March 2004 Archives

Heather and I were up in McKenna's room with her, away from the TV, away from music, just the three of us, and the mountains of toys that grandparents and uncles and aunts and godparents have bought for her. McKenna ran around the room half-yelling, half-singing, waving her arms in the air. Her curls bounced up and down as she flapped around the room. She looked intent like she was trying to find enough space to really get a flying leap and take off into the air.

Around and around she spun, this way and that, sometimes stopping to hit a key on her keyboard and running once the music started again. Then, McKenna spotted the toy she wanted, the toy mommy had taken from her, the toy to trump all other toys in the world: The Popper.

Yelling, and bouncing as she ran, McKenna grabbed the popper with one hand and started zooming even faster around the room POP PO-POP-PO-POP POP POP PO-POP-PO-POP. Heather cringed as the noise got defeaning, McKenna shouting and singing and zooming and popping. We both stopped and turned our ear towards Owen. Would he wake up because his sister was bent on raising a ruckus? As we were turned, McKenna ran between us and slammed the popper into the dresser. BLAM!

McKenna laughed and slammed it into her dresser again. BLAM!
"McKenna, stop it!" BLAM!
"McKENNA!" BLAM! All the while she's looking at mommy and giggling.
"1" McKenna wound up.
"2" McKenna stood with her arm all the way back, ready to go.
"Don't hit your dresser, if you hit the dresser again, I'll take the popper away".

McKenna looked up at mommy, mommy looked at McKenna. Somewhere in the house, Hex meowed. Suddenly McKenna sprung into life, springing her arm forward with great speed, sending the Popper hurtling towards the dresser, this was going to be the loudest collision yet and the aftermath would be furious. I could see dark clouds of anger and frustration spring up around Heather's face, the fury rising like a dark phoenix over her whole body, when within inches of the dresser, McKenna stopped her arm and stopped the popper, looked up at mommy, and quietly tapped the dresser. tap! tap! tap! McKenna kept looking at mommy as she tapped the dresser.

It was then that I realized that McKenna wasn't pushing the popper, she was pushing Mommy.

I know that I've been spitting a lot of fire in the direction of the Bush Administration, (trust me, they deserve it), but a friend of mine made the valid point that I've left the Democrats practically unscathed lately. That's been an oversight of mine that I want to correct.

I don't think that the Democrats are a better alternative, especially in terms of economic policy, but lately in any facet of politics. I'll take two quick examples to throw up there.

I recently ranted about the return of the draft. A majority of the people sponsoring that bill, if not all of them, are Democrats. How can I support the people, or the party, that wants to conscript my daughter and son?

Or, for example, today, I linked to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that police don't need warrants to search you or your house. Several of the judges who voted in favor of the ruling were Clinton appointees. In fact, only one Clinton appointee voted against the ruling, compared with two Reagan appointees.

I think that both parties are rife with corruption, and people that are in power for the sake of being in power, rather than doing what's best for us.

That's why I, and my wife both vote Libertarian. Rather than contribute to the current mess we're living in, we would like to make a difference. We would like to live in a world where we have the ability to make our own decisions, and the freedom to live the life we think is best, without being told what we can watch on TV, or listen to on the stereo, or read in books. We don't want our economic well-being tethered to those of every one else, or told that it's my responsibility to take care of people I don't know, or even worse, that I should donate the majority of my income to the government so they can manage how people are taking care of. The democrats want the Nanny-State, a place where they take care of us and all of our needs, and the government is frankly a very bad organization to determine what's best for me and my family. Let me decide.

But let me make a point clear here. I grew up a Democrat, because I viewed their stance on personal freedoms to be better than Republicans. I originally grew up favoring some system like the Netherlands or Sweden, both very socialist, but very liberal with speech, and personal protections. I still view personal freedoms essential, but I have also grown to see that economic freedoms must be in place too, for people to be truly free.

I have seen the mess that both parties have made of our natural rights, and I am afraid. They both have started to shrink the freedoms on both sides, and that worries me.

