talk about flag waving ignorant idealism.....

My response to this guy's letter to the editor, Lincoln Journal Star, 22NOV2006. What a tool.

"Having friends who are gay, having traveled in countries where limited socialism works,served in the military during 2001, and being agnostic, I think your ignorance has managed to invoke an offense trifecta. Bravo! If the best that the blinder Republicans can do it hearken back to a Presidency where one of the worst things that happened was a Presidential infidelity ( an event that was ignored, barely mentioned, or lauged at outright for this country's outcome in most OTHER country's in the world) I can't wait for the next election. Repuclicans seem to lump so many assumptions of what they think the world is and should be all together and then trumpet it to themselves so much I can't help but believe that it must be some sort of mental disease. If the difference between the two Party's in power is bringing my brothers and sisters back from Iraq, a possible martial infidelity in the high offices, and less reliance on the misguided and historically inaccurate notion that this country was founded be theocrats, then I can't wait for 2008."


----------------------------------------------------
It’s a temporary setback

I notice that there has been an undue amount of fretting and moaning in these editorial pages over the recent midterm election results. Many upright folks such as Roger Conrad (Community Column, Nov. 18) have written in to predict what seems like the imminent defeat of this proud nation because of those same results.

I’d just like to offer a brighter perspective and say, don’t worry, this Democratic Congress won’t last. This is just a temporary setback.

Though the historically efficient and mighty legislative arm of government is now in the hands of the Liberace wing, the atheist lobby, and the Socialist Quilters Club, I say, take heart.

Soon, all the people of this great nation will come around, join the Republican Party and solidify the “permanent majority.” This will certainly make for a more robust democracy by assuring uniformity of opinion.

Once that is secured, we can move to the next step of getting everyone to wear the same basic type of shirt. Ahh, what bliss we will know!

Seth Felton, Lincoln

WTF!?

http://tinyurl.com/krzrj


Im almost speechless.

Emergency Contraception and the state of Idiocy

http://bitingbeaver.blogspot.com/2006/09/morality-clauses-ec-and-broken-condoms.html

This just blew my mind.....I mean, seriously-with this kind of criteria, why is regular birthcontrol allowed?

I seriously felt the need to adjust my overalls and go tend my horse and buggy after I read this. I guess I better build that tent for Kolette for that week out of the month that she is unclean.

"In Connecticut, it shouldn't take more than a short ride to get to another hospital"

- Joe Lieberman

Fuck that. I don't know about this site, but I came across it and looks to satisfy a need.

Good luck. http://www.getthepill.com/

Fall is in the air

I love fall. Its an amazing time of year that is just beautiful for outside types. The last few days have been rainy for most of time time, but occaisionally the sun will peek out. Nebraska football has started up and for those of you that care we seem to be doing pretty well after two games and two wins. Now, neither of them were conference play and one of them was our traditional throw away game to a smaller school but all in all not a bad showing.

School is in the air again as well-T is in 1st grade and seems to be enjoying it immensely. He had his first homework the other day and it took him about 10 minutes. Pretty neat....now if he could help me with stats!

S is going to the Winfield folk festival from Wednesday to Sunday-makes me sad-Tommy Emmanuel and John McCutcheon are going to be there among others. *sigh*

My friend Antariya emailed me today after a year and then some. She has completed her thesis and is a Psychologist now! Wow...and im just finishing my bachelors after life getting in the way and all that. I really wish her well-she has a BF that sounds like he's great and she lives in a place where travel is accessible and easy to do. We have a history and Fall usually reminds me of her and when we met, and, unfortunately broke up. (my fault-im an asshole and what is now is, but what was if it was today? Who knows. I was unforgivable in how I ended it and we didnt speak for about 6 years.)

I was so happy to hear from her....and now back to chasing my kids around the house. Ahhhh....domesticity!

You are a Pirate!

The reality of Parenting today. Sad.

We're Raising A Generation of Wimps (Psychology Today Article)
quote:

Maybe it's the cyclist in the park, trim under his sleek metallic blue helmet, cruising along the dirt path... at three miles an hour. On his tricycle.

