holiday greeting   ¶ 00:03 3 comments  

  homelessness What is homelessness? It means not having a home. Even if you have a roof over your head you can still be homeless. This is because you may not have any rights to stay where you live or your home might be unsuitable for you.
     Some see the fact that people are homeless as a matter of personal choice. And in a few ~rare~ instances, this might be accurate.
     I see homelessness as a chance for opportunitists to offer to "help" those most in need but who end up proving themselves with jobs as "service providers".
     I see homelessness as a failure of Society's ability [or inclination] to truly be one's brother's keeper.
     As we begin to celebrate the feast of harvest and abundance, it bears noting that millions of people remain homeless, without a chance of food, drink, or the ability to protect precious keepsakes.
     Homelessness is not a crime, nor should we look at those directly affected by this social malady, nor is it's existence a chance to sneer or look down upon the poor in front of them.
     And it is time ~well past the time, actually, to start doing something about it.  ¶ 23:55 0 comments  

  sites to keep you busy   •  Robot Gossip. Exactly what it says it is. Are robots sentient beings? The question is getting closer to being serously asked.
  •  wDblog. Quote: "It's a good blog, with bits about crossword puzzles, gender-neutral third person pronouns, and goats."
  •  Lifehacker. Quote: "Lifehacker recommends the downloads, web sites and shortcuts that actually save time. Don't live to geek; geek to live."
  •  woodge. Quote: "Woodge enjoys steering away from the typical chum gobbled up by the brain-addled hoi polloi. Woodge promises not to pee in the pool with his fingers crossed behind his back."
  •  Bill Peschel. # Fiction # Wimsey # Reviews # Essays
  •  GapMinder. The idea is that all people, independently of their political agenda, can use of this tools to easily improve their understanding about the complex society.
  •  George Washington's Blog. Obsessive commentary on why 9/11 was but one of many actions designed to make American's frightened and pull our attentions away from the real terrorists in our midst. Hint: They probably ain't in Afghanistan. They are closer to Crawford, Texas.  ¶ 21:05 0 comments  

  random visitors who know what brings them?
  •  We Are Shady. Who says evangelical Christians can't have fun?
  •  No URL Left. Sagnik Nandy chimes in from India.
  •  The All-Grain Evangelist. Don't confuse this for the first visitor; this guy's out to spread the gospel of hops and home brewing.
  •  My Songs for You. A Japanese Gent named Jack writes and posts pictures from Toronto.
  •  Smell of Rain. A movie possibly still under production by an Asian film-maker. Makes me think of Gus VanSant for reasons I cannot explain. "... a volatile journey into the inner worlds of a young man on the cusp of his own awakening."
  •  U.S. Central Command. Hmmm. Rather unexpected but informative military link from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Sure wonder who is reading me from this vantage point.
  •  Gaston El Cavron's Wacko Conspiracy Theories. Writing from the Koreatown section of Los Angeles, BDG Stone [Gaston] provides us with acerbic quips about elections, dumbya bush's inner office cronies and, maybe, some insights on his musicianship.
  •  Newsy Musings. A new blog by a "...bleeding heart lefty..." freshly feeling guilt for "...wearing almost every item of clothing in my wardrobe has been stitched by a girl younger than me..."
  •  Engine of Prosperity. LA Samoya, a 23 year old "investment banking associate" tells us that General Motors woes are all because of the stranglehold that labor unions place on management. I guess he ought to know. Surely it couldn't be a result of high rolling ~ and grossly overpaid ~ executives continually pushing gas guzzling beheomoths upon the consumer market.  ¶ 02:14 0 comments  

  the global economy Bush sells Louisiana back to France!
     President Bush and a jubilant Jacques Chirac shake hands as the deal is finalized.
     BATON ROUGE, LA (AP) - The White House announced today that President Bush has successfully sold the state of Louisiana back to the French at more than double its original selling price of $11,250,000.
     "This is a bold step forward for America," said Bush. "And America will be stronger and better as a result. I stand here today in unity with French Prime Minister Jack Sharaq, who was so kind to accept my offer of Louisiana in exchange for 25 million dollars cash."
     The state, ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild.
     "Jack understands full well that this one's a 'fixer upper,'" said Bush. "He and the French people are quite prepared to pump out all that water and make Louisiana a decent place to live again. And they've got a lot of work to do. But Jack's assured me, if it's not right, they're going to fix it."
     The move has been met with incredulity from the beleaguered residents of Louisiana.
     "Shuba-pie!" said New Orleans resident Willis Babineaux. "Frafer-perly yum kom drabby sham!"
     However, President Bush's decision has been widely lauded by Republicans.
     "This is an unexpected but brilliant move by the President," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. "Instead of spending billions and billions, and billions of dollars rebuilding the state of Louisiana, we've just made 25 million dollars in pure profit."
     "This is indeed a smart move," commented Fox News analyst Brit Hume. "Not only have we stopped the flooding in our own budget, we've made money on the deal. Plus, when the god-awful French are done fixing it up, we can easily invade and take it back again."
     "When they find out how many welfare families, drug gangs, and criminals there are in New Orleans the French will give it back and pay a premium to get rid of it," New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin stated.  ¶ 01:28 0 comments  

  blips + updates   •  This according to the Vatican: "Intelligent Design isn't science and doesn't belong in science classrooms"
  •  Good thing there's no such thing as global warming since Greenland's ice cap is melting.
  •  James Wolcott on the Windbags of War. 1960s era war resisters William Kristol and Dick Cheney find their posturing exposed.
  •  Dubya, the Movie!. Don Knotts' heroic portrayal of the Prez.
  •  Bill Clinton "The world's most influental man"
  •  Finally, now that we're going to head for Mars NASA to cut funds for space station. Smart, real smart.  ¶ 07:21 1 comments  

  dubya the diplomat Atrios shows us how George Double-ewe's Exit Strategy works.  ¶ 00:21 0 comments  

  tying the knot Today's the day. Bruce and I become joined in a civil union ceremony. We have planned this to be a quiet affair with only our friends Dean, Di, Deirdre and David in attendance. Mary Ellen Klinck will be officiating and her friend Ron will be on hand as well. After that it's off to dinner at La Vita Gustosa.
     Yesterday, at a conference, one of the keynote speakers announced to the participants that I was "getting married" today. Many offered congratuations. One man, whom I've know for years asked pointedly, when did I convert to going with women. I told him I hadn't "changed sides", as it were, and that my partner was another guy.
     Mind you, I've been wearing the gold band on the left hand close to 15 years now, so it's not like the commitment is new.
     But now it'll be official.
     And with that I have to get off line now to get ready for our company to arrive. Wish us luck.  ¶ 14:46 1 comments