying for parking. An added benefit is that I won’t have to worry about my car being stolen. (Not that anyone would want it, but some low-life is liable to steal it just for the fun of it.)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/28/2003 03:16:00 PM
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ROMAN FACE CREAM - This is really cool. This sort of stuff fascinates me. Imagine 2000 years ago. They found this and it has finger marks. It's like cleaning out the space under the bathroom sink and finding all that old crap except it's about 1,997 years older.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/28/2003 02:50:00 PM
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GAY HIGH SCHOOL - My niece always tells me that high school "is totally gay." However, I don't think this is what she has in mind. I was going to blog some more about this, but others have already said some good things. Their comments sections have some more to offer as well.
Here's Loz of BlahBlahFlowersZombyboy of Resurrectionsong David of Sketches of Strain
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/27/2003 03:19:00 PM
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UM, CAN I GET A REFUND? - You know what bugs me the most about this? My (excessive) state taxes paid for this garbage. I wonder when they'll do the study that uncovers the reasons people are liberal. I'll be nice and not try to guess why.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/25/2003 03:20:00 PM
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REAL NUNS - I never liked the idea of nuns in jeans. Even as a child I knew somethig wasn't quite right. I attended a school run by sisters who wore full habits (I'm only 32) and I also taught at the school for two years after college. The Carmelite Sisters are joyful, prayerful, healthy and happy. They've really made the transition from pre-Vatican II to post-Vatican II quite nicely. However, they have not abandoned their ministry. Nuns like the ones in this Fox News article really irk me. They are stepping into the domain of the laity. While these three nuns were trespassing on government property there were people dying in the streets, children going without an education, hospitals that were understaffed, lonely and sorrowing people left without consolation. These "nuns" should be ashamed of themselves.
See, they should be teaching the faith and forming the young. Living as spiritual mothers of the people and nursing the sick and dying.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/25/2003 12:56:00 PM
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THIEVING BASTARDS - Well, my wallet was stolen. I must have taken it out to pay for a drink or maybe I didn't put it back in my pocket all the way and it fell out. Then again, maybe someone picked my pocket. I can't be sure. I waitied to call the credit card company and the bank because I had a hope that maybe I just lost it and someone would turn it in. I called the bar, called the police department and no one had turned it in. Then, I called to report the cards lost and the gal at Bank of America informed me that there had been a few purchases yesterday. Or at least a few attempts at purchases. The fool stole the wrong guy's wallet. I had about 40 dollars in the wallet, my insurance card, my driver's license, one credit card which is right at the limit and an ATM/debit card for an account that will be relatively empty until next payday. Sucker! The dork tried to pay for something at an Internet Cafe and he also got some gas at a Mobil station. So, my account became overdrawn. (I have to fill out some sort of form to have the charges removed.) Now, I have to withdraw from my credit union account to bring my account into the black. Oh well, at least I hadn't just gotten paid. The little bastard could have really screwed me up.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/25/2003 12:48:00 PM
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BUSH 2004 - There are many signs that the economy is coming back to life. Combine that with progress in Iraq and I predict a Reagan-like landslide for GW in 2004.
Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the link.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/25/2003 12:44:00 PM
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ANOTHER SIGN THAT NOT EVERYONE HAS REALIZED THAT IT IS THE YEAR 2003 - Ok, like I've said before. They're living in the 14th century. The next time some left wing dumbass starts shrieking about Ashcroft's police state they should take a look at countries like this. This is what we call censorship boys and girls. People crushing their Dixie Chicks CDs, no matter how silly that may be, does not amount to censorship. That's called the free market. K?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/25/2003 12:39:00 PM
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THE ENLIGHTENED NATIONS OF AFRICA - Ah yes, if only the United States were as enlightened as the rest of the world. Our captialist, globalist economy and representative government really could stand to take a look at the exalted and enlighten mations of Africa with all of their rich traditions.
Yeah right!
It is laughable that peo-ol ethe likes of Nelson Mandela open their yaps about the United States. The whole continent of Africa is a mess (thanks in large part to the former EUROPEAN colonists. It is also a mess because the culture of Africa seems to promot or atr least support the kind of violence and corruption that seems to be Africa's lot fot the long term. Nevertheless, who do you think gets the blame. Yep. You guessed it. The United States and their agricultural policies and trade policies and our militart and our even international corporations.
I AM SICK OF IT FOLKS! I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE.
Hey Africa! Kiss my ass.
Hey Left Wing, America-Hating Euro-wankers! Kiss my ass!
Hey Islamofacists! Kiss my ass!
Hey 14th century Muslim countries! Kiss my ass!
Hey oppressive dictatorships who criticize the US! Kiss my ass!
Hey left wing in the United States! Kiss my ass!
Hey anti-globalization unwashed hippies! Kiss my ass!
All of you can take a flying leap!
You are ignorant and misinformed. You have an irrational hatred of the United States. You need to wake up. Sure, we're not perfect by any means, but at least we are free. FREE. Get it? Freedom, liberty, etc. You might pick up a book and read about it one of these days.
Thanks to Kelley at Suburban Blight for the link.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/25/2003 12:24:00 PM
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NEW POLL REVEALS THAT GERMANS ARE IDIOTS - This is an interesting poll. Apparently 100% belive that the one third of Germans under the age of 30 who believe that the United States Government is responsible for the attacks on 9/11 are complete morons.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/25/2003 12:20:00 PM
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WE CAN'T WIN, CAN WE? - OK, look, I know the pictures are graphic. But let's get real here. The Iraqis were all screaming that they wouldn't have believed the US unless they saw the dead bodies. Now they're all saying how uncivilized we are and how un-Islamic it is to show the corpses. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. These people are complete assholes. The Islamic worlds is so freaking backward and illterate. They're living in the Middle Ages. You know all those odd stories in the Bible? Stories of kings and murder and war and concubines and polygamy? If you wonder what that was really like just take a look at the Islamic world. I swear, when are these people gonna wake up and join the rest of us in the 21st century? Islam needs its own Enlightenment and reformation. I hope maybe that will begin with some sort of revolution in Iran and the institution of a democratic government in Iraq and Palestine. Maybe not, but I can at least hope.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/23/2003 01:34:00 PM
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COOL COMMERCIAL - I saw this commercial last night while watching a special about Saddam's dirtbag sons. I thought it was cool. Launch the site, click on “View the Commercial.” Very creative.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/23/2003 01:33:00 PM
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SPAM EMAIL SUBJECT LINE OF THE DAY - This Soccer Mom plays with balls
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/22/2003 02:16:00 PM
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CATCH OF THE DAY - Does this mean that we are closing in on Saddam? That would be the ultimate prize, would it not?
I shudder to think what awaits the souls of these two very evil men. There are some who are gleeful at the prospect of them burning in hell. Not me. It’s not that I think they do not deserve punishment. It’s just that it is sad when someone chooses to act in a manner that befits a future resident of the most hideous place one can imagine. I will give people the benefit of the doubt and assume that when they say they are happy that these bastards are burning in hell they are not being literal. Maybe I shouldn’t. Do I sound like a softy? I’m not. Please see my post recommending the death penalty for child molesters. It’s just that before someone is executed they are offered an opportunity to realize and accept the seriousness of there offense and then repent. I wish no one would choose to go to hell. Unfortunately, there are some, like the murderous thugs in Iraq who do so gleefully.
This is the lot of Odai and Qusai according to Dante. - Yikes!
Guarded by the Minotaur, who snarls in fury, and encircled within the river Phlegethon, filled with boiling blood, is the Seventh Level of Hell. The violent, the assasins, the tyrants, and the war-mongers lament their pitiless mischiefs in the river, while centaurs armed with bows and arrows shoot those who try to escape their punishment. The stench here is overpowering. This level is also home to the wood of the suicides- stunted and gnarled trees with twisting branches and poisoned fruit. At the time of final judgement, their bodies will hang from their branches. In those branches the Harpies, foul birdlike creatures with human faces, make their nests. Beyond the wood is scorching sand where those who committed violence against God and nature are showered with flakes of fire that rain down against their naked bodies...
I disagree with Kelley. I think the deaths of Odai and Qusai will be a great political benefit. It diffuses the “quagmire” b.s. a bit, does it not? I mean, at least the talking heads won’t be able to say that we are not making progress. Next stop Saddam. By the way, how sweet would it be to get that Islamofacist psycho Osama bin Laden as well? All in due time. All in due time…
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/22/2003 12:25:00 PM
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SPAM EMAIL SUBJECT LINES OF THE DAY -
I want you to watch me go potty
9 Girls + 1 Dorm = Fun, Fun, Fun
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/22/2003 08:29:00 AM
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IF EVER WE NEEDED THE DEATH PENALTY - I have always held that child molesters, pedophiles, and abusers of young boys and young men should receive the death penalty as their punishment. This son-of-a-bitch sure deserves it. In the past, heretics were burned at the stake because they were more dangerous than a murderer. A heretic was a threat not only to a person’s bodily well-being, but was a danger to a person’s eternal salvation. Similarly, someone who corrupts the youth, takes away their innocence, violates their dignity, violates his office, scandalizes the faithful, scandalizes non-believers, breaks his vows, and forever scars his victims is a threat to the psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being of people and should be destroyed. I do not say that lightly.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/21/2003 03:09:00 PM
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WHY DID BUSH GO TO WAR? - This is important to understand. Charles Krauthammer clears a few things up. Whether you support military action in Iraq or not, it is important that you at least know the truth and not the re-writing of history that is currently underway. Linked via Robert Prather (The Mind of Man)The wilder critics have attempted wag-the-dog theories: war as a distraction from general political woes (Paul Krugman quotes the Robert De Niro character advising the president: "You want to win this election, you better change the subject. You wanna change this subject, you better have a war.") or war as a distraction from a lousy economy. This is ridiculous. Apart from everything else, war is a highly dangerous political enterprise. No one had any idea that Baghdad would fall in three weeks and with so few casualties. Just as no one had any idea how costly and bloody the post-victory occupation would be.
