priorities

I heard a portion of an interview with Bob and Lee Woodruff while driving in this morning. Woodruff, you may remember, is a journalist who was critically injured by an IED in Iraq.

The interview was not political; these two have written a book (give him a break; he was unemployed the moment the rocks from the IED hit his head) which includes what happened to him and his recovery, but is more about their life together.

When the interviewer asked him about what it was like to realize he was going from the pinnacle of his profession to starting over, Woodruff said, “You think about the people around you – your wife, your husband, your kids, your parents – and you realize that what you are doing is really not that important.” (Not an exact quote – writ as soon as I could when I got to the office.)

If the portion of the interview I heard was any indication of the rest of the material,  the full-length interview on NPR’s All Things Considered should be a winner. And I plan to buy the book, too – In An Instant.

perspective…

Via Curmudgeonly & Skeptical…

Reality of Iraq, minus the emotion.

U.N.believable

Claims of corruption in the U.N. are nothing but racist harassment, according to the perpetrator.

Le-e-e-e-t the-e-e-e-re be pea-ea-ea-ea-ce on earth,
And let it make ca-a-a-a-a-sh for me…

now i’ve done it

I started a blog dialog a while back with another blogger. We’re on opposite sides of several issues, but I thought there was a mutually respectful exchange.

Apparently, something I said was not considered respectful. I challenged his logic on a specific issue. He posted a response, which I saw…but then he deleted the post and my response. And now I am banned from commenting.

If you comment on my blog, even argumentively, I will not ban you. I will only edit comments if they are grossly vulgar, and I have a pretty open mind as to what is vulgar.

If the internet is supposed to allow the free exchange of thoughts and ideas, please don’t block me. I’m not a vicious ideologue, and I only challenge what I see as extreme thoughts from otherwise non-extreme authors.

Nazis and other extremists ban the logical discussion of opposing thought.

global smarming

Scientists are warning residents of the southwestern U.S. that things are going to get dicey there as climate change accelerates. Drought-prone areas are likely to have even lower rainfall rates in the immediate future.

And on what basis are these predictions being made?

Historical patterns, previous droughts.

You can’t have it both ways, people. Either we are causing something new and alarming, or earth is going through a cycle that has happened before (many times) , and will happen again (world without end, amen, amen).

Makes me want to buy a palette of hair spray and just let it rip in the back yard.

innocent until proven…no, just guilty

The end game on the Scooter Libby trial brought up a discussion topic with someone yesterday…

“You know he’s taking the heat for Carl Rove’s crime.”

Really? I hadn’t taken a close enough look at the evidence to make that charge.

“If it isn’t Rove, it’s Cheney.”

Based on…?

“Well, it’s just obvious.”

I’m no legal expert; I don’t even play one on TV. But I seem to recall that there is this concept we once held dear that people in this country are presumed innocent until proven guilty. I understand that the precept has not always been applied to all groups, but why is it that anyone associated with the current administration is assumed to be guilty of every offense charged?

There’s another point that people keep skipping over in the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson thing – was she covert at the time the news came out? I know, she wasn’t once the news broke; but there is a list maintained by the CIA of covert and non-covert personnel. The reason no one has been punished over the leak itself is because no one with any authority claims she was on the Covert list. It is dangerous and stupid to ever identify someone who has previously been officially covert; but it is not illegal. If stupidity were grounds for prosecution, I fear we would all be facing some serious prison time.

Think I’ll get some soap on a rope in case the law changes.

fat bottom girls…

…you make the rockin’ world go ’round, or so sang Freddy Mercury.

According to some, Eddie Murphy’s portrayal of Rasputia in Norbit may have cost him his Best Supporting Oscar for Dreamgirls. The NPR story linked above claims that he was a shoe-in for the Oscar, but for the unfortunate timing of the release of Norbit.

Oddly, Murphy’s slap-on-the-wrist is supposed to come from the same racist group that has misportrayed and stereotyped women of color even before Hattie McDaniel told us what she did and didn’t know about “birthin’ no babies” in Gone With the Wind.

Okay, as long as we’re going to demand that Hollywood stop with the stereotypes, I have a few demands:

• Heavy-set white guys: We are either idiotic comic relief (with apologies to the late John Candy and Chris Farley), or we are rednecks. Not since Ernest Borgnine played Marty in 1955 has there been a decent role for the fat white guy. Which dude had to squeal like a pig in Deliverance? I rest my case.
• Bald(ish) guys: With very few exceptions, we the folicly-challenged are relegated to the role of the sinister villain type person. And if you are bald and fat, you’re doomed.
• Christians: Either total hypocrites, or there strictly for comic relief

I demand an immediate end to this making-fun thing.

Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not. -Vaclav Havel

gender blender?

Several years ago, in a town far, far away, I was the music guy for a weekly meeting of Christian singles. I used to meet regularly with the Singles’ Minister to talk about life, and he taught me a lot about people.

I remember a particular activity he told me about from his college days. The leader of a retreat had asked everyone in the room to write on a small piece of paper one of two words – “respect” or “love.” He then asked the “respect” people to move to one side of the conference hall, and the “love” people to the other.

This friend of mine did the same thing once with our group on a retreat, and the results were nearly identical.

Almost without exception, the people who chose “love” were the female members of the group, and the “respect” folks were the males.

I see this same dynamic in my marriage, and I even see glimpses in my two kids.

My wife can privately say things to me that are not particularly kind, and it does bother me; but when she does something that demonstrates a lack of respect for me, that’s when I get pretty ticked. Likewise, I can take actions toward her that demonstrate a lack of respect, and she is mildly wounded; but when I act in a way that makes her feel unloved, that’s a significant problem.

With my kids – correct munchkinette (not yet 4), and she learns; but don’t withold your love – that’s when she gets hysterical. For the munchkin (ripe old age of 2), talk down to him and a tantrum will result; get down at his level, give him a little space, and talk calmly (in a way that shows respect) and he will hear you. Most of the time.

My brother and sis-in-law tried to bring up their kids as gender-neutral as they could – Gap clothes, toys that were not traditional boy/girl toys, the whole shootin’ match. No difference – the girls still wanted dolls and the boy still wanted to blow things up.

It is okay when someone is wired a little differently – a woman who craves respect more than love, or a man who desires affection more than respect. But I like that there are differences between genders. Without our differences, the world would be dull.

Vive la difference.

being presidential means never having to say you’re sorry

It is good manners, when one does something that causes harm or loss to others, to apologize. This is a lesson on which we spend a lot of time with our kids.

But some of the newer parenting literature is emphasizing that we should not force our kids to say they are sorry if they do not get what that means.

I guess politicos must be reading from the same literature.

Prez-in-waiting Rodham is getting a lot of pressure to apologize for her vote authorizing the Iraq war. She has talked all around the issue, even explained that if she had known then what she knows now she would not have voted the way she did; but no apology is forthcoming.

I don’t think she should apologize, for what it’s worth; but I suspect my reasoning and hers are different.

Mine is because an apology for that vote serves no practical purpose.

Hers, I suspect, is that the Clintonistas cannot see any fault in themselves. Also, any apology would likely become fodder for some opponent somewhere down the line; the Clintons are more sensitive about politics than most, like ‘em or not.

I just hope that those who railed against Bush for his decision not to apologize for Katrina (he didn’t spawn the storm, regardless of public opinion to the contrary) will be as harsh on our next chief executive.

By the way, I’m not in favor of a Rodham presidency; I just fear that Republicans will cut off their nose to spite their face. If the party goes with someone palatable to the loudest voices in the party, that candidate will not be electible.

And if the GOP goes to the center and chooses someone electible, a huge number of Republican voters will likely stay home on election day.

Hilary, the White House is yours to lose.

My fingers hurt just from typing that.

the unbearable lightness of fluorescents

One “green” idea that has been getting up some steam here in the states is the compact flourescent bulb. They are significantly more efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs, and the technology has improved so they are closer to the tones of light to which we have become accustomed.

WalMart’s vice president of sustainability (yes, that really is his title; makes you wonder what the dude’s major was in college), Andy Rubin, say the average consumer  can expect to save 50 to 75 cents per month on their electric bill for each bulb replaced.

One problem: ever read the label on a compant fluorescent bulb?

Warning: This light bulb contains mercury, and must be disposed off properly. 

And what does that mean? First, if you toss ‘em in your regular trash, you are putting your friendly neighborhood trash collector at risk of mercury poisoning. Dude keeps leaving my empty can laying in the street – not sure I would feel too bad about that. And the landfill – I’m not sure my one or two bulbs per quarter would make much difference in terms of groundwater seepage. I suspect our groundwater is pretty juiced up with plenty of other nasty stuff already.

One woman from the New York City area said the closest facility which would take the bulbs was over fifty miles away. She’s now fully incandescent, thank you very much.

Yet another fine example of how anything that is an improvement in one area nearly always has some off-setting unintended consequence.