Pat, sorry you are unhappy. But there are dozens of people in this family, each with diffent life experiences and different opinions. I think we don't mean political discussions as personal attacks on each others' points of view. Some people are very passionate, which makes debatable subject endlessly fascinating and every time I see a post by someone else it makes me think about the subject, evaluate it from different angles. We are all far too smart to let political discussions become personal spitting matches (which makes us all unqualified to hold public office). But you're right, we probably went overboard. We should have these discussions over a campfire while large quatities of alcohol are being consumed. Just teasing. If it makes you unhappy, I'll hold my tongue. Cause we can't make you unhappy. Did you give some thought to my goal proposal about the cat?
I agree with Grace...about the above! Also, Pat, turn up the heat...Mike's gone to Chicago and I set the thermostat to 73 and I happy as a clam! A money-making invention could be: a cloaking device for thermostats!
Is the energy miser a device or a human? If the former, you are its master and don't let it push you around. If the latter, point out that a metabolism that can consume eight croissants for breakfast and not gain weight is already suspect and its owner should maintain a very low profile.
You want to talk about something else? How about embarassing moments? A month ago, after teaching my final class for the day I went to the bathroom only to discover that I had been in front of the class all morning with my zipper down. This is the kind of thing that really mortifies me. I am always checking for boogers in my nose, food in my teeth, and descended zipper before classes, but I must have been rushed that day. Anyway, the next day I told my students that anyone who would be bold enough to inform me, if there is a next time, would get extra credit. I think they think I'm crazy.
I'm the most embarrassed I've been just reading that...I always tell people when they have a booger, food, zipper down, etc, unless I don't like them! Do you guys tell people? Someone in Lincoln, Ne just won the powerball...I bet the Athletic Dir. Pederson is rubbing his hands together, they are behind on funding the Osborne Stadium remodel.
Oh, the heading for this section was a typo. I meant no more Laplanders. OK, yes we should discuss these things. I just feel so very strongly about it that I typed a 2 page rant and then didn't submit it. I am not a good arguer about the war. I'll say a couple things. A bully never wins in the end and that's how we went about this war. Pushed aside the entire world and did what we wanted. Of course opposing groups of people will join forces to collaborate against us. What other logical response is there? We created a monster by invading. However, now that we are there we need to do whatever we can to leave it as stable as possible. We cannot go home now. We cannot leave it the mess that we have left Afghanistan to go "fix" Iran, for example. The way we went about this war was the stupidest thing I think I've witnessed in my life. I wish I were Canadian. If you think we are not killing children you are very much mistaken. Intentionally? No, but of course it's happening. The US does not know the civilian death count but wager that it is in the hundreds of thousands. By the way, Abe Lincoln was thought of as a doofus in looks but his brain and eloquence were NEVER questioned. At least in the bios I have read. My new goal is not to make my cat use the toilet. THey already use it as their water dish and leave the seat wet. P
I'm glad the laplanders are BANNED, what about laptoppers? When the Afghan teachers were staying at our house, they would often "click" their tongues and try to explain that we need to "finish" in Afghanistan before going into Iraq, they are regressing over their, by the way.
Emily, we went bowling last night and I taught everyone the strike dance. Then we started doing dances for every thing. We did a spare dance and gutter dances. I then noticed that te group of very hip, pretty, preppy, twenty somethings next to us looked like they were attending a funeral so we started doing strike dances for all of them when they got them. I don't think the youngsters appreciated us. Monica
Mark your calendars...April 1 is GALA night at Garrigan...you can go to the Bishop Garrigan site and click on GALA to find out more. Mom and Dad will be returning just in time (March 29) to attend. I hope we an get a full table full of Straubs. Does anyone have an idea for a donation? I organized the last one (weekend in Omaha), anyone have any ideas? Tom and Nance, is SARAH'S donating the day of beauty and lunch/dinner?
I'm looking forward to seeing Jerome Bettis flash his smile on NBC next football season. Geez, where does he get his suits made? The guy is enormous. Snowboard cross is my new favorite winter olympic event. Here's my favorite snowboard vocab word: "yard sale" It's what you call a big crash where all the stuff goes flying. HaHa. So funny.
Hi Grace, It's might favorite, too. I find myself swaying back and forth and nervous while they're going down, I really like watching the girls...the U.S. lost the gold when she (I don't know her name) did a little showboating cuz she was so far ahead, then she fell, she still got a silver. I also like the short course speedskating! Pat & Emily remember when I was speedskating in Mpls. years ago? I retired after that.
No Laplanders! No fair! I had a great story about Laplanders. I like the names the snowboarders call their tricks, like "fakey". I think there's a special tailor that makes suits for those ex-NFL guys and they have mattress-sized shoulder pads, not because they need'em, just to smooth out the bulges. What IS the strike dance? I can't believe I'm so uncool.
We will not be doing the, "Day 'o Glamour," this year. We are donating a private party, at Sarah's, for 20 with a monetary value of $600.
I have a funny, "embarrassing moment," for women only...so, guys...don't read further.
Eh hem, I was 14 years old and attending my Grandfather's funeral. I was wearing baggy navy blue cords and a white/blue candy striped cotton ruffled blouse...no, that's not the embarrassing part! Well, kind of. Anywhoot, just as they were lowering my Grandpa (94 yrs old) into the ground I felt my menses (code, in case the guys are reading) come on like gang busters. I went to the bathroom, immediately, following the burial and stuffed a kazillion wadded up squares 'o TP into my underpants. I walked out, of the bathroom, and my cousin, Doris, whom I have only seen once or twice before...pulled me aside to tell me that my fly was down! Ugh! It was all, "popped open," 'cuz the pants were baggy!! I can just about imagine what the front of my underpants looked like all icky and puffy with TP! I was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo embarrassed. I still am.
I, sure, hope no guyz read that.
Someone, please respond. I may be 37...but, I could use some sympathy. Poor, little girl, Nance...or, something.
Oooh, Nance, at that age that would be awful. Since Stevo never gets on the blog, I'll tell his most embarassing event. He went to a Polish Catholic gradeschool, and when he was in 8th grade, his teacher said to be fair, this year they would open up the May Queen (the girl who gets to put the crown of flowers on the statue of Mary in May)to the boys too. He knew it was going to be him, and sure enough, when it came time to draw slpis of paper, he got the one with the X. He crumpled it up and buried it in his desk, but after a process of elimination, he was caught. At least he didn't have to wear a dress. Nothing like having democracy shoved down your throat, eh?
Didn't Steveo love Brokeback Mt. too? Poor Steve what anawful age for that to happen. I can't imagine how many times he got beat up for that one. Mary, I don't remember you speedskating but I do remember speed sking and a broken tailbone. Nance, didn't the same thing happen in the way too Mason City and you had to stop at WalMart to get new jeans? Monica
Blood? Yes, Canada has blood on its hands in regards to the Native populations. Of course it was all settled by the same people - ENglish and French - and the lines on the map were drawn later. Canada's model of settlement, though, is considered more of a mosaic, whereas we are the melting pot. Almost every province was developed in response to a different group of people. It's because of the topography and climate that groups settled more separately - like islands - than the U.S. model. Manitoba was in response to a rebellion of Metis - french indian mixes who wanted equal rights and demanded their own territory. Quebec is obvious. Nunavit was the Northwest Territories and was renamed for and now governed by the Inuits. B.C. is the oddball. It was created and incorporated (or whateveryou'd call it) to keep the U.S. from getting the entire seaboard. Canada was not initially thought of as a place to stay...it was still under the dominion of England so their treatment of Indians while not good was different from teh US. Basically, initially they wanted to strip Canada of its wealth and get out. Anyway, Canada has made more effort to address the issues brought up by the decimation of the First Nations. So there! HA! I almost did my thesis in something that involved a lot of Canadian history. But, your horrible dream/embarrassing story is just too awful to imagine. It seems that, with the guys we have a theme going in regards to most embarrassing moment.
Yes, Mary. I remember you skating on the little frozen pond by my apartment. It was so funny. You ran (with skates) on yur tippy toes and your red hair was flying behind you. Phelan, Caitlin, Mike and I were laughing so hard. Why did you retire. You have a gift. Myabe you should introduce tiptoe skating to the world.
