Friendship Quiz

From my e-mail: Below are my answers, followed by just the questions so that you can cut and paste them for your answers before e-mailing them to your friends.

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

FW: Subject: Friendship Quiz

The Theory Is That You Will Learn A Lot Of Little Known Facts About Those You Know.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My mom. She's Juanita, and I'm Juan - although I go by John

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? I don't remember. It might have been last year when the Dallas Mavericks lost 4 straight in the NBA Championship after winning the first two games.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? More now than when I was a kid. I had terrible handwriting, but seeing the usual doctor's handwriting always made me feel better.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Ham.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? No.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Probably. I'd be hard to talk to, though, since I'm hard of hearing.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Only with people who could take it.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yep.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I've done a lot of dumb things in my life, and bungee jumping is one thing that I wouldn't do.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Honeynut Cheerios.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yes, otherwise I couldn't get them off!

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes, but I bathe every day to take care of that. Oh! You mean strong in another way! I think I'm more strong mentally than physically. Being a cartoonist does not do wonders for your physique.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Plain ol' vanilla.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? I guess how they're dressed. I never thought about that.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I wish my hearing was better.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? That would probably be my grandmother, whom I didn't appreciate enough when she was alive.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Only to my e-mail address. And if you do send it to me, I promise that I won't post it here.
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Black shorts, no shoes.
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? A hamburger.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? My fingers typing on the keyboard.

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? What is this, a beauty pagent? Why not ask me what my turn-offs are? I don't know what color I'd be! I never thought about being a crayon!

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? A tossup between a real Christmas tree and "the new car smell".

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My mom. She said, "Hello son-who-is-named-after-me."

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yeah. Marge is cool. :-)

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Football.

27. HAIR COLOR? For what's remaining, black with gray temples.

28. EYE COLOR? Brown.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Nope.

30. FAVORITE FOOD? Pizza.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Batman Begins. I actually prefer it to Tim Burton's Batman.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Gray.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? It's about to be summer.

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Banana pudding, especially with vanilla wafers.

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND: Any candidate running for president right now.

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND: Paris Hilton (read the recent news to see why)

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? None. I mostly read news mags.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Nothing but the color green.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Nothing.

42. FAVORITE SOUND? "Here's the money I owe you".

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Stones

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Puerta Vallarta, Mexico.

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I can read text that is upside down and backwards.

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Fort Worth, Texas

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Any candidate for president. Maybe we'll finally get a straight answer from them!

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

Forward to your friends! See if they stay your friends! ;-)

FW: Subject: Friendship Quiz
The Theory Is That You Will Learn A Lot Of Little Known Facts About Those You Know.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
27. HAIR COLOR?
28. EYE COLOR?
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
30. FAVORITE FOOD?
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
35. HUGS OR KISSES?
36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND:
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND:
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT?
42. FAVORITE SOUND?
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?

"Dr. Death" is out of prison

Jack Kevorkian, aka "Dr. Death", is out of prison after having served his 8 year sentence. And he ain't a happy man. During his time in prison, he sees that his pet cause of assisted suicide has not advanced beyond the state of Oregon. And folks, let's pray that this man never sees his pet cause advance any more than it has already. Pray, actually, that it retreats to the point of going away.

You've heard the term "assisted suicide" before. It's also called "death with dignity". This was especially brought to light in 2005 when Terri Schiavo was all over the news. To refresh your memory, Terri was the woman who was disabled and lying in a hospital while her husband and her parents fought over who would care for her. Her husband won out, and Terri was subjected to a slow death by starvation for two weeks until she passed away. As I often tell "death with dignity" advocates, tell me what's so dignified about being starved to death for two weeks. I've said before in this blog that I find such practices barbaric.

No doubt, Kervorkian would reply to my observation above that he could have prevented the whole public spectacle of a starvation death by the use of his "suicide machine". Why wait over two weeks, when the matter could be settled in minutes? But ultimately, it doesn't matter if death is brought about in two minutes or two weeks. And it doesn't matter if it's called "assisted suicide", "physician assisted suicide", "death with dignity", or "passive euthanasia", it's still different labels for the same thing: the deliberate ending of a life deemed "not worth living".

Does the phrase "life not worth living" sound familiar? It's from your history class - specifically Nazi Germany - who used the term to justify the extermination of those they deemed as useless; usually the mentally and physically disabled (this was before they had moved on to the Jews and other races that they later killed in the Holocaust). The promotion and acceptance of euthanasia promotes exactly that: life not worth living.

Proponents of euthanasia will NEVER state it that way, but that's what they mean. And they'll appeal to your compassionate and sympathetic side by saying that "we are only trying to end the suffering of those who are close to death and are in terrible agony." Don't buy it, folks. It may start out as being only for those close to death, but it WILL move beyond such people if we let it. Maybe if I tell you who would be the immediate beneficiary of the passage of laws that legalize euthanasia, then you'll have second thoughts about it: the health insurance industries (HMOs from here on).

Think about the times that you've gone to the doctor or the emergency room, and later found out that your HMO didn't cover this or that, and you later got sent the bills. If you're like me, you got bits and pieces of bills that arrived after your HMO had filtered your bill and decided that it wouldn't cover this or that. Why do you pay for that health insurance? It's to help cover your medical expenses, right? And as much as you pay, they still won't pay for some of your medical needs. They are, after all, a for-profit organization, and they have their bottom line to consider.

Now think about how HMOs would put legalized euthanasia to work for them. If they are a for-profit organization, and the bottom line matters to them, it is a short stretch for them to decide that they won't pay for expensive medical procedures if you're close to death anyway, so they opt for "death with dignity" to cut their expenses. Oh? You don't think that a for-profit organization would put profit ahead of morals or ethics? What side of Enron and WorldCom are you on, anyway?

Folks, if euthanasia is legalized, don't doubt for a second that the lawyers for HMOs would fight for the right to decide the "death with dignity" option for when one of their clients starts to become a financial drain. If you're a liberal, then the idea of a corporation and lawyers working together to protect their bottom line should make you wet your pants. Actually, it should make anyone wet their pants. But it's not just because HMOs would benefit that we should oppose legalized euthanasia - however it may be defined.

All life is of equal worth, and it should be treated as such, from our conception to our natural death. And yes, we do all die. And not being in favor of ending life before its natural end does not mean that we must extend it indefinitely, beyond when that life would have naturally expired. But I don't think our culture is in any danger of trying too hard to keep someone alive - rather, it's more inclined to expediency and convenience. Instead of looking for ways to get past the moral and ethical dilemmas of when to end the support of a life that's close to death, we should be examining WHY it's so important for us to find ways to get past the moral and ethical dilemmas of when to end the support of a life that's close to death.

