This week’s glance at the almost comical demise of the Democratic leadership comes from one of our beloved Senators from Massachusetts, Edward “Ted” Kennedy.
“We have doubled the number of deaths from asthma this year than we had five years ago, doubled the deaths for children. I wonder why that is? I don't know what you tell the mother when they see the children having that intensity…where will this nominee come out? Will he come on out for that mother who has a child that's got asthma or that parent who's seeing the pollution that's taken place in a pond -- in a lake and whose child has been affected by those kinds of poison?”
- Sen. Kennedy’s speech on the Senate floor yesterday in his feeble attempt to postpone the vote to confirm Sam Alito to the Supreme Court
“In another area of controversy, Judge Alito's views on issues of particular concern to women should give every woman pause -- from his role in striking down a key provision of the Family and Medical Leave Act, to his opposition to the privacy of women's reproductive decisions. He was unwilling to accept the full constitutional right of privacy recognized by the current Supreme Court. Judge Alito's testimony failed to resolve the very serious concerns that he's itching to overturn Roe v. Wade. He said that he will keep an "open mind" on the issue -- but that is no comfort to those who know his record. That record includes his 1985 memo to the Reagan Administration's Solicitor General, advising that the best way to undermine Roe was to chip away at its protections. We have every reason to believe that he will do exactly that if confirmed to the Supreme Court.”
- Sen. Kennedy, in a speech to the President, as to why Alito should not be confirmed to the Supreme Court (because of his pro-life, anti-abortion leanings)
So I got to thinking and researching, and this is what I’ve found.
There are approximately 5,000 deaths annually among children as a result of asthma. (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease)
However, according to The Alan Guttmacher Institute, a branch of Planned Parenthood (whose statistics are more reliable than the CDC), there are between 1.5 and 1.7 million abortions per year.
Thankfully, ol’ Ted and his keen eyes has realized these disproportionate numbers and is working hard to make sure Sam Alito, the heartless misguided SOB that he is, doesn’t get a chance to carry out his evil campaign to silence the voice of this nation’s asthma inflicted.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Monday, January 30, 2006
Mondays with Murray
From a recent phone conversation:
Murray: I can’t wait until I’ve got a house. Right, now, I spend a lot of my time driving around looking for where I’m going to eat.
Sleuth: Man, you’ve been eating out a lot lately, huh? That’s expensive isn’t it?
Murray: Yeah, but I see it as an investment in my body.
Murray: I can’t wait until I’ve got a house. Right, now, I spend a lot of my time driving around looking for where I’m going to eat.
Sleuth: Man, you’ve been eating out a lot lately, huh? That’s expensive isn’t it?
Murray: Yeah, but I see it as an investment in my body.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
So that's why I like sports...and who I am?
Play as the clue to ontological explanation:
"This suggests a general characteristic of the nature of play that is reflected in playing: all playing is being-played. The attraction of a game, the fascination of its exerts, consists precisely in the fact that the game masters the players. Even in the case of games in which one tries to perform tasks that one has set oneself, there is a risk that they will not "work," "succeed", or "succeed again," which is the attraction of the game. Whoever "tries" is in fact the one who is tried. The real subject of the game (this is shown in precisely those experienecs in which there is only a singel player) is not the playter but instead the game itself. What holds the player in its spell, draws him into play, and keeps him there is the game itself."
- Hans-Georg Gadamer
"This suggests a general characteristic of the nature of play that is reflected in playing: all playing is being-played. The attraction of a game, the fascination of its exerts, consists precisely in the fact that the game masters the players. Even in the case of games in which one tries to perform tasks that one has set oneself, there is a risk that they will not "work," "succeed", or "succeed again," which is the attraction of the game. Whoever "tries" is in fact the one who is tried. The real subject of the game (this is shown in precisely those experienecs in which there is only a singel player) is not the playter but instead the game itself. What holds the player in its spell, draws him into play, and keeps him there is the game itself."
- Hans-Georg Gadamer
A Bit O' History
I was inspired by Noel's comments today. Apropos, Noel. So while we're on the topic of inflated self appreciation (i.e. New Yorkers) and historical memory loss, let's talk about the Volunteers. This is a bone I've had to pick for a while, and my parents recent tour of San Antonio, including the Alamo, has reminded me of a bit of history that often goes unnoticed.
The entire state of Tennessee has built its identity around their beloved "volunteer soldiers"(c.f. Univ. of Tennessee), who either fought at the Alamo or in the Battle of New Orleans. In fact, while Texans are known for their big egos, Tennesseeans aren't far behind - after all, in their mind, if you don't mess with Texas, then you sure as hell don't mess with Tennessee, because it was Tennessee that "singlehandedly" put Texas on the map.
But before the state that I've "lived in" for the past six years gets too excited, they should try a slice of this humble pie:
Lt. Col. William Travis - shortly after arriving in San Antonio he took control of the Texas regulars and by the time of the Battle of the Alamo was also commanding the volunteers (yes, that group of renegade Tennesseeans). He died alongside Bowie, Crockett and other famous names in American folklore defending the Alamo. Remember, this was the top dog at the Alamo.
James Bonham: The courageous solder (i forget his rank) that snuck through enemy lines on multiple occassions in an effort to get word to the reinforcement troops to hurry to the Alamo.
Andrew Jackson: Commanded the Volunteers at the battle of New Orleans (a much better leader than the Big Easy's current Ray "school bus" Nagin) and later became TN's first congressman and a U.S. president.
All of these men: South Carolina natives. Long live the Palmetto State.
The entire state of Tennessee has built its identity around their beloved "volunteer soldiers"(c.f. Univ. of Tennessee), who either fought at the Alamo or in the Battle of New Orleans. In fact, while Texans are known for their big egos, Tennesseeans aren't far behind - after all, in their mind, if you don't mess with Texas, then you sure as hell don't mess with Tennessee, because it was Tennessee that "singlehandedly" put Texas on the map.
But before the state that I've "lived in" for the past six years gets too excited, they should try a slice of this humble pie:
Lt. Col. William Travis - shortly after arriving in San Antonio he took control of the Texas regulars and by the time of the Battle of the Alamo was also commanding the volunteers (yes, that group of renegade Tennesseeans). He died alongside Bowie, Crockett and other famous names in American folklore defending the Alamo. Remember, this was the top dog at the Alamo.
James Bonham: The courageous solder (i forget his rank) that snuck through enemy lines on multiple occassions in an effort to get word to the reinforcement troops to hurry to the Alamo.
Andrew Jackson: Commanded the Volunteers at the battle of New Orleans (a much better leader than the Big Easy's current Ray "school bus" Nagin) and later became TN's first congressman and a U.S. president.
All of these men: South Carolina natives. Long live the Palmetto State.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Chuck Norris facts
The wild boyz on Second South have recently begun a bulletin board shrine to Chuck Norris. The facts they have have enshrined thus far are pretty hilarious. In keeping with the spirit of creativity, as well as Scott Steere's desire for more original, Covenant related Chuck Norris facts, Manville Tabletalk offers the following little known CN facts:
1. The only person Wallace Anderson is afraid of is Chuck Norris.
2. The reason Crossman retired is because he heard Bryan College had recruited Chuck Norris for soccer.
3. Chuck Norris was once did a roundhouse kick and created an alternate inverse universe. In this universe, he called heaven Second South and hell Second North.