On the contrary, the war was a huge political gamble. There was no popular pressure to go to war. There was even less foreign pressure to go to war. Bush decided to stake his presidency on it nonetheless, knowing that if things went wrong -- and indeed they might still -- his political career was finished.
It is obvious he did so because he thought that, post-9/11, it was vital to the security of the United States that Hussein be disarmed and deposed.
Under what analysis? That Iraq posed a clear and imminent danger, a claim now being discounted by the critics because of the absence thus far of weapons of mass destruction?
No. That was not the president's case. It was, on occasion, Tony Blair's, and that is why Blair is in such political trouble in Britain. But in Bush's first post-9/11 State of the Union address (January 2002), he framed Iraq as part of a larger and more enduring problem, the overriding threat of our time: the conjunction of terrorism, terrorist states and weapons of mass destruction. And unless something was done, we faced the prospect of an infinitely more catastrophic 9/11 in the future.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/21/2003 12:48:00 PM
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MY BIRTHDAY - It's my 32nd birthday today. Woohoo! I'll be at a City Council meeting this evening. Quite a lovely way to spend the evening on one's birthday, don't you think? I hope it doesn't go too long.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/21/2003 12:43:00 PM
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SUPPORTING THE ANTI-CHRIST - Loz ate at McDonald's! Loz ate at McDonald's! Neener, neener, neener!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/18/2003 09:51:00 AM
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ANDREW SULLIVAN ON BLAIR - You must read Sullivan's take on the Blair speech to Congress. Oh hell, read the whole blog today. He's got some good insights.
This is what the carpers and nay-sayers still don't understand. The West is at war with a real and uniquely dangerous enemy. When the consequences of negligence become catastrophic, the equation of intervention changes. The burden of proof must be on those who counsel inaction rather than on those who urge an offensive, proactive battle. Does it matter one iota, for example, if we find merely an apparatus and extensive program for building WMDs in Iraq rather than actual weapons? Or rather: given the uncertain nature of even the best intelligence, should we castigate our leaders for over-reacting to a threat or minimizing it? Since 9/11, my answer is pretty categorical. Blair and Bush passed the test. They still do.
I like this. The burden of proof is on the naysayers. YES! Exactly!
Also, did you see the look on Hillary's face? She was looking as Blair as if to say, "You traitor! You're supposed to be on our side. You and Billy were buddies."
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/18/2003 09:46:00 AM
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BLAIR'S SPEECH - James Lileks of course has some good thoughts on this. He ALWAYS does. You should read the entire Bleat too. He's quite a good writer!
RE: Blair - I haven’t heard every single speech Tony Blair has made since he popped on to the political scene; I don’t know if he argues for increased license fees for domestic gerbils with the same passion and force. But today he sounded like a man who knew things, who knows that the threat is still grave, and cannot understand why others seek transient political advantage in exploiting those sixteen words. The people are worried, your majesty! "Oh, let them eat yellowcake."
RE: Toddlers - We had our hamburgers, then went to the Apple Store. Gnat picked up a Finding Nemo game, and wanted to play it; I did a search on the kid’s computers and found a trailer for the movie. I called it up and hit PLAY and wandered off to look at the iSight cameras. After a few minutes Gnat came over, game box in hand. “That wasn’t a game,” she said. “It was only a commercial.”
To hear the word “commercial” come out of the mouth of a 35-month old creature is one thing, but to hear it spoken with such Olympian dismissal - ah. I’m raising one fine American woman.
Linked via Instapundit.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/18/2003 09:33:00 AM
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DEATH SWEPT UNDER THE RUG - Kelley at Suburban Blight has asked that people link to this in the hope that someone with information might come forward. If you know someone with a high traffic blog then maybe you can convince them to link to it as well. The death of this corrections officer has been largely ignored maybe someone can help.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/18/2003 09:19:00 AM
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DMV - The last two times I renewed my driver's license I did it through the mail. State law requires that I go to the DMV to renew it and get a new picture and of course the big brother thumb print. I went to the DMV this morning because my license expires on my birthday this coming Monday. I arrived at around 7:45 AM and there a pretty good line already. Much to my surprise the DMV was open and the line was actually moving fast. I was out of there by 8:15 and I was very pleased with the service I received from the folks at the DMV. I want to share some observations from my brief visit to the California Department of Motors Vehicles, S. Rosemead Blvd. Pasadena, CA.
1. The girl in front of me in line smelled of onions.
2. Everyone thinks that they don’t need to wait in line. They have a special problem that only requires a “quick question” to one of the DMV clerks.
3. I was sitting and waiting for G024 to be called and I smelled those damn onions again. I turned around and there’s a Chinese kid eating some sort of tuna sandwich with God knows what in it. I do know that it contained onions. Lots of onions.
4. People have no sense of propriety, manners or even common courtesy. If you’re fat cover your body. Heat and humidity do not give you the right to expose all that to the rest of us. Turn your freaking cell phone ringer down so people don’t jump from their seats when it rings. If you can’t hear on your mobile don’t sit next to someone and yell into the phone, especially if you’re yelling in Chinese.
5. There were two old men sitting next to me. One of the men was bragging that he had been driving since he was sixteen years old and has had no moving violations. Then he says, “yep, I’ve been driving for 68 years.” I quickly do the math. He’s 84 years old! I think to myself, “oh shit. This guy’s gonna kill someone.” So his number is called and the little computerized
lady’s voice directs him to window 24. Well, window 24 is on the other side of the office. He can’t see the sign across the room. He is all in a daze trying to figure out where he is and where to go. After several people tried to tell him, including me, he finally figured it out. We ended up next to each other at the window and the clerk was explaining to him that he needed to contact his optometrist because he failed the vision test. So, I’m thinking. Hmm, this guy failed the vision test, he’s hunched over, old, slow, and he’s about to get into his car and drive to his optometrist. I pray he makes it without killing himself or anyone else.
6. I’m happy to be free of the DMV. The weekend awaits and I got paid yesterday. After bills that leaves me…let’s see…four dollars and sixty-eight cents. Cool. A Diet Pepsi from the machine and a Snickers bar.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/17/2003 04:21:00 PM
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DO NOT BECOME DISTRACTED – Zombyboy points out what the news ISN’T about. Thanks for blogging about this. Like I said below, do not let them distract you from what is important here.
Another mass grave was discovered in Iraq.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/17/2003 02:38:00 PM
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TONY BLAIR - Go Tony!Go Tony! Go. Go. Go. Tony! You da bomb!I feel a most urgent sense of mission about today's world. 11 September was not an isolated event but a tragic prologue. Iraq; another act; and many further struggles will be set upon this stage before it is over. We are bound together as never before.
A man with a grasp on reality and an understanding of history. This is a trait that many on the Left lack. Seeing the "big picture" is essential. It seems Blair does.
The risk is that terrorism and states developing WMD come together. When people say that risk is fanciful, I say: We know the Taliban supported al-Qa'ida; we know Iraq under Saddam gave haven to and supported terrorists; we know there are states in the Middle East now actively funding and helping people who regard it as God's will, in the act of suicide, to take as many innocent lives with them on their way to God's judgement.
Yes! Reality once again! No assinine argument about a supposed failure in intelligence gathering and no time wasted discussing a "lie" that never was. We can not allow ourselves to become distracted. Don't let the Democrats distract us. They seek to maintain power even at the cost of American lives. Thankfully we have a President who will not let himself be distracted.
There is no more dangerous theory in international politics today than that we need to balance the power of America with other competitor powers, different poles around which nations gather.
Any alliance must start with America and Europe. Believe me if Europe and America are together, the others will work with us. But if we split, all the rest will play around, play us off and nothing but mischief will be the result of it.
We are part of Europe - and want to be. But we also want to be part of changing Europe. So don't give up on Europe. Work with it.
This is not poodle-ish. This is realistic. It is stating the facts. The US, for better or for worse (I think for the better) is the only super power. Why set up camp against it? Why not join it and work with it and help to influence it? Americans also need to accept that we do in fact need Europe. Not because they are culturally superior, but because we have a common interest in preserving the values of liberty that are under attack by Islamofacists.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/17/2003 10:52:00 AM
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MY BIRTHDAY – The building in which I live is over 70 years old and of course lacks central air. I have a window a/c unit in the living room that is not very effective. I really need a/c in my bedroom. This, after all, is where I sleep. Last night at 9 PM it felt like it was about 85 degrees. No lie. My birthday is July 21. This is what I’m getting for my birthday. I can’t wait! My mommy and daddy are buying this baby. Woohoo!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/17/2003 09:29:00 AM
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WEB CAM - Check out the Walt Disney Concert Hall under construction in downtown Los Angeles. Cool, eh?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/17/2003 08:50:00 AM
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SIGNS OF UNSAFE DRIVING - I found this web site for seniors that has some helpful information. My favorite "signs of unsafe driving?"