OK everyone, want to hear more embarassing moments. So far, I think Tom's takes the cake. Although the fact that I had tests done to see if I was a midget in eighth grade is a litle embarassing - or at least it was at the time. You know how pediatricians measure the baby's head diameter every check up, well, my midget doctor measured the diameter of my nipple every check up.
Tom - you won that one. with far less words. However, in policy making Canada policy and law aligns more closely with my own wishes. I still wish to be Canadian
How's the Canada medal count? Sumthin to think about. So, Pres. Bush wants to hire a co. from United Arab Emirates to guard all our major ports??? I certain it's owned by one of his rich Arab friends in Dubai (Dubai & Dubya)..finally, the Republicans are MAD. Rep. Peter King (Diane Sender works with him sometimes) and George Pataki both issued statements VERY much against the idea...let's see how this plays out. Now, I'm all for equal opportunity for all from Dubai, but the work force won't want that kind of menial work, that country is soooo rich, I'm sure they'll have to hire outside workers! (half the 9-11 terrorists came through there for their passports) Desmond had fun there...but the whole country is like Rodeo Drive, on steroids, with the night clubs,etc...this will George's MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT!
One of my most embarrassing moments was being in a wedding, tucking my bridesmaid dress into my panty hose and then hanging out in the entrance to the church with about 40 guests, family of wedding couple ,etc. until one of my friends noticed and told me.
I think you are awfully generous in your assessment of how history will view bush.
His ecomonic policy sucks, his social agenda sucks. As for his foriegn policy, it is built completely on lies to the american public.
He did not go into Iraq because of WMD, he knew their weren't any. He certainly didn't go in becasue of 9/11. Follow the people and money on that one and it leads to Saudi Arabia, but of course we can't attack them. He wanted to create a democracy in the middle east and 9/11 provided his excuse. You may agree with his policy, but he should have just laid it out instead of lying to us.
I can think of only 2 things that I agree with bush on. Going into Afghanistan was right, but he should have dedicated the resources to finish the job. Instead he decided to go nation building. I also think our public schools in this country needed a kick in the pants. The no child left behind act may not be the best answer, but something had to be done and he did it.
I greatly disagree. Bush did not go into Iraq to create a democracy... there are many, fuel-less, needy countries in the world that are not democracies... and we leave them alone. He went in search of oil and money. A democracy is what is most likely to allow that to happen with the U.S.
Clinton went into Somalia for what I like to consider, perhaps through ignorance, were almost completely altruistic reasons. No oil there, no minerals or much by way of global strategery, only warlords, starving people and machetes. The net result-dead servicemen dragged naked through the streets, warlords, starving people and machetes (and a pretty good movie-Black Hawk Down). Somalia was a fuel-less, needy country, black too!!, and we went in to try to help. Is that something we shouldn't have done? Should we have done it differently? Once there should we have seen it through to the end, whatever that may have been? Was it an expression of America's finest impulses or pure stupidity? My point is that,whatever the reason, the extension of direct military power into a country carries known and unforseen consequences, most of which are bad. The only way to do it is to do it at the right time, have things set up, have a plan. Elder Bush's 1990 invasion did it right. We didn't do this one right (no thought out exit plan, except "Haliburton will figure it out-I think he thought it would be like the Phillipines after WW2).
Mary, the company from the UAE bought out the company that had the contract to secure the ports, which was based in Britain. the administration did nothing about it initially, but now people realized what is happening and are trying to raise the issue.
Who's seen "Bubba Hotep"? Bruce Cambell (from "Army of Darkness")delivering one liners as an elderly Elvis. His partner is the elderly JFK (died black after Dallas to hide him from assassins, including Lyndon Johnson). They battle a soul sucking mummy preying on nursing home residents in Texas. Now there is an Oscar-worthy movie.
Those two American speed skaters that hate each other are going to be racing against each other tonight. That should be good.
One time, while teaching swim lessons, I bent down to pick up a pile of kick boards and my swimsuit top snapped off. I was exposed to about 10 moms of the kids I was teaching, my brothers old baseball coach/teacher from school, a male life guard that is a good friend, my male boss, and 10 six year olds. That was embarrassing.
Tom, I have 2 clients named Muhammad and I have yet to be enslaved and they haven't taken Caitlin, yet...they are both Muslim and VERY family oriented. One of them owns a little mid-eastern grocery and I go down there to chat and sign papers, everyone in the store is from the mid-east, and the wives are bossy. It's interesting. He called a few minutes ago,,"Mady...Mady..I no want that gasSTAtion..no, has leak...find odder one..bye" ...maybe that's the plan, they're buying up all the gasSTAtions!
Say, I've been trying to figure out if Dee's boyfriend, Muhammad, has a time limit in the US either to become employed or get married. He arrived here last April and works at a restaurant (not Sarah's) where he is paid cash. He is, supposedly, studying to take his med exam. His test is, supposedly, in April. Dee has expressed that Muhammad is very happy about her divorce although she is not...exactly. What do you know? Can you find out? I've tried calling embassies and such...but, have had no luck. Please, let me know.
Bush didn't say that he wants to reduce our imports of Oil by 75% over the next 20 years. He said that he wants to reduce our imports of Middle Eastern oil by 75% over the next 20 years.
A little secret is that most of the oil we import does not come from the Mid East. Our genocidal friends, the Candadians provide us with the most followed closely by Mexico. Saudi Arabia is 3rd followed by Venezuala, Nigeria and Angola.
A 75% reduction in mid-east oil is not that impressive. But at least it is a start.
Yeah I read that it's like 16% of our total oil usage. Why not focus instead on oil reduction and conservation efforts, like, say, the rest of the world (Kyoto accords) instead of using more oil than any other country.
Nance, I don't know..maybe Scott G. would know...I don't want my Muhammads to leave untill they're done buying! (I should see if he charges tax on items in his store)
Well, do you know Mohammed's full name? Scott can usually look up the status of one's visa, but he may need a date of birth as well. I'll ask. Where is he from?
Tom, I like your new truck too. I don't want to take it away from you. I just want the corporations to be more accountable to produce way less emissions, burn less gas, etc. Of course Bush said something about conservation - it's like the running for class president speech. New vending machines, etc.
Tom-I stand corrected, Bush Sr. ordered us into Somalia. Turns out Somalia has significant oil potential, pre-warlord Said Govt. had signed development contracts with 4 oil companies, all but Conoco cleared out upon anarchy. When the troops went in the US govt used the Conoco compound as the govt mission (not the military hdqtrs). Also, while Afganistan doen't have oil, it is considered important as a potential pipiline route for Caspian Sea basin oil (an alternative route is Iran, no good) and Cheney, an executive in the mid 90's, was quoted touting the importance of securing an oil supply which doesn't have to negotiate the Straits of Hormuz. I still think Afganistan was necessary. Also, I still don't have a problem with Somalia (didn't bin-Laden live there for awhile?), you can't argue with going after legitimate terrorist targets.
Tom, I'm more thoughtful than you give me credit for. Of course I think about these things. Of course I want my cake and to eat it too. And so do you. I absolutely hate contemporary politics because it is so black and white. There is no room for discussion. It's an "America: Love it or leave it" situation. If you are not for us, you are against us. There are just too many ties to big corporations for my view. Half our family has been in business for themselves so they do know what it's like. And, I am not familiar with proposals that have to do with small business but I am in full support of the proprietorship system. Hearken back to the Walmart discussion. And, just for the record, I wouldn't say the way I'm making money is the easy way. Like many jobs mine often absolutely sucks. It's a nonprofit, keep in mind, which has it's own system of hell to deal with.
Tom, I can't stand Al Franken...goes way back to an SNL skit where he made fun of a cancer patient...but, I pretty much hate Rush Limbaugh. Years ago, when he first started out he was in Omaha as a guest on KKAR, my friend worked there...he said Rush had REALLY bad B.O. and his teeth hadn't been brushed in days, dirty clothes, the whole bit...just thought that was interesting. I don't even know what AIR America is...I do know there is a plethora of right wing talkies, and many of them have Irish names, Sean Hannitty(he's horrible) Bill O'Reilly, etc.
