Monday, December 29, 2003

Song that makes me smile

"The Philosopher's Song" by Monty Python. It just came on Yahoo Launch... and every time it does, I just want to yell out...

Hobbes was fond of his dram! And Rene Decartes was a drunken fart "I drink there for I am!"

* this is an ex-parrot.

Saturday, December 27, 2003

You'll laugh so hard...

That you will cry. I've seen some ugly clothes but some of these dresses...

Ugly Dress.com - Bridesmaid Dresses From Hell

I know what I'm going as for Halloween next year.. one of the bridesmaids that is attempting to live up to the saying "Sure.. you can wear it again..."

Monday, December 22, 2003

Your funny for the day

What happens to Saddaam

Friday, December 19, 2003

Selective use of

Original intent. 3 counties in Kentucky must take down their 10 Commandments displays, even though they were displayes with other historical documents such as the Constitution and Magna Carta. They said that because the Commandments were originally on display all by themselves that the intent of the display was religious and we can't have that.

Fine time for the courts to see original intent. They refuse to see it in the US Constitution. If they did, we wouldn't have a "right" to abortion (among other crap that isn't in the original text.)

WorldNetDaily: Appeals panel: Decalogue unconstitutional

Thursday, December 18, 2003

Holiday wishes from Ari

Happy nondenominational holiday season of consumer joys! Tis the seaon to spend our money.
From Dave Barry - I think

It sounds like him but you know how emails are... good advice anyway.

FIFTEEN THINGS THAT IT TOOK ME OVER 50 YEARS TO LEARN

by Dave Barry

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost
never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven. blogger's note: yes, I make a big honkin' deal out of my birthday every year. And I will continue to do so.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age,
gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

13. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a
nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

14. Your friends love you anyway.

15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built he Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

A quote and a thought

All who have meditated on the art of governing humankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth. –Aristotle

This is related to Vox Day's column this week on teaching children to read. And Aristotle (despite not being my personal favorite philosopher) has it right. The fate of any country depends on its schools and education.

And it is this blogger's opinion that government-run schools are ruining this country. I may be a bit biased; I haven't been in a public school since the first grade but the data is there. Test scores are among the lowest in the western world. A large percentage of incoming freshman have to take remedial courses in college because they aren't prepared. The high school graduation rate hovers around 60% in some parts of the country.

I believe it is a conspiracy. A stupid, non-critically thinking population is easier to control.

More testing is not the answer, Mr. President. What we do need are teachers who are educated in their content areas (i.e. english), less relativism in the class room ("Well, 2+2 does technically equal 4 but, Timmy, 6 was close.. and maybe in your world it does equal 6."), solid answers (2+2=4 in any world), less politically correct theory, and actual athority given to the teachers.

Heaven forbid a teacher discipline a student; the parents would sue. But that's another topic.
The elves fight back

For several years, there's been Elf Bowling... well, the elves have gotten even in this game

Slingshot Santa
"How can I urinate when my people are in bondage?"

That's a new way to protest. Eventually, it will kill them off... kidney failure you know.
Defiant? He's a Ba'athist who won't bath
What's happening today

My office is a paper blizzard and I'm playing letter of recommendation oragami. I wasn't aware that you could fold them so many ways to fit in an envelope. I thought there was an etiquette to it.. but I've seem some very oddly folded paper today.

Monday, December 15, 2003

Survivor: Pearl Islands update

Well, here it is - the last update. The finale was good. No lame jury questions like "Who should be sitting there instead of you?" and fishing for your name. But the venom wasn't there.. definately some anger though.

Jonny Fairplay got his butt fair-played out. He wanted to go down as the most hated Survivor Villian ever and I think he got it. He said that he still wanted to be liked by the ladies but after his sexist comments of "if it's a physical or mental competition, I've got it. Maybe if it's a gettin' pregnant contest they would win." I like to think of myself as pretty even minded, but I was looking for a butt-whoopin' stick after that comment.

Sandra won. And I'm glad. She was abrasive, not under the radar (I actually want to see the winners on the show, thank you very much - i.e. Vee from Survivor: Marquesas). I want to see them plot and scheme; I want to see them create drama. The show is "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast."

Now, after the Superbowl, All-Star Survivor will premiere. Rupert was looking good for just having wrapped filming 4 days before the live finale. He was very tan, had a broken tooth (caused from a challenge?) and didn't appear to be too bug-bite ridden but makeup could hid alot of that. My guess is that, again, he makes the jury. And does better than Richard Hatch.

I can't wait! I get to hate Jerri all over again! :)

Sunday, December 14, 2003

Best news of the day

And the best story of the year because it sucks ALL of the wind our of the Democrats foreign policy sails. For weeks, we've heard the candidates talk about how "Bush's War in Iraq is a failure" because we didn't have Saddam.

Well, we have him. Praise God!

And now the Democrat pundits are saying "today we are all Americans." Oh shove it. If today had been like last Sunday, you'd be on the talk shows griping about the cost of the war and that no apparent victories had been made. Guess what? Today, the Iraqi people have no reason to fear his return to power. The money for the attacks on our troops will soon dry up and, hopefully, peace and stability can be in Iraq.

