Thursday, February 28, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
My Daddy-Daughter Date with Melissa
Yesterday, Feb 22, Melissa and I drove to Flagstaff to go to a Ladysmith Black Mambazo concert. You will remember them from Paul Simon's "Graceland" CD. It was snowing pretty hard when we left Lakeside at 3:45, and we wondered if it would be a safe trip. But by the time we got outside of Show Low, the snow had stopped, and we had clear roads all the way to Flagstaff. But it was snowing in Flagstaff, and as we ate dinner (coconut shrimp at Red Lobster - Yum!) we watched the snow continue to fall. We drove to the concert at Prochnow auditorium and listened to two hours of the most amazing harmonies! What really amazed me was that the lead of the group, the guy who always stands out in front, Mr. Shamalala, started this group 47 years ago. He's in the red shirt in the picture, and doesn't look a day over 50, but he is probably closer to 70. He writes all the songs, and four of his sons are in the group. Anyway, the music was fantastic, and it was amazing to see all nine of these men kicking higher than their heads as they sing.We walked the two blocks back to the car in deeper snow than we came in. When we got back on the freeway, we found the roads really slick and all the traffic moving much too fast, but we stuck with it, and only came close to hitting one semi. By the time we were 10 miles east of Flagstaff, the roads were clear again, and the driving conditions were fine until we got between Taylor and Show Low, when the blinding snow and slick roads made it almost impossible to get home. We pulled in the driveway at 1:00 am, glad to be home. What a great night we had. Thanks to Melissa and Brad for a memorable Christmas gift (it was also Melissa's birthday present from Brad).
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Words and Phrases I am, like, so tired of hearing!
Sorry for this posting, but the curmudgeon in me just won't be quieted. The following are words and phrases I am extremely tired of hearing.
1. We need to think out of the box. If people really want to get out of the box, they should learn a new metaphor.
2. We need to rethink our entire paradigm. Thank Stephen Covey for this one. Most people who use this phrase couldn't even give a cohesive definition of the word paradigm.
3. People who don't know the difference between "Your" and "You're" I mean, how hard is it to remember? Likewise, those who can't tell which "There" to use. Don't good grammar matter no more?
4. Sherbert… this one has bothered me for a long time, but now this adulterated spelling of "sherbet" is even in the dictionary! Thanks, Cynthia, for reminding me.
5. Any time I hear an ad that says, "Savings up to 50-, 60-, even 70% and more!" Emily reminded us of this one.
6. Confusing "less" and "fewer." Hearing things like, "50% less calories than the other brand" makes me homocidal! Here is the rule of thumb: Less is used to speak of things you measure; fewer refers to things you count. Clear enough? Let's have less confusion, and we'll make fewer mistakes.
7. Valley Girl speak. This includes the interminable use of "like" and phrases meant to substitute for the word 'said' such as , "I'm all," "We're like," and "He goes." Included in this category are people who end their declarative sentences by raising their intonation at the end so that everything sounds like a question. What Ev!
8. Overuse of the word 'so' as in, "I am SO not hungry right now!" "You are SO not going to the movies!" etc. This relates to the overuse of 'very,' which most editors will tell you is an unnecessary word. Mark Twain once said that every time you feel like writing 'very' you should substitute the word 'damn.' He said that if you go back later and remove all the 'damns' your writing will be just as good and clearer to read.
9. Irregardless. Oooooh! This one has bugged me since 1st grade, when I first discovered that I was a nerd in the making. I mean, really - caring about the proper use of language in 1st grade? There ain't no such word as irregardless.
10. I could care less. What you mean is, you couldn't care less. Saying you could care less means that you do, indeed, care, which is the opposite of what you are trying to communicate.
I would love to get feedback on this one from, like, you know, the people who read this blog (if they exist). I will include their comments as they come in.
1. We need to think out of the box. If people really want to get out of the box, they should learn a new metaphor.
2. We need to rethink our entire paradigm. Thank Stephen Covey for this one. Most people who use this phrase couldn't even give a cohesive definition of the word paradigm.