Well, I guess that's my issue with politics. It's all about being put on the defense. I don't like arguing even if its in good faith/for a higher purpose. I would be an AWFUL lawyer. Maybe a good mediator. WE talk a lot in college classrooms about conflict and dialogue. "Conflict is good, it's how we learn, and being uncomfortable is ok, as long as you are in a safe place. Classrooms should be a safe place. ETC." That's the gist of it. The world of politics is not a safe place.
Just because someone thinks Bush is an idiot and Rumsfeld and Cheney are evil and Wolfowitz should have been exorcised long ago doesn't make them a straight-ticket voter. I totally agree that moderation has become impossible in our political climate. It doesn't make for good sound bytes! The last politician that I can remember telling the truth or refusing to hop on bandwagons was Bob Kerry from Neb. That doesn't mean I agree with everything he said or did, just that I thought he made a good-faith effort to answer questions without talking down to people. Yet the rap on him was that he was an egghead (and yes, I have seen the shape of his head. It looks more like a lightbulb, actually; maybe he had lots of good ideas!) Forexample, what other politician has ever said about Social Security that we don't have enough money coming in so we either have to raise SS taxes, cut benefits, or raise the retirement age? It's simple math, really. Yet try to get a politician to say it. People worried about crime? Pass a quick-fix law to appease the masses: mandatory sentences, three strikes & you're out, oh, hell, bring back the death penalty! I agree with Tom that clear thinking, open-mindedness, & civility have left politics. Of course, look at the culture - shows where people get fired, eat worms, and screw their teammates are top-ranked shows. We're turning mean. Oh, but don't forget - quite a few of us "liberals" have owned businesses and fought the wolf at the door tooth and nail and been on our feet twelve hours a day for years - we're not just talking through our hats. I usually align with the liberal side of most issues but I've never voted a straight ticket in my life. I think we should start a Groundhog Party - rationalists only - no Laplanders!
These quotes are from the play Caitlin is in this weekend...St Ambrose 397 AD "But the soldier protects one's country from destruction, which is much superior to leading a peaceful life of leisure with all the pleasures it involves". St Augustine 430 AD "To the Roman general, Boniface: Peace be your aim; war should be a matter of necessity-one does not pursue peace in order to wage war; he wages war to pursue peace". Plato, "When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader". Barbara Bush ,"War is not nice." Edwin Starr, "WAR! Huuuh What's it good for" (sung)
Oh, by the way, on the crime issue: the United States has a greater percentage of its total population in prison than any other country in the world except maybe China. (If we hurry and build some more prisons we can catch'em!) Anyone see anything wrong here?
All we really need to do is send Chuck Norris to Irag. Here are just a few reasons.
- Guns don't kill people. Chuck Norris kills People. - There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of animals Chuck Norris allows to live. - Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits. - The chief export of Chuck Norris is Pain. - There is no chin under Chuck Norris' Beard. There is only another fist. - Chuck Norris has two speeds. Walk, and Kill. - The leading causes of death in the United States are: 1. Heart Disease 2. Chuck Norris 3. Cancer - Chuck Norris doesn't go hunting.... CHUCK NORRIS GOES KILLING - Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs. - Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door. - There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Chuck Norris lives in Oklahoma. - Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee. Except Chuck Norris. - James Cameron wanted Chuck Norris to play the Terminator. However, upon reflection, he realized that would have turned his movie into a documentary, so he went with Arnold Schwarzenegger. - Chuck Norris can touch MC Hammer.
When Chuck Norris sends in his taxes, he sends blank forms and includes only a picture of himself, crouched and ready to attack. Chuck Norris has not had to pay taxes, ever.
Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.
Chuck Norris can hit you so hard that he can actually alter your DNA. Decades from now your descendants will occasionally clutch their heads and yell "What The Hell was That?"
When J. Robert Oppenheimer said "I am become death, the destroyer Of worlds", He was not referring to the atomic bomb. He was referring to the Chuck Norris halloween costume he was wearing.
As a teen, Chuck Norris had sex with every nun in a convent tucked away in the hills of Tuscany. Nine months later the nuns gave birth to the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only undefeated and untied team in professional football history.
It is scientifically impossible for Chuck Norris to have had a mortal father. The most popular theory is that he went back in time and fathered himself.
Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because Chuck Norris only recognizes the element of surprise.
The reason the French haven't won a war since Napoleon is that Napoleon's troops shoot a cannon at the face of the Sphinx. Little did they know that the face on the Sphix was actually Chuck Norris.
I think we should all be happy and the animals too. and everyday we should make lemonade out of life's lemons and potroast out of life's cheap cuts of meat and useful dogfood out of meat byproducts. Also everyday we should smile at everyone even if you hate their guts and we should shake hands with losers and raise money for three legged dogs and donate used dryer sheets to charity and use bright cheery paint at every chance and conserve oxygen by holding every breath for 37 seconds.
When Chuck Norris wants a little down time at home he puts on his Chuck E Cheese outfit and orders pizza, and when the doorbell rings, he laughs and says "it's SHOWTIME"!
Ed, the French are no good at war because they launch cows out of catapults at the enemy. Luckily, they are so unpleasant they hardly ever get invaded. Pat says no more politics and this blog site gets like 90 posts. Hey, everyone, don't send me $20. Today I went to The Dirksen Congressional Center (a nationally recognized center for education and research) in Pekin to research a paper. The guy who runs it, who gave me a tour and who granted me an hour long interview, also happens to be the acting Mayor of Pekin. He stepped in to complete the term of the former Mayor, who was convicted of gambling with the city credit card. Mayor Mackaman, who I talked to today, has no plans to run for reelection when this term is up and does not align himself with either political party. He is a nice, unnassuming, scholarly type (he's been an archivist for the past 30 years)and was born in Clear Lake, IA, and raised in Des Moines. He went to Drake. This town is looking up.I think the founding fathers had this type of civil servant in mind rather than slick career politicians. Smile.
Grace..I thought you had a great time in France...so France didn't want to support our quest for WMD's (oil) in Iraq and now we(some of you) hate the French..it's just Soooo silly...oh well, just more French food and wine for the rest of us. Just as silly, in Iraq all the bakeries have to change the name of the "Danish pastry" to "holy flowers of Muhammed" (or something like that!)
Actually, I spent a horrible week in France with a host family. The mother had to force the teenage daughter to take me places (I was a teen). The daughter was really snotty to me the whole time and she and her friends would whisper to each other in French and laugh whenever I was around. They only hosted me so the daughter could practice English, and they treated me like an unwelcome boarder. Then I spent two weeks touring France with my school group and it was beautiful. Everywhere we went, all the people younger than the "greatest generation" treated us like garbage. We were sneered at. Anyone old enough to remember WW11 treated us warmly and kindly. This was in the mid 1990's. Some interesting facts: the French don't know what deoderant is. They bathe once a week. They never smile, and they think Americans are idiots because of our custom of smiling at people when we greet each other. They stand really close to you to talk (right in your face) and they ALL smoke. That's why they're all skinny. They chain smoke and they walk everywhere. And they all wear dark colors - black, navy, dark brown. They definitely act superior. So, there were highlights of my trip but there was a lot of akward, they look at me like I'm a cockroach moments. Just like anywhere I've ever been, some people are extremely kind and hospitable, some people are not. But France had the most uneven ratio of cold shoulder people to open arms people of anywhere I've ever been. This includes Okinawa (where a lot of people want the U.S. military to take a hike, but the people still treat you like a human. Okinawans are not only courteous, they are also friendly and smile) and Australia. By the way, Australians are very, very friendly and lots of fun. Almost every Australian I met treated me like family. So I don't hate the French because of recent world events. I have a distasteful feeling toward them because of they way I felt while visiting their country. However, I would go to France again to revisit the Louvre and the Champs-Elysees. I'd just wear a raincoat in case anyone decided to spit on me.
