This is what you type when you get too drowsy in the afternoon:

25. That you have not ben gratnted oernui-sssssssddddddddddddddddddddddddd

Sigh. I got to bed EARLY last night, too . . .

Steve
- posted by MrSpkr @ 13:52 0 comments

 
So many things have happened in the last week, I don't know where to start.

Michael Jackson is arrested, charged with child molestation. Sigh. More stupidity from all involved.

Let's assume, just for the sake of doing so, that Jackson is innocent. Why in the heck would he, after the 1993 charges, put himself in a position to get sued/charged AGAIN? I know he's got some "issues" (a bit like saying Charles Manson had "issues"), but is he really that stupid?

I guess so. Never underestimate the stupidity of the rich and famous.

Now, whether he is guilty or not, what kind of parent lets their child sleep in bed with ANY adult man (other than the father), particularly given the 1993 allegations? Either this parent was very stupid, or this parent was willing to risk their child's welfare and safety to make a large amount of cash.

As I said, nitwittery enough to go around.

In other news, this ad is being criticized by Democrats who still insist that one can oppose the President's war on Terror and still be 'patriotic'.

Sorry, Tom, but I'm not buying it. Democrats have insisted they are just as patriotic as the next guy while calling Iraq a quagmire and questioning Presidential policies vis-a-vis the War on Terror at every turn. I expect we will see terror attacks increase in Iraq over the next year, and that many of those attacks are a direct result of the Democrat's public and incendiary attacks on our military and foreign policy.

The blood of those soldiers is on the Democrat's hands, as far as I am concerned.

Steve
- posted by MrSpkr @ 08:53 0 comments

 
I guess the Republican Senators finished their 30+ hour Whine-A-Thon this week.

Now, don't get me wrong -- I am pretty outraged that a minority of members of the Senate are blocking Bush's judicial appointments and tainting the process by forcing Bush to promote less conservative judges. And I understand that the Republicans did the same thing to Clinton. That doesn't make it right.

Part of the problem, in my opinion, is the notion of "Senatorial courtesy". The idea is that, since all the Senators have to work together, and they all have particular pet projects, one must be polite to other Senators and refrain from any "heavy handed" tactics.

Of course, "heavy handed tactics" means pretty much anything that annoys Ted Kennedy (D- Chappaquidic) or Robert Byrd (KKK- West Va.). So, Republicans keep whining about the Rules, and Senatorial privileges, and being stonewalled, and the Democrats keep winning battles.

This latest fiasco is more of the same. Republican Senators claimed they were holding this marathon session to talk about how unfair the Democrats are being to these judicial nominees.

Here in Dallas, I heard our Senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison, give an interview in which she stated that she hoped this marathon session would get the Democrats to bring these nominees to a vote. Fat chance, Senator Hutchison. All you did was provide an amusing spectacle for our ideological opponents on the left. Republicans talked, and talked, and talked, and talked, and whined, and pleaded, and lectured, and talked, and talked some more.

The Democrats, when all was said and done, leaned back in their chairs, and declared victory. And, they were right.

Back in the days of yore, filibusters were filibusters. They were marathon sessions, and Senators did not dare to leave because a vote could be called at any time. They disrupted schedules, fundraising events, "fact-finding missions", family time, and everything else outside of the Senate chamber. These events STOPPED the lives of the Senators, until one side caved in.

Now, however, all it takes is the threat of a filibuster from Tom Daschle (weasel -- S.D.), and the Republicans cave in.

I used to believe the problem was with Senator Lott (R - Toupee, MS) as Majority Leader. I thought he and Bob Dole (R-takeyourownshot here) were both too entrenched, too collegiate in their attitudes. I had hoped that Maj. Leader Frist R-TN) was made of sterner stuff.

I was wrong. Until this group of Republicans can learn to exercise the rules of the Senate for their benefit in the same deliberate and decisive manner the Democrats do, we will not begin to turn back the tide. We will continue to lose judicial nominees, and will continue to have unelected leftists in the Federal judicial branch stretch and mutate our culture beyond recognition.

A pox on all their houses.

Steve
- posted by MrSpkr @ 13:18 0 comments

 
So I went to the Amazon.com website for Common Threads, and found this abhorrent link.

"PGD" is "Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis". The procedure is similar to amniocentesis, except that it occurs earlier in the pregnancy (prior to implantation) and involves removing a few cells from the microscopic developing embryo. Those cells can be tested for genetic conditions such as Down's Syndrome, Tay's, etc. Normal embryos are allowed to implant; while "abnormal" ones are not.

What that means in plain English is that you get to play God and decide which baby lives and which baby dies. This is nothing more than very early term abortion.

I find the advertisement of this eugenics garbage on the same page as a book celebrating the accomplishments of people with Down's Syndrome insulting and nauseating. "Worried about having a Down's baby? Let us help you abort the little kid so YOU don't have to deal with it!"

Some days I truly weep for what we have become.

Steve
- posted by MrSpkr @ 15:39 0 comments

 
And I was right to be worried.

I ordered the book Monday at about 3:15, paid extra for it to be shipped overnight, and opted against driving to Fort Worth or far North Dallas in search of a copy.

The guy at Barnes and Noble assured me that it would get here overnight.

He didn't tell me that B & N had a cutoff time, and that if you ordered after the cutoff time, it would take an extra day.

I learned that fun fact a few minutes ago when I called the store asking them to trace the shipment.