Or perhaps it's today's playground, all-rubber-cushioned surface where kids used to skin their knees. And... wait a minute... those aren't little kids playing. Their mommies—and especially their daddies—are in there with them, coplaying or play-by-play coaching. Few take it half-easy on the perimeter benches, as parents used to do, letting the kids figure things out for themselves.

Then there are the sanitizing gels, with which over a third of parents now send their kids to school, according to a recent survey. Presumably, parents now worry that school bathrooms are not good enough for their children.

Consider the teacher new to an upscale suburban town. Shuffling through the sheaf of reports certifying the educational "accommodations" he was required to make for many of his history students, he was struck by the exhaustive, well-written—and obviously costly—one on behalf of a girl who was already proving among the most competent of his ninth-graders. "She's somewhat neurotic," he confides, "but she is bright, organized and conscientious—the type who'd get to school to turn in a paper on time, even if she were dying of stomach flu." He finally found the disability he was to make allowances for: difficulty with Gestalt thinking. The 13-year-old "couldn't see the big picture." That cleverly devised defect (what 13-year-old can construct the big picture?) would allow her to take all her tests untimed, especially the big one at the end of the rainbow, the college-worthy SAT.

Behold the wholly sanitized childhood, without skinned knees or the occasional C in history. "Kids need to feel badly sometimes," says child psychologist David Elkind, professor at Tufts University. "We learn through experience and we learn through bad experiences. Through failure we learn how to cope."

Read the rest here....

Nebraska in The The Spring (Summer, Actually)

For those of you that pop in from abroad, that aren't from the Midwest or are and live elsewhere and miss it for some odd reason (Shayna, Matt, et. al.) here are some pics from a storms passing in Southwest NE. I took these a year ago at my BinL's wedding, and they turned out OK.

My family, for whom I slave....

I never tell them enough, and they are too young to understand yet (except my wife). I love you guys....and ill do whatever I have to to make things work for you so that you don't have to grow up like I did.

Lighter pursuits of Gaiety and Mirth, or How I spent my Lunch Hour

Its not often that I read just for readings sake anymore. With kids, wife, house, work, etc the lighter pursuits seem to fade away like water from your lips on a hot day-cool and refreshing, then gone; evaporated into a pale, dry synomym of itself with just its fleeting promise of relief passed in the face of a relentless summer sun.

Yikes.


This anthology has a short story in it by Gary Braunbeck calls "Safe". Truly disturbing and yet sad and telling-reminding you that you are a hairs bredth away from any of the main characters, including the dead. It's a story about how a town tries to cope and understand a mass murder. It is told through the eyes of a relative of the murderer who was saved in the melee and how he is dealing with the reprucussions of the event years later while discussing a recent similar event with his High School students. It is an emotionally wrenching piece and is still reverberating-it reminds me a little of some of King's earlier short works like Shawshank-though the subject matter is more topically relevent for today.

Damn hot, Real hot, so hot....

"It's hot! Damn hot! Real hot! Hottest things is my shorts. I could cook things in it. A little crotch pot cooking." Well, tell me what it feels like. "Fool, it's hot! I told you again! Were you born on the sun? It's damn hot! It's so damn hot, I saw little guys, their orange robes burst into flames. It's that hot! Do you know what I'm talking about?"


and for your viewing pleasure:Five minutes at 5 pm.



























Lincoln Municipal Airport
Last Update on Jul 16, 4:54 pm CDT

Fair

103°F
(39°C)
Humidity: 29 %
Wind Speed: S 17 G 23 MPH
Barometer: 29.91" (1011.1 mb)
Dewpoint: 65°F (18°C)
Heat Index: 107°F (42°C)

Way to go, Nebraska

http://tinyurl.com/kxc6j

And the award for sending us back 50 years goes to:

I guess the "Good Life" is only for straight, not smoking, rich (property taxes), Heterosexual people that worship a fairy tale. Sorry to any Christians out there, but your bedtime story doesn't scare me.

Your ease with which you reduce an entire class of people based on your personal issues does.