4. The only time Chuck Norris ever showed signs of weakness was after eating in the Great Hall.
5. When Chuck Norris sneezes, Lookout Mountain gets fog.
1. The only person Wallace Anderson is afraid of is Chuck Norris.
2. The reason Crossman retired is because he heard Bryan College had recruited Chuck Norris for soccer.
3. Chuck Norris was once did a roundhouse kick and created an alternate inverse universe. In this universe, he called heaven Second South and hell Second North.
4. The only time Chuck Norris ever showed signs of weakness was after eating in the Great Hall.
5. When Chuck Norris sneezes, Lookout Mountain gets fog.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Nonsense from the Angry Left, Part I
House Democrats proposed two bills in 2005 to bring the Fairness Doctrine back, -- and as a law, rather than a mere regulation.
(The Fairness Doctrine was an FCC regulation that required radio and later television stations to cover "vitally important controversial issues of interest in the community served by the broadcaster" and to provide "opportunity for the presentation of contrasting viewpoints on such issues." It essentially served to suppress any non-liberal media).
The not-so-subtle target of these bills? Talk radio, like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, and FoxNews.
Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York, who introduced the first of the two bills, says that right-ruled radio is a grave threat to American freedoms, "a waste of good broadcast time, and a waste of our airwaves." People "may hear whatever they please and whatever they choose," she tells PBS's Bill Moyers, in a statement as incoherent as it is illiberal. "And of course they have the right to turn it off. But that's not good enough either. The fact is that they need the responsibility of the people who are licensed to use our airwaves judiciously and responsibly to call them to account if they don't."
In other words, people can't be trusted with freedom but need the supervision of a paternalist government.
(summary from today's Wall Stree Journal Opinion Journal article entitled "Shut Up, They Explained," by Brian Anderson.)
(The Fairness Doctrine was an FCC regulation that required radio and later television stations to cover "vitally important controversial issues of interest in the community served by the broadcaster" and to provide "opportunity for the presentation of contrasting viewpoints on such issues." It essentially served to suppress any non-liberal media).
The not-so-subtle target of these bills? Talk radio, like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, and FoxNews.
Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York, who introduced the first of the two bills, says that right-ruled radio is a grave threat to American freedoms, "a waste of good broadcast time, and a waste of our airwaves." People "may hear whatever they please and whatever they choose," she tells PBS's Bill Moyers, in a statement as incoherent as it is illiberal. "And of course they have the right to turn it off. But that's not good enough either. The fact is that they need the responsibility of the people who are licensed to use our airwaves judiciously and responsibly to call them to account if they don't."
In other words, people can't be trusted with freedom but need the supervision of a paternalist government.
(summary from today's Wall Stree Journal Opinion Journal article entitled "Shut Up, They Explained," by Brian Anderson.)
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Why we like Notre Dame, and why we won't apply to Tennessee
Seeing as how we're in the midst of applying to law schools, we have spent a lot of time lately considering what it actually means to BE a lawyer. Why do we want to practice law? What drives us toward the legal profession? What kind of attorney do we want to be?
Likewise, what law program is going to best help us accomplish those goals?
Let's be honest, lawyers don't have the best reputation. Google the words lawyer and/or attorney plus joke and you'll get 17.6 million hits. Compare that to the 10.6 million for preacher and/or minister plus joke, and the 13.5 for doctor plus joke.
If we say lawyer, you think:
(a) A man who helps you get what's coming to him,
(b) A mouth with a life-support system, or
(c) A slick talking SOB who's basic creed is something like "A man is innocent until proven broke"
Not exactly what we aspire to be.
Which is why we WILL NOT apply to Tennessee's law school (besides not wanting to graduate with a wardrobe that might be confused with the Adopt a Highway folks). Their goal seems to reinforce the negative stereotype:
"The College of Law teaches its students to think, write, and speak like lawyers, providing them with a complete legal education." - University of Tennessee Law School Dean (also, the Dean eerily resembles Red Forman from That 70's Show)
Contrast with Notre Dame's purpose statement:
"Perhaps the most prominent aspect of the Anglo-American legal tradition at Notre Dame is the focus on law not just as another job option, but as one of the ancient healing professions. Like doctors who are called to their vocation to heal the ills of the body, and like the clergy who are called to heal the ills of the spirit or soul, Notre Dame lawyers are called to heal the ills of society - to seek justice and peace among nations, within communities, and between individuals."
Go Irish.
Likewise, what law program is going to best help us accomplish those goals?
Let's be honest, lawyers don't have the best reputation. Google the words lawyer and/or attorney plus joke and you'll get 17.6 million hits. Compare that to the 10.6 million for preacher and/or minister plus joke, and the 13.5 for doctor plus joke.
If we say lawyer, you think:
(a) A man who helps you get what's coming to him,
(b) A mouth with a life-support system, or
(c) A slick talking SOB who's basic creed is something like "A man is innocent until proven broke"
Not exactly what we aspire to be.
Which is why we WILL NOT apply to Tennessee's law school (besides not wanting to graduate with a wardrobe that might be confused with the Adopt a Highway folks). Their goal seems to reinforce the negative stereotype:
"The College of Law teaches its students to think, write, and speak like lawyers, providing them with a complete legal education." - University of Tennessee Law School Dean (also, the Dean eerily resembles Red Forman from That 70's Show)
Contrast with Notre Dame's purpose statement:
"Perhaps the most prominent aspect of the Anglo-American legal tradition at Notre Dame is the focus on law not just as another job option, but as one of the ancient healing professions. Like doctors who are called to their vocation to heal the ills of the body, and like the clergy who are called to heal the ills of the spirit or soul, Notre Dame lawyers are called to heal the ills of society - to seek justice and peace among nations, within communities, and between individuals."
Go Irish.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Carolina athletics and the War of Northern Agression
Life must have been great in antebellum South Carolina.
The Panthers just got manhandled by Seattle in the NFC Championship game. Seattle's defense shut Carolina down from the opening snap, Delhomme completed more pases to Seattle than he did to Carolina, Steve Smith was double teamed most of the, and the only Carolina receiver to make any decent plays was Carter - too little, too late. Granted we were playing most of the game with our fourth string running back, an our lack of success in the backfield allowed the Seahawks to cover our receivers even tighter. But still, we looked pathetic.
Which has me wondering yet again, why do my Carolina teams always lose in the big games? It's at times like these I question God's goodness. But despite my doubt and questioning, during another dark night of the sporting soul, I cling to the one thing that can sustain me through the ups, well mostly downs, of my state's athletic ineptness.
Being a Carolina fan is God's way of placing me in an accelerated sanctification program.
Anybody can cheer for Alabama or Michigan or (gag me) Tennessee football when its a team that wins year in and year out, and gets a championship title often enough to satisfy their hungry fans. I mean, you have a bad season as a Duke or North Carolina basketball follower, and all you have to do is go back a few years to their most recent championship, and all is well on Tobacco Row. Hurricanes can't destroy the 5 College Baseball World Series tittles LSU has, all within the last 15 years.
So let's be honest. Its not hard to cheer for a team that always wins, or has a longstanding tradition of success. But try cheering for the team that always chokes and never lives up to expectations.