We are, after all, talking about a human life, no matter how frail and fragile it is. The strength of the foundation of our civilization is determined by how we treat the least among us, and right now, we have a pretty sorry track record, what with legalized abortion and all. So I ask, if we have that great a difficulty of seeing why legalized abortion is wrong, what makes us think that legalizing euthanasia will help set us right? We were rushed into legalized abortion by Roe vs. Wade, which cut off very needed discussion and debate. Now even some supporters of Roe are seeing that (though the majority of them still don't support overturning it).

So if rushing into Roe was wrong, why would rushing into legalized euthanasia be right? So far, we haven't rushed into it, much to Kevorkian's annoyance. Good for us. And I say let's keep disappointing Jack Kevorkian. Even though a human life may be in a coma, that doesn't mean that all hope is lost. Miracles do happen, as we recently saw in the news of the man who awoke from a coma after 19 years. His story should be told at every debate over legalized euthanasia. Read his story, and see the sort of love story that we would have missed had that man's wife given in to pleas to end his life.

And then after that, maybe you'll see why we need to keep Jack Kevorkian's dream from ever coming true.

Editorial Statement for June 2007: Express Yourself

Editorial Statement for June 2007: Express Yourself

For the entire month of June, I shall attempt to post something every day. Granted, it won’t always be something deep and profound – although I’ll certainly try, but I have a point in doing this goal of mine to post something every day: I want to encourage more of you to take up blogging. I sincerely believe that there are more writers out there than we know of. In fact, you could have a talent for writing and not know it.

The beauty of the Internet Age is that anyone can take up blogging, and it doesn’t have to cost you a thing. This site, for example, is a perfect place to take the practice up. Not only that, you will have an audience to read your stuff and give feedback on. Of course, not all of us are going to be brilliant at writing. In fact, most of us won’t be. This isn’t meant to discourage you, but rather, I want you to go into this with the right set of expectations. Writing, like any skill that involves self-expression, takes practice.

If you were just writing for yourself then you’d have no problem, because you would always know what you’re talking about. But writing in such a way as to convey your thoughts and ideas to someone else takes practice – especially if you’re trying to persuade someone to your way of thinking. There’s good ways and bad ways of presenting your view. For example, you could say “Do it my way or ELSE!” How willing would your listener be to do things your way – and even if they did, would they do it willingly?

Another way to present your view is to say “Here’s what I think and why…” Then you present your views and arguments in favor of your views. If you did your job correctly, then your listeners will be more inclined to do things your way. That’s the skill to hone when it comes to writing. There’s a lot of truth to the saying “The pen is mightier than the sword.” In our day and age in which thoughts, ideas, and concepts are reduced to bumper-sticker philosophies, it’s even more important to develop writing skills. This is because knowing how to write involves knowing how to think.

Any yutz and yahoo can write, “Hug a tree.” or “Guns don’t kill people. People with guns kill people.” but to know how to defend such ideas is another skill altogether. Note that I gave a liberal and conservative example. It’s because it is liberals and conservatives who are the most guilty of splitting the issues of our time into this liberal/conservative division. But life is not divided solely into liberal and conservative. In fact, most of life falls in between these two extremes.

People who filter their whole lives and thinking through a liberal or conservative litmus test have some sort of psychological issues that they probably should be dealing with, and the more intensely they live such politically ideological lives, the less they are able to lead normal lives . Life isn’t liberal or conservative – rather, life is BOTH liberal and conservative – and all of the points in between. Life is too short to be painting yourself into some ideological corner. Such people are like Les Nessman of the old WKRP sitcom, in which Les had taped off on the floor where the walls of his office were going to be erected, and he expected others to respect those walls, right down to knocking on his “door” before coming into his “office”.

It’s because of such people that we need more writers. We need more writers to express the views that are had in what we can refer to metaphorically as “flyover territory” to describe the gap between the two ideological extremes. By my little experiment to post something every day, you’ll see that you don’t always have to post something deep and profound. It could just be observations of recent news events, or some joke that you got by e-mail. But I do hope you try to take up blogging. You don’t even have to write every day!

By the way, so far for June, that’s 3 for 3. :-)

PSA: Help prevent theft at gas stations

This YouTube video talks about a way that thieves will steal your valuables, including your purse or wallet, that takes only a few seconds for them. Watch the enclosed video of an actual theft taking place. This message is especially for those of you using SUVs because they tend to be taller than most cars, and especially the ladies who tend to leave their purses on the passenger side of the front seat.

Also, this is from quite a few e-mails, but it's worth repeating here regarding identity theft. If anyone calls you or e-mails you saying that they're from the government or certain corporation stating that they need your social security number for whatever reason, DON'T give it to them!

One recent scam reported about a phone call from an angry person stating that you missed your jury summons, and unless you cooperate, you're going to jail. When you're sufficiently terrorized into compliance, the angry voice then asks for your social security number so that they can change the date of the summons, and the warrant for your arrest will be removed. The key here is being asked for your social. These guys are sneaky! Such simple steps can go a long way in preventing a lot of problems for you.

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

This has been a message from the Araujo Arts Commission on the Prevention of Identity Theft. Right now it's a commission of one, and we call it the Araujo Arts Commission on the Prevention of Identity Theft rather than its acronym, AACPIT, because AACPIT sounds like you're spitting up something, and we don't want you to gross anyone out when you're trying to deliver a PSA (public service announcement, in case you didn't already know). Anyway, the Araujo Arts Commission on the Prevention of Identity Theft will post these warnings periodically as a service to the community, and because it makes us feel good, and we like feeling good.

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

By the way, for my blog, June is going to be "Post Something Every Day Month". So far, 2 for 2!

MP3 Multimedia Wristwatch

From Amazon.com comes this cool looking wristwatch that is also an MP3 player. Only in our day and age, folks!

Here's the specs on it:
-----------------------------------------------
Product Features

* Does Not Contain Driver CD! Wristwatch style with plastic band 512 MB memory USB 2.0 full speed data transferring AVI (Xdiv) vid

* E-Book format: TXTHigh-quality 1.3-inch OLED widescreen Default clock interface SRS (WOW) 3D sound e

* Specifications: LCD screen: 260,000 pixels OLED widescreen Resolution: 160 x 128 FM Frequency: 76 -

* Playing time: approximately 4.5 hours for audio, 2 hours for videoEarphone output: 20 mw/20 mw

* Frequency response: 20 Hz ~ 20 kHzSNR: 85 dBAudio format:MP3: (sampling rate: 16 ~ 48 KHz; bit rate:

Technical Details

supported_standards: MP3, WMA, Ogg Vorbis

Hardware Platform: PC

Item Package Quantity: 1

component_type: MP3 Player

digital_storage_capacity: 512 MB


















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

I'm tempted to get it because it's so unique. However, I have a question about one of the technical details above. Maybe one of you folks can explain to me what an "Ogg Vorbis" is. To me, it sounds like the name of a caveman.

Cindy Sheehan quits the cause

Cindy Sheehan, known mostly as the face of the anti-war movement, is quitting the cause due to a variety of reasons, among them a despondency over the effectiveness of her anti-war efforts in particular, as well as the anti-war movement in general.