Drives against traffic, on the wrong side of the road.
Falls asleep while driving or gets drowsy.
Ya don't say? These are unsafe things to do behind the wheel?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/17/2003 08:48:00 AM
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TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE - Well, at least he’s honest. Don’t you hate it when you go to funerals and the deceased was really a bastard, but everyone is fishing for nice things to say?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/17/2003 08:43:00 AM
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BAD DRIVER -This angers me so much. This guy should not have been driving. There were bodies on his car and he had no idea what he had just done. KILLED NINE PEOPLE INCLUDING A SMALL CHILD! One of my friends said he felt bad for the old man. Yeah, me too for about 2 seconds. I hope he’s charged with something and I hope his doctor is to. His physician is required by law to alert the DMV if one of his patients should not be driving. Oh, and the old man is at home in his tidy Santa Monica neighborhood. The dumb ass probably still has no idea that he’ s destroyed dozens of lives. We all know that the most dangerous drivers are teenagers and old people. So why then do we not pass laws to require a behind the wheel test for everyone over a certain age rather than granting automatic five year renewals? Why? Because of the freaking AARP, probably. Look, I appreciate everything that the elderly have done for our country, especially the so-called “greatest generation.” However, the sense of entitlement and the stranglehold they have on our political leaders is frustrating; particularly in small suburban areas where they are the majority of the people who vote. I fear the impending retirement of the Boomers. God help us. Anyway, it seems reasonable to require a driving test. That’s all I’m asking for. Oh, and if we could figure out a way to remove slow moving seniors from the 210 Freeway during rush hour that would be swell too.
Here's how the FoxNews story begins : Police and residents of this Southern California seaside city were questioning Thursday morning whether the 86-year-old man whose car plowed though a crowd of people the previous afternoon, killing nine and injuring dozens of others, should have been behind the wheel at all.
Gee, ya think?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/16/2003 05:03:00 PM
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COMMENTS - I now have comments available! Have at it folks! Be nice.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/16/2003 02:04:00 PM
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RULES - Apparently some people have a problem with the dress code at St. Peter's Basilica. Rules are rules folks. Quit complaining. Sometimes you are required to dress a certain way for certain places and occasions. For instance, it is not not likely that if you worked for a law firm you would be permitted to wear shorts and sandals to work, particularly if you had to appear in court. Schools have uniforms. Heck, even the folks at McDonald's have a dress code. Granted, the tourists are not employees of the Vatican, but still, doesn't the Vatican have a right to require a certain form of dress? Would these people be complaining if they were in Asia or India and required to remove their shoes to enter a temple of some sort? I doubt it. You see, Eastern spirituality is "cool" and "mysterious" and "culturally enlightening." Their dress code is an expression of an "ancient cultural development," etc. blah, blah. Yeah? Well, modesty is a two thousand year old Christian tradition. Get over it and put on some pants you big cry babies! Sheesh, no one is forcing you to go to St. Peter's.
Oh and by the way, it's over 100 degrees where I am and I am wearing a long sleeve shirt and a tie. Going outside isn't pleasant, I assure you, but I dress this way for work.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/16/2003 09:44:00 AM
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SULLIVAN - I just realized that in one post Andrew Sullivan laments the “fiscal wreckage” and then in another he questions Bush’s commitment to Africa, which will apparently cost us about 15 billion dollars. I guess it’s ok to spend money on African medical care, but not on medical care for our own seniors. Bosh!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/16/2003 09:36:00 AM
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SULLIVAN - Does anyone else think that Andrew Sullivan gets a bit melodramatic at times? Don’t get me wrong. I think he’s a bright guy. I just think he should chill sometimes. For instance, one post today is entitled “The Fiscal Wreckage.” I don’t know. It just seems too much.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/15/2003 03:16:00 PM
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IRONY OF IRONIES - Yes, so ironic even my British reader will appreciate it. A First Amendment Free Zone at a place celebrating the Constitution. What next? A Jesus-free-zone at the local Catholic church? (Oh, wait. We've already got that.)
I think there’s a bigger issue here. Check out the photo of the TWENTY YEAR OLD gentleman who is at the center of this story. Now, next week I’ll be 32 years old. I don’t look much like a 25 year old, but I look at least my age. This kid is 20! Does he look 20? He looks like my 42 year old brother! Am I being stupid here? I don’t think so. Maybe it’s just the photograph.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/15/2003 02:22:00 PM
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LINKS - As promised, more blog links have been added. Just look to the right there.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/15/2003 02:19:00 PM
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BILINGUAL EDUCATION - There are reasons some people oppose bilingual education and they are not intolerance and racism. Voice From the Commonwealth makes a case against bilingual education in Massachusetts.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/15/2003 12:52:00 PM
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THE RELAPSED CATHOLIC HAS ME CRACKING UP - 16 Words...Just read this. This too.
Now shut up.
While I'm here: will the person who got here searching for "corrie ten boom" + "nude" please kill themselves immediately. I promise: God won't mind.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/15/2003 12:11:00 PM
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WAL-MART AND “THE GAYS” – I only see one problem with this. The sensitivity training. Sensitivity training is usually a bunch of paternalistic bull-shit. That’s the only problem I have with Wal-Mart’s decision to protect gays in the workplace. Putting aside my discomfort with this sort of training I can support Wal-Mart on this one.
I’ll let you read what Zombyboy has to say about the matter. I wonder if the Democrats feel about the far left socialists in their party the same way we feel about the far right nut jobs in ours.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/15/2003 11:52:00 AM
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NUT JOB GETS NUTTIER – Seriously folks. Is this the sort of thing we want to be known for among the international community? Pat Robertson is such a disappointment. How about just praying for the Justices in general. Their health and well-being and their soundness of mind. This hocus pocus spell-casting for a certain result is ludicrous.
I have a confession to make. I have NEVER said this to anyone. I’m not sure whether I should be embarrassed or amused with myself, or just chalk it up to the hope of a teenager as he tried to figure out who he was and where he was going. Ok, so here it is. I “gave my life to the Lord” while watching the 700 Club when I was 17. How ‘bout dat? It’s especially odd when you consider the fact that I was raised Catholic. I like to think that God honored that bit of piety despite the fact that it was encouraged by a COMPLETE LOON!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/14/2003 02:59:00 PM
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STRANGER THAN FICTION -This is too much. Really, really TOO MUCH. Funny, nonetheless.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/14/2003 01:55:00 PM
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SPAM EMAIL SUBJECT LINES OF THE DAY -
Blonde..Pantyhose..Teasers!!.
OLder..Blonde MOms..
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/14/2003 01:54:00 PM
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HYPHENATED NAMES - Maybe I’m old-fashioned. Maybe I’m a sexist pig. Maybe I’m narrow-minded and inconsiderate. Maybe. But probably not. I refuse to cave to the hyphenated last name stuff when communicating with people. For instance, if John Smith married Mary Jones and Mary now hyphenates her name as Mary Jones-Smith am I expected to address a letter to both of them specifically? Should the salutation read: Dear Mr. John Smith and Mrs. (Ms.??) Mary Jones-Smith? No way. It’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith for crying out loud. If, for professional reasons, someone wants to hyphenate, then WHATEVER. BUT, if I have to address both the husband and the wife, they’re Mr. and Mrs. - Punto basta!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/14/2003 01:52:00 PM
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BRITNEY SPEARS - There should be a law.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/13/2003 07:49:00 PM
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SPEAKING OF DIETS - Look who won the Powerball jackpot. Maybe they can now afford some of those Atkins products. Ok, Ok, I'm an ass.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/13/2003 07:48:00 PM
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SPEAKING OF ASSES - There's this . And this.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/13/2003 07:33:00 PM
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DIETS - I attended a wedding reception on Saturday afternoon and the conversation of course turned to diets. Several people there were on the Atkins diet and everyone discussed the merits of Atkins and debated some of the draw backs and compared it to other diets. So, idiot (and thin person) that I am, I said, "Why don't you just excercise more and eat less." Ouch. Bad move Patrick. I got some scowls for that one. I hadn't even thought about what I was saying. I guess there are two lessons to take away from this. First, think before you speak. (Still working on this one.) Second, never point out the obvious to people who would prefer not to hear it. I understand that it's not easy for people to lose weight. I really do. I lost 25 pounds a couple of years ago by eating better and eating less and exercising more. It was easy for me. I'm grateful for that. It just seems that that is the answer. I can't believe that 2/3 of the adult American poulation have "glandular conditions."
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/13/2003 05:37:00 PM
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SPAM EMAIL SUBJECT LINE OF THE DAY - Encounter Loyal And Grateful Women
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/12/2003 02:42:00 PM
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FEDERALIST NO. 6 - So there I was, reading Federalist No. 6, "Concerning Dangers from Dissensions Between States" and WHAM! Something just jumped of the page. Hamilton wrote, way back in 1787, “Is it not time to awake from the deceitful dream of a golden age, and to adopt as a practical maxim for the direction of our political conduct that we, as well as the other inhabitants of the globe, are yet remote from the happy empire of perfect wisdom and perfect virtue?”
