Shepherd's Pie, Web Edition™

Huzzah, no more need for Hello

2005-09-17T14:48:00.000-04:00

At long last Blogger allows directly loading images from the posting prompt rather than requiring the use of Hello or Flickr or other photo blogging software. I always thought it was kinda dumb that I had to use those. Now I'm pleased as punch, and so is Andy Griffith, right Andy?

2005-09-13T18:45:00.000-04:00

A picture I dug up going through old 3.5 floppies. Yup, this is from freshman year spring break with Campus Crusade for Christ.

Lifesong by Casting Crowns

2005-09-06T23:38:00.000-04:00

Lifesong, the sophomore studio album by Casting Crowns, which broke out onto the national Christian music scene in 2003 with their self-titled debut, is a marked improvement in style and content from two years prior, which while catchy and enjoyable (at least three or four tracks thereof), seemed to lack a governing theme which tied the prophetic or teaching message of each individual song together. This album overcomes its predecessor's shortcomings both thematically and musically, though I leave the musical elements towards more gifted ears than I, my concerns being more thematic and theological than musical.

Critics might say the topical variation of the tracks on Lifesong are a rehash of the same themes in the debut album (church hypocrisy, church apathy, doubt and timidity affecting the faith walk of the believer), but Lifesong sandwiches them between the title track and the concluding track, "And Now My Lifesong Sings," which together comprise an opening and closing prayer that the Christian walk be a daily "lifesong" which worships God not merely in word but in deed. The organizing principle of Lifesong then is one of conforming in thought, word, and deed to the example of Christ and hence being a better witness of Christ's love for the world in the world, while avoiding the pitfalls of spiritual pride and hypocrisy.

The thematic choice is greatly strengthened by the choice to put "Prodigal," a song of remorse and repentance by a backslidden Christian, preceding the closing track. The message: your "lifesong" will only truly sing acceptable praise to God after you come to the Father in humility, repenting of your sins and shortcomings, and receiving His grace.

The only significant departure from the theme is "While You Were Sleeping," which is written more as a warning to the unsaved than to the Church, but moves on the hearts of the believer by reminding him/her of the slumber of a lost and dying world which sleepily ignores and thereby rejects its Savior. I found it a catchy and memorable song, and one which certainly doesn't comprise a complete theological argument in itself, but is a great springboard for a Sunday sermon or two, and quite possibly a coffeehouse chat with an unsaved friend about Christ's mission on earth, death, resurrection, and coming return.

So what does the non-Christian listener get from Lifesong? An honest and well-executed musical exposition of problems and shortcomings by sin-stained believers whose only hope is continual trust in and adherence to Jesus Christ. Casting Crowns are not averse to tackling sins within the church, but the tone is one which urges conformity to the compassion and example of Christ for the sake of ministry to a sin-stained, lost, and dying world. As a prophetic message to the Church, and as a witness to the outside world of Christians acknowledging and confronting contemporary sins and shortcomings by Christians which have run counter to the witness of Christ's earthly mission, Lifesong sings beautifully.

My stint as a game show host

2005-08-29T01:11:00.000-04:00

So yesterday I went to a little get together hosted by my friend Jeneen and her husband Ted, at their townhouse on Fort Meade. They aren't military, by the way, but they got a sweet deal whereby they rent the place, and it's pretty sweet and works out well for them and their two kids. But anyway, so I went there, and it was cool, I saw some peeps from high school I hadn't seen in a while, and they looked pretty good. Most of them, however, have become enshackled mercilessly to the bonds of matrimony. Okay, apparently, they seem happy with it, and I'm happy for them, and many of them have kids, and their kids are adorable.

But I'm single and kid-free and such, so my services were quite handy for a little game Jeneen had the couples play, sort of a parlor-room version of the Newlywed Game. I got to be the host.
That was pretty cool, even though I had to keep the questions G-rated due to the lil tykes, that and I wasn't in much of a mood to shock my friends with how crusty and salty I've become with age.

So it was good, but it did make me feel a bit old and a bit young at the same time. Old because here are people my age who have been married, some for less than a year or two, others for about three or four years now. And some of them have had two kids, and virtually all of them own a house, except for Jeneen and her hubby.

The house part made me feel a little young and irresponsible. I lived for three years in a shitty house in College Park burning $ on rent I could have maybe saved living with the rents to maybe a down payment on some shitty house I could have owned and rented rooms out to gullible college kids who would pay me beaucoup bucks. But I didn't.

Yet I felt a bit old considering I've yet to find a woman crazy enough to tolerate me, cool enough to get me, or sane enough for me to trust bearing my children and picking up my dirty laundry from the floor on a day-to-day basis. Dang it, I'm 26 and I'm a dude and I'm starting to feel like I'm missing something in my life by not having an angel to kiss good morning and love like the devil when I get back home .

I also didn't feel like I had any good anectdotes with which to regale them. Maybe if I dug deep enough I would have a few, but not really. And these guys are pretty apolitical so hearing how I single-handedly ripped Howard Dean a new one one afternoon (okay, it wasn't Dean, but for the sake of the storyline let's go there) wouldn't really excite them. Well, it would excite Sheena but only because she's a crazy loon-ball liberal, whom I love dearly as a friend regardless of her desire to destroy our fair country. Ohhhhh snap, Sheena.

Alright, I'm rambling and giving the entire world looking for Shepherd's Pie recipes insight into my life. I'm out.

What's with the ™ you ask?

2005-08-19T17:25:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's gimmicky and stupid. And no, I haven't trademarked this blog's name with the USPTO. But I think it adds a certain je ne sais quoi, don't you?

Coffee Chick's Party; Harvey Birdman

2005-08-19T13:59:00.000-04:00

So the Coffee House Chick and I have no residual awkwardness from her informing me she has a boyfriend. She invited me to a party at her house. I went. It was okay. The beer was good and cold, and some of the conversation was sparkling. But most times at parties, well, I'm just not in my natural element. It's a rare occasion where I pour out the sparkling conversation like a Roman fountain. Oh well.

And completely unrelated: I forgot just how funny Harvey Birdman, Attorney-at-Law can be. I watched an episode last night. Was delightfully funny.

There, hopefully that should satisfy you all with a view of my personal life. For my political insights and social commentary, go to Restless Mania, although soon we are switching over to TypePad and will be located here.

update on the coffee shop chick

2005-07-15T00:34:00.000-04:00

So yeah, she has a boyfriend. But she's still as cute and chipper and friendly as ever. No awkwardness. Good times.

Now that's my kinda woman.

2005-07-05T09:03:00.000-04:00

It's high time I stop dating liberal chicks. The next girl I take out better be able to wear this T-shirt with pride (which reads: Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency).

Blogging here sparodically

2005-06-30T10:15:00.000-04:00

I've been blogging her very seldom of late, but more prolifically on my team blog, Restless Mania. I've lately been on a tear about the Kelo ruling last week in the Supreme Court. Speaking of, you should read this editorial by libertarian free-market economist Walter E. Williams of George Mason University. [Hat tip: the MRC's Free Market Project]

I encourage all my readers to go there for my political wit and wisdom.

I'm unofficially converting this blog, to the extent I blog here, about my personal life, with maybe some political stuff here and there.

But at the moment, my personal life ain't too exciting. I will report this though:

I asked a cute barista at my favorite coffeehouse out in a unique, gimmicky way. Well, maybe gimmicky is too negative a connotation. Basically, I dropped a note in the tip jar asking her to use a code word next time I'm there and she's working if she's interested. We'll see what happens. I'm popping by there tonight. Not sure if she's working tonight. Oh well. I'll keep you updated.

Great Caesar's Ghost!

2005-06-15T09:36:00.000-04:00

Lane Smith dead at age 69. He played Perry White on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Requiescat in pace.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Lane Smith, a longtime character actor who played a small-town district attorney who crossed words with Joe Pesci in "My Cousin Vinny," died Monday. He was 69.

Smith, who also played Richard Nixon in the TV movie "The Final Days" and Daily Planet editor Perry White in "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," died at his home in Los Angeles, according to his wife, Debbie Benedict Smith.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Smith appeared in numerous films and television shows. Most recently, he appeared in the 2000 movie "The Legend of Bagger Vance," starring Will Smith and Matt Damon.

Lane Smith also appeared in the original stage production of "Glengarry Glen Ross" and the revival of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

Film credits include "The Distinguished Gentleman," "Son in Law," "The Mighty Ducks" and "The Hi-Lo Country."

Besides his wife, Smith is survived by his son Robbie, 18, and a brother and sister. He also has a 19-year-old stepson.

Congratulations, Sarah

2005-06-14T09:29:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to my sister on her high school graduation. It was held at the Prince George's County ShowPlace Arena in Upper Marlboro. I did remark to my brother that "just because our high school's mascot is the Mustang doesn't mean we have to have graduation ceremonies in a place where horses poop." Okay, I had better jokes during the course of the night but I forget them.

The ceremony, though long, was not as unbearable as I thought it would be. Maybe that's because the acoustics sucked and I could barely hear the boiler plate "dreams, goals, you are the future, yada yada" type speeches you hear at graduations.

The best speech, surprisingly, was from a politician, and a politician I'm sorta wary of as a "rising star" among the Democrats in Maryland: State Senator John Giannetti (D-21st District). Actually, I kinda like the guy but that's because I've met him and he was pretty warm and engaging. But then most pols are I suppose, by their trade. I could see him running for Lt. Governor in 2006 though, possibly, but that would depend on the gubernatorial candidate picking him.

Anyway, the ceremony was okay, though I'm still annoyed it was on a Monday at 7:30, giving me no time to get dinner before going there straight from work. The Monday evening scheduling probably also exacerbated traffic to and from the event since a Saturday graduation would have allowed for more carpooling.

That high school orchestra also did an okay job from what I heard. They played an apt musical selection before the principal spoke: "The Imperial March" from Star Wars. Actually, I think a more suitable and stirring anthem for the occasion would have been another work by composer John Williams, "The Mission Theme," which you hear a shortened version of anytime you tune into the opening or closing credits of the NBC Nightly News.

Anyway, congratulations Sarah and the rest of the Meade Senior High School class of 2005.

Non-profit political hacks like me get no respect

2005-06-08T10:34:00.000-04:00

I think there's a certain culture of the political non-profit that outsiders just can't understand sometimes. Maybe this is a minority view, maybe not, since most of my friends and acquaintances know how the political game is played and, at least I think, ultimately respect all the workers in the trenches of the political debate who work hard, are underpaid, love what they do, and aren't exactly working for the most altruistic of enterprises.

Here's a bit of a recent exchange with a friend of mine who generally finds the political rigmarole*, both liberal and conservative, exasperating. Name changed to protect the innocent.

Friend: What you do seems cold and snooty.
Friend: that's all I am saying.
terpfan79: that's your opinion and I respect that
terpfan79: I don't ask you to cut a check to support us
terpfan79: but some people do
terpfan79: and other people give money to our liberal counterparts
Friend: and maybe you go to church to compensate fo ra ll teh little evil things you do at [the place where I work]
terpfan79: lol
terpfan79: you know me all too well
terpfan79: mwa ha ha hah ha
terpfan79: ;-)
Friend: I think so...
terpfan79: yeah
Friend: you know
Prince of Perksia: we're having roast baby for lunch, then we're going to steal an elderly person's social security check to pay for dessert

* rig·ma·role P Pronunciation Key (rgm-rl) also rig·a·ma·role (--m-rl)
n.

Confused, rambling, or incoherent discourse; nonsense.
A complicated, petty set of procedures.

Chipotle!

2005-05-26T09:39:00.000-04:00

On Thursdays, the Washington Post runs special sections by subscription area for the county or city in which you reside. Mine is Anne Arundel County. In each of these sections they show a map of the respective county with listings for new construction projects, new shops, etc., that are in the works.

Today I find out a Chipotle is starting construction at Arundel Mills, which is only a mile and a half from my place. Suhweet. Run and hide, Baja Fresh of Arundel Mills! There's a new sheriff in town.

A very special guest blogger today...

2005-05-21T17:06:00.000-04:00

... my nephew Jonathan. Take it away, Jonathan:

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Carpooling with a Green Party voter

2005-05-16T01:03:00.000-04:00

So I started carpooling with a liberal friend of mine whose previous job was at a spice company close to her residence. She now works in the same building I do and not less than one week into work, she hates the "stress" of the commute. So she suggested carpooling each morning but taking the car to Greenbelt Metro and metrorailing in to the King Street station and then hoofing the rest of the way to work.

Anyway, I crunched the numbers on my end and found that I'd suffer a setback of $143.50/month and a daily inconvenience of a 55-minute-longer daily commute.

I won't labor to lay out my entire methodology here, but I'll explain to her tomorrow that her relief of "stress" from the commute is not worth a net loss $144 to me. I'll also show her that by my calculations her Metrorail method would set me back approximately $0.12 for every additional minute of Metro commuting hell I'd have to suffer.

In conclusion, Metro is no panacea to commuting woes in the DC area, especially if you live considerably outside the termini for the Metrorail lines.

###

If the UK is full of voters like this...

2005-05-02T17:12:00.000-04:00

...how ever can you take their reserve of geopolitical will seriously:

HATFIELD, England (AP) - Melanie Johnson swept into British Parliament in 1997 on a wave of enthusiasm for Tony Blair's Labour Party. With many Britons now souring on the prime minister, this may be the election one of his most loyal lieutenants loses her job. Blair's campaign to retain his commanding House of Commons majority will be decided Thursday in hard-fought races across the country, and Johnson's is one of the tightest.

Her close ties to the prime minister, a big asset when he was the popular face of change, have become a burden in a year when many voters are weary of his leadership and angry over what they see as his dishonesty, particularly on Iraq.

It's a battle for the votes of people like Kay Young, 43, who says she likes both the Conservative and Labour candidates but hasn't decided which way to vote. "I really don't want Tony Blair in," she said. "I disagree with his dictatorship. I disagree with Iraq."

Hmm, so basically, she's torn between the democratic choice between a an MP from a "dictator's" party and a party of feckless Thatcher shadows.

And I thought Democratic Florida voters were the pinnacle of political ignorance.

Posting on this blog

2005-04-28T11:02:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been posting more to other blogs and less to this one. To my faithful readers, I urge patience and also to check out and Restless Mania and Our Dwelling Place, my other two blogs.

This may eventually become a more personal blog, and hence be posted less frequently and less remarkably. It's not like I'm romancing some hot young thing right now or what not, for example, so I've nothing juicy to blog about as regards my personal life.

However, if you are a female reader, between the ages of say 22 and 27, and you have an obsession for yours truly, eh, maybe we can talk.

Okay, kidding. Sorta.

2005-04-18T00:53:00.000-04:00

A whole new level of weird

So I've experienced a lot of emotions in my life, and I can tell you---and perhaps you have been there before---that one of the weirdest ones is finding out an ex-girlfriend is now engaged. It's especially odd when your following relationships haven't panned out too much and you're still unattached.

