Wednesday, July 02, 2003

I’ve always been fascinated by the Holocaust, Hitler, and the circumstances of World War II. Mostly because it seemed unbelievable that people would allow such evil to continue as long as it did without at least attempting to stop it. My childish mind couldn’t conceive of such events, but as I grew older I learned that we humans are deeply flawed and selfish. To the point that we’ll not act when we know we should because it’s often not going to be pleasant.

My grandfathers both served in WWII--I never got the chance to learn from my paternal grandfather about his experiences with the Navy during the war. He died when I was 10 or 11. But my maternal grandfather was career Army and he’s still alive today at the ripe old age of 85.

He served with Patton in Africa. He narrowly missed D-Day because of a hernia. He helped liberate a concentration camp (I don’t know which one, he won’t talk about it). He was a communications officer, so I’m sure he’s got a ton of stories. And he’s faithful to go to each and every reunion of his fellow warriors (that are still alive).

Anyway, I say all this to say that we must never forget what men like my grandfather fought against and for. And others feel the same way. BigWig has an excellent essay about the holocaust along with some well hidden photographic evidence (along with some well researched history behind the photo) that it did, in fact, occur. They are gruesome, but a much needed reminder of that which we can never allow to happen again.

[via craig]

You may noticed that I closed (removed) the “nag” post. After sleeping on it, I decided it needed to be closed because I’m over my offendedness (I know, I made up that word). Thanks for listening and for the enjoyable comments groveling. I’m moving on.

I’ve risked being Googled to death with that post title, but I can’t think of a better one.

This is about Jerry Springer, potential Democrat Senatorial candidate for Ohio. He was on Sean Hannity’s radio show yesterday and I caught a little bit of their debate yelling match. (At one point, they were literally yelling over each other. The transcriptionist will have a hard time deciphering about 2-3 minutes of garbled stuff.)

They were discussing taxes. Not surprisingly, Springer is against Bush’s tax cuts ("they only benefit the rich, yadda yadda yadda"). He thinks that those who make $250K+ should have to pay 50% of their income in taxes in order to help the middle and lower classes not have to pay so much. Well, that got Sean going and he exclaimed that Jerry is a socialist, to which Jerry got very offended (this is where they started yelling).

So I thought I’d fact check on Sean’s definition of “socialism” and this is what I found:

socialism

So"cial*ism, n. [Cf. F. socialisme.] A theory or system of social reform which contemplates a complete reconstruction of society, with a more just and equitable distribution of property and labor.  (Source: Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.)

[via dictionary.com]

Maybe I’ll post sometime about my frustration with the left’s idea that capitalism is wrong.

Tuesday, July 01, 2003

I’m single and haven’t dated much. But for some reason I find that I’m giving a lot of dating advice to KR at work. I gave her a ton today at lunch and I wanted to make sure that what I was telling her was good, from the male perspective.

Assume that she is young (not that young - she’s 24) and attractive and relatively smart (although I could tell you a story from yesterday’s lunch that might call that into question, but we’ll pass that off as a blonde moment - and yes, she’s blonde). She has a good paying, steady job and is putting herself through college at night. She’s outgoing.

So here’s the scoop:

Tooling around the blogosphere I happened upon this little tidbit from Right Wing News.

...the American flag there and in other locations, as well as American pins have been removed from the museum. Oh they still have the British flags and the Canadian flags, but apparently they feel that the 9,386 American soldiers who died at Normandy & the 1,557 who went missing or weren’t identified, don’t merit representation.

UPDATE: For anyone questioning the veracity of the photo.

Oooh, my mother will not be happy to hear this:

Researchers haven’t found enough evidence to prove conclusively that vitamins can prevent conditions like cancer or heart disease, a U.S. government panel of experts says.

In fact, the Preventive Services Task Force says certain supplements can actually make matters worse…

[...]

“Vitamin supplements may be necessary for individuals whose diets don’t provide the recommended amounts of specific vitamins,” said the panel’s vice chair, Janet Allen, dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing. “However, the benefits of vitamin supplements for the general population remain uncertain.”

** By healthy eater, I mean she eats healthy stuff.

This post is for my parents, in case they take a minute to go online while they’re vacationing in upstate New York.

You know how I mentioned that I was thinking about taking Thursday off? It’s going to be Monday instead.

