Saturday, August 20, 2005

Thanks to Ernie, over at Ernie's House of Whoop Ass, I ran across this story.

John Prazynski went to greet his son's unit on its return to Camp Lejeune. But John's son, Taylor, was not present. Taylor had been killed a few months before.

"I don't have any sort of agenda. I guess I want to thank his brothers for being there for him, and thank his friends for being his friends," Prazynski said.

Once word spread of who he was, Taylor's unit all stopped by to offer a few words.

I find that touching.

Friday, August 19, 2005

I feel sorry for Cindy Sheehan. She's lost her son, she's lost her marriage, and if she stands out in the Texas heat too much longer, she's gonna lose her mind.

It's hard to avoid reading about her, and even harder not to form an opinion about her: radical left wing goon, virtuous preserver of American values, anti-war catalyst, anti-semite, dangerously misinformed, divorcee, insane, patron saint of the anti-war movement, and C List celebrity. But, everyone is asking themselves, what do I think?

First, in one of the millions of stories generated by her protest, I read that her son joined the military out of the blue. He didn't talk it over with his parents, he just showed up one day and said "I joined the army!"

While I did not join the military, several of my high school friends did, and they discussed the move with their families. Why didn't Casey talk to Cindy? Could it be that he knew what her reaction would be? That she might be angry? That she might object?

Second, her son, Casey Sheehan, was killed in Iraq in a rocket attack. No parent should ever lose a child. Often, parents that do lose a child cannot deal with their greif together and divorce. No shame in that.

Third, Sheehan says she wants to meet with Bush so he can explain why her son had to die. But for some reason, she didn't ask Bush that in June 2004 when she met with him. She later said he was rude and evasive, or something like that.

I think Cindy Sheehan opposes the war in Iraq and is using the death of her son to get publicity for the movement. I think Casey Sheehan would be appalled were he alive today.

I don't think she's a psycho. I don't think she's deranged. She knows what she's doing.

She is a high profile Leftie who opposes the war. High profile targets get hammered by the Righties. And her Leftie supporters are hammering back.

And as the two sides try to drag the country over to their side with invective, profanity and name-calling, they forget that they run the risk of tearing the country apart.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

I got a letter from Kerrville Texas Chevy dealer Cecil Atkinson. They sent me a neat certificate telling me that I was "PRE-APPROVED" [emphasis theirs] for $29,851 towards a new car. The cover letter said that the considered me "blue chip," and that because of my "excellent credit rating" yada yada yada.

It's obvious that they haven't been chatting with Discover. Next time Discover Card calls me when I'm two days late with my payment, I'll have them call Cecil, and he can set them straight.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

The balance on my Household Bank MasterCard is right at $600. If I can make a $300 payment in September and a $300 payment in October, I'll meet my goal of paying of this card, and I can focus on the smaller Chase Visa, and (hopefully) have that paid off by January or February.

I kind of like watching the balances fall like this.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Cliches 101
How to Describe Something Fast

Faster than a speeding bullet.

In a New York minute.

Two Shakes of a lamb's tail.

Lickety Split.

Faster than a Colin Farrel sex tape.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Scientists discovered two new lemur species in Madagascar. "Until now, scientists believed only one type of giant mouse lemur existed, split into two populations in the west and the north of the island. But morphological, genetic and behavioural data shows they are in fact distinct species which diverged about two million years ago." Or 6000 years ago, if you're a creationist. Or an infinite time ago if you're a Buddhist. Or 100,000 lifetimes ago if you're Hindu.

But all those theories are wrong!

Last night, I had a spiritual vision. I observed the creation of the universe, and the beginnings of life on Earth. Hector (that's the name he gave, anyway) waved his hand across the emptiness and formed the Universe on June 20, 1962. He created a logarithmic carbon decay rate to fool foolish scientists about the true age of the universe. If you remember anything before 6/20/1962, Hector the Divine planted those memories in you to test your faith. He didn't create gravity, but instead, explained that we are attracted to the Earth by our toenails. (I feel so sorry for those of you who worship false gods!)

I will be forming a new church, and am looking for a name. I'm leaning towards Toenailism.

Tomorrow, of course, the Toenailsim creation theory will have to be taught in Public Schools. My theory is just as valid as anyone else's.

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Like we didn't have enough to worry about. . .

Aparently, the NCAA is smarter than the Seminole tribe in Florida. The NCAA has prohibited 18 colleges, including Florida State University and the University of Illinois, from hosting any NCAA championship events because they use "American Indian mascots, nicknames or imagery considered hostile and abusive."

The Seminole Tribe has given FSU their blessing to use the name "Seminoles," but the NCAA seems to think they don't know that they are being insulted.

According to Saint Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan:

. . .the first humans arrived in Illinois about 25,000 years ago. The Blue Book refers to them as Paleo-Indians. In the 17th century, a federation of tribes including the Cahokias, Kaskaskias, Mitchagamies, Peorias and Tamaroas met some French explorers. The confederation called itself the Illiniwek, which translates loosely into group of men, and the French referred to the people and the country as Illinois.

And Illinois it has remained.

So that brings up our first question. If it is politically incorrect to name a team after a Native American federation, is it right to name a state after the federation? Especially when the whole thing is a misunderstanding on the part of the French. None of the tribes were the Illini. Illiniwek was the name of the group of tribes. This is like naming the state Bunch of Tribes. Or, more simply, Bunch. As in, "I grew up in Chicago, Bunch."

As McClellan points out, Illinois named for Native Americans. Similarly, Texas is named after Tejas Indians, a group of allied Caddo tribes in what is now East Texas. Doesn't that mean that any NCAA school that uses Texas and Illinois in their name is using "American Indian mascots, nicknames or imagery considered hostile and abusive" ans should, therefore, be placed on the list?

Once this PC act is done on the college level, it will move on to the big leagues. Once we've purged the nation of this scourge, will PETA demand we stop using animal nicknames? [Well. . . yes, they will. (Near the end of the article.)] Will US Steel demand the Pittsburgh Steelers stop insulting US steel workers? Will the State of Texas demand the Texans and the Cowboys stop using those symbols of hatred (they oppressed the Native Americans, didn't they)? Will we resort to calling the teams the Dallas Guys Who Wear Silver Helmets or the Houston Guys Who Wear Black Helmets or the Tampa Bay Sore Losers or the New York Rude People or the San Francisco People Tempted By Greed or the Green Bay Animal Killers and Boxers or the New England Easily Deceived?

And when will someone stop that Foxworthy guy to stop making fun of rednecks? Doesn't he know that names can hurt as much as sticks and stones?