This reminded me of something I read recently. Think Patrick. Think. Oh yes, Robert Kagan – Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order. Kagan writes that Europe is turning away from power “into a self-contained world of laws and rules and transnational negotiation and cooperation.” (A Kantian paradise of “perpetual peace.”)
Kagan explains that this so-called paradise of perpetual peace that the Europeans live in has only been made possible by the fact that they have had to worry little about their security for the last sixty years due to the presence and might of the United States. In other words their paradise is really a mirage. Kagan asserts that this is unrealistic and the United States understands that there are people and nations in this world that do not play by the rules of civilized society. In fact they will use the mechanism and political institutions of civilized nations to work against them. It may be true that some nations of the world have advanced a bit and moved beyond the mere rule of the sword. However, just as Hamilton warned over 300 years ago we need to wake up and realize that we are, “yet remote from the happy empire of perfect wisdom and perfect virtue.”
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/12/2003 02:37:00 PM
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SPAM EMAIL SUBJECT LINE OF THE DAY - Im broke like a joke!
(Story of my life.)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/10/2003 03:57:00 PM
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FINALLY, AN ANSWER - Today was my big trip to the dermatologist to see what the hell was causing the bumpy, red goodness around my mouth and nose. The diagnosis was… seborrheic dermatitis. I guess it’s sort of like acne, it just sort of appears from nowhere. I was given a cortisone shot in my right glute. Ouch. I was also given a medicated face cleanser and two new topical ointments to use together. We shall see how this goes. The dermatologist says I should be completely cleared up in no more than two weeks. This after MONTHS of trying to figure out what the H-E double hockey sticks was going on. Thank you Dr. Laurie Woll. You’re the bomb-dot-com.
One suggestion. Tell your office staff to find something else to put on the waiting room television. Besides the volume being so high, Good Day L.A. is the most inane morning “news” show ever. It ranks just below the KTLA Morning News. Thanks.
Should this post be in the TMI category? So sue me, I live alone. I have to tell someone. (Feel sorry for me yet?)
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/10/2003 03:14:00 PM
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PET OBSESSION - I have to admit that I have never understood people’s obsessive love for their pets, particularly cats. I’m allergic yet my family always had at least two, go figure. Anyway, if you have ever read Rachel Lucas’s blog you know that she really, really loves her dogs. It’s a little weird in my opinion. However, “to each his own,” as Mom always says. Despite my inability to understand pet obsession this post on Rachel’s blog cracked me up. First, look at Sunny’s face and imagine Rachel having this conversation with her. Very funny.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/10/2003 02:06:00 PM
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BUSY? NO, LAZY – I fully intend to add more blog links to my site. However, I am feeling lazy. In the mean time here are some blogs I read regularly and other I have just begun to read.
The Belgravia Dispatch The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid Voice From the Commonwealth The Campblog Suburban Blight Resurrection Song Electric Venom Blah Blah Flowers
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/10/2003 12:33:00 PM
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URBAN STUDIES –James Lileks even does urban studies stuff. He really is a broadly knowledgeable fellow. This link is for the Minneapolis study, but he has one for Fargo and one for New York City as well.
Pictures are what drew me to urban planning in the first place, especially images that depict the growth of a city. In fact, I can recall my Grade Five social studies book depicting the settlement of the continent by the Europeans in progressive images. The first image Showed a small native settlement that gradually evolves into a farming village, then a town and then a large city. Simplistic, but I got the point. I remember wondering what happened to the Indians and why they couldn’t keep their settlement and the new guys could just start their city somewhere else. I was way ahead of my time. Quite progressive for a 10 year old, don’t you think?
The life of cities has fascinated me since I was about 12 years old. (Nerd alert!) I’ve always tried to figure out why some cities work and other do not. I have some planning theory classes under my belt now so it is less mysterious. Still, cities fascinate me. The practice of local planning can be tedious, but there’s always the fun stuff, like pretty pictures.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/10/2003 11:06:00 AM
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GRAY DAVIS – I think it’s time for me to say a few words about my much-loathed governor. His real name is Joseph Graham Davis, but you can call him Gray. That’s what he goes by. You can also call him Governor Low Beam or Gray-out Davis. Anyway, I’ve had it with this clown. It’s time for him to GO! I understand the economy slowed and the tech industry went bust and now we aren’t collecting the income taxes and capital gains taxes of all the tech types, but give me a break! 38.5 freaking million dollars and climbing! The guy could have at least been honest about the dollar amount during the election.
I’m not saying Ahnuld should be the next governor, or even Issa, but for God’s sake. Anyone would be better than Lowbeam. I work for a city that depends, like all California cities, on money from the state government. Guess what. We’re not getting this money, which means we are working with or surplus this new fiscal year. If things don’t shape up old Paddy-Pat could be out of a J-O-B by next year. (Worst case scenario.)
These idiots aren’t helping matters. These boneheads don’t seem to be having much luck either.
You’d think that the most populous and diverse state in the Union could come up with a few good men or women to run this place.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/10/2003 11:04:00 AM
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WARNING! GOD STUFF – The Fulton Sheen book, Peace of Soul, changed my life when I first read it in 1993. I was 21 at the time. Since then, I have changed in many ways. Despite the innumerable changes in me and in my life since then, the book still inspires and as I reread the book it is changing me in entirely new ways. This excerpt was particularly moving.
Love of God…becomes the dominant passion of life; like every other worthwhile love, it demands and inspires sacrifice. But love of God and man as an ideal, has lately been replaced by the new ideal of tolerance that inspires no sacrifices. Why should any human being in the world be merely tolerated? What human has ever made a sacrifice in the name of tolerance? It leads people, instead, to express their own egotism in a book or a lecture that patronizes the downtrodden group. One of the cruelest things that can happen to a human being is to be tolerated. Never once did Our Lord say, “Tolerate your enemies!” But he did say, “Love your enemies; do good unto them that hate you.” (Matt. 5:44) Such love can be achieved only if we deliberately curb our fallen nature’s animosities.
In my experience tolerance is often a cover for not giving a damn about people or not being willing to make the sacrifices required of genuine love and compassion. Who wants to be tolerated? Don’t we all want to be loved? Don’t we all NEED to be loved? Sheen is amazing. He never disappoints. I can pick up Peace of Soul and start reading from the middle of a page and there is always something profound yet simple there on the page to inspire me or cause me to think more deeply about something. Very often my response to his work is, “Of course! Why haven’t I ever gotten that?”
The verse that Sheen cites could just as easily read, “Love those you do not understand. Love those with whom you disagree. Love especially the most marginalized and oppressed among you!” I can think of all sorts of areas where more love is needed. – Gay men and women, single mothers, refugees, divorced men and women, etc. I’m not saying that you have to take a stand on any one issue. What is required is love. So simple. So profound. So difficult at times.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/09/2003 01:37:00 PM
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URBAN PLANNING - I realized today that I have not said much about Urban Planning in this blog. While planning is my profession I fear that it will bore my two readers. Well, one of them is a planner so maybe he could handle it.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/09/2003 01:32:00 PM
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EVIL - Zombyboy at Resurrection Song linked to a Fox News story about human rights abuses and torture in Zimbabwe. I couldn’t read the story past the first few lines. I mentioned on the comments section of Resurrection Song that I am growing weary of these stories. How many tales of torture, murder and general inhumanity are we expected to be able to handle emotionally?
The first thing I consider when I read one of these horrible stories is: what could possibly cause a person to be so dead to human feeling? I’m not trying to psychoanalyze the monsters who commit these atrocities and lessen their guilt. I’m really only trying to be sure that not even a shred of whatever evil possess these people is in me.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/09/2003 12:33:00 PM
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THE BLOGOSPHERE - It’s funny how the blogosphere works. I’ve explained to the blog uninitiated that you can begin to link from one blog to the next and seem to be lost and forget where you began. I have noticed in my limited blogging experience that there are certain cliques of people that hang together. Well, not cliques in the negative high school snob sense, just circles of like-minded bloggers who have their buddies. The blogosphere is like real life in this regard. Everyone has their friends. Everyone has someone who loves them and whether or not we understand how anyone could like or love a certain person that’s just the way it is. It’s like mom always says, “there’s someone for everyone.”
I do not remember the source of this blogclique, but I have been introduced to their sites this week and so I thought I’d share their blogs with you. (Come to think of it I believe that I linked to Suburban Blight through another blog and then went from there.)
Suburban Blight Electric Venom On the Fritz Resurrection Song
These are four blogs that are new to me. You're sure to find more blogs in their “blogclique.” Enjoy.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/09/2003 08:27:00 AM
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HMMMM - Hulk doll's monster willy
Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the link.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/07/2003 04:12:00 PM
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THE ICC - Mike Campbell has a good break down of some of the problems with the International Criminal Court.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/07/2003 10:32:00 AM
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JAMES LILEKS CRACKS ME UP - I think that James Lileks is one of the best social commentators around. His grasp of pop culture, politics and events in the news is astounding. He has an admirable ability to look at the world around him and very sarcastically and very humorously make sense of it or mock it mercilessly. You should read his site daily. The Iraq invasion of Kuwait was in August, too. But July? Shark attacks, big movie openings, and magazine covers that say “How to Get the Best Butt on the Beach!” I think they are referring to the one you have previously installed, as opposed to a butt in the possession of others, but in either case you know you’re in the silly season, the time when Western Civilization stops paying attention and has a tall cold one.
