November 2008 - Posts
Indian Wells, CA - Near Palm Springs, the town that Bob Hope built, is the Indian Wells Golf Resort. There are not many things that impress me, especially when it comes to golf, but this golf course did. Crafted to the finest detail, this golf course looks like it was manicured for a movie set. The High Definition television pictures are better then the finest post cards.
This is going to be a fun job.
The network talent prepares to get the morning pretapes in the can.
The 13th fairway groomed almost to a fault. Why am I reminded of the Teletubies set?
I traveled here over Thanksgiving. A couple drawbacks to being on the road on a holiday came to the fore front of my mind. The first is road food. The Wednesday night hotel was surrounded with fast food and not-so-fast food. But Thursday morning, Thanksgiving day, there was no McBreakfast, Taco-Breakfast, Hardee-Breakfast, Jr. Carl-Breakfast, Breakfast King, Dairy-Breakfast, Roast-Beef-Breakfast or even (ick-shudder) Jack-in-the-Breakfast.
The breakfast of champions is still a couple donuts and ice tea.
The second thing that came to mind is holiday traffic. There can't be that many people that need to go between Tucson and Phoenix.
Back to committing even more acts of television to be held against me on the judgment day.
I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators.
- Gerald R. Ford
Back in Texas, there was this little black and white puppy hanging around the house. When it wasn't around the house it was in the street trying its best to get run over.
We were led to believe that it belonged to a family down the street from us. So I picked up the puppy and took it back home, only to discover that family did not speak English. Lecturing to completely baffeled looks, I did my best to convey how dangerous it was to have their puppy running loose and then left.
Two days later the dog was running loose again and once again had to be rescued from impending death on the road. This time we got someone that spoke Spanish to talk to them about the puppy. That was when we discovered it was not their dog. And that was the day Boo-Boo joined our family.
Since that time he proved himself to be unquestioningly loyal and filled with unconditional love. Protector, clown and playmate all rolled into one, Boo-Boo never gave up in any of his duties, even as old age caught up with him.
The last few months were not good ones for him. He grew weak and sometimes had difficulty breathing. The vet said he drifting in and out of congestive heart failure. Medications helped, but never quite got him all the way back to normal.
This morning, he walked to his secluded place behind the recliner in the living room and laid down. I would like to think that when he got up again, he simply forgot to take is body with him.
Good bye Boo-Boo and thanks for all you did for us.
There is no greater unconditional love then that of a dog for its master.
- Unknown
Tucson, AZ - Just like on the Arizona Flag. Do you think that is where they got the idea?
Along I-10 you will see many signs declaring you must stop and see "The Thing." Located in Arizona on I-10 at exit 322 this building houses "The Thing" along with an extensive gift shop and Dairy Queen. I couldn't help it, the price was only a dollar for adults (75 cents for kids). I spent the dollar and had a look.
I know you are dying to know what "The Thing" is, but that would be telling. I will tell you that it is worth the dollar.
Every crowd has a silver lining.
- P. T. Barnum
I favor gay marriage. If for no other reason, gay couples be allowed to be just as miserable then the rest of us. Speaking from a logical point of view the fact is it is no one else's business who marries who. That especially applies to any government intervention in either direction.
The only real objections to gay marriage are based on religious views which have no place place in making laws for the entire nation. It is incumbent upon our legislators to check their bibles at the door when passing laws effecting people of all beliefs.
Emotions are running very high in the wake of Proposition 8. In fact they are running so high that a large man knocked a large cross from an older woman's hands during a protest in front the Palm Springs, CA city hall. Then other protesters stepped in and proceeded to stomp on her cross.
And of course the entire event, assholes and all
(The relevant part begins 2:30 into the clip.)
There are many that have no qualms with going after Christians and Christian belief with all the vehemence of a Klansman discussing civil rights for blacks. You combine that complete lack of respect for other's beliefs with the passion of wanting what everyone else can have and things can get ugly fast.
But ugly breeds contempt from those that don't understand. In this case that would be the majority of the population. Those are the people that not only don't understand your desire for a same sex relationship, but at best don't care one way or the other. At worse they are revolted by the thought. When you are trying to persuade the undecideds to come around to your way of thinking, assaulting a woman trying to express her free speech rights while holding a symbol that the majority of this nation consider sacred is not a good course of action.
The attacks on people that disagree with gay marriage in the form of vandalized property, harassment and even the harassment of their children is completely unacceptable under any circumstances. They have a right to express their political view points. The fact someone disagrees with that view does not give license to criminal acts and intimidation.
