This is from the September 7, 2007 broadcast of HBO’s outstanding series Real Time, starring Bill Maher. As he often does, Bill makes a lot of sense in this excerpt. Bill would make one heck of a curmudgeon, from whatever state he wishes. And finally, New Rule: If you want to bring Jesus to the unbelievers, you can’t be surprised … Continue reading
It seems to me that for the last ten or fifteen years, everything has been all about cheap, and cheaper. Very little is about “quality,” unless it is also about “luxury.” There was once a time, well within my living memory, that an object did not have to luxurious to be of good quality. We need to get that back, … Continue reading
I suppose that it would be possible to think of me as a Dutch-American. My ancestry is mixed European, really, with Dutch the largest component. My mother, who was in a great position to know, always told me that I was half-Dutch, half-Irish, half-English and half-assed. See, I told you that she ought to know. ;o) But I don’t think … Continue reading
It seems that we are moving back toward a very sad period of reverse racism and reverse ethnism in recent months. It is a trend that dismays me. We should not be polarizing these issues further; instead, we need to be bringing people closer together on these issues. Some people, though, cannot walk by a box of dry tinder an … Continue reading
I am having a very hard time trusting anyone that I do not personally know and can vouch for from direct historical experience. I am sure that not everyone else is lying to us, but it is very hard to tell who is who. This is almost certainly a matter of having been conditioned to expect bullshit from people in … Continue reading
Automotive advertising has taken a turn for the lethal. There is no other way for it to end up. These ads, of late, are full of video footage of successful young men driving their (sometimes) mediocre cars at ridiculous speeds through the downtown portions of major metropolitan areas. Even Volvo commercials are doing it. Safety, indeed.You will a see young … Continue reading
As far as I can tell, Labor day is an idea whose time has gone. I have always been ambivalent about labor unions. They seem to have done just about as much harm as good. There has always been the odor of crooked dealings about them, even though they righted a wrong or two many decades ago. But, whether they … Continue reading
I am a both stumbler and a Stumbler. Because I have multiple sclerosis, I have become a journeyman physical stumbler. I am also a user of StumbleUpon. Not a pathological Stumbler, yet, I don’t think, but, a Stumbler nonetheless. For the uninitiated, StumbleUpon is a sort of Match.com or eHarmony service for you and Websites. You tell StumbleUpon what sort … Continue reading
Unusual hearing follows traffic stop From the Lawrence Journal-World, September 1, 2007 Laura West claims the Kansas Highway Patrol trooper who stopped her “vessel” on the night of June 11 west of Lawrence had no right to arrest her. She’s never had a driver’s license and doesn’t need one, West said as she represented herself Friday in Douglas County District … Continue reading
Everywhere we turn, we find sadness, disasters, tragedies, sob stories, tear-jerkers, angst, distress, misery, melancholy and woes. The news is full of it, the Internet is full of it, our entertainment (!?!) is full of it. Sometimes, it all gets a little overwhelming. It seems like an airborne plague of negative energy, lurking above us, waiting to come down like … Continue reading