Monday, October 18, 2004

At lunch a coworker casually mentioned that he bought Fahrenheit 9/11 and watched it this weekend. IThat got my blood pressure going and immediately I implored him not to believe that pack of lies. I told him that he could dislike the President all he wants, but not to do so because of that film. His response, “It was interesting to watch, though.”

Yeah, I have no doubt that it’s entertaining, but it’s not based on truth.

So I sent him the link to Dave Kopel’s debunking of the film. I’m hoping he’ll read it.

We had a discussion months ago about the electoral college - he’s one that thinks it’s past time to get rid of it, thinking that the popular vote is the way to go. I couldn’t convince him that the electoral college is the fairest way to ensure that the smaller states have a say in our national elections.

Sunday, October 17, 2004

I almost forgot that I had the prayer for today. There are still dates open. If you’re interested in contributing, see this post.

Gracious heavenly Father,

You are the Creator of the universe and the King of Kings. You rule over all nations, and yet You have given Man charge over the earth. We confess that we are sinful people and as a result we greatly mess up the beauty that is your Creation. Please forgive us our arrogance and selfishness and neglect for all that You have given to us so richly. Help us to be wise stewards of that which You have given us and entrusted to our care.

Lord, we specifically pray for our enemies, both personally and nationally. We pray that You would protect us from our enemies and grant us security. We thank you for the generous men and women who serve as the front line of protection for our shores and we pray for their safety and blessings. Their sacrifice ensures our safety and we honor them.

Lord, we pray for those who would seek to kill our citizens or overthrow our country. You have blessed America with prosperity and freedom for over 200 years. We ask for Your continued blessing over our nation and thank You for it. We pray that our enemies would know that our only aim in the world is peace and freedom for all people. We pray that You would use our influence and resources to continue to lend aid to other nations in need - be it military intervention, financial aid, medical assistance, gifts of food, training in new technologies, or any other practical need we can fill.

We thank You that we are able to do these things and more. We thank You that we have a leadership that wants to do these things and more. Thank You for a President and Congress who understand that we have a greater mission outside our borders - to be the shining light for the oppressed, to be the helper for the needy, to be the might for the weak - to spread freedom as granted by You for all people. We continue to pray for President Bush and his administration as they seek practical and positive solutions to world disagreements - we pray that You would be their guide and strength in troubled times.

We know that You are faithful to hear and answer the prayers of Your people. We pray these things in the confidence that You are at work already and in the power of Jesus’ name. Amen.

There’s a local chain of restaurants in the DC area, called Great American Restaurants, that offers some of the best quality food and atmosphere in the area. I’ve eaten at a few of their establishments and they are consistently excellent.

I bring them up because I went to lunch with my parents at Artie’s today. It had been at least a year since I last ate there, but with each visit it seems that the food gets better. They remodeled the interior a few years ago - it’s Adirondack-y with dark, rich woods, a sailing motif, and beautiful lake mural artwork. The waitstaff are top notch and the service is fantastic.

On Sundays they serve brunch and my Dad and I both had Eggs Benedict. Mine was with salmon, Dad’s was with crab cakes - we shared and it was delish. Mom had a salad (I can’t remember which one) with lobster bisque. Our appetizer was the blue crab fritters and we finished our meal with dessert - Mom and I split the banana pudding (scroll down for the description) and Dad had the hot fudge sundae. The banana pudding was some of the best I’ve ever had - I brought home the little bit we didn’t finish. The sundae was huge and Dad managed to polish it off nicely.

If you’re ever in Fairfax, VA, try to find Artie’s - you will get a fabulous meal at reasonable prices.

I can heartily recommend Mike’s American, Sweetwater Tavern, and my parents loved Coastal Flats as well.

Saturday, October 16, 2004

ECD and I moved another batch of boxes to her basement today. She and her daughter came over to be introduced to Annie on her turf - that went very well. Annie’s social skills have greatly improved over the past couple of years; it’s a direct attribution to my small group meeting regularly here and Annie having adjusted to random girls in her house at times. The meeting with ECD and her daughter, whom I shall call Nee here, went so well that ECD suggested that I bring Annie to her house to meet their dog, Sassy. I was nervous, but it had to happen sometime.

We entered the house with Annie on her leash. Sassy was in her crate and went ballistic at the sight of the intruder dog. Sassy is a Silky Terrier mix that weighs maybe 13 pounds (Annie is 30 lbs), but she’s only 18 months old and is a scrappy little thing. She comes by her name honestly. ECD was scared to let her out because of her frenzied barking.

ME: Let her out. They’ll need to work it out.

ECD opened the door on the crate and Sassy was a blur of white as she bolted straight towards Annie. I had Annie on a short leash right next to me when Sassy jumped on Annie and latched onto the back of Annie’s neck with her teeth. (Don’t worry, Annie’s got a lot of hair and the scruff of the neck is very fleshy - it’s hard to injure a dog on that part of their body.)

There was much snarling and growling and barking - it was loud. We let them go for about 30 seconds, then I told ECD to grab Sassy. I grabbed Annie and we separated the dogs for a couple of minutes, checking for any injuries (there were none). When they were calm, I told ECD to let Sassy go again. For a second 30 seconds the dogs battled with Sassy latched onto Annie’s scruff. After another rest period, I told ECD to let Sassy go a third time. This time Annie fought back, Sassy was unable to get to Annie’s scruff, and after a couple of seconds of growling, Sassy turned her rear end into Annie’s face.

ME: I think Annie will be the alpha dog in the house. Sassy just showed submission to her by turning like that.

See, the first couple of times, when Sassy was attacking, Annie let her because she knew she wasn’t in her own house and I was there to protect her. Sassy was protecting her turf. After the first tussles, Sassy realized that Annie was safe and more dominant and turned her rear to show her submission. Almost immediately, they started sniffing each other so ECD and I went to carry in the boxes and then we cooked and ate dinner in relative peace.