Among her statements, she made some that were obviously heartfelt, even though they were a bit misguided. While Sheehan's statements were heartfelt, I think she is doing herself and her son a disservice by stating that her son "died for nothing". That's a terrible way to view her son's death. I am not a parent, so I can't say that I know what it's like to lose a child, but her son went into the military fully aware of the possible consequences of serving in the military.

Dying in battle, in other words, is a very real possibility. That's something that, not only the military person who signed up accepts, but so do the loved ones - or at least they should in theory. Stating that Casey - Sheehan's son - died in vain shows that she's thinking more of herself and her own pain rather than seeing the big picture, which is understandable, since this is her son that we're talking about here, but her view that her son's death was senseless really needs to be put in perspective.

One of Sheehan's lamentations about her son's death is that "I have tried every (day) since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives."

This sounds much like she expects a country that is perfect. There are no perfect countries. There never have been, nor will there ever be. So long as countries are run by imperfect human beings, there will always be imperfect countries. However, the U.S. remarkable in so many ways that it is singularly unique in human history. Despite the many disputes and disagreements, we can settle on actions without going to arms against each other (the Civil War being the exception, of course). We are not ruled by a monarchy nor a tyrant. Even Hugo Chavez can't run Venzuela without controlling and even censoring that country's press.

But we have freedom of speech and freedom of the press here. We have freedom of worship and freedom to gather into like-minded groups. We have so many freedoms in this country that so many countries do not. Some countries may have some of our freedoms while others have other freedoms, but few, if any, have the number of freedoms that we have. Yes, we have our faults. We always will. We'll never be perfect, but we'll always try to be better. That's probably our greatest strength.

So Casey Sheehan fought for the rights and freedoms that the rest of us enjoy. He fought for the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of worship and of all the other freedoms that we enjoy. He fought for the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He fought for our right to vote. He also fought for those who care more for who wins American Idol than about current news events. Such people come with the country. He had to fight for all of us, not just some of us, or he wouldn't have served his role as one of our nation's soldiers. He did not die in vain - rather, he died in the role that he went into serving.

I can certainly sympathize for Cindy Sheehan. I feel for her, and I know that she is going through a great deal of pain that I have never gone through. But she has some issues to work out, and I think stepping out of the anti-war movement is probably a good start. On her blog, she mentioned getting back to her life and back to her other children. Casey is not with her anymore, but her other children still are. They still need their mother, and in truth, she needs them.

As hard as this is going to be, she needs to let Casey go. She needs to come to terms with his loss, which she hasn't yet, based on all that we've seen from her since she became a public persona. There is bitterness in her words, and that needs to be dealt with as well. Her son did not die in vain - far from it, actually. I hope she can accept that one day. In the meantime, she needs to reconnect with her surviving children. Maybe, all together, they can help come to terms with Casey's absence. Now Cindy Sheehan needs our prayers that she will let go of her bitterness before it consumes her. She took an important step by stepping down. I hope she can follow through.

Hogzilla Sr.!

Just what is in the south that makes the hogs there so durn big?? Check out the pic of this giant hog!

Curly shuffle

I had almost forgotten about this music video of Curly Howard of the 3 Stooges. Curly still cracks me up. :-)

And it's not a 3 Stooges short unless it has Curly in it! Shemp is almost okay, better at least than the Curly Joes that followed him. Curly is perpetually cool!

Questions regarding my writing

For this blog entry, I will answer some questions regarding my writing that I have been asked from time to time. This is in no way meant to be comprehensive, but simply general answers to questions that tend to come in similar categories. I hope to take care of many of those questions here. I will start with the question followed by my answer. Hopefully in my responses, you will find the encouragement to take up writing yourself – at least in the form of blogging if nothing else.

What do you like to write about?

This blog pretty much covers the topics that I like to write about, which is mostly commentary on political and social issues; but I also discuss whatever else I may be in the mood for. I’ll also comment on something interesting or amusing, as when I found out that Shaggy’s real name is Norville. The beauty of a blog is that I don’t always have to discuss every topic in thorough detail.

How do you decide on what to write about?

It has to interest me, for one. I also have to be able to complete an idea or thought, whether that comes after one paragraph or several. Regardless of the length, I need to basically have a point in writing it. I have numerous Word files that are in various stages of incompleteness. Some are a good finishing sentence away from being ready to post while others may be only about halfway through. Often times, I will complete them once I have let them sit for a while. Sometimes an idea or point doesn’t come even after I’ve let it sit for a while, so I’ll delete the file. And other times I will notice after I started one topic that one of my old saved files can add to the current topic, so I’ll combine the two. Sometimes I have to think long and hard on what to write about, other times an idea drops into my lap. This leads to…

How do you come up with ideas on what to write about?

The main ingredient is practice, practice, practice. Having a blog is so handy for writing practice. You can practice to your heart’s content, and you get the added bonus of having an audience to read your stuff. Writing blocks will appear less frequently so long as you are in the habit of writing. Something else I do is read constantly. I read the newspaper and search Internet news sites for news articles. I will also scan headlines to see what news event is getting a lot of “press”. Some topics are easy to come by, such as the Iraq war. Sometimes I’ll spot an obscure news item that I find interesting, so I’ll discuss that.

With all the news sources that are out there, I could easily write about something every day. In fact, I think I just might make next month “Post something every day” month, just to see if I can do it. Some blog entries might be long, but most will be short, but I’m pretty certain that I could post every day. Okay folks, I’ll do it! June is going to be “Post every day month!” It might be 11:45 in the evening, but I’ll get something posted! Watch to see if I can do it!

A note on who I choose to talk about

And last is a note on how I make decisions on who to talk about. Back when I wrote columns for my college newspaper, they gave us pointers on who we can talk about without getting into potential legal situations. First, what I discuss has to be the truth. I can’t outright lie about who I talk about, no matter who the person is or how well they’re liked or disliked. Lying in print is called libel, and it’s a crime. Plus, nothing undermines the credibility of a writer faster than being caught lying. The truth is your friend, so be nice to your friend.

One thing that must be kept in mind when it comes to whom we can and can’t talk about is this: Is this person a public figure? A public figure is usually someone like a politician, prominent athlete, or celebrity. These people crave the spotlight and can often be found basking in it. They are, basically, fair game – so long as what you say about them is limited to what is known about them. And like I said above, lying about even recognized public figures is still libel, no matter how public they are.

Those that are not public figures are people that do not want the spotlight,nor are they doing anything to get it. For instance, I can't just write about my friend Joe Schmo just because I feel like it. I can't discuss his dating life or his poor choice of investments or anything of that nature, because it might damage him personally or financially; plus he would have no way to defend himself. I also can't air family "dirty laundry", because those family members wouldn't have a way to defend themselves on what I might say about them. I can't talk about how Uncle Ugamoo is a drunk or how Aunt Tia spends her husband's paycheck as soon as he brings it home. (by the way, the friend and the two family members I just mentioned are all fictional. Just thought that I'd let you know that.)

