Category: current events

Categories
religion

Accidental Tourism

Hey kiddies and welcome to Monday here at LawverLand. Today, in an effort to combat boredom and the residual anger of layoffs, I’m wearing an amazing Hawaiian shirt. It’s leaves and tropical flowers in four or five outrageous shades of blue. I can’t take myself seriously in it, and I hope no one else does.

If we’re not actually going to do any work, why not pretend we’re on vacation? If my sister weren’t borrowing the camera, I’d post a picture, honest I would.

On a serious note, there was a fantastic article in the Washington Post Magazine this weekend. It’s funny that ~25 miles from where I live, there exists a world that’s completely foreign to me. I’ve been to downtown DC before, but it was many years ago, and it scared the crap out of me. I hear it’s better, and that good things are happening, but hey, I just don’t have a reason to go. The story is about Redemption Ministries, a non-denominational church in Southeast that is doing great things for people who have no other hope.

I envy the call that Reverend Motley has. He’s felt something, and continues to draw on a passion to help people. It must be so rewarding to see his people grow and make more of themselves than they would have. Great story…

Categories
religion

It takes all kinds… This

It takes all kinds… This halfwit in the North Carolina legislature forwarded an e-mail to all the members of that hallowed body stating, “Two things made this country great: White men & Christianity.” Ok, nice thoughts there, my man. Way to bring people together. And, the lunacy continues: “Who came to this country first – the white man, didn’t he? That’s who made this country great.'”

It makes me wonder how far we’ve really come. We like to think we’re enlightened and progressive. We think maybe we’ve got this race-relations thing handled and everyone’s happy. Still, every day, we see people like that moron slapping us in the face with the fact that change moves slowly.

It’s taken over 150 years for evolution to become mainstream, and for it to be grasped as a viable scientific theory. It took several hundred years for people to come to terms with the earth not being the center of the universe, and then a couple more to grasp the shape of it. It’s been 35+ years since the beginning of the civil rights movement, and 134 years since the 14th amendment was ratified.

How can we expect everyone to come to the realization that we’re all equal, and probably all related a lot closer than we ever thought? How can we, when people like the “honorable” Mr. Davis refuse to open their eyes?

It’s frustrating, and it gets worse the more I think about it. Real change takes generations, not laws. It takes slowly tweaking society and ideas over decades and sometimes centuries. I honestly think we’ll get to a place where color does/doesn’t matter and people are treated equally at least in the eyes of the law. I’m just not holding my breath.

Categories
politics

Vast right-wing conspiracy, redux (from

Vast right-wing conspiracy, redux (from Salon). This is my favorite part about Politics. Everyone gets self-righteous when they’re on the chopping block. The Dems are all pissed off at the Republicans for trying to bring them down now that they’re on top in the Senate. The Republicans are barking about confirmation of appointees being delayed when there were people appointed by Clinton in his FIRST term who were never confirmed. And the funniest part is that the public buys it. They keep crying and whining and expect us to forget about all the other stuff, even RECENT stuff like the impeachment. Unfortunately, not enough people pay attention, and well, it works. Their blustering gets a soundbite, and well, that’s what people remember.

Oh how I long for a dictatorship. One voice is so much easier to listen to than a hundred blowhards and party wonks in their wondrous spin machines. (before anyone e-mails me, I’m just kidding)

Categories
politics

The cobra will bite you

The cobra will bite you whether you call him cobra or Mr. Cobra. – Old Indian Proverb

Categories
politics

I’ve been on the slow

I’ve been on the slow road to this discovery, but I think it’s finally sinking in. There is no They. There’s no shadowy group trying to screw you over. There’s no malevolent hand telling your boss to be an ass. There’s just a bunch of people slogging away at their crappy jobs while you tramp along in yours. Now, there are some evil people in the world who do some rotten things. But, they’re the tiny minority compared to the shmucks and shmoes just trying to get through the day. We are all a part of the “unwashed masses”. Things we do piss people off, and cause them pain, whether we know it or not.

It’s the chaos theory of personal interaction. Something I do at my job could affect some poor bastard in San Francisco without me doing anything on purpose or meaning him any ill will. The jerks who make my job a living hell aren’t doing it on purpose. They’re just trying to do their job. Ok, this isn’t coming out right, but you get the idea. Drop the conspiracy theories – they’re all just doing what they do, like the frog and the scorpion. Sermon is over, soapbox is back in the garage (damn, I wish I had a garage).

Categories
politics

So, it’s apparently all over.

So, it’s apparently all over. Poor Al, poor us. You know, I was raised a Republican, and as I’ve gotten older and moved out on my own (well, not my own, with my wife and Max) I’ve moved closer to the middle with lefty-type leanings. I voted for Ralph Nader. I decided we needed a non-Nazi third party, and I wanted them to get federal matching funds for next time. Whoops. Oh well, maybe next time.
Wait, where was I? Oh yeah… this whole process has been fascinating. From Jesse Jackson comparing the election to Selma, to the constant spinning by both sides, to the courts, I have loved it all. I just hope we never have to do it again.
I hope that we can go to an electronic system (not web, just electronic), like touch screens or something where the votes are counted instantly, and you have a chance to review your choices before submitting your “ballot”. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Categories
politics

So, I watched CNN until

So, I watched CNN until 11:30 last night. I have one observation. Why did they start talking about it (and not just CNN, ABC cut into Once and Again right @ 10) before anyone at any of the networks had started reading it? It made me laugh, and my wife cringe to watch poor freezing Charlie on the steps of the Supreme Court freezing his butt off being peppered with questions from Judy and Bernie and trying to read the 55 page packet. I really think they should let him go inside. He looks ill. And it’s not like CNN was the only one! Every network had people reading and talking at the same time and no one really knew what it meant. My favorite exchange was the about twenty minutes from 10:40 to 11 on CNN when Jeff Greenfield and Roger Cossack went back and forth going, “Oh, yeah, I haven’t got there yet but it looks like Gore is screwed.” “Screwed? Yeah, Jeff, that’s how I’d put it.”
And I was really staying up to see if Bush or Gore would make a statement. Boy was I disappointed. James Baker’s 30 second, “Yeah, this looks good. This has sucked on all sides, good night” was such a disappointment, I just went to bed.
Oh, one more thing… Gore MAY not concede today?! He MIGHT challenge the slate of electors? I’ve been with the guy, and been ok with all the legal battles, suits, and worthless charges of racism, sexism, anti-semitism, etc from both sides. But, pleeee-ase. You have to know when you’ve lost! Take it gracefully. If he bows out now, he’ll probably win in 2004, and the dems will regain the house and senate in 2002. That’s not so bad. If he continues to fight it, he’ll just hurt his chances for next time.
Wow, this is my longest post EVER.