Web Log Archive, December 10th through December 23rd, 2006 

Saturday, December 23rd, 2006

Friday, December 22nd, 2006

"...contrarian voices can be heard in the wilderness. An anti-anticlutter movement is afoot, one that says yes to mess and urges you to embrace your disorder. Studies are piling up that show that messy desks are the vivid signatures of people with creative, limber minds (who reap higher salaries than those with neat “office landscapes”) and that messy closet owners are probably better parents and nicer and cooler than their tidier counterparts. It’s a movement that confirms what you have known, deep down, all along: really neat people are not avatars of the good life; they are humorless and inflexible prigs, and have way too much time on their hands."
Penelope Green

Thursday, December 21st, 2006                        The Winter Solstice

Neither classy nor an act:

"Left the first wife, had an affair, left the second wife, had an affair. Had kids both times, but he's the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America."
Rosie O'Donnell

"Rosie O'Donnell is disgusting...inside and out! Take a look at her! She's a slob! She talks like a truck driver." Donald Trump
Evidently, it's politically correct, anymore, to dis truck drivers. I hope he never has to hitchhike! 

Hubert Humphrey once remarked that we ought not to air our dirty Lyndon in public.

Wednesday, December 20th, 2006

Tuesday, December 19th, 2006

Brrrrr!

Go For It, Sean!

"In his prepared remarks, he also lamented how the U.S. public was allegedly tricked into backing the Iraq invasion and derided those media figures who did that, describing Rush Limbaugh as 'high as a kite on OxyContin,' Bill O'Reilly as 'factually impaired', and Sean Hannity as 'simply a whore to the cause of his pimps - Murdoch and Ailes?' He then rapped former Rep. Mark Foley, Sen. Joe Lieberman and even Toby Keith."

Monday, December 18th, 2006

On those occasions when I get to feeling sorry for myself, I reflect that things could be much worse.
I could, for example, live next door to 5208 Olive Drive, where: 

'At 5:57 p.m. each day, Kate Smith's rendition of "God Bless America" starts flowing from speakers perched outside. And then, at  6 p.m. sharp, right at the "Land of the Free" high note, the 42,000 hand-painted Christmas bulbs adorning the house flip on in a blast of color...and mechanical reindeer jump over each other in a fit of blue...and hanging bells turn in dizzying circles.'


 Thanks be to Jesus!

NOTE: It has come to my attention that there is no 'land of the free' (high note or otherwise) in 'God Bless America'. So the author must have meant 'The Star Spangled Banner'.

Sunday, December 17th, 2006

Breaking News:

Indigent Carpenter Held On Charges Involving Underage Mother
after Male Infant Discovered In Barn
Baby removed by Child Protective Services

Saturday, December 16th, 2006

"Once it's completed in the spring, visitors will pass through a 40-foot-high glass entry cut in the shape of a cross and be greeted by a mechanical talking cow."

Friday, December 15th, 2006   

"...remember that all situations unfold as they do regardless of how we feel about them. Our hopes and fears sway us, not the events themselves. Undisciplined people, driven by personal sympathies and antipathies, are forever on the lookout for signs that reinforce their unexamined views and opinions. Instead of personalizing an event ("This is my triumph," "That was his blunder," or "This is my bitter misfortune") and drawing withering conclusions about yourself or human nature, watch for how you can put certain aspects of the event to good use. Is there some less-than-obvious benefit embedded in the event that a trained eye might discern? Pay attention!
Most people around you will persist in interpreting events in the grossest terms: success or failure, good or bad, right or wrong. These simplistic categories obscure more creative and useful interpretations of events! To project your hopes and fears on the future only leads to melodramatic representations in your mind...and wasting time."  

Epictetus (55-135)

Thursday, December 14th, 2006

Perhaps, like me, you have been laboring under the misapprehension that "one colonoscopist is as good as another". 

Wednesday, December 13th, 2006

Tuesday, December 12th, 2006

Six Truths About Iraq by General William E. Odom, U.S. Army (Ret.)

Truth No. 1:  No "deal" of any kind can be made among the warring parties in Iraq that will bring stability and order, even temporarily.
Truth No. 2:  There was no way to have "done it right" in Iraq so that U.S. war aims could have been achieved.
Truth No. 3: The theory that "we broke it and therefore we own it," with all the moral baggage it implies, is simply untrue because it is not within U.S. power to "fix it."
Truth No. 4: The demand that the administration engage Iran and Syria directly, asking them to help stabilize Iraq, is patently naïve or cynically irresponsible until American forces begin withdrawing – and rapidly – so that there is no ambiguity about their complete and total departure.
Truth No. 5: The United States cannot prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Truth No. 6: It is simply not possible to prevent more tragic Iraqi deaths in Iraq.

Monday, December 11th, 2006

A fool and her money are soon parted: "I was ready to make T-shirts that said 'I support my long-haul truck driver'!" Caitlin Smith

Sunday, December 10th, 2006

"Only in Washington could an un-elected panel of retirees pass for public-policy Viagra." Frank Rich

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