This is my father and sister on Christmas Eve, 1974. He died nine years ago today.

You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
All right, all right

You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We're doing what we can
But when you want money
For people with minds that hate
All I can tell you is brother, you have to wait
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
All right, all right

You say you'll change the Constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well, you know
You better free your mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
All right, all right
All right, all right, all right
All right, all right, all right

Revolution
--Lennon/McCartney
      

I took Bubba to Snapperz for his football party this afternoon. No one else showed up even though people were still talking about it at yesterday's game. We were apparently the only ones who didn't get the memo. The people who worked inside said that the coach never confirmed the party in the first place. This football thing has cost a lot of money (over $300 so far), not to mention the time requirement. Joining football has been worthwhile because Bubba loves it so much, but it would be nice if the coach would actually show up for practice, games, and special events.  It's hard to teach kids to honor their commitments when their leaders can't be bothered to show up.

A couple of people have asked me how I got the nickname, "Monkeyhouse," so here is the story:

I was having lunch one day back in 2004 with my sister and her three kids, when the oldest, Gingersnap, stood up and started climbing over me to get out of the booth. I told her, "Sit back down. I'm not your monkeyhouse!" Well, like any other five year old, she said, "Yes, you are! Monkeyhouse! Monkeyhouse!" It was cute, and I thought that was the end of it. I went to their house a day or two later and the twins, who were three years old at the time, joined their sister and started calling me "Monkeyhouse." They were all quite pleased with themselves for being so clever. I grew to like it very much. It's not a name I would have thought up for myself, but they were adorable when they said it. Bubba's crackly voice was especially cute. It was still a big word for them back then.

Any way..  the name stuck. The three kids introduce me to everyone as "my aunt, Monkeyhouse." I get some interesting looks, but that's ok. It's certainly a one-of-a-kind call sign (unlike, say, "Mommy"). Gingersnap, now known as Otto, calls me by my regular name most of the time, but the twins still use my favorite nickname exclusively. I'm sure it won't last forever, but I am enjoying it for now.

I had a planning session this afternoon with a teenager and his mother. The mother commented on some of the graffiti in the city and pronounced it "beautiful art." She also said that she wouldn't mind seeing more graffiti because it would enhance the "urban feel" of Indianapolis.

Now, some of the graffiti I've seen is certainly artistic, takes a bit of talent to create, and could be considered cool if only it wasn't vandalism. I've heard a number of people declare that graffiti is an underappreciated art form, but I don't buy it. If someone put this "art" on the side of my house, garage, or fence, I wouldn't feel lucky to have it, and it wouldn't help the value of my property or neighborhood one bit. Perhaps I'm cranky, but I would call the police and my insurance agent.

Well I heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?

Well it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you

She tied you to her kitchen chair
And she broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well baby I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you

I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me do you?

Remember when I moved in you?
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you

And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Hallelujah
--Leondard Cohen

Old cemetery poses grave dilemma for buyers of Vermont farm

By LISA RATHKE, Associated Press WriterSun May 4, 2008

The 130-acre property was exactly what Michel Guite and his family wanted: an old Vermont farm with mountain views, rolling hills and meadows.

There was, however, one wrinkle: The property included a small family cemetery — with the grave of a War of 1812 veteran — surrounded by a fence on a scenic knoll.

His proposal to move the graveyard so he can build a house and barn has set off protests. The town has passed a resolution aimed at blocking the move, a descendant of one occupant of the graveyard is trying to fight him in probate court and opponents including military veterans have asked the town to take over the cemetery and keep it where it is. ( more )

Does anyone else have views on this? Under what conditions would it be acceptable to move remains? Does it matter to you at all?

Who should MDs let die in a pandemic? Report offers answers.

By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer

Doctors know some patients needing lifesaving care won't get it in a flu pandemic or other disaster. The gut-wrenching dilemma will be deciding who to let die.