Good grief, not this crap again....

http://tinyurl.com/hg43h-Comments

As a proponent for CCW, and a former soldier, I feel gratified that those of you who call concealed carry supporters "gun nuts" and "ego challenged" feel that way. By posting here, you just emphasize the very reason that we feel as we do. I don't think being in the Army and being injured on duty and discharged makes me "ego challenged" and I can honestly say that in that capacity I and others have done more than enough to stroke our collective Id. Thank you for showing us why some people feel the need to protect themselves from those with ill will-and from those whose inactivity and inability to act decicively endangers those around them when action is necessary. I feel for Chief Cassady and his demons, but all that proves is that the police can't be everywhere and not everyone needs a handgun concealed or otherwise-all things that CCW supporters in Lincoln have repeatedly addressed.

Vernor Vinge and the Brave New World

Rainbows End-Vernor Vinge
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1807882,00.html

http://tinyurl.com/qkyxq (Amazon link)


This book looks awesome! I should forward it to Dr. Dickerson at Doane ( Instructor of Technology and Philosophy)-it looks right up his ally.

A man with Alheimers has his brain 'fixed' and now must catch up to the world where computers are wearable, contact lenses generate terrain overlay mapping in real time and people can message with speed and so streamlined that it could be telepethy.

Vinge is a computer scientist, so he writes Hard Sci fi-it may get a little deep. This also led me to another author, Peter F. Hamilton (Reality Dysfunction series) that seems to be in the same vein. Off to B/N!

I Stole money so now I have a 'Gambling Problem' Wahhhhhhh....!

LJS comments section today, RE a CFO of a small hospital that stole a bunch of money and spent it gambling:

Lauren wrote on June 26, 2006 10:52 PM:"It is not surprising that this kind of behavior becomes more frequent with the casino's in near proximity. Placing them in Nebraska will simply add to the problem with even more devastating gambling stories. My heartfelt sympathy to his family and the people of Fillmore County. "

Ummm....Personal responsibility, much? I would suggest, though, that gambling addiction has become an easy out for those that steal large amounts of money and spend it. Sort of like 'post partum depression' has become the media darling excuse for " I killed my kids for no real reason" or PTSD for " I beat my wife and killed them because I was in Iraq/Somalia/Bosnia/Afghanistan/Etc." Personal responsiblity has gone completely out the window and Mr. Lulf has no one to blame but himself. Its not the casino's fault unless you try to make it so anymore than its the Army's fault for guys/girls that come back and used their training to hurt and kill others. Im a veteran and I havent beaten up anyone or killed them. While that logical fallacy makes ME look good it is still untrue as a whole, and applied in its reverse e.g. I did this or was here or suffer from this so Im not responsible for action X is just as fallicious.

Here we go again. We have another winner....

Here is a comment from the Lincoln Journal Star paper today regarding a petitioner that was removed from the Jazz in June festival (http://tinyurl.com/ksu3w), and my response. Hoo boy......

AP wrote on June 23, 2006 8:23 AM:

"A petitioner is not creating a disturbance by just asking people to sign a petition. If all it takes is for one person to complain about a petitioner on public property for a petitioner to be removed from public property, the right and the ability of anyone to ever circulate petitions will be greatly impeded. If a petitioner cannot circulate on public property, where exactly can a person circulate a petition? Anyone complaining about a circulator on public property is just trying to deny the people the rights that our constitution has afforded us. I know exactly what that officier was doing. Those that are against the anti-spending spending petitioner are putting information out to public employees telling them to complain whenever they see a petitioner. The university, police officiers and security personnel are paid for by tax money. They are all against the anti-spending petition and are being told to try and stop this effort. That is why so many petitioners in Omaha have been arrested or told to leave public areas. Probably the only reason the university made that statement was because this petitioner was well aware of his rights and contacted his lawyer. Just for your information this circulator was not circulating the anti-spending petition and he was a volunteer petitioner. Maybe none of the petitions that are being circulated this year are things that are important to you personally; but if anyone encourages this type of behavior from law officials or security personnel, they may find that they no longer have the right to express their views with a petition when it is something that they do care about. Once our rights are taken away it is very hard to get them back."


