Thoughts

Wed - August 31, 2005

Please help the Victims of Hurricane Katrina

The Gulf states are in serious trouble. Please consider helping.

from:

"Cash donations "allow volunteer agencies to issue cash vouchers to victims so they can meet their needs. Cash donations also allow agencies to avoid the labor-intensive need to store, sort, pack and distribute donated goods. Donated money prevents, too, the prohibitive cost of air or sea transportation that donated goods require."

FEMA listed the following agencies as needing cash to assist hurricane victims:

Posted at 02:20 AM Read More

Fri - June 24, 2005

Flag Burning

Here's a cute little phrase I picked up somewhere along the line recently:

"It's better to burn the Flag and uphold the Constitution, than to hold up the Flag and burn the Constitution."

Don't you think?

Posted at 01:20 AM Read More

Life is just the same damn thing over and over

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fever, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I Know? For this is what I have done, and I am Caesar. Julius Caesar."

Who said Shakespeare wasn't worth reading?

Posted at 01:09 AM Read More

Wed - May 4, 2005

KEITH is home!

Yesterday, I received a very pleasant surprise!

The Grandson is home!

Posted at 08:21 PM Read More

Fri - December 10, 2004

'Tis the Season

Yes, it's that time of year again. The vast international sales and merchandising engine is in full roar -- stirring up demand for stuff you didn't even know you wanted.

Posted at 03:50 PM Read More

Mon - December 6, 2004

On Facing Adversity - Part 4

This recurring piece has become something of a tale of the perils of parenting; questions about what to do, when, and how (and facing the feeling of futility when nothing CAN be done).

Today's drama: What do you do when the mother of your Grandson decides to take him out of state for several months?

Posted at 08:13 PM Read More

Mon - November 8, 2004

Waiting for the next shoe to drop

As the election drew near, and it became obvious that a majority of people in our country were blinded (by their faith?) to the abuses, crimes and atrocities done by and in the name of the United States, I withdrew from political activity. I felt that things were so bad, so self evident, that no amount of activism would be enough to force their heads out of the sand. Unfortunately, I was right.

Posted at 05:01 PM Read More

Thu - November 4, 2004

Small Comfort: Living in a 'Blue' county in a 'Blue' state

There's a lot of angry disaffected people out there. There's talk about moving to Canada, the usual paranoid conspiracy theories, etc.

Get over it people.

Progressives often accuse conservatives of an 'American Superiority Complex', of not caring what our actions or policies do to the rest of the world. They call us 'Elitist Liberals' who look down upon the simple values of the common man.

Guess what? The legions of the 'Common Man' whupped our collective asses the other night.

Posted at 11:44 PM Read More

Election Aftermath. Faith vs. Reason. Did anyone really win?

Like most progressive-minded people, I was stunned by the results of November 2.

We're all at a loss to explain how anyone, let alone 59,283,101 people, would be willing to vote for four more years of the Bush II regime. Even in the face of so many lies, so much hypocrisy and so much arrogance, the majority of Americans voted for a man for his 'moral values'.

If moral values means loosening pollution standards, torturing prisoners of war, engaging in imperialistic wars of profiteering and dooming future generations to pay for an ever growing deficit, then yes; George W. Bush was the man for the job.

Posted at 06:51 PM Read More

Mon - November 1, 2004

Thoughts on the eve of election

Greetings regular reader (if any of you actually exist!)

I'm guilty of Dwight's accusation: I don't update nearly often enough. That said, I try to make sure that if I'm posting something, it's actually worth the effort, both to post and to read.

At any rate, I've been holding back recently. A recent 'heated discussion' with my mother about politics followed by a little quiet reflection helped me realize something. Argument with those you disagree with is counter productive; you don't convince them of anything, and often you reduce yourself to the very same knuckle-dragging level of diatribe you accuse them of that so drives you to distraction.

So, rather than spout my usual rebuttals to news items by endlessly quoting other news items with different opinions, I've been keeping silent lately.

Posted at 09:33 PM Read More

Fri - June 4, 2004

On Facing Adversity - Part 3

For someone who loathes 'drama' as much as my son does, he certainly seems to be a drama factory at times. The most difficult part of being a parent is realizing that sometimes the decisions made by our children have no basis in logic, or seemingly anything.

Posted at 12:47 AM Read More

Sat - May 22, 2004

Have we lost sight of middle ground?

Regardless of which side of the political spectrum we 'rant' from, it is to be hoped that our goal is to eventually meet somewhere in the middle. Compromise and bipartisanship are the only way to ensure the survival of rightist and leftist viewpoints.

There is no 'winner' in this debate. It's not a race. It's a process.

Posted at 10:49 PM Read More

Tue - May 11, 2004

On Facing Adversity - Part 2

Back in February I discovered I was being faced by a new 'challenge'. Now I can tell you about it.

Posted at 07:03 PM Read More

Thu - April 15, 2004

Comparing Wars makes no sense

Knowing what a tremendous sacrifice military service is, both for those who serve and for their families, it sickens me that these lives were given for such an ill-advised, unilateral, and imperialistic war like the one we're fighting in Iraq.

Posted at 08:55 PM Read More

Tue - March 23, 2004

Thought for the day 3/23/2004

Mahatma Gandhi said: "There are Seven sins in the world: Wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice and politics without principle."

Posted at 09:43 PM Read More

On facing adversity

Thought for Today 2/27/2004

Dean is out. Thanks for the backbone transplant, Doc.

US Deserves the Government they Elect

Electability?

Where Have I Been?

Thought for the day 11/18/2003