Now, an influential group of physicians has drafted a grimly specific list of recommendations for which patients wouldn't be treated. They include the very elderly, seriously hurt trauma victims, severely burned patients and those with severe dementia. ( more )



Societies customarily decide which members should be saved first in a crisis--women, children, upper classes, government officials, clergy, etc. I think that could be a mistake. In a true catastrophe, it makes more sense to save the largest number of people most likely to survive, preferably the strongest and most needed. Strength does not simply mean the ability to lift heavy weights, but overall health, intelligence, speed, endurance, experience, or other factors that would benefit the group's survival rate. Because we have the ability to save people from diseases or accidental damage, it would be advantageous to use those skills to aid "survival of the fittest" as found in nature. The strong survive for a reason. If a true threat to civilization (whether disease, war, or acts of god) were to arise, children won't help us. The sick or demented won't help. They will consume resources and give back very little.

I don't mean that the poor, women, children, or others aren't worth saving. It depends on the crisis. Society would be better off after a disaster, (and this is cold, I know) with stronger members to rebuild. I am not taking into account outside aid in the case of local disasters, such as Katrina. I am speaking in terms of an isolated or global population affected by a devastating crisis, whereby survivors must rebuild on their own. For civilization to carry on, scarce resources (including human capital) must be put to their most efficient uses.

      

                                                                               You, who are on the road 
                                                                               Must have a code that you can live by 
                                                                               And so become yourself 
                                                                               Because the past is just a good bye. 

                                                                               Teach your children well, 
                                                                               Their father's hell did slowly go by, 
                                                                               And feed them on your dreams 
                                                                               The one they pick, the one you'll know by. 

                                                                               Don't you ever ask them why, 
                                                                               If they told you, you will cry, 
                                                                               So just look at them and sigh 
                                                                               And know they love you. 

                                                                               And you, of tender years, 
                                                                               Can't know the fears that your elders grew by, 
                                                                               And so please help them with your youth, 
                                                                               They seek the truth before they can die. 

                                                                               Teach your parents well, 
                                                                               Their children's hell will slowly go by, 
                                                                               And feed them on your dreams 
                                                                               The one they pick, the one you'll know by. 

                                                                               Don't you ever ask them why, 
                                                                               If they told you, you will cry, 
                                                                               So just look at them and sigh 
                                                                               And know they love you. 


                                                                               Teach Your Children 
                                                                               --Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

I think people should stop worrying so much about whether or not citizens should be allowed to own guns. More important, in my opinion, is the question of what the rules of ownership should be. People need good training about more than just how the firearm works. They need to practice how to behave in dangerous situations. There's more to it than point and shoot, especially while threatened.

The Real Meaning of 4,000 Dead

By LIEUT. SEAN WALSH

The passing of the 4,000th service member in Iraq is a tragic milestone and a testament to the cost of this war, but for those of us who live and fight in Iraq, we measure that cost in smaller, but much more personal numbers. For me those numbers are 8, the number of friends and classmates killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 3, the number of soldiers from my unit killed in this deployment. I'm 25, yet I've received more notifications for funerals than invitations to weddings.

The number 4,000 is too great to grasp even for us that are here in Iraq. When we soldiers read the newspaper, the latest AP casualty figures are glanced over with the same casual interest as a box score for a sport you don't follow. I am certain that I am not alone when I open up the Stars and Stripes, the military's daily paper, and immediately search for the section with the names of the fallen to see if they include anyone I know. While in a combat outpost in southwest Baghdad, it was in that distinctive bold Ariel print in a two-week-old copy of the Stars and Stripes that I read that my best friend had been killed in Afghanistan. No phone call from a mutual friend or a visit to his family. All that had come and gone by the time I had learned about his death. I sometimes wonder, if I hadn't picked up that paper, how much longer I would have gone by without knowing - perhaps another day, perhaps a week or longer until I could find the time and the means to check my e-mail to find my messages unanswered and a death notification from a West Point distro list in my inbox. The dead in Afghanistan don't seem to inspire the keeping of lists the same way that those in Iraq do, but even if they did it wouldn't matter; he could only be number 7 to me.

I'm not asking for pity, only understanding for the cost of this war. We did, after all, volunteer for the Army and that is the key distinction between this army and the army of the Vietnam War. But even as I ask for that understanding I'm almost certain that you won't be able to obtain it. Even Shakespeare, with his now overused notion of soldiers as a "band of brothers" fails to capture the bonds, the sense of responsibility to each other, among soldiers. In many ways, Iraq has become my home (by the time my deployment ends I will have spent more time here than anywhere else in the army) and the soldiers I share that home with have become my family. Between working, eating and sleeping within a few feet of the same soldiers every single day, I doubt I am away from them for more than two hours a day. I'm engaged to the love of my life, but it will take several years of marriage before I've spent as much time with her as I have with the men I serve with today.