I also read about an Iraqi general who was an informant for the US who witnessed the weapons being moved. The Administration didn't want to hear about it. I think it could be true, although it doesn't change my mind about the invasion (for the first time in US history) of a sovereign nation which has not aggressed against us or our allies. Don't bring up Grenada; I don't think there is any such place and if there is, did you see "Wag the Dog?". Most importantly, if we're going to gallop around the globe being the good guys, for heaven's sake let's abide by the Geneva Convention at a minimum! We should house all those prisoners of war in nice Iowa towns where they could carve us all...well, I guess they can't carve statues of Mohammed...let's see...they could carve wonderful wooden screens that would be in courthouses all over Iowa for generations. We could have wooden screen fests and tours of county seats with these wonderful carved screens and serve arabic foods and drinks that pretend not to have alcohol in them to the thousands of tourists that would come. It would be great. Chuck Norris could come sometime and break twelve wooden screens with one roundhouse kick. And pretty soon, silos would pop up here and there with minaret-type tops, just for fun, just to help the kids remember our heritage as the Gitmo of the Gravy Belt! Whaddya think?
Speaking of cows out of catapults, this week PBS (at least here) is doing a retrospective on Monty Python in prime time where each show features a particular member. I had forgotten all about the fish-slapping dance and I woke Stevo up laughing so loud. (Yes, he does occasionally fall asleep during primetime)
From Caitlin's play.....from which I just returned after a few beers with the Jayjack's... Aeschylus, "In war, truth is the first casualty"... S. Short, "The only winner in the war of 1812 was Tchaikovsky!" Pope John Paul II, "Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of men"... This play was a pretty "gutsy" production for Creighton Prep to produce, it was, I thought," anti-war, and sad!!! I like the Jesuits! Caitlin was GREAT! Will Rogers, "Take diplomacy out of war and the thing would fall flat in a week."
"The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time: -The damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave and certain. -All other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective. -There must be serious prospects of success. -The use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition. ...Non-combatants, wounded soldiers and prisoners must be respected and treated humanely.---The Catechisdm of the Catholic Church
Must be a slow day at the ole parish office, posting on the computer, thumbing through the Catholic catechisdm...Although I guess no-one can complain too much if you're reading your catechism instead of running bake-sale spreadsheets or whatever it is that you do.
And Tom-Put your Bartlett's Quotations away. You never read it in college after Mom and Dad paid for it (required reading for the Briar Cliff course "Hot air How-to") and you feel guilty now but jeez-give us a break willya? Go cook some duck-butt fricasse or something
Tom, I dare you to put "Duck-Butt Fricasse" on the special board on April 1! Also, is that when you say to the BLOG "April Fools, I was just kidding!"...Ohhh Joe, your motion better be to start runnin, you'll have the wrath of Cathy on you...besides for bake-sale spreadsheets, she gets "flown around" the country to explain her model of religious ed. she created!
I would be preparing for our next evening of whole-parish religious education, but it's already done. It's on Ash Wednesday, so the theme is stripped-down spirituality for Lent. Plain dinner, no dessert, no instructive environment, no table decorations, no music, etc. The catechists are self- motivating, the priests are all over their part of the evening (decorating everyone liberally with ashes), and I'm showing a movie. This has nothing to do with the fact that I leave the next morning at 6:00 AM for Florida. Honest.
I would be preparing for our next evening of whole-parish religious education, but it's already done. It's on Ash Wednesday, so the theme is stripped-down spirituality for Lent. Plain dinner, no dessert, no instructive environment, no table decorations, no music, etc. The catechists are self- motivating, the priests are all over their part of the evening (decorating everyone liberally with ashes), and I'm showing a movie. This has nothing to do with the fact that I leave the next morning at 6:00 AM for Florida. Honest.
Yeah, compared to terrorists who behead noncombatant prisoners and mutilate bodies, we really treated our prisoners inhumanely. What did we do? Make 'em walk around naked, threaten 'em a little bit, humiliate them? Sheesh, I had worse experiences in boot camp. And France.
Really, I absolutely believe we should abide by the Geneva convention. I also absolutely believe those guards weren't blindly following orders - they could have requested mast, which means bypassing your immediate chain of command and going higher if you think you are given an unlawful order. Don't start spluttering about Dick Cheney, either, there are several generals between him and that woman who was the commanding officer of that prison. I think the first time I saw that story my exact words were, "those idiots know better and they were wrong." But it's not like we murderously rammed an airplane into a building full of civilians. I'm not condoning...I just think if that's how you define torture, you obviously haven't met Chuck Norris. Or a Marine Drill Instructor. Speaking of, did anyone see that story about the recruit who drowned? At Perris Island in the fifties a D.I. marched a whole platoon into the swamp and they almost all drowned. I spent a week in the HAUNTED BARRACKS where they had been before they were killed, and saw a ghost! The story is, only female platoons stay in that barracks because the ghosts haunt the male D.I.'s so badly. During my stay a window was broken as if a rock was thrown from the inside out while people were present in one of the squad bays. Say a prayer for that recruit and his family.
Hey, everyone's on here at once. Don't you people work? I spent several hours today with screaming, kicking, hitting three to five year olds who for some mysterious reason don't want to see if their eyes and ears work. Who would have guessed? I deserve a raise. Wait a minute, I'm not talking about my own children (who are monsters). I'm talking about kids I see during working hours. What am I, nuts? I come home from work to deal with... oh, same thing! And yet I still find joy in life. Thanks to all of you, who keep me so entertained on the blog site.
UAE, not UIE, my apologies, so sorry, a thousand regrets, please forgive, I didn't mean it, it was his fault, Cheney or someone, yeah him, he's the one
Tom, I'm amazed and awestruck that you apparently have a computer in your bathroom. Grace, what I'm saying is that OUR standards of humanity are and should always be better than people who behead captive journalists, etc. What monsters do is irrelevant to how we should conduct ourselves. Whenever someone says Abu Graib wasn't so bad my answer is that it was bad enough. Once you have physical control of prisoners, there's just no reason for any kind of abuse. Besides, it just feeds the fanatics. We can't answer accusations of wrong behavior by saying so-and-so was wronger. We're just supposed to be right.
Just a note...our cousin John Hicks lived in the UAE for quite a long time, then went to Bulgaria met a women with a child (they're now married)...and then had another stint in the UAE. I don't think he was in Dubai, but I'm not sure. He's a teacher...they're paid well in the UAE!
Today is your last chance to post on this topic before we all give up politics for Lent! Dick Cheney doesn't count... he falls under the topic of theology because he's you-know-who in disguise.
110 comments:
Why are you so sad? The cold...got you down?
Okay.
Pat, sorry you are unhappy. But there are dozens of people in this family, each with diffent life experiences and different opinions. I think we don't mean political discussions as personal attacks on each others' points of view. Some people are very passionate, which makes debatable subject endlessly fascinating and every time I see a post by someone else it makes me think about the subject, evaluate it from different angles. We are all far too smart to let political discussions become personal spitting matches (which makes us all unqualified to hold public office). But you're right, we probably went overboard. We should have these discussions over a campfire while large quatities of alcohol are being consumed. Just teasing. If it makes you unhappy, I'll hold my tongue. Cause we can't make you unhappy. Did you give some thought to my goal proposal about the cat?
It's really hard to ask the kids if they want apples. While holding my tongue.
I agree with Grace...about the above! Also, Pat, turn up the heat...Mike's gone to Chicago and I set the thermostat to 73 and I happy as a clam! A money-making invention could be: a cloaking device for thermostats!
Have some hot tea. I think I've had a gallon of it in the last 24 hours. Warms you inside and out.
Monica
Is the energy miser a device or a human? If the former, you are its master and don't let it push you around. If the latter, point out that a metabolism that can consume eight croissants for breakfast and not gain weight is already suspect and its owner should maintain a very low profile.
A cloaking device for thermostats! Hmmmm.....
You want to talk about something else? How about embarassing moments? A month ago, after teaching my final class for the day I went to the bathroom only to discover that I had been in front of the class all morning with my zipper down. This is the kind of thing that really mortifies me. I am always checking for boogers in my nose, food in my teeth, and descended zipper before classes, but I must have been rushed that day. Anyway, the next day I told my students that anyone who would be bold enough to inform me, if there is a next time, would get extra credit. I think they think I'm crazy.
I'm the most embarrassed I've been just reading that...I always tell people when they have a booger, food, zipper down, etc, unless I don't like them! Do you guys tell people? Someone in Lincoln, Ne just won the powerball...I bet the Athletic Dir. Pederson is rubbing his hands together, they are behind on funding the Osborne Stadium remodel.