Now, for a personal note...
Some have written to me suggesting that I take my voice and leave the country, that I have no right to speak my mind and be a dissenter. I defy them, and tell them that it is only in dissenting that I keep the original American spirit alive. Any of you that feel that those who would speak up and speak out have no place here in America have lost sight of what it means to be American.

Those of you who would shut me up and those of you willing to trade away your essential liberties for the illusion of safety would be decried by our Founding Fathers. They put their lives on the line to protect your freedoms. The Continental Army, the men who died on the battlefields of the Civil War, and our modern armed forces joined the Founding Fathers by putting their lives in danger for your freedoms. It's a shame that you would give them up so easily, and try to force me to give up mine.

So, Bush is teaching us again the proper way to comport yourself. He banned trade with the country of Burma due to their human rights violations, only then to sell products made in Burma at his official campaign store.

The manufacturer of the fleeces would like you to believe that they did this because it's too hard to find stuff made in America today. I don't believe that for a second, and I think they took the easy route to save some dollars, which is seemingly right in line with the usualy policies of the Bush Administration. When the time comes to stand by hard convictions, it's easier to take the easy road out and hope no one notices.

The punishments proscribed for trading with Burma include fines and jail time. I look forward to seeing Bush paying money for trying to skirt his own laws and spend some time in jail. In fact, let's fire up the impeachment proceedings. Clinton was impeached for diddling a staffer. Bush trades with a banned country! Kick his ass to the curb.

It's good to know we have a president that stands by his convictions. Way to go Dubya.

And here I thought I was done being outraged for the day. The 5th US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that police do not need a warrant to search your home or private property, stating that the danger presented to police when they're on someone's property, even when they're interviewing someone justifies them searching the person's house first.

So if your next door neighbor gets murdered by her husband and they come to ask you questions, the police have the right to search your house too.

WHAT THE FUCK? Who doesn't think this is an unreasonable search and seizure? How did this decision pass judicial scrutiny? What the fuck kind of country am I living in?

Seriously, is it necessary that everytime Janet Jackson is on TV, they censor her? The Letterman Show censored her when she said 'Jesus'! Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Letterman late-night TV? Haven't people said and done a lot worse than say "Oh Jesus" on day-time TV? Are they being bleeped out?

What the fuck kind of morality is taking hold in this country that we've gone to this level? It's alright to shoot abortion doctors, it's alright to swindle your investors and stockholders of their money, it's fine to reneg on election promises and cut fuding for education, the environment, and other programs, but don't you DARE SAY JESUS ON TV! We'll hang you from a sycamore tree if you do.

*sigh*

A girl in Latrobe, PA has been charged with...sexually abusing herself and being in possession of child pornography, because she had naked pictures of herself and was sending them to people on the internet. I understand it's a problem to be having a child send naked sexual pictures of herself, but really, sexual abuse? Of herself? Oh well, insert random masturbation as abuse joke here.

So now it's announced by the 76er's that Allen Iverson is out for the season. They won't release the doctor's diagnosis, but they're saying that it's something to do with damage in his knees. I think they should have said "damage in the head, primarily diarrhea of the mouth". He's been non-stop bitching since the season started. As is typical of Phildelphia teams, they've got some prima donna that drags the whole team down, and thinks he's the center of the universe.

Of course I think we've already addressed this issue here. I'm glad he's finally punked out completely.

Me: Hello?
Her: Yeah, is this uh, the Ruby Theatre?
Me: No, I'm sorry, you have the wrong number
Her: Well, this is the number I got on my paper here. I been trying to call you for 3 weeks
Me: I'm sorry ma'am, you have the wrong number
Her: Whatever *click*

LOL. People make me laugh

Senator Fritz Hollings and a bevy of Representatives in the House have introduced bills to their respective committees asking that the draft be reinstated. (Senate Version - House Version)

You remember the draft, right? That's where you are conscripted into the military without your consent, and must serve 2 years. Except it is different this time. This time, it's both men and women that are being drafted. Any men and women between the ages of 18 and 26 can serve in the military, or perform some other public works duty which "promotes national defense including national or community service or homeland security".

