Web Log Archives, January 21st through February 3rd, 2007
Saturday, February 3rd, 2007
Friday, February 2nd, 2007 Groundhog Day!
'Groundhog' is another name for a
'Woodchuck'.
February 2nd is roughly midway between the Winter solstice and the Spring
equinox and this day was marked for centuries in the pagan ritual of Imbolc.
The Delaware Indians, who settled
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania in the early 1700's, regarded the woodchuck as a
noble ancestor.
When German settlers arrived in the area somewhat later, they brought a
tradition called Candlemas
Day: The Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary.
If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come, winter, have another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Go, winter, and come not again.
In time, these disparate traditions came together in our 'modern' observance of of
Groundhog Day.
February 4, 1841 - storekeeper James Morris' diary..."Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks' nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate." Pennsylvania Dutch Folklore Center at Franklin and Marshall College
Thursday, February 1st, 2007
"I'm sorry to say...cancer can kill you but it doesn't make you a better person." Molly Ivins (1944-2007)
Wednesday, January 31st, 2007
"The
news over the weekend was not good.
Molly Ivins, everyone’s favorite smart-mouth columnist, was back in the
hospital for the third time, dealing with her raging cancer, which started in
her breasts but now has spread throughout her body."
Becky
O'Malley
Tuesday, January 30th,
2007
Dick Cheney Is Sixty-Six!
Monday, January 29th, 2007
"I thought I was funny, you know? You guys keep telling me, 'Lighten up. Be funny.' You know? I get a little funny and now I'm being psychoanalyzed." Hillary
Sunday, January 28th, 2007 Twenty-First Anniversary of the Challenger Disaster
"A teacher in China had her bag stolen, losing her cell phone, credit cards and a lot of cash. Instead of calling police, a Chinese news agency reports, the woman sent text messages to her phone. "Keep the (money) if you really need it," she wrote, "to err is human. Correcting your mistakes is more important." After 21 messages, the thief returned the bag, the money and a note begging forgiveness." NPR
Saturday, January 27th, 2007
Yeah, Right!
"Abstain from casual sex and
particularly avoid sexual intercourse before you get married. This may sound
prudish or old-fashioned, but it is a time-tested way by which we demonstrate
respect for ourselves and others. Sex is not a game. It gives rise to very real
enduring emotional and practical consequences. To ignore this is to debase
yourself, and to disregard the significance of human relationships."
Epictetus (55-135)
I'm a year or two younger than Epictetus, and I came of age
during the Sexual Revolution of the (19)60's,
a time during which 'casual sex' was attended by
(call it) 'the threat of life'. Matter of fact,
it's not a stretch to say that the Sexual Revolution,
to the extent that it ever was a 'Revolution',
was the result of the (then new) oral contraceptive: the 'birth control pill'.
In the mid-sixties, rather little was known about The
Pill. Very little medical data or tribal
knowledge (anecdotal evidence) had yet been gathered as to its
'side-effects', which were later found to include increased risks of certain
cancers (especially in the by-today's-standards very high dosages in
which they were at first prescribed) and of pulmonary
embolism, especially in cigarette smokers. By the early seventies, it had
also come to be recognized that a common (though not universal) side effect of The
Pill was some loss of feminine libido.
The Sexual Revolution was 'put down' (almost
gently, it seems, looking back) in the mid-seventies by the appearance and rapid
spread of the genital Herpes virus which, though at first deemed to be a scourge
to rival Leprosy, was later (by the mid-eighties) seen to be not much more than
a painful nuisance. ;-)
It was AIDS that emptied the bath houses,
singles bars and orgy rooms and put the brakes on the 'just
do it' bus.
Now, 'casual sex'
is attended by 'the threat of death'.
Friday, January 26th, 2007 National Peanut Brittle Day!
After people forget what you said, they will remember how you made them feel.
"This
black-robed pauper wailed that federal judicial salaries are set by law at the
same level as congressional salaries, which are now a mere $165,200 a year. With
tears welling in his eyes, Roberts noted that for five of the past 13 years,
congress has even failed to provide a cost-of-living increase in this paltry
pay. Breaking into sobs, he then blurted: 'this situation is grievously
unfair!' "
Jim Hightower
Thursday, January 25th, 2007
A' malingerer'
is one who pretends to be ill to avoid his responsibilities.
An example is one who feigns eye trouble...and just can't see going to work!
I
can't be the only person who notices how often Hillary Clinton says 'ya
know'...can't I? During a Monday
interview with Keith Olbermann, she said, “It would be great if he [Bushy]
said, ‘Ya know, I have changed my mind about the escalation of troops
going to Iraq’ ”. Yes. Not only does Hillary utter the 'phrase' herself,
ad nauseum, but she's even given to projecting it
into the imagined speech of others! And, trust me, Bushy don't need no help in seasoning his
real-time
conversational speech with all the 'ya knows' one might need every
morning:
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007
Yesterday was the 34th anniversary of the
death of Lyndon
Johnson, who happened to die on the very same day that the Supreme Court
announced its decision to
legalize, on the basis of a Constitutionally
elusive 'right to privacy',
a woman's choice to terminate her pregnancy.
Nobody asked me but I've got a
comeback for those among the 'pro-lifers'
who think that abortion should be illegal 'except
in cases of rape or incest'. I say if yer gonna be
'pro-life', then be
pro-life! What does 'rape or incest' have to do with whether or not a fetus is
a life?
Someone
at National Public Radio must have thought it
would be cute to assign reporter Libby
Lewis to cover the trial of Lewis
Libby!
'Cuz that's just what someone did!
“I tell the girls to work out more, cut
down on the carbs, hit the treadmill.” Joone
Monday, January 22nd, 2007
Courtesy of my big
brother...allegedly from Confucius
(551-479 BC):
"Only the wisest and the most dull-witted are unchangeable. They must often change who would be constant."
"Express joy, but not debauchery. Express sorrow, but not morosity. To go beyond is the same as to fall short."
"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. Forget injuries. Never forget kindnesses."
"Fine words and a beautiful appearance are seldom associated with true virtue."
"Respect yourself and others will respect you."
Sunday, January 21st, 2007