Oh, the heading for this section was a typo. I meant no more Laplanders.
OK, yes we should discuss these things. I just feel so very strongly about it that I typed a 2 page rant and then didn't submit it. I am not a good arguer about the war. I'll say a couple things. A bully never wins in the end and that's how we went about this war. Pushed aside the entire world and did what we wanted. Of course opposing groups of people will join forces to collaborate against us. What other logical response is there? We created a monster by invading. However, now that we are there we need to do whatever we can to leave it as stable as possible. We cannot go home now. We cannot leave it the mess that we have left Afghanistan to go "fix" Iran, for example. The way we went about this war was the stupidest thing I think I've witnessed in my life. I wish I were Canadian.
If you think we are not killing children you are very much mistaken. Intentionally? No, but of course it's happening. The US does not know the civilian death count but wager that it is in the hundreds of thousands.
By the way, Abe Lincoln was thought of as a doofus in looks but his brain and eloquence were NEVER questioned. At least in the bios I have read.
My new goal is not to make my cat use the toilet. THey already use it as their water dish and leave the seat wet.
P
I will be very upset with you, Mary if you are not the owner of hte winning ticket. You promised me!
I'm glad the laplanders are BANNED, what about laptoppers? When the Afghan teachers were staying at our house, they would often "click" their tongues and try to explain that we need to "finish" in Afghanistan before going into Iraq, they are regressing over their, by the way.
Emily, we went bowling last night and I taught everyone the strike dance. Then we started doing dances for every thing. We did a spare dance and gutter dances. I then noticed that te group of very hip, pretty, preppy, twenty somethings next to us looked like they were attending a funeral so we started doing strike dances for all of them when they got them. I don't think the youngsters appreciated us.
Monica
Monica, What is the strike dance? And, who were you with? Did Ellen allow you to do this in public with her there?
Mark your calendars...April 1 is GALA night at Garrigan...you can go to the Bishop Garrigan site and click on GALA to find out more. Mom and Dad will be returning just in time (March 29) to attend. I hope we an get a full table full of Straubs. Does anyone have an idea for a donation? I organized the last one (weekend in Omaha), anyone have any ideas? Tom and Nance, is SARAH'S donating the day of beauty and lunch/dinner?
I'm looking forward to seeing Jerome Bettis flash his smile on NBC next football season. Geez, where does he get his suits made? The guy is enormous. Snowboard cross is my new favorite winter olympic event. Here's my favorite snowboard vocab word: "yard sale"
It's what you call a big crash where all the stuff goes flying. HaHa. So funny.
Hi Grace, It's might favorite, too. I find myself swaying back and forth and nervous while they're going down, I really like watching the girls...the U.S. lost the gold when she (I don't know her name) did a little showboating cuz she was so far ahead, then she fell, she still got a silver. I also like the short course speedskating! Pat & Emily remember when I was speedskating in Mpls. years ago? I retired after that.
No Laplanders! No fair! I had a great story about Laplanders. I like the names the snowboarders call their tricks, like "fakey". I think there's a special tailor that makes suits for those ex-NFL guys and they have mattress-sized shoulder pads, not because they need'em, just to smooth out the bulges. What IS the strike dance? I can't believe I'm so uncool.
We will not be doing the, "Day 'o Glamour," this year. We are donating a private party, at Sarah's, for 20 with a monetary value of $600.
I have a funny, "embarrassing moment," for women only...so, guys...don't read further.
Eh hem, I was 14 years old and attending my Grandfather's funeral. I was wearing baggy navy blue cords and a white/blue candy striped cotton ruffled blouse...no, that's not the embarrassing part! Well, kind of. Anywhoot, just as they were lowering my Grandpa (94 yrs old) into the ground I felt my menses (code, in case the guys are reading) come on like gang busters. I went to the bathroom, immediately, following the burial and stuffed a kazillion wadded up squares 'o TP into my underpants. I walked out, of the bathroom, and my cousin, Doris, whom I have only seen once or twice before...pulled me aside to tell me that my fly was down! Ugh! It was all, "popped open," 'cuz the pants were baggy!! I can just about imagine what the front of my underpants looked like all icky and puffy with TP! I was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo embarrassed. I still am.
I, sure, hope no guyz read that.
Someone, please respond. I may be 37...but, I could use some sympathy. Poor, little girl, Nance...or, something.
Oooh, Nance, at that age that would be awful. Since Stevo never gets on the blog, I'll tell his most embarassing event. He went to a Polish Catholic gradeschool, and when he was in 8th grade, his teacher said to be fair, this year they would open up the May Queen (the girl who gets to put the crown of flowers on the statue of Mary in May)to the boys too. He knew it was going to be him, and sure enough, when it came time to draw slpis of paper, he got the one with the X. He crumpled it up and buried it in his desk, but after a process of elimination, he was caught. At least he didn't have to wear a dress. Nothing like having democracy shoved down your throat, eh?
That's not democracy - that's equal opportunity.
Oh - I forgot to make my Political Commentary.
Garrigan High School Football rules!
Didn't Steveo love Brokeback Mt. too?
Poor Steve what anawful age for that to happen. I can't imagine how many times he got beat up for that one.
Mary, I don't remember you speedskating but I do remember speed sking and a broken tailbone.
Nance, didn't the same thing happen in the way too Mason City and you had to stop at WalMart to get new jeans?
Monica
Blood? Yes, Canada has blood on its hands in regards to the Native populations. Of course it was all settled by the same people - ENglish and French - and the lines on the map were drawn later. Canada's model of settlement, though, is considered more of a mosaic, whereas we are the melting pot. Almost every province was developed in response to a different group of people. It's because of the topography and climate that groups settled more separately - like islands - than the U.S. model. Manitoba was in response to a rebellion of Metis - french indian mixes who wanted equal rights and demanded their own territory. Quebec is obvious. Nunavit was the Northwest Territories and was renamed for and now governed by the Inuits. B.C. is the oddball. It was created and incorporated (or whateveryou'd call it) to keep the U.S. from getting the entire seaboard. Canada was not initially thought of as a place to stay...it was still under the dominion of England so their treatment of Indians while not good was different from teh US. Basically, initially they wanted to strip Canada of its wealth and get out. Anyway, Canada has made more effort to address the issues brought up by the decimation of the First Nations.
So there! HA! I almost did my thesis in something that involved a lot of Canadian history. But, your horrible dream/embarrassing story is just too awful to imagine. It seems that, with the guys we have a theme going in regards to most embarrassing moment.
So, Manitoba was in response to a rebellion of the Mets? What were they pissed off about...the team colors? Maybe they wanted to be the Neopolitans.
Yes, Mary. I remember you skating on the little frozen pond by my apartment. It was so funny. You ran (with skates) on yur tippy toes and your red hair was flying behind you. Phelan, Caitlin, Mike and I were laughing so hard. Why did you retire. You have a gift. Myabe you should introduce tiptoe skating to the world.
OK everyone, want to hear more embarassing moments. So far, I think Tom's takes the cake. Although the fact that I had tests done to see if I was a midget in eighth grade is a litle embarassing - or at least it was at the time. You know how pediatricians measure the baby's head diameter every check up, well, my midget doctor measured the diameter of my nipple every check up.
Please diregard errors in above post, and all posts by me, past and future. I am just a high school English teacher.
diregard = disregard
Jeepers, I am terrible.
Tom - you won that one.
with far less words. However, in policy making Canada policy and law aligns more closely with my own wishes. I still wish to be Canadian
How's the Canada medal count? Sumthin to think about. So, Pres. Bush wants to hire a co. from United Arab Emirates to guard all our major ports??? I certain it's owned by one of his rich Arab friends in Dubai (Dubai & Dubya)..finally, the Republicans are MAD. Rep. Peter King (Diane Sender works with him sometimes) and George Pataki both issued statements VERY much against the idea...let's see how this plays out. Now, I'm all for equal opportunity for all from Dubai, but the work force won't want that kind of menial work, that country is soooo rich, I'm sure they'll have to hire outside workers! (half the 9-11 terrorists came through there for their passports) Desmond had fun there...but the whole country is like Rodeo Drive, on steroids, with the night clubs,etc...this will George's MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT!