There are those who didn't choose to be in the spotlight, but were thrust there by circumstance. Paris Hilton is a classic example of this. She first gained attention from a video clip of her that got posted to the Internet. Afterwards, once she got the attention, she stayed in the spotlight by taking up shows like that reality show whose title escapes me right now. So while she didn’t start out as a public figure, she became one by opting to stay in the spotlight.

Another example of an inadvertent public figure is the so-called “runaway bride” who first drew attention to herself by reporting that she had been kidnapped as her way to explain why she didn’t show up for her wedding. This started a nationwide manhunt. What made her a public figure was the revelation that the kidnapping was a hoax. She caused many man-hours and public funds to be spent searching for her, and all for nothing. She had no intention in becoming a public figure, but her questionable judgment to avoid marriage drew attention to her. However, since the runaway bride hasn’t done anything since that time to draw attention to herself, then there’s no need to put her back in the spotlight – which is why I haven’t brought up her name here.

People like Terri Schaivo are public figures due to the circumstances that they happened to be in. Terri was at the center of a “right to die” debate that the nation happened to be embroiled in at the time. Both her husband and her parents chose to be in the spotlight to draw attention to their respective causes, and Terri happened to be at the center of it. People at the center of such contentious issues can fall under the category of a public figure.

Another group to mention here is the children of prominent public figures. For example, if a teenage or young adult child of a prominent politician was caught in the act of drunk driving, then this is news because of whom the child happens to be related to. There’s limits, of course, on what you can say about the incident, but it is worthy of reporting as news. Usually it will be the decision of editors to decide what and how much can be said.

And so, with that, I hope that I’ve answered most of the questions that tend to be asked of me regarding my writing. I was going to mention something about the importance of a free press in our society, but that’s probably a topic better suited for another time. Feel free to ask me anything else that might come to mind in regards to writing.

Ad for free computer virus has takers

In Helsinki, a computer specialist decided to put an ad out stating that anyone who didn't have a computer virus can get one free by clicking on his Internet ad. The ad said, "Is your PC virus-free? Get it infected here!" The ad was fake, of course; there was no virus - the computer specialists simply wanted to see if anyone would click on it. Much to his surprise, he had takers - 409, actually.

One of the commentators in the article stated that while some might have clicked on the ad accidently, the others might have been either curious or stupid. I don't think he understands that people have been willingly infecting their BODIES with viruses for years; that's why sexually transmitted diseases have been spreading so rapidly in recent decades. So if people willingly infect their bodies with viruses, why not their computers?

Sad thing is, most people take better care of their computers than they do their bodies. There's a message in all this about our day and age, I think...

Shaggy's real name

I just had to mention this here, because I never knew that Shaggy from Scooby-Doo had a name other than Shaggy. It turns out that Shaggy's real first name is Norville. His full name is Norville Rogers.

Hmm... I guess if my first name were Norville, I'd go by Shaggy, too.

It's all clear now. :-)

"I'm with the band..."

Earlier this month, a local band named Nobody's Business invited me to one of their gigs to shoot some pics of them in action. Never having been onstage before while a band was playing, I accepted their offer. Plus, I always wanted to use a particular line on the ladies, but was never able to until that day. That line is..."I'm with the band".

It was during one of Fort Worth's annual events called Mayfest, which is an outdoor annual event that provides a lot of food, entertainment, and fun. The thing is, the band's music was so good that they made it hard for me to do my job as photographer! Nevertheless, I managed to snap about 90 pics and two short video clips. Here's a link to a page of some of the pics that I took. You can also see one of the video clips on the home page in a sidebar titled "Video Clip".

Now that I've done a shoot of a band in action, I know better on what I need to do for the next time I'm invited to shoot a band in action. It also gives me an excuse to get an even nicer camera (not that it would take a lot to give me an excuse to get a new camera, mind you). Anyway, the main point of this blog entry is to give the band Nobody's Business some exposure, because they were that good. If you're in the Fort Worth area or surrounding communities, give them a try. You won't be disappointed.

By the way, I didn't get to use the "I'm with the band" line because I was so busy taking pics. I was hoping to at least sign body parts or something. Well, maybe next time...

Weekend Wrap-up: Odd News Weekend

The more observant of you have noticed the link that I have to Yahoo! News (as well as Google News). Well, if you click on that page and scroll down, you see a section called "Odd News". I like to read that section once in a while because of some of the stories that are on it. Being a rather odd person myself, I find it comforting to know that I am not alone in my - uniqueness. So this Weekend Wrap-up is going to be Odd News Weekend. Maybe I'll do more at other times. :-D

Too-doting a Mom aids son in jewelry heist
A German mother was so concerned about her son who was about to rob a jewelry store that she drove him there as he did the robbery. I know mothers are supposed to help their children and all, but couldn't she have instead persuaded him not to do this? That's being just a little too doting, I think. By the way, she's also spending time in the slammer now. How is she going to help her son now?

1,000 pregnant women gather together
In South Africa, 1,000 pregnant women gathered together to set the record for the largest single gathering of pregnant women in one location. Had I been the organizer of that event, I would worry to death that one woman would go into labor and start a chain reaction. THEN what are you gonna do? Set the record for most number of births in one location, I guess. Then you got a two-for-one thing going in regards to records being set. And I betcha that no one there would ever forget that day. No one went into labor, though, and the record was set. I wish a picture had been posted in that article. I am curious to see what a bunch of women with round bellies looks like all gathered together.

Dancing fools set a record as well
It must have been the week for setting records. In Eastern Europe, cities participated in a coordinated effort to all dance at the same time so as to break the old record of largest number of dancers at one time. It's a good thing that these dancers didn't dance around the pregnant women in the story above, or they might have set off that labor chain reaction that I also mentioned above.

Sale of house comes with previous owner
In Madrid, a bank sold a repossessed house complete with the mummified corpse of the previous owner. Gross! Apparently, the bank never checked the house once the previous owner stopped making payments. They couldn't at least call?

Sequel to "Snakes on a Plane"?
The sequel to the movie, "Snakes on a Plane" could very be "Snakes in the Mail." This gives the phrase "You've got Mail!" a whole new meaning. Now I'm afraid to open my mail...

"Get out and push!"
I have helped to push cars that have stalled, but train passengers in India have gone one better: They all got out and pushed their train until it was able to reconnect with a power rail. Heck, if this had happened in Texas, all the dudes with pick-up trucks (which is nearly everybody) woulda just hitched all their vehicles to the train to give it a push!

That's all for today, but now I'll be more vigilant about saving more of these odd news bits for a future episode of the Odd News Weekend of the Weekend Wrap-up.

Have a great week, folks!

