Harvey Corman R. I. P.

The passing of a great comedian always make the world seem a little less bright, a little more dull.
I was fortunate to see Harvey Corman and Tim Conway at Harrah's Rincon. It was such a pleasant evening to see funny, clean comedy for a change.





You know, I always had my suspicions about Methodists. Thanks Harvey.

More Than Just Numbers

646,392

320,518

1,076,245

103,284

211,454

2,442

44,308

What are these numbers? They represent the number of U. S. soldiers wounded or killed in

War Between The States (Civil War)

World War 1

World War 2

Korean War

Vietnam

Afghanistan (as of 31-Dec-2007)

Iraq (as of 31-Dec-2007)

How strange and how disheartening to me that the majority of people in this country will honor these men and women (and many others) by getting drunk and watching television. At 3:00pm I would hope that there is at least a slight pause in your activities to remember those who gave their all so that you have retained your right to do whatever it is you are doing today. These and many others took the following oath and lived those responsibilities:

"I, _____, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

Those of us who remain should remember what it means to affirm, to commit, to "swear" an oath. In today's world it is far too easy to be morally "squishy", to be non-commital, to not choose a side, to wait and see if something better comes along, to save our own hides at the expense of others. These men and women didn't, and we are a better country for it. I am reminded of what President Reagan said at the 40th anniversary of D-Day:

" Today the living here assembled -- officials, veterans, citizens -- are a tribute to what was achieved here 40 years ago. This land is secure. We are free. These things are worth fighting and dying for."

The Last Of My Vices

And given what current research is turning out, soon the wine will not count. Good.

Beginning Of The End For Don't Ask, Don't Tell?

OK, it's time to grow up and get rid of that incredibly stupid Clinton legacy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT). Just how many ways could Bill Clinton say "smoked but.. didn't inhale"? That is what DADT reminds me of... you can be gay, but you can't tell anyone or "act like it" (whatever that means). How so very Catholic of him. But now we may have a glimmer of hope. This week the 9th Circuit became the first court to review the military policy of DADT since the landmark case of Lawrence v Texas. Under Lawrence, the 9th Circuit said Wednesday, "Don't Ask" must be subjected to something more stringent than the rational basis test. The upshot is that the 9th Circuit's ruling makes it far more difficult to discharge someone simply because of their sexual orientation. They now have to make a specific case for discharging that person under consideration and that no other options are possible for that particular person. If it stands, this means being gay is not enough to disqualify you from active military service. You can read the entire ruling here.

Dinner Conversation

Saturday night I had the pleasure of spending time with Mr. Beau and friends, eating and drinking the evening away. At one point the mass of cells located in my cranium aligned to make me think strange thoughts (well, not so strange for me but it would be strange for many people) about how given the different genders, sexual orientations, ages and backgrounds that it would be a good time to talk about something "deep" (after all, Smurfs seemed to dominate the first part of the dinner). Given the situation I launched into Plato's Symposium. Given that the title itself comes from the Greek and roughly meaning a "drinking party", I introduced the same topic discussed in that work, namely, what is love? I took a little different tact and asked the more concrete question "What do you look for in someone to form a relationship?". While not allowing for such responses as Aristophanes' regarding the feeling of wholeness one finds in that special person they love (one of my favorite pieces in Plato's writings), I admitted that I look for a "Dr. Phil" guy. What I meant was someone who observed many of the "life rules" set forth in one his earlier books Life Strategies. In short the idea is that you have to be realistic in that the world is the way it is. It's not fair, it's not nice, and you have to have your eyes open. You have to take responsibilities for your actions. Each of us create our own experiences. You have to be honest to yourself before you can be honest with anyone else. In short, someone who is real, grounded, honest. I don't want someone who is the way they are because they think that is what I want but they are the way they are simply because that is the way they are. In a relationship I want someone who understands that how they treat me creates their own experience of the relationship. If you ignore me, you can't sit around asking why I don't contact you, you need to start with yourself. If you don't make time for me in your life because you want me in it, then don't be surprised if I don't make time in my life for you. Get the picture? Outside of autoeroticism or narcissism, love and relationships involve more than one person. I think that starting with these traits as the foundation, traits of moral strength and looking at the world in a realistic way, you can be more assured that the person you are with is the person they say they are and that their feelings for you are real, honest, and open. I was lucky, because sitting at the other end of the table was someone who has almost all of these traits and he wants to be with me.