For the vast majority of American's who don't have a loved one overseas, the only number they have to attempt to grasp the Iraq War is 4,000. I would ask that when you see that number, try to remember that it is made up of over 1 million smaller numbers; that every one of the 1 million service members who have fought in Iraq has his or her own personal numbers. Over 1 million 8's and 3's. When you are evaluating the price of the war, weighing potential rewards versus cost in blood and treasure, I would ask you to consider what is worth the lives of three of your loved ones? Or eight? Or more? It would be a tragedy for my 8 and 3 to have died without us being able to complete our mission, but it maybe even more tragic for 8 and 3 to become anything higher.

French Woman Who Sought Euthanasia Dies

By MIKAEL HOLTER, Associated Press

A woman who suffered from a painful facial tumor and had drawn headlines across France with her quest for doctor-assisted suicide was found dead Wednesday, an official said.

Chantal Sebire, a former schoolteacher and mother of three, was found at her home in the eastern French town of Plombieres-les-Dijon, a government official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The circumstances of her death were not immediately clear.

Sebire, 52, was diagnosed nearly eight years ago with esthesioneuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer. The illness left her blind, and with no sense of smell or taste, her lawyer said. She could not use morphine to ease the intense eye pain because of the side effects.

On Monday, a court in the city of Dijon rejected Sebire's request to be allowed to receive a lethal dose of barbiturates under a doctor's supervision. It refused the request for doctor-assisted suicide because of French law and out of concern for medical ethics.

Sebire's case revived a debate in France about the right to die. She received national attention after the media published heartbreaking before-and-after pictures that made her suffering instantly apparent. The tumor had burrowed through her sinuses and nasal cavities, causing her nose to swell to several times its original size, and pushing one of her eyes out of her head.

Unlike in France, euthanasia is legal in both Belgium and the Netherlands, and Luxembourg is in the process of passing a law to allow it. In Switzerland, counselors or physicians can prepare the lethal dose, but patients must take it on their own.


My view:

I think people should be able to decide for themselves how much suffering to tolerate. I also think enlisting the aid of a doctor can be a good idea in order to make sure the job is finished as comfortably and completely as possible. The patient should also have medical confirmation that his/her condition is either terminal or the suffering incurable. A botched suicide could be a much greater disservice to the patient and his survivors. Worse yet, people who physically cannot kill themselves sometimes need help when they might prefer to end their pain but have no choice.

When we set out on this journey
There were no doubts in our minds
We set our eyes to the distance
We would find what we would find
We took courage from our numbers
What we sought we did not fear
Sometimes we'd glimpse a shadow falling
The shadow would disappear

But our thoughts kept returning
To something the boy said
As we turned to go
He said you'll never see our faces again
You'll be food for a carrion crow

Every step we took today
Our thoughts would always stray
From the wind on the moor so wild
To the words of the captain's child
Something the boy said

In the circles we made with our fires
We talked of the pale afternoon
The clouds were like dark riders
Flying on the face of the moon
We spoke our fears to the captain
And asked what his son could know
For we would never have marched so far
To be food for a crow

Every step we took today
Our thoughts would always stray
From the wind on the moor so wild
To the words of the captain's child
Something the boy said

When I awoke this morning
The sun's eye was red as blood
The stench of burning corpses
Faces in the mud
Am I dead or am I living?
I'm too afraid to care, I'm too afraid to know
I'm too afraid to look behind me
At the feast of the crow
We spoke our fears to the captain
And asked what his son could know
For we would never have marched so far
To be food for a crow

Something the Boy Said
--Sting

Businessman rescues Oral Roberts U.

February 5, 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - As a kid, Mart Green made 7 cents for every picture frame he glued together for his father's arts and crafts business. But before he went out and bought baseball cards with his money, the 9-year-old gave 10 percent to charity.

'That was just culture for me,' Green says. 'It wasn't even something you debated or thought about. It was just natural.'

