Deep Something

Nelson Mandela Can Now Travel to the U.S. (From the BBC)
I didn’t know this, but apparently our illustrious Department of Homeland Stupidity classes Nelson Mandela as a terrorist. It seems DHS classed everyone ever in the African National Congress (ANC) a terrorist. Fortunately, Congress and the President passed special legislation that will allow him to visit the U.N. Headquarters in New York without a special waiver from the Secretary of State. I’m sure glad we got around to clearing that up.

Pot Grower Puts House on Market
TBO.com is reporting that Evarista Ruiz-Ortiz, 36, of 1741 W. Powhatan had 39 pot plants growing in her house. The article doesn’t say how the police found out, but she’d tapped directly into the overhead line for power, and had the house listed for sale. Maybe not he brightest person on the planet. But then again, times are tough, you gotta get gas money somehow.

Naked Man in Downtown Palmetto
There’s a report from the Sarasota Herald Tribune of a nake man run amok in downtown Palmetto. It appears he disrobed in front of some woman in a store while she was in the restroom (I didn’t quite understand that). The lady ran out and the store manager confronted the guy. Apparently, he calmly walked out of the store to the street, where the spectacle promptly caused a couple of traffice accidents. The most interesting part of the story is that the police drugs and alcohol didn’t appear to be involved.

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.

What’s the dust up all about this time? Well, it seems that last Sunday morning on one of the news shows Clark said that John McCain’s military service was to be respected, but that time in a POW camp and having flown a fighter does not really do anything to increase a person’s ability to act as Commander-And-Chief. (Remember, Bush was also a fighter pilot, and look where that got us.)

Clark was exactly correct in what he said. As a nation, we owe John McCain and all other veterans who have served honorably, especially those who were prisoner’s of war, a great debt. Serving in leadership and command positions in the military can be good preparation for leadership positions in the civilian world also. But just because one flies a fighter jet and serves time as a POW really does not add anything to one’s ability to serve as President. The truth is, most psychologists would express concern about the temperament and stability of people that have been tortured in that past. So the reality is, McCain’s time as a POW ought to be a concern.) And McCain had a command position for only a short time, and then not in a combat situation. And it should be noted that not a single person has attacked General Clark’s thesis here, just that it wasn’t right to actually say it.

McCain and his team have tried to portray McShame as an humble servant never using his status for political gain, but as Paul Waldman writes, nothing could be further from the truth:

From the first time he ran for Congress in 1982 up to the present day, McCain has made his POW story the centerpiece of his entire political career. The key moment of that 1982 campaign was when he responded to his opponent’s (absolutely true) accusation that McCain was a carpetbagger by saying, “As a matter of fact, when I think about it now, the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi.” At every point since, it has been the deft use of this tool that has brought McCain renewed attention or won him a key victory.

Of course, the news media was all over this clipping what General Clark said. He started the comment by completely honoring McCain’s military service, but the MSM only showed a cropped version of the statement. To hear them tell it, you would think Clark inferred that McCain was never even in Vietnam. It is time for this love affair the media has for John McCain to end.

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. I mean even if the bill has no chance of even getting a hearing, nothing gets the blood pumping for krazy kristian kooks like a good homo bashing.

What you might find interesting though is that two of the original 10 sponsors is Larry “I have a wide stance” Craig (R-Idaho) and David “I heart hookers” Vitter (R-LA). Sometimes the silly shit just writes itself. Come on…Larry Craig was caught trying to hook up with a hot cop in an airport restroom, and David Vitter used to let hookers put him in diapers. Both were married at the time…so just which marriage and family values are we trying to protect here.

These are people who want to pontificate on the sanctity of holy matrimony? They’d better hope St. Peter enjoys irony, and has a sense of humor.

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. 

The 1957 article from which the chart was copied was entitled “Communist Attempts to Elicit False Confessions From Air Force Prisoners of War” and written by Albert D. Biderman, a sociologist then working for the Air Force, who died in 2003. Mr. Biderman had interviewed American prisoners returning from North Korea, some of whom had been filmed by their Chinese interrogators confessing to germ warfare and other atrocities.