E-mail Grab-bag 5-14-2007

E-mail grab-bag

We all get those e-mails that tell jokes, have links to goofy, strange, or otherwise interesting links on YouTube, or other such items. Those e-mails are usually forwarded to us, and then we in turn forward them to someone else. Well, since I have a blog, I’ll just post them here in what I’ll call the E-mail Grab-Bag. Then you can decide if you want to forward them.

11111111111111111111111111

FW: Subject: 2006 Study

A 2006 study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year.
Another study found that Americans drink an average of 22 gallons of beer a year.

That means, on average, Americans get about 41 miles per gallon.
Not Bad.

22222222222222222222222222

Morse Code vs. Text Messaging: Which is faster? Find out in the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSzR_H2DAOY

33333333333333333333333333

Mother’s Day tribute:

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.

"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning." 

 2. My mother taught me RELIGION. 
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet." 

 3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL. 

"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!" 

 4. My mother taught me LOGIC. 

" Because I said so, that's why." 

 5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC. 

"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me." 

 6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT. 

"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident." 

 7. My mother taught me IRONY. 

"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about." 

 8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS. 

"Shut your mouth and eat your supper." 

 9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM. 

"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!" 

 10. My mother taught me about STAMINA. 

"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone." 

 11. My mother taught me about WEATHER. 

"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it." 

 12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY. 

"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!" 

 13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE. 

"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out." 

 14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. 

"Stop acting like your father!" 

 15. My mother taught me about ENVY. 

"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do." 

 16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION. 

"Just wait until we get home." 

 17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING. 

"You are going to get it when you get home!" 

 18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE. 

"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way." 

 19. My mother taught me ESP. 

"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?" 

 20. My mother taught me HUMOR. 

"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me." 

 21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT. 

"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up." 

 22. My mother taught me GENETICS. 

"You're just like your father." 

 23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS. 

"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?" 

 24. My mother taught me WISDOM. 

"When you get to be my age, you'll understand." 

 25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE. 

"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you 

4444444444444444444444444444444

25 Ways to tell you’re grown up

1. Your houseplants are alive, and you can’t smoke any of them.
2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6 am is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
5. You hear your favorite song in an elevator.
6. You watch the Weather Channel even when you don’t have to.
7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of “hook up” and “break up”.
8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualifies as “dressed up”.
10. You’re the one calling the police because those %&@# kids next door won’t turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12. You don’t know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
13. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald’s leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You take naps.
17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.
18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3am would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
19. You go to the drugstore for Ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $4 bottle of wine is no longer “pretty good sh*t.”
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22. “I just can’t drink the way I used to” replaces “I’m never going to drink that much again.”
23. 90% of the time you spend in front of your computer is for real work.
24. You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
25. When you find out your friend is pregnant you congratulate them instead of asking, “Oh, sh*t, what the hell happened?”

Bonus:

26. You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn’t apply to you and can’t find one to save your sorry old ass. Then you forward it to a bunch of old friends ‘cause you know they’ll enjoy it too. And now you know why I am forwarding this to you…

Elementary school stages fake gunman attack

Did you ever wonder why today's kids don't seem to be learning much in school? Maybe it's because of the poor quality of teachers. This story relates how an elementary school staged a fake gunman attack as a means of preparing children should the real thing occur.

The thing was, no one other than the teachers and the assistant vice principal planning it knew that it was going to happen. The parents weren't informed, and even the principal only found out about it later, who stated that those involved exercised "poor judgment."

Only two words come to mind in response: "YOU THINK???"

In this day and age of a lawsuit happy society, such stupidity only encourages such lawsuits. I read the article again, and I still can't believe that the planners thought that this would be a good idea. Be sure to watch the video clip in the article.

Congress, Bush about the same in the polls

In this article, it states that the Democratic-led U.S. Congress and President Bush are about the same in the polls. In other words, those polled feel that the Dems are doing about as well in Iraq as the president, which is not well at all.

It really makes me wonder why the Dems are so all-fired insistent on passing these bills that try to have us leave Iraq when they know that Bush will veto such bills. Why waste their time, why waste his time, and why waste the time and dollars of the American people with such inane political grandstanding? And most of all, why keep using the American troops serving abroad as a political football?

The most important thing to the Dems and to Bush is getting their way, regardless of what the people want and regardless of what is going to help the troops. Nothing else matters other than getting their way and looking good doing it. It's because of such ego-stroking insanity that the American voter is so sick of all this.

Earlier in the week, I was wondering why someone would run for office - especially a high profile office such as President or a member of Congress. Your whole life - all the way back to grade school, if necessary - is put out in the public eye. If there are skeletons in your closet, then your political enemies will put it out there, whether or not it is relevant to your campaign. Also, someone who is able to run for office is also able to just work in the private sector and earn a whole lot more. And last, many times in order to run for office, you have to "go to bed" with many undesireable sorts if they're bringing in the money for your campaign, and often you will also have to sell your soul.

For instance, Mitt Romney was once pro-choice on the abortion issue, until he became a potential candidate for office, and now he's pro-life. The timing of his "conversion" is rather convenient. Rudy Giuliani was also talking the pro-life talk, but he's about as credible as Romney. Once, Al Gore and Bill Clinton were pro-life, until they became candidates for D.C. offices. Then they switched to the pro-choice position. Basically then, all four of these candidates changed their views to suit their respective party's agenda so as to qualify for running as a candidate for office. In other words, they sold out.

Selling out is part of being a politician, in other words, and again I ask: Why bother? What gain do politicians get from putting their whole life out in public, getting pay that would be many times higher in the private sector, and often involves selling one's soul? Is the power that one gains from winning an office worth all of that? What kind of person is left over after having gone through such a wringer? Essentially, someone that would say and do anything to get and keep an office for the pleasure of weilding power. Doesn't sound like much of a public servant to me.

And then you have the instances of the inanity of our president and Congress passing and vetoing bills back and forth all for the sake of a show of doing something when they're really not. How did our system of government get this way? No doubt that it didn't happen overnight, and fixing it won't happen overnight, either. Before we can do anything, though, we have to figure out what went wrong. This might take a while, in other words.

Baby boomer - later generation dictionary

For this blog entry, I am going to try to serve the public good by helping foster cross-generational dialogue. Back in the day when I still was young and dumb, we used to use phrases like "cool" and "dig it" and "groovy". Nowadays young'uns still use "cool" in basically the same context as the older folks did, but the other slang has changed considerably.

Therefore, I think it would be a help to learn each other's slang so that we can speak to each other in each other's slang.

For example, what we used to call a "pad" is now a "crib". There's other examples as well, of course. I've posted this cross-generational dictionary idea on a site that I frequently post, because there is a mix of ages there. When some terms become available, I'll add then to my cross-generational dictionary and post them here. Maybe later I can see about having a website for it, as well as a translator. Wouldn't that be cool? :-)

What's Mickey Mouse up to these days?

Mickey Mouse is apparently involved in a new career in Gaza Strip.