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow, AP. I think Ill put my Tin-Foil hat on now. How many conspiracies can be put into one paragraph? Just because UNL is paid for by taxpayers doesn't mean that it has open access to anyone at anytime, any more that a school ball field or a public library lobby if you aren't checking out books. The Uni has the right to bar people from their campus-you can't just go into their fitness facilities whenever you please, regardless of being taxpayer funded in part. Homeless peopel get removed all the time. Entities that are tax funded can and do have the ability to bar access. If the petitioner wasn't there for the concert, than they weren't part of the group that was granted access, e.g. the concert goers. Therefore, if someone complained, UNL with within their rights to remove them.

And, for a laugh, id love to see someone approach an UNL police officer and insinuate to them them that they aren't a 'real' officer. Id pay money to see that exchange.

Minimum Wage

Posted by me on the Lincoln Journal Star newspaper, Letters section. As a college student full time, employed full time, and father of three who grew up with food stamps, free lunches, etc-I take this personally. I make more than minimum *quite a bit* but the reality is that people still make 5.15 an hour and apparently Congress is more than happy to keep it that way. I don't see how its free market to deny a minimum wage raise, but vote a 3,000 dollar one for yourself with tax paid health and pension, etc. Seems to me that the free market is only talked about when trying to keep some from having all.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
One Senators response to their not voting it down was to say that its
a struggle between allowing the free market and forcing government
control onto small business. While on its face I see that rationale,
he invalidated it completely right afterwards saying that people that
make minimum should move to where the opportunity is and get training
to make them more employable. I laughed-with what are they supposed to
pay for training and when are they supposed to do it? How are they
supposed to move? If they recieve assistance because they are already
below poverty level and move, they have to fill it all out again and
check on a change of status. Realistically, how much training will
offset the stress of making 5.00 too much and losing whatever benefits
they may be receiving for assistance? This guy is an unrealistic tool.

Congress has denied a minimum wage increases, and lawmakers have voted
themselves seven pay raises worth $28,000 in the last decade.
Compounded with changes to bankruptcy laws that took place, I can't
wait for strike 3. Mike Enzi of Wyoming says " Wages do not drive
sales, Sales drive wages." Ummm...so If I make more, I just stick it
in my mattress? Senator Enzi's proposal to raise the minimum 1.10 an
hour would stipulate that states could not change their own minimum
and reclass overtime pay (again;Im a tech worker and that really
hurt). Where do they get these people? Another argument is that
"people shouldn't expect to make it on minum wage". Oh, okay-so a lack
of advanced skills, a medical disability, or bad geography should
determine whether or not someone can have a family? In case some
people haven't noticed, there are large portions of the US that are
completly habitable, but aren't near a major city where higher skilled
jobs usually are-so Urban Sprawl or below poverty wages. Give them a
bullet-at least they could afford that.

Busy day

/rant on

So yesterday was almost a fight in the making. K and I have been looking at fence to complete the back yard since there are some panels that are missing. We priced panels at HD and its going to be a few hundred dollars to do it all right. I have also been looking at getting a guitar since we had some money that didnt have to go anywhere. I worked it out so we could be almost all we needed for the fence, including some of the panels and still get a guitar. K decided that we would wait on the fence, so over a late breakfast after walking through Home Depot I mentioned taking my son to one of the local music stores to look at guitars and "buy a kazoo!". A trip to Walmart to pick up some incedentals and then T and I would be off on our own......

Napless children and a K with a list that was a little more than incedentals and I wasl upset. T was antognizing his little sister-she was being a butt, too. I took her outside amid protests from Kolette to come back. I was really upset and B was making a scene so I separated them. I brought B back in after about 15 minutes and we completed our trip, by this time I didnt care what she bought. We had a number to play with and I had it broken down for her and me. Well once Walmart was done I ended up getting a programmable thermostat, some orange hand cleaner, a few small garden hand tools and a uni remote for 7 bucks to try to fix the other CD player *didnt work, no codes*. The rest was pretty much hers. Final total 233 and some change, leaving us about 130.00 for this week until she gets paid on Friday. No problem, except that basically the choice was made for me that I wouldn't go to Dietze. All I wanted to do yesterday was look at fence, maybe eat out with the kids, and go look at guitars and maybe buy one(big 15% off sale going on). Instead 5.5 hours with K and the kids running around until 1600, then coming home-I installed the thermostat and we installed the waterline for the fridge. It is after 1800 at this point-Dietze is closed. So I go outside to mow to get away from K and the kids-and she paints a dresser in the garage and sends them out in the back yard-so much for that.