Today, Green is 46 and he is still giving. This time though, it's $70 million of his family's fortune to rescue Oral Roberts University, the evangelical Christian school engulfed in a spending scandal and burdened with tens of millions of dollars in debt.

In return for the donation, Green becomes chairman of the university's new board of trustees, and hopes to restore the public's trust in the 5,700-student institution.( more )

This reeks of hypocrisy to me. A 4500 square foot home isn't lavish? Maybe he doesn't spend all of his money. Good for him. It sounds like it's sitting in the bank waiting for a rainy day though. How helpful is that to anyone but himself? All he did was buy himself a seat on the board. Maybe he fancies himself a big shot. It isn't charity if you get a job out of it. How much is he paid at this job? Also, it sounds like this kid grew up rich and can now rest on daddy's money. Yeah, I know he started his own business, but that is also fruits of his family's wealth. If it had failed, so what?

It seems like there might be better ways to spend $70 million. Also, if they had $70 million laying around, how much is left? I don't think it's humble at all for someone to have $30 million sitting in the bank for himself.

I have a question for anyone who cares to answer:

What does it take to become a war hero? Is it enough to just go to war? Does it matter whether a soldier is drafted or enlists? Must he be injured or killed? Must he go beyond the call of duty? How would you separate heroes from a group of ordinary soldiers?

My niece, Gingersnap, recently wrote an email to her father and stepfamily just to say hello and for the sake of using email because it is sooooooo cool. Her stepmother wrote back to announce that they would not be picking up the kids this weekend because they would be moving, but next weekend is Tyler's (the kids' stepbrother) birthday which would work out better for them. She then told Gingersnap to ask her mother (actually, she called her by first name instead of "your mom") if they could come to get the kids next weekend instead for Tyler's birthday.

Problems:

1. If they have questions about switching weekends, they need to talk with the children's mother, Grasshopper, not the kids.
2. Don't call Grasshopper by name to the kid, call her "your mom" or something equivalent.  Actually, they don't even call Grasshopper by her preferred name, but by a shortened nickname. They make the kids call their mom by her given name when they are with their father's family, but that's a completely different rant.
3. Not once since Grasshopper split with the kids' father has any of them called the kids on their birthdays or even sent a card. Two of them are twins with (obviously) the same birthday, and they still can't be bothered to call and wish them a happy birthday. They don't call on Christmas, either.
4. These people live five hours away. While it's not horribly far away, going to pick them up takes all day.

Grasshopper wrote Emily (the stepmother) and Nathaniel (dad) back to request that they please do not talk about switching weekends with the children. If they want to adjust the schedule, they can call to talk about it. Grasshopper didn't say no, she just said to call in order to discuss it. Emily wrote again to say that her email was exactly the same as sending a birthday invitation in the mail.

Uh, no. It isn't exactly like that at all. Idiots.

I have to admit I am not really a fan of Hillary Clinton. The flip side of that is of all the candidates, I believe she has what it takes to be an effective president, even if I don't like all of her ideas. She knows better than anyone what to expect from day one in office. She has the brains, guts, stones, and fangs that we need right now.  The question is whether there's anyone else with all of those characteristics running for president. If so, I haven't seen him. Then again, I live in Indiana, where we vote for Republicans no matter what. Also, our primary is held just in time for us to rubber stamp the candidates chosen by the rest of the country. 

In the meantime, it's important to remember that all candidates will try to sculpt their words to fit their immediate audiences and will likely contradict themselves at some point. That's the way campaigns go, regardless of who is running. Also, this idea of "change" doesn't impress me. Voting for change alone isn't voting for much, in my opinion. I want to hear more specific ideas from the candidates. I also want to to hear more than just fluff that couldn't possibly pass muster in Congress. If the bills don't make it to the president's desk, it doesn't matter much what the candidates claim to support while on the campaign trail.

I close my eyes,
Only for a moment,
And the moment's gone

All my dreams,
Pass before my eyes,
A curiosity
Dust in the wind,
All they are is dust in the wind

Same old song,
Just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do,
Crumbles to the ground,
Though we refuse to see

Dust in the wind,
All we are is dust in the wind

Don't hang on,
Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away,
All your money won't another minute buy

Dust in the wind,
All we are is dust in the wind

--Kansas

He's a real nowhere man,
Sitting in his nowhere land,
Making all his nowhere plans
For nobody.