Now, this girl and I haven't spoken on the phone since we broke up that way in July 2002. We occasionally chatted over AIM but aren't on terms really. I mean, I have nothing against her but I think she wasn't comfortable or interested in friendship post-breakup.

We were too different, perhaps, and there were warning signs I see more clearly now in hindsight. I liked her family, though, and I hope they're still doing fine. I guess it's just the nature of the breakup and what not I'm still not over. I'm over her per se. I won't lie and say there aren't times memories of being with her come to mind---she was my first serious girlfriend---but I think it's more thinking about how quickly life changes and moves.

Oh well, that said, to Mike and Michelle (not their real names), I wish you all the best for the future, and God's grace and blessing upon your union.

###

2005-04-14T10:58:00.000-04:00

Senator Trent Lott is Wolverine

You heard it here folks. A discussion with a Hill staffer below with the exclusive:

PrinceofPerksia (POP): bias
POP: bias
POP: page A1, washpost
POP: lott puts little bump behind him
POP: such a biased biased
POP: writeup
Capitol Hill staffer: hey mang, it's your party who madeh im step down
Capitol Hill staffer: we didn't have control over that
POP: no no
POP: it's not that
POP: it's the descriptive language
POP: clawing his way back to power
POP: puhleeze
POP: sleazy post scribe
POP: booo
Capitol Hill staffer: friend he does have claws, i saw him at the welfare markup committee meeting
POP: heh heh
POP: are they made of adamantium?
POP: you're saying
POP: my God, you are
POP: Sen. Lott is Wolverine?!
Capitol Hill staffer: they are fully-retractable adamantium-plated claws
POP: nice
Capitol Hill staffer: it hurts every time

2005-04-12T12:55:00.000-04:00

US Catholic Priesthood getting older, more educated, more foreign

An interesting press release by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Wondering how much play this will get in the MSM, particularly cable outlets, considering the state of the Catholic Church is heavily covered in the news due to the papal funeral and upcoming conclave. I doubt there will be much coverage unless and until it is pressed into a template which calls for the end of mandatory priestly celibacy and/or women priests.

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: Increase in Median Age, Foreign-Born, Education among Newly Ordained Priests

To: National Desk, Religion Reporter

Contact: Sr. Mary Ann Walsh of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 202-541-3200 (office); or 301-587-4762 (after hours)

WASHINGTON, April 12, /U.S. Newswire/ -- The ordination class of 2005 continues to reflect a trend toward older, better educated men with a substantial percentage born in foreign countries, according to a survey report by sociologist Dean Hoge, PhD.

Hoge, who heads the Life Cycle Institute of The Catholic University of America, wrote the report after considering trends in ordination classes since 1998 and comparing them with data on the men being ordained in 2005.

"The average age at ordination rose from 34.8 to 37.0," Hoge said.

"The level of education prior to entering the seminary rose," Hoge added. "Whereas in 1998, 30 percent had less than a B.A. or B.S. degree, in the 2005 sample only 28 percent had less than a B.A. or B.S. degree. Correspondingly, the percentage who had received a master's degree or a professional degree beyond the B.A. rose from 13 to 32. This is a notable change in only seven years." Among those being ordained are Augustus Puleo, who was a university professor before entering the seminary.

"The percentage born outside the U.S. rose from 24 to 27 percent. The four principal countries of birth today are Vietnam, Mexico, Philippines and Poland," Hoge said. The ordinands include Piotr Gnoinski, of the Archdiocese of Chicago, who was born in Poland; Thienan Tran, of the Diocese of Syracuse, who was born in Vietnam; Rommel Tolentino, of the Diocese of Lake Charles, Louisiana, who was born in the Philippines; and Juan Antonio Romo Romo, of the Society of the Divine Word, who was born in Mexico.

Hoge based his "Report on Survey of 2005 Priestly Ordination" on results of a survey conducted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' vocations office. By the March 31 survey deadline there were 286 responses, 251 from diocesan ordinands and 35 from ordinands in religious congregations. Not all dioceses and religious orders responded.

Half of the diocesan ordinands are under age 35, including James Carter, 26, of the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee, a student at the Pontifical North American College and one of three men being ordained for the diocese this year. Four percent are over 60, including 70-year-old Joseph Lang, a widowed father of three.

Asian or Pacific Islanders make up 12 percent of all the ordinands, a percentage substantially higher than the estimated two to three percent of the Asians or Pacific Islanders in the total U.S. Catholic population. They include Benjamin Nguyen of the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas, who attended the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.

The percentage of Hispanic/Latino seminarians dropped to 10 percent this year. Last year it was 12 percent. The figure is significantly lower than the 25-30 percent of Catholics estimated to be Hispanic/Latino.

Only one percent of the Class of 2005 is African American. African Americans constitute three to four percent of the Catholic Church in the United States.

For 2005, the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have the largest number of ordinands with 16 and 15 men, respectively.

Catholic education is suggested to be a significant factor in cultivating vocations.

"The levels of Catholic schooling among the ordinands does not differ from that in the total U.S. Catholic population. For example, in a 1993 Gallup survey, 54 percent of Catholics 54 or younger reported that they had attended Catholic elementary school. Among the ordinands, 53 percent reported having attended Catholic elementary school," Hoge said.

"But the ordinands show higher rates of attending Catholic high school than the general U.S. population: 40 percent compared to only 26 percent in the general U.S. population," Hoge said.

"In the cohort of 35 to 54 years old in the general population, only 10 percent attended a Catholic college, compared to 45 percent of the ordinands of 2005", Hoge said.

They include Jesuit Mark Carr, who graduated from Jesuit-run Marquette University, and Jesuit Casey Beaumier, an alumnus of Jesuit-run St. Louis University. Both men are members of the Wisconsin Jesuit Province.

Six percent of the ordinands are converts to the Catholic faith. The range of age at conversion is from 11 to 35.

"On the average, the ordinands converted to Catholicism at 22.2 years of age," Hoge said. Alonzo Garcia, who will be ordained for the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona, converted when he was 12. Tyson Wood, from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, served as a Lutheran pastor for six years before joining the Catholic Church. He said he found his call to priesthood while serving in the military.

Many of the ordinands took part in diocesan and parish vocation programs. Thirty-nine percent attended "Come and See" diocesan programs, (a time to visit a seminary or monastery in order to learn more) and 20 percent attended parish vocation programs. A solid number were involved in their parishes, with 59 percent involved as Eucharistic ministers, 76 percent as altar servers, and 68 percent as lectors. Fifty-three percent attended religious retreats. In addition, 27 percent had participated in World Youth Day, including Jesuit Casey Beaumier and Angel Perez- Lopez of the Archdiocese of Denver.

Only 217 ordinands mentioned full-time employment before entering the seminary. Of them, 14 percent worked in education, including Jesuit Mark Carr. Fourteen percent worked in labor and farming, including John Paul Gardner, a farmer from the Bismarck diocese. Seven percent worked in banking, including Kevin Sandberg of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, who worked in financial services/securities.

Five percent cited work in the military, including Michael Morris of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida, who was a U.S. Air Force intelligence officer and Middle East analyst. He was encouraged to enter the priesthood by a military chaplain and expects to return to the Air Force as a chaplain in 2008.

Four percent worked in nursing, including Thomas Quinn; and two percent in law, including Mark Kramer, SJ.

Bishop Blase Cupich, chairman of the USCCB Vocations Committee, noted the wide-ranging background of the Class of 2005. "It is heartening to know that these men are coming from all walks of life and the ranks of the priesthood are being filled by candidates from such diverse backgrounds," Bishop Cupich said. "These men will enrich the Church. They offer great promise."

2005-04-05T11:56:00.000-04:00

EJ Dionne is right

Something you won't hear me say often, but his column today is dead on regarding how the legacy of Pope John Paul II should not be analyzed in the media in secular political lingo:

At a 1986 Mass, the Pope declared that "Easter in the church means the passage to Eternal Life that comes from God and is life in God. No promised land on this earth can assure such a liberty, such a life."

Those of us still on "this earth," often struggling for the faith that so animated John Paul, will inevitably debate the meaning of his legacy in the secular terms that so dominate our times. We should try to remember that these were not the terms on which he lived his life.

Now if only Dionne would take those words to heart and stop trying to use my tax dollars to make Paradise on earth. But oh well.

###

2005-03-27T15:13:00.000-05:00

Do I look that old, or was the doctor just dead on his feet?

So last night my sister fell from a pine tree from about 10 feet and landed on her back. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital, neck braced and on a backboard and all that stuff to ensure she was stabilized. At the ER, she was examined and they determined there was no damage to her spinal column, but her sternum had a fracture.

Anyway, at one point I'm back in the curtain area with her and my parents are in the waiting room. The ER doc comes in and asks me, "are you her father?" "No," I answered, "I'm her brother."

Now, my sister is 17, I'm 26. Do I look like I could be in my mid to late 30's or something?

Maybe the doctor was just exhausted after a long double shift or something.

2005-03-16T23:58:00.000-05:00

Fake scandal over fake news

The Washington Post is positively outraged that the Bush Administration puts out "fake news" video press releases which supposedly dupe mostly red state local TV news directors into being unwilling accomplices of the Bush message machine.

So now not only is Bush somehow responsible for Jeff Gannon's supposedly irreparable damage to the honor and integrity of the White House press corps, he's responsible for lazy reporters, editors, and news directors failing to do their job.

Ladies and gents, everyone in the media knows that political news releases, to say the least, are to be taken with a pinch, if not a shaker of salt. No reporter in his/her right mind runs a news release verbatim, unless, perhaps, it is completely devoid of editorial commentary and strictly sticks to independently verifiable facts. And in any case, a dereliction of this duty is in no way the fault of the author of the press release, but rather the reporters and editors who failed to properly report it as an opinion from a source with an agenda, not objective fact.

That the Post and other media outlets with a liberal editorial bent get their panties in a wad illustrates a frustration not with so much with the ethics of the Bush Administration but rather with their success in communicating their message above and beyond their once-authoritative screening.

The editors should reserve their scorn NOT for government PR flaks doing their job---spinning for the government---but rather for the local news honchos who are supposed to be skeptical and wary of everything that crosses the transom, and not just only that which proceeds from the bowels of the Bush administration.

###

PS: If and when I get the inspiration and occasion, I think I'll compare news articles in the Post with the text of news releases by liberal orgs to print reporters to see just how much of the loaded language therein gets parroted in publication.

2005-03-15T15:53:00.001-05:00

Why is it every time I got to McDonald's...

... or Burger King or Chik-Fil-A and I order chicken nuggets, and they ask what sauce I want with them, and I say "honey," they ask me, "honey mustard?"

No no no no no no no no NO!

Honey. Just plain honey. If i wanted honey mustard, I'd have said "honey mustard." I want just, plain, HONEY!

###

2005-03-15T15:53:00.000-05:00

2005-03-08T11:01:00.000-05:00

Open Source Shakespeare

Eric Johnson of Catholic Light has updated and revised his project, Open Source Shakespeare.

Check it out when you get the chance. Some of the new bells and whistles to OSS 2.0:

SEARCH FUNCTION

• Stemming option: You may search for word stems as well as keywords.
Thus a search for "play" will find "plays," "playing," "played," etc.

• Phonetic option: Words are converted into phonetic values, which are
then located in the texts. Searching for "their" will also turn up
"they're" and "there."

• Print/save version: Clicking on this link will give you a simple
version of the search results, suitable for printing or saving onto your
hard drive.

• Search results browsing: For searches that return lots of results, you
can view them page-by-page, instead of viewing all results at once.

• Help function on the advanced search page: Each element of the search
page is explained.

• Conjunction labels changed: instead of the Boolean "and/or" functions,
you may use "find" or "not." The former includes a keyword in the
search, and the latter excludes results based on keywords.

• Results formatting: You can remove the keyword highlighting in the
search results. Also, you can display 10 to 100 results at a time, and
opt to hide the line text in each result.

PLAY DISPLAY

• Print/save version: There is a link at the top of every text
displayed, which will show the text in a version suitable for saving or
printing.

• Navigation aids: There are jumps to the previous and next scene/act
changes at the top of the page, and at the beginning and end of every scene.

• Quotations on "please wait" notice: Instead of showing a generic
message asking a user to wait while the server works, there are now
rotated quotations, too.

All in all sounds pretty sweet.

[post also published at Restless Mania]

2005-03-07T23:13:00.000-05:00

Todo el tiempo, soy idiota

Todo el tiempo soy idiota
Con las mujeres lindas in mi vida
Pues, no entiendo por que es por eso
Por que soy gran idiota, en sus ojos

Las chicas son locas en todo el mundo
Ellas no entienden la cabeza de chicos
Y hablando de cabezas, la cabeza me duele
Gracias, chicas, ahora gritare.

2005-03-06T23:25:00.000-05:00

Freedom may be on the march worldwide...

...but the jackboots of the oppressers are laced and ready to stomp as usual:

BEIJING -- Premier Wen Jiabao vowed Saturday never to allow Taiwan "to separate from China under any name or by any means," as the Chinese parliament opened its annual session and prepared to enact an anti-secession law targeting the self-governing island.

In a nationally televised speech to the legislature, Wen also set a target of 8 percent economic growth in 2005, down from the 9.5 percent recorded last year, signaling a renewed campaign to prevent inflation from undermining one of the world's fastest-growing economies.

But with the anti-secession bill scheduled for a vote March 14, Taiwan was expected to be the most urgent focus of this year's session of the rubber-stamp National People's Congress. Wen offered no new details of the proposed law, which Taiwan has warned could set the stage for a military attack.

The United States has also described the measure as provocative.

The Chinese government considers Taiwan part of China and has threatened to use force against the island of 23 million if it formally declares independence. Officials say the new legislation will enshrine that threat into law, mandating a military attack against Taiwan if it secedes. But the exact wording of the measure has not been released.

This led to some strong showing on the streets of Kaohsiung:

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) - More than 15,000 protesters marched in Taiwan on Sunday, denouncing China's planned anti-secession law and pledging to fight what they claim is Beijing's attempt to force this self-ruled, democratic island to unify with the mainland.

The procession through the southern city of Kaohsiung, a major seaport, came a day after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao pledged never to permit formal independence for Taiwan as he opened a parliamentary session that is to enact an anti-secession law aimed at the island.

But I bet you won't see much of that on the evening news, since the media seem to ignore the Pacific Rim except for typhoon or earthquake stories, and of course the North Korean nuclear standoff.

2005-02-27T21:11:00.000-05:00

Newsweek again showing signs it doesn't get religion

An excerpt from a piece in Newsweek by correspondent Christopher Dickey regarding Pope John Paul II's recent health problems, and his tenacity and determination in the face of poor health and advancing age:

Even as the aged pope's body shuts down in the late stages of Parkinson's disease, his will to live—and to impose his will on the Roman Catholic faithful—remains as stubborn as ever.