Senator Carl Levin, head of the Senate Armed Services Committee said, “What makes this document doubly stunning is that these were techniques to get false confessions. People say we need intelligence, and we do. But we don’t need false intelligence.” (Duhh)

Of course, when has the Bush administration really cared about getting intelligence. They just make up what they need. But picture this, George, Condi, and Dick sitting around the Oval Office having coffee laughing and having a good ole time coming up with ways that prisoners can be tortured for their fun and amusement. What wants to bet me that Dick Cheney has watched videos of some of the “interrogations.” (Maybe even alone at home in the dark doing the dirty.)

How sad we have become, but of course the right-wing will insist that, “It’s not torture…it was when the commies did it to our soldiers, but it’s not now when we do it to Arabs, that’s different.”

I found the following at A Scrivener’s Lament. The is the website for Delilah Boyd, who was kind enough to cite an article from this website in her weekly Blog Box column at Democraticunder.com which has over 60,000 subscribers.

This was just too funny not to spread around.  Sort of goes along with my earlier post about What It Means To Be A Republican.

REPUBLICAN DICTIONARY

ACTIVIST JUDGE, n. A judge who attempts to protect the rights of minorities against the tyranny of the majority.

ALARMIST, n. Any respected scientist who understands the threat of global warming.

ALLIES, n. Foreigners who do what Republicans tell them to do.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES, n. New locations to drill for oil and gas.

BALANCED, adj. 1. favoring corporations (a more balanced approach to the environment.); 2. favoring conservatives (fair and balanced reporting).

BI-PARTISANSHIP, n. When conservative Republicans work together with moderate Republicans to pass legislation Democrats hate.

CIVIL LIBERTIES, n. Unnecessary privileges that you aren’t afraid of losing unless you are a God-hating, baby-killing, elitist liberal who loves Saddam Hussein more than your own safety.

CLARIFY, v. Repeating the same lie over and over again.

CLASS WARFARE, n. Any attempt to raise the minimum wage.

CLEAN, adj. The word used to modify any aspect of the environment Republican legislation allows corporations to pollute, poison, or destroy.

CLIMATE CHANGE, n. Global warming, without that annoying suggestion that something is wrong.

COALITION, n. One or more nations whose leaders have been duped, pressured or bribed into supporting ill-conceived, unnecessary, under-planned and/or illegal US military operations.

CONVICTION, n. Making decisions before getting the facts, and refusing to change your mind afterward.

CULTURE OF LIFE, n. A reduction of reproductive freedoms.

DEATH TAX, n. A term invented by anti-tax zealots and referring to a tax used to prevent the very wealthy from establishing a dominating aristocracy in this country.

DEMOCRACY, n. My way or the highway.

DEMOCRATIC ALLY, n. Any democracy, monarchy, plutocracy, oligarchy or dictatorship–no matter how ruthless–that verbally supports American diplomatic and economic goals.

DEREGULATE, v. To pursue greed and exploitation.

DETAIN, v. Hold in a secret place without recourse to law and treat in any manner one wishes.

ECONOMIC PROGRESS, n. 1. Recession; 2. Rising unemployment; 3. Minimum-wage freeze.

ECONOMIC RECOVERY, n. When three out of five software engineers who lost their jobs to outsourcing are able to find part-time work at Wal-Mart.

ELECTION FRAUD, n. Counting every vote.

FAIRER, adj. Regressive.

FAITH, n. The stubborn belief that God approves of Republican moral values despite the preponderance of textual evidence to the contrary.

FAITH-BASED INITIATIVE, n. Christian Right Payoff.

FAITH COMMUNITY, n. Evangelicals, because they are saved, and hawkish conservative Jews, because they are useful. Israel is the bait-on-the-hook just waiting for God to take that Rapturous bite.

FAMILY VALUES, n. Oppression of women and hatred of homosexuals.

FISCAL CONSERVATIVE, n. A Republican who is in the minority.

FOX NEWS, n. White House Press Office.

FREEDOM, n. What Arabs want but can’t achieve on their own without Western military intervention. It bears a striking resemblance to chaos.

Read the rest

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.

I decided that a statement saying we won’t discriminate would be a nice feel good thing, but this resolution goes further and requires that we provide support of time, resources, money and facilities, only to other organizations that have a comparable statement of non-discrimination. I think this makes it a stronger resolution because it calls for a form of direct action on our part.