The Gamecocks haven't beaten Clemson since 2001, including the worst lost against our rivals in school history in 2003. South Carolina's basketball team won the school's first national championship in ANY major sport last year, but it was the freaking NIT (which is basically the game the scrubs get together on the playground after all the good players got picked on the big court), but has thus far this season followed with a sub par year. Gamecock soccer is consistently a contender, and even won the Conference USA tournament this year, only to get ousted from the NCAA tournament early on by Wake Forest. Even USC's baseball team, a perennial powerhouse, which has been to the World Series 3 of the last 4 years, hasn't won the big one yet, and lost in the championship game against Texas in 2002. The Panthers choked against New England in 2004. And then the pitiful performance by the Panthers tonight.
Only the truly righteous can maintain a steadfast comittment to a team that consistently lets them down. Patience. Loyalty. Forgiveness. Self-control. Unrequited Love. Joy despite hardship. These are the marks of the righteous. Funny, these are also the marks of a Carolina fan.
Which is why, despite the frustrating loss of Panthers tonight, I take solace in my A+ from Sanctification class.
So why do my teams suck? And why do I care so much? It wouldn't be so bad if I was a nonchalant observer. But apparently the words "sport" and "nonchalant" do no coexist peacefully in my world. I can't watch a game on tv without getting emotionally involved. I mean, I can't even enjoy a friendly game of football without competing against my previous performance, and being utterly frustrated when I underperform. I'm never satisfied unless I feel like I've played as well as I know I am capable of playing. And i will never be fulfilled until one of my teams wins the big one. Until that time, I will continue to utter expletives under my breath, yell loudly at the the players on the TV as if my armchair coaching will have some inspiring effect, and throw things on occasion. And in the process, get sanctified.
Life must have been good in antebellum South Carolina. Then that dang war came, and we haven't been able to win anything since.
The Panthers just got manhandled by Seattle in the NFC Championship game. Seattle's defense shut Carolina down from the opening snap, Delhomme completed more pases to Seattle than he did to Carolina, Steve Smith was double teamed most of the, and the only Carolina receiver to make any decent plays was Carter - too little, too late. Granted we were playing most of the game with our fourth string running back, an our lack of success in the backfield allowed the Seahawks to cover our receivers even tighter. But still, we looked pathetic.
Which has me wondering yet again, why do my Carolina teams always lose in the big games? It's at times like these I question God's goodness. But despite my doubt and questioning, during another dark night of the sporting soul, I cling to the one thing that can sustain me through the ups, well mostly downs, of my state's athletic ineptness.
Being a Carolina fan is God's way of placing me in an accelerated sanctification program.
Anybody can cheer for Alabama or Michigan or (gag me) Tennessee football when its a team that wins year in and year out, and gets a championship title often enough to satisfy their hungry fans. I mean, you have a bad season as a Duke or North Carolina basketball follower, and all you have to do is go back a few years to their most recent championship, and all is well on Tobacco Row. Hurricanes can't destroy the 5 College Baseball World Series tittles LSU has, all within the last 15 years.
So let's be honest. Its not hard to cheer for a team that always wins, or has a longstanding tradition of success. But try cheering for the team that always chokes and never lives up to expectations.
The Gamecocks haven't beaten Clemson since 2001, including the worst lost against our rivals in school history in 2003. South Carolina's basketball team won the school's first national championship in ANY major sport last year, but it was the freaking NIT (which is basically the game the scrubs get together on the playground after all the good players got picked on the big court), but has thus far this season followed with a sub par year. Gamecock soccer is consistently a contender, and even won the Conference USA tournament this year, only to get ousted from the NCAA tournament early on by Wake Forest. Even USC's baseball team, a perennial powerhouse, which has been to the World Series 3 of the last 4 years, hasn't won the big one yet, and lost in the championship game against Texas in 2002. The Panthers choked against New England in 2004. And then the pitiful performance by the Panthers tonight.
Only the truly righteous can maintain a steadfast comittment to a team that consistently lets them down. Patience. Loyalty. Forgiveness. Self-control. Unrequited Love. Joy despite hardship. These are the marks of the righteous. Funny, these are also the marks of a Carolina fan.
Which is why, despite the frustrating loss of Panthers tonight, I take solace in my A+ from Sanctification class.
So why do my teams suck? And why do I care so much? It wouldn't be so bad if I was a nonchalant observer. But apparently the words "sport" and "nonchalant" do no coexist peacefully in my world. I can't watch a game on tv without getting emotionally involved. I mean, I can't even enjoy a friendly game of football without competing against my previous performance, and being utterly frustrated when I underperform. I'm never satisfied unless I feel like I've played as well as I know I am capable of playing. And i will never be fulfilled until one of my teams wins the big one. Until that time, I will continue to utter expletives under my breath, yell loudly at the the players on the TV as if my armchair coaching will have some inspiring effect, and throw things on occasion. And in the process, get sanctified.
Life must have been good in antebellum South Carolina. Then that dang war came, and we haven't been able to win anything since.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Road trip soundtrack
I uncovered a gold mine today: The U.S. Department of Transportation. More particularly, the Federal Highway Administration.
Why?
Because my (and your) tax dollars have been well spent by at least one of our beloved government officials, who, under the auspice of the U.S. of A. government, has compiled a fairly exhaustive list of the greatest Road Songs ever written. You can check it out here:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/roadsong.htm
Thankfully, this project was not based on the arbitrary whims of some apathetic arbiter of asphalt. No, there are important critera that must be met if your favorite cruising music is going to make the Road Songs list. Observe:
1. Songs about musicians being "on the road" don't qualify unless they actually mention roads.
2. Songs about cars, rather than roads, also don't quality.
3. A song can qualify if it mentions a highway even if the rest of the song is about something else.
So far, I have only noticed one oversight on The List. Glaringly absent is the greatest highway song of them all, "Free Love Freeway," by David Brent from the BBC's The Office.
Once you check out this tasty lick, I think you'll agree that no road trip will be complete without a dose of David Brent:
http://homepage.mac.com/elliottday/theoffice/sounds1/freelovefull.mp3
Happy cruising.
Why?
Because my (and your) tax dollars have been well spent by at least one of our beloved government officials, who, under the auspice of the U.S. of A. government, has compiled a fairly exhaustive list of the greatest Road Songs ever written. You can check it out here:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/roadsong.htm
Thankfully, this project was not based on the arbitrary whims of some apathetic arbiter of asphalt. No, there are important critera that must be met if your favorite cruising music is going to make the Road Songs list. Observe:
1. Songs about musicians being "on the road" don't qualify unless they actually mention roads.
2. Songs about cars, rather than roads, also don't quality.
3. A song can qualify if it mentions a highway even if the rest of the song is about something else.
So far, I have only noticed one oversight on The List. Glaringly absent is the greatest highway song of them all, "Free Love Freeway," by David Brent from the BBC's The Office.
Once you check out this tasty lick, I think you'll agree that no road trip will be complete without a dose of David Brent:
http://homepage.mac.com/elliottday/theoffice/sounds1/freelovefull.mp3
Happy cruising.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
F this
In my opinion, the F word is one of the foulest words in the English vocabulary. An onomatopoeia of sorts, it takes something incredibly beautiful and makes it completely crass and devoid of any real meaning.
