The X-Factors Deficiency

I woke up circa 3am and wandered about the yard in my robe looking upward. I only saw one dim meteor and one rather bright one. Both were quick and short-lived, as Geminids are want to be. But I've just got too many trees (only about half the leaves have fallen off) and several neighbors with streetlights to get good views.

The story below about an innocent man jailed for 26 yrs (so far) due to the attorney / client privilege provides solid evidence for my suspicions - that more often than we want to know the justice system merely wants someone to "hang" for a crime, even if it's not the right person. It's increasingly difficult to have faith in the system, and the fact that 1 of every 99 adults is behind bars surely gives pause.

( Unbelievable... )

I sometimes think about children I've seen on TV that have become so morbidly obese they cannot even leave their rooms. My first thought is - how is it that someone who can't get to the kitchen keeps getting enough food to perpetuate this problem?!?! Shouldn't this be self-correcting at some point? The answer seems to always be found in a "loving" mother.

Do we dispute that the mother loves the child? Do we re-work and refine our definitions of love? It would seem that the old pitch that "All you need is love" is not without need of qualification.

My conclusion is that the problem isn't as much that there isn't enough "love" in the world as that there aren't enough healthy relationships in the world. I see more and more cases where there is some form of "love" but in the end the relationship is damaging to one party (or perhaps both). The damaged party cannot really break away since "love" and "rejecting love" will be thrown in their faces. They honestly don't want to hurt the other person. They cannot ever completely justify rejecting love. So they continue on, only to be "loved to death".

I will not argue about what is "real" love and what is not. I will say instead that there is love that is not enough, that there is love that should be shunned and avoided.

One word - appendectomy!

In only 36 hours, I went from first vague symptoms to awakening from my very first surgery:

( Read more... )

Most surprises are not pleasant, so when one is I feel somewhat obligated to give recognition to it - if for no other reason than to refute claims that all I ever do is complain :)

Why is this a surprise? It's simple economics, not rocket science. Perhaps the research is being conducted by nerdy (hence disproportionately unmarried) researchers?

I'm not sure I've got a clear handle on the line between "hate crime" and "hate". A noose may (or may not) signify hate. Hanging a man with it is a crime that may (or may not) be motivated by racial hatred. Perhaps Sharpton and Jackson and all those they make efforts to keep in a mindset of victimization  would like any expression of hate to be a federally punishable crime. Unless of course it's a hatred of white males expressed by a gangsta "artist". Don't get me wrong, hate is most often not a good thing - but there's a long continuum from thought to actual crime. If I were punished for all my thoughts, or for all the words that have come out of my mouth...

"Nooses are no prank... We were lynched!" - Sharpton (emphasis mine)


So do I agree with nooses? No. But I'd have a lot more sympathy towards viewing it as a "crime" if they weren't so hypocritical about hate and constantly perpetuating the victim mentality.

"Can and should one generation be held accountable for another's atrocities?" This article about saving Africa brings up the topic.

Paris Hilton tries to help drunken, rampaging elephants. Somehow the thought of her using the word "pachyderms" amuses me. Google image search and photoshop come together to provide a visual:

 

There are those in power that wish for the American people to say goodbye to rights they've long held. First, "A top intelligence official says it is time people in the United States changed their definition of privacy."