Grrrrrr.......I had a short list of stuff that I wanted to do yesterday amidst helping a friend pack for a trip and move his bags ( he's disabled a bit) and instead I watch most of our play money being spent and the one other major thing I wanted to do displaced completely. K can work for her boss and scrapbook to make some cash so K can buy some of her cosmetic stuff to keep herself active, but that just means that she's going to be gone every day this week that im not in class. I worked on little projects all weekend, Kol has to work today, she has to work around my schedule this week, and the one thing I wanted to do to relax was shot out the window.


/rant off

If its so great, why don't I feel happy?

Why, o why, after all that we've done with getting the house approved and closed on do I feel so down about it? I should be thrilled, right? Im a homeowner, one of the landed middle class, I exist with the beacon of my own little space on the tax map of Lincoln-yet I feel, well, whelmed.

No confetti, sunshine beam, hand holding while smiling man hands us keys to the background of Polyphonic Spree. A lot of papers, three unruly ( 2 of them wet) kids, and a plastic pen. Hmph. I have one key and K ran off with it to go paint so I didnt even get the satisfaction of putting the key on my ring.

Im excited, I really am-its just going to be a lot of work moving again and K has to work over the weekend. Id like to go gaming with M and not deal with the kids or any of it but I don't think that is going to happen-last week it was distracting to have them there. Id like to play on a night when Im there by myself without the 'girls' or the kids sometimes-I get to go out, but when K goes out I have the kids most of the time. When I go out we all go because the girls still want to get together. *sigh* I need to find a hobby or a friend not related to my wife and her friends.

Got my grades , though. Due to an attendance issue I got an F because there is a fixed two miss policy. I got a 2.9 for the term, and my cumulative is a 3.4. I can get that to a 3.6 or so in 8 hours-maybe a 3.7 by the time I graduate. Should be enough for honors I think.

I close I close

Well, we close tomorrow @ 100. Lunch at 1230 until 2-hopefully that will be enough time. Appliances are in, we are go for liftoff.

Yes, apparently...it is.

We close in 6 days, and have the HO policy in place. Other than being poorer than crap right now until we close, we had a bit of a curveball this weekend as we found out that K's grandmother passed away on Friday morning so its off to the western reaches of the state for the gathering. Hopefully that will go well, though I also sort of hope that I will have the kids and K goes to the funeral-not being disrespectful, but I didnt know her that well.

Oh yeah....and heres what I think of my wife in more than one word (for those of you that got that email) Playful, provocative, sexily intelligent, patient, sexy, patient...(yes, I meant that twice). I love you.

Is this really happening?

Well, we've signed the purchase agreement, gotten the sellers disclosure, and we are supposed to close on the 26th. Since my landlord is a butt, we can't break our lease, even though we've been among his better renters. Cest la vie. We'll have three months to move, then and get our deposit back. ( finally unbudgeted money...that will just about cover getting the windshield wipers fixed on the van!) Every one seems to be happy and congratulatory but Kol talks to more people than I do... the 'rents, etc.

My mother has been fighting colon cancer since 2000 and is in and out of remission. She was recently diagnosed with a colorectal secondary metastasis on her liver-basically colon cancer cells that have moved. There are the same chemicals that she has taken so far, with a combination shot of Erbitux that she can take, but she will have to come to Lincoln for experimental trial for some of it. If she takes chemo in Beatrice it will be drugs that she has taken before without the benefit of another trial drug. She doesnt know what she's going to do yet....

So we're on the road to respectable...