I'm sorry folks, but this is a bunch of crap. Do we really need the draft? I'm talking as the son of an Army man, I enlisted in the Marine Corp (later rejected for asthma, but that's a different story), and I think this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Why? Why? Why do we need the draft? We have a better military because it's a volunteer force of people that want to be there, that choose to be there.

Get up out of that chair and call your senators and representatives today and tell them how you feel. Don't send our sons and daughters into conscription.

I'm Dew-Free for 29 days now. Weird to think that I'm talking about like an alcoholic talks about spirits, but that's what Mt. Dew was for me, an addicition. And you can tell. It's still stuck around my waist.

I'm still hovering around the 320 lbs mark, even though I'm fasting. I've seen a significant reduction in my appetite from the fasting, and I'm hoping that will carry on when I'm done and I'll be able to lean on that for some weight loss.

I've gotten back on the habit of exercising, getting up early and hitting the treadmill before I get to work. When I'm done with that I jump rope for a minute. (Don't laugh, I suck at it and I keep tripping myself up)

When I get better with the jumprope and it doesn't hurt quite so bad, I'll increase it by 15 second imcrements. I should set an end goal so I can feel better when I get to it. I think I'm shooting for 2 2-minute sprints with the rope with a 30 second break in between.

So that's where I am now. Some days I feel like "Eye of the Tiger", and some days I feel like Grandpa Simpson. I'm so out of shape...

I'm swinging through a bunch of emotions. Elation, happiness, excitement and then anger, frustration, fear, and anxiety. I'm going through my pages to fix a bunch of bugs that I made in my code and it's embarassing to think that I was letting this kind of shit skate through. What in the hell was I thinking?

I know what I was thinking. I was thinking "I hate to review. I hate to test. I hate to retread old ground". I'll try to reorganize the errands I'm going to run so I don't have to drive on the same roads I've already taken, and go out of my way to not cover the same ground.

It's the same thing with the code I'm writing. I don't want to go back and look at it. I just want to get the next thing done and hope it's all good. Bad programmer! I never like to proofread what I've written (you can tell) and look over my past work.

Bad habits all. It's my little corner of OCD.

So now I'm trying to unlearn this habit, both with this site, and with my work. I have to get used to reviewing my code and my writing and making things better. I just have to do it. For the sake of my job, for the sake of my sanity, for the sake of my children and wife. For the sake of my co-workers. For the sake of my readers, and for everyone else involved.

I guess that's why I'm burning through all of these emotions at once. It's hard to learn new habits, and unlearn the bad ones. But it's rewarding. I can see the golden fruits of my labor, but I know how much labor is involved.

I put up a new picture of McKenna and Owen today. Check out my beautiful children! I make good babies. ;)

I just realized that when you're a parent, you don't start driving slower and more cautiously because you've suddenly become The Dork King (even though you may have for other reasons), but because the thought that existing one second and experiencing the joy of having children and then flashing out of life and never seeing them grow up or being with your kids again is too painful a thought to bear.

If there's anything I have control of that could kill me, I want to remove it, so I have AS LONG AS POSSIBLE to be with my wife and kids.

Maybe my perceptions are colored by losing my dad as a teenager, but I want to live to be 1,000 and beyond and see my children grow old and their children and so on...

What can we put down in Bush's list of achievements? How's this for a try:
During my reign as empor...president, I helped oil executives increase gas prices to their highest levels ever. That's good for someone, right? I also helped 2.8 million vassals...er...people achieve "early retirement" so they could spend more time with their families. My bold plan for economic prosperity included going to war in two different countries and awarding rebuilding contracts to my friends companies. And I helped push laws through that rotten Congress that help us lock up everyone we don't agree with or like. And I've continued to weaken the powers of the States, centering all powers in my hands.

