Peace On Earth

It seems like Peace on Earth is a far off fantasy and that human kind are incapable of getting along with each other.

Well I don't believe that. I believe it is an obtainable goal if people could learn to put their differences aside and celebrate diversity rather than try to force other people to be like them.

We should try Peace - for a change.

I'll have 2 eggs over easy with ham and a new car please.

Can someone please explain how these three Senate items got grouped together?

• Money to support our troops
• Money to help Hurricane Katrina victims
• Approval of the Arctic Oil Plan

This is not only crazy but reeks of dishonesty. The only way I can think of for grouping these three items (and more) together is to try to pass something that would unlikely pass on its own. This practice has to stop and should be outlawed - especially for big ticket items like these. Each of these items should be voted on separately. To group them together is wasteful and political BS.

I applaud our Senators for (narrowly) defeating this bill.

Bad Cord Luck

I suffer from a condition I've decided to call "Bad Cord Luck". Let me explain:

Whenever I go to pull a garden hose, extension cord or anything else that could possibly get caught on something - it absolutely will get caught. It is no longer a question of "if" it will get caught but more likely what will it get caught on? There have even been times when I'm winding something up and there clearly is nothing around that could impede my progress. In that case the item somehow gets caught up in itself. Tangled messes are a daily occurrence for me.

This is especially evident during the Holidays with all the light strings, extension cords, garland, and don't even get me started on tinsel. After realizing this pattern in my life I've decided to find it "interesting". It also extends to other parts of my life. Traffic lights - always red. Checkout line at the store? You can rest assured the tape will run out or they will change shifts just as I approach.

I only have myself to blame for all this. Some years ago I prayed for patience. I've heard that God works in mysterious ways and I guess bad cord luck = lots of patience!

Vote for President Bush?

Today I saw a bumper sticker that read:

Support
PRESIDENT BUSH
and the Troops

Interesting how a President in his second term would need to continue to campaign. Personally, I think there should be a law that says a president may not be elected unless they receive 2/3 of the vote. It's dangerous (and a little sad) that half the country doesn't support their own president. We need to elect people who are more politically "middle of the road" instead of a person who aligns hard right or hard left.

A Life Of Death

Today the state of California executed Stanley Tookie Williams after over 20 years on Death Row. His execution is surrounded by controversy and rightly so. But I'm not going to comment on his guilt or weather he was rehabilitated or not. Rather I'd like to comment on the length of time he spent with a sentence of death on his head.

As I've said before, I do not support capital punishment - but if our laws support it why should it take so long? It makes sense to me that no one should be sentenced to death unless they are absolutely, 100% without-a-doubt guilty. In that case, it seems inhumane to keep a person waiting over 20 years for that eminent execution to occur. In my opinion, once the sentence of death is given - it should occur with 24 hours.

Over There

Once again, President Bush said in a speech today : "Our short-term objective is to stay on the hunt and bring the killers to justice before they hurt us again." "I'd rather be defeating them there than face them here at home." (excerpt from USA Today)

Meanwhile, earlier this week the 911 commission gave the USA a failing grade on their effort to combat terrorism here at home.

There is a HUGE problem with this theory: Where is "over there"? Currently, I suppose, it is in Iraq, or some other middle eastern country. But they are not the only country with disrespect for the United States. That list changes all the time and is growing very fast under the direction of our current Administration.

Republicans are always saying that Democrats "just don't get it". Here is what they don't get: If you focus on protecting our country OVER HERE, then you are protecting the country from ALL the threats. The number one priority in this country should be protecting us from terrorism right here - right now.

Empty Alters

So the new Pope thinks that homosexuals shouldn't be priests. Good luck with that! Personally, I don't think the problem is with homosexuals, I think the problem is with celibacy. It is un-natural for a human being (or any being) to suppress their sexuality. Doing so only creates sexually frustrated people who will eventually act on that frustration - regardless of their sexual identity.

This is a clear case of treating a symptom and ignoring the cause.

Just for the record, I do have a theory on why there are so many homosexual priests in the Catholic Church. The church teaches that homosexual conduct is not acceptable and so homosexuals must remain celibate. If a person is condemned to a life of celibacy, why not just become a priest? I can speak on some authority about this topic because it nearly happened to me. I thought of becoming a priest once for just that reason. Thankfully I realized that celibacy is a ridiculous notion and so I didn't become a priest. However, I was an alter boy for many years and never once was inappropriately touched by a priest - many of whom I'm sure were homosexual. So either there are many good homosexual priests, or I was just a really unattractive alter boy.

What's the Plan?

I find it hard to believe that most of the people who supported the Iraq war from beginning are now the ones screaming that we should pull our troops out immediately. It is a ridiculous notion that we could turn a country upside down for whatever reason and then just leave while they are still in turmoil.

No. Now that we have started this mess, we MUST finish it. While we do not need an abrupt end to the support from our troops, what we do need is a plan, or more specifically - goals. I think setting a timetable is a very good idea.

A timetable of some sort will help everyone understand where we are headed. It would help the troops feel like they are not fighting an endless war. And it would help the Americans (and the world) see what progress is made toward that particular goal. But this is where I think President Bush has a problem with the concept.

The President does not want to put a timetable on our actions because it could look very bad for him if we do not accomplish that goal. He has admitted no fault up to this point, but putting a timetable in place and possibly not meeting it would clearly show a failure of sorts. He can't risk that. And so it goes on and on and on with no end in sight.

Goals are good. The President should swallow his pride and set up a timetable for our actions. Doing so would not mean we would suddenly stop supporting Iraq at the end of the stated time, but merely give us all something to shoot for (pardon the pun).

Santa Is a Jew

I saw Santa Clause today. Well I thought it was him anyway - he certainly looked the part. He wasn't wearing his usual Holiday attire, in fact he was in normal business clothes, but he looked exactly like Santa - except for the yamaka.

I guess it makes sense. After all, Jesus was Jewish so why not Santa Clause? The fact that Jesus was Jewish is a fact most people ignore, along with the fact that he was also Middle
Eastern. The ironic part is that if Jesus were physically alive today most "Christians" wouldn't want to associate with him. They would more likely ask him to get off the plane.

I'm not sure if I even have a point in this post. These thoughts just occurred to me today after I saw Santa in a yamaka.