I'm not a Catholic and I'm certainly not a trained theologian or professional apologeticist, but it's grossly inaccurate to say John Paul II, or any modern pontiff, seeks to militantly "impose" his will. Furthermore, it seems to bleed into the paranoia that was commonplace among previous generations of Protestant ministers and laity with gross misconceptions as to the extent of the doctrine of papal infallibility and the doctrinal implications to Catholic communicants.

I don't know for certain that Mr. Dickey has an anti-Catholic and/or an anti-established religion worldview, but certainly as a reporter, he should take care to not use loaded and inaccurate language color his reporting.

###

2005-02-26T00:32:00.000-05:00

C'mon guys, some fights are just not worth picking

I address that to social conservatives and such and so who might be inclined to agree with school officials here:

GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. -- After a spirited discussion over a photo of a girl wearing a tuxedo at Thursday's Clay County School Board meeting, the principal's decision to ban the picture from the Fleming Island High School yearbook stands.
The banned photo of Kelli Davis.
Kelli Davis, 18, had her senior class photo taken in a tuxedo top and bow-tie outfit provided for boys rather than the gown-like drape and pearls provided for girls. The school's principal decided it could not appear in the yearbook because she didn't follow the dress code.Kelli, a straight-A student with no discipline problems, is a self-proclaimed lesbian. She said she was uncomfortable to have her chest exposed in the photo.

"Because that's me, you know. That represents me. The drape does not," Davis said. "They're not accepting me, that's the whole reason we're here."Davis denies it's about her sexual orientation, just about a student not following the rules.

I mean, honestly, is this worth causing a kerfuffle over?

2005-02-25T01:26:00.000-05:00

Political media punditry gone amok

A college chum of mine had some bemusing observations on the media's desire to portray Barack Obama as an ever-rising political star barreling through the vast, dark, lifeless reaches of the galax-, er, sorry, Democratic Party:

Since the summer of last year, I've been hearing a lot about some dude named Barack Obama. He was running for senate in Illinois, and the Republican running against him dropped out of the race. So the GOP had to call in Allan Keyes, a MD native, to run against him. He got some national media attention to, and if I recall he gave the keynote address at the DNC. He was often referred to as "The Rising Star of the Democratic Party." What made him a "rising star" was entirely outside my comprehension. I watched a large amount of news coverage in the months leading up to the election, but the first time

I heard his name mentioned, it was mentioned in such a way as to indicate that the newscaster expected every single person in TV Land to instantly recognize the name. You know, like how they say, "John Kerry" instead of "John Kerry, junior senator from Massachusetts who ran a failed presidential campaign in 2004." Well, it was just like that. They were like, "Barrack Obama" this and "Barrack Obama" that, and I had to go digging to find out who the hell he was.

So anyway, I go to the Post's website today, and there's this picture of Mr. Obama sitting in the Senate chamber looking senatorial with some other senators. And the caption reads, "Rising star Barack Obama, here listening to Bush's State of the Union address, is resolutely down to earth. (Getty/File)" And the sub-heading for the article the picture was linked to also notes that he is a "rising star."

But, in contradistinction to what I witnessed on TV last year, this is not the editorial opnion of some talking head pundit or policy wonk. It is an objective journalistic fact, backed up by the reputation of the Post, that Mr. Obama is, in actual fact, a rising star. And I wonder, why is he a rising star? Why is it that he's always referred to as such, and no mention is ever made of what he's done to gain his stardom. Further, he's still rising. He's been rising for almost a whole year now. He'll shoot by the Pope in popularity in another few months if he keeps this up. Gosh.

As you probably are all aware, I don't believe in conspiracy theories of any sort. But this kinda makes me think I ought to.

2005-02-24T15:50:00.000-05:00

Hooray, Hooray...

...a Dunkin' Donuts on its way.

So I was perusing the Anne Arundel section of today's Washington Post and looking over the "What's Going Where" page (page 5) to see what's being developed near my house in AnneCo. So I find that a Dunkin Donuts is going up on the site of an old gas station at 2760 Annapolis Road. Sure enough, checking on Google Maps, that's just before the entrance for the B/W Parkway, which I take into work every day. Finally a Dunkin' Donuts along my route to work. Hooray.

Yeah, it will be a few months before it's done, but still.

2005-02-23T17:16:00.000-05:00

One female academician on the Larry Summers controversy

I asked a friend of mine in grad school in North Carolina about her views on Larry Summers. Unaware of the controversy, I explained the basics and she talked a bit about it. I thought as a woman in a male-dominated field at a relatively liberal (though not so as Harvard) university, she might have heard a lot of flak about this. I guess maybe it's just a Harvard/national media obsession, but nothing really barn-burning elsewhere. But at any rate, she gave me her thoughts on the subject of why few women are studying and teaching in collegiate mathematical and scientific fields. I promised her a pseudonym, so we'll call her Sharona.

Shepherd’s Pie: hiya
Shepherd’s Pie: wondering about your reaction to the comments Harvard President Larry Summers made about women and why so few of them are in mathematical and scientic professorships in American academia compared to men, seeing as you are quite skilled in things mathematical and in academia, and a woman.
“Sharona”: i didnt know about this
“Sharona”: what did he say
Shepherd’s Pie: basically he laid out some theories why 1) that men naturally are more likely, by genetic design perhaps, to go into math and science 2) that women are less likely to be willing to put in the time and commitment to academia that demands sacrifices for personal and family time and 3) discrimination
Shepherd’s Pie: but he also said that he thought in that order, personally he felt, that in that order those theories pretty much explain it
Shepherd’s Pie: but he also added he could be wrong and felt it was something that should be studied and debated
“Sharona”: interesting
“Sharona”: i think its all about role models
“Sharona”: nothing to do wiht ability
“Sharona”: or genetics
“Sharona”: women dont relate to people that are in math
“Sharona”: or who they think are in math
Shepherd’s Pie: ah
Shepherd’s Pie: so why and/or how did you, do you?
“Sharona”: they dont see where it would go
“Sharona”: i have felt that for a while
“Sharona”: at umbc...i had no role models
“Sharona”: at least here, i can see where im going
“Sharona”: but most people dont have any direction in math
Shepherd’s Pie: yeah
“Sharona”: and the people women see in the field
“Sharona”: arent people they relate to
“Sharona”: its proposed that there are more women entering
“Sharona”: but there is a time lag
Shepherd’s Pie: yeah
“Sharona”: before other women notice
“Sharona”: but i dont know
Shepherd’s Pie: well, as a "journalist," if I needed an expert on something mathematical and it was like broadcast journalism, I'd definitely prefer finding a telegenic, attractive female PhD to explain that stuff to my lay audience then some old far[t] male prof
Shepherd’s Pie: so I'm counting on you if I ever host something on Fox and I need someone of your expertise
Shepherd’s Pie: ;-)
“Sharona”: hehe
“Sharona”: i guess women just need to see other women doing it and having families too

2005-02-22T00:38:00.000-05:00

Maryland vs. Virginia Taxes [revised]

So I've been considering moving to Virginia, closer to my workplace in Alexandria. My commute is a pain, and gas is costly, as is car insurance and the penalties I can incur on my car lease should I decide to not buy the car out of the lease in a few years. So tax rates aren't my only concern. That said, with my tight budget, I have to have a good idea that my take-home pay will be roughly equal to or more than what I'm earning now by moving from Maryland into Virginia to take up residence. What I've found makes it seem not to cost me only $30 more a year in income taxes and save me in sales taxes. I lease a car and am not sure if I am exempt from the car tax.

I'm single with no kids, so let's see:

Using the Maryland and Virginia tax tables available on their respective websites, I arrived at the following tax assessments:

Virginia: $1,266 (taxable income of $26,500-- $29.5k less $3000 deduction)
Maryland: $1,236 (taxable income of $27,100-- $29.5k less $2400 deduction)

So moving across the Potomac will cost me $30 more per year, or a cost of only $2.50 a month or $1.25 per pay period. Easily offset in savings on sales taxes paid, but I'm not sure what my car tax burden would be, if any (I lease from a dealership in Maryland, is that exempt?).

Anyway, this website's information is accurate on Maryland but inaccurate on Virginia (which led my initial post on this matter to be incorrect).

This revised post is more accurate but not a completely accurate accounting of tax savings or increase should I move to the Old Dominion.

So it's not as bad as I initially thought, but I still despise Mark Warner and want that stupid toothy grin wiped off his face.

###

2005-02-21T16:26:00.000-05:00

Jane Clayson was just ahead of her time

Jane Who-son, you ask?

Jane Clayson, former co-anchor of CBS's The Early Show.

On February 11, 2000, Clayson incorrectly guessed Reagan as the top placement on a "best president" survey. After guessing "Ronald Reagan," her co-host, Bryant Gumbel went near-ballistic.

Well, she was only five years ahead of her time.

A CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll put Reagan on top with 20 percent, followed by Clinton and Lincoln in the mid-teens and then Roosevelt and Kennedy at 12 percent.

Here's the February 2000 exchange which was among the best "Notable Quotables" for Y2K as recorded by the Media Research Center (MRC---for interests of full disclosure, my employer).

Co-host Bryant Gumbel: "Well, later on this morning we’re going to be talking on this President’s Day about this presidential survey. Who would you think finished first?...Of all the Presidents when they did first to worst. Oh c’mon, you would know."
Clayson: "Ronald Reagan."
Gumbel, dropping his pen: "First?!?!"
Clayson: "Who was it?"
Gumbel: "No! Reagan wasn’t even in the top ten. Abraham Lincoln. Maybe you’ve heard of him."
-- Exchange on CBS’s The Early Show about C-SPAN poll of historians which ranked Reagan 11th, February 21. [95 points]

2005-02-21T01:31:00.000-05:00

Birthday festivities

Thanks a bunch to my friends for the joy of their company for dinner and then karaoke in DuPont Circle on my birthday Saturday.

Heritage Brasserie and Lounge was excellent and I'd definitely go back, perhaps some Sunday for a buffet. Cafe Japone left much to be desired, however. The service was decent but the karaoke setup left much to be desired.

Some suggestions for Cafe Japone:

1) Find a way to kill the promotional graphics for your karaoke equipment provider that show on the screen. They make the lyrics harder to read.
2) Seriously, do something about the microphone volume level. I had to yell into the microphone. True, that had nothing to do with why my rendition of "Sexual Healing" sucked, but still.
3) Ditto with the stereo output volume levels.
4) Make it easier for patrons to know when their song is coming up in the queue. The numbers in the corner of the screens are extremely tiny.
5) Get a more extensive song list than the one you have.
6) Reconfigure the binders to have listings of songs by title and by artist, rather than separate binders for listings by title and by artist.

That said, however, and yes, my karaoke experience is quite limited, I prefer Remington's, both the Laurel and Beltsville locations.

Oh, and a special shout-out and kind thank you to Serge and Caroline for X-Treme Latin: Unleash Your Inner Gladiator.

2005-02-18T17:06:00.000-05:00

I've won over another convert

We'll call her Betty. Some girl I was emailing to alleviate boredom a few weeks ago. I told her she must try the College Perk Coffeehouse. She admitted she'd never been there and was loyal to this coffeehouse in Greenbelt called the New Deal Cafe.

Well, she came, she sipped, she saw the light:

“Betty”: Hey, long time no speak. FYI--college park coffee house indeed beats new deal cafe. touche.
Your humble editor: wow
Your humble editor: you have seen the light!
Your humble editor: :-)
Your humble editor: how's it goin
“Betty”: busy as f**k. you?
Your humble editor: eh, sorta busy
Your humble editor: sorta bored
Your humble editor: same old
“Betty”: I hear ya. It was that up until about yesterday for me.
“Betty”: Now I gotta work through the weekend
Your humble editor: that sucks ass
“Betty”: dude. I went to the coffeehouse for the first time last week...saw like 4 of my friends there. I was like, yeah, this place is cool.
“Betty”: plus the coffee kicks ass.
“Betty”: there's some sketchy old dudes on laptops eyeing everyone though. ewww.

Okay, so no place is perfect.

2005-02-15T19:55:00.000-05:00

The "Have We Failed Yet" Chorus

I can tolerate rational debate about the real or perceived ill effects of the war in Iraq and the pursuant mistakes made by the Bush Administration. And I can respect a healthy disdain for Bush and a desire to see a Democrat once again getting his jollies jostled by pliant interns in the Oval Office. But what I can't abide is the "Have We Failed Yet?" song-and-dance by James "Serpent Head" Carville, who uses every instance he can on Crossfire to predict calamity in Iraq, and perversely, I think recently crossed the line from predicting, to anticipating and thirsting for, utter disaster:

[James] CARVILLE: And now the best little political briefing in television,
our CROSSFIRE "Political Alert."

The right wing and media sycophants who spend their time sucking up to
the administration would have you believe that the president's Iraq
policy is actually working. So, let's see how well it worked. We now
know that Iraq was no threat to the U.S. and a mortal enemy of Iran,
an Islamic fundamentalist regime that either possesses or trying to
possess a nuclear bomb. And get this. As a result of the Bush policy,
which has cost us 250-plus billion dollars, almost 1,500 dead, 1,000
wounded, near irreparable damage to our reputation around the world
and an overstretched military. So we've succeeded in doing what?
Putting a pro-Iranian government in Iraq. So now Iran can give Iraq
weapons of mass destruction and we can invade Iraq again.

JOE WATKINS, GUEST CO-HOST: No, no. The Shiites don't want to emulate
Iran. They don't -- they're even saying, we don't want a Shiite
government. We don't want a Muslim government.

(CROSSTALK)

WATKINS: We want a democratic government. That's what they want.

CARVILLE: They say they want Islamic -- they want Sharia. The want the
Islamic law to be law. Every one of them here supported Iran against
Iraq in the Iran-Iraqi war. Sistani was born in Iran; 70 percent of
the vote went to pro-Iranian parties. I mean, I think this is crazy.

(BELL RINGING)

CARVILLE: If you ask people, they are going to suffer all this -- and
then Iran has got to be the happiest people in the world. They did
nothing and got rid of somebody that hates them.

That's right. The new government isn't seated yet and there's a reasonable argument to be made that the newly elected Shiite majority, while sympathetic to some extent to its Iranian cousins, is NOT intent on establishing a strict Islamocentric republic in Iraq, but rather a system of government guided by and influenced by Islam but not a theocratic state in form or practice.

Come to think of it, not once have I heard Carville say he wishes he's wrong or that he really hopes this isn't the case or that this is a generally applicable lesson about the perils of interventionism. Nothing bordering on circumspection or concern for the gravity of the situation or the need to show American---not Republican or Democratic--- resolve that right or wrong as a policy to go to war, that we will finish what we started and leave Iraq with a fighting shot for forming a liberal democratic republic.

Nope, that never occurs to Carville, even well after the November 2004 election and the inauguration of Bush's term limited second administration. Apparently for him, scoring political points off of hoping for the worst case scenario is worth its price in the blood of American troops.