Praise God that Saddam will face justice. Praise God that he was not hurt or that the 4th ID and special forces involved in the raid made it out unharmed. Pray for their families - that they will be comforted while their loved ones are fighting and for the families of the thousands, if not millions of Iraqis that died as a direct result of Saddam's murderous regime.

I would hate to be his defense attorney. Maybe Johnny Cochran will take up the case. But, there isn't a glove... so they can't acquit.

FOXNews.comSaddam Captured 'Like a Rat' in Raid

Friday, December 12, 2003

Survivor: Pearl Islands update

Yes, I haven't posted an update since Rupert got the boot. That would be because I stopped watching. I did see the part where Jon lied about his grandma having died. At least he went out there knowing that he would come back as the most hated man in Survivor Land.

As my co-worker said "Richard Hatch looks like Mother Teresa next to Jonny Fairplay."

To summarize: Rupert, Tijuana, Christa, and Burton were booted in that order. Burton is the first person to be booted twice for the same dumb mistake - overconfidence. And after I read about what Burton said about women, he is so not hot anymore. In his defense, he did say it was taken out of context...

And that he wouldn't have any problem getting dates.

Anyway, I decided the week Rupert was booted that I had missed doing alot of different things on Thursday nights. I've had company over. I went to a Christmas Party at my pastor's house last night. One night, I actually started reading The Hobbit.

Has my love for Survivor faded? Heck no! I just decided that I can play all the games without actually watching the TV show. I dropped from 1st to 6th and am now up to 5th. I doubt that I will some how magically wind up in first place again but, hey.. I can deal with it.
Research Ethics

Apparently what is wrong with this situation, and the reason for the law suit, is that this Professor had sex with his subjects.

The fact that he failed to obtain consent forms to participate in study is beside the point, both for the subjects and the American Psychological Association.

The University is only investigating the lack of research subject consent forms. My feeling is that its Institional Review Board missed this one.

Umm, maybe... the Professor could be wrong all the way around.. maybe?

The Chronicle: Daily news: 12/12/2003 -- 04

Thursday, December 11, 2003

More reasons I'm not a democrat

Vegan computer geeks for Dean by Ann Coulter.
Lord of the Rings in real time

As an evangelical Christian, I am particularly taken with the Lord of the Rings series. The Biblical influence is very apparent to (most) believers. The struggle of good versus evil with good ultimately winning. Sorry to spoil the end of the moving for you...

In this article, Craige McMillian examines the idea that
the time of the elves is over on earth. Here. Very soon.

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Holiday Spirit

I love looking at christmas displays...

Ugly Christmas Lights.com!

Monday, December 08, 2003

CD everyone should own

Charlie Byrd's "For Louis" - 2000. Best jazzy blues song ever is on it - Tin Roof Blues.

Now if I can meet someone who will dance with to that song, life will be sweet!

Thursday, December 04, 2003

Pudgy people

Are husbands to blame for their wives becoming fat?

As I began to read this, I thought "well, I don't have to worry about my husband saying that because 1) I'm not married. 2) I'm already there." And as I became more enraged at the shallowness of the husbands' notes about their wives.. and the author's nerve to say such things, I took a deep breath and finished the whole thing.

He's absolutely right. Women feed more on compliments more than on Krispy Kreme. And there is nothing better tasting on this planet than a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut. Male or female, who doesn't like to receive a compliment? Who doesn't like to be told they look great, their hair looks nice or that color is awesome?

Just right that down - find something good to say instead of complaining about an attitude or how someone looks. We are all special in the eyes of God and He thinks we all have worth and value.

And by the way, I look very cute today.

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

New Queer Eye quote

Carson: I love you more than my luggage.
Forced Fatherhood

The National Center for Men was mentioned in the below Michael Newdow article. Newdow says that the organization helps men who were tricked into being fathers, as he was. There isn't much there at the moment, so it might not be worth the click.

Now, I will acknowledge that women can be very manipulative but... uh... dude... did you miss Sex Ed in high school? Did you ever see the Discovery Channel? A sort of natural by-product of sex is a baby. If you didn't want that to happen, then maybe you should have kept your fly zipped.

This is not a comment about how unfair the legal system is in child custody matters however. There are many fathers who have had their children stripped from them and forced to fork over most of their income due to legal bias in favor of women. Wendy McElroy has written quite a bit on this topic (http://www.ifeminists.com for more).
From that guy with too much time on his hands

Michael Newdow, who's suing over the Pledge in California:

"Newdow's costs mount. For the past three years, he has all but ceased working to pursue his court cases. In addition to sacrificing that income, he has been ordered to pay $300,000 of Banning's [ex-girlfriend and mom to the daughter] attorney fees because Newdow is wealthier than Banning and Mize regards him as responsible for prolonging the litigation. The money would have to come from his savings.

Newdow has filed a separate lawsuit against this order, calling it a violation of his constitutional right not to be forced to finance speech he disagrees with. The case is pending in a California appeals court." (emphasis mine)

1) Where the heck is this in the Constitution? I missed it in my reading of the Great Document.

2) Can I sue the Federal Goverment over funding cow fart studies with my tax dollars? Or the speed at which ketchup moves at various inclines? Because I REALLY DISAGREE with how they are spending our tax dollars. How about I sue whenever a Democrat is President? Would that fit his logic?

An Allegiance to Dissent (washingtonpost.com)
Something intelligent about

Multiculturalism. Yes, it was a surprise to me, too.

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