My plan for the next 4 years is even more exciting. So vote for me in November, because if you don't John Ashcroft will have to have a talk with you. Hi, I'm Dubya, and I approved this ad.

My wife gave me the greatest gift ever. She sat and watched "Barry Gordy's The Last Dragon" with me tonight. She doesn't like goofy action movies like that and so the fact that she spent time with me on the couch watching it meant a lot to me.

Is Heather the best wife in the world? SHO'NUFF!

Now I want to go back out and learn kung fu again.

*sigh* all in due time I suppose.

So, after the news about Richard Clarke, and the assassination in Palestine, and all of the March Madness upsets is a piece about "Dawn of the Dead" taking the top spot for weekend movies, dislodging "Passion" from it's reign.

Well, I for one say "Good!" It's about time we got gore out of the movie theatre and put up a good family movie I can safely take my kids to without fear of them having nightmares....oh wait....

there's fire...you know that saying.

Well...first Paul O'Neill comes out and says that the President was too focused on the war with Iraq. Now Richard Clarke (anti-terrorism chief under Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II) comes out and says the same thing, in fact going further to say that Bush was so focused on fighting with Saddam that he dropped the ball on combatting terrorism.

How many people are going to have to blow this whistle before we sit up and listen?

I think the arrogance of Bush to run his re-election ad defending the Patriot Act is astounding. He says that the Patriot act is used to lock up terrorists and keep Americans safe.

Maybe he doesn't care, or maybe he doesn't know (though I find this a lot less likely) that abuses of the act continue and the law is an anathema to free society.

Throw Bush out of office and remove this heinous law before we're all labeled criminals.

In other news, a litigious schmuck announced he's suing Google, AOL, and Yahoo because he didn't like the information it returned when he searched on his name.

The litigious schmuck could not be reached for comment, but his momma said that this might have something to do with him being more broke than Osama Bin Laden's moral compass. Representatives at Yahoo and AOL both yawned when asked about this, and we think one of them scratched their butts, but we can't be certain. Google co-founder, Larry Page, offered to give the litigious schmuck a lance and said "Have fun tilting at windmills". Sancho Panza was also unavailable for comment.

Now, back to Bob with the latest on sports...

Trying to shake off my tourism blues I decided I would look at something really beyond the norm as far as vacations go, and I went to Google and entered "Greenland Tourism". To my surprise, Greenland apparently has a healthy tourism industry.

Go figure...

Now I don't think that I'll be visiting Narsarsuaq or Ittoqqortoormiit this year, but...maybe at some point in the future I will pack the kids up and we'll take a trip up to the great green north.

I think I have vacation paralysis...
I, we, want to go SOMEWHERE, anywhere, as long as it's away from here. The last real vacation I've had was 4 years ago when Heather and I went to Disneyworld. It's TIME.

Anyway, I can't seem to find any place that I want to go, or if I do want to go there, it's outrageous to get there. I might as well sell McKenna to get there. I'm seeing flight costs of $1000 per person round trip. Excuse me? Where are all of these great deals I keep hearing about?

Bah. I just want to get away, but nothing's appealing.

I saw this today. An award-winning junior high student in Arizona was ARRESTED and suspended from school because he refused to wear his hat with the brim facing foreward:

Marlon was sitting in the school cafeteria when Saguaro security guards asked him to turn his hat around and he refused saying he felt singled out.

It is against school policy to wear hats sideways because it can be a sign of disrespect for authority, the police report said, but Marlon, who is Black, said that the rule is enforced selectively. According to a police report, he pointed to several White students whose hats were on sideways.

"Usually I don't have a problem, (but) when you walk around you see everyone else with their hats like that, I just kind of got fed up with it," he told The Arizona Republic.

Is that really necessary? Is the school that afraid of it's own lack of authority that it fears any potential types of disrepect? And what happened to irreverance? Silliness? Or hell, the kid thought it looked good? What the fuck kind of country is this becoming?