Actually, that “Best Butt on the Beach!” headline ran a few months ago, during the preseason YOU ARE A FAT PIG OOZING WITH PIG FAT, YOU FAT PIG series of magazines aimed at that tender demographic desperately concerned with winning the best-beach-butt award. My favorite cover story from this spring: How Lucy Liu Gets Her Bikini Bod! I’d guess it has something to do with being under 35, with training six hours a day, avoiding everything except dehydrated watercress, and knowing that a thousand women skinnier than her get off the bus in LA every day. Not lessons the rest of us can learn, I fear. The BestBeachButt story just fascinated me, though - it cuts to the heart of the Great Dilemma that grips its possessor: people will be looking at your three-bee. That is, after all, the point. But there are three such groups who will be observing:
1. Other women (die in envy, cows!)
2. Cute guys (who will not be allowed to assume anything from the fact that the 3B is covered by a strip of fabric so small it makes a blade of grass look like a circus tent)
3. Dorks. Geeks. Pervy old guys who wear long pants to the beach. Those weird guys who show up on motorcycles, and they have like suntanned arms and these huge white guts and floppy white man-boobs and sunglasses and big Santa beards and they sit there with ZZ Pop or whatever on the radio acting like they’re so cool, and I’m like Hello, where do I start to tell you how gross you are, maybe with your head? because I really don’t want to THINK about your toes? which have these yellow nails made out of like credit card plastic? Group three cannot look at my butt for more than 2 seconds and only if I am walking past. They cannot turn their heads. I forbid it! By decree of Queen Butt!
Maybe the Council of Witheringly Honest Young Women should just tag everyone at the beach; if you were classified as a Level Three Dork you must avert your eyes when the 3B saunters past.
Anyone whose wallet is attached to his belt by a chain is required to put a bag over his head when Ms. 3B arrives.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/07/2003 10:05:00 AM
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HMMMM - I thought Loz might be mortified to learn that we are in fact very similar creatures according to Quizilla.
You represent... hope.
You're quite a daydreamer and can be a hopeless romantic. You enjoy being creative and don't mind being alone at times. You have goals, and know what you want in life... even if they are a little far fetched.
What feeling do you represent? brought to you by Quizilla
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/07/2003 10:00:00 AM
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SPAM EMAIL SUBJECT LINE OF THE DAY - While hubby is away, mom wants to play
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/07/2003 09:53:00 AM
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CLARIFICATION - I need to clarify for Ms. Blah Blah that the post about the American soldiers at Normandy was not meant to be used as fodder for mockery. I was responding to photos that moved me very deeply. (Just look at their faces.) I suppose that I could have omitted the comment about France being ungrateful and I have no doubt that those liberated people were indeed grateful for the sacrifice. Why has this gratitude not been conveyed to the children and grandchildren of those liberated? I’m not saying that the French should bow at our feet in humble adoration for the blood spilled for their freedom (more than once). I’d just like to see a little respect for the sacrifices made. I do not see it.
This is another example of the failure among Western nations to transmit to the next generation an understanding of the principles of liberty and the sacrifices often required to defend them.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/07/2003 09:33:00 AM
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RACHEL LUCAS – By the way, I’d like to thank Rachel Lucas for setting such a good example for the rest of us bloggers. She is always quick to apologize, correct herself and even mock herself if she has posted something incorrect.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/07/2003 09:31:00 AM
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BUSY TAKING A BREAK - Four days off for Independence Day has been great. Now it’s back to work and back to spouting off on this blog o’ mine.
I want to clear up my comments about the French and the war memorial that I posted on July 1. Since I posted my original comments I have been informed that my assumptions about the “missing” US flag at the war memorial were incorrect. I apologize for jumping to conclusions. BUT…can you blame me? While I gladly admit the error, I think my reaction was based on experience and not an irrational hatred of a nation that I rarely have to deal with. I’ve been to the museum called France and I assure you that not all French people are rude. However, the reaction to my intentionally excessively humble attitude (wanted to try to undo the “ugly American” reputation) was usually greater snobbery. I have relatives in France who do nothing but bitch about the US when they visit. (So stay in France then.) They take every opportunity to belittle even the simplest of American habits or attitudes or ideas; everything from our supposed excessive use of air conditioning to calling pie with ice cream “a la mode.” As if we don’t realize that this phrase is based on some sort of historic usage and is probably not a phrase the French would use to describe this sort of dessert. Give me a break. Talk about being desperate to find something to complain about. Meanwhile, Americans fall all over themselves to make them feel welcome.
The Dissident Frogman cleared things up. Rachel Lucas, in her usual fashion, was quick to correct herself.. After presenting the facts as she understood them, Rachel makes this very important point.
And those are the facts as I know them now. So, basically, while I stand by 95% of what I said in my rant about this yesterday (the French can still go to hell and are in fact wankers in general and they do largely hate us so screw 'em), there is most likely no reason whatsoever to be upset that no American flag flies at the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy in Bayeux, France.
Thanks Rachel. My sentiments exactly. Except the Hell part. I believe in a place called Hell, (No, it’s not Bakersfield) so maybe I’d say they can go climb a rock.
I hope this clears things up a bit for those folks who came across my blog.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/02/2003 01:11:00 PM
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GROSS - Giant sea specimen baffles scientists
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/02/2003 09:27:00 AM
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SPAM EMAIL SUBJECT LINE OF THE DAY - Blood sucking midget love
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/01/2003 03:12:00 PM
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NO GREATER LOVE - Farmers. Shop Keepers. Students. Eagle Scouts. Fishermen. Mechanics. Milkmen. Postmen. Carpenters. Teenagers. Thirty-somethings with children. They were all our brothers and they suffered and died for our freedom and for the freedom of a seemingly ungrateful nation (France). They made the ultimate sacrifice.
I linked to these photos of the landing at Normandy and the Britannica site via Rachel Lucas and I appreciate her posting them. Look at the faces of these men. They were just like you and me. Their lives were given for freedom and the end of tyranny. Remember them when others don’t. Honor them when others don’t. Tell others about them so that their sacrifice is known. They were our brothers and we owe it to them.
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/01/2003 11:51:00 AM
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THE FRENCH DO NOT MAKE IT EASY TO LIKE THEM - I don’t want to hate the French. It’s just that they give me so few reasons to like them. In fact they actually give me reasons to loathe them. The Dissident Frogman made a sort of pilgrimage to Normandy to pay homage to the men who died to liberate Western Europe, specifically France. When he arrived there he found THIS. Un believable. The height of arrogance and ingratitude. If only the flag at the entrance was missing I might be able to rationalize that it was being repaired or cleaned. However, it’s missing from everything. I loathe them beyond words, these ungrateful socialist hypocrites.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 7/01/2003 09:47:00 AM
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MORE OF THE "BRAVE" NEW WORLD - Womb transplants? Pregnant men? Mamma mia!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/30/2003 05:10:00 PM
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SAD NEW WORLD - This is unsettling. The thought of harvest eggs from aborted girls is offensive. It adds insult to injury, to put it lightly. First, the child’s life is abruptly ended because of a “choice” made by her mother. Then, her eggs are harvested from her now lifeless body. It’s as if we have said, “hey, sorry you can’t live, but thanks for the eggs!” This makes absolutely no sense. Why are they harvesting the eggs? THEY WILL BE HARVESTING THE EGGS TO IMPLANT INTO INFERTILE WOMEN SO THEY CAN HAVE CHILDREN. Am I the only one who sees the idiocy here? Aborted babies become the mothers of children. Hey, here’s an idea, why not just let the aborted girl live and give her to the infertile woman who wants her eggs?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/30/2003 05:01:00 PM
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SPAM EMAIL SUBJECT LINE OF THE DAY -
See your friends mom naked mfhookabppy
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/29/2003 05:23:00 PM
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SHOCKING AND SAD - Porch Collapse at Party in Chicago Kills at Least 12 This kind of stuff floors me. It's so random and unexpected. Such a tragedy.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/29/2003 05:16:00 PM
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EUROPE NEEDS CHILDREN!Aging Europe Finds Its Pension Is Running Out This gives new meaning to the name "Old Europe." Two lessons to be learned from this. 1) Life means work. As people begin to age we need to rethink the age requirements for receving pensions. If people are going to make it to 90 years old, then maybe Social Security payments should kick in at around 75. 2) This highlights the importance of having children. Children not only carry on the cultural legacy, they also care for the elderly. More people means more workers, which means more tax payers, which means more money into the Social Security system.