One of my most embarrassing moments was being in a wedding, tucking my bridesmaid dress into my panty hose and then hanging out in the entrance to the church with about 40 guests, family of wedding couple ,etc. until one of my friends noticed and told me.
Tom,
I think you are awfully generous in your assessment of how history will view bush.
His ecomonic policy sucks, his social agenda sucks. As for his foriegn policy, it is built completely on lies to the american public.
He did not go into Iraq because of WMD, he knew their weren't any. He certainly didn't go in becasue of 9/11. Follow the people and money on that one and it leads to Saudi Arabia, but of course we can't attack them. He wanted to create a democracy in the middle east and 9/11 provided his excuse. You may agree with his policy, but he should have just laid it out instead of lying to us.
I can think of only 2 things that I agree with bush on. Going into Afghanistan was right, but he should have dedicated the resources to finish the job. Instead he decided to go nation building. I also think our public schools in this country needed a kick in the pants. The no child left behind act may not be the best answer, but something had to be done and he did it.
I greatly disagree. Bush did not go into Iraq to create a democracy... there are many, fuel-less, needy countries in the world that are not democracies... and we leave them alone. He went in search of oil and money. A democracy is what is most likely to allow that to happen with the U.S.
I think the Mets were mad about Lapland hogging all the groundhog-cooking gold medals.
I meant to say groundhog-shooting. Duh. Tried to work Cheney in there but he has a mind of his own.
Clinton went into Somalia for what I like to consider, perhaps through ignorance, were almost completely altruistic reasons. No oil there, no minerals or much by way of global strategery, only warlords, starving people and machetes. The net result-dead servicemen dragged naked through the streets, warlords, starving people and machetes (and a pretty good movie-Black Hawk Down). Somalia was a fuel-less, needy country, black too!!, and we went in to try to help. Is that something we shouldn't have done? Should we have done it differently? Once there should we have seen it through to the end, whatever that may have been? Was it an expression of America's finest impulses or pure stupidity? My point is that,whatever the reason, the extension of direct military power into a country carries known and unforseen consequences, most of which are bad. The only way to do it is to do it at the right time, have things set up, have a plan. Elder Bush's 1990 invasion did it right. We didn't do this one right (no thought out exit plan, except "Haliburton will figure it out-I think he thought it would be like the Phillipines after WW2).
Under the boardwalk, we'll falling in love, under the boardwalk --- boardwalk!
Tom, did you like Brokeback Mountain too?
Mary,
the company from the UAE bought out the company that had the contract to secure the ports, which was based in Britain. the administration did nothing about it initially, but now people realized what is happening and are trying to raise the issue.
Tom - on Oscar night you could have a Brokeback Special. a nice rump roast? tongue?
Who's seen "Bubba Hotep"? Bruce Cambell (from "Army of Darkness")delivering one liners as an elderly Elvis. His partner is the elderly JFK (died black after Dallas to hide him from assassins, including Lyndon Johnson). They battle a soul sucking mummy preying on nursing home residents in Texas. Now there is an Oscar-worthy movie.
Those two American speed skaters that hate each other are going to be racing against each other tonight. That should be good.
One time, while teaching swim lessons, I bent down to pick up a pile of kick boards and my swimsuit top snapped off. I was exposed to about 10 moms of the kids I was teaching, my brothers old baseball coach/teacher from school, a male life guard that is a good friend, my male boss, and 10 six year olds. That was embarrassing.
Tom, I have 2 clients named Muhammad and I have yet to be enslaved and they haven't taken Caitlin, yet...they are both Muslim and VERY family oriented. One of them owns a little mid-eastern grocery and I go down there to chat and sign papers, everyone in the store is from the mid-east, and the wives are bossy. It's interesting. He called a few minutes ago,,"Mady...Mady..I no want that gasSTAtion..no, has leak...find odder one..bye" ...maybe that's the plan, they're buying up all the gasSTAtions!
Mary...Emily...anyone?~
Say, I've been trying to figure out if Dee's boyfriend, Muhammad, has a time limit in the US either to become employed or get married. He arrived here last April and works at a restaurant (not Sarah's) where he is paid cash. He is, supposedly, studying to take his med exam. His test is, supposedly, in April. Dee has expressed that Muhammad is very happy about her divorce although she is not...exactly. What do you know? Can you find out? I've tried calling embassies and such...but, have had no luck. Please, let me know.
Just a few notes:
Bush didn't say that he wants to reduce our imports of Oil by 75% over the next 20 years. He said that he wants to reduce our imports of Middle Eastern oil by 75% over the next 20 years.
A little secret is that most of the oil we import does not come from the Mid East. Our genocidal friends, the Candadians provide us with the most followed closely by Mexico. Saudi Arabia is 3rd followed by Venezuala, Nigeria and Angola.
A 75% reduction in mid-east oil is not that impressive. But at least it is a start.
Yeah I read that it's like 16% of our total oil usage. Why not focus instead on oil reduction and conservation efforts, like, say, the rest of the world (Kyoto accords) instead of using more oil than any other country.
Nance, I don't know..maybe Scott G. would know...I don't want my Muhammads to leave untill they're done buying! (I should see if he charges tax on items in his store)
Tom..What is corn vs. sugar cane? EXPLAIN!
Well, do you know Mohammed's full name? Scott can usually look up the status of one's visa, but he may need a date of birth as well. I'll ask. Where is he from?
Emily~
I will email you all that I know about him. Thanks.
Tom, I like your new truck too. I don't want to take it away from you. I just want the corporations to be more accountable to produce way less emissions, burn less gas, etc. Of course Bush said something about conservation - it's like the running for class president speech. New vending machines, etc.
Tom-I stand corrected, Bush Sr. ordered us into Somalia. Turns out Somalia has significant oil potential, pre-warlord Said Govt. had signed development contracts with 4 oil companies, all but Conoco cleared out upon anarchy. When the troops went in the US govt used the Conoco compound as the govt mission (not the military hdqtrs). Also, while Afganistan doen't have oil, it is considered important as a potential pipiline route for Caspian Sea basin oil (an alternative route is Iran, no good) and Cheney, an executive in the mid 90's, was quoted touting the importance of securing an oil supply which doesn't have to negotiate the Straits of Hormuz. I still think Afganistan was necessary. Also, I still don't have a problem with Somalia (didn't bin-Laden live there for awhile?), you can't argue with going after legitimate terrorist targets.
Tom,
I'm more thoughtful than you give me credit for. Of course I think about these things. Of course I want my cake and to eat it too. And so do you. I absolutely hate contemporary politics because it is so black and white. There is no room for discussion. It's an "America: Love it or leave it" situation. If you are not for us, you are against us.
There are just too many ties to big corporations for my view.
Half our family has been in business for themselves so they do know what it's like. And, I am not familiar with proposals that have to do with small business but I am in full support of the proprietorship system. Hearken back to the Walmart discussion.
And, just for the record, I wouldn't say the way I'm making money is the easy way. Like many jobs mine often absolutely sucks. It's a nonprofit, keep in mind, which has it's own system of hell to deal with.
Tom, I can't stand Al Franken...goes way back to an SNL skit where he made fun of a cancer patient...but, I pretty much hate Rush Limbaugh. Years ago, when he first started out he was in Omaha as a guest on KKAR, my friend worked there...he said Rush had REALLY bad B.O. and his teeth hadn't been brushed in days, dirty clothes, the whole bit...just thought that was interesting. I don't even know what AIR America is...I do know there is a plethora of right wing talkies, and many of them have Irish names, Sean Hannitty(he's horrible) Bill O'Reilly, etc.
Well, I guess that's my issue with politics. It's all about being put on the defense. I don't like arguing even if its in good faith/for a higher purpose. I would be an AWFUL lawyer. Maybe a good mediator. WE talk a lot in college classrooms about conflict and dialogue. "Conflict is good, it's how we learn, and being uncomfortable is ok, as long as you are in a safe place. Classrooms should be a safe place. ETC." That's the gist of it.
The world of politics is not a safe place.