But as an expletive, some would argue that often it is the only word that fits the situation - so I've been thinking, and as best as I can figure, there are only eleven times in history where the "F" word has been considered acceptable for use.
They are as follows:
11. "What the @#$% do you mean, we are sinking?"
-- Capt. E.J. Smith of RMS Titanic, 1912
10. "What the @#$% was that?"
-- Mayor Of Hiroshima, 1945
9. "Where did all those @#$%ing Indians come from?"
-- Custer, 1877
8. "Any @#$%ing idiot could understand that."
-- Einstein, 1938
7. "It does so @#$%ing look like her!"
-- Picasso, 1926
6. "How the @#$% did you work that out?"
-- Pythagoras, 126 BC
5. "You want WHAT on the @#$%ing ceiling?"
-- Michelangelo, 1566
4. "Where the @#$% are we?"
-- Amelia Earhart, 1937
3. "Scattered @#$%ing showers, my ass!"
-- Noah, 4314 BC
2. "Aw c'mon. Who the @#$% is going to find out?"
-- Bill Clinton, 1998
1. "Geez, I didn't think they'd get this @%#*^ing mad."
-- Saddam Hussein, 2003
Let me know if you can think of any others.
But as an expletive, some would argue that often it is the only word that fits the situation - so I've been thinking, and as best as I can figure, there are only eleven times in history where the "F" word has been considered acceptable for use.
They are as follows:
11. "What the @#$% do you mean, we are sinking?"
-- Capt. E.J. Smith of RMS Titanic, 1912
10. "What the @#$% was that?"
-- Mayor Of Hiroshima, 1945
9. "Where did all those @#$%ing Indians come from?"
-- Custer, 1877
8. "Any @#$%ing idiot could understand that."
-- Einstein, 1938
7. "It does so @#$%ing look like her!"
-- Picasso, 1926
6. "How the @#$% did you work that out?"
-- Pythagoras, 126 BC
5. "You want WHAT on the @#$%ing ceiling?"
-- Michelangelo, 1566
4. "Where the @#$% are we?"
-- Amelia Earhart, 1937
3. "Scattered @#$%ing showers, my ass!"
-- Noah, 4314 BC
2. "Aw c'mon. Who the @#$% is going to find out?"
-- Bill Clinton, 1998
1. "Geez, I didn't think they'd get this @%#*^ing mad."
-- Saddam Hussein, 2003
Let me know if you can think of any others.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Us vs. Rick Warren
Here's our response to the Purpose Driven Life, by way of one C.S. Lewis as he discusses what he sees as the false dichotomy that is often created between books of piety and books of theology/doctrine...
"For my own part I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await many others. I believe that many who find that "nothing happens" when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand."
Now that's what we're talking about.
"For my own part I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await many others. I believe that many who find that "nothing happens" when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand."
Now that's what we're talking about.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Get Hooked on Arrested Development
Go here or be queer!
http://www.getarrested.com/
Good video clips in case you are too busy to watch on tv.
murr
http://www.getarrested.com/
Good video clips in case you are too busy to watch on tv.
murr
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Schiavo, the Afterlife, and Christianity
A person who no longer has the ability to experience joy, or remember, or pray, or wish is still a person, I agree. But it seems to be a great evil to me, and to betray a general lack of confidence in the afterlife, to selfishly grasp at the few remaining signs of the life once there, like a pulse, and breathing. The family is often seen as a picture of selflessness. This ought to be questioned: it is entirely possible that they are motivated out of guilt. As the violent reaction of the religious right has shown, there is a great amount of guilt associated with letting Ms. Schiavo die by “starvation.” Remember, this is a death that would have been inevitable only a hundred years ago. It suddenly becomes “murder” to not provide her with a kind of care we only recently acquired the ability to use.
If anything, the biblical witness would encourage us to avoid hanging onto life at all costs; “whoever loses his life, for my sake, shall find it;” or as the apostle Paul wrote,
“For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.” (Phil. 1:21-6)
Paul does not wish to remain alive because he promotes a “culture of life” or because he has certain “inalienable rights,” including the “right to life.” Such language is completely absent from the Bible, and for good reason: that language is based on philosophies unknown to the biblical authors, because they originated in the Enlightenment! The emphasis in the Bible, if anything, is on giving up rights, and on sacrificing lives for the sake of others. Paul, in this passage, wishes to remain for only one reason: that he might encourage others!
There is an incredible amount of joy in working with the disabled. This can be a surprise to many people, as it was to me. And yet there is an enormous difference between a person suffering with Down Syndrome, for example, and Terri Schiavo. Disabled people experience emotions, like we do, often more intensely and less self-consciously. They laugh, pray, think, get excited and have hopes and dreams, and experience pleasure and pain. We have evidence that Ms. Schiavo experienced none of these things; consequently, her ability to provide them for other people is next to nothing. Disabled people encourage and love others. Ms. Schiavo does not. Her condition is similar to a (very young) embryo, you might think. But embryos have enormous potential; Ms. Schiavo cannot recover.
Her food and water should not be considered “futile treatment,” because they are not treatments, I agree. It may be true that we generally abhor the thought of withholding nutrients from anyone; but in Ms. Schiavo’s case, it is a mercy on everyone involved. The question is not whether we are committed enough to provide care for life in any form, but whether we should provide care for life in any form. God would ask a great many things of us; but he has not told us to preserve life at all costs. In this case loving your neighbor as yourself may involve mercifully withdrawing care from a life that most of us would not wish to live ourselves. It has been suggested that those who would withdraw care are in “fear” of having to exist in a state like Terri’s. Is it “fear” to want to trade a life that is almost gone for a life of eternal bliss in the presence of God? I think that those who fear, in this case, are those who think it would be “murder” to withdraw care; fear of eternal punishment, perhaps. Fear that although this does not look like or feel like murder it still may be. But fear, nonetheless. We must remember that the God who will be judging us is the same God that gave us death as a divine mercy, barring us from the tree of life so that we would not suffer here forever, and dying for us so that we might spend the after-life with him. We shall be saved by our faith in him, and not, ultimately, by whether we have supported such an ethereal principle as a “culture of life.”
If anything, the biblical witness would encourage us to avoid hanging onto life at all costs; “whoever loses his life, for my sake, shall find it;” or as the apostle Paul wrote,
“For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.” (Phil. 1:21-6)
Paul does not wish to remain alive because he promotes a “culture of life” or because he has certain “inalienable rights,” including the “right to life.” Such language is completely absent from the Bible, and for good reason: that language is based on philosophies unknown to the biblical authors, because they originated in the Enlightenment! The emphasis in the Bible, if anything, is on giving up rights, and on sacrificing lives for the sake of others. Paul, in this passage, wishes to remain for only one reason: that he might encourage others!
There is an incredible amount of joy in working with the disabled. This can be a surprise to many people, as it was to me. And yet there is an enormous difference between a person suffering with Down Syndrome, for example, and Terri Schiavo. Disabled people experience emotions, like we do, often more intensely and less self-consciously. They laugh, pray, think, get excited and have hopes and dreams, and experience pleasure and pain. We have evidence that Ms. Schiavo experienced none of these things; consequently, her ability to provide them for other people is next to nothing. Disabled people encourage and love others. Ms. Schiavo does not. Her condition is similar to a (very young) embryo, you might think. But embryos have enormous potential; Ms. Schiavo cannot recover.