I am very grateful that I do not contribute to the Social Security program. My retirement account is privately held and funded by myself with a limited contribution from my employer. The government can't steal my money to balance the budget.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/29/2003 05:07:00 PM
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SADLY, THE END OF AN ERA - Iconic Actress Katharine Hepburn Dies at 96
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/26/2003 10:10:00 AM
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OH, THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING - The Supreme Court has decided to overturn a Texas sodomy law. I wonder if this is just one isolated event or part of a bigger societal change that is looming.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/26/2003 09:25:00 AM
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TEACHERS PACKIN’ HEAT - This is somewhat troublesome to me. I'm not so sure teachers should carry guns to school, lest they fall into the wrong hands. I’m torn. Part of me thinks that if criminals do not know who is carrying a weapon, they might be less likely to commit assaults because the run the risk of being shot. This would be a good thing and it is an argument put forth by those who support easier access to guns for those who meet the qualifications, i.e. no criminal record, mental health check, etc. On the other hand, part of me wishes that we didn’t need to carry guns. I mean, why do people have to be such idiots? I do not comprehend the mindset that leads to someone committing crime, particularly crimes that do bodily harm to individuals. I’ve been poor, I’ve been down in the dumps, I’ve wanted things I couldn’t have, but I never for one millisecond even considered that committing a crime might be a means of resolving these problems. It’s as if we are slipping back into a form of tribalism that existed in pre-civilized societies. If you disagree, just look at some neighborhoods of our cities and check out the territorialism, the clan loyalties, and the law of the jungle that permeates them. Scary. Not hopeless or insurmountable, just a bit daunting.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/26/2003 08:40:00 AM
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SPAM EMAIL SUBJECT LINES OF THE DAY -
Mad that mother nature cheated you?
..Dirty..adult..love..
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/24/2003 08:36:00 AM
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SUNSHINE DAY - After nearly an entire month of sunless days the sun is finally shining this morning. We expect the "June Gloom," but this June seemed to be particularly gloomy and unusually cool. Hurray for the sun! Hurray for summer!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/23/2003 02:48:00 PM
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GOOD NEWS - For the last week or so my retirement investments have been worth more than my contributions. Very nice. I hope this continues
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/23/2003 01:29:00 PM
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CARDBOARD GUN CONTROL - Cardboard guns don't kill people. People kill people! This is great. Those who would ignore or subvert the Second Amendment to the US Constitution rant about the danger of guns and the need for greater gun control. (Not really gun control. More likely the elimination of private gun ownership.) The point is often made that if guns are outlawed, then only criminals will possess them. Yeah, and whether guns are legal or illegal you never know when someone will use a cardboard gun to escape from prison.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/19/2003 02:47:00 PM
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IS THIS HEALTHY? - Renee Zellweger chubs up for 'Bridget Jones' sequel. What sort of effect must this have on her body? Can't be good for the heart.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/19/2003 01:33:00 PM
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GEE, WHAT A SURPRISE - An ancient burial box purported to have held the bones of Jesus’ brother, James, is a fake, Israel's Antiquities Authority said Wednesday. These sorts of things always end up being fakes. Besides, James was likely his cousin. As there was no word for cousin the word brother was used loosely.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/17/2003 12:34:00 PM
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IRAN, FRANCE, and THE UNITED STATES - More intrigue, speculation and politicking. The blog Voice From the Commonwealth has this to say. Linked via Intapundit. Do you ever wish we were still a nation of farmers?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/17/2003 10:49:00 AM
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ANGLOSPHERE - This bears re-posting. It's important to understand and to promote the Anglosphere.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/17/2003 08:20:00 AM
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SPAM EMAIL SUBJECT LINE OF THE DAY - thes>e fr!eaks =do :anything
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/16/2003 06:05:00 PM
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BBC BIAS - Here is an example of very subtle BBC bias. The really sad thing is that I am not sure the author even realizes what he wrote. Check this out.
"Cities are organised around the car, there are multi-lane highways, drive-thru facilities, drive-by shootings and wars about oil. "
To which wars do you think he refers? WWI or WWII? No, those were just wars because we saved Europe from itself. Honestly people, give us abreak.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/16/2003 06:01:00 PM
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SUMMER - I think I love summer. I don’t think I would have said this last summer. For some reason it actually feels like summer. I have that excited feeling like when I was a kid. I really want to make the most of summer. I want to hike more, go to the beach, etc. I'd have a barbecue if I had a patio or a balcony. I guess I'll have to count on everyone else. One thing I want to do at least once, maybe twice this summer is go to the Hollywood Bowl. I've gone every summer for the last four years and I can't believe I had never gone before that. It's great being outdoors in that amphitheater listening to music. I love how they begin with the national anthem and everyone rises. It's a long time tradition at the Bowl. I enjoy the shows around July 4. They play the 1812 overture and shoot off fireworks. It's really cool. I guess it's the pop-culturization of classical music. Whatever, it works. Anyway, enjoy summer. Have a barbecue, go to the beach or lake or river. Put on sunscreen and let the smell of it take you back to all those other great summers. Take a weekend trip somewhere with your friends and listen to road trip music like the Eagles or James Taylor or Shakeera. :-) Just kidding about Shakeera, of course.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/16/2003 05:56:00 PM
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ANTI-AMERICANISM - I am alternately frustrated and amused when I read the attempts by European intellectuals to explain the United States to non-Americans. It amazes me the stuff they come up with. I also am amused by polls such as that recently conducted by the BBC. The results of which indicate that 57% of the respondents are hostile toward the United States. Hmmm, how should I say this? SO WHAT!? I have a suggestion. Perhaps the BBC should conduct another poll in which they ask Americans if we give a flying fig what the people of Jordan or Indonesia or France think of us. For God's sake. Do these people think we care? After they conduct the poll to get the American response I suggest that they do a study on how the socialist bureaucracies of Europe are choking the economic and creative life out of the nations they supposedly represent. OK, see, I'm not amused anymore. Now I'm frustrated.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/11/2003 04:00:00 PM
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21st CENTURY IS CALLING - Further proof that not everyone has quite made it into the 21st Century. That’s 21st Century AD, not BC. Come on folks. Get it together. First, what the hell was Israel doing trying to assasinate a Hamas goon when things were so precarious, but hopeful? Second, is it really necessary to kill innocent people on a bus in retaliation. The Israelis at least target terrorists. The Hamas scumbags target innocent civilians. That's called terrorism.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/11/2003 03:53:00 PM
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I KID YOU NOT - Recently a conversation here in the office was recounted to me by a coworker. I'll skip the set up and let it stand on its own.
Eric: Do you want to volunteer to be a judge for the City's 4th of July parade floats?
Girl in Office: I'm not sure, when is the parade?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/10/2003 01:43:00 PM
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LUNCH - There is nothing like dragging the cuff of your white shirt through curry chicken. Sweetness.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/10/2003 12:44:00 PM
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RANKING BLOGS - The Blogosphere Power Rankings -- The Most Popular Political Blogs On The Net. Interesting. Most of the blogs on the list are familiar to me, but there are others I'll have to take a look at. The blogosphere is great in that you can link and link and link almost endlessly from one blog to another.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/10/2003 11:10:00 AM
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NEW FORMAT - I changed the template for the site again. I decided that the previous template was too dark and busy. The one benefit of the previous template was that I had not seen very much of it by other bloggers. The new template is more commonly used. I think there is a reason for that. It's simple, clean and easy to read. It's sort of like my apartment, simple, clean, bright. Anyway, I hope you like it, PDC.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/10/2003 11:00:00 AM
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DISCONNECT - I have an old picture of me in my soccer uniform that has been scanned and I look at it often. Ok, maybe I stare at it. It's saved on my computer as "Soccer Face." The photo was taken when I was about ten years old and I am wearing a lime green and white polyester soccer uniform. In the full version of the picture I am holding a soccer ball under one arm. My hair was very blond, almost white, and I was sort of squinting into the sun and smiling. This is probably weird, but I often just stare at the image. The photo is haunting. I think there are several reasons I stare at it. First, I like to try to put myself back into that time and remember how innocent that boy was. I try to see who he was, but honestly, I have no idea who that boy was. I do not feel connected to him and he does not feel like he is a part of me. There is some sort of disconnect. There is a lack of continuity between that boy and the man I am now. I do not think that this is simply because of the distance of 22 years (gulp) between then and now. I have the same difficulty with more recent photos, even the family photo my siblings and I took for Mother's Day. I ask my friends, "is that really what I look like?" I'm not sure where this comes from. Oh, wait! I think I might have an idea of where it comes from. I'll think about it a little more and get back to it.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/10/2003 08:40:00 AM
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SPAM SUBJECT LINE OF THE DAY - RE: ittie bittie titties
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/09/2003 02:19:00 PM
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JUNE - There are four reasons that I like June. First, the weather is cool. Granted, the annual "June Gloom" that keeps the skies cloudy sometimes until late afternoon can be depressing a times. However, I do not like the extreme heat. Not only is the weather cool in June, but the Jacaranda trees bloom in June. Del Mar Avenue in Pasadena where I live is lined with these trees and every June they bloom a vibrant purple color. The trees hang over the street and the flowers that have fallen cover the street and the sidewalk. It's quite beautiful and the best part is that when you walk down the street it smells like honey. The third reason I like June is the fact that very soon school will be out for the summer, which means fewer people on the roads in the morning. Woohoo! No more soccer moms in their enormous SUVs distracted by their children and their cell phones. There is a draw back. Summer in Southern California is tourist season. The tourists are admittedly a great financial benefit, but sometimes parking and freeway traffic on the weekends can be very difficult and very frustrating. Thank goodness the new Gold Line light rail system is opening in July. That should help a bit. I'll be able to get from Pasadena to downtown LA, Hollywood and Highland and Universal City without driving a car. The Gold Line only runs until 1 AM. I think that they should run it until 3 AM on the weekends so that people can take it to the clubs in Hollywood. Maybe when it gains in popularity.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/08/2003 12:02:00 PM