A station in Gaza Strip is using a Mickey Mouse look-alike to promote its views to children against the U.S. and Israel, and for an Islamic-led world. It has since been pulled, but I wonder if Disney will sue? Usually the Disney company is rather territorial over its trademarks and doesn't hesitate in going after unapproved usage of its characters.

The next time that "Mickey Mouse" is used, someone needs to let them know that the three stripes on his glove are supposed to go on the top of the hand, and not the palm.

Free marketing and outsourcing

This came in an e-mail, and it makes an interesting point. I might comment further on this later. This might be something that you can forward to your congresspeoples or other representatives.

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

A car company can move it's factories to Mexico and claim it's a free market.

A toy company can out source to a Chinese subcontractor and claim it's a free market.

A shoe company can produce its shoes in Southeast Asia and claim it's a free market

A major bank can incorporate in Bermuda to avoid taxes and claim it's a free market.

We can buy HP Printers made in Mexico .

We can buy shirts made in Bangladesh .

We can purchase almost anything we want from 20 different countries.

BUT, heaven help the senior citizens who dare to buy their prescription drugs from a Canadian or Mexican pharmacy.

That's called un-American and illegal and our politicians want to stop it!

And you think the pharmaceutical companies don't have a powerful lobby? Think again!

Forward this to every person you know over age 50.

It is an interesting thought. Maybe this is an issue that should come up in the next election!

Forget the 50, send it to everyone. We're all in this boat together! Even if you aren't in this boat now, you're standing on the pier.

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

This is the sort of stuff that appeals to my liberal side. :-D

Down with the pharmaceutical monopolies!!

Warriors come out to play, Mavs go home

At the beginning of the series between the Dallas Mavericks and the Golden State Warriors, a radio promo played with an audio of this clip from the old movie, The Warriors. It turns out that they did indeed come out to play. The Mavs, the team with the top record during the regular season and the #1 seed in the whole freakin' playoffs who would have had home court advantage the entire way, ended their run last night - so their home court advantage lasted one series.

Besides failing to go by the logic of taking it to the rim and getting either the basket, the foul, or both, the Mavs instead lived - and died - from the perimeter. They also failed to take advantage of an injured Baron Davis, who had been running circles around the Mavs the previous games, and they failed to exploit the one strategem that worked in their two victories: They failed to get the Warriors TOO emotional. When the Warriors get too emotional, they get sloppy, they get fouls, and they get ejections. In this game in which the emotional intensity was fever pitch, the Mavs had all the emotional intensity of Mr. Spock.

I didn't think anything would be worse than the Mavs losing in the championship last year after being up 2-0. I was wrong. This is going to sit in their craw for a long time.

Editorial Statement for May 2007: Democrats, let abortion go

Editorial statement for May 2007: Democrats, let abortion go.

The recent debate among the Democratic candidates for president helped to remind me again why I haven’t voted Democratic for years. For instance, when the candidates were asked about the abortion issue, all were in favor of legalized abortion, which of course was no surprise whatsoever. Then the issue of vacancies in the Supreme Court came up and whether they’d nominate on the basis of the abortion issue.

Several of the debaters said that they wouldn’t impose “litmus tests” on their judicial nominees, which basically means that they wouldn’t let a given nominee’s support or opposition to legalized abortion to be the be-all/end-all of whether they’d nominate this person. However, just as quickly they said that they’d nominate according to their beliefs. Let’s see – they’re pro-choice, so that means that they’d nominate pro-choice candidates. In other words, a pro-life nominee most likely wouldn’t get their nomination no matter how qualified they are for the bench. Sounds like a litmus test to me, pardners.

The issue of legalized abortion has become the Democrats’ be-all/end-all, whether they want to admit it or not. It's become to the Democratic Party what crack cocaine is to a user: It's an addiction. It's poisoned their souls and clouded their vision to what they used to be. The party that once fought racism, sexism, and many of the other "-isms" that had infected our society has itself been infected by something just as bad as those "-isms". It's opened their minds to the idea that personhood can be defined down to exclude certain people. To "old school" Democrats, it would have been anathema to exclude anybody!

But like it is said about marijuana being a “gateway drug” to further drug abuse, acceptance of legalized abortion has become a "gateway drug" for the Democrats to other poisonous ideas that also rely on defining down personhood. Most prominent among these is the so-called "assisted suicide" which is actually code for legalized euthanasia. The term "assisted suicide" - and its twin "death with dignity" - is basically make-up on a swine.

The most dramatic example of the barbarity of "assisted suicide" is the 2005 death of Terri Schiavo, who lingered for two weeks before finally dying of starvation. Please tell me how dignified it is to be starved to death for two weeks. And while this was going on, the Democrats should have been there front-and-center fighting for Schiavo's rights and her life. The "old school" Democrats would have, but they're gone now.

However, I think that the party can still be saved if it could do just one thing: Overturn Roe vs. Wade and end all support of legalized abortion. Let the issue go back to the states like it used to be, and simply let go of it. Then I think that their vision would clear again, and they could go back to being the "old school" Democrats that used to fight the good fight and be the voice for the voiceless. And one way to re-establish that old school thinking is to go after the abortion industry, which gets away with a lot that other industries wouldn't get away with. A few details are provided in this site.

Right now, the abortion industry is a major contributor to the party. This is problematic in that an industry that markets and sells age discrimination (that is, legalized abortion) is making a profit off of it. Also, consider the fact that, according to Consumer Reports, PP makes the worst condoms. So what that means is that an industry that makes inferior condoms turns around and profits from that inferior quality by providing the abortions when their condoms fail to prevent pregnancies.

This should lead to one wondering if perhaps the poor quality is planned. But that'd be - unethical and immoral, and an action that would be geared solely to making profit. Let's see - would a corporation put profits ahead of morals and ethics? It depends upon which side of Enron and WorldCom that you fall on. Can you imagine the Democrats letting any other industry get away with what the abortion industry gets away with?

While I think the return of "old school" Democrats can still happen, even I admit that it's a very long shot. A lot would have to happen before we can even begin to entertain the idea of their return. But a big step would be the letting go of the abortion issue. One of the issues that the Dems ran on in 2006 was the fight against corruption in Washington. Let them start by cleaning their own house, and letting abortion go would be one step.

Also, taking on the abortion industry like they once went after racism and sexism could just be the very thing to bring back the focus that used to be the Democratic party: the little people. In a day and age in which corporations make more and more while the little guy makes less and less (that's if his or her job isn’t outsourced), a hero needs to emerge to rally the people. Such people used to come from the “old school”, but that school has been closed for a while now.

It’s time to reopen those doors.

Weekened Wrap-up 4-29-2007

Wow! A whole week went just like that! Had a busy week, folks, which is why I hadn't posted anything all week. Well, let's get caught up, shall we?