Her food and water should not be considered “futile treatment,” because they are not treatments, I agree. It may be true that we generally abhor the thought of withholding nutrients from anyone; but in Ms. Schiavo’s case, it is a mercy on everyone involved. The question is not whether we are committed enough to provide care for life in any form, but whether we should provide care for life in any form. God would ask a great many things of us; but he has not told us to preserve life at all costs. In this case loving your neighbor as yourself may involve mercifully withdrawing care from a life that most of us would not wish to live ourselves. It has been suggested that those who would withdraw care are in “fear” of having to exist in a state like Terri’s. Is it “fear” to want to trade a life that is almost gone for a life of eternal bliss in the presence of God? I think that those who fear, in this case, are those who think it would be “murder” to withdraw care; fear of eternal punishment, perhaps. Fear that although this does not look like or feel like murder it still may be. But fear, nonetheless. We must remember that the God who will be judging us is the same God that gave us death as a divine mercy, barring us from the tree of life so that we would not suffer here forever, and dying for us so that we might spend the after-life with him. We shall be saved by our faith in him, and not, ultimately, by whether we have supported such an ethereal principle as a “culture of life.”
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Food for thought (no tube pun intended)
Keep in mind this lady is writing for www.slate.msn.com, a fairly "liberal" perspective.
Not Dead at All
Why Congress was right to stick up for Terri Schiavo.
By Harriet McBryde Johnson
Posted Wednesday, March 23, 2005, at 4:50 AM PT
The Terri Schiavo case is hard to write about, hard to think about. Those films are hard to look at. I see that face, maybe smiling, maybe not, and I am reminded of a young woman I knew as a child, lying on a couch, brain-damaged, apparently unresponsive, and deeply beloved—freakishly perhaps but genuinely so—living proof of one family's no-matter-what commitment. I watch nourishment flowing into a slim tube that runs through a neat, round, surgically created orifice in Ms. Schiavo's abdomen, and I'm almost envious. What effortless intake! Due to a congenital neuromuscular disease, I am having trouble swallowing, and it's a constant struggle to get by mouth the calories my skinny body needs. For whatever reason, I'm still trying, but I know a tube is in my future. So, possibly, is speechlessness. That's a scary thought. If I couldn't speak for myself, would I want to die? If I become uncommunicative, a passive object of other people's care, should I hope my brain goes soft and leaves me in peace?
My emotional response is powerful, but at bottom it's not important. It's no more important than anyone else's, not what matters. The things that ought to matter have become obscured in our communal clash of gut reactions. Here are 10 of them:
1. Ms. Schiavo is not terminally ill. She has lived in her current condition for 15 years. This is not about end-of-life decision-making. The question is whether she should be killed by starvation and dehydration.
Continue Article
2. Ms. Schiavo is not dependent on life support. Her lungs, kidneys, heart, and digestive systems work fine. Just as she uses a wheelchair for mobility, she uses a tube for eating and drinking. Feeding Ms. Schiavo is not difficult, painful, or in any way heroic. Feeding tubes are a very simple piece of adaptive equipment, and the fact that Ms. Schiavo eats through a tube should have nothing to do with whether she should live or die.
3. This is not a case about a patient's right to refuse treatment. I don't see eating and drinking as "treatment," but even if they are, everyone agrees that Ms. Schiavo is presently incapable of articulating a decision to refuse treatment. The question is who should make the decision for her, and whether that substitute decision-maker should be authorized to kill her by starvation and dehydration.
4. There is a genuine dispute as to Ms. Schiavo's awareness and consciousness. But if we assume that those who would authorize her death are correct, Ms. Schiavo is completely unaware of her situation and therefore incapable of suffering physically or emotionally. Her death thus can't be justified for relieving her suffering.
5. There is a genuine dispute as to what Ms. Schiavo believed and expressed about life with severe disability before she herself became incapacitated; certainly, she never stated her preferences in an advance directive like a living will. If we assume that Ms. Schiavo is aware and conscious, it is possible that, like most people who live with severe disability for as long as she has, she has abandoned her preconceived fears of the life she is now living. We have no idea whether she wishes to be bound by things she might have said when she was living a very different life. If we assume she is unaware and unconscious, we can't justify her death as her preference. She has no preference.
6. Ms. Schiavo, like all people, incapacitated or not, has a federal constitutional right not to be deprived of her life without due process of law.
7. In addition to the rights all people enjoy, Ms. Schiavo has a statutory right under the Americans With Disabilities Act not to be treated differently because of her disability. Obviously, Florida law would not allow a husband to kill a nondisabled wife by starvation and dehydration; killing is not ordinarily considered a private family concern or a matter of choice. It is Ms. Schiavo's disability that makes her killing different in the eyes of the Florida courts. Because the state is overtly drawing lines based on disability, it has the burden under the ADA of justifying those lines.
8. In other contexts, federal courts are available to make sure state courts respect federally protected rights. This review is critical not only to the parties directly involved, but to the integrity of our legal system. Although review will very often be a futile last-ditch effort—as with most death-penalty habeas petitions—federalism requires that the federal government, not the states, have the last word. When the issue is the scope of a guardian's authority, it is necessary to allow other people, in this case other family members, standing to file a legal challenge.
9. The whole society has a stake in making sure state courts are not tainted by prejudices, myths, and unfounded fears—like the unthinking horror in mainstream society that transforms feeding tubes into fetish objects, emblematic of broader, deeper fears of disability that sometimes slide from fear to disgust and from disgust to hatred. While we should not assume that disability prejudice tainted the Florida courts, we cannot reasonably assume that it did not.
10. Despite the unseemly Palm Sunday pontificating in Congress, the legislation enabling Ms. Schiavo's parents to sue did not take sides in the so-called culture wars. It did not dictate that Ms. Schiavo be fed. It simply created a procedure whereby the federal courts could decide whether Ms. Schiavo's federally protected rights have been violated.
In the Senate, a key supporter of a federal remedy was Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, a progressive Democrat and longtime friend of labor and civil rights, including disability rights. Harkin told reporters, "There are a lot of people in the shadows, all over this country, who are incapacitated because of a disability, and many times there is no one to speak for them, and it is hard to determine what their wishes really are or were. So I think there ought to be a broader type of a proceeding that would apply to people in similar circumstances who are incapacitated."
I hope against hope that I will never be one of those people in the shadows, that I will always, one way or another, be able to make my wishes known. I hope that I will not outlive my usefulness or my capacity (at least occasionally) to amuse the people around me. But if it happens otherwise, I hope whoever is appointed to speak for me will be subject to legal constraints. Even if my guardian thinks I'd be better off dead—even if I think so myself—I hope to live and die in a world that recognizes that killing, even of people with the most severe disabilities, is a matter of more than private concern.
Clearly, Congress's Palm Sunday legislation was not the "broader type of proceeding" Harkin and I want. It does not define when and how federal court review will be available to all of those in the shadows, but rather provides a procedure for one case only. To create a general system of review, applicable whenever life-and-death decisions intersect with disability rights, will require a reasoned, informed debate unlike what we've had until now. It will take time. But in the Schiavo case, time is running out.
Harriet McBryde Johnson is a disability-rights lawyer in Charleston, S.C. Her memoir in stories, Too Late to Die Young: Nearly True Tales from a Life, will be released in April.