Criminal acts and harassment will galvanize previously undecided people against the LGBT community and gay marriage. Think about the man or woman that really doesn't care one way or the other on gay marriage. One day they come out to see their neighbor's car vandalized as punishment for the sin of expressing free speech rights in favor of Proposition 8. Does that really help the cause?
It is one of the most despicable of cowardly acts to go after anyone's minor children for the parent's political beliefs. Very few people, even those in favor of gay marriage, are going to get a warm fuzzy feeling about the cause in light of that kind abuse.
The backlash at Mormons and the Mormon church is kind of interesting too. There is no doubt that California gays place the blame for their defeat at the ballot box squarely on the Mormons. From
marching on the LDS temple and church headquarters in Salt Lake City to a burning Books of Mormon on the steps of Temples, their wrath is making headlines across the country.
It strikes me as a little odd that their wrath is being directed in that direction. Yes, many Mormons raised a great deal money and paid for ads against Proposition 8. It should be noted that the church itself did not give any money toward the campaign. These are church members speaking and spending on their own and not speaking for their church. To blame the entire Mormon church for these activists is a little like saying that *** in the above video represents the entire LGBT movement.
I have flash for those folks demonizing the Mormons and the Mormon Church. As much as everyone loves a good scape goat, it really needs pointing out that the success of Proposition 8 is directly attributable to the number of black voters the came out in support of President Elect Obama. Blacks and Hispanics voted overwhelmingly in favor of Propostion 8. It is kind of ironic that the Acorn Sword cuts both ways.
But it wouldn't be politically correct to go after Blacks or Hispanics, some of which may be illegal immigrants. It appears the LGBT had to direct their anger at the group that may or may not be number three on the reason Proposition 8 passed.
The gay marriage cause is very important and needs to be brought to reality. Debate your cause with logic and respect. Using those weapons you cannot be defeated when facing the illogical dogma of religious belief. And remember, you are not going to, nor should you try to convince those that are fighting you on religious grounds. You want to talk to the people in the middle and win them over to your side. A hostile bunch of in-your-face assholes isn't going to do that.
The vandalism, harassment and assaults are hurting your cause. That video made the nationwide airways and people are talking about it. That talk is what brought this post about. Several people confided their negative change in attitude on gay marriage and the LGBT community in general.
On a personal note, I am really glad I wasn't there to witness that low-life-scum-sucking-*** manhandle that woman and knock the cross from her hands. There is just something about seeing a really big guy manhandle that smaller, older woman that sparks a towering rage in me. But witnessing any bully in action is an act that that will get me in trouble every time. Call it a personality flaw.
I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.
- Voltaire
Many of you reading this know that I spent a lot of time working in various capacities on the Mini-series Centennial.
Centennial came out on DVD and a set came my way for my birthday. The set comes with a bonus feature titled Memories of Centennial which just finished playing.
It left me with a lump in my throat and feeling both proud and empty. The pride is from listening to the actors talk about the historical value of the project and what it meant to them to be a part of it. The knowledge that the miniseries is now translated into many different languages and is a part of history classes around the world is humbling.
The emptiness came from looking at all the actors that are no longer with us. Most of those actors shared meals with the crew rather then hide in their trailers. It comes from memories of a chapter of life that will not be opened again.
Things like this leave me wondering if a bald headed old fart with nothing left but tall tales is in my future.
Old age is just a record of one's whole life.
- Muhammad Ali
Washington, DC - I was cleaning my camera and it went off. Ooops.
Now we know why it is called foggy bottom.
The more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws.
- Tacitus
A comment to my last post led to this fantasy from the mental playground in my mind...
Allow me to set the scene:
President Elect Obama, President Bush and several high ranking officers from various intelligence agencies have just concluded "The Briefing." That is where the President Elect is introduced to the unvarnished facts with regard to all the credible threats to our national security, all the things we know, all the things we suspect, how we got the information and all the things we don't know.
The President Elect now has an overview of everything the President knows. As the meeting breaks up, President Elect Obama sits in wide-eyed, open mouthed stunned silence while trying to wrap his mind around everything he just heard.
As the new reality of the world sets in, President Bush leans over with smile and says in his easy Texas drawl, "You're not near as smart as you thought you were, are you?"
President elect Obama shakes his head silently.
The President smiles a knowing smile and says, "Good luck with those vultures from the news media. They aren't real understanding about not showing all your cards. Hell, they even start making stuff up when you refuse to explain things to them. But you just figured all that out didn't you?"
President Elect Obama sits in silence, still stunned at all the current credible threats against us, the complexities of our intelligence networks, the damage done by the New York Times and even respected members of his own party.