Doesn't have a point of view,
Knows not where he's going to,
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere man, please listen,
You don't know what you're missing,
Nowhere man, the world is at your command.

He's as blind as he can be,
Just sees what he wants to see,
Nowhere man can you see me at all?
Doesn't have a point of view,
Knows not where he's going to,
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere man, don't worry,
Take your time, don't hurry,
Leave it all 'til somebody else
Lends you a hand.

He's a real nowhere man,
Sitting in his nowhere land,
Making all his nowhere plans
For nobody.

--Lennon/McCartney


This song has always reminded me of my father. Today would have been his 72nd birthday.
       
           

The question I have about so-called "Christian" holidays is why isn't Easter Sunday a bigger deal? Most Easter traditions are derived from pagan sources, but if you believe that's when Jesus rose from the dead, why wouldn't it be the most important Christian holiday? Isn't the story of death and resurrection the main focus of Christianity? Celebrating the birthday of Jesus seems a bit mundane compared with the whole "savior" concept.

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening
--Robert Frost

I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
'til the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'cause I built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
I'm getting older too

Oh, take my love, take it down
Climb a mountain and turn around
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down
Oh, the landslide will bring it down.

--Fleetwood Mac

It's Baby Girl's first birthday today. Happy Birthday!

Whoo!

Mormons just knocked on my door! I get the Jehovah's Witnesses all the time, but it's the first time I've seen any Mormons in my neighborhood.

I don't have time to talk with them today, but they'll be back Wednesday afternoon. They have also agreed to let me photograph them. How nice! Did you know there are black Mormons now? I had no idea.

Fucking Colts blew it!

Why do people stop to turn left in a lane of traffic, when there is a perfectly good turn lane right there in the middle of the road? Why? Why?

It is ridiculous to expect a company such as Mrs. Field's, which seeks business from everyone, to cater to a single religious group. Christians (or anyone who thinks his group is more important than the rest of the market) who believe a private company should endorse their religion to avoid offending them are much too self-aggrandized. The fact that they expect this kind of preferential treatment speaks volumes. I left Christianity for reasons such as this. So many Christians believe they are the most important and entitled people in America. Sure, they can take their business wherever they choose, like anyone else, but expecting a corporation to bow only to them is absurd.

That said, I think people have carried the whole "banning Christmas" thing too far. For some, Christmas is about their religion, and that's great. For the majority of us, though, shopping at Christmastime is about buying stuff for our people and getting good deals.

I am trying to develop an informed opinion about health care reform. Although the idea of granting every American health care coverage is very noble, putting the federal government in charge sounds downright scary. What would a responsible health care plan look like? Who would be included/excluded? Who would pay for it and how? Is there any plan that could stand the test of time without going bankrupt (like Social Security)? What about improvements in the medical field? How would the government administrators adjust coverage for new procedures and medicines? How long would people need to wait to see a doctor or get procedures? Would wealthy people need/want to get supplemental insurance to fill the gaps? Should the government be in the health care business at all aside from helping the poor, elderly, and severely disabled? Do Americans really have the "right" to health care?

I am trying to study the various plans brought forth by presidential candidates, but none of those plans would actually be implemented as described. I'm also starting to look for information elsewhere regarding the economics of insurance and health care.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? What would you like to see happen with health care policy? What issues in health care are most important to you? What would make national health coverage acceptable or desirable for you (if at all)?

I think it's unfortunate that rock stars are role models at all. Their job is to make music and entertain us, not teach the children. The same goes for athletes and other celebrities. They each have a job, none of which includes raising everyone else's children. Of course, because so many do look up to them, it would be nice if they would be mindful of that fact, but it still isn't their top priority, nor should it be.

Someone wrote in the Christianity community that he tried to leave church but felt like he kept being pulled back against his will. I think he has been in church his whole life.

Here is my advice:

If your heart isn't in it any way, you should schedule a real break. This doesn't mean you have to give it up forever, but just take a few weeks off. I doubt you'll forget about god or lose the urge to return completely, but your fears will subside somewhat. Go out and try new things (not dangerous things, but new things). You can make it on your own. If you don't try at least once, you may very well feel trapped your whole life.