TITLE: A Statement of Commitment to Justice for All People and a Call to Action for Palma Ceia United Methodist Church

SUBJECT: Equal Opportunity for all persons

REFERENCES: United Methodist Church Book of Discipline ¶161 and ¶162

DATE: TBD

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: There are no direct financial implications arising to Palma Ceia United Methodist Church associated with this resolution.

Inasmuch as Palma Ceia United Methodist Church has always been a church providing open hearts, open minds and open doors, it is appropriate that Palma Ceia United Methodist Church adopt a public statement of that commitment consistent with Biblical teaching and the Discipline of the United Methodist Church. This includes a call to action to put into practice our belief that people are free and secure only when all of society creates a social climate which believes in equal protection of and equal opportunity for all people. Especially as Methodists, “We believe we have a responsibility to innovate, sponsor, and evaluate new forms of community that will encourage development of the fullest potential in individuals…”¹ As Plato said, “Justice will only exist where those not affected by injustice are filled with the same amount of indignation as those affected.”

Whereas, Christians have been called from the earliest days of Old Testament teaching to be Just to all, as in Micah 6:8 when the Prophet tells the people, “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?,” and;

Whereas, the Father of Methodism, John Wesley, wrote in his, “Explanatory Notes on The Bible,” for this verse, “He - God hath already told you in his word, with what you ought to come before him. To do justly - To render to every one their due, superiors, equals, inferiors, to be equal to all, and oppress none, in body, goods or name; in all your dealings with men carry a chancery in your own breasts, and do according to equity. To love mercy - To be kind, merciful and compassionate to all, not using severity towards any. Walk humbly with thy God - Keep up a constant fellowship with God, by humble, holy faith,” and;

Whereas, as described in John Gill’s Exposition of The Entire Bible, “to do justice” or “judgment”; means to exercise public judgment and justice, as a king, among his subjects; to do private and personal justice between man and man; to hurt no man’s person, property, and character, and;

Whereas, Justice is doing what is right. It is living by the Golden Rule and making decisions that are good for everyone. It is building relationships in the marketplace, the neighborhood or the family upon goodness, truth, mercy and compassion. It is living above the culture’s values. Justice is the recognition, according to Tom Ehrich, that life matters, how we treat others matters and the choices we make here and now matter. Our decisions reveal our character and make the world better or worse. Pursuing justice makes it better, and;

Whereas, Justice is also making sure that everyone has a seat at the table, a tenant of Methodism from its earliest roots as the first item of the 1908 Social Creed of the Methodist Episcopal Church says, “For equal rights and complete justice for all men in all stations of life,” and;     Read the rest

1. United Methodist Church Book of Discipline ¶161 [↩]

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.    

We’ve seen the pictures of the two lesbians in San Francisco being one of the first couples married after being a couple for over 50 years. We’ve also seen the completely idiotic protestors. Always with the god made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Please, hire a gay man and get a little creative.

So what’s next for California? It is possible this could all be short lived as there is a ballot measure to be voted on in November that could write discrimination into their state constitution. No one is sure exactly what that would mean for the marriages already performed, as this was obviously not anticipated by the proponents of the amendment since no language was included that would officially address the current situation. For my part, I don’t see how the state could undo something that was fully legal at the time it was done. Let’s say murder was not illegal (insert O.J. joke here), so I killed someone. Then next year they make it illegal. I don’t think it would be legal or right to then charge me for a crime.

As for the amendment itself, I see two possibilities. The marriages will have been going on for nearly six months. So long as there is no major earthquake in California between now and November (for Pat Robertson to use as evidence of God’s displeasure), I think the dust will have settled, and  a lot of people will see that it just really hasn’t made any difference. I mean, come on, this argument that somehow straight people will suddenly decide they’re not getting married because Adam and Steve are is just utter bullshit. That’s the best case. The concern is that straight people who are in favor of equal rights, and even gay people will relax a little too much in the afterglow, and let their guard down. Unfortunately, in California only a simple majority is required to pass a constitutional amendment…a foolish thing if you ask me.