Now, I guess I will have to do something cheesy like print a color picture of the book's cover and wrap it up as a present.

Doggone it, I wanted this to be in today.

And yes, I should have ordered it last week, but I had planned on going to the office on Wednesday and Thursday instead of being stuck at home with first one, then two sick kids.

Sigh.

Steve
- posted by MrSpkr @ 15:28 0 comments

 
Okay, it's 3:00 p.m. and the wife's present is not here yet.

I am getting worried . . .

Steve
- posted by MrSpkr @ 14:58 0 comments

 
Sigh. My 13 year old just dyed her hair copper (praline, I believe, is the precise term). It is the first time she has colored her hair radically different from her natural chestnut blonde. I'm not old enough to have a daughter interested in coloring her hair.

On top of that, the wife's book/birthday gift is not any any Dallas area store, so I cannot give it to her until after work tomorrow night. I did get her a bar of Godiva chocolate (her favorite) and am going to slip it under her pillow in a few minutes.

Sigh. Some days, one shouldn't even get out of bed.

Steve
- posted by MrSpkr @ 23:32 0 comments

 
Tomorrow is Veteran's Day.

It's also my wife's birthday. The congruence of the two dates makes it easy for me to remember her special day (thankfully -- I am the WORST at getting cards, etc., for birthdays).

This year, I think I shall get her a book she has mentioned -- Common Threads by Cynthia Kidder and Brian Skotko.

The book is a combination photographic journal and essay on various people who have accomplished remarkable things despite the burden of Down's Syndrome.

Amy wants it, of course, because our youngest daughter, Katie, has Down's.

We didn't know about her condition until she was born. We had just moved to Ohio the day before (literally -- I drove the moving van up on Friday afternoon, Amy flew in Saturday afternoon, and Katie was born Sunday morning (early)). The first words the doctor said after a long and difficult labor (during which she was denied an epidural shot because, in the doctor's opinion, 'she didn't really need it') were not "Congratulations!" or "It's a girl" or "Here's your daughter" or even "Here she is" but instead "Nurse, have this infant checked for Trisomy-21."

Here we were in a new state, away from friends and family, not even unpacked, and the doctor starts our new child's life with THAT?

We didn't even know what Trisomy-21 was. We had opted against amniocentesis because, being pro-life, we would take whatever God had given us.

A few weeks later, a local pediatrician confirmed the news. When my wife started crying, he said "This is a genetic condition that is usually traced through the mother's genes.

Thankfully, a table was between us and him, or I might have decked him on the spot.

Do they even understand the concept of bedside manners in Ohio?

In any event, Katie has impacted all of our lives in a profound way. Our oldest daughter, Elizabeth, decided shortly after Katie was born (Liz was 8 at the time) that she wanted to be a doctor and do medical research, especially regarding Down's. Now, at age 13, she still wants to be a doctor, though I am not sure whether the research part still holds.

As for Amy and I, Katie probably saved our marriage. We were at a low point for a number of reasons, mostly due to my own failures, and Katie was and is something innocent and beyond the fray. You don't have time to fight with three or four kids -- and particularly when one is a 'special needs' child. You suck it up and move on, taking care of business the best that you can.

I hate that this is what God has burdened Katie with in order to help us save our marriage -- I will carry that as a burden for life. But I love that Katie is, and will always remain, so refreshingly innocent. Although she is now five, she is developmentally about two (my favorite age).

Anyway, that's the reasoning behind Amy's present. I suspect it will go over well.

Steve
- posted by MrSpkr @ 11:41 0 comments

 
So Rosie is a nasty person?

Why is this news?

I've often held the belief that no matter how nice celebrities may start out, the demands of fame, celebrity, loss of privacy, and instant wealth general turn them into narcissistics with little regard or understanding of everyday, ordinary people.

In Rosie's case, it seems to have pushed her over an edge she had teetered on for years.

No big loss, really. Don't we have enough idiot leftists on television, anyway?

Steve
- posted by MrSpkr @ 11:23 0 comments

 
More casualties in Iraq today.

This morning on the radio, there were two sound bites that profoundly disturbed me. First was an interview with the widow of helicopter pilot shot down Saturday. Of course she was distraught -- who wouldn't be in those circumstances? I found it abhorrent, however, that the media shoved microphones in her face.

The second was with the uncle of another soldier killed Saturday. His comment was that "we ought to bring all those boys back home where they belong."

I talked to Amy about it this morning, albeit briefly. Her comment was that I ought to be more compassionate.

Sorry, but it bothers me that the news media focuses on the minimal losses we have taken in this war instead of on the resounding successes. Yes, we are losing soldiers. No, we are not losing many, and historically, our losses are not much higher than they would have been in any similarly sized group of soldiers on training exercises at any given time.

What have we gotten for our efforts? We have deposed a brutal thug; we are beginning to construct a free and open Iraqi democracy, and we are loosening our reliance upon the Saudis.

Does all of this make any of the soldier's deaths acceptable? Well, no, not necessarily acceptable, but certainly palatable. The great tragedy will be if we pull out of Iraq before the job is finished and allow another thug to brutalize the Iraqi people (and further reinforce the image that the way to get America to do what you want is to grind out low level casualties).

If that happens, the soldiers will have died for nothing.

That is unacceptable.

Steve
- posted by MrSpkr @ 08:03 0 comments