Just because someone thinks Bush is an idiot and Rumsfeld and Cheney are evil and Wolfowitz should have been exorcised long ago doesn't make them a straight-ticket voter. I totally agree that moderation has become impossible in our political climate. It doesn't make for good sound bytes! The last politician that I can remember telling the truth or refusing to hop on bandwagons was Bob Kerry from Neb. That doesn't mean I agree with everything he said or did, just that I thought he made a good-faith effort to answer questions without talking down to people. Yet the rap on him was that he was an egghead (and yes, I have seen the shape of his head. It looks more like a lightbulb, actually; maybe he had lots of good ideas!) Forexample, what other politician has ever said about Social Security that we don't have enough money coming in so we either have to raise SS taxes, cut benefits, or raise the retirement age? It's simple math, really. Yet try to get a politician to say it. People worried about crime? Pass a quick-fix law to appease the masses: mandatory sentences, three strikes & you're out, oh, hell, bring back the death penalty! I agree with Tom that clear thinking, open-mindedness, & civility have left politics. Of course, look at the culture - shows where people get fired, eat worms, and screw their teammates are top-ranked shows. We're turning mean. Oh, but don't forget - quite a few of us "liberals" have owned businesses and fought the wolf at the door tooth and nail and been on our feet twelve hours a day for years - we're not just talking through our hats. I usually align with the liberal side of most issues but I've never voted a straight ticket in my life. I think we should start a Groundhog Party - rationalists only - no Laplanders!
These quotes are from the play Caitlin is in this weekend...St Ambrose 397 AD "But the soldier protects one's country from destruction, which is much superior to leading a peaceful life of leisure with all the pleasures it involves".
St Augustine 430 AD "To the Roman general, Boniface: Peace be your aim; war should be a matter of necessity-one does not pursue peace in order to wage war; he wages war to pursue peace".
Plato, "When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader".
Barbara Bush ,"War is not nice."
Edwin Starr, "WAR! Huuuh What's it good for" (sung)
Oh, by the way, on the crime issue: the United States has a greater percentage of its total population in prison than any other country in the world except maybe China. (If we hurry and build some more prisons we can catch'em!) Anyone see anything wrong here?
I love how this site is called "No more politics"
this is why i'm a nihilist. i believe in nothing, Lebowski.
All we really need to do is send Chuck Norris to Irag. Here are just a few reasons.
- Guns don't kill people. Chuck Norris kills People.
- There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of animals Chuck Norris allows to live.
- Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
- The chief export of Chuck Norris is Pain.
- There is no chin under Chuck Norris' Beard. There is only another fist.
- Chuck Norris has two speeds. Walk, and Kill.
- The leading causes of death in the United States are: 1. Heart Disease 2. Chuck Norris 3. Cancer
- Chuck Norris doesn't go hunting.... CHUCK NORRIS GOES KILLING
- Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.
- Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.
- There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Chuck Norris lives in Oklahoma.
- Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee. Except Chuck Norris.
- James Cameron wanted Chuck Norris to play the Terminator. However, upon reflection, he realized that would have turned his movie into a documentary, so he went with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- Chuck Norris can touch MC Hammer.
chuck norris drives an ice cream truck covered in human skulls.
there is no evolution, just a bunch of animals that chuck norris has allowed to live.
There is endless debate about the existence of the human soul. Well it does exist, and Chuck Norris finds it delicious.
You guys obviously don't watch enough late-night TV.
When Chuck Norris sends in his taxes, he sends blank forms and includes only a picture of himself, crouched and ready to attack. Chuck Norris has not had to pay taxes, ever.
Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.
Chuck Norris can hit you so hard that he can actually alter your DNA. Decades from now your descendants will occasionally clutch their heads and yell "What The Hell was That?"
Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris doesn't actually write books, the words assemble themselves out of fear.
Helen Keller's favorite color is Chuck Norris.
When J. Robert Oppenheimer said "I am become death, the destroyer Of worlds", He was not referring to the atomic bomb. He was referring to the Chuck Norris halloween costume he was wearing.
As a teen, Chuck Norris had sex with every nun in a convent tucked away in the hills of Tuscany. Nine months later the nuns gave birth to the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only undefeated and untied team in professional football history.
It is scientifically impossible for Chuck Norris to have had a mortal father. The most popular theory is that he went back in time and fathered himself.
Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because Chuck Norris only recognizes the element of surprise.
Chuck Norris does not see the glass as half full or half empty. He sees it smashed in your face just before he roundhouse kicks you into oblivion.
Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked the irresistible force in to the immovable object and destroyed them both.
Ach-Van Damme can take der Norriser. Dot Norriser sissy-boy ist undt texas cowboy uberpoopschuster. Ya
Can I trade in my George Foreman grill for a Chuck Norris Nuclear Fission Juicer?
Chuck Norris is so tough he squeezes the coconuts to get juice for Pina Coladas
Right before he gets on his super-manly exercise machine
Right before he gets on his super-manly exercise machine
I'm so tough that when I touch my mouse, it posts twice out of sheer terror
The reason the French haven't won a war since Napoleon is that Napoleon's troops shoot a cannon at the face of the Sphinx. Little did they know that the face on the Sphix was actually Chuck Norris.
I think we should all be happy and the animals too. and everyday we should make lemonade out of life's lemons and potroast out of life's cheap cuts of meat and useful dogfood out of meat byproducts. Also everyday we should smile at everyone even if you hate their guts and we should shake hands with losers and raise money for three legged dogs and donate used dryer sheets to charity and use bright cheery paint at every chance and conserve oxygen by holding every breath for 37 seconds.
When Chuck Norris wants a little down time at home he puts on his Chuck E Cheese outfit and orders pizza, and when the doorbell rings, he laughs and says "it's SHOWTIME"!
Ed, the French are no good at war because they launch cows out of catapults at the enemy. Luckily, they are so unpleasant they hardly ever get invaded.
Pat says no more politics and this blog site gets like 90 posts. Hey, everyone, don't send me $20.
Today I went to The Dirksen Congressional Center (a nationally recognized center for education and research) in Pekin to research a paper. The guy who runs it, who gave me a tour and who granted me an hour long interview, also happens to be the acting Mayor of Pekin. He stepped in to complete the term of the former Mayor, who was convicted of gambling with the city credit card. Mayor Mackaman, who I talked to today, has no plans to run for reelection when this term is up and does not align himself with either political party. He is a nice, unnassuming, scholarly type (he's been an archivist for the past 30 years)and was born in Clear Lake, IA, and raised in Des Moines. He went to Drake. This town is looking up.I think the founding fathers had this type of civil servant in mind rather than slick career politicians. Smile.
the last fight the french won was when they sunk that greenpeace boat.
Chuck norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he's never cried.
Chuck Norris doesn't have AIDs but he gives it out anyway.
Chuck Norris does not wear a condom. Because there is no such thing as protection from Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris is not Politically Correct. He is just Correct. Always.
Jesus fell three times. Chuck Norris has never even stumbled.
Grace..I thought you had a great time in France...so France didn't want to support our quest for WMD's (oil) in Iraq and now we(some of you) hate the French..it's just Soooo silly...oh well, just more French food and wine for the rest of us. Just as silly, in Iraq all the bakeries have to change the name of the "Danish pastry" to "holy flowers of Muhammed" (or something like that!)
i hated the french long before Iraq.
Actually, I spent a horrible week in France with a host family. The mother had to force the teenage daughter to take me places (I was a teen). The daughter was really snotty to me the whole time and she and her friends would whisper to each other in French and laugh whenever I was around. They only hosted me so the daughter could practice English, and they treated me like an unwelcome boarder. Then I spent two weeks touring France with my school group and it was beautiful. Everywhere we went, all the people younger than the "greatest generation" treated us like garbage. We were sneered at. Anyone old enough to remember WW11 treated us warmly and kindly. This was in the mid 1990's. Some interesting facts: the French don't know what deoderant is. They bathe once a week. They never smile, and they think Americans are idiots because of our custom of smiling at people when we greet each other. They stand really close to you to talk (right in your face) and they ALL smoke. That's why they're all skinny. They chain smoke and they walk everywhere. And they all wear dark colors - black, navy, dark brown. They definitely act superior.
