Deep Something

All the weird stuff from the weekend ending on Friday, July 4th, 2008. Read more »

Today is a day or ironies. George Bush is visiting Thomas Jefferson’s beloved Monticello on this the 232nd anniversary of our declaration of independence from a king named George. As Jefferson warned that Americans would have to be ever on their guard against those who might turn the presidency into the tool of their “elected despotism,” I doubt he would be greeting Bush. And Jesse Helms, father of the politics of division, died today. Read more »

Well, the McCain camp is all atwitter about Wesley Clark’s comments Sunday related to McCain’s status as a POW. They’re calling it “Swiftboating,” and condemning Obama for it. Of course, that didn’t stop McCain from putting the head of the original Swiftboats for Truth on a conference call run by his campaign. Read more »

It’s not really surprising to find that a small group of Republican Senators re-introduced the Federal Marriage Amendment to write discrimination into the U.S. Constitution. After all, they are mostly behind in the polls, the base is distraught and disorganized, and even fund raising isn’t going so well. What you might find interesting though, is that two of original 10 sponsors is Larry “wide stance” Craig (R-Idaho) and David “I heart hookers” Vitter (R-LA). Read more »

The New York Times is reporting that military trainers who came to Guantanamo Bay in December 2002 based an interrogation class on a chart showing various “coercive” techniques for use on prisoners. What the trainers did not reveal, and may not have known, was that their chart had been copied an Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain false confessions from American prisoners. Whoohoo, we’re on a roll now. Read more »

I have prepared a resolution on social justice to be introduced at the next meeting of the Administrative Board of Palma Ceia United Methodist Church here in Tampa. It will create an inclusive statement of non-discrimination. However, it goes a bit further. In an on-line conversation I had with a new acquaintance, he made a statement that caught my interest. He said, “People don’t have to pay a price for discrimination against gay people.” I believe this is a true statement. You can’t really change how people feel, but you can change how they behave in public through laws and through action. People who make racists statements pay a price. If they are business owner, they may be boycotted by people who don’t beleive in racism. At work, they may be ostricized, and it can affect their potential opportunities. But for the most part, people don’t pay a price for discriminating against homosexuals. My resolution requires the church to put its money where its mouth is. Read more »

Well, it’s the day after the first full day that gay marriage was legal in California, and gosh darn it, the sun came up, birds still sang, children were born, people died, there were even some heterosexual marriages, and I still had to go to work. In other words, if God is mad about it, he sure missed that wrath thing by taking it out on the mid-west. This raises a lot of questions, such as what happens next in California, what does this mean to Florida’s Amendment 2 initiative (and see a possible connection), and what does it mean for gay people around the country. Read more »

I thought the Sixth Sense was a good movie with a great plot twist. Shyamalan’s movie Signs was a true horror sci-fi classic, but I’d change the title of this movie “The Not Happening.” I view this as a complete loss of 90 plus minutes of my life. Read more »

While traveling to Dallas this week, I visited the Admiral’s Club in Terminal A at the DFW airport. It has to be probably the nicest airline club I’ve ever been in. Of course, given that American Airlines is headquartered in Dallas, I would expect their Admiral’s Club there to be above average, but this place was incredible. It was plush, quite, well appointed, and thoughtfully laid out. At one end was a small restaurant where one could order light food. Read more »

This week I traveled to Dallas for business, and used DFW Airport. This is a huge airport (yes, I know, everything’s bigger in Texas), but the main problem is that it is sprawling, and seems disorganized. Read more »

The continuing adventures of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda as they live their lives in Manhattan four years after the series ended. Read more »

Warren Schmidt is a retired insurance salesman, who at age 66, has no particular plans other than to drive around in the motor home his wife insisted they buy. He’s not altogether bitter, but not happy either, as everything his wife does annoys him, and he disapproves of the man his daughter is about to marry. When his wife suddenly dies, he sets out to postpone the imminent marriage of his daughter to a man he doesn’t like, while coping with discoveries about his late wife and himself in the process. Read more »