There were a few other mini-battles with the dogs. Mostly they were of the growling and teeth-baring variety - no biting, just a lot of noise. I’m sure we’ll have to go through this process a couple more times until we move into the house permanently, but I predict that they’ll be friends by Christmas.

Right now, Annie is crashed on the bed and snoring loudly. The poor old lady is tuckered out from a hard afternoon.

On my commute home last night I saw another of the “Bush Terrifies Me” bumper stickers. This lady was driving a Civic hybrid with “clean fuel” personalized plates. Ah, a scared greenie.

There are more Bush-Cheney bumper stickers that I’m seeing, although it sort of depends on where I’m driving. Out my way, it’s pretty much all Bush-Cheney. The closer I get to Alexandria the more Kerry-Edwards stickers I see. That’s not too surprising since the fine residents of Alexandria keep electing Jim Moran as their Congressman.

At the local congressional race level, I’m seeing a ton of signs for James Socas the Democrat running against the very popular incumbent, Republican Frank Wolf. It’s highly unlikely that Socas will defeat Wolf, this is a pretty conservative district.

Friday, October 15, 2004

Lawren asks a fascinating trivia question. (You’ll have to click to her blog to actually read it.)

I have to admit that I never would have imagined the answer. Brilliant and it gives me a whole new appreciation for commercial voiceovers - you never really know who’s voice it is that you’re listening to.

I was searching for a particular news story and stumbled upon this one about grand jury secrecy.

In the meantime, here’s the article that I was originally looking for.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Reuters) - A prominent U.S. Muslim activist was sentenced on Friday to 23 years in prison for illegal financial dealings with Libya and for his role in a Libyan plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader.

[...]

In July al-Amoudi pleaded guilty to three charges—illegally receiving and attempting to export $340,000 in cash from a Libyan organization and immigration and tax violations—as part of a plea deal.

Al-Amoudi, founder of the American Muslim Council and president of the American Muslim Federation, said in court documents filed with the plea deal that he played a role in a 2003 plot by Libya to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.

He admitted to contacting Saudi dissidents in London on behalf of some Libyan government officials who wanted them to kill Abdullah, the documents showed.

On this date 38 years ago you pledged your lives to one another in marriage. In 38 years your marriage was

Through the years you have modeled what a solid, working, loving, committed marriage is and I’m grateful for you. Congratulations on this milestone in your lives together. I love you.

Just FYI, I have deleted the video clips on the older posts. This includes the clips for the Blondestar parody ad, trombone dancer, afro ninja, why Palestinians throw rocks, and the China Airlines landing. Sorry for the disappointment for the Googlers. I need to free up some server space.

Thursday, October 14, 2004

There’s a great slideshow at Cootiepie* - it’s a nice collection of pictures from birth to now. It’s quite amazing to see some of those early photos - she’s growing so fast!

As a bonus, there are cute pics of CootieBoy, too.

* slideshow only on the front page of the blog until they post a couple more times to push it off the main page.

The way a girl grows during her early years may influence her risk of breast cancer.

A Danish study of more than 117,000 women found those born chubby, but who went on to become tall and lean teenagers had the highest risk.

The biological reason for the increased risk is unclear, but the study suggests breast tissue cells may be sensitive during early periods of rapid growth.

Details are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Interesting theory. I’ve often wondered if there’s a correlation between adolescents who take the Pill and breast cancer because a lot of teenaged girls are put on the Pill to regulate their periods. I can’t help but wonder if the hormones in the Pill affect the developing adolescent body.

Anyway, the article continues with some interesting things.

They found that a higher risk of breast cancer was associated with:

High birth weight

Rapid growth around the time of mammary gland development

Being tall

Having low body-mass-index during adolescence

They calculated that girls who were about five feet six inches tall (167.5 cm) by age 14 were 50% more likely to develop breast cancer later in life than girls who were just under five feet (152 cm) tall at the same age.

The researchers also found that newborn girls who weighed more than 8.75 pounds (4 kg) were on average 17% more likely to develop the disease later in life than those who weighed about 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg).

The lower a girl’s BMI - a measure of weight relative to height - at age 14, the higher her risk of breast cancer.

And the younger a girl had her peak growth period, the higher her later risk of disease.

My boss just told me that I’ll be receiving a bonus this month*. They are a rare commodity in the government, so I’m stoked. It’s nice to be appreciated.

* No, I don’t know the amount, but it doesn’t matter - it’s a bonus.

You are a lipid. You know whom you like and whom
you hate, and you like hanging out with people
who think like you do. People who disagree with
you annoy you to no end. You either love
Abercrombie and Fitch or you despise it, but
there’s no middle ground. You’re polar.


Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

[via Robert the Llama Butcher]

Two bumper stickers this morning, both on one bumper.

First up is the witticism of the left:

War is BUSHit

The second is sheer stupidity, imho:

BUSH TERRIFIES ME

The driver of the car is a young woman in her mid-20s. I can’t help but wonder if she is one of those chicks who saw Cameron Diaz on Oprah crying about how legalized rape is a possibility if people don’t vote. That level of fear mongering is just ignorant.

I’m sick to death of hearing people accuse this President of fascism and the like. They don’t know what they’re talking about. If we really lived under fascism, those people would be rounded up and imprisoned or worse for those kinds of comments.

Meh. I can’t wait for this election to be over, although the realist in me is fully aware that the rhetoric will continue even after November 2, especially if President Bush is re-elected.

For some reason my VCR didn’t tape Lost last night. I’m really disappointed. So I put out a request for a video tape - anyone tape it who can send it to me? I’ll pay for the postage.