Not as eloquent as Plato, but I think I am more fortunate.

What We Miss By Not Looking

Mr Beau took me on a date today to see the second installment of the Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian. Like the first movie, this one touched me. Call me silly and sentimental, but simple statements of faith and truth can move me to tears. One of the most poignant exchanges comes between Lucy, the youngest child, and Peter who is the oldest:

Peter: Why didn't I see Aslan?
Lucy: Perhaps you weren't looking for him.

Immediately thoughts go to Jeremiah 29:12 - 14 where we find the promise given to Israel "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity."

If you seek, you will find. How often we miss this simple truth in our daily lives. We walk around with blinders on, often missing the big picture of life happening around us. How many relationships are ruined, opportunities lost, hours drained from our lives just because we do not open our eyes and look around us? How much do we miss by not living in the moment, observing our own behaviors and the reactions of those closest to us? As Doctor Phil says, we create our own experiences. The choices we make each day have consequences, but how often do we go about our lives asking how things could be like they are rather than asking how they could be any other way? How much do we miss because we don't look? Whether it is of eternal value (missing God because we don't look for Him in our daily lives) or temporal (the chance for happiness or to cut off actions that could lead to sadness and trouble), our lives are lessened when we fail to look.

Dang, My Character Died

Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Albus Dumbledore Strong and powerful you admirably defend your world and your charges against those who would seek to harm them. However sometimes you can fail to do what you must because you care too much to cause suffering. Albus Dumbledore 90% Hermione Granger 80% Remus Lupin 75% Sirius Black 65% Ron Weasley 65% Ginny Weasley 65% Severus Snape 65% Harry Potter 60% Draco Malfoy 55% Lord Voldemort 25%

My Oh My

And in other "pink" news we have the disgraced former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevy. I love this bit in the article:

"Now an Episcopal seminary student, McGreevey, 50, said he owes a prior divorce lawyer at least $116,000 and has not paid his first ex-wife any child support this year. He said he relies on his boyfriend to pay legal bills and other expenses.

McGreevey said he is indifferent to money and passed up opportunities to increase his income during his marriage by instead running for public office."

Indifferent to money? Typical Democrat... I'm indifferent to money so I will take all of yours to spend. OK, cheap shot (but true LOL). I suppose if I didn't pay my own bills and didn't pay child support to my first ex-wife I would be indifferent to money as well.

I wonder how his "boyfriend" is taking this? Perhaps I should have a talk with him given my own background in such relationships, but you would think being a financial adviser he would know about the "investment" in McGreevey...

First Battle's Over

The California Supreme Court overturned the ban on gay marriage (you can read the brief announcement here or the entire opinion on it here).

Now the really hard work comes. It appears there are enough signatures on a petition to put it to a vote on amending the constitution to ban same-sex marriage. If this passes then the Supreme Count in California will have no choice on any further cases since it is the sole purpose of the court to determine the constitutionality of a law. But for the moment, a little celebration.

Almost Forgot

I got sick over the weekend and almost forgot to tell you that Mr. Beau took me to see Michael Bublé live in concert! So this is for him...

One Of My Favorite Dr Who Scenes

Proof That Republicans Have Been Infected

Front page of the 06-May-2008 San Diego Union Tribune in an article titled States join call for gas tax relief we have this quote for Florida's Republican Governor Charles Crist:

It's about trying to serve the people and trying to understand and have caring, compassionate hearts for what they're dealing with at the kitchen table... I'm supposed to respond to the people and try to make them happy

Ugh. Just like Democrats Gov. Crist's remarks separate him from others in his state ("the people", "they", "them"). Then to add even more evidence of their leftward march he states that he is "supposed to... try to make them happy". Sad. Very sad. It was my understanding that we as citizens have the right to pursue happiness ala the Declaration of Independence, but for someone, especially an elected official, to feel like they have to make people happy? As any good therapist knows, others cannot make you happy, only you can make you happy. Until we get out this entitlement type of mindset we will never honestly address the ills of our society.

Iron Man A Conservative?

Well, at least Robert Downey, Jr. In an interview with the New York Times Downey makes the following self-outing:

"I have a really interesting political point of view, and it’s not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you can’t go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal. You can’t. I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics every since."

