After recent allegations that Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach, had molested or had sex with Penn State boys, AOL Sports News on November 22, 2011, came up with the headline “Ex-Penn State Official Says Players Get Off Easy” for an article claiming “'that football players were treated ‘more favorably than other students accused of violating the community standards as defined by the student code of conduct.'" To top it off, in the comment section, the first sentence of the first comment by Michael Carter reads: "Staight [sic] up this is sicking [sic]."
No comment by blogger.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
The Vatican's Other Cheek
"[Benetton's] latest campaign, unveiled Wednesday, so offended the Vatican that it is taking legal action to prevent the circulation of a doctored image depicting Pope Benedict XVI kissing a leading Muslim imam." http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/11/vatican-to-take-legal-action-over-benetton-ad-featuring-pope.html In my opinion, the Vatican should have turned the other cheek instead of threatening to slap Benetton with a lawsuit.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Same-sex Marriage In California - The Litigation Continues
From the Associated Press at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/17/prop-8-decision-california-same-sex-marriage-ban-_n_1099550.html
“SAN FRANCISCO -- California's highest court says ballot proposition sponsors can step in to defend their initiatives from legal challenges if the state's governor and attorney general refuse to do so.”
For the highest court in such a liberal state to rule in favor of wealthy special interest groups giving them standing to defend their initiatives when the state is unwilling to do so is astounding. This ruling resulted from a federal appellate court striking down Proposition 8 and the refusal of the California governor to further litigate the matter. Proposition 8 is a constitutional amendment that prohibits same-sex marriages.
This decision a double win for California: It conserves the state’s legal expenses and encourages more litigation money to be spent in California to stimulate its economy.
“SAN FRANCISCO -- California's highest court says ballot proposition sponsors can step in to defend their initiatives from legal challenges if the state's governor and attorney general refuse to do so.”
For the highest court in such a liberal state to rule in favor of wealthy special interest groups giving them standing to defend their initiatives when the state is unwilling to do so is astounding. This ruling resulted from a federal appellate court striking down Proposition 8 and the refusal of the California governor to further litigate the matter. Proposition 8 is a constitutional amendment that prohibits same-sex marriages.
This decision a double win for California: It conserves the state’s legal expenses and encourages more litigation money to be spent in California to stimulate its economy.
The Nuclear Option
From the Associated Press at http://news.yahoo.com/russian-military-chief-war-risks-grown-140553975.html
“Gen. Nikolai Makarov, chief of the General Staff, pointed at NATO's expansion eastward and said Thursday that the risks for Russia to be pulled into local conflicts have ‘risen sharply.’ He added, according to Russian news agencies wires, that ‘under certain conditions local and regional conflicts may develop into a full-scale war involving nuclear weapons.’
“A steady decline of Russia's conventional forces has prompted the Kremlin to rely increasingly on nuclear deterrent. Its military doctrine says it may use nuclear weapons to counter a nuclear attack on Russia or an ally, or a large-scale conventional attack that threatens Russia's existence.”
Russia and I think alike. No one wants to be threatened and no one wants a war but if war is necessary, the nuclear option is cheap, quick and effective. This is not good news for any country that thrives on a war economy.
“Gen. Nikolai Makarov, chief of the General Staff, pointed at NATO's expansion eastward and said Thursday that the risks for Russia to be pulled into local conflicts have ‘risen sharply.’ He added, according to Russian news agencies wires, that ‘under certain conditions local and regional conflicts may develop into a full-scale war involving nuclear weapons.’
“A steady decline of Russia's conventional forces has prompted the Kremlin to rely increasingly on nuclear deterrent. Its military doctrine says it may use nuclear weapons to counter a nuclear attack on Russia or an ally, or a large-scale conventional attack that threatens Russia's existence.”
Russia and I think alike. No one wants to be threatened and no one wants a war but if war is necessary, the nuclear option is cheap, quick and effective. This is not good news for any country that thrives on a war economy.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
J. Edgar
Leonardo DiCaprio is one of my favorite actors. In J. Edgar DiCaprio captured Clint Eastwood’s persona but not the depth of J. Edgar Hoover’s homosexual tensions with his companion Clyde Tolson or fully his subservient relationship with his mother. Had DiCaprio’s talent in J. Edgar been utilized as well as it had been in The Aviator in which DiCaprio portrayed Howard Hughes, it would be difficult for me to pick between him and Brad Pitt in Moneyball for an award as best actor. Overall, Clint Eastwood directed J. Edgar well as he had done in Changeling with Angelina Jolie and in The Grand Torino, another of my favorite movies, in which he also acted.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Funny Obama Jokes
"America once had Johnny Cash, Steve Jobs and Bob Hope. Now we have Barack Obama, no cash, no jobs and no hope.
Tip o'the hat to Joachim" [1]
"Top Twenty Five Features of ObamaCare
...