3. People who don't know the difference between "Your" and "You're" I mean, how hard is it to remember? Likewise, those who can't tell which "There" to use. Don't good grammar matter no more?
4. Sherbert… this one has bothered me for a long time, but now this adulterated spelling of "sherbet" is even in the dictionary! Thanks, Cynthia, for reminding me.
5. Any time I hear an ad that says, "Savings up to 50-, 60-, even 70% and more!" Emily reminded us of this one.
6. Confusing "less" and "fewer." Hearing things like, "50% less calories than the other brand" makes me homocidal! Here is the rule of thumb: Less is used to speak of things you measure; fewer refers to things you count. Clear enough? Let's have less confusion, and we'll make fewer mistakes.
7. Valley Girl speak. This includes the interminable use of "like" and phrases meant to substitute for the word 'said' such as , "I'm all," "We're like," and "He goes." Included in this category are people who end their declarative sentences by raising their intonation at the end so that everything sounds like a question. What Ev!
8. Overuse of the word 'so' as in, "I am SO not hungry right now!" "You are SO not going to the movies!" etc. This relates to the overuse of 'very,' which most editors will tell you is an unnecessary word. Mark Twain once said that every time you feel like writing 'very' you should substitute the word 'damn.' He said that if you go back later and remove all the 'damns' your writing will be just as good and clearer to read.
9. Irregardless. Oooooh! This one has bugged me since 1st grade, when I first discovered that I was a nerd in the making. I mean, really - caring about the proper use of language in 1st grade? There ain't no such word as irregardless.
10. I could care less. What you mean is, you couldn't care less. Saying you could care less means that you do, indeed, care, which is the opposite of what you are trying to communicate.
I would love to get feedback on this one from, like, you know, the people who read this blog (if they exist). I will include their comments as they come in.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
What God May Ask You
God won't ask what you're highest salary was, but He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.
God won't ask how much overtime you worked, but He'll ask if your overtime work was for yourself or for your family.
God won't ask how many promotions you received, but He'll ask how you promoted others.
God won't ask what your job title was, but He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.
God won't ask what kind of car you drove, but He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.
God won't ask the square footage of your house, but He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.
God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet, but He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.
God won't ask about your social status; but He'll ask what kind of class you displayed.
God won't ask how many material possessions you acquired, but He'll ask if they dictated your life.
God won't ask what you did to help yourself, but He'll ask what you did to help others.
God won't ask how many friends you had, but He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.
God won't ask what you did to protect your rights, but He'll ask what you did to protect the rights of others.
God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived, but He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.
God won't ask about the color of your skin, but He'll ask about the content of your character.
God won't ask how many times your deeds matched your words, but He'll how many times they didn't.
God won't ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation, but He'll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of Hell.
God won't ask how much overtime you worked, but He'll ask if your overtime work was for yourself or for your family.
God won't ask how many promotions you received, but He'll ask how you promoted others.
God won't ask what your job title was, but He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.
God won't ask what kind of car you drove, but He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.
God won't ask the square footage of your house, but He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.
God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet, but He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.
God won't ask about your social status; but He'll ask what kind of class you displayed.
God won't ask how many material possessions you acquired, but He'll ask if they dictated your life.
God won't ask what you did to help yourself, but He'll ask what you did to help others.
God won't ask how many friends you had, but He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.
God won't ask what you did to protect your rights, but He'll ask what you did to protect the rights of others.
God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived, but He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.
God won't ask about the color of your skin, but He'll ask about the content of your character.
God won't ask how many times your deeds matched your words, but He'll how many times they didn't.
God won't ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation, but He'll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of Hell.
Does anyone read the Constitution anymore?
In the early 1800's Congress was considering a bill to appropriate tax dollars for the widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in support of this bill. It seemed that everyone in the House favored it. The Speaker of the House was just about to put the question to a vote, when Davy Crockett, famous frontiersman and then Congressman from Tennessee, rose to his feet.