###

2005-02-15T17:27:00.000-05:00

A tip from a colleague

"Howard Dean did not mention abortion in his acceptance speech as the new DNC boss on Saturday, but see the message he sent the pro-abortion grass roots at:

http://prochoiceaction.org/campaign/prochoice_chair"

Indeed. And here's what HoDean said:

Throughout my entire professional career, as a doctor, politician, and former Planned Parenthood of Northern New England board member, I have worked hard with allies in the women’s community. Together, we have achieved results on issues of critical importance to women, including reproductive rights. Today, we need to be committed to providing women with the health care and education that they need, like family planning and comprehensive sexuality education. And I support the measures included in Senator Reid’s “Putting Prevention First Act.” With the right to choose under assault by a hostile U.S. Congress and a White House intent on appointing conservative judges to the Supreme Court, we must frame the issues boldly and mobilize our supporters effectively. We cannot do these things unless women have a strong voice in the future of the Party and a leadership role. If I am elected DNC Chair, women will.

Compare that to the manuevering Senator Hillary Clinton has done recently on moving to the center on life issues:

"Yes, we do have deeply held differences of opinion about the issue of abortion, and I, for one, respect those who believe with all their hearts and minds that there are no circumstances under which any abortion should ever be available," the former first lady said.

"There is an opportunity for people of good faith to find common ground in this debate. We should be able to agree that we want every child born in this country to be wanted, cherished and loved," adding that abortion "represents a sad, even tragic choice to many."

Definitely not a Damascus Road conversion but an attempt to ramp down her rhetoric to seem centrist on an issue she has been very strongly liberal on. But while Hillary is using the soft "people of good will can disagree" tone, Dean is appealing to a constituency the Democrats cannot ignore without grave electoral risk.

No one usually knows who are much less cares about the occupants of the major parties' respective chairmanships. That said, Dean is so conspicuous and infamous by dint of his brief but brilliant 2003-4 primary campaign that using him as a whipping boy is actually somewhat likely to gin up some free press. Combine that with the Democrats desperately needing to hold together a far-left coalition for the 2006 midterm elections, and you have plenty of opportunities where a leftist Dean makes far-left statements meant for internal consumption and they get widespread play and criticism once they hit the conservative blogsosphere , the RNC's oppo research department, and ultimately, at first in dark corners then in broad daylight, the corridors of the mainstream media.

###

2005-02-14T13:18:00.000-05:00

Conservative Catholics rebuke his un-Holiness Howard Dean

The newly-coronated occupant of the Throne of Andy Jackson was roundly slapped down today in a press release by the conservative Catholic League for Religious and Civil Liberties:

“If the DNC is going to bring Catholics back into the fold, it will take a change in policies, not vocabulary. And it will have to be done without lecturing the bishops on what constitutes their episcopal authority.”

Outgoing chairman Terry McAuliffe was also dressed down by League president William Donohue:

At last Thursday’s send-off gala for Terry McAuliffe, the departing head of the DNC took a parting shot at the Catholic Church: ‘I was very dismayed at the Catholic Church in last year’s election. The way they went into their pulpits and told people it was a sin to vote for John Kerry was nothing short of just outrageous.’ What is really outrageous is for this sore loser to cruelly caricature what the bishops said.

Interesting stuff. Here's where you can find the press release in its entirety:

2005-02-13T16:20:00.000-05:00

Free Shepherd's Pie Valentine's Day advice

Because I'm here to serve my readership, an excerpt from a recent AIM conversation:

[name withheld]: is it inappropriate to give all of the women in my office a chocolate rose for valentine's day
your humble editor: no
your humble editor: I wouldn't think so
[name withheld]: is it slick
[name withheld]: like
[name withheld]: would it be appreciated
your humble editor: it's sweet/slick
your humble editor: awwww, [name withheld], how thoughtful
your humble editor: type deal
[name withheld]: cause i have 18 chocolate roses
your humble editor: until the lesbian with the chocolate allergy gets hers
[name withheld]: hehe

2005-02-11T23:27:00.000-05:00

How to Fake a Piss Test by Tom Sizemore

Greatest dumb actor crime story ever. I just love how the defendant's name is apropos.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Tom Sizemore has been jailed for violating his probation by failing a drug test after he was caught trying to use a prosthetic penis to fake the results, a Los Angeles County prosecutor said on Friday.
Sizemore, 43, who played a battle-hardened [heh, heh, Beavis, he said HARDENED] sergeant in the war movie "Saving Private Ryan," was placed in custody on Thursday. He was ordered to remain behind bars until a hearing on Feb. 24, unless he posts $25,000 bond, Deputy District Attorney Sean Carney said.

Last month, Judge Antonio Baretto had agreed to allow Sizemore to travel to Cambodia to shoot a new film on condition that he pass a drug test every day prior to his departure.

Carney said the actor's failed attempt to fake his drug test results came on the first day of the new requirement.

The actor is required to undergo random drug tests as a condition of probation for his convictions on separate charges of methamphetamine possession and beating his ex-girlfriend, former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.

During Thursday's proceedings, prosecutors told Judge Baretto that Sizemore failed three drug tests in three days, the first after he was caught using a fake penis sewn into his boxer shorts and filled with a clean urine sample kept warm by a heating pack.

Carney said the ruse was revealed when the temperature of the sample proved too cool to have come from Sizemore's body, and he was asked to remove his pants.

According to prosecutors, Sizemore had been caught once before trying to use a similar device, sold over the Internet under the brand name the Whizzinator, and had failed drug tests on at least five occasions.

The Whizzinator, huh?

Isn't that the skeeziest-looking doc you've ever seen?

Anyway, the fake phalli come in "white, tan, latino, brown, and black." The pics are here. They are fake, but not really safe for work. Again, NSFW, boys and girls. [Link]

###

2005-02-09T01:29:00.000-05:00

Dead Raccoon edges out Aaron "Skippy" Brown in ratings race

Roger Ailes once famously ruled out Paula Zahn's journalistic talents as the reason her program on Fox did as well as it did in the early Dubya era. Ailes chalked it up to the general success of the Fox News Channel:

"I could have put a dead raccoon on the air this year and got a better rating than last year," Ailes told The New York Times. "That's all just the growth of our network. All our shows are up."

Zahn may have the appeal of a dead raccoon, but she narrowly edged out veteran CNN hand-wringer/storyteller Aaron "Skippy" Brown, according to Nielsen ratings posted recently on the Drudge Report.

CABLE NEWS RACE MON., FEB 7, 2005 FNC O'REILLY 2,652,000 [VIEWERS] FNC HANNITY/COLMES 1,904,000 FNC GRETA 1,568,000 FNC HUME 1,446,000 FNC SHEP SMITH 1,327,000 CNN LARRY KING 891,000 COMEDY DAILY SHOW 755,000 CNN ZAHN 550,000 CNN AARON BROWN 528,000 CNN ANDERSON COOPER 445,000 MSNBC OLBERMANN 416,000 MSNBC HARDBALL 411,000 MSNBC SCARBOROUGH 360,000

But look on the bright side, CNN. MSNBC still lurks in the ratings cellar, in spite of, or perhaps because its prime time heavy hitters are a Ohio vote fraud conspiracy theory-obsessed sportscaster, a loudmouth Jimmy Carter posterior kisser, and a go-along-to-get-along Republican ex-congressman as the token right-winger.

###

[syndicated to the Restless Mania blog]

2005-02-08T17:32:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid...

... there was a show called M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand), led by millionaire (or was it billionaire?) Matt Trakker, which was basically a show employing paramilitary heroics a la GI Joe with cool cars which in reality were packed with neat-o weapons with helmets or "masks" which were endued were certain superpowers.

M.A.S.K.'s sworn enemy was VENOM (Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem), led by Miles Mayhem, a crazy rich guy who used similar vehicles and masks, only for evil and criminal purposes.

Anyway, in one episode Trakker is asked by a M.A.S.K. teammate what the plan is. Trakker says his plan is to have no plan, that that's the ultimate plan: it prevents your enemy from discovering your plan and counteracting it, yada, yada.

Where is this going? Well, it's brilliant to an eight-year-old kid watching at home. It's brilliant in make-believe land of cartoons.

But it's pretty bad statesmanship for a major political party.

House and Senate Democrats have decided against introducing an alternative Social Security reform plan yet, preferring instead to focus attention and criticism on President Bush’s proposals, according to a number of senior Democratic aides.

Democrats have been consistently critical of the president’s plan to create personal retirement accounts as a way to salvage the Social Security system, but they have not yet introduced a plan of their own.

By contrast, President Bush's leadership on the issue calls to mind a much more memorable, and words-to-live-by-esque quote from another hero of the M.A.S.K. team, rock star/helicopter pilot Brad Turner: "Nothing to it but to do it!"

Amen.

###

2005-02-07T13:19:00.000-05:00

I'm such a bad blogger

I never blog as much as I tell myself I should when the issue is a hot, fresh controversy. This story is a bit old but, I wanted last week to blog about Ward Churchill, this shady professor from U of Colorado who called World Trade Center victims on 9/11 "Little Eichmanns" who essentially deserved what happened to them.

I'll just summarize my thoughts:

1) This guy shouldn't be fired. He should be metaphorically publicly flogged: by being lampooned and derided as a loony toon.

Nothing deconstructs ludicrous ideas better than ridicule. It slices through the sanctimony and pomposity and deflates the biggest egos, especially egos built off of ideas that are so extremist and outside the mainstream anyway.

2) Liberals, especially in the Academy, should lead the charge in ridiculing this guy. In my collegiate experience, I had my share of liberal professors, but I can't really think of one who was certifiably insane.

They always seems well within the capacity to argue and reason without sounding like a complete nutbag, either while teaching or in their writings and research. I thoroughly respected that and they thoroughly respected my conservative critiques of their usual liberal findings. And all was good. It's liberals, I think, who have the most to lose from such wackos. Yeah, defend the guy's academic freedom to say idiotic stuff, but do defend a sense of professionalism to back up what you say, to provide solid evidence for your claims, and to use rhetoric which is sober and measured, not loopy.

Of course, boys and girls, to find such a wonderful academic environment which is warm and welcoming, I do urge you to go to the U of Maryland. (GO TERPS!!!)

3) The media give Ward Churchill far less attention than they ever gave Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell for saying in effect that 9/11 was a taste of God's judgment for America's sins. Sure, Churchill is not preaching a religious argument in the classicial sense, but he is arguing to some extent a causal relationship between real and/or imagined American misdeeds in foreign policy to the deaths of 9/11 victims. I'm not all too concerned with that from the perspective that Churchill is a relative no-name compared to Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell, who are nationally known evangelical leaders, not obscure college professors. But still, it is a bit disappointing.

That's about all.

Oh, and

4) Doctor Churchill, get some better shades, really.

2005-02-06T13:35:00.000-05:00

Judge to pro-choicers: frozen embryo is living human being, not a choice-sicle

A frozen embryo destroyed in a Chicago fertility clinic was a human being whose parents are entitled to file a wrongful-death lawsuit, a Cook County judge ruled Friday.

Attorneys on both sides of the abortion issue said it was the first such ruling they had heard of as the country debates whether stem cells derived from embryos can be used in research and medicine.

Alison Miller and Todd Parrish hoped to conceive a child with help from the Center for Human Reproduction, but the one fertilized egg the couple created was thrown out "in error" by a clinic worker.

Wrongful death. For there to be a death, there had to have been life. And if there is life, then it deserves the protection of the state. And if a frozen embryo is life, isn't it kind of cruel for the state to allow people to freeze living human beings to be enslaved in test tubes til they are redeemed for future servitude, er, being raised by a loving family?

Curious indeed.

And no, contrary to what this post's title might sort of cutely suggest, I don't suspect or expect this judge's ruling or this case per se will pave the road to overturning Roe. But you have to admit, there are some obvious logical implications for judicial rulings that a frozen embryo is a human being. Then again, courts of law don't always follow the dictates of logic, and they seldom follow the dictates of moral conviction.

2005-02-03T17:19:00.000-05:00

Ladies, men are guys...

... and thusly we don't care what you get us for Valentine's Day. Honestly. Unless it's like tickets to Cats or something which we'll absolutely hate.

name withheld: But what if she sent you chocolate and flowers? Chocolate getting emphasis
Me: b/c, eh, valentine's day, it's all about the woman. Men
Me: we don't need anything
Me: but chocolate would be nice
Me: if you insist on flowers
Me: I guess that'd be cool but
Me: what are we going to do with them
Me: they go in a vase, they die
name withheld: Smell them?
name withheld: Same thing women do
Me: yeah
Me: but chocolate we can eat
name withheld: what do you tink we do with them?
Me: flowers, we can't
Me: yeah, but women like pretty stuff that dies quickly
name withheld: shuddup
name withheld: we do not
Me: you like flowers
Me: they're pretty
Me: they die quickly
Me: ;-)
Me: eh
Me: I dunno
Me: all men are different in terms of what we like
Me: just think what you'd get him for a bday gift
name withheld: We like you you die quickly....
Me: and wrap it in red wrapping paper
name withheld: hmmm

2005-02-03T10:26:00.000-05:00

This is a liberal's brain

...this is a liberal's brain after hearing the President's state of the union.

My liberal friends are going nuts and hyperventilating in reaction to Bush's state of the Union. They are particularly galled, at least one of them, by "propaganda" that would make Goebbels proud, and "stunts" like the purple-dyed voting fingers.

Disgusted by such crap, I responded to this friend by email and thought I'd share excerpts of the exchange.

First, some of my friend's comments:

I did not say he sounds like Hitler or Stalin but the level of
propaganda that has been attained would make Goebbels proud. It is
simple facts, not my fault. I mean, the whole blue finger shit thats
just ridiculous, how much more of a demagogue can you be.

And my response:

It's not propaganda a la Goebbels, it is political salesmanship of a
policy, every President does it, including ones you like. Remember
Clinton used rhetoric to push his health care plan. True, that plan
proved abortive in Congress, but nonetheless he used soaring rhetoric
to attempt to pass it.

The purple finger "stunt" was the idea of Rep. Bobby Jindal
(R-Louisiana), not the President. It was done by a number of
congressman, mostly if not all Republicans, to show solidarity with
the Iraqis in celebrating their journey out of tyranny towards
democracy. The election process might not be perfect and the fact that
most people didn't actively campaign for fear of insurgent violence
proves there's a lot of work to be done. That said, the courageous
show at the polling places and sporting of the dye-stained fingers
showing they had voted shows the quiet courage of millions of Iraqis
to brave bomb threats and armed gunmen to say "f**k you" to terrorists
and militants and begin the process to have a national discussion on a
constitution and to get a government up and running.

So no, it wasn't a "stunt," it was a celebration of a brave and proud
people. And so was Bush including the Iraqi woman in the gallery. Yes,
it was beneficial political theater for the President, but it was also
a suitable celebration of her courage and the courage of her fellow
Iraqi countrymen.

So with all due respect, Mr. [name withheld], I ask you to take the advice of
one Dick Cheney and go f**k yourself.

