It’s been awhile since we had a good political brouhaha here on the back porch, and I don’t think this post will change that.
Today’s stink from DC isn’t because the SmiCollums are visiting — it’s the GOP and their sanctimonious leader Bush. I understand, and vehemently support, the separation of church and state. I understand that an overt commission of a particular religious ideology is a bad thing for a government, but I want my government to reflect my beliefs in their actions.
That’s one of my primary beliefs by itself. Words and iconography are meaningless without action, so I don’t talk about morality or display an ichthys on my car. I do try my best to act in a manner that shows my belief in the Golden Rule, and I pray that people see my witness in those actions.
I want the same from my government. I don’t want the symbols of Christianity displayed in the court house, especially when their actions countermand the direction of God. They should help the needy not bar them from entering the country. They should “forgive those who trespass against us”.
My dad (and mom) came down this past Thursday and stayed through the weekend. We spent most of our time removing a pair of over-sized sliding glass doors — that had huge energy inefficient gaps around the edges and sometimes required two people to open — with a pre-hung three panel set of french doors. It was a lot of work and I still have to trim and paint them, but I thought I’d show them off along with a couple pictures of Miss Hannigan’s new haircut.
And my dad would want me to tell you the same thing we told our neighbor: our “handyman” is not available for other jobs.
It’s not often that Rick Santorum regurgitates something that is honest, but this recent quote at Salon.com reflects something I’ve been saying since the war on Iraq began.
“As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else,” Santorum said. “It’s being drawn to Iraq and it’s not being drawn to the U.S. You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don’t want the Eye to come back here to the United States.”
It’s the first admission I’ve heard that the war on Iraq serves as a way of attracting anti-US activities away from the American continent. It’s been my surmise that Bush-feld designed the war specifically to draw fire — holding our soldiers up as bait for attacks.
Oh, and this cracks me up: 
Why is it that we still see stories like this about people trying to censor books in public libraries? I’m working in a small(ish) town library at the moment and I know from experience that the people that complain about some of the “trash” our kids see are the same people who feel that the selection of romance novels is too limited. Of course, for the price of one copy of Blankets we could get four or five Harlequin books.
Here’s a recipe I’ll have to convince the SmiCollums to whip up for me (since the smell of bacon is verboten in my house), Bacon Caramel — yum-oh!
Much to my wife’s chagrin I’ve become a Woot! addict. Every morning I hit the website to see if there’s a good deal that I just can’t miss out on, and on Thursday and Friday during the Woot! Off I had a constant eye on the site watching the quick paced deals roll by. I love that the staff is irascible and nothing is too serious.
(from wiki entry about Woot!) In lieu of typical product sales, Woot occasionally offers the “Bag O’ Crap” (or “BOC”), a blind grab bag that includes dollar store items and can also randomly include more expensive electronics items. … Since “BOCs” are often referenced in the Woot forums, Woot’s forum software filters the text to spell out tongue-in-cheek phrases with the same initials, such as “Blinged-out cabbage”, “Braille on Cookies”, and others. A similar phenomenon occurs when a user types “refurb,” which filters to “refurb (rox0rz!),” a nod to the controversial popularity of refurbished woots. In the past, the term “refurb” was changed to “Hurray! A refurb!” by the filter.
My biggest smile from Woot! came today when I received a hard drive I ordered during the Woot! Off. Check out this packaging:
No invoice, no brand, no product box — just a hard drive in a static bag with bubble wrap.
How often do you hear a news piece that you would use the word “inspirational” as a descriptor? Today’s pieces on NPR about newly canonized saints and it’s follow-up piece on a religious family in conflict with the church were a ray of sunshine on my way home.
I’m burning what would have otherwise been productive time reading this article about 49 musicians, producers and writers picking obscure albums they pull out to impress people. I would probably pull out the first album from the Octopus Project or maybe one of my rare accordion albums.
When I called my Mom to let her know about my last minute business trip to New Orleans, I assumed that she was being crazy when she wanted me to promise to stay in my hotel (the old-school swanky Windsor Court Hotel in the Quarter).
Read more!No, this isn’t a political post.
Just letting everyone know that now at 36 and 1/2 years of age, I have to start wearing glasses. They aren’t a strong prescription and I could probably hunt and gather without them, however they presumably will extend the usefulness of my eyes into the extended lifeline that mankind was not naturally intended. :-)