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THE TRIP - I went to see the movie "The Trip" last night at Laemmle Theater in Pasadena. It's an independent film. I have to say, there were some clever moments, particularly the way they moved through the 1970s to the 1980s. Lots of allusions to pop culture and politics which I thought were effective. However, overall, the writing was not that great and the acting left a little to be desired. What really bugged me was the bashing of Republicans from start to finish to finish. They spoke in stereotypes. The main character starts out as a Republican and of course dumps all that by the end. In one scene a character, played by Alexis Arquette, asks, he's straight? To which Tommy answers, "worse." Alexis: “What could be worse than that?" Tommy: "he’s straight and he's a Republican." Horror of horrors, right? Grrrr... There were other such exchanges throughout. What really got me was a scene set in the mid nineteen eighties in which the characters are watching the news on television and there is a blurb of Ronald Reagan saying something about the defense budget being the only budget not being cut. Arquette (again) says, "better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." Again grrrr... There was one more statement that stood out and I wanted to jump up in the theater and shout. One of the characters makes a comment about all that Reagan has done for the country. To which Allan, responds negatively and sarcastically saying something like, "oh yeah, Reagan has sure done a lot." I wanted to stand up and say, "Hey! Have you heard about the Cold War? The Soviet Union? Communism? Guess who won? Guess why we won! You freaking idiots!" I know that there was some valid criticism about the government being slow to act against the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. However, distinctions need to be made. One mistake does not negate an entire presidency or its importance. If Carter (who was spoken of positively) had remained in office the Soviet Union could very well still be limping along today, or worse, have started a war against the U.S. in a last attempt to assert its power. Did I like the movie? Well, no. As I’ve already said. The writing and acting was lacking, but the kicker for me was the amateurish and juvenile political swipes at Republicans.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/08/2003 12:00:00 PM
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HEY! - I'm just a singer of simple of songs. I'm not a real political man. I watch CNN. But I'm not sure I can tell you the difference in Iraq and Iran. :-) Sorry, it's on the radio right now.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/08/2003 11:59:00 AM
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GERIATRIC TEENAGERS - Victor David Hanson is one of my favorite writers. He has a way of boldly stating his conclusion about things and making it very understandable to those of us who are perhaps less well informed or less able to put it all together. Geriatric teenagers. Such a great title! Europe, or at least "Old Europe," is like my little sister when she was in high school and she was very demanding of my parents. I quote, "You promised you were going to take me shopping!" Or my favorite as she slammed her foot down, "You know you’re buying me a car for my birthday." I laughed at that one. So outrageous. Did this mean my little sister in her demands had any desire to be around my parents in public? No. That was the last thing she wanted. Like most teenagers she just wanted to be given money and the gas card and left alone. Sounds like Europe a bit, at least in their relationship with the U.S. They like to make fun of Americans and point out our idiosyncrasies and naiveté, yet they are (begrudgingly) very dependent on the United States for military protection as well as economically. It has been our military presence that has allowed the Europeans to imagine that we have entered a time in history that does not require military spending of any great amount; a "Kantian paradise" as Robert Kagan calls it in his very compelling book, "Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order." They believe that we can rely on reason and diplomacy. Easy for them to say. They know that if reason and diplomacy should fail the United States will always be there to bail them out. (Hmm, I wonder if this really is the case. Yeah, we would. Suckers that we are.)
Victor Davis Hanson states his case differently than Kagan, but they are getting at the same point. The differences between the United States and Europe that have become glaringly obvious since the onset of the Iraq crisis are fundamental and not simply a blip on the screen. They have been looming and are deep and as Hanson says, "the problems are fundamental and transcend American presidencies." In other words, the tension between the United States and certain European nations is not due to the fact that George W. Bush is president.
So what are we to do? Hanson suggests that we rethink our deployment of forces in Europe and that perhaps we would be wiser to base them in different and fewer countries. However, the most important thing Hanson suggests is the reform of existing institutions such as the UN and NATO. I think this is key not only for strategic reasons but political and moral reasons as well. I'll stop and let you read what Hanson has to say. It was published back in May and I have been wanting to say something about it since then.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/05/2003 12:36:00 PM
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IRAQ STUFF - Think what you want about Ann Coulter, but the gal DOES make some good points here. There's a sample below. Be sure to read the rest. By the way, any idea why her web site is a "dot org?"
If Americans were lied to, they were lied to by liberals who warned we would be annihilated if we attacked Iraq. The left's leading intellectual light, Janeane Garofalo, was featured in an anti-war commercial before the war, saying: "If we invade Iraq, there's a United Nations estimate that says, 'There will be up to a half a million people killed or wounded.'" Now they're testy because they fear Saddam may never have had even a sporting chance to unleash dastardly weapons against Americans.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/05/2003 10:33:00 AM
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CRY ME A RIVER - You know what? Spare me the sob story. Hil had a "gut wrenching reaction" to the news that Bill had been unfaithful with Monica Lewinsky. Give me a break. Did she have the same "gut wrenching reaction" when she found out about all the other women? I don't understand why people hold Hillary Clinton up as some paragon of womanhood and feminism. She is either weak for staying with the bozo or she is devious for staying with him. Either way, she's not someone worth admiring. Certainly we can find better role models for young women. Maybe they can take a look at my mom who worked and still works her ass off. She gives herself totally to her family and her Church. She made major sacrifices all her life that went largely unnoticed except by her 13 children and her husband.
It makes me sick that some feminist types look with disdain on people like my mother. They would say that she enslaved herself to her husband and family. On the contrary, she lives out her vocation as she understands it and she strives to do it well. It is unbelievable to me that some radical feminists pretend to work for the liberation of women, when in fact they seek to enslave them in another version of womanhood, but this time it is a womanhood that lacks the comfort and love of children and the freedom to actualize her God given potential as a wife and mother if that is in fact what she has been called to.
But, I'm just a man. What do I know?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/04/2003 03:54:00 PM
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ONE MORE THING - I can't help but think that these activists are really doing this fly by for their own self-agrandisement. Really, did Mother Teresa ever do a fly over of Calcutta urging the teeming masses of poor people to take a shower, not be poor and convert to Christianty?
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/04/2003 03:52:00 PM
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WHAT? - Do these people really think this will make a difference? I can guarantee this is not a Catholic group. We don't operate like this. Come on, Adam and Steve are happily walking through Disney World, when suddenly the banner flies over reading, "Repent!" Or "Jesus Can Set you Free From Homosexuality." (What these people probably mean is "You're going to burn in HELL if you don't listen to what we're saying!") So Adam and Steve get a look at their banner, whatever it says, and they are supposed to do what? Stop and run out of the park seeking the nearest revival tent? Does this group think that a bunch of men and women celebrating gay days at Disneyworld is really going to give a crap about their banner? This can only result in one of the most sarcastic and bitter (and probably very funny) collective mockings you have ever heard.
I think it would be a better idea if these folks would maybe make a little room in a pew or two of their church on Sunday for some of these people. You know, be a little more approachable and a lot less condemning. Maybe talk to them. Maybe hug them and smile at them. I'm not saying a church needs to abandon its beliefs if those beliefs include a proscription against homosexual activity. However, I think the folks that want to fly their banner should be reprimanded by other Christians for calling it "the sin of homosexuality." The real issue as the Catholic Church sees it is the sin of homosexual activity. At least we make that distinction. It's an important distinction to be made. The one statement, "the sin of homosexuality" indicates a belief that homosexual attractions are a willfully chosen phenomenon. "The sin of homosexual activity" as the Catholic Church sees it, admits a belief in the unchosen nature of homosexuality and an acknowledgement of the personhood of homosexuals as homosexuals. Mother Church makes distinctions. Thankfully.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/04/2003 03:25:00 PM
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DECISIONS - I've decided that it is more important to be financially independent than to look like I'm financially independent. I've decided that I like my slightly boring 2002 Chevy Malibu as well as its low monthly payment and 2.5% interest rate, which means I'm really only paying for the car and not the interest. Sure, I still wish I could afford a Volvo SUV or an Audi A8, but I'd rather have some security than a little temporary flash.
I have also decided that I need to spend less and save more. This sounds elementary to most people, I'm sure. However, I do not always consciously spend money. I generally spend until I realize I do not have anymore to spend and then wait until the next paycheck. How bright is that? Not very. Besides spending less I need to figure out a way to increase my monthly income by a few hundred dollars. Any ideas? I've always wanted to write so I’m learning how to write magazine articles. Maybe this could be a source of some extra income. Seriously, besides working the night shift at Starbucks, does anyone have any ideas?
I do not want to be a prisoner to debt, to fashion, to fads and to a feeling that I need to "keep up with the Joneses.”" That’s cliche, I know, but it’s really what many of us try to do. I've figured out that my almost compulsive consumption/spending habits can only be changed when I acknowledge the fact that my worth does not depend on fitting a certain image. I know this sounds like something you'd hear on a daytime talk show, but it's true. I can't worry about how I am perceived. I can't live like that. No more trying to be "stylish." I'm going back to what always worked for me. Jeans, khakis, and polo shirts. Chevy Malibu, matinee movies, clearances racks, and coupons. Boring? Maybe a little, but these are what I'm comfortable with and I don't need to put myself in debt to get them.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/04/2003 03:02:00 PM
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FINANCE - This is good news!