2005-02-02T20:46:00.000-05:00

State of the Union 2005: Shepherd Live-Blogs Again
(Reload frequently. Fresher comments towards the top)

2227 EST: Blitzer notes the response was pre-written. And yes, I note this, like the "prebuttal," it pre-sucked.

2225 EST: Nancy: we're smarter because I use words like commensurate without mispronouncifyin em like Bush does "nuke-u-lar"

2223 EST: Nancy's idea: pull out troops, spend more on airport screeners. Woo. Winning strategy for war on terror.

2222 EST: Yay, crazy liberal rhetoric on Iraq time!!!!

2220 EST: Yay, the crazy lady with five facelifts is talking now!

2216 EST: Shut up and let the crazy lady speak, Harry. No, don't go there with the movie Groundhog Day. Baaaggggh. Another bit of tired rhetoric.

2215 EST: no, no no, Harry Reid. Al Gore singlehandedly invented the Internet!

2214 EST: "rolling up our sleeves" "fighting" "rules of the road" Played out, tired Democratic phrases. C'mon.

2213 EST: Oh joy of joys, I'm back for this. Democratic response. Blah. Harry Reid's life story bores me. And who cares about a greasy spoon in the Nevada desert?

2209 EST: That concludes my live blogging. Now to focus on the media response and yada, yada, for work. Thanks for reading.

2207 EST, CNN: Blitzer and King talking about the what ifs: if the election turned out a disaster, tonight wouldhave been very different. All too true. But it didn't turn out differently because the insurgency has backfired, imho: the Iraqis are sick and tired, and thusly determined, to not let terroristic violence toss their newly christened ascent ship of state.

2206 EST, CNN: John King says Bush "needs to get the cloud of Iraq" off his presidency in order to get victory in Social Security reform

2203 EST: like the closing "road of Providence" line. Good stuff. Speech capped at 2203 EST. Now for the post-game analysis by the chuckleheads at CNN, etc.

2156 EST: still listening to the audio but checked the Wake-Duke game. Wake is leading. Hey, even I can get bored with a speech. Anyway. I changed the video to Telemundo. Still listening in Engrish though.

2153 EST: Standing Ovations and whistling. Wow, her hand is trembling. Must be a very emotional experience for her.

2151 EST: here it comes, introducing the Iraqi woman. Coming soon.

2151 EST: Purple fingers everywhere.

2149 EST: "as you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you." Great line for the people of Iran. Standing o. Joint chiefs even standing and clapping. Look for some far-left liberal to make hay of that and speculate about war in Iran this year.

2146 EST: Biden started clapping before the applause line. Ha ha.

2146 EST: Secretary of State Rice... man, I love how that rings in the ears. Suck it Kennedy!

2145 EST: "we are witnessing landmark events in the history of liberty. And in coming years, we'll add to that story."

2143 EST: eloquent line about replacing force with freedom. I smell the intro of the special guests coming up in a few minutes.

2141 EST line about supporting our troops. Wonder if John Kerry clapped for that idea before he sat down against it.

2138 EST: "People on trial for their lives must have competent lawyers by their side." Dems and media will question why Governor Bush didn't campaign on this in 2000.

2136 EST: Yay, a "just say No"-esque program for the first lady.

2133 EST: "human life never bought or sold as a commodity." Great line.

2132 EST, CNN: Dana Reeve is pleased with increased NIH funding. Bet they'll talk to her later about displeasure though with tight standards on embryonic stem cell research.

2132 EST: Mentions gay marriage. Strong applause line for GOP. Standing up.

2130 EST: Bush lays out some safeguards to his plan. Mentions the "thrift savings plan" the feds have. Nice way to sell it: "same security and choice and ownership to young Americans." Democrats don't agree. Not clapping or standing. How nice.

2128 EST: Voluntary personal retirement accounts. Applause line, wide shot. Barack Obama hands clasped looking for the camera. .

2125 EST: Dems moaning and groaning. How disrespectful.

2122 EST: Here it comes baby. Laying down the gauntlet on Social Security.

2121 EST: Immigration reform. Temporary guest workers. Let's see who stands for this one, eh,bipartisan standing O, but some Republicans are less than enthusiastic.

2119 EST: Four years of debate is enough. Energy plan is a bipartisan standing-O.

2117 EST: Dems not clapping at "expanded health savings accounts" Clearly Democrats don't like health or savings. Bastids.

2114 EST: John Kerry reaction shot.

2113 EST: Hillary Clinton reaction shot. Meh. I wanna Uncle Teddy going apoplectic.

2112 EST: "what will be the state of their union." Good line. Social Security push first?

2106 EST, CNN: Blitzer notes "several members" have dipped index fingers in purple ink to celebrate the recent Iraqi elections. Blitzer noted many Republicans are doing that. Earlier today, Paul Begala denounced this sign of solidarity as a "cheap stunt."

2105 EST: The President is announced and walks in to thunderous applause.

2104 EST, CNN: Blitzer mentioned the ladies seated with Laura Bush are Afghan and Iraqi and voted in their respective elections. Sweet.

2103 EST: Ashcroft coming in. Freshly ticked off am I. I like Ashcroft but Gonzales should be there, should have been confirmed by now. Grrr. I'm ready for my red meat speech!

2101 EST: The first lady enters the gallery. Looks delightful. I'm no fashion critic. I won't say anything about how she looks or whether it complements her eyes or things like this. Things like this. What am I, blogging like Arnold Schwarzenegger talks now? Oh well.

2059 EST, CNN: Thanks for that boring anectdote about one of Clinton's speeches of yesteryear, Paul Begala. No one cares.

2057 EST, CNN: CNN shows Hillary Clinton shaking hands. I hope she can stomach this speech tonight. I hear it's not for the faint of heart. wakka wakka wakka.

2053 EST, CNN: Victoria Clarke? Victoria Clarke? Man, CNN has some low wattage for the Right in terms of punditry tonight. Hey, that rhymed.

2052 EST, CNN: John King uses tired "third rail" label for Social Security. Please go off and touch one, John. Dork.

2050 EST CNN split screen. John King reporting, John Kerry seen on the House floor chatting with Nancy Pelosi.

2005-02-02T20:44:00.000-05:00

Ah, the joy of live blogging

Okay, I think I'm gonna try to live blog this mofo.

We'll see. Probably posting every 15 minutes or so with timestamps of the previous few minutes.

2005-01-31T20:42:00.000-05:00

Saw this on Drudge: man suspended for advocating corporal punishment

While students are guaranteed the freedom of speech, LeMoyne College's recent actions against a student have raised questions of whether or not academic papers are the place to exercise this right.

LeMoyne College expelled Scott McConnell, a student from its Masters of Education program, for writing a paper in which he advocated the use of corporal punishment in schools, he said.

The paper, written for a class on classroom management, originally earned McConnell an A-. However, when he attempted to enroll in classes for the spring semester, he found he couldn't.

Obviously this guy's paper was well-written and well thought out. He earned an "A-minus" for it. Only his conclusion contradicted current state policy and generally accepted doctrines of student discipline in the liberal academy.

Look, there's a huge difference between this guy laying out his argument for the efficacy of corporal punishment and if this guy actually took the matter into this own hands and defied the law by administering it contrary to school policy and/or state law. There's no evidence that his mere advocacy of a change in the law is an indicator of past, present, or future violation of the law.

The teacher's unions would rightly be upset if a teacher were dismissed for being an advocate of legalized marijuana, yet without the proof of actual violation of anti-marijuana statutes. They should also be disturbed at the retribution visited upon a colleague of theirs for his thoughts and opinions as stated in an academic setting, divorced from the actual practice of pedagogy.

This school should be ashamed of itself, and the ACLU and the NEA should be champing at the bit to tear it a new one through legal action if need be. I'm not holding my breath but I'll be pleasantly surprised if that's the case.

###

2005-01-31T20:15:00.000-05:00

I nominate myself for sainthood

For handling all the crazy women in my life.

Okay, I kid.

But honestly, seems anymore these days I'm unintentionally upsetting some woman in some way or another. And no, not anything as cut-and-dried as, "yes, that dress makes you look fat." Just seems like my alleged "obliviousness" or my bluntness or whatever ends up wounding feelings in some way.

Honestly, I think this is the real reason I never had too many female friends. I used to think it was because issues of attraction got in the way, but I think that's only half right. See, when I'm trying to attract a girl, I'm more likely to be circumspect, flirtatious, diplomatic, and what have you. I'm not as direct, logical, honest (well, I'm honest, but not brutally) as I am with my male friends and/or my family. In short: I expect nothing less from people than that they be real, uncensored, and direct with me. With women, you always wonder if and when being the real you is going to in some area or some issue touch off a sore spot.

So then, inevitably, you have to apologize. No, it can't be some issue where both parties are equally right and wrong. The gentleman always has to search his heart and soul and find someone he could possibly stand improving in to dig up and offer as a peace offering. Granted, yes, there are many times there are valid self-criticisms. But why must we always answer a woman's wrath with our own fault-finding? Why can't we say, "look, ma'am, you are just plain nuts," when we know in our heart and head that's exactly the case?

It's no big deal in the long run, I guess. I don't mind admitting my shortcomings and failures and working to improve them. I don't mind apologizing when I'm wrong. I would just like a little admission now and then from said female parties, that, 'yes, I let my emotions and my imagination run away with me sometimes and take off on crazy tangents off of things you've said or done.' That, followed by a admission that, 'that's an area I can stand to work on, and I thank you for being patient with me as I work on it,' would be great.

2005-01-26T10:57:00.000-05:00

The tale of a dumb Duncan donor

Fourteen business entities controlled by the same family contributed at least $56,000 to Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan on the same day this month, employing a controversial loophole in the state's campaign finance law.

Duncan (D) received 14 checks of $4,000 Jan. 11 from businesses controlled by or affiliated with the Gudelsky Co., a real estate and development firm, according to campaign finance reports released last week.

Curious about what tipped off the Washington Post's Tim Craig to research and write this piece (see story), I emailed Mr. Craig and asked him what raised the red flags. His reply:

I think the Jan. 11 was the date that they were received by the campaign.
The tip off was obvious -- 14, 4,000 checks arriving on the same day from
the same address. I would have thought that both donors and the campaigns
would be more discreet if such things were going on, but I guess I was
wrong.

Yeah, guess so.

As a partisan, I hope Republican donors for Governor Ehrlich aren't that mind-numbingly stupid. If the Post, a liberal-leaning paper runs a piece like this on a liberal Democrat, you can imagine the field day they, and the Baltimore Sun, would have with any appearance of impropriety by the Republican governor's financial backers.

At any rate, it's an amusing story, at least to me. But maybe I'm easily amused.

2005-01-24T15:41:00.000-05:00

Joe Bastardi

A hero to the working man, a weatherman for the common man, and now my desktop at work. Did I mention he's stylin'?

2005-01-19T20:30:00.000-05:00

Sens. Bit-, er, Boxer, and Kerry voted against Condi Rice for Secretary of State

So I thought I'd show you some candid photos of these mangy mutts courtesy of my super secret source on the Hill:

Above: Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), at the 2004 Senate Democratic Conference Holiday Party.

Below: Senator John Kerry (D-MA) adds another obscure sport to his 2005 exercise regimen: obstacle course running.

2005-01-19T15:01:00.000-05:00

Sylvia's First Snow

My baby took her first steps in the snow today. Yup, Sylvia handled it well. I love my car.

2005-01-18T13:26:00.000-05:00

Social Security Reform

Trolling the US Newswire website today, I came across this release on Social Security Reform by the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI). After checking out their website, I had a few questions on their plan. They promptly replied.

What follows is what I asked and what they answered. Thanks to IPI's Sonia Hoffman and Empower America's Larry Hunter for the prompt reply:

Shepherd's Pie, Web Edition: "How closely do your proposed Social Security reforms track with existing plans by the President or congressional leaders and where do they differ?"

Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI): "The Ryan/Sununu Plan, which does not raise taxes or cut future benefits, tracks the IPI plan very closely. Other large-account plans offered in the Congress with raise taxes, cut future benefits or both. Option 2 proposed by the President’s Commission has a small account (4 percent capped at $1,000) and cuts future benefits."

SPWE: "On your website, you mention that six (6) percent of personal SS
contributions should be invested. Why six?"

IPI: "Most financial analysts agree that five percent would be sufficient for most people to fund their own retirement. Six is chosen here because Social Security is so "progressive," i.e., so generous to low-income workers, that in order to ensure that they too can benefit from the move to personal accounts, they need to save on the order of six to seven percent, thus we have made the contribution schedule "'progressive," allowing workers to save 10 percent of the first $10,000 and five percent thereafter."

SPWE: "Is this more of a floor than a ceiling? Should, in the view of IPI, taxpayers be able to contribute more than this six percent? If so, is there a contribution ceiling which Social Security should impose? If so, is that a concession to the practical nature of reforming and resolving the Social Security financing structure more so than an ideological tenet?"

IPI: "Workers would be able in toto to contribute more than the personal accounts amount if you take into consideration existing 401Ks, IRA, etc. Moreover, IPI supports universal saving accounts as one component of tax reform, which would have the effect of allowing workers to save more."

###

2005-01-14T01:15:00.000-05:00

Non-profit pay

So I was informed of my new pay figures for 2005, as a result of my 2004 review.

I'm still a few C-notes shy of $30,000. This is ridiculous. I've worked there going on four years now. I should be making at least $32 to $35,000. I mean, I know it's a non-profit, but honestly, after four years of damn good loyal service, I should be cracking 30G's.

I don't want to seem like an ingrate, and I want to have the right balance of indignation and flexibility in working with my superiors in terms of getting the pay I deserve. I love where I work and believe in its mission. Maybe it is time to move on, but I still feel there's work I can do there that's important to the mission of the organization.

So someone out there please cheer me up: tell me you're working for a non-profit in the DC area (not like somewhere in the Midwest or South where the standard of living is much cheaper) for 4 or 5 years and have yet to crack $30k.

Muchas gracias.

2005-01-10T17:40:00.000-05:00

You heard it here folks:

me (5:35:59 PM): um
me (5:36:01 PM): Tim Roemer
me (5:36:03 PM): DNC chair
me (5:36:05 PM): eh?
******* (5:36:09 PM): FALSE HE IS PRO LIFE
******* (5:36:18 PM): baby genocide is a prerequisite for dnc chair

******* is a liberal friend of mine on the Hill. ******* was of course jokingly serious. The DNC will never allow someone who isn't gung-ho about abortion rights captain their sinking ship.

###

2005-01-07T13:15:00.000-05:00

The House Sore Loser Caucus

The members of the House of Representatives, all Democrats, who voted to uphold the challenge to certifying President Bush's slate of electors from Ohio. Hereafter let them be known as the Sore Loser Caucus.