Miscellaneous Notes:
The police may not search your car without your consent or a warrant if they have stopped you for a traffic violation. It's very demeaning to be pulled over by the police and more so to have them search your car for no reason. If you don't feel like letting them search you then don't consent.
(source: www.nolo.com)

The Supreme Court is going to decide whether you need to have identification on you at all times next week. Dudley Hiibley, a cowboy from Nevada was leaning against his truck when a police officer stopped and asked to see his ID. Mr. Hiibley refused, and asked why. The cop wouldn't give him a straight answer, so Mr. Hiibley continued to refuse. He was arrested and charged with "Delaying a Peace Officer". I have never heard of such a bullshit arrest in my life. Who is the government to determine that I need some official documentation that they provide to be a citizen, or to be lawful? If Thomas Jefferson were here now he'd be kicking someone in the ass, and I guarantee you, it wouldn't be Dudley Hiibley. Call your senators and other congress types and let them know how you feel on this issue. Let them know that you want them to speak out in favor of Mr. Hiibley, and against the erosion of our rights. I can't. I've got a ghoul (Specter) and a moron (Santorum) for my senators. They favor big intrusive governments.

Heather and I went to the Italian Market today. What a hoot.

Having grown up with a German mother and a father who'd traveled the world, I grew up appreciating a lot of different kinds of foods, and really enjoying real European cuisine. I'm not a fan of what a lot of American people eat, or the meaning (or lack thereof) that most Americans attach to eating.

In Europe and parts beyond, food is more than just food, it's a communal experience, an expression of love and caring, and an art. In the US, food is something we do because we have to.

The Italian Market was just what I needed. It reminded of my trips to Europe, and eating with family. I got some fantastic stinky cheeses, and hearty, crusty breads. I got to smell all the smells and walk away with the pungent earthy aromas in my clothes.

I'd say more, but I'm really just rambling at this point, so I'll sign off.

ciao

I've just been kind of soaking up the news of the events in Spain, and the horror and tragedy of it all. There's no denying the similarities to 9/11, and I extend my condolences and love to the good people in Madrid that were enjoying an early morning commute one minute and were plunged into Hell the next.

I hope that those who lost loved ones find peace and comfort in the midst of mourning and to those who had their innocence and joy stolen, I have nothing to offer but my apologies and the assurance that life does indeed one day return to normal.

Why do you suck so bad?

Why does every knucklehead in their Beamer, Audi, Infiniti, Saab, Volvo, Range Rover, and Cadillac zoom right into the left hand lane and sit there, never moving out, going only 55 mph? Did someone tell you once that that was your lane? Did they tell you that it's a good thing to go so slow there? They were wrong. Get out of the left-hand lane, and stop impeding the progress of those who actually have someplace to be.

Also, what in the hell is this shit with the sudden slamming on the brakes for no good reason? Since when did this become a good idea? Who taught driver's ed in this area? Joe Cocker?

And please, go buy yourself an ear-bud for your cellphone. Why do I keep seeing these yuppie numbnuts caravaning around town with their ear glued to their cellphone and weaving in and out of lanes because they're not paying attention?

I have driven everywhere on the East Coast, from Florida to Maine, and I have never gotten more infuriated while driving then when I am behind the wheel in Philly. Boston, NYC, Washington DC, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, all through the South, and not nearly as bad as here.

I just don't understand.

Everyone else in the house is asleep, but I don't feel like I can. I know I almost certainly would if I laid my head on the pillow and pulled Heather tight against. The temperature in our bedroom is just right for sleeping under our flannel comforter, and Heather fits perfectly in my arms when I hold her.

I love being a daddy. I love the sapphire kisses and crazy frantic hugs McKenna gives me while she runs around the living room banging a spoon against her Disney Princesses plate, and the broad crescent moon smiles Owen shoots at me when he sees my face, and how they both giggle so loud when I tickle them and blow bubbles on their belly, and my beard scratches them that Heather thinks they're shouting.