Democratic presidential candidates debate
I watched for it, and when the day came, I couldn't find it on any of the regular channels. Why wouldn't they air it, I thought? So what I'm commenting on is based on the news reports of the debate. And judging from what I've read, there's very little to nothing that I didn't expect. No one candidate really stood out from the others. One headline even said that the candidates were largely cordial.

And that led to my question of why. Why were they cordial? I'm not saying that they needed to be rude or crass with each other, but they are running to be the president of the United States, not president of the glee club. If your name isn't Hillary or Obama, then you are already working under a handicap, and it is not to your benefit to be cordial to Hill and Obie. And really, these debates are a waste of time. Let's see - the Democratic candidate for office is going to be anti-Bush, he or she will favor tax increases for the rich (which I don't object to, actually), and they'll be pro-choice, pro-Kyoto treaty, will want to pull out of Iraq damn-the-consequences, and they'll favor socialized medicine and other delicacies offered at the Left Wing Food Bar. And then they'll depend on the utter bungling and stupidity of the GOP in order to win - which, given the current state of the GOP, is getting more and more likely to happen.

I had hoped that the Dems would crash and burn in the '06 mid-term elections so that they would realize that they need to change. Instead, the GOP ended up bungling the election so badly that the people voted for the only other main party of our country - which happens to be the Dems. So now the Dems think that the people have given them a mandate, and now they're going to be resistant to change for the foreseeable future. In other words, the Dems are going to stay solidly entrenched in the left wing of the politcal spectrum for several more years. SIGH.

Rap music's day of reckoning coming soon?
This article relates a recent gathering in Chicago over the rap industry's frequent usage of offensive terms of women in their songs. According to the article, over 400 attended, which indicates that the issue brought forth by Don Imus hasn't died out. Bully for those people. I hope they keep this issue on the burner, because it needs to be addressed. And more importantly, keep the pressure on Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to keep addressing this issue instead of waiting for white guys to hoist themselves up by their own petards. Or to see this another way, if the rappers can stop referring to women as "bitches and hos", then it would put pressure on the rest of the men to do so as well. In other words, everyone would be a winner. Maybe the women who usually appear in rap videos can stand up and stop appearing in rap videos until rappers learn to clean up their mouths and their attitudes towards women. I would love to see something like that happen.

Sports
Brief recaps of how the local teams are doing. The Texas Rangers are back, and they are back to old form of the starting pitching giving up games. Even with an offense that can produce at least 5 to 6 runs nearly every game, it's a bit difficult to win when the starting pitching gives up about 6 to 7 runs nearly every game. The new manager Ron Washington is going to have the challenge of his career trying to get this bunch to change from its old and established ways.

So far, the Dallas Mavericks ain't lookin' like the top seed in the conference against the lowly Golden State Warriors. I think the Mavs have Nellie-itis, and they need to let him go. He's not their coach anymore, and they don't owe him any loyalty. I think that the Mavs' problem is largely mental, and the sooner they get over it, the sooner they'll get back to their regular selves. Where does a whole team go to for psychological evaluations?

My birthday...
...was on Friday. I just turned 24. Really! Doesn't it look like I'm 24 on my profile pic? Okay, I only act like I'm still 24. I'm actually a little older than that...

give or take a decade...

or two...

Let's move on, shall we...??

Googling "Araujo Arts"

If you go to Google and put "araujo arts" into the search bar (be sure to have the quotation marks), my blog is the first thing that pops up. This is significant because there are people who PAY to have Google pop up their site. Well, there have been enough of you good readers of my blog that Google already registers it for searches for my blog. For that, I have you good folks to thank, so I say wholeheartedly - Thank You. I hope to continue to be worthy of your time and energy that you spend to read my humble little corner of cyberspace. This kinda thing can humble a guy, yanno?

Have a great week, folks!

Weekend Wrapup 4-21-2007

This wrap-up is related to the Virginia Tech shootings, which dominated the news this week.

The gunman
Seung-Hui Cho is a name that's going to be linked forever to the Ted Bundys and the Timothy McVeighs of this morbid branch of our nation's history. I really don't know what to say about Cho. Granted, it wasn't easy to grow up as he did, but judging by what I've heard so far, it sounds like he made himself his own worst enemy. Many of us go through difficult times growing up, but the vast majority of us don't wind up on a killing spree. Maybe a lot of people failed him, but we've all had that as well. I have no explanation for how someone can allow themselves to allow such a deep hatred to fester in their souls. People who go on killing sprees like this almost always kill themselves in the end. It's a coward's way of escaping punishment for their crimes. Well, he's in God's hands now - and The Maker is someone whose judgment you can't escape.

The family of the gunman
I suppose it shouldn't surprise me, but the opening sentence of this article did just that. Here's what it said:

"The family of the Virginia Tech gunman has finally spoken up. "

The first thought that popped in my head was: "What the heck were they supposed to say??"

What CAN they say? Aren't they going through enough hell without the media prodding them constantly to get their reaction? HAVE a little DECENCY, people! In the article the family gave their response, and it was an apology for the actions of Cho. I felt sorry for them that they were compelled to speak up. I wouldn't have blamed them one bit if they never spoke on the issue, but today's media just had to keep prodding them until they spoke. Well, now they spoke, so leave them alone! They'll have enough to deal with for the rest of their lives without the media poking thier noses into it.

Comments from my previous blog entry on this topic
The first comment was a question that I asked:

"How could a loving God allow this to happen?"
In theological circles, this is called "The question of evil". I'm going to ask another blogger to tackle this question in a little more detail, because he has a knack for tackling such questions, but my own response is thus: God does not allow evil, we do. God gives us so much free will that we are free to reject him. And that rejection can take many forms. It can go to the extent that our actions can harm or even kill others. But the lesson to draw from this is that free will is not free. There is a price for that freedom, and the mature person will come to realize it. Then will be able to understand better how a loving God can allow such evil acts to occur.

The next comment:
"The predictable reactions of various political groups to use this tragedy to further their political agendas."
The gun controls activists came out in droves with such statements as "What part of 'assault' in 'assault weapon' do you not understand?" and the counters from gun owners of "Guns don't kill people - people with guns kill people." There was also blame laid on the entertainment industry that glorifies such violence as well as video games such as the "Vice City" series. Surprisingly (at least for many people), the most reasoned response came from Rush Limbaugh, who basically said that there are many gun owners and many movie watchers and many video game players that can partake in all that without being inspired to violence. The blame, he said, lays solely on the killers. And that's what I think as well. Trying to make Cho a victim of something is a way of trying to absolve him of his crime, and he doesn't deserve being cut any slack whatsoever.

Last comment:
"What can be done to prevent further tragedies like this from happening again."
I'm still working on that, but I don't know that we can ever prevent it from happening again, even if we made our society an Orwellian dystopia. Those determined enough to kill will find ways to do so, even if it's just with their bare hands. Understand, though, that just because I don't think we could ever fully prevent another VT tragedy doesn't mean that we shouldn't even try. On the contrary, we should do all we can to prevent it, short of turning our society into the aforementioned Orwellian dystopia. We can't allow ourselves to become that dystopia, because that would mean that we are living in fear, which is how the Chos and the McVeighs would want us to live. We should not give them their heart's desire.