The President laughs, claps the President Elect on the back and says, "Oh, don't take it so hard. You're a Democrat. Those vultures in the press corps will probably be a lot nicer to you."
President Bush gets up and leaves President Elect Obama to dwell on the new reality. As the President walks out of the room, if you listen carefully you just might hear him humming the tune to 'Take this job and shove it.'
There is no way that would ever happen. President Bush has way too much class.
But it is sure fun to think about...
A tip of the hat to ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
mieaga for the inspiration
It is unreasonable to believe that all situations can be resolved reasonably.
-Marc MacYoung
This is the first of a series of posts employing the crystal ball of logic based on President Elect Obama's stated intentions. In the future it would be a really good thing if I am unable to point back to these pages and say, "I told you so!!!"A story is running in the news about President Elect Obama's plan to make closing the Guantanamo Bay prison "a high priority." While listening to this story it crossed my mind that our future President has not had "The Briefing" yet.
I know that many of my Left Leaning readers believe they know all there is to know about the inner workings of our government. This is especially true of the reasons for Iraq, the nature, source and credibility of threats against US interests both here and abroad and terrorism in general. I've got some news for those people: Believe it or not, The New York Times missed a couple things while they were treasonously outing ongoing intelligence operations and national secrets. (It will be interesting to see if the New York Times, a/k/a Al Queda's US Intelligence arm, continues to undermine US operations under the new administration.)
Sometime in the very near future President Elect Obama will get "The Briefing." That is where the new president elect is brought up to speed on everything the United States intelligence agencies don't tell the rest of the world. Based on what President Elect Obama was saying on the campaign trail I think that briefing will be a fairly harsh reality check. He will certainly hear things he never thought he would have to consider. He may even discover that President Bush wasn't all that much of a "shrub" after all.
My ultimate wish right now is to be the fly on the wall when President Elect Obama gets that briefing. To sit and watch his face change as he finds out exactly why President Bush did the things he did and how we found out about those reasons would be a picture worth all the words spoken during the most recent campaign.
Perhaps the plans to kick all those lovable terrorists loose from Guantanamo are a bit premature. Maybe, President Elect Obama should get "The Briefing" first, then make plans for those folks that want to bring about as much US death and destruction as they can.
Obama Administration Prediction Number One: After getting the series of briefings resulting in a realistic picture of threats and assets to the nation, it is most likely we are going to see one of two things.
We may see many of his positions shift noticeably to right. All of the sudden, closing Guantanamo might not be all that urgent. All that talk of leaving Iraq might be traded for silence on the issue. He may even discover that we do need to conduct surveillance operations on some people both within and outside our borders.
The other possibility is that President Elect Obama will ignore the realities of the situation, much like President Carter did. He may carry out his original campaign plans and weaken the nation's defenses to the point we are successfully attacked here on our soil. Ignoring the facts will leave our population and infrastructure vulnerable to all kinds of attack. Those weaknesses will be promptly exploited by the people that think we are better off dead.
If we are attacked, I think it is unlikely the Obama Adminitration will take swift and decisive action against the source(s) of the attack. I believe as President, Obama will be desperately seeking anyone that wants to talk about the attack. In the mean time, the bad guys are planning their next hit.
Please let it be the first option.
The fact that my 15 minutes of fame has extended a little longer than 15 minutes is somewhat surprising to me and completely baffling to my wife.
- Barack Obama
A silver lining to the election was brought to my atention. I am looking forward to four years and two months of remarkable blogging material. It could be fun to show the new president all the respect and courtesy and many of you reading this showed President Bush in your comments and blog entries.
But as much fun as that would be, I think not. There is a certain level of courtesy and respect the office commands. When you have to shore up your argument with name calling and insults, then there is an excellent chance your argument is very weak.
When restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes irresistible.
- Mohandas Gandhi
Merrillville, IN - Normally my style is to end these posts with a quote that has some bearing on the subject. Today the subject will be the quote.
As soon as A observes something which seems to him to be wrong, from which X is suffering, A talks it over with B, and A and B then propose to get a law passed to remedy the evil and help X. Their law always proposes to determine what C shall do for X, or in the better case, what A, B, and C shall do for X.
What I want to do is look up C. I want to show you what manner of man he is. I call him the Forgotten Man. Perhaps the appellation is not strictly correct. He is the man that is never thought of.
He works, he votes, generally he prays. But he always pays.
-William Graham Sumner, Yale University, 1883
Lifted from the book The Forgotten Man by Amity Shales, 2007
If you haven't decided yet, please consider the Forgotten Man when you vote.
Let the games begin.
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