The Amish culture requires members to go out into the world so they can understand what they are missing and have the opportunity to choose a different life. I think this idea would be good for Christians of all types, especially those who were raised in church and know no other life. The added bonus for Christians is that their churches will likely welcome them back at any time (in theory), whereas the Amish must choose one life or the other, permanently.

What's the best advice you've given or gotten for taking good pictures?

The best advice I can give someone is to take the time to make pictures in the first place. Don't wait for special events. Don't wait until you are happy about your appearance. Do it now. When you drag the camera out, play a little. Keep shooting. Have fun with it. Even if all these photos just end up in a file on your computer or in a box in the drawer, it's important that they exist. Once time passes by, it's gone, and we are left with the photographs.

Yes, it's always good to avoid clutter in the background, get closer to your subject, and find creative ways to shoot, but when photographing people, the most important part is that person. Consider the idea that the most common objects taken from burning buildings are photographs of loved ones. They are just that important, so don't wait for a "reason" to shoot. Just do it.

This is a great question. I do not believe people need an established religion or god to be moral. Most of us were born with a conscience and have learned a sense of right and wrong from our families and cultures which may or may not include a religious worldview. Then as we grow up we make our own choices. Of course, many choices and experiences have nothing at all to do with any god. Many decisions are made with a simple cost/benefit analysis, regardless of religion.

Kids in church rebel when they go to college for a reason. For that matter, kids not in church rebel in college for a reason if they've been on a tight leash their whole lives. They need to be exposed to all kinds of things (not everything, of course) so they can make their own choices and decisions while the fallout of mistakes isn't as costly.

Also, if you want a kid to avoid something, the fastest way to get them interested in it is to make a big stink about it, call it evil, and forbid them to approach. We need to TEACH the children.

She packed by bag last night, preflight
Zero hour, nine a.m.
And I'm gonna be high
As a kite by then

I miss the earth so much
I miss my wife
It's lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight

And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Ah, no no no...
I'm a rocket man
Rocket man
Burnin' out my fuse
Up here alone

Mars ain't the kind of place
To raise your kids
In fact, it's cold as hell
And there's no one there to raise them
If you did

And all this science
I don't understand
It's just my job
Five days a week
A Rocket Man
Rocket Man

And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Ah, no no no...

And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Ah, no no no...
I'm a rocket man
Rocket man
Burnin' out his fuse
Up here alone

And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time

Long, long, time
Long, long, time

Ah, no, no, no...
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no...


--Elton John

What are your favorite and least favorite words? Any reasons why?

My favorites will always be the terms of endearment and nicknames given by loved ones... George, Monkeyhouse, and Edna. My favorite people have nicknames too.. Buttercup, Grasshopper, and others.

I also enjoy the word "kugelschrieber." It's just funny.

Although I appreciate the sentiment of the song "Taps," I do not like to hear a certain person sing it. Whenever she starts, it makes me angry. I don't know why.

Miss Gingersnap is eight years old today. Happy Birthday!

Snickerdoodle and Bubbaloo are six years old today. Happy Birthday, Twinkies!

I found a picture of you, OH OH OH OH
What hijacked my world that night
To a place in the past
We've been cast out of? OH OH OH OH
Now we're back in the fight
We're back on the train
OH, back on the chain gang.

A circumstance beyond our control, OH OH OH OH
The phone, the TV, and the news of the world
Got in the house like a pigeon from Hell, OH OH OH OH
Threw sand in our eyes and descended like flies
Put us back on the train
OH, back on the chain gang.

The powers that be
That force us to live like we do
Bring me to my knees
When I see what they've done to you
But I'll die as I stand here today
Knowing that deep in my heart
They'll fall to ruin one day
For making us part.

I found a picture of you, OH OH OH OH
Those were the happiest days of my life
Like a break in the battle was your part, OH OH OH OH
In the wretched life of a lonely heart
Now we're back on the train
OH, back on the chain gang.

--The Pretenders

Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the devine Providence has found for you; the society of your contemporaries, the connexion of events. Great men have always done so and confided in themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and the Dark.

