http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/Bits%20%26%20Pieces.html Strange and quirky thoughts about life, history, mystery novels, politics, sports, cats, Discworld, teaching, and whatever else comes out of my fingertips and onto the screen. Inspired by the random interaction of my brain and the sensory input that bombards it everyday --- Teach313--- iWeb 1.1.2 http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/Bits%20%26%20Pieces_files/Ken%27s%20handiwork%2022%20Jul%2004.jpg http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/Bits%20%26%20Pieces.html http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/3C4DB891-1960-4573-B9E6-BCB944F2B0F1.html http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/3C4DB891-1960-4573-B9E6-BCB944F2B0F1.html Thu, 17 May 2007 18:26:02 -0400 God and a few Archangels were sitting at the bar tipping back a few Harp’s Ales. Jerry walked up to the bar and sat on the left hand of the Lord. “Hey,” sayeth the Lord. “That’s My hand.” “Oh, excuse me,” said Jerry, rising from his seat so the Lord could remove His hand from beneath the buttocks of the late Reverend. “Hello,” sayeth Jesus, who was seated on the right hand of the Lord. “I’m Jesus, the Son of God. And you’re … ?” “The Reverend Jerry Falwell,” bragged a beaming Big Jer. “I’m the guy you’ve been speaking to for the past 50 or so years.” Jesus put down His Bloody Mary (Virgin, of course, although some scholars dispute this), a puzzled look creeping over His face. Jerry settled in at the bar, and called over the bartender to place his order. The bartender walked over to him and said, politely, but firmly, “I’m sorry, but I can’t serve you here.” “What?” a shocked Jerry answered. “Why the Hell not?” There was a whiff of sulfur, a tap on Falwell’s shoulder, a http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/72675057-C92D-45C6-90B0-6929D822EFBF.html http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/72675057-C92D-45C6-90B0-6929D822EFBF.html Thu, 15 Mar 2007 23:19:27 -0400 An unnamed Administration figure spilled the beans concerning White House strategy for countering the gathering storm clouds in DC when he accidentally left the following list at a DC Starbucks this morning. Friday, March 16, Enemy Combatant #347-767 Confess to mailing anthrax to Congressional offices in 2001. Saturday, March 17, Enemy Combatant #484-553 Confess to firing all nine US attorneys. Sunday, March 18, (Be sure to release before Talk Shows) Enemy Combatant #278-994 Confess to being Captain of Bin Ladin's yatch. Planned attack on USS Cole. Monday, March 19, Enemy Combatant #396-222 Confess to being Bin Ladin's pedicurist. Confess to planning the attack of Richard Reid, the "Shoe Bomber." Tuesday, March 20, Enemy Combatant #358-667 Confess to Planning Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Wednesday, March 21, Enemy Combatant #198-855 Confess to Planning Global Warming HOLD IN RESERVE IN CASE OF INDICTMENT OF K.R. Enemy Combatan http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/91C1C9EA-C3AF-436B-A13B-98F4BC9DB88C.html http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/91C1C9EA-C3AF-436B-A13B-98F4BC9DB88C.html Fri, 9 Mar 2007 17:02:31 -0500 The recent news that Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has finally paid parking fines and unpaid auto registrations dating back to his days at law student at Harvard University has split a portion of the Detroit segment of the Michigan Democratic caucus. Teach313 has been concerned that Obama would not acknowledge this overdue parking tickets and back taxes, thus opening the way for a swift-boat attack on the scofflaw in the 2008 President election. Teach313 also is concerned about unpaid library fines from 1968-1970, and the copy of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel that Senator Obama checked out and never returned. "There is a clear pattern here of the Senator acting as if the laws don't apply to him," said Teach313. Kidspeak, Teach313's wife, and the other member of the conflicted portion of the Detroit segment of the Michigan Democratic caucus, simply shrugged her shoulders at the news of Senator Obama's problems with parking tickets in Boston. "The sympathy votes he'll get from the mi http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/130878E7-6260-43CD-B8FF-D8793DB87C77.html http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/130878E7-6260-43CD-B8FF-D8793DB87C77.html Thu, 7 Dec 2006 14:56:52 -0500 Originally posted on Booman Tribune. by Teach313 Thu Dec 7th, 2006 at 02:56:40 PM EST This diary is a comment on and divergence from Booman's story on conservative reaction to the announcement that VP Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter is pregnant. Booman concludes that the private lives of the Cheneys are their business and that we on the left should stay out of it. Commenters agreed and disagreed. I happen to agree, but there is a larger issue here. The issue is not family privacy, Gay rights, or the necessity of two parent families. The issue is the double standard, one for PLUs and another for everyone else. PLU is a convient shorthand for "People Like Us." PLUs are good people by definition. The Bush Family is the model of the PLU world view. If you are born a PLU, you don't commit crimes, you make mistakes. You are helped out, not prosecuted. If you are born a Bush, you can avoid all wars, Viet Nam, as well as the War on Drugs. The law doesn't apply to you. If you are bo http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/1184A8A2-87D4-4D5F-8752-40E08D0CEC20.html http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/1184A8A2-87D4-4D5F-8752-40E08D0CEC20.html Wed, 8 Nov 2006 02:36:06 -0500 Originally posted on Booman Tribune. by Teach313 Wed Nov 8th, 2006 at 02:36:48 AM EST It's 