I have a job that I should be thankful for, am thankful for. I like the people I work with, and I enjoy their company. Sitting in the office, breaking up the silence with wisecracks and dry observations. "Do you think this could go any slower?" "Yea, you could be using my computer" I like the project I'm working on, and the technology I'm using. I like the challenges and the toughness of it, even when I screw up, I still like it.

But is it really me? Is this really who I am? A computer programmer? Is this what I'm meant to do? Why can't I shake the lurking suspicion that I'm missing an appointment with greatness somewhere else? Somewhere, there's a man in a bowler hat with a briefcase full of greatness that he's just waiting to deliver to me, and he calmly waits for me to arrive, sipping tea, and if I'm not there at the designated time, he just moves on to the next fellow, jolly good, and nice to have made your acquaintance, I hope everything works out really well for you in whatever you choose in the future, have a nice day.

Why do I feel so lonely? Why am I so confused? Where are the Italian villas and Montana ranches I imagined when I was 18? Why do I feel like I'm living hand-to-mouth, and I'm scared shitless that I'm not doing enough to provide for my wife and kids? Why don't I have a father anymore that I can turn to and ask these questions? Why wasn't my father the kind of man that would let me ask these kinds of questions when he was alive?

I have so much on my mind and it won't go away by me asking these questions. I can stay up all night and they'll wait for me until morning and start over again, spinning in my head.

Is it normal for me to be this angry, this bitter, this cynical, this afraid, this paranoid, this crazy? When I was in elementary school I used to fear the world would end in a mushroom cloud while I slept and there'd be nothing and nobody left but the lunatics who pressed the button. When I was in high school feared I would wake up one day schizophrenic, like the people we studied in psychology. Now my fears are so much more pedestrian, and yet a million, a billion times as big. What if I can't give my children a good education? What if something happens to me and I'm not here to see them grow up? What if something happens to Heather and I don't get to share the rest of my life with her? What if I lose my job and I can't find another one and we live in poverty? What if something happens to one of the kids and I lose them? Will I be able to pick up the pieces and put my family back together?

Why do I feel like I'm the only awake tonight with these questions?

I'll express some early optimism and say that there doesn't seem to be any ill effects from all the crap on Friday. That's a good thing. I apparently will continue to have a job here for a while.

*phew*

I'm nervous about returning to work tomorrow, given all of the errors that I made that we stayed late on Friday fixing. Either everything will be like it was and no one will give it a second thought (except me, because I'll keep dwelling on it for a while) or it will be the shittiest day in the world and I'll get fired. :(

I don't think that second option will happen, but I'm tending to focus on the negative. My whole weekend has been overshadowed by that fear. Sucks.

My heart goes out to all of the people involved in the boat accident in Baltimore, and to the families of the victims. I have family in Baltimore, and Heather and I have used the Water Taxi many times, and this is just scary. We talked, and Heather and I wondered what we would have done if we had been on that boat with McKenna and Owen. There needs to be a place were adults can go and learn all of the life-saving shit they teach you in the military and in the Boy Scouts.

Secondly, I think this whole flap about decency because of Janet Jackson's boob being used as a pretense to start shutting down people like Howard Stern is just ri-goddamn-diculous. Seriously people, we have soldiers dying in Iraq, troops in Haiti, homeless people living in the streets, children going hungry at night, immigrants being treated like chattel, 2.8 million people than before out of work and growing, industries wholesale sending their work overseas, seniors not able to afford the medicines they need, people like Fred Phelps perverting Christianity to erect monuments commemorating the murders of gay people, and the most burning question, the largest issue, the most critically important thing we can do, is chase after Howard Stern because he's indecent? The man's been indecent for over 20 years. Am I suddenly supposed to believe that his voice is an epidemic threatening to unravel the very fabric and moral character of our society? Bullshit. In fact...I want to offer a big giant FUCK YOU to all people who have nothing better to do than fight for his removal from radio stations. Part of what made this country great was the fact that people with different viewpoints could feel safe to open their mind and speak them. WHAT PART OF "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances" DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?

bah. I'm leaving this country. Every day it becomes more and more like a theocracy run by the same close-minded assholes that are too puritanical to see a different point of view.