-- Self Reliance
Ralph Waldo Emerson

He deals the cards as a meditation
And those he plays never suspect
He doesn't play for the money he wins
He doesn't play for respect.
He deals the cards to find the answer
The sacred geometry of chance
The hidden law of a probable outcome
The numbers lead a dance.

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart.

He may play the jack of diamonds
He may lay the queen of spades
He may conceal a king in his hand
While the memory of it fades.

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart
That's not the shape, the shape of my heart.

And if I told you that I loved you
You'd maybe think there's something wrong.
I'm not a man of too many faces
The mask I wear is one.
Those who speak know nothing
And find out to their cost
Like those who curse their luck in too many places
Those who smile are lost.

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart
That's not the shape of my heart.

--Sting

The 2008 election is the first in a very long time that does not have an incumbent president or vice-president in the running. It's anyone's game, so the primaries should be especially fierce. I would love to hear what Obama has to say, or he will be swept under by all the others. It's so early in the race, and the front-runners won't necessarily be around come voting time. Remember Howard Dean? He was the runaway favorite early on in the 2004 race, then fizzled out after his wahoo moment.

It will also be interesting to see how much damage the candidates do to their opponents' reputations along the way. The primaries could prove more disastrous to either party in the end because of negative campaigning, just because so many people want the nomination and will fight dirty to get it.

Like most races, though, experience will likely be the tie-breaker. Obama is probably competent enough, but he is still so fresh in the Senate. Hillary Rodham Clinton is also relatively fresh, but she is clearly one-of-a-kind with her experience. She's also got the ability to raise money and exposure like nobody else out there (at this point, any way). We'll see how far her baggage drags her down.

Also, I don't know how much this would affect the primary race, but in November, people usually vote for governors or ex-governors. We haven't had a Senator elected to the presidency who wasn't first a vice-president since John F. Kennedy. Bush Sr. and Johnson were the incumbent vice-presidents, Ford wasn't elected as president, and Nixon was vice-president under Eisenhower. Do not underestimate the governors who are still gathering steam. They have executive experience, which voters find comforting in the end.

As for Obama, he is clearly an intelligent man and will likely be a great Senator. I hope he makes a stand and starts talking about his views and raising questions for the rest.

I have come to the borders of sleep,
The unfathomable deep
Forest, where all must lose
Their way, however straight
Or winding, soon or late:
They can not choose.

Many a road and track
That since the dawn's first crack
Up to the forest brink
Deceived the travellers,
Suddenly now blurs,
And in they sink.

Here love ends--
Despair, ambition ends;
All pleasure and all trouble,
Although most sweet or bitter,
Here ends, in sleep that is sweeter
Than tasks most noble.

There is not any book
Or face of dearest look
That I would not turn from now
To go into the unknown
I must enter, and leave, alone,
I know not how.

The tall forest towers:
Its cloudy foliage lowers
Ahead, shelf above shelf:
Its silence I hear and obey
That I may lose my way
And myself.

--Edward Thomas

Ships that pass in the night and speak each other in passing;
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness;
So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another,
Only a look and a voice; then darkness again and a silence.

--Tales of a Wayside Inn. Part iii. The Theologian’s Tale: Elizabeth. iv.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It's not all about how much pain a person feels at the time of his execution. While an execution should be performed quickly and flawlessly, the time between sentencing and death passes with plenty of suffering as well. Being held captive until certain death cannot be pleasant, even if that takes several years. Though plenty of people, I'm sure, deserve whatever suffering can be heaped upon them, I do not believe the state (that is, the western world) should be in the business of executing people. However fair and justified, killing is wrong when other options are available. The victims are gone. More consideration and aid should be given to families who have lost members to violence.

The "eye for an eye" argument seems fair, but cannot ever truly happen. The bottom line is that people put to death (in theory, any way) did something first to deserve that punishment. The suffering (however brief) and loss of those murdered by these criminals cannot be duplicated in the criminal himself because he is guilty of the crime and therefore deserves the punishment according to the law.

That said, I am opposed to the death penalty in general. I believe lifelong captivity is underrated, especially if served in a place like Iraq. As for Saddam himself, hanging is too good for him. He would have suffered more rotting away in an Iraqi prison. It is impossible to kill him enough for all his victims and crimes. However, in Iraq, hanging remains the supreme penalty and its swiftness is customary, certainly by Saddam's standards.