1. Medical degrees from Devry.
2. Mandatory organ donor cards.
3. Lighters used to sterilize syringes.
4. Stomach stapling done at Office Max.
5. Coin operated morphine dispensers.
6. Tap water is a plasma substitute.
7. Homeless people all have only one kidney.
8. Free cremation with any major operation.
9. Bunkbeds in the Intensive Care Unit.
10. Your first dose of narcotics is free.
11. Special "showers" for the elderly.
12. Tongue depressors taste like Popsicles.
13. None of the nurses speak English.
14. The hospital cafeteria failed its health inspection.
15. Ambulances have meters.
16. Hospital walls are infested with "lab" rats.
17. Do-it-yourself heart bypass kits.
18. Wind up pacemakers.
19. You make up your own hospital bed.
20. Anesthesia comes in a bong.
21. Patients' meals are MREs.
22. Leeches make a comeback!
23. Hospital TVs are all turned to MSNBC.
24. Sears surgical tools.
25. A visit to the hospital will automatically cancel your life insurance policy." [2]
{1]http://sites.google.com/site/barackobamajokes/
[2]http://sites.google.com/site/barackobamajokes/thebarackobamajokeswebsite-obamacarejoke
Tip o'the hat to Joachim" [1]
"Top Twenty Five Features of ObamaCare
...
1. Medical degrees from Devry.
2. Mandatory organ donor cards.
3. Lighters used to sterilize syringes.
4. Stomach stapling done at Office Max.
5. Coin operated morphine dispensers.
6. Tap water is a plasma substitute.
7. Homeless people all have only one kidney.
8. Free cremation with any major operation.
9. Bunkbeds in the Intensive Care Unit.
10. Your first dose of narcotics is free.
11. Special "showers" for the elderly.
12. Tongue depressors taste like Popsicles.
13. None of the nurses speak English.
14. The hospital cafeteria failed its health inspection.
15. Ambulances have meters.
16. Hospital walls are infested with "lab" rats.
17. Do-it-yourself heart bypass kits.
18. Wind up pacemakers.
19. You make up your own hospital bed.
20. Anesthesia comes in a bong.
21. Patients' meals are MREs.
22. Leeches make a comeback!
23. Hospital TVs are all turned to MSNBC.
24. Sears surgical tools.
25. A visit to the hospital will automatically cancel your life insurance policy." [2]
{1]http://sites.google.com/site/barackobamajokes/
[2]http://sites.google.com/site/barackobamajokes/thebarackobamajokeswebsite-obamacarejoke
Friday, November 4, 2011
Making A Difference – Part 7 – Final Thoughts
Something that sounds simple is seldom easy to accomplish.
In his commencement speech at Stanford on June 12, 2005, Steve Jobs said, “I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do” but people still take jobs they do not love and stay married even after the love is gone.
Circa 1982, a little schoolgirl in Oakland raised her hand and asked Mrs. Nancy Reagan what to do if someone offered her drugs. Mrs. Reagan responded that she was to “just say no” but 29 years later the war on drugs is still ongoing.
In my recent search for God’s truth, the pursuit of which would automatically lead to good works that cure acedia [1], the revelation was simply love but knowing it has not transformed my life.
[1] Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. The Purgatorio, Notes, p. 434. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: New American Library, 2003. This is where the translator wrote that “[a]cedia … is not simply the failure to perform good works for others, though it readily involves that failure. It is, more specifically, the failure to pay enough attention to the good, to make enough demands upon oneself. Were one to give all of his energy and attention to the pursuit of God’s truth, good works would follow automatically [emphasis added]” and where my inspiration to seek out God’s truth came from. John Ciardi continued to state that “[a]cedia may consist in being too torpid to arrive at a vision of the good, or in achieving that vision but neglecting to pursue it.” This I disagree with because I believe that we are born with a vision of the good. It requires no effort to achieve and torpidity does not prevent it from existence. Only when one freely allows oneself to be contaminated by evil does one’s vision of the good go blind. In other words, to claim that a vision of the good is the result of a willful achievement is to suggest that evil predominates naturally unless free will replaces it with good. That is plainly wrong for life springs from all that is good and remains good until evil is permitted to destroy it.
In his commencement speech at Stanford on June 12, 2005, Steve Jobs said, “I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do” but people still take jobs they do not love and stay married even after the love is gone.
Circa 1982, a little schoolgirl in Oakland raised her hand and asked Mrs. Nancy Reagan what to do if someone offered her drugs. Mrs. Reagan responded that she was to “just say no” but 29 years later the war on drugs is still ongoing.
In my recent search for God’s truth, the pursuit of which would automatically lead to good works that cure acedia [1], the revelation was simply love but knowing it has not transformed my life.
[1] Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. The Purgatorio, Notes, p. 434. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: New American Library, 2003. This is where the translator wrote that “[a]cedia … is not simply the failure to perform good works for others, though it readily involves that failure. It is, more specifically, the failure to pay enough attention to the good, to make enough demands upon oneself. Were one to give all of his energy and attention to the pursuit of God’s truth, good works would follow automatically [emphasis added]” and where my inspiration to seek out God’s truth came from. John Ciardi continued to state that “[a]cedia may consist in being too torpid to arrive at a vision of the good, or in achieving that vision but neglecting to pursue it.” This I disagree with because I believe that we are born with a vision of the good. It requires no effort to achieve and torpidity does not prevent it from existence. Only when one freely allows oneself to be contaminated by evil does one’s vision of the good go blind. In other words, to claim that a vision of the good is the result of a willful achievement is to suggest that evil predominates naturally unless free will replaces it with good. That is plainly wrong for life springs from all that is good and remains good until evil is permitted to destroy it.
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