“Mr. Speaker, I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased and as much sympathy for the suffering of the living as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity, but as members of Congress we have no right to so appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Sir, this is no debt. We cannot without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as a charity. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks.”
There was silence on the floor of the House as Crockett took his seat. When the bill was put to a vote, instead of passing unanimously as had been expected, it received only a few votes. The next day a friend approached Crockett and asked why he spoken against a bill for such a worthy cause. In reply, Crockett related the following story:
Just a few years before, he had voted to spend $20,000.00 of public money to help the victims of a terrible fire in Georgetown. When the legislative session was over, Crockett made a trip back home to do some campaigning for his re-election. In his travels he encountered one of his constituents, a man by the name of Horatio Bunce. Mr. Bunce bluntly informed Crockett, “I voted for you the last time. I shall not vote for you again.” Crockett, feeling he had served his constituents well, was stunned. He inquired as to what he had done to so offend Mr. Bunce. Bunce replied, “You gave a vote last winter which shows that either you have not capacity to understand the Constitution, or that you are wanting in the honesty and firmness to be guided by it. The Constitution, to be worth anything, must be held sacred, and rigidly observed in all its provisions.”
“I take the papers from Washington and read very carefully all the proceedings of Congress. My papers say that last winter you voted for a bill to appropriate $20,000.00 to some sufferers by a fire. Well, Colonel, where do you find in the Constitution any authority to give away public money in charity? No Colonel, Congress has no right to give charity. Individual members may give as much of their own money as they please, but they have no right to touch a dollar of the public money for that purpose.”
“The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution, the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation, and a violation of the Constitution. You have violated the Constitution in what I consider to be a vital point. It is a precedent fraught with danger to the country, for when Congress once begins to stretch its power beyond the limits of the Constitution, there is no limit to it, and no security for the People.”
“I could not answer him,” said Crockett. “I was so fully convinced that he was right.” I said to him, “Well, my friend, you hit the nail upon the head when you said I had not sense enough to understand the Constitution. If you will forgive me and vote for me again, if I ever vote for another unconstitutional law, I wish I may be shot.”
After finishing the story, Crockett said, “Now sir, you know why I made that speech yesterday. There is one thing now to which I will call your attention. You remember that I proposed to give a weeks pay? There are in that House many very wealthy men, men who think nothing of spending a weeks pay, or a dozen of them, for a dinner or a wine party when they have something to accomplish by it. Some of these same men made beautiful speeches upon the debt of gratitude which the country owed the deceased, yet not one of them responded to my proposition. Money with them is nothing but trash when it is to come out of the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them sacrifice honor, integrity, and justice to obtain it.”
Think on this the next time you hear politicians talk. Where in the Constitution does it grant Congress the power to give millions of dollars to build museums, fund the arts, or to fund social programs like midnight basketball for junkies? Nowhere - and those who vote for such things are ignorant of the Constitution and do not deserve to be drawing their salaries. Andwhen you hear politicians speak of making everyone do anything, such as making everyone buy health insurance, ask yourself, "Where in the Constitution is that power given?"
"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."
– President James Madison
"I cannot find any authority in the Constitution for public charity; [such spending] would be contrary to the letter and the spirit of the Constitution and subversive to the whole theory upon which the Union of these States is founded."
– President Franklin Pierce
"I feel obliged to withhold my approval of the plan to indulge in benevolent and charitable sentiment through the appropriation of public funds. I find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution."
– President Grover Cleveland
"To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."
– President Thomas Jefferson
"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. A wise and frugal government…shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare but only those specifically enumerated [in the Constitution]. "
– Thomas Jefferson
"A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation."
– James Freeman Clarke
"If you think too much about being re-elected, it is very difficult to be worth re-electing."
– President Woodrow Wilson
"In America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take."
– Adlai Stevenson
"Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary."