So, there were highlights of my trip but there was a lot of akward, they look at me like I'm a cockroach moments. Just like anywhere I've ever been, some people are extremely kind and hospitable, some people are not. But France had the most uneven ratio of cold shoulder people to open arms people of anywhere I've ever been. This includes Okinawa (where a lot of people want the U.S. military to take a hike, but the people still treat you like a human. Okinawans are not only courteous, they are also friendly and smile) and Australia. By the way, Australians are very, very friendly and lots of fun. Almost every Australian I met treated me like family.
So I don't hate the French because of recent world events. I have a distasteful feeling toward them because of they way I felt while visiting their country. However, I would go to France again to revisit the Louvre and the Champs-Elysees. I'd just wear a raincoat in case anyone decided to spit on me.
Just don't served them half-baked!
Aren't you trained in the classic art of FRENCH culinary techniques?
Sarah's is really a hotbed of anti-american, commie french agitiation. Isnt it! Isnt it!
What's really going on in the basement of that building?
I also read about an Iraqi general who was an informant for the US who witnessed the weapons being moved. The Administration didn't want to hear about it. I think it could be true, although it doesn't change my mind about the invasion (for the first time in US history) of a sovereign nation which has not aggressed against us or our allies. Don't bring up Grenada; I don't think there is any such place and if there is, did you see "Wag the Dog?". Most importantly, if we're going to gallop around the globe being the good guys, for heaven's sake let's abide by the Geneva Convention at a minimum! We should house all those prisoners of war in nice Iowa towns where they could carve us all...well, I guess they can't carve statues of Mohammed...let's see...they could carve wonderful wooden screens that would be in courthouses all over Iowa for generations. We could have wooden screen fests and tours of county seats with these wonderful carved screens and serve arabic foods and drinks that pretend not to have alcohol in them to the thousands of tourists that would come. It would be great. Chuck Norris could come sometime and break twelve wooden screens with one roundhouse kick. And pretty soon, silos would pop up here and there with minaret-type tops, just for fun, just to help the kids remember our heritage as the Gitmo of the Gravy Belt! Whaddya think?
Speaking of cows out of catapults, this week PBS (at least here) is doing a retrospective on Monty Python in prime time where each show features a particular member. I had forgotten all about the fish-slapping dance and I woke Stevo up laughing so loud. (Yes, he does occasionally fall asleep during primetime)
From Caitlin's play.....from which I just returned after a few beers with the Jayjack's...
Aeschylus, "In war, truth is the first casualty"...
S. Short, "The only winner in the war of 1812 was Tchaikovsky!"
Pope John Paul II, "Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of men"...
This play was a pretty "gutsy" production for Creighton Prep to produce, it was, I thought," anti-war, and sad!!! I like the Jesuits! Caitlin was GREAT!
Will Rogers, "Take diplomacy out of war and the thing would fall flat in a week."
Cathy, I don't think the Iraqi's would whittle
"The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time:
-The damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave and certain.
-All other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective.
-There must be serious prospects of success.
-The use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.
...Non-combatants, wounded soldiers and prisoners must be respected and treated humanely.---The Catechisdm of the Catholic Church
Must be a slow day at the ole parish office, posting on the computer, thumbing through the Catholic catechisdm...Although I guess no-one can complain too much if you're reading your catechism instead of running bake-sale spreadsheets or whatever it is that you do.
And Tom-Put your Bartlett's Quotations away. You never read it in college after Mom and Dad paid for it (required reading for the Briar Cliff course "Hot air How-to") and you feel guilty now but jeez-give us a break willya? Go cook some duck-butt fricasse or something
Tom, I dare you to put "Duck-Butt Fricasse" on the special board on April 1! Also, is that when you say to the BLOG "April Fools, I was just kidding!"...Ohhh Joe, your motion better be to start runnin, you'll have the wrath of Cathy on you...besides for bake-sale spreadsheets, she gets "flown around" the country to explain her model of religious ed. she created!
I would be preparing for our next evening of whole-parish religious education, but it's already done. It's on Ash Wednesday, so the theme is stripped-down spirituality for Lent. Plain dinner, no dessert, no instructive environment, no table decorations, no music, etc. The catechists are self- motivating, the priests are all over their part of the evening (decorating everyone liberally with ashes), and I'm showing a movie. This has nothing to do with the fact that I leave the next morning at 6:00 AM for Florida. Honest.
I would be preparing for our next evening of whole-parish religious education, but it's already done. It's on Ash Wednesday, so the theme is stripped-down spirituality for Lent. Plain dinner, no dessert, no instructive environment, no table decorations, no music, etc. The catechists are self- motivating, the priests are all over their part of the evening (decorating everyone liberally with ashes), and I'm showing a movie. This has nothing to do with the fact that I leave the next morning at 6:00 AM for Florida. Honest.
Yeah, compared to terrorists who behead noncombatant prisoners and mutilate bodies, we really treated our prisoners inhumanely. What did we do? Make 'em walk around naked, threaten 'em a little bit, humiliate them? Sheesh, I had worse experiences in boot camp. And France.
Really, I absolutely believe we should abide by the Geneva convention. I also absolutely believe those guards weren't blindly following orders - they could have requested mast, which means bypassing your immediate chain of command and going higher if you think you are given an unlawful order. Don't start spluttering about Dick Cheney, either, there are several generals between him and that woman who was the commanding officer of that prison. I think the first time I saw that story my exact words were, "those idiots know better and they were wrong." But it's not like we murderously rammed an airplane into a building full of civilians. I'm not condoning...I just think if that's how you define torture, you obviously haven't met Chuck Norris. Or a Marine Drill Instructor.
Speaking of, did anyone see that story about the recruit who drowned? At Perris Island in the fifties a D.I. marched a whole platoon into the swamp and they almost all drowned. I spent a week in the HAUNTED BARRACKS where they had been before they were killed, and saw a ghost! The story is, only female platoons stay in that barracks because the ghosts haunt the male D.I.'s so badly. During my stay a window was broken as if a rock was thrown from the inside out while people were present in one of the squad bays. Say a prayer for that recruit and his family.
Tom, Do you guys French Kiss or do you call it Freedom Kiss?
freedom tickler?
Hey, everyone's on here at once. Don't you people work? I spent several hours today with screaming, kicking, hitting three to five year olds who for some mysterious reason don't want to see if their eyes and ears work. Who would have guessed? I deserve a raise.
Wait a minute, I'm not talking about my own children (who are monsters). I'm talking about kids I see during working hours. What am I, nuts? I come home from work to deal with... oh, same thing! And yet I still find joy in life. Thanks to all of you, who keep me so entertained on the blog site.
See where UIE had made a $1Mil donation to the Bush Library and donated $100mil for Katrina relief
UAE, not UIE, my apologies, so sorry, a thousand regrets, please forgive, I didn't mean it, it was his fault, Cheney or someone, yeah him, he's the one
you forgot to say mea culpa
Hey I never heard who won the roadkill cookoff.
p
Tom, I'm amazed and awestruck that you apparently have a computer in your bathroom.
Grace, what I'm saying is that OUR standards of humanity are and should always be better than people who behead captive journalists, etc. What monsters do is irrelevant to how we should conduct ourselves. Whenever someone says Abu Graib wasn't so bad my answer is that it was bad enough. Once you have physical control of prisoners, there's just no reason for any kind of abuse. Besides, it just feeds the fanatics. We can't answer accusations of wrong behavior by saying so-and-so was wronger. We're just supposed to be right.
Sorry, the roadkill cookoff is postponed because of the large number of participants who gave up ROUS meat for Lent
I'm glad you're not saving time by having a toilet in the kitchen
Grace, why were you screaming, hitting and kicking 3-to-5-year-olds? Who do you think you are, Chuck Norris?
Just a note...our cousin John Hicks lived in the UAE for quite a long time, then went to Bulgaria met a women with a child (they're now married)...and then had another stint in the UAE. I don't think he was in Dubai, but I'm not sure. He's a teacher...they're paid well in the UAE!
Today is your last chance to post on this topic before we all give up politics for Lent! Dick Cheney doesn't count... he falls under the topic of theology because he's you-know-who in disguise.
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