Not Dead at All
Why Congress was right to stick up for Terri Schiavo.
By Harriet McBryde Johnson
Posted Wednesday, March 23, 2005, at 4:50 AM PT
The Terri Schiavo case is hard to write about, hard to think about. Those films are hard to look at. I see that face, maybe smiling, maybe not, and I am reminded of a young woman I knew as a child, lying on a couch, brain-damaged, apparently unresponsive, and deeply beloved—freakishly perhaps but genuinely so—living proof of one family's no-matter-what commitment. I watch nourishment flowing into a slim tube that runs through a neat, round, surgically created orifice in Ms. Schiavo's abdomen, and I'm almost envious. What effortless intake! Due to a congenital neuromuscular disease, I am having trouble swallowing, and it's a constant struggle to get by mouth the calories my skinny body needs. For whatever reason, I'm still trying, but I know a tube is in my future. So, possibly, is speechlessness. That's a scary thought. If I couldn't speak for myself, would I want to die? If I become uncommunicative, a passive object of other people's care, should I hope my brain goes soft and leaves me in peace?
My emotional response is powerful, but at bottom it's not important. It's no more important than anyone else's, not what matters. The things that ought to matter have become obscured in our communal clash of gut reactions. Here are 10 of them:
1. Ms. Schiavo is not terminally ill. She has lived in her current condition for 15 years. This is not about end-of-life decision-making. The question is whether she should be killed by starvation and dehydration.
Continue Article
2. Ms. Schiavo is not dependent on life support. Her lungs, kidneys, heart, and digestive systems work fine. Just as she uses a wheelchair for mobility, she uses a tube for eating and drinking. Feeding Ms. Schiavo is not difficult, painful, or in any way heroic. Feeding tubes are a very simple piece of adaptive equipment, and the fact that Ms. Schiavo eats through a tube should have nothing to do with whether she should live or die.
3. This is not a case about a patient's right to refuse treatment. I don't see eating and drinking as "treatment," but even if they are, everyone agrees that Ms. Schiavo is presently incapable of articulating a decision to refuse treatment. The question is who should make the decision for her, and whether that substitute decision-maker should be authorized to kill her by starvation and dehydration.
4. There is a genuine dispute as to Ms. Schiavo's awareness and consciousness. But if we assume that those who would authorize her death are correct, Ms. Schiavo is completely unaware of her situation and therefore incapable of suffering physically or emotionally. Her death thus can't be justified for relieving her suffering.
5. There is a genuine dispute as to what Ms. Schiavo believed and expressed about life with severe disability before she herself became incapacitated; certainly, she never stated her preferences in an advance directive like a living will. If we assume that Ms. Schiavo is aware and conscious, it is possible that, like most people who live with severe disability for as long as she has, she has abandoned her preconceived fears of the life she is now living. We have no idea whether she wishes to be bound by things she might have said when she was living a very different life. If we assume she is unaware and unconscious, we can't justify her death as her preference. She has no preference.
6. Ms. Schiavo, like all people, incapacitated or not, has a federal constitutional right not to be deprived of her life without due process of law.
7. In addition to the rights all people enjoy, Ms. Schiavo has a statutory right under the Americans With Disabilities Act not to be treated differently because of her disability. Obviously, Florida law would not allow a husband to kill a nondisabled wife by starvation and dehydration; killing is not ordinarily considered a private family concern or a matter of choice. It is Ms. Schiavo's disability that makes her killing different in the eyes of the Florida courts. Because the state is overtly drawing lines based on disability, it has the burden under the ADA of justifying those lines.
8. In other contexts, federal courts are available to make sure state courts respect federally protected rights. This review is critical not only to the parties directly involved, but to the integrity of our legal system. Although review will very often be a futile last-ditch effort—as with most death-penalty habeas petitions—federalism requires that the federal government, not the states, have the last word. When the issue is the scope of a guardian's authority, it is necessary to allow other people, in this case other family members, standing to file a legal challenge.
9. The whole society has a stake in making sure state courts are not tainted by prejudices, myths, and unfounded fears—like the unthinking horror in mainstream society that transforms feeding tubes into fetish objects, emblematic of broader, deeper fears of disability that sometimes slide from fear to disgust and from disgust to hatred. While we should not assume that disability prejudice tainted the Florida courts, we cannot reasonably assume that it did not.
10. Despite the unseemly Palm Sunday pontificating in Congress, the legislation enabling Ms. Schiavo's parents to sue did not take sides in the so-called culture wars. It did not dictate that Ms. Schiavo be fed. It simply created a procedure whereby the federal courts could decide whether Ms. Schiavo's federally protected rights have been violated.
In the Senate, a key supporter of a federal remedy was Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, a progressive Democrat and longtime friend of labor and civil rights, including disability rights. Harkin told reporters, "There are a lot of people in the shadows, all over this country, who are incapacitated because of a disability, and many times there is no one to speak for them, and it is hard to determine what their wishes really are or were. So I think there ought to be a broader type of a proceeding that would apply to people in similar circumstances who are incapacitated."
I hope against hope that I will never be one of those people in the shadows, that I will always, one way or another, be able to make my wishes known. I hope that I will not outlive my usefulness or my capacity (at least occasionally) to amuse the people around me. But if it happens otherwise, I hope whoever is appointed to speak for me will be subject to legal constraints. Even if my guardian thinks I'd be better off dead—even if I think so myself—I hope to live and die in a world that recognizes that killing, even of people with the most severe disabilities, is a matter of more than private concern.
Clearly, Congress's Palm Sunday legislation was not the "broader type of proceeding" Harkin and I want. It does not define when and how federal court review will be available to all of those in the shadows, but rather provides a procedure for one case only. To create a general system of review, applicable whenever life-and-death decisions intersect with disability rights, will require a reasoned, informed debate unlike what we've had until now. It will take time. But in the Schiavo case, time is running out.
Harriet McBryde Johnson is a disability-rights lawyer in Charleston, S.C. Her memoir in stories, Too Late to Die Young: Nearly True Tales from a Life, will be released in April.
Looking for Giraffe people...
"Do you have a long neck?
Please email a pic.
Serious inquirees only."
So read my most recent campaign for attention from single ladies on the infamous Personals section of the underground classifieds on craigslist.org Washington DC.
No long neckers have responded yet.
And don't ask me why.
It seemed ridiculous at the time. Seemed innocent next to all the other "Free Dirt" ads on the men seeking women section. It may be odd, but in context it is kinda funny.
I have quite an invitation to extend to all those bored enough to be scanning the archives of manvilletabletalk.
What are you doing three summers from now?
Hopefully Macey will be gainfully employed - or finishing up some overdue paper for the previous semester's graduate class.
Hopefully Sleuth will be a partner in that law firm he is singlehandedly running right now. Thankfully it will be summer and he will not have an excuse to still be taking college classes.
Hopefully Straw will have married that girl out in California and will have kicked all his renters out, forcing Macey to get a job.
Hopefully Rob will have bought an ugly house and fixed it up. Maybe all the renters could move in there. Then Rob could complain to Sleuth if Sleuth tried to eat his eggs.
Hopefully Paige will have paid off his leased truck. I have money on he and Paige uniteing legally into Dave Paige and Paige Paige.