As of this weekend, the flags are still at half mast. Everywhere you go are these reminders of that tragedy at VT. However, those flags will go back up, just as they did after 9/11. That's human nature. We set aside time to mourn and grieve, but after that, our lives go on. That human tendency all but guarantees that the mad dreams of the Chos and the McVeighs will never be realized.

Strip from The Quigmans

Here's a strip from the comic, The Quigmans that, for some reason, I find funny. I don't know why, because I don't have anything against environmentalists. However, it might have been even funnier with Al Gore in there. ;-)

Virginia Tech massacre

There's very little that I could say here that hasn't been said already in news reports and commentaries. The only thing that I can say now is that I will be praying for the Virginia Tech community and the families of the victims - living and dead. Reports and information are still coming in, and I'll just wait until probably the weekend before I make any further comments.

Some things I may comment on - either in one entry or split up into different entries:

* The question of "How could a loving God allow this to happen?"
* The predictable reactions of various political groups to use this tragedy to further their political agendas.
* What can be done to prevent further tragedies like this from happening again.

There are other things as well, but those ideas are not as formulated yet. Again, I'll be watching what develops and comment later. In the meantime, I ask that you offer your thoughts and prayers for the victims of this tragedy.

God bless.

Weekend Wrap-up 4-14-2007

It's been at least a month since I did one of these, and here's why: To prepare for weekend wrap-ups, I usually send news stories to myself by e-mail over the course of the week. I choose most topics if they got a lot of attention during the week, or if it was just an interesting story, or if there were something else about the story that would qualify it for the Weekend Wrap-up. Well, lately I've gotten out of that habit, and that's put me out of the loop on what's going on in the news. As an opinionator, I just can't have that, so I'm going to try to get back into that habit as of now. But for today, I'll post some comments based on a scan of the Yahoo! News website.

Don Imus
I didn't have to scan the Yahoo! News site to know that this was discussed all week. I won't go into the details of why Imus got fired because it's been repeated ad nauseum all week. However, I do want to say that the reason Imus was fired was NOT because of his comments but because the advertisers for his show were dropping like Bush's poll ratings. In other words, CBS didn't fire him out of any sense of moral outrage, but because Imus was no longer profitable. In yet other words, it was all about money. Had it been a sense of moral outrage, they would have fired him outright instead of just suspending him for two weeks like they had done at first.

And then there's the matter of all those rappers who say much worse than "nappy-headed hos" and get away with it time after time. Many members of the black community have been speaking out on this for years to no avail. So long as there are consumers of such music, their protests will fall on deaf ears (because the sound of the cash register is drowning them out). If CBS is so morally outraged over Imus' comments, they should also take on the rap industry.

Critics now turn to rap
Since Imus is out of a job and now has nothing to lose, he should take his current public visibility and point out the hypocritical acceptance of rap music's usage of negative racial terminology. In fact, in this article, some critics are indeed trying to capitalize on the visibility of this issue "while the iron is hot." The article mentions that the last time that they were able to get their views heard was when Michael Richards had gone on his "n-word" rant last year. Why does it take white guys saying things like this before the media takes notice? In other words, why do they let the rappers slide with saying much worse? If the "n-word" is ugly for some people to use, then it should be ugly for all people to use. Allowing even blacks to use the "n-word" (and others) bares a hypocrisy that everyone will notice - even if they don't mention it. The "n-word" won't die out until EVERYONE gives up using it.

Abstinence programs
This news story talks about a study that says that students who take abstinence classes are just about as likely to have sex as those who didn't take those classes. No doubt that opponents of abstinence classes are going to use this whenever the issue is brought up again by the Bush administration. I'm not understanding something here, though. Diseases like AIDS are spread through casual sexual contact. Even condoms aren't 100% proof against AIDS. Only abstinence is 100% effective. So what's wrong with teaching teens to wait until later to have sex? It won't kill them - in fact, it might save them by preventing them from getting AIDS (among other sexually transmitted diseases).

AIDS is still a bad disease to get, right? So why object to an action that is 100% proof against getting it? Before someone e-mails me to tell me this: Yes, people can still get AIDS through blood transfusions and sharing infected needles - but those are separate issues. The issue here is the best means of preventing the transmission of sexually transmitted disease in teenagers (and everyone else, for that matter). Perhaps the word "abstinence" is being confused with the word "celibate", which is the foregoing of sex for life. "Abstinence" simply means "forestalling sex for another time" - it does NOT mean giving up on sex forever. But that's not what's taught for the most part. In fact, it wasn't until the spread of AIDS and the fact that currently there's no cure for it before "health classes" even mentioned abstinence as an option.

The reason that many teens - even those who went to abstinence classes - are still having sex is because pretty much, that's all they're taught from their friends and from the entertainment industry. "Cool people have sex. Only nerds and geeks don't have sex. You'll lose your boyfriend/girlfriend if you don't give them what they want" and other such arguments. They're being made to feel that they have everything to gain and nothing to lose if they give in. It's actually the reverse that's closer to the truth.

I don't want to come off as a prude by suggesting that sex is dirty and nasty. Far from it - sex can be a beautiful and wonderful thing - in the right context. But can two teenagers in lust truly understand what the right context for sex is? Wouldn't it be better for them to wait until they are mature enough to understand what the right context is? So what's the rush? There's still college to meet and greet other people - and even after college. Most college graduates are still in their early 20's. That's plenty of time to get to know not just others, but especially yourself. That's the best path to responsible sex.

Obama returns campaign contributions from lobbyists - sort of
In this article, we see that Barack Obama returned the money that had come from lobbyists. His reason is that he wants to set the example for Washington to clean up corruption. However, further down that article, you see this notation:

"While shunning lobbyists money, the Obama campaign still has relied on political and policy advice from Washington lobbyists and does accept donations from lobbyists spouses."

Uh huh. Yeaaaahhhhh.......

You see the problem here, right? Okay, Obie isn't taking money from Mr. Lobbyist, but he'll take it from Mrs. Lobbyist. So....

... this cleans up corruption how?

Granted, technically, Obie isn't taking money from a lobbyist - but c'mon! What possible incentive is there for a politician to clean up their act if accepting donations from the spouses of lobbyists isn't seen as a backdoor way of donating campaign funds? Obie is relying on the stupidity of a lot of people in order to get away with that.

Giuliani in drag
Yep, you read that right. Here is an article about Rudy Giuliani in drag. The article is questioning whether Giuliani should be doing stuff like that since he's running as a candidate for president. As a Republican, no less. Not only that, he's dressed in drag before. I say that he shouldn't do that anymore. It just ain't proper. Not only that - and I hope that Giuliani doesn't take offense at this - he makes an ugly broad.

Have a great week, folks!