[source: clerk.house.gov]

Brown, Corrine
Carson
Clay
Clyburn
Conyers
Davis (IL)
Evans
Farr
Filner
Grijalva
Hastings (FL)

Hinchey
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kilpatrick (MI)
Kucinich
Lee
Lewis (GA)
Markey
McKinney

Olver
Owens
Pallone
Payne
Schakowsky
Thompson (MS)
Waters
Watson
Woolsey

Look, I disagree but respect with objecting to the electors as a parliamentary move to have some debate on the record about federal legislation to reform the way elections are conducted. That's fine. But actually voting to toss out the Bush electors is petty, mean-spirited partisanship, and falls below the sort of behavior we should expect from members of a major political party which happens to be the opposition party to a duly elected, majority-garnering (both electoral AND popular) President.

###

2005-01-06T16:00:00.001-05:00

See, this is why I love Craigslist

The snarkiness, the put-downs, the clever wit employed by people griping about other people's petty posts on the personals (and other pages). I particularly got a chuckle from the "cluephone" line.

RE: Why don't women put pics on CL - 99

Reply to: anon-54659533@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-01-06, 12:23PM EST

You barked:

I'm a guy, good-looking with a youthful appearance for a person who is 55. On my first post I provided a photograph to enhance my chances for a response. Today I noticed that only 1 of 23 women included a photo with their post. We guys are programmed to focus on visual aspects of women, which is shallow and superficial but unfortunately true. Could it be that a lot of you "woof"?

Cluephone--it's for you. Women also like to be with men who are pleasing to their eyes.

Incidentally, I have posted on CL before with a picture, and find that it limits the responses (generally) to men who would actually be interested in me, instead of those who troll for anyone. AND I AM *NOT* A BBW! I also posted a RECENT pic. Men are just as guilty as women of posting blurry or glory days pics. One interesting thing I've noted is that while most guys won't look at a a prospect who is older, men in their 40's-60's expect that women who are significantly younger than they are will. Why is that? Also, many women are afraid of the awful comments that (I hope it is the same few) inconsiderate men post. Finally, how would you like to see your picture posted by some cruel person on a site like, "Hot or not?"

2005-01-06T16:00:00.000-05:00

RE: Why don't women put pics on CL - 99

Reply to: anon-54659533@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-01-06, 12:23PM EST

You barked:

I'm a guy, good-looking with a youthful appearance for a person who is 55. On my first post I provided a photograph to enhance my chances for a response. Today I noticed that only 1 of 23 women included a photo with their post. We guys are programmed to focus on visual aspects of women, which is shallow and superficial but unfortunately true. Could it be that a lot of you "woof"?

Cluephone--it's for you. Women also like to be with men who are pleasing to their eyes.

Incidentally, I have posted on CL before with a picture, and find that it limits the responses (generally) to men who would actually be interested in me, instead of those who troll for anyone. AND I AM *NOT* A BBW! I also posted a RECENT pic. Men are just as guilty as women of posting blurry or glory days pics. One interesting thing I've noted is that while most guys won't look at a a prospect who is older, men in their 40's-60's expect that women who are significantly younger than they are will. Why is that? Also, many women are afraid of the awful comments that (I hope it is the same few) inconsiderate men post. Finally, how would you like to see your picture posted by some cruel person on a site like, "Hot or not?"

2005-01-05T16:36:00.000-05:00

Missed Connection

So yeah, stupid me. Today I leave work for a late lunch, well, actually, a stroll outside of work to maybe get lunch, maybe get coffee, I was undecided, but leaning towards lunch. So I cross the street and this cute young woman, probably 26 at most, late college years, 22 or 23 at the youngest, stops me. "Excuse me," she asks, "I'm not from around here. Do you know where the nearest coffeeshop is?" So I tell her there's one a few blocks up Patrick Street, and she squeals, "great, thanks!"

Now, literally the second after that, I'm thinking, "dammit, why didn't I say, 'actually, I'm on my way there now, it's just a few blocks this way.'"

But no, I didn't recognize and seize the opportunity. I'm not saying I'd have been able to successfully chat her up and get her number in between then and ordering coffee or something, but who knows. Oh well, maybe I'll post a craigslist missed connection, for what it's worth.

2005-01-04T17:10:00.000-05:00

What a maroon

Ah, the sheer brilliance of political observations from the tin-foil helmet set on the Left.:

Dominating the Cable News are stories of people whining and complaining about lack of U.S. Aid. Having been in Red State Land for the past week, I heard lots of complaints in response to those CNN and FOX "stories" from Red State Voters :

"What the hell, we can't do anything right," and "Screw 'em, they don't deserve our aid!"

Other than one U.N. official who correctly pointed out that the U.S. donates much less than most other developed countries in relation to respective GDP, I wondered who else was complaining?

Exactly who is complaining? What group of unfortunate souls have dared open their mouths in criticism of the worlds most righteous and powerful nation? The fisherman in Sri Lanka who lost his whole familly? The thousands of orphaned boys and girls in Indonesia who have no water or food and are now suffering from cholera? Who else?

I challenged my fellow Red State Righteous people to identify exactly who among the suffering was complaining about lack of U.S. aid. Nobody could answer me.

It is obvious to me that this is another unifying facist trick, make the populace paranoid so that they circle the wagons and support the Commander in Chief.

---- From Tsunami Politics & Unifying Facist Tricks

2005-01-03T13:53:00.000-05:00

Manliness

So it seems there's an ongoing informal debate between myself and some friends on the nature of masculinity, or more behaviorally, of "manliness."

Manliness is not a concept in 2005 that is much valued and admired. Our society seems to dismiss the concept of being an unfeminized man as a boorish, backwards social construct, not as a healthy counterweight to the beauty and grace bestowed on the other gender, that of femininity to the female.

No, I don't think one has to be a ripped lumberjack, hiking, backpacking, hunting, fishing, beer-swilling kind of guy to be a manly man. When I think of the value of manliness, I think of duty, honor, courage, honesty, and the value of channeling force and aggression for the preservation of justice and good, not for the manipulation of power or for greed. True, these qualities are often exhibited in and by women, but there is a distinctive flair, a distinctive emotional and behavioral twist to how each gender naturally displays such values. To the extent that real men display those values in traditionally masculine behavior patterns to me is true manliness, not the perverted manliness of brutish men.

Why is it that many in our society have a problem with manliness? Or do they fail to draw a distinction between authentic and morally good traits of manly character with the abuse of masculinity that wife beaters, child neglecters, et al have foisted upon the image of men?

2005-01-02T09:45:00.000-05:00

New Year's Predictions

Everyone and their mom is doing it, so why not me? Keep in mind most of these I'm pulling out of my butt.

***Rehnquist is outlived, though not by many weeks or months, by the Pope.

***Another devastating earthquake hits, this time Japan or Taiwan. Tsunami or no, the destruction will be great, although the cost in life, I won't take a stab at.

***Unemployment will fall to 5.0 percent by July.

***The fashions my friends and now I (I suppose) are wearing will be out of vogue by June, thus causing extreme frustration on my part for even trying to be in style for such a fleeting amount of time.

***Texas Hold 'Em loses popularity as Blackjack becomes a rising fad.

***The Super Bowl half time will be boring and lifeless until some male singer exposes his nipple-pierced man-boob to the delight of approximately the 200 people watching the otherwise uninteresting halftime show.

***Two vacancies open on the Supreme Court: Rehnquist and John Paul Stevens will either retire or pass away. The Chief Justice nominee will be Scalia. Some internal pressure will have come to name the younger Thomas (particularly from troublemaking right-wing blogger types like me), but Bush will want to save his political capital for more arduous fights on non-judicial issues.

***Teresa Heinz Kerry will respond to my Craigslist personals ad looking for a "older rich woman to subsidize rising political star."

***Millions of people will consult astrologists, despite their miserable track record in predicting the future or even in psychically reading the present and past. Some people will think I am a soothsayer if one of my predictions comes true, and I will find a way to bilk them of the money they don't deserve to retain due to their idiocy.

***I will end the year with a pile of books I meant to finish reading but haven't.

2004-12-29T17:18:00.000-05:00

End of the Year Cliched Crap

It's the end of the year and I've kinda tossed around some cheesy end-of-year gimmicks to blog about. Last year, I asked for you to vote on the stupidest political stunt of 2003. I could do it again, with the obvious cliched nominees (the Dean Scream, "voted for it before I voted against it," bringing up Cheney's gay daughter), but that doesn't inspire me.

I could list the movies I still need to see of 2004 that I meant to see but never saw (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) or the movies that were laughably bad that I had seen (Van Helsin) or the laughably bad ones I never intended to see and thank God I refused to see (Alexander).
I could also mention the movies I did see and their diversity (Passion of the Christ, Fahrenheit 9/11, Sideways, Kinsey, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), but I think I just did that.

So, in the end, I'm uninspired in terms of recapping the year that was 2004 in any old-fashioned cliched bloggerific way.

I will, however, give you this conclusion: 2004 was to me like a decade. The hype and ardor over the Passion of the Christ (February and March) seems eons ago. And the general election race from late January to early November is to me one grand blur, like a decade from early youth with moments I can remember clearly, but only a general haze and a long distance from the present shaping my memories; though it's been less than two months since John Kerry was soundly defeated, he is a faded and fading political memory to me.

Not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just marveling at how much stuff can go down in one year, and how ancient even the most recent events seems to me, living as I do, by nature of my job and my manic news consumerism, a creature of the 24/7 news cycle.

Guess we'll see if I feel the same way a year from now closing out 2005.

Thanks for reading my blog this year, and I look forward to your continued viewership and input.

2004-12-29T15:22:00.000-05:00

That "kid in a candy store" feeling

Where/when do you have that feeling. For me it's looking at history, religious, or political bookshelves in a bookstore, any Circuit City or Best Buy, and getting, arriving in the same day by mail my first trial copy of Christianity Today AND my first issue of Popular Mechanics.

Good times.

2004-12-28T01:27:00.000-05:00

Ourisman Honda of Laurel

So I signed the lease a few weeks back on a brand-spanking-new 2005 Honda Civic DX. Here's what she looks like, pic courtesy of American Honda Motor Co., Incorporated:


2005 Honda Civic

I named her Sylvia, she's a beaut. Anyway, I bought her from Ourisman Honda of Laurel. I highly recommend them. They were a pleasure to do business with and have been very responsive and friendly to all my needs and concerns. The service department was swift and helpful in addressing a minor issue which needed maintenance, and their sales and finance people are excellent.

So if you're in the market for new Honda or VW, look them up and tell them Ken Shepherd sent you. Yes, for full disclosure, I can get $100 out of the deal for a successful referral (finalized by the purchase or lease of a car from Ourisman), but trust me, they are good folks with which to do business and I wouldn't steer you wrong.

###

2004-12-25T01:43:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve service

I'm glad I went tonight. The past few years Christmas is becoming more and more for me about Christ, and obviously, it's becoming more and more of a joy as I learn to put Him first and foremost. Don't get me wrong, I don't want you to think I went out of some sense of onerous obligation. I went out of a desire to worship and adore, and to do so in the company of fellow believers. I just felt I couldn't not go tonight, but it wasn't out of guilt, it was more like being determined to make a friend's birthday celebration, wanting to be there to offer my gift and to revel in his company and the company of my fellow friend's as we celebrate time with him.

The service I went to was at an Episcopal parish in Waterloo. Now, I'm a relatively non-traditional, charismatic Christian. My church is anything but traditional, the only pipe organ you'll hear is electronically generated from a keyboard and we don't do hymns, we do good, rollicking rock and roll type music. Around Christmas, especially on Christmas Eve, however, I'm in a quite traditional mood. I like the timeless hymns of Christmas that get short shrift at my church, in part because they pack a mighty theological punch, permeated in sound doctrine, resounding with the good news of the Gospel in rhyme and verse. That's the thing that's paramount. I think all too often churches like mine do fall into the trap of fearing and eschewing all of the trappings of more traditional venues of Christian worship out a disdain of tradition per se, not out of any valid theological concerns.

Anyway, the service was quite lovely. Aside from a silly word change in the recessional hymn, Joy to the World---'let men their songs employ' to 'let us our songs employ,' both a dumb bow to political correctness and syntactically awkward-- and the fact that it was a bit slow and not as bombastically joyous as I'd like, it was a great way to usher in this year's commemoration of the birth of my Savior.

2004-12-23T18:55:00.000-05:00

A question for any Navy enlisted, officers, or veterans reading my blog

So I subscribed to John Kerry's emails earlier this year in order to keep tabs on what his campaign was sending out to subscribers via email. Truth be told, I didn't really read many of them, some I altogether skipped, others I just skimmed. But, at any rate, the Kerry camp just sent out a final (presumably) email for the year entitled, "A year-end message of thanks to our troops." Please note the portion in bold and italics is my emphasis, not that of the email.

So I skimmed through it and came upon this:

...in addition to thanking you once again for all you have done, I'm writing to invite your participation in one final 2004 act of collective generosity. As a soldier, I remember how much it meant to hear from loved ones - especially at the holidays.

But the thing is, John Kerry never was a soldier. An American soldier serves in the Army. An
airman serves in the US Air Force, a sailor serves in the US Navy, and a Marine is a US Marine. Why does John Kerry insist on using an incorrect title? Or am I simply mistaken? Is it appropriate for veteran of the US Navy to describe his military service as being that of a 'soldier?' Similarly, is it okay for an Air Force or Marine vet to use the title 'soldier?'

2004-12-22T13:14:00.000-05:00

What I'm getting my mom for Christmas.

Hey, she doesn't read this blog. It'll be a surprise.

2004-12-21T22:10:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Our World

A great song I've heard quite a few times on a local Christian radio station, it tenderly but powerfully communicates the message of Christmas in its fulness. It's sung in a lullaby-ish sorta way, but that doesn't rob it of its effect, in fact it magnifies it. The portions in bold are especially powerful, I think.

Welcome to Our World

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child
Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home
Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world
Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born
So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

2004-12-15T10:05:00.000-05:00

Let me tell ya...

... what I want for Christmas. For the world to know Jesus.

Good song by Big Tent Revival. It should be the prayer of Christians around the world as it sees us celebrating the birth of our Savior.

What I Want For Christmas

Chorus:
Let me tell you what I want for Christmas
Let me tell you what I want this year
For the world to see the love of Jesus
And put away their doubts and fears
What I want for Christmas
I want the world to know, Jesus
That's what I want for Christmas

Hark the herald angels sing
Come on and get excited
Come, see the new born king
Everybody is invited

Chorus

Hey, come along with me
Together we can show them
They will be eternally grateful
Just to know Him

Chorus

2004-12-10T13:18:00.000-05:00

Lines of communication

So someone who means a lot to me as a friend, whom I used to date, has decided to break off pretty much all communication. Today I found out she even blocked my screenname on AOL instant messenger. It's all good. I don't share the antipathy. Maybe she still reads this blog. I dunno. If she does, well, just know, I still care about you as a friend, and I hope we can be in the future.

I wish her a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

2004-12-09T23:48:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again

Yeah, the Christmas season, where the media bring out liberal/heterodox Christian theologians to challenge none-too-argumentative conservative/orthodox ones on the historicity of the nativity of Jesus Christ.