2:30 a.m. Election Night and I'm geeked. What a night! Now, let's turn our attention to Harry Reid, Rahm Emmanuel, Schumer, and all the other Beltway Dems who think they know what's best for us. Let's flood them with emails, calls, blimps, and sky-writers, and tell them to get the hell off Howard Dean's back and get their sorry asses to work removing the horrible legislation this administration has foisted on America. Let Dean run the Party. You folks need to start investigations across the board. Hit the Repub's hard and keep on hitting. The voters gave the Dem's a message. Stop Bush. Stop the war. Stop the corporate criminals running the Executive Branch. Get to work and start representing "the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party.) One more thing, tell your ole pal Joe to piss off when he comes demanding his committee chairmanship. The Repub's elected him, not us. We owe him nothing. http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/FDF17F80-9171-4906-B368-CB21AAAE03A4.html http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/FDF17F80-9171-4906-B368-CB21AAAE03A4.html Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:05:02 -0400 Originally posted on Booman Tribune. by Teach313 Wed Oct 11th, 2006 at 08:05:40 AM EST As Man Eegee pointed out in his diary on Russell Pearce this morning, the immigration furor does nothing to address the "underlying economic issues that are plaguing the lower classes of all the nations." National boundaries mean nothing to corporations. They are simply another factor to be evaluated in maximizing profits. If it is more profitable to be an "American" company, fine, let's do it. Otherwise, set up off-shore or move the "home office" to other country. But workers do not have the same options. They are bound to their native countries. The anti-immigration rhetoric uses loaded, emotional language to pit the workers of America against workers from outside the country. Who benefits? Neither set of workers, of course. These are the same tactics historically used by the Klan to turn poor whites against poor blacks. Controlling labor is the key issue. A key question seems to be, http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/72BB6654-C516-43E7-BB95-0D93764117E7.html http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/72BB6654-C516-43E7-BB95-0D93764117E7.html Sat, 30 Sep 2006 21:24:03 -0400 Originally posted on Booman Tribune. by Teach313 Sat Sep 30th, 2006 at 09:24:01 PM EST The passing of the Torture bill has led to justified expressions of anger, frustration, and bitter sadness here in the frog pond and in the wider Progressive community. I join in those feelings. Much has been said about the bill and I cannot add anything new. I agree that this administration has continuously moved against the constitutional freedoms and liberties that Americans have fought to preserve and expand. We have fought in the streets, on battlefields, and in the courts to grasp the promise of our democracy, a promise that always seems to exceed our grasp. Each stage of the struggle has moved us closer to a more inclusive democracy and a more inclusive America. Until now. The Torture law is a clear step away from the promise of America. The Patriot Act was also. However, there is another threat to fulfilling the promise of America. It is a more subtle threat, but potentially more http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/AE07F9C7-6096-4C6C-8002-C31DA45435E2.html http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/AE07F9C7-6096-4C6C-8002-C31DA45435E2.html Sat, 30 Sep 2006 14:04:01 -0400 Originally posted on Booman Tribune. by Teach313 Sat Sep 30th, 2006 at 02:04:36 PM EST While gathering material for a more detailed diary on a related topic, I came across a blog about Garrison Keillor's visit to Highland Park Methodist Church, the President's home church. I had to share it with you. "I got some insight last week into who supports torture when I went down to Dallas to speak at Highland Park Methodist Church," Mr. Keillor wrote. "It was spooky. I walked in, was met by two burly security men with walkie-talkies, and within 10 minutes was told by three people that this was the Bushes' church and that it would be better if I didn't talk about politics. I was there on a book tour for "Homegrown Democrat," but they thought it better if I didn't mention it. So I tried to make light of it: I told the audience, "I don't need to talk politics. I have no need even to be interested in politics -- I'm a citizen, I have plenty of money and my grandsons are at least 12 ye http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/89B6A30A-5DFC-4A72-8AD7-87624DB5AE6F.html http://web.mac.com/mathhelpers/iWeb/Thorf/Bits%20%26%20Pieces/89B6A30A-5DFC-4A72-8AD7-87624DB5AE6F.html Thu, 21 Dec 2006 22:12:15 -0500 Originally posted on Booman Tribune. by Teach313 Thu Dec 21st, 2006 at 02:50:48 PM EST This started as a comment to Booman's story, WSJ: Critiquing Blogs. As so often happens, there was a lot to think about and my comment entered that gray area between comment and diary. A dia-ment? Well, whatever it is, certainly in the rough. There is at least one overlooked point in the WSJ comparison of bloggers & traditional reporters. There is an overlapping range of goals for the two groups. Three keys goals of both are reporting, advocacy, and community building. These goals are intertwined. The first two are often blurred, and the distinction is often in the eyes of the beholder. Although we don't usually think of it as such, the WSJ also works to build a community, a group of people with common interests. The key difference in my mind is that bloggers and blogging are more democratic, more inclusive, more conducive to building communities, than are traditional media. We are living thr