I logged a 13 hour day at work today because we were moving our code to Alpha so it could begin testing. However, many of the tasks I had worked on for this project came out with big errors, really, errors that I should have never let go through. I didn't test my code as much as I should have, and I was really embarassed.

Granted, a lot of the errors were in the code that I did a month ago, and I didn't know the system at all when I started, so I could have leaned on that excuse, but I didn't want to. Instead, I stayed at work and fixed all of the bugs.

It was painful though for a few reasons:

1. Visual Studio.NET 2003 is way slow when loading up projects with a lot of references. We've got it to be a lot better than it ever was, and it's still taking over two minutes for it to loan.
2. Every once in a while, in the middle of a compile, VS will just shut itself down with no error and no warning and then you have to reopen and wait some more.
3. The ActivePDF dll we're using just sometimes fails to load, which makes the whole site fail and requires us to restart the server.
4. It's Friday night and it's my fault that people are working late.

So I muffed it. I feel awful, and of course I have that lurking fear that I'm going to get fired for causing so many issues and releasing code that's so sloppy. YIKES

So what am I going to do? Well I stayed late to fix my bugs. I'm going to work early on Monday and I'm going to put in extra hours to pitch in, but the most important thing about this is that I admit responsibility and never let it happen again.

Because if I don't learn from my own careless mistakes this time, then they should fire me.

The Presidential Prayer Team is currently urging us to: "Pray for the President as he seeks wisdom on how to legally codify the definition of marriage. Pray that it will be according to Biblical principles. With any forces insisting on variant definitions of marriage, pray that God's Word and His standards will be honored by our government." This is true.

Any good religious person believes prayer should be balanced by action. So here, in support of the Prayer Team's admirable goals, is a proposed Constitutional Amendment codifying marriage entirely on biblical principles:

A. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between
one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5)

B. Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)

C. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21)

D. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30)

E. Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State, nor any state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9)

F. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen. 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)

G. In lieu of marriage, if there are no acceptable men in your town, it is required that you get your dad drunk and have sex with him (even if he had previously offered you up as a sex toy to men young and old), tag-teaming with any sisters you may have. Of course, this rule applies only if you are female. (Gen 19:31-36)

Say what you will about this, but I have to vote 'Flash Gordon' as my ALL-TIME favorite B Movie. So much so that I went out and bought the DVD. I think I watch it at least once a month. How can you not like a movie with Topol (remember the father from Fiddler on the Roof?), Max Von Sydow (most recently in 'Minority Report' as the villain there too), Timothy Dalton (the most underrated Bond), and Brian Blessed (a trained Shakespearen actor)? Not only that, but it's soundtrack was done by Queen!

For my money, it doesn't get any better.

President Bush would like us to believe that he will not use 9/11 for his own political gain, which is why he had commercials made with footage of ground zero and firefighters walking in the rubble, and now suddenly, finding Osama Bin Laden has become priority one.

Now, I agree that finding Osama is a good thing, but I'm fairly disgusted that Bush is using all of this to get re-elected.

How about this instead? There's 287 million people in the United States. Bush has raised over $100 million in reelection funds. Why doesn't he just mail most of us a $50 check that we can cash on election day at the polling places if we vote for him? At least that way, his attempts at political chicanery are more transparent and honest.

Apparently I am not the only one who feels that the president using images from 9/11 was in poor taste. I got the following email this evening:

PRESS ADVISORY FOR Peaceful Tomorrows

Contact: Cathy Renna, 917-757-6123, Jessica Smith, Kawana Lloyd, 202-822-5200

*PRESS CONFERENCE, NEW LOCATION: SHERATON NY*

9/11 Families & Firefighters Call on Bush Campaign To Withdraw Ads Using WTC Imagery President Bush Breaks Promise Not to Use Sept. 11th "As a Political Issue"

9/11 victims' families and firefighters will convene in NYC on Friday at 10AM to charge President Bush with exploiting September 11th for political advantage in his new line of campaign advertisements. They will call on the campaign to remove the ads from the airwaves.