So, we are buying a house. Spurred on by our search for a rental I found a property owner in Lincoln who is willing to sponsor new homeowners based on financial income and gut reaction. He holds the mortgage note, we hold the deed and can do what we want with it-sell, refinance, etc. Our taxes and insurance for the second year are rolled into the monthly payment, and the interest is higher than a "prime" first time loan, but I can knock that down when we refinance. Im thinking the speculation in housing will burst as the price of gas goes up, so interest should drop to spurr homebuying. In any case, refinancing is much easier when you already hold the house and have made payments.

Its got a huge back yard and a suitable front yard for light entertaining and a small flat bricked patio in front. 1 car attached garage, 3 1 bedroom and a full basement, finished and carpeted. There is 1 full bath and one .25 (toilet) downstairs that could be moved across the basement and built into a real bathroom. The basement walks out into the back yard...I can't wait for the nudging reminders that everyone else has had Christmas and Thanksgiving all these years......*lol*

We are too thrilled to speak and we go to look over the purchase agreement tomorrow, set interest rates, payments, etc. We already know, but it will be on paper now. Pretty scary-Betsie bought a house last month thorough NIFA and whatnot and a bank. While her banker was a ditz, the realtor types were okay-and her credit/debt load/student loans are less then ours together. We didnt have to pay points and commissions, and once you subtract for the insurance and taxes escrowed from our monthly payment we are right about on par with where we should be for a monthly mortgage payment. I want to terrace the back yard and Id love to build a theater in part of the basement perhaps ( or upstairs ). Kol has ideas for colors. Trevellian wants a dog, and my daughters already know they want purple *shudder* in their rooms. How cool is that...almost 30 and im pushing respectability. Ive already got the minvan, too.

Perils of parenthood

I seriously can't believe that my wife and I are the only ones that have had their child go around the corner at the supermarket or step slow at the zoo and find themselves lost in people. In our case my youngest daughter decieded to see the neighborhood in which we live after my 6 year old opened the door to get the UPS package that had been left and didnt close the door again. My wife had lain downstairs with both daughters, but fell asleep as our youngest came back upstairs-and proceeded to go on a tour of the front yard. Some busybody neighbor found her, I guess, and called a cop. My daughter was outside for about 15 minutes, the cop brought her back with neighbor lady who looked at my wife and said "maybe if you are going to sleep you should lock the door" in a really smart ass tone.

If my son hadnt opened it, it would have been closed. Stuck up. Just becuase I live in a depressed part of town im some sort of neglectful parent; we dont live here because our house rent and utilites are really cheap ( all paid by our landlord, we pay rent, thats it) and its 9 blocks from my wifes job or anything.

excitement

So here I am on another saturday morning, watching a bunch of computer screens. The good thing, I guess, is that in two weeks, Ill still be watching computer screens but ill be doing it in the sunshine! wow...Sunshine-day time, whatever will I do? I will be leaving where I currently work and moving on to another company that develops SW for county assessors and treasurers. I won't be developing, but I will doing a combination of TS and training new users in other states. I can't wait! It should be great...

Its snowing now. Right now. No...really......
We are supposed to get several inches over the next few days. It must be winters last hurrah, I guess.
Im listening to my Mindisc player and anticipating lots of loverly calls from retailers where there is snow on their equipment and it may or may not disrupt what they are trying to do. They think it does, but its not supposed to. They still call in, though. *sigh*

Have you seen Serenity yet?

So, im interviewing for a management position in the company I work for on Monday. " Just an informal interview" im told. I know two of the three interveiwers-I wonder if I should be slightly insulted? I sort of hoped for the whole shebang-I also know the three other people that are interviewing! But hey, its their management culture, too-laid back, informal unless something requires formality to deal with it.

Got my grades, too. 4.0 for the term, still 3.83 for cumulative. ( is that right? I thought that it would change, but apparently not). Im taking two marketing classes this term, 6 hours ( macro and 'Marketing') Both are academic classes, no final papers or presentations-just quizzes and tests. Pretty cool, really.

My wife is going to visit the inlaws this weekend for a late Christmas-Ill have two days of glorius sleep!