I realized that if I took Thursday off there would be no one up front for the one visitor we may have on that day. So I’ll be here.

Mrs. Cootiehog has been eliminated from the competition because I just emailed her the movie title.

A quick reminder on what the contest is:

I had a post title yesterday

Server Down, We’ve Got a Server Down!

Carlos had a good guess with Black Hawk Down, but it’s from a comedy not a drama.

And that’s the first clue I’ll give you.

There is a prize for whoever can figure it out and be the first to answer correctly in the comments.

WE HAVE A WINNER!! Timothy guessed So I Married an Axe Murderer, which is the movie from which I parodied my post title. Although as Jaynee pointed out in a comment, I was slightly off in my wording. But it was close enough, I think, for not having seen SIMAAM in years.

The exact quote (to be quoted in your best Scottish brogue):

We’ve got a piper down, I repeat, the piper is DOWN!

Congratulations, Timothy. Email me with your mailing address and I will get your prize in the mail to you.

Monday, June 30, 2003

Oh my…

Yes, I’m drooling…

The LOTR: Return of the King movie poster has been released.

Isn’t he purty?

[via chewie]

Is it really after 4pm already?

Sheesh.

LATER (4:53pm): Payroll is complete and we will all get paid.

In an interesting wrinkle, MD (my supervisor friend) handed me a weird note when I walked into her office to get a timesheet signed. She was on the phone so couldn’t explain what it was. So later she came to explain that it was for a job that’s just come open with Justice that she thought I’d be good for. Looking at it, I’m excited at the possibility even if it means commuting to the main Justice building in DC. And it would involve some travel. So I’m going to think and pray about putting in my resume for it. It would mean a lot more money and a promotion too if I got it.

I had a moment of panic at the thought of no internet access today when I powered up the computer at work and Netscape didn’t want to open. Rumor has it that the entire USMS server system was down this morning. So instead of playing around in the blogosphere this morning, I was able to get a lot of tedious tasks done in my first two hours on the job.

I was facing a boring day (with the exception of payroll, but I’m halfway done with that already). Half of the office is on vacation this week. A lot of the judges are on vacation this week. So there’s not going to be a whole lot going on.

I’m thinking of taking Thursday off. Just thinking at this point. But I’m thinking hard.

Oh, and who can name the movie I parodied the post title from? I might have a prize to the first person who answers correctly in the comments. Or you might just get the satisfaction of knowing you were the first to answer it correctly.

Sunday, June 29, 2003

I was going into the kitchen and I noticed that the TV in the living room (tuned to Fox News, of course, has announced the death of Ms. Hepburn.

I know that my sister will be very sad about this news as am I. She was a great old dame from the Golden Era of Hollowood.

My favorite Hepburn movies: Bringing Up Baby and Philadelphia Story.

I love CMT. Have I mentioned that? Their show Inside Fame is country’s answer to VH-1’s Behind the Music. This afternoon’s artist was John Denver. And I was reminded how much I love his music. I grew up listening to John Denver, I saw Oh God! in the theater, I used to wonder, “Who’s this chick, Annie, of Annie’s Song?”

Did you know that he started out in folk music - and by folk music I’m talking A Mighty Wind style folk music? I cracked up a little when they showed the groups from those days. Now I know why A Mighty Wind resonates with folks of my parent’s generation so well. Christopher Guest et al, completely nailed it in their parody. But I digress…

In one hour I learned a ton of info about JD. It’s too bad he died so young.

Saturday, June 28, 2003

I just saw an ad on Fox News Channel for the Baseball All-Star Game coming up.

I haven’t watched much baseball this season, so this was the first time I heard about the new twist. And I think it’s an excellent idea.

The league that wins the All-Star Game, gets home field advantage for the World Series.

That is such a great idea.

Today is Hootinanny, Part Two for the Summer of 2003**.

This weekend, rather than the typical bluegrass band, they have a southern rock band that reminds me a little of Lynard Skynard, but they’re no where as good. To me anyway, the crowd is really whooping it up back there.

**In case you missed it from early May (I think), there is a house behind my apartment complex that looks like it came straight from Deliverance. Every spring/summer they have what I call hootinannies - barbecues, with roasted meat, horseshoes, live music, and a ton of rednecks.