Does it make a difference here in Florida? There are two things to think about. The most obvious is what impact it might have on our anti-gay marriage amendment. I’ve written briefly about this before. The concern I have is that this does play into the primary argument that marriage opponents always stress…that “activist judges” will overturn the existing state laws against gay marriage, so it has to be put into the Constitution. There are a lot of places in Florida where that argument sells, and it could spark a few people to show up who might not otherwise vote.  Read the rest

A family is on the run from an inexplicable and unstoppable event that threatens not only humankind–but the most basic human instinct of them all: survival.

Genres: Action/Adventure, ThrillerRelease Date: June 13th, 2008 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for violent and disturbing images.

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Spencer Breslin, Ashlyn Sanchez

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan

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.

I’ve even come to like Mark Wahlberg, and he and the other actors did the best they could with the material they had, but there was nothing here. The scariest part of movie involved their interactions with an old lady living alone, and that was only a minor part of the story.

The main message I’d leave you with is, DO NOT see this movie. Don’t even bother to rent it once it comes out on DVD. This movie gets a single star only because you can’t give it a zero.

(1 votes, average: 1 out of 10)

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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. I’ve never seen this in any other airport club. Down another hallway were small rooms each with a TV in the separator wall, and each on a different channel. At the end of that hall was a well appointed business center with computers provided in some of the cubicles.

I love to get a late checkout at my hotel on trips like this. This allows me to run up to the room, brush my teeth, change into comfortable clothes, and wipe my face with a nice warm towel. In this case, the meeting was not at the hotel, and there was no time after my presentation to return to the hotel. I noticed a sign at the customer service desk indicating they had a fitness center (!). Assuming people wouldn’t like to work out and board a plane all sweaty, I expected they had a locker room or shower, so I might be able to change clothes.

I asked, and was given a key to a private shower that was the nicest shower I’ve ever used. I had my own toilet and sink, and a huge marble shower with one of the rain shower heads overhead, a regular shower head, and the side jets. They even provided towels draped across a towel warmer. And it was also a very nice fitness center.

All the people in the club were friendly and pleasant to deal with. It will be hard to beat this particular Airport Club.

(1 votes, average: 10 out of 10)

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

Often, airports grow, and their original design doesn’t allow them to grow in a logical way. I think this might be the case with DFW. There are multiple terminals, and because it’s American Airlines primary airport, if you’re flying American, you’d better know which Terminal your flight is departing from. They use multiple terminals.

They moved the rental cars away from the terminal, and run a common bus to one of two rental car terminals. While normally not a bad idea, it can take 15 - 20 minutes to travel between the airport terminal and the rental car terminals. They moved the rental car operation way out from the airport. The highways approaching the airport are poorly marked, and there are two primary approaches, but they lead you to different parts of the airport. If you don’t know anything about the airport, it would be hard to know which one to take based on the signage on the main roads.

I was departing from Terminal A. It was clean and didn’t feel old, but it seemed a bit cramped with a somewhat narrow main hall along the concourse. It seemed to have the usual amenities, and there were chain restaurants to select from. Seating in the gate areas was the typical airport seating, and the gate areas seemed a little small. They at least have nice open doorways into the restrooms. I can’t believe how many airport restroom entrances are clearly designed by idiots who never travel pulling a carry-on and carrying a briefcase.

It was very cramped at the security line, and clearly this terminal was built pre-9/11 with very little room to wrap the waiting line.

They get points for cleanliness and the overall amenities, but they lose a lot of points due to the distance between the terminal and the rental car outpost.

(1 votes, average: 6 out of 10)

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

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance and Adaptation; Running Time: 2 hrs. 25 min.; Release Date: May 30th, 2008 (wide); MPAA Rating: R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity and language.

Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Christopher Noth

Directed by: Michael Patrick King

Lay always loved the series, and I enjoyed it, so we’d seen all the episodes, and as gifts over the years, I’d purchased lay the DVD’s for all six seasons. It was an enjoyable series, but did seem to struggle a bit in the final season.

I think it got back to the basic formula that worked so well during the series run, and the characters continued to develop well. The movies is long, but I didn’t get bored for the entire movie.

The story clearly revolved around the wedding of Big and Carrie, and I would like to have seen a bit more development of some of the sub-plots, but all in all it was well balanced.

(1 votes, average: 7 out of 10)

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