On January 23, 2004 President Bush said, according to a report by the Associated Press: "I have no ambition whatsoever to use [9/11 or national security] as a political issue." Two of the campaign's new ads launched today, however, show images of the World Trade Center devastation with an American flag waving, followed by the tagline: "President Bush: Steady Leadership in Times of Change."

To compound the Bush campaign's politicizing of this national tragedy, the President has set the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City to fall one week before the anniversary of 9/11.

WHO: 9/11 Victims' families, Firefighters

WHAT: Press Conference to Call on Bush to Withdraw 9/11 Campaign Ads

WHEN: 10AM, Friday, March 5

WHERE: Sheraton New York, 811 7th Avenue (b/w 52nd and 53rd Streets), Executive Conference Room J, NYC

I urge anyone nearby to go and show your support.

Thanks.

I wrote yesterday about jury nullification and how that needs to be used to nullify the laws that prohibit same-sex couples from getting married. I thought it would start in California, but the mayor New Platz, New York has been charged first.

Eliot Spitzer has agreed not to prosecute the mayor, but that puts him at odds with the governor and some of the senators in New York.

This is it. Let the nullifications begin.

I think it's crass for Bush to try and profit personally for the tragedy of 9/11. Rather than try and stand on his record, and discuss what he has done, he is busy trying to scare the electorate into voting for him again. If he has nothing better to offer us than fear mongering, it's time we removed him from office.

Yes, 9/11 was a turning point for the country, and it's important part of American history, but that should not be the only thing we hear from him.

And if Bush wants to use that footage for his own personal gain he should donate a sizeable sum to the victim's families and fireman associations. Perhaps that could be out of his immense oil fortune, or out of the $100 million he's raised for campaigning. Ah, who am I kidding? That won't happen.

In light of the actions taken by the Mayor of San Francisco, and the current uproar on the Christian Right to take the Mayor to court, I thought it was important to discuss something called 'Jury Nullification'.

I wanted to point out to everyone that I added a new section to my site: My Reading List. This is a list of all of the books I've read recently, or am currently reading.

On the plus side, if you click on the links and buy the book from Amazon, I get money back, which I will then use to subsidize my book habit!

Enjoy

I went for a walk around the property over lunch and I wanted to jump around shouting "Spring Is Here! Spring is HERE!" but I felt like I would jinx everything if I did that and a sudden nor'easter would descend and drown me in snow.

Instead I watched the mockingbirds and bluejays hop from tree to tree as I walked. The property managers at the Franklin Mint really have let this place go and Mother Nature is quickly reclaiming the parking lot at the wood's edge. Vines and thorn bushes are breaking apart the concrete and a tree fell not too long ago covering a large swath of the lot with it's branches. One day I imagine I will come out and find woodland nymphs and fairies painting lillies and roses on the guard rail.

It's so beautiful outside. I had such a good walk. I don't want to be inside at all.

While I was walking, I thought about my grocery shopping expedition yesterday and I realized that I bought way too much lunch meat. I've got 4 lbs of turkey, ham, and salami waiting for me in the refrigerator. How am I going to eat all that? I guess I did let my hunger get the best of me after all.

Fasting is going better than I expected. I now it's a total fast, which would be really difficult. I still get up in the morning and eat breakfast, and then I wait until the sun goes down and eat dinner. But I've seen a large reduction in my appetite since Ash Wednesday.

That night I was voracious, eating everything in site and I was starved, but by this weekend I was eating a lot less in the evening.

The toughest part was being at home during the weekend and thinking about all the food I could snack on. That and going grocery shopping when I was hungry. I had to stop myself everytime I started to pick up something and ask myself "Do I really need this, or do I just want this?"

I'm back to exercising too. I'm going to start every other day in the morning and walking over lunch, and I'm hoping by next week to be getting in the exercise every morning.

All told I feel really good for not eating during the day.