CNN's Paula Zahn Now featured such a segment on its December 8 edition. Since I thought the more conservative, orthodox theologian, Dr. Malcolm Yarnell III was too much of a lamb and not enough of a lion, I've thought it prudent to quote the loony "Jesus Seminar" heretic and refute him, defending the faith. You can find the transcript of the show here.

Zahn: Dr. Taussig, what proof do you have the Bible is historically inaccurate?

REV. HAL TAUSSIG, UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: I don't have proof. I just have a way of reading it that notices that there are actually two different stories in the Bible about Jesus's birth. One in the Gospel of Matthew and one in the Gospel of Luke. And they do not agree in their story.

For instance, in the gospel of Matthew, Mary and Joseph are living in Bethlehem. In the gospel of Luke, they are living in Nazareth and they have to travel to Bethlehem. In the gospel of Matthew, it's Joseph that receives the message from God. In the gospel of Luke it's Mary.

There are a number of these very different takes in the two different gospels. So it seems to me that we need to read both of those gospels carefully, and not take them just as, shall we say, a journalistic report, no offense to you, but as another kind of language that's deeply religious and makes meaning.

Doctor Taussig is simply lying through his teeth or incapable of reading critically. Matthew says nothing of where Mary and Joseph reside in the first chapter. It begins with the genealogy of Jesus and then transitions to describe Joseph's prophetic dream, which by the way does NOT negate the fact that Mary received an angelic visitation (the Annunciation) herself. Rather it is an event which Matthew doesn't see fit to mention given the aims of his narrative. Exclusion, however, is not the same as refutation.

The second chapter of Matthew says that Jesus was visited by the Magi in Bethlehem. Since the chapter develops to lay out Herod slaying all male infants aged two and under, we reasonably conclude this was in Christ 's infancy, not necessarily as a newborn. Does this mean that Mary and Joseph lived in Bethlehem before Jesus's birth? No. It means at the time of the Magi visitation they did, and that it was likely they took up residence in Bethlehem immediately following Jesus's birth.

Why would they do that? Well, in the Gospel According to St. Luke, we learn that Mary and Joseph are from Nazareth, but Joseph's ancestral hometown is Bethlehem and Mary's cousin Elizabeth and her husband Zacarias, a temple priest, live in a city in Judah. Luke doesn't say which city, but we can venture to guess it was near Jerusalem, where the Temple was, and hence near Bethlehem, situated in what we today would consider "metropolitan Jerusalem." Relocating from Nazareth to Jerusalem after the birth of a child to stay near family? Sounds logical to me.

After Yarnell made a weak refutation of Taussig by comparing the Gospel accounts to different parts singing harmony in a choir--- a decent analogy, I saw where he was going but he didn't unpack it well--- Taussig continued:

TAUSSIG: Well, I think we need to take into consideration a couple of other factors when would we talk about whether these gospels are historically accurate. For instance, the gospel of Luke says that there was a census of everyone in the world at the time of the birth of Jesus. The problem is, we have no record of that in any of the Roman empire's records. The gospel of Matthew says there was a massive slaughter of innocence around the town of Bethlehem at that time. The Roman's kept great records of their military efforts. There's no evidence of either of these events.

While I'd have to do more digging on the census issue, I will address the others. Taussig is confusing things a bit here. Herod was a Jewish puppet king over the Judean province. The Romans installed him to help placate the Jewish population by instituting a legal authority they could answer to who could be a pressure valve to let off political steam directed against Rome. As such, Herod had his own measure of soldiers and palace guards under his command who were not directly answerable to the Emperor. Additionally, a night-time massacre mission is not exactly a military triumph you would herald among your great martial victories. As to the size of the massacre, which Taussig calls massive, we must remember that though a good number of young were slaughtered, this was Bethlehem, a small town. Indeed, in Matthew 2:4-6, we see Herod's advisors attesting to how tiny the little town of Bethlehem really is:

And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

It's unfortunate that the orthodox theologian brought on to refute him did a poor job. I want to see a knock-down drag out fight if we're going to honestly debate this stuff. I mean, if Jesus is who he claims he "was, is, and is to come," the Savior of the world, he deserves a more forceful defense to this lost and dying world watching CNN at 8 o'clock than waxing about the Gospels being a four-part harmonic choir.

###

2004-12-09T15:49:00.000-05:00

Hit me with that funky Matlock theme you say?

You got it.

I'll post lyrics to it if any of my faithful readers take a venture writing some original lyrics to go along with it.

2004-12-08T14:17:00.000-05:00

How much stock should I take in this?

So I'm going to buy a car soon, and I'm looking on different websites and such. One dealership I'm looking at has a mediocre review, and some pretty strong comments. Like the following:

TOM ODONELL IS A FAT FUCKING ALCOHOLIC!! TOM ODONELL IS A FAT FUCKING ALCOHOLIC!! TOM ODONELL IS A FAT FUCKING ALCOHOLIC!! TOM ODONELL IS A FAT FUCKING ALCOHOLIC!! TOM ODONELL IS A FAT FUCKING ALCOHOLIC!! TOM ODONELL IS A FAT FUCKING ALCOHOLIC!! TOM ODONELL IS A FAT FUCKING ALCOHOLIC!!

That goes on for a few more lines, but you get the idea. Either an isolated disgruntled customer with too much time on his hands, or a barometer of dissatisfaction. Hmm, which is more likely?

Oh well, they have a sweet deal on a 98 Honda Civic with relatively low mileage, so I'll probably peep what they got.

2004-12-07T11:02:00.000-05:00

How about taxing the lawyers?

So it looks like a deal on medical malpractice legislation between Governor Ehrlich and Democratic legislative leaders, including State Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller (D-Calvert) is off. For one thing, Ehrlich opposes Miller's idea to have a two percent tax levied on HMO premiums in order to finance a state fund to aid doctors who can't afford astronomical malpractice insurance premiums. Basically, doctors who can't afford malpractice insurance can't, for all intents and purposes, practice medicine. Litigation over even the most unmerited malpractice cases is so costly to time, income, and reputation, that it's suicide to practice medicine without having an insurance company to help handle any and all spurious and legitimate malpractice claims which may arise.

Anyway, Ehrlich opposes the tax for good reason: it doesn't address but rather entrenches the problem.

So as I see it, this being the state of Maryland and taxes being the Democrats' preferred remedy of choice, if Ehrlich really must start imposing new taxes, why not demand a tax on the trial lawyers via their cut of settlements and court judgments in malpractice cases. These monies would be used to finance this fund that Miller and his cronies want.

What's more, the tax shouldn't be flat, but graduated, placing a greater burder in accord to the relative size of the settlement or the relative size of their compensation the attorney draws from the settlement against their client.

So let's say a lawyer helps a client settle for $60,000 and the lawyer takes 10 percent in lawyer's fees for say $6000. Let's tax that $6000 at two percent, $120 to the state fund. But let's say the settlement is $600,000 and the lawyer takes $120,000, or 20 percent. Let's tax the lawyer's $120k take at 15 percent, yielding $18,000 to the state malpractice insurance fund. The more strain the lawyer invokes on the malpractice insurance pool, the more the lawyer must contribute in higher taxes to a state fund to ameliorate the problem.

I mean, shouldn't the rich pay their fair share?

Oh, that's right, not if the rich in question are trial attorneys who finance and control the state Democratic Party. Forgive my naivete.

2004-12-05T19:09:00.000-05:00

My free advice to CBS News

Hire NBC's John Seigenthaler as your replacement for Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News.

A review of my workplace's publication has found a mere handful of biased utterances here and there from him over the past few years, but from a quick review of them and from my personal experience watching him anchor newscasts, I can attest that the guy delivers the news down the middle, harboring no agenda to use the anchor chair to advocate a political leaning.

And, what's more, Seigenthaler's worked extensively in Tennessee (red state). He DID go to Duke, so that is a strike against him---and not a minor one in this Maryland alumnus's book---but that said, no one can be perfect.

But seriously, Seigenthaler oozes gravitas w/o having the cloying teacher's pet aura that Brian Williams was wont to give off when interviewing liberal pundits, particularly presidential historian Doris Kearnes Goodwin. And yes, Seigenthaler, unlike Brian Williams, Peter Jennings, or CNN's Aaron Brown, is not the sort of self-important blowhard who insists his role is to make the news make sense to you the viewer or to make it unboring and relevant by making it a good story.

In short, NBC goofed by grooming Brian Williams over John Seigenthaler. CBS could capitalize on the mistake by wooing him from NBC. It won't be seen as a major coup at the time it happens, should it happen, but assuming Seigenthaler keeps it on the level and does a relatively balanced job of political coverage, I wouldn't be surprised to see CBS gain some measure of credibility back in its evening newscast.

###

2004-11-30T11:06:00.000-05:00

Some housekeeping notes and blog plugs

Some of you have griped that this blog doesn't format properly in Internet Explorer. The message the e-gods are sending you is clear: GET FIREFOX!

I'm not going to tailor my blog to the crappy eccentricities of Bill Gates's fussy browser. No, I'm not a big Bill Hates hater, but I love Firefox and I only use IE when absolutely necessary now. So try Firefox, you'll like it.

We Three Jerks has moved to a blogspot.com domain. I welcome them as fellow participants in the glories of Blogger.

My friend Holly from Frostburg has a blog, I recently added the link to my blogroll in the sidebar.

And finally, a blog I've just bookmarked which might interest any of you who are interested in theology or for Christian perspectives on current events, social trends, and politics, you might dig the weblog for Christianity Today's home on the Web.

2004-11-26T13:47:00.001-05:00

I'm no great wine connoisseur or anything...

...but I must say I was quite pleased with this chardonnay that I purchased at a local liquor store for the Thanksgiving meal.

It's a 2001 Chardonnay from Reynold's Vineyards in New South Wales, Australia. I'm not refined, schooled expert in what makes good wine good wine, I just know what I liked. And I liked this. Apparently wine reviewers say their 2002 vintage is really exceptional, but their website also excerpted good reviews from wine magazines of the 2001 vintage that I purchased.

But yeah, wine tasting as a refined art is something I think I shall have to pursue in 2005.

2004-11-26T13:47:00.000-05:00

2004-11-25T17:03:00.000-05:00

Why I love Thanksgiving

No, it's not just the food and being together with family. It's the fact that Thanksgiving is one of those purest of American secular yet quasi-religious holidays that bring us together in a mystical way.

Memorial Day and Veteran's Day are holidays that are relatively new, compared to the age of the country. Independence Day is rightfully a joyous celebration of the birth of a nation, soaked in the ideals blanketing that struggle for independence, but also divorced to a large extent from a any level of solemnity in marking the occasion.

But Thanksgiving is a holiday which existed in fits and starts well before the United States became a political idea or an internationally recognized sovereign entity. It's a holiday in Christian religious roots but appreciated by American citizens and families of all faiths, and even those of uncertain or no faith.

It's a day when we can all be together as Americans while all being separately joined with our families, remembering how blessed we are to be who we are as a nation, as a people, placed by God in this time and place in history.

Anyway, I'll stop pontificating now. My Thanksgiving dinner is almost ready; I'm about to be summoned to the table. Enjoy your Thanksgiving.

2004-11-23T15:57:00.000-05:00

So Dan Rather is stepping down...

... but it's not a total victory for the forces of opposition to the liberal media. Rather will stay on at CBS with 60 Minutes. Of course, no one really watches 60 Minutes anyway, so maybe Rather is figuratively being buried alive in the coffin of network news irrelevance.

2004-11-23T09:57:00.000-05:00

Shepherd's Pie Official Wardrobe Coordinator Contest

So I am getting vibes and outright comments from some friends of mine, male and female alike, that yours truly is not, in fact, the snazzy, sophisticated dressed I thought I was. Okay, I never thought I was anyway, but the point is, I could dress more "fashionably."

Since I have no clue with what to dress myself, I'm doing what any rational person in the age of reality TV and gimmicky game shows is doing: I'm opening this up to a contest to delegate my wardrobe decisions to someone more gifted than I in the style department.

So here are the basic rules:

1) You must be 18 years of age or older and reside in the Baltimore or Washington, DC metropolitan areas.

2) You must write an essay of no more than 1000 words about your qualifications. Please also include pictures of yourself dressed fashionably to show myself and my friends (who will be the judges) that you practice what you preach.

3) Give me a basic idea of how you can outfit me within a decent budget. By decent, I mean between $300 to $600 per year. Yeah, that can be kinda tight, perhaps, but you gotta work with it. I want some ideas on how you can outfit me for work, for casual outings, for more sophisticated outings, and around the house.

4) A panel of myself and some of my friends will pick the winner.

Send those entries to shepherdspie-at-gmail-dot-com. Contest closes on 12:00 p.m. EST on 15 December 2004. Winners will be announced on 30 December 2004.

And the prize you ask: I'll plug your name and your business or blog or what have you on my blog. Plus a cash prize of $50. Yeah, hey, if I had the dough to shell out to a winner, don't you think I'd have hired a fashion consultant by now?

2004-11-21T22:33:00.000-05:00

The Voice of Truth

Below are the lyrics to one of my favorite songs by a group called Casting Crowns. I haven't purchased any of their albums yet, I've only heard their music on WGTS (91.9 FM), a local listener-supported Christian music station.

Anyway, it's very inspiring and worshipful and a great way to pump yourself up in the morning with the proper perspective of your daily life struggles.

"The Voice of Truth"

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

Chorus:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

© 2003 Club Zoo Music / SWEC Music (Admin. by Club Zoo Music) / BMI / Sparrow Song / Peach Hill Songs (admin by EMI Christian Music Publishing) / BMI.

Another great song of theirs is one that challenges the church to truly act as the representatives of Christ it ought to be. It's titled, "If We Are the Body," and the lyrics are also on the Casting Crowns website, under the Music section.

2004-11-18T10:02:00.000-05:00

Words of wisdom for Democrats...

...as they celebrate the opening of Clinton's presidential library today.

"If we can't win this damn election, with a Democratic Party more unified than ever before, with us having raised as much money as the Republicans, with 55% of the country believing we're heading in the wrong direction, with our candidate having won all three debates, and with our side being more passionate about the outcome than theirs - if we can't win this one, then we can't win shit! And we need to completely rethink the Democratic Party."

---Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville, courtesy of an email from Retro vs. Metro, a pro-Democratic group which urges Democrats to write off "retro" red-state America and cultivate and expand its natural "metro" constituencies with a left-wing economic platform.

2004-11-16T00:44:00.000-05:00

U.N. Finds No Nuclear Bomb Program in Iran (washingtonpost.com):

"The U.N. nuclear watchdog's report, along with Europe's acceptance of a
wide-ranging nuclear agreement with Tehran, capped a pivotal day for
the Islamic republic's relations with the West and left little chance
for the Bush administration's Iran strategy to succeed in the near term."

Sure, and the Pope is Buddhist.