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/04/2003 11:45:00 AM
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LETTER FROM IRAQ - Instapundit has printed an emial sent by a reader. It is very insightful and comes from inside Iraq, not from an editorial based on a perhaps slanted or inaccurate news report. Here's a bit of it, but you should go to Instapundit and read the whole thing.
In Kirkuk they found a mass grave of Kurdish children. One of the U.N. guys offered to take us out and show it to us. I haven't taken him up on it. I have no reason to go there and I feel like it would be disrespectful to go and gawk. I guess some of the children were buried with their toys and dolls.
Makes me sick. I wish this would get more coverage. Instead the media seems to focus on the rallies that the Islamist (supported by Iran) hold on a regular basis. I think it might have something to do with their absolutely desperate attempt to paint a much grimmer picture of Iraq than is the reality there. In other words, "there's no way Bush is going to get away with this." Hmf...
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/03/2003 05:01:00 PM
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DESPERATELY SEEKING A HAIRCUT - I've decided that I need a hair cut in the worst way. Sheri is not in today so I'll wait until tomorrow after work. I get my hair cut in La Verne because I can stop in during my lunch break or right after work. I go to The Haircutters, which is a chain of hair salons. I pay seventeen dollars plus a tip. I know this is so un-cool. I would never survive in West Hollywood. (See yesterday's post entitled "Frustration"– in other words, so what?)
I've never been the type to actually make an appointment to get a haircut. I just decide one day that I need a hair cut and I go get one. The girl that cuts my hair is one of the rare few who understands what I am asking for when I give cutting instructions. She understands that this is not Ohio circa 1992, and I do not want a fade, a mullet or a flat top and I do not drive a lowered Nissan mini truck. One particularly bad haircutting incident occurred while visiting Chicago last Fall. I walked out looking like a lineman for Catholic Central High School in Anywhere, Ohio. The best haircut I've ever had was in Rome. I was fortunate enough to run into an English speaking girl who explained what I wanted done. Thankfully, the stylist did not listen to my instructions. The guy was amazing. He was like an artist. The only weird part about the experience was the hair washing girl who was molesting me while I had my head in the sink. "You are beautiful." "Your eyes are beautiful." She was running back and forth to the English speaking girl to get pickup lines. The story is a pretty funny one and I enjoy telling it as one of my quintessential "living in Rome" stories.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/03/2003 11:06:00 AM
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MEMO TO CURRENT AND FUTURE ADMINISTRATORS - If you have a problem with something in an employee's staff report it is best to address the problem in advance of the meeting at which the staff report will be presented. It is not a good idea to wait until half an hour before the meeting. Doing so makes things crazy and it also fuels your employee's hatred of you.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/02/2003 03:44:00 PM
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BAD DAY - Just re-reading my posts for today. I'm not usually this hostile. I got seven hours sleep. Maybe it's just a Monday thing. Not sure. Maybe I'll post something happy, or at least not angry, tomorrow.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/02/2003 03:32:00 PM
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WORK - Ever have absolutely no desire to work? That's me today. Sometimes my coworkers don't help matters.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/02/2003 03:31:00 PM
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BANKING - Just a gentle request. If you have more banking to do than a simple withdrawal or deposit, park your car, walk inside or to the ATM to take care of business. Do not – PLEASE for the love of all that is good and holy – do not use the drive up ATM. Checking balances on every account, depositing to savings, transferring from one account to the other, withdrawing from checking, etc. These are ok individually, but when you do them all at once you do not belong in the drive up lane.
One more gentle suggestion. If you overshoot the drive up ATM and have to maneuver your car back and forth as if you're parallel parking you should get your eyes examined and/or consider going inside or using the walk up ATM.
Thank you.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/02/2003 10:50:00 AM
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FRUSTRATION - Look, if someone says that they are going to call you, they should freaking call you! If someone leaves a message for you, return the damn call. For crying out loud, does anyone have manners, or common courtesy anymore? Don't call people during the week, make tentative plans for the weekend and promise to call to verify the plans later if you have no intention of calling again. Oh, and if you innocently forget to call or something beyond your control prevents you from calling then it is pretty much accepted that you should call to explain ASAP.
I've had enough of the people who move to L.A. They come from all over the country, from cities and po-dunk towns. They come here to become famous or they come here to become the person they were not able to be at home. Okay, fine. I understand what it's like to feel trapped in your past. I understand the need to strike out on your own. BUT FOR GOD'S SAKE don't move to L.A. shave your mullet, buy overpriced designer clothes, acquire a drug addiction and become a complete asshole! You bore me and you depress me. It is frustrating to be a native of the L.A. area and be tagged with a reputation of shallowness and narcissism. Let's get one thing straight. The people that are shallow and narcissistic are largely transplants from other places. They come here because they are shallow and narcissistic and the entertainment "industry" thrives on assholes like that. Drive outside of the little entertainment ghetto and you will encounter the real Angelenos. Decent, hardworking, pleasant and open-minded folks. Don’t let the whores in Hollywood fool you into thinking they are tolerant and open-minded. They are some of the most narrow-minded and intolerant people you will ever meet. These obnoxious people can ruin the fun of living here. There is so much to do and see and experience and they try to impose their vision of the city and their version of "hip." Who do they think they are? This is not your place to makeover. Some of us actually have an emotional attachment to Southern California, we didn't come here to take advantage of it and abuse the people and institutions here and then move on when something else becomes cooler.
That is all.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 6/01/2003 03:45:00 PM
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NOWHERE MAN - Sometimes I feel like a man without a country, not literally, of course. But sometimes I feel as though I do not fit anywhere. Sometimes I feel completely alone in the world. Isn't that the case? I mean, with the exception of God aren't we ultimately alone? Perhaps I'm projecting my feelings of loneliness, but my experience has been that while I may have friends and family I am always and will always be alone. This aloneness is different from the loneliness I often feel. It's as if I'm standing outside of things, outside of the reality that others live. My desires and my dreams are not the same as my brothers' for instance. The SUV, the house in the suburbs, the swimming pool and weekend trips to the "river" are great. There's nothing wrong with all of these things, but they are not for me. Wait, let me clarify. These things are good and wholesome and fun and comforting, but I do not think that they are for me or at least not accessible to me because of my different-ness. I have found that the less I try to put the square peg (me) into the round whole (the world as it is) the more I realize how futile it was to try in the first place. Most of my life was spent pounding that damn square peg. The peg would not give, but I kept trying. Most of the decisions in my life have been attempts to fit that peg where it wouldn't go.
What, then, is my particular vocation? Where do I fit in all of this? What will my contribution be? I wonder of my family and friends have any idea how difficult it is for me to have to constantly remind myself that all of the expectations that I had for my life, all the assumptions of how my life would be do not apply. I'm starting over with the understanding that all those assumptions are not realistic. They were based on the person I wished I was. A whole new phase of my life has opened up now that I have given up being "Patrick" and am now trying to be real. It's scary for me to feel so adrift in many ways, but also exciting. I imagine that the way I feel is the way a man would feel if he spent six years studying engineering with the expectation, the assumption that he would be an engineer. Then, upon the completion of his studies he realizes that the field of engineering is not open to him and he was not intended to be an engineer. He most now start over. It is unsettling to think of my life this way, but as I write this I am realizing that the uneasiness I feel and the sense that I am adrift at sea is due to this realization that I will never be an engineer, so to speak.
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AUTHOR: Patrick
DATE: 5/29/2003 04:54:00 PM
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YOUR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS - Part of my job as a planner in the Community Development Department is to help administer the Housing Rehabilitation Program. This program uses federal Community Development Block Grant money to assist income qualified residents in the repair and maintenance of their homes. Most of the folks we help are elderly. I have to visit the homes of course and I often find elderly people locked up in their homes with the curtains drawn. Sometimes the house spells of cat or is filled with cigarette smoke (not good for my allergies) and the homes are in need of repair. It is almost too much for me to handle because I try to figure out where the heck the children and grandchildren of these people are. Why aren't they there fixing the toilet, roof, porch, faucet, etc.? I don't get it.
To make matters more depressing, the elderly people I deal with are often starving for attention. Some days I don't really have time to sit and chat beyond the small amount of time it takes to inspect their homes. However, if I can sense that they really need to talk I try to stick around for a while and let them go on a bit. Recently, I had an appointment to meet with gentleman who lives alone except for his dog. We went through the initial inspection process, signed some papers and took note of everything that needed work. After finishing the business the gentleman indicated that he didn’t want to rush the process because he just found out that day that his cancer is getting worse and he wouldn't know how long he has to live until he takes some tests next month. He was worried that the grant money would be "wasted" if he had work done and then just died. He wanted to make sure that he didn't use any money that could benefit someone else.
Imagine moving into a mobile home with your wife figuring you would die first and wanting to be sure she was safe and could live where other old folks live and wouldn't have a big house and yard to worry about maintaining. Then, a year later, your wife dies. This gentleman lives alone. The day I visited him he had just been to the doctor and found out the bad news about his cancer. He had no one to talk to. One of my-coworkers insists that God arranged for me to be there on that day so he would have someone. I think maybe He did.
The moral of the story? No matter how difficult your grandparents may be, be sure to call them and visit them as often as possible. Don't let them withdraw into their homes with the curtains shut. Let them be a means for you to learn compassion, patience and kindness.
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