Another little tid-bit... when Downey was trying to get back into films but uninsurable, it was Mel Gibson who put up the money to insure him so that film companies wouldn't be scared off. Now Mel has his own issues, but it's an interesting little piece of news that somehow didn't quite make it into the major press markets (shoot, look how far down the interview RDJ's "confession" was buried).

Hmmm... will Stark Enterprises make a bid for Halliburton?

Cynical on Obama

This morning I was greeted with the yet another Obama/Wright story.
I'm sorry, but this really smells like an attempt by the Obama people to try to evade the fact that Obama sat under the teachings of a racist hatemonger masquerading as a minister of the Gospel. I can just see Obama's people talking with Wright saying "Barrack is really taking some heat. Go out and something that he can really denounce so he can say 'See, I disagree with my former pastor'." Is this too cynical? Watching Wright's interview I don't see so much more than what I saw in the released sermon videos. NOW Obama's "outraged"? NOW, just after the interview, he condemns the remarks? Let's get real... even the article says that Wright reiterated his charges against the United States. Of course, Obama uses his standard method of deflection of anything that could damage him... he called them divisive and said his supporters should just move on. Hopefully this story doesn't move on because it is just such things that provide insight into who Senator Obama really is. I mean, it's not like he really has legislative leadership or a voting record we can examine.

Elite

If I hear one more defense of Obama not being an elitist I think I will wretch. The arguments of the Democrats are so lacking in any logic that the mere fact people repeat it makes me want to suggest psychological counseling for them (or at least philosophical counseling). I saw three TV talk shows with three different Democrat pundits spouting the same two pieces of "evidence" to prove that Obama is not an elitist:

1. He was brought up by a single mother.
2. He is just now paying off his student loans.

Please, can anyone tell me what this has to do with being an elitist? Being an elitist has nothing to do with how many people reared you or how long it took you to pay off your college loans (perhaps had he not attended such elite schools he would have been out of hock sooner... or perhaps he should have taken a job that would have allowed him to meet his obligations in a more timely manner). Being an elite has everything to do with a sense of who you are compared with others, being "better" or superior to others. Take a look at what Merriam-Webster has to say about the definition of elite and then tell me how either of the aforementioned two points come into play on whether or not Obama is an elite. The man degraded a large number of folks in Pennsylvania on their beliefs, and please don't forget his backhanded statement on wearing a flag lapel pin (apparently only his definition of patriotism is true patriotism). When he isn't elitist he's patronizing.

I swear, the more I pay attention to this man I don't understand the magic.

The One Thing

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”
-- Victor Frankl, Man's Search For Meaning

I may not be able to chose many things in this life that affect me, but I can choose how I react to their effect. I can let things get me down if I so choose, or I can select another attitude toward the situation. That choice is mine and mine alone. I accept responsibility for my choice and take responsibility for whatever comes of that choice for it is mine and mine alone to make... or in other (better) words:

"Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible."

The Real Reason For My Elevated Blood Pressure

I think it was this article in U. S. News & World Report that set it off. That's what I get for reading it while working the elliptical machine at the gym. Sadly, almost every "problem" that the article discusses as needing big government to fix was caused by government in the first place. In IT we call this "job security".

Officially Entering Old Age

Well, it happened... yesterday I have officially entered "old age". Why? Yesterday my doctor put me on blood pressure medication. It's mild, hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic. We had a good discussion (I really like my doctor, he listens to me and lets me tell him what to... up to a point, but that is because he has done a good job of educating me over the years). But the elevation is most likely caused by bodily changes including the roughly 20lbs I have accumulated over the last couple of years. Everything else is excellent, no worries about anything else. So until I drop the weight and we test again I will at least have a valid medical excuse for leaving long, boring meetings early.

What I Was Taught

I don't know if either of my parents read Kipling in high school but these sentiments create memories of what they tried to instill in my sister and me:

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

My Usual Movie Experience

It is usually the case that the more often I see a movie I originally didn't care for the more it grows on me. That was the case as I watched Star Trek The Motion Picture. As I watched it while working from home I found I actually enjoyed it. One thing that stood out for me this time is that I have come to think that the first 20 minutes had some of the best mood-setting music I have heard for a movie. Guess that is what happens when you pay attention.