The IAEA failed the international community before in its handling of North Korea. I hope and pray they are right, but this just doesn't smell right, particularly since we know these things:

1) Iran sponsors anti-Israel terrorism (Hamas and Islamic Jihad)
2) Iran's Shahab-3 missiles can reach Israel and regional US military targets
3) Obtaining a nuclear weapon would be a magic political and military shield from outside diplomatic and military interference in Iranian internal affairs and foreign policy.

Perhaps the Iranian government has no rational self-interest in say supplying nukes to terrorists just yet, but the nuclear deterrant from reprisal by Israel could bolster its determination to explore that option, or at the very least the option of "dirty bombs" against Israeli civilian targets.

Additionally, the theocratic regime in Tehran cannot last forever against and up-and-coming generation of kids born just before and following the Revolution which chafe under the dictatorship which stifles their freedoms, socially, economically, and politically.

A government can, however, instill greater fear in its people with the greater use of force that it can exhibit to its population. This is not to say Iran would use nukes against its population, but rather that it would be a psychological tool to bolster respect and fear of the government, and forestall the possibility of internal reform, while focusing the political energies of the people to the new-found clout that Iran has in the regional and international context due to being a nuclear power. Distracting the people from internal reform by showing the existing regime as one which serves the patriotic interests of all Iranians is obviously a goal of the government.

I dunno. Again, I'm no expert. Those are just my thoughts.

2004-11-15T17:21:00.000-05:00

You gotta admire dedication

Yup, Cleveland viewers will get a load of 'eyewitness nudes:'

What do you get when you combine a beautiful Sunday morning, a Downtown Cleveland venue, a world-famous photographer and over a thousand Clevelanders ... completely naked?
How about art?
It all happened recently, and 19 Action News anchor Sharon Reed was there.
But Sharon didn't just report the story, she became part of it -- posing nude with over a thousand others for a groundbreaking and controversial photo that all of Cleveland will be talking about.
Our cameras were rolling as the unbelievable scene took place.
So, YOU be the judge. Is it art? Or is it something else? See it to believe it.
Watch "Body Of Art" ... Tonight on 19 Action News at 11, right after CSI: MIAMI.
*WARNING: Due to the sensitive and graphic nature of this news story, parental guidance is suggested.

I'm just glad WMAL's Jayne Miller hasn't tried that.

2004-11-10T01:10:00.000-05:00

Dr. Shepherd prescribes these people get out more before the next election

Clearly these guys just don't know the real America and were self-delusional by being self-sheltered from opposing political views.

When you fail to realize a whole vastly different political world outside your cocoon in Boca or the Upper West Side or West Hollywood, this sort of mental disorder can set it when confronted by the cold Arctic blast of the winds of reality:

(from Boca News)

More than a dozen traumatized John Kerry supporters have sought and received therapy from a licensed Florida psychologist since their candidate lost to President Bush, the Boca Raton News learned Monday.
Boca Raton trauma specialist Douglas Schooler said he has treated 15 clients and friends with “intense hypnotherapy” since the Democratic nominee conceded last Wednesday.
“I had one friend tell me he’s never been so depressed and angry in his life,” Schooler said. “I observed patients threatening to leave the country or staring listlessly into space. They were emotionally paralyzed, shocked and devastated.”
Schooler’s disclosure comes after the weekend discovery of a Kerry volunteer’s corpse at Ground Zero in New York City. Georgia resident Andrew Veal, 25, reportedly killed himself with a shotgun blast to the head due to Kerry’s loss and a girlfriend problem.
Some mental health professionals in South Florida said Monday they have already developed a new category for the Kerry-related stress reactions. Because Palm Beach County voted heavily for Kerry, the therapists said, many residents hurt themselves by so anxiously expecting the Massachusetts senator to win – especially those who maintained unrealistic recount hopes after their candidate’s concession.
“We’re calling it ‘post-election selection trauma’ and we’re working to develop a counseling program for it,” said Rob Gordon, the Boca-based executive director of the American Health Association. “It’s like post-traumatic stress syndrome, but it’s a short-term shock rather than a childhood trauma.”

Look, most all of my friends are liberal. My college profs were liberal. I came of age politically in the Clinton Era in the reliably liberal Democratic state of Maryland. My parents and my church background are conservative and I generally am conservative, though a bit more libertarian on some social concerns. So you see I have a good clash of ideas and perspectives, and I was swinging from optimism to pessimism to realism and back and forth all over the map, and THAT was just ELECTION DAY. All in all, I was very well aware that my guy could possibly lose, and that I couldn't let it ruin my life if it did.

I resolved on Election Day morning to be at peace no matter what happened, and either to fight the good fight against Kerry for four years or to support the President and a Republican majority for four (hopefully less rancorous) more years.

Is it that friggin difficult to mentally prepare yourself to be gracious in defeat the next morning in an election which was gonna be roughly 50/50 on election day?

Oh well.

###

2004-11-09T15:37:00.000-05:00

A funny story.

So I was bored at work earlier and emailed my friend Caroline, asking her to tell me a joke. She didn't have a joke, but sent the following humorous story. I got a good chuckle out of it. Here goes.

My sister Elizabeth frequently "borrows" stuff from me without asking.
She did this the other day and apparently borrowed some Chinese tea of
mine. I do not drink it but I like the box. My sister found out the hard
way that the reason I do not drink it is because it is special Diet Tea
that has sort of laxative properties. She did not read the box when she
borrowed it from me. So. Ha! Cosmic justice is served. I was laughing so
hard at work.

2004-11-08T14:58:00.000-05:00

Fun with liberals

An exchange with a liberal friend of mine.

Name deleted to protect the guilty. It is in reverse order, top to bottom, because I'm too lazy to alter the order for this post. That and I'm at work right now:

I've always explained and argued my positions. You don't have to agree
with them, you should just see where I'm coming from. It says a lot
more about you than it does about me that all you can do is toss back
invective rather than lucid argument.

On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 14:35:34 -0500, ******> wrote:
> Blah blah..go and continue working for your narrow-minded organization
> & corrupt ways of not accepting the lies and distorted facts the white
> house wants you to believe.
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 14:30:04 -0500, Ken Shepherd wrote:
> > If you READ the post from my friend, you will see just how
> > close-minded they are to the point where she can't converse with them
> > on politics because instead of rationally discussing the issue, they
> > will call her names, etc.
> >
> > Just read her top post.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 14:29:20 -0500, ********* wrote:
> > > Ken, that's just snobbery! West Hollywood Liberals are at least
> > > open-minded and accept instead of deject.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 14:26:43 -0500, Ken Shepherd wrote:
> > > > The top post on that blog. It's from a friend of mine. She talks about
> > > > how clueless and sheltered her liberal West Hollywood coworkers are. I
> > > > was linking to it to show you how being "sheltered" can go both ways
> > > > politically.
> > > >
> > > > Also, I'm at work too, I understand. Just check it out at home later.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 14:25:14 -0500, ******** wrote:
> > > > > First of all, can you please post your opinons instead of blogs. I am
> > > > > not reading all that! I am at work,a dn multitasking. Thank you very
> > > > > much.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 14:23:20 -0500, ******** wrote:
> > > > > > You never found a way to talk about your views on it though.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 14:21:59 -0500, Ken Shepherd wrote:
> > > > > > > I don't have a problem with gay adoption. You're preaching to the
> > > > > > > choir on that one.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 14:21:04 -0500, ******* wrote:
> > > > > > > > There should definitly be more cause for allowing benefits of same sex
> > > > > > > > unions too! I spoke with my mother the other night, and asked her if
> > > > > > > > (in her opinion, working at an elementry school for over 13 yrs) these
> > > > > > > > children being held in social services with no love and no family
> > > > > > > > should stay in the system, or be taken in by a family of same sex
> > > > > > > > relationships. She did acknowledge that the children would be better
> > > > > > > > off in a loving home.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 14:16:33 -0500, Ken Shepherd wrote:
> > > > > > > > > That's an unfair characterization of defining marriage in law as one
> > > > > > > > > man and one woman. Gays should be allowed to have civil unions and to
> > > > > > > > > do whatever they want in the bedroom with each other. But marriage is
> > > > > > > > > an institution which deserves to be defended as it is.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > That said, I see a time in my lifetime where gay marriage is a reality
> > > > > > > > > in many if not most states.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 14:13:56 -0500, ********** wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > Its love your naighbors va write laws to discriminate against your neighbor.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 14:10:47 -0500, **************wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > Quiet middle America who has no clue what is "really" going on outside
> > > > > > > > > > > of this world. Why are there so many gay's in the blue states? Answer
> > > > > > > > > > > that. They are not accepted in the middle states. It's a racism many
> > > > > > > > > > > middle Americans have, and they will not accept anything else except
> > > > > > > > > > > for narrow minded views.
> > > > > > > > > > >

2004-11-08T11:06:00.000-05:00

But I thought it was the breakfast of CHAMPIONS?!

2004-11-08T09:35:00.000-05:00

Indie films should come with more warnings

Last night I went to see this independent film called Sideways with a few friends of mine. It's about these two late 30's-ish college buddies, Jack and Miles, and their week together before Jack's wedding. Jack (Thomas Haden Church) is a bit of a womanizer who dreads the ball and chain of marriage and Miles (Paul Giamatti) is a divorcee who has trouble getting back in the game. While Miles wants nothing more than to have a relaxing weekend of wine tasting and rounds of golf, Jack wants to have one last fling or two before settling down, and, being the good friend he is, get Miles out of his romantic slump.

This is the source of the main conflict of the film, as well as a subplot which involves Miles succesfully retrieving Jack's wallet from the bedroom of a one night stand which was interrupted by a jealous husband. The scene ends with Jack and Miles driving hurriedly away from the husband, no Adonis he, running naked after them down the street.

So that's where this little note from a friend comes in:

I just realized the naked guy running down the street in the movie last
night looks very much like my co-worker's husband. I will never be able
to look either in the eye again.

So there are two lessons here here:

1) just because an artsy movie has some brief nudity, it doesn't mean it's gonna be pretty. And,

2) since it's an independent, low-budget movie, she can't really expect to get a good settlement for emotional trauma if she decided to sue.

That's artsy cinema for ya.

2004-11-08T09:27:00.000-05:00

Survey says most Americans hopeful about recent presidential elections.

An AP/Ipsos poll shows about 1/4 Americans angry and/or depressed with the election. Nearly 6 out of 10 are "hopeful."

I guess John Edwards was right about hope being on the way.

6. Do any of the following words describe your own personal feelings about the results of the 2004 presidential election?

_Angry: Yes, 24 percent; No, 76 percent

_Proud: Yes, 46 percent; No, 53 percent; Not sure, 1 percent

_Excited: Yes, 37 percent; No, 63 percent.

_Hopeful: Yes, 58 percent; No, 42 percent

_Disappointed: Yes, 48 percent; No, 51 percent, Not sure, 1 percent

_Surprised: Yes, 29 percent; No, 71 percent

_Depressed, Yes, 27 percent; No, 73 percent

2004-11-07T15:52:00.000-05:00

The Helmand in Baltimore

I dined there last night with two friends, my first time trying Afghan cuisine, and it was quite good.

The restaurant is located on North Charles Street just a block or three north of the Washington Monument. It's pretty popular, so you should call ahead for reservations.

We began by sharing an appetizer called Kaddo Borawni, which is: "pan fried and baked baby pumpkin seasoned with sugar and served on yogurt garlic sauce." I'm not much a fan of pumpkin, but it wasn't that bad.

My buddy Serge tried the Koufta Challow, my herbivoric friend Caroline the Vegetarian Aushak, and I devoured the scrumptious Chopendez.

We didn't get desert, only coffee for Caroline and myself and Turkish coffee for Serge.

The prices were quite reasonable. For example, I was pleasantly surprised to find my pre-dinner beer (Pilsner Urquelle) was only $3.50, not the $4.50-$5.50 I had expected, and the entres and specials are about $10-15 each.

Anyway, give them a try sometime. You'll like it. It's especially a nice atmosphere for a date or a low-key evening out with a group of say three to five friends.

###

2004-11-04T10:03:00.000-05:00

Keep tellin yourself that, Chuckie

So last night on The Daily Show, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) basically chalked up the election loss to the gay marriage issue. Schumer said this happens a lot to Democrats, that Republicans sneak up on them with a sleeper social issue out of nowhere and use it to bludgeon them in the polls.

He's half right.

Democrats are far to the left of the public as a whole on social issues, or at the very least, their candidates for national political office are. This is a liability which the Democrats are unwilling or unable to address by selecting socially moderate-to-conservative candidates. That is their own damn fault.

And Schumer should know that gay marriages was NOT the only moral issue at stake. Embryonic stem cell research and partial birth abortion were also of concern to cultural conservatives who casts their votes in the President's favor. Fortunately for Republicans and for the nation as a whole, Schumer and the national leadership of his party don't look like they'll get that clue anytime soon.

But Schumer is also half wrong. The social issues Bush advocated were icing on the cake for a large swath of the electorate which generally agree with him and voted for him on the basis of his leadership, his economic policies, and his foreign and military policy.

I'm not buying that millions of Wisconsin, Nevada, New Mexico, Maryland, New York, and California Bush voters approved of Bush solely because of social issues. Bush's strong stance in the war on terror, his unwavering leadership in the face of intense criticism and recrimination (versus Kerry's flip flopping in the face of, well, differing political audiences) and Bush's advocacy of clear plans for taxes, Social Security, the war on terror, and Iraq, was a signal of confident, strong, determined leadership to millions of voters, including yours truly.

What I saw in Kerry were two instincts: one towards dovish and needlessly multilateral vacillation in foreign policy and the other towards very leftist solutions for America's domestic problems. Neither appealed to me and neither appealed to millions of other voters, although it's very likely Kerry's foreign policy views were more of a turnoff to voters on the fence who went for Bush rather than his domestic stances.

At any rate, as much as the political analyst in me wants to give some good amateur advice to Schumer to smell the roses and realize his party is too liberal and work to reform it, I'm quite contented as a partisan to see the Democrats dig in their heels and become more liberal over the next few years, only to suffer more electoral losses.

So, Chuck, here's a toast to your arrogant misunderstanding of the American voter. Enjoy the electoral Kool-Aid, and see you in January.

2004-11-02T21:41:00.000-05:00

Feelin good, baby

The mood is jovial here at work. Bush is doing well, reports from localities in Ohio and Florida look good for Bush in those states overall. Bush has an electoral vote lead in the states called thus far, and earlier states which were too close to call that went for Bush (Virginia, NC, SC, Mississippi) are solidly in Bush's camp.

Seems the exit polls were off, skewed to Kerry's favor.

We're quite optimistic here.

2004-11-02T17:50:00.000-05:00

Tense race in 27th-NY

Just talked to a friend of mine working the Nancy Naples race up in the 27th Congressional District of New York. Mentioned a little tense moment with Democratic-friendly local law enforcement. I kind of envy him being up there to do last minute reinforcement work in a close House race, but it is kinda nice to be here to watch all of this from the comfort of an office chair.

I'll hear back from him later in the evening. Maybe I can see if he can email me a little something I can post as a dispatch from a House battleground.