Hopefully Borger and his wife (currently to be) will be very very happy and have some money to spend on a vacation.
Hopefully Swanson will be found or will have changed his voicemail from "Leave me a message and I will call you back" to something more truthful like, "Leave me a message - I may never call you back."
Hopefully Noel and his wife will have proven good matchmakers for all the single men of manhouse.
Hopefully I will have forgotten nobody and those I have forgotten will also forget about me.. and the time I... ah, forged about it.
But more important than all that, hopefully some of you, the forementioned, will accompany me on a trip of grand heights, great sights, under German city lights.
Right now tickets are on sale for World Cup 2008 Germany.
Many of us will be attending the World Cup Qualifiers in Birmingham next week.
But how about the chance to go see World Cup games and to travel Germany three summers for now? Consider the possibilty of watching the USA win the entire thing (as has been secretly planned for the last ten years as part of project 40?)
Tickets are only on sale through the end of this month.
Check out the link:
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/tickets/venues.html
If you have other plans, the Germans have a phrase for you: "forged about it."
To employ a guilt-imposing selling line by Dr. K that also seems to me to rule out reason, "say yes unless God closes the door."
I will be awaiting close to 10 replies from giraffe people on this site. Be sure to send a pic.
Please email a pic.
Serious inquirees only."
So read my most recent campaign for attention from single ladies on the infamous Personals section of the underground classifieds on craigslist.org Washington DC.
No long neckers have responded yet.
And don't ask me why.
It seemed ridiculous at the time. Seemed innocent next to all the other "Free Dirt" ads on the men seeking women section. It may be odd, but in context it is kinda funny.
I have quite an invitation to extend to all those bored enough to be scanning the archives of manvilletabletalk.
What are you doing three summers from now?
Hopefully Macey will be gainfully employed - or finishing up some overdue paper for the previous semester's graduate class.
Hopefully Sleuth will be a partner in that law firm he is singlehandedly running right now. Thankfully it will be summer and he will not have an excuse to still be taking college classes.
Hopefully Straw will have married that girl out in California and will have kicked all his renters out, forcing Macey to get a job.
Hopefully Rob will have bought an ugly house and fixed it up. Maybe all the renters could move in there. Then Rob could complain to Sleuth if Sleuth tried to eat his eggs.
Hopefully Paige will have paid off his leased truck. I have money on he and Paige uniteing legally into Dave Paige and Paige Paige.
Hopefully Borger and his wife (currently to be) will be very very happy and have some money to spend on a vacation.
Hopefully Swanson will be found or will have changed his voicemail from "Leave me a message and I will call you back" to something more truthful like, "Leave me a message - I may never call you back."
Hopefully Noel and his wife will have proven good matchmakers for all the single men of manhouse.
Hopefully I will have forgotten nobody and those I have forgotten will also forget about me.. and the time I... ah, forged about it.
But more important than all that, hopefully some of you, the forementioned, will accompany me on a trip of grand heights, great sights, under German city lights.
Right now tickets are on sale for World Cup 2008 Germany.
Many of us will be attending the World Cup Qualifiers in Birmingham next week.
But how about the chance to go see World Cup games and to travel Germany three summers for now? Consider the possibilty of watching the USA win the entire thing (as has been secretly planned for the last ten years as part of project 40?)
Tickets are only on sale through the end of this month.
Check out the link:
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/tickets/venues.html
If you have other plans, the Germans have a phrase for you: "forged about it."
To employ a guilt-imposing selling line by Dr. K that also seems to me to rule out reason, "say yes unless God closes the door."
I will be awaiting close to 10 replies from giraffe people on this site. Be sure to send a pic.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
The Soccer Skinny for the Salubrity of your Soul
Men of Manville,
This blog has been dormant for far too long. I realize we are trying to make the transition to the more formal Monthly Journal via snail mail, but for the sake of all that is cyber space, I will post this letter, which most of you should be receiving shortly.
March 8, 2005
Friends, countrymen, chosen from among the not chosen,
The smell of a freshly cut pitch.
The touch of the ball on your feet.
The rush of adrenaline as you warm up in anticipation of the next 90 minutes of your life.
The sound of a roaring, raucous crowd of multiple soccer moms.
The Soccer.
6 games in two days.
The showdown of the century – the rematch with team Mexico.
The chance to represent your country and pseudo-country in an international competition second only to the World Cup.
Beer with lemonade after the game – like they do it in England.
The Tournament.
A weekend getaway with 11 of your closest friends.
A roadtrip that’ll bring you back to those carefree days of college.
Memories that will last a lifetime.
The time Matthew Gillikin crashed his car, Korbin Parker was demolished by a 200 pound Jamaican, and Peter Brinkerhoff was interrogated as a possible terrorist suspect.
When “el Gordo,” the goalie for Team Mexico, actually ATE the soccer ball.
Short-Shorts, Headbands, Noise Makers/Shakers and Mesh Hat Mania.
The Fellowship.
As I’m sure you are well aware, what I’ve described above are some of the sweetest sensations and experiences known to all of mankind in, well, pretty much ever. And, if you’re like me, any opportunity to live any one of those experiences would be phenomenal – to experience them all in one weekend would be the chance of a lifetime.
The fact that you hold this letter in your hands is proof that we here at the St. Elmo Short-Short Society for the Advancement of Man-thigh (the “Thighs”) believe that YOU share with US our passion for these three staples of human existence – Soccer, Tournaments, and Fellowship, and we want to give you that once in a lifetime chance. That is why we have specifically chosen to extend to you an invitation to be a member of this year’s Team South-USA-Scotland (“SUS”) that will compete in the annual Columbia International Soccer Tournament (the “Tournament”).
For the sake of brevity, I will postpone any discussion of the fabled tradition and history of the Tournament, as well as Team SUS’s two previous successful trips to the Tournament. Let me get straight to the heart of the matter.
Enclosed for your signature and return to the Thighs is a Letter of Intent, signifying that you are interested in being a part of the excitement, passion, and excellent winning tradition of Team SUS. We are looking to solidify our team roster within the next two weeks, with an anticipated “official Signing Day” of March 19, 2005.
Other important information:
Dates: Friday, April 29 – Sunday, May 1, 2005
Location: Columbia, South Carolina
Times: Our first game is usually Friday night, so we would be leaving in a carpool caravan early Friday afternoon.
Cost: The entry fee is yet to be determined, although in prior years it has worked out to about $10-15 per person. We also intend to get jerseys, we would split the cost of gas, and if the Luther family houses and feeds us as has been the case in prior years, we would hope to pitch in a little for the cost of feeding our group. All in all, we anticipate the costs to be between $25-$40 for the weekend.
Who: Just the name SUS should get your heart pumping. In case it doesn’t, rest assured that the core of the team includes the Thigh’s Board of Directors and selection committee, the names of whom are listed at the end of this letter.
Deadlines: Because this is an 8-a-side tourney, space is limited to about 10-12 players, so your prompt response is critical. Due to the logistical details, signing day will be March 19, 2005. You may send your Letter of Intent any time before then.
