Tom DeLay might have finally stuck his head too far beyond his collar. For a long time DeLay has worked in the background derailing due process, known only to the in-crowd and those he pissed off. Now, thanks to Terri Schiavo, he made a bogus move that the whole country paid attention to. The Democrats are now opening fire on Tom Delay hoping to Newt Gingrich him to oblivion.
Time to sandbag your office, Tom.
I’m posting this from my machine at work, a lame IBM (reads: Inferior But Marketable) with less memory than Ronald Reagan in his last years, It uses IE, which is lame as well. Since I don’t own the machine, the company discourages downloading, fearful of spyware and viruses. Heaven forefend a consummate geek like myself, who can field-strip a computer under heavy fire, would actually install any useful software like Firefox, Spybot, or Ad-aware.
I question weather my corporate IT-department-of-one has yet heard of the vastly superior browser that Mozilla provides. It’s more stable, it’s even (gasp!) more secure that IE, but the kicker for me is the tabbed browsing interface. After using Firefox for the past two months, and getting used to the process of checking facts, looking for URL’s, checking with the online thesaurus, you know- the usual blogging related work, I cringe at how clunky it is working with seven instances of IE, their windows layered like so much windblown newsprint, and the wrist-swelling alt-tab madness that is Microsoft.
Thunderbird is a superior email client that is stripped of all the useless”features” that compromise the security of Outlook. Be honest, do you really use the sticky notes, calendar and tasks routines? You can bet you paid for them (that is if you run a legal copy). And as for Thunderbird - what part of FREE don’t you like?
These are two cool programs with two cools names that you’ll use every day. Check them out, spread the love, and give Microsoft what is discretely needs: competition.
My inner child has been bugging me for the past few weeks. Tired from work tonight, I finally gave in and let him have a go at the keyboard. I’ve since proofread and corrected spelling and punctuation, to facilitate his message, but I’m amazed at the subject he chose. Apparently the little guy has been listening when the family discussed things. There’s hope for him yet.
Here’s what he wrote:
NY Times Op-ed columnist Paul Krugman has something to say about the current trend in religious extremism:
NY Times Op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd thinks the same about political morality as I do.
“As the Bush White House desperately maneuvers in Iraq to prevent the new government from being run according to the dictates of religious fundamentalists, it desperately maneuvers here to pander to religious fundamentalists who want to dictate how the government should be run”.
and:
‘Even some Republicans seemed appalled at this latest illustration of Nietzsche’s observation that “morality is the best of all devices for leading mankind by the nose.”‘
…to get another job.
Imagine. Pharmacists choosing to “conscientiously refuse” to dispense “objectionable” medication.
From Washington Post:
“Some pharmacists across the country are refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control and morning-after pills, saying that dispensing the medications violates their personal moral or religious beliefs.”
This religiosity is going too far. Religion is a personal choice. People who choose to believe that birth control is evil can very well keep such thoughts private. I recognise a persons right to uphold their morality anyway they choose, I do not recognise their rights to tell others what to do.
Thankfully, the court system still thinks rationally, although this could change:
“Pharmacists are regulated by state laws and can face disciplinary action from licensing boards. But the only case that has gotten that far involves Neil T. Noesen, who in 2002 refused to fill a University of Wisconsin student’s birth control pill prescription at a Kmart in Menomonie, Wis., or transfer the prescription elsewhere. An administrative judge last month recommended Noesen be required to take ethics classes, alert future employers to his beliefs and pay what could be as much as $20,000 to cover the costs of the legal proceedings. The state pharmacy board will decide whether to impose that penalty next month.”
“He’s a devout Roman Catholic and believes participating in any action that inhibits or prohibits human life is a sin,” said Aden of the Christian Legal Society. “The rights of pharmacists like him should be respected.”
Give me a break! If the nature and procedures of his occupation grieves him, perhaps it is time for him to re-evaluate his career choices. there are lots of good paying jobs out there. Maybe he should become a shopping mall Santa, if he’s so religious.
Many happy greeting for the season, whatever you fell like calling it. So Happy Easter, Happy Purim, and a Joyous Oestre to all.
Spring is a time of renewal, but who really takes heed? Can we all take this opportunity to re-evaluate our lives and focus on personal improvement? We need to, as Ghandi once said, “be the change you would see in the world.” This thinking needs no special day, no need for awaiting New Years Eve or some other arbitrary holy day, to make resolutions, everyday is a new start. So let’s celebrate whatever flavour of solstice festivities we choose by greeting the forthcoming season of growth with a corresponding season of inner growth.
Mind the weeds!
Here’s some hypotheses about the Second coming: interesting.
If Jesus Returns…
If Jesus returns within His generation...
Pretty grim, assessments of the state of the planet, no?
The above views are not the views of tannishblog.
This is why I enjoy the blogoshpere: It’s great entertainment. One guy writes his views, and another guy skewers him. Who needs T(unnel)V(ision)?
Like TV, nothing within the blogoshpere is actually real. Opinions - mine included - are not reality, but impressions of reality. This is a good thing to keep in mind as we lurk the ’sphere, only to be bombasted by someone’s delusions. Surfer beware!
We all hate at times, the damage occurs when a person feeds their hate by focusing on it. Hate crimes are becoming more in vogue as the political right become more vocal; the extremists feel more comfortable giving voice to their views. The Internet, of course, facilitates matters, but it’s the right-leaning of America that brings it out. Just as in years past left-leaning America brought out its own brand of extremities to the fore. I say this without judgment (for a change), but as a point of fact; as our political pendulum swings, as it is wont to do, contrasting views come into focus. The political right is currently in power, emboldening the extreme right to advance its agenda.
Another point of fact- hate makes lousy politics: Fascists in Germany hating Jews was bad politics, Irish Catholics hating Irish Protestants was bad politics, Muslim fundamentalists hating America was bad politics, Neoconservative Americans hating criticism is bad politics. Hatred as a policy just doesn’t work.
Thanks to David Neiwert at Orcinus for the inspiration for this post. Love your site!
What is wisdom? I ask this with an open heart, yet even so I come up with a smarmy answer on my first try. My inner brat tells me that wisdom is out of style, an archaic commodity of no real value. My inner brat is, as usual, wrong. Wisdom is the ability to view long and wide, to remove our needy selves from a decision, to understand that grasping is not the only way to get something. I would like to share a little wisdom from one of my favorite people, someone I’ve never met:
A great deal of our suffering comes from having too many thoughts. And, at the same time, the way we think is not sane. We are only concerned by our immediate satisfaction and forget to measure its long-term advantages and disadvantages, either for ourselves or for others. But such an attitude always goes against us in the end. There is no doubt that by changing our way of seeing things we could reduce our current difficulties and avoid creating new ones.
Please take the time to re-read these words. Think about how they can apply to your life, and how they can be applied to the world. Think, if you will, how can they apply to our current political struggles. In our hyper-connected world no action is independant; like raindrops on a quiet lake, the actions of one person or group create ripples affecting the next person or group, and so on. No longer can people think that their lives and deeds are isolated, that they can do what they want irregardless of others. We are all responsible for our planet’s future, and what we do today creates that future. Think carefully. Act carefully. Live carefully.