Other details: The Tournament is hosted in conjunction with the annual Columbia International Festival. Recognized among the Top 20 Events in the 10-state Southeastern Region by the Southeastern Tourism Society, the Columbia International Festival showcases the music, culture, food, and performing arts of the various cultures, nationalities, races, and language groups represented in South Carolina. The event brings all of the area's international communities together to build better community/race relations between various ethnic/cultural/language groups and with the South Carolina community at large. Estimated attendance for 2004 was over 20,000. The Tournament brings together the area international communities as a playground to showcase the sport of choice for the entire global community (i.e. soccer) as well as an opportunity for us to prove that despite the diversity of cultures, nationalities, races and language groups represented in the Festival and the Tournament, the SUS culture is still superior. Also, that we have mad soccer skills. And sweet bowstaff skills.
But I digress. What matters is that we want you for our team. Please contact the Selection Committee at the address or phone number on the above letterhead, any of the contact information listed below, or you can email us. An email response with your filled out NLI is sufficient.
We look forward to hearing from you and the opportunity to call you teammate.
Long live excitement,
Sleuth I
Chairman, Soccer Selection Committee
Board of Directors, The Thighs
Macey, Founder of the Thighs
Sleuth, Chairmen
Noel, V. Chairmen/Secretary
Straw, Treasurer
Page, Resident Nurse
Borger, Audio/Visual
Elissa, Pres. Of Soccer Moms
This blog has been dormant for far too long. I realize we are trying to make the transition to the more formal Monthly Journal via snail mail, but for the sake of all that is cyber space, I will post this letter, which most of you should be receiving shortly.
March 8, 2005
Friends, countrymen, chosen from among the not chosen,
The smell of a freshly cut pitch.
The touch of the ball on your feet.
The rush of adrenaline as you warm up in anticipation of the next 90 minutes of your life.
The sound of a roaring, raucous crowd of multiple soccer moms.
The Soccer.
6 games in two days.
The showdown of the century – the rematch with team Mexico.
The chance to represent your country and pseudo-country in an international competition second only to the World Cup.
Beer with lemonade after the game – like they do it in England.
The Tournament.
A weekend getaway with 11 of your closest friends.
A roadtrip that’ll bring you back to those carefree days of college.
Memories that will last a lifetime.
The time Matthew Gillikin crashed his car, Korbin Parker was demolished by a 200 pound Jamaican, and Peter Brinkerhoff was interrogated as a possible terrorist suspect.
When “el Gordo,” the goalie for Team Mexico, actually ATE the soccer ball.
Short-Shorts, Headbands, Noise Makers/Shakers and Mesh Hat Mania.
The Fellowship.
As I’m sure you are well aware, what I’ve described above are some of the sweetest sensations and experiences known to all of mankind in, well, pretty much ever. And, if you’re like me, any opportunity to live any one of those experiences would be phenomenal – to experience them all in one weekend would be the chance of a lifetime.
The fact that you hold this letter in your hands is proof that we here at the St. Elmo Short-Short Society for the Advancement of Man-thigh (the “Thighs”) believe that YOU share with US our passion for these three staples of human existence – Soccer, Tournaments, and Fellowship, and we want to give you that once in a lifetime chance. That is why we have specifically chosen to extend to you an invitation to be a member of this year’s Team South-USA-Scotland (“SUS”) that will compete in the annual Columbia International Soccer Tournament (the “Tournament”).
For the sake of brevity, I will postpone any discussion of the fabled tradition and history of the Tournament, as well as Team SUS’s two previous successful trips to the Tournament. Let me get straight to the heart of the matter.
Enclosed for your signature and return to the Thighs is a Letter of Intent, signifying that you are interested in being a part of the excitement, passion, and excellent winning tradition of Team SUS. We are looking to solidify our team roster within the next two weeks, with an anticipated “official Signing Day” of March 19, 2005.
Other important information:
Dates: Friday, April 29 – Sunday, May 1, 2005
Location: Columbia, South Carolina
Times: Our first game is usually Friday night, so we would be leaving in a carpool caravan early Friday afternoon.
Cost: The entry fee is yet to be determined, although in prior years it has worked out to about $10-15 per person. We also intend to get jerseys, we would split the cost of gas, and if the Luther family houses and feeds us as has been the case in prior years, we would hope to pitch in a little for the cost of feeding our group. All in all, we anticipate the costs to be between $25-$40 for the weekend.
Who: Just the name SUS should get your heart pumping. In case it doesn’t, rest assured that the core of the team includes the Thigh’s Board of Directors and selection committee, the names of whom are listed at the end of this letter.
Deadlines: Because this is an 8-a-side tourney, space is limited to about 10-12 players, so your prompt response is critical. Due to the logistical details, signing day will be March 19, 2005. You may send your Letter of Intent any time before then.
Other details: The Tournament is hosted in conjunction with the annual Columbia International Festival. Recognized among the Top 20 Events in the 10-state Southeastern Region by the Southeastern Tourism Society, the Columbia International Festival showcases the music, culture, food, and performing arts of the various cultures, nationalities, races, and language groups represented in South Carolina. The event brings all of the area's international communities together to build better community/race relations between various ethnic/cultural/language groups and with the South Carolina community at large. Estimated attendance for 2004 was over 20,000. The Tournament brings together the area international communities as a playground to showcase the sport of choice for the entire global community (i.e. soccer) as well as an opportunity for us to prove that despite the diversity of cultures, nationalities, races and language groups represented in the Festival and the Tournament, the SUS culture is still superior. Also, that we have mad soccer skills. And sweet bowstaff skills.
But I digress. What matters is that we want you for our team. Please contact the Selection Committee at the address or phone number on the above letterhead, any of the contact information listed below, or you can email us. An email response with your filled out NLI is sufficient.
We look forward to hearing from you and the opportunity to call you teammate.
Long live excitement,
Sleuth I
Chairman, Soccer Selection Committee
Board of Directors, The Thighs
Macey, Founder of the Thighs
Sleuth, Chairmen
Noel, V. Chairmen/Secretary
Straw, Treasurer
Page, Resident Nurse
Borger, Audio/Visual
Elissa, Pres. Of Soccer Moms
Monday, November 29, 2004
DSCF0066
this sort of thing could only be deemed "offensive" by those completely unimpressed by perfect symmetry and flawless sculpting. Cf. Michelangelo's "David."
poolhog
Here is the man of the hour . . . if there is a
"flickr" link on this post, and you want to see more
pictures, try clicking on it.
Sunday, November 07, 2004
Coyotes downtown
Coyotes Spotted In DC
11-06-2004 10:57 AM
(Washington, DC) -- Coyotes are said to be taking up residence in the nation's capital. Their presence was only confirmed in September when a naturalist spotted one in the woods of a city park. Michael Bean, the chairman of the wildlife program at the Environmental Defense group, says he suspects coyotes have been in the area for some time. City-dwelling coyotes like to feed on kitchen garbage and pet food.
Copyright 2004 Metro Networks Communications Inc., A Westwood One Company
11-06-2004 10:57 AM
(Washington, DC) -- Coyotes are said to be taking up residence in the nation's capital. Their presence was only confirmed in September when a naturalist spotted one in the woods of a city park. Michael Bean, the chairman of the wildlife program at the Environmental Defense group, says he suspects coyotes have been in the area for some time. City-dwelling coyotes like to feed on kitchen garbage and pet food.
Copyright 2004 Metro Networks Communications Inc., A Westwood One Company
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