– Robert Louis Stevenson
“Mr. Speaker, I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased and as much sympathy for the suffering of the living as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity, but as members of Congress we have no right to so appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Sir, this is no debt. We cannot without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as a charity. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks.”
There was silence on the floor of the House as Crockett took his seat. When the bill was put to a vote, instead of passing unanimously as had been expected, it received only a few votes. The next day a friend approached Crockett and asked why he spoken against a bill for such a worthy cause. In reply, Crockett related the following story:
Just a few years before, he had voted to spend $20,000.00 of public money to help the victims of a terrible fire in Georgetown. When the legislative session was over, Crockett made a trip back home to do some campaigning for his re-election. In his travels he encountered one of his constituents, a man by the name of Horatio Bunce. Mr. Bunce bluntly informed Crockett, “I voted for you the last time. I shall not vote for you again.” Crockett, feeling he had served his constituents well, was stunned. He inquired as to what he had done to so offend Mr. Bunce. Bunce replied, “You gave a vote last winter which shows that either you have not capacity to understand the Constitution, or that you are wanting in the honesty and firmness to be guided by it. The Constitution, to be worth anything, must be held sacred, and rigidly observed in all its provisions.”
“I take the papers from Washington and read very carefully all the proceedings of Congress. My papers say that last winter you voted for a bill to appropriate $20,000.00 to some sufferers by a fire. Well, Colonel, where do you find in the Constitution any authority to give away public money in charity? No Colonel, Congress has no right to give charity. Individual members may give as much of their own money as they please, but they have no right to touch a dollar of the public money for that purpose.”
“The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution, the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation, and a violation of the Constitution. You have violated the Constitution in what I consider to be a vital point. It is a precedent fraught with danger to the country, for when Congress once begins to stretch its power beyond the limits of the Constitution, there is no limit to it, and no security for the People.”
“I could not answer him,” said Crockett. “I was so fully convinced that he was right.” I said to him, “Well, my friend, you hit the nail upon the head when you said I had not sense enough to understand the Constitution. If you will forgive me and vote for me again, if I ever vote for another unconstitutional law, I wish I may be shot.”
After finishing the story, Crockett said, “Now sir, you know why I made that speech yesterday. There is one thing now to which I will call your attention. You remember that I proposed to give a weeks pay? There are in that House many very wealthy men, men who think nothing of spending a weeks pay, or a dozen of them, for a dinner or a wine party when they have something to accomplish by it. Some of these same men made beautiful speeches upon the debt of gratitude which the country owed the deceased, yet not one of them responded to my proposition. Money with them is nothing but trash when it is to come out of the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them sacrifice honor, integrity, and justice to obtain it.”
Think on this the next time you hear politicians talk. Where in the Constitution does it grant Congress the power to give millions of dollars to build museums, fund the arts, or to fund social programs like midnight basketball for junkies? Nowhere - and those who vote for such things are ignorant of the Constitution and do not deserve to be drawing their salaries. Andwhen you hear politicians speak of making everyone do anything, such as making everyone buy health insurance, ask yourself, "Where in the Constitution is that power given?"
"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."
– President James Madison
"I cannot find any authority in the Constitution for public charity; [such spending] would be contrary to the letter and the spirit of the Constitution and subversive to the whole theory upon which the Union of these States is founded."
– President Franklin Pierce
"I feel obliged to withhold my approval of the plan to indulge in benevolent and charitable sentiment through the appropriation of public funds. I find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution."
– President Grover Cleveland
"To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."
– President Thomas Jefferson
"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. A wise and frugal government…shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare but only those specifically enumerated [in the Constitution]. "
– Thomas Jefferson
"A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation."
– James Freeman Clarke
"If you think too much about being re-elected, it is very difficult to be worth re-electing."
– President Woodrow Wilson
"In America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take."
– Adlai Stevenson
"Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary."
– Robert Louis Stevenson
Friday, February 8, 2008
Religion and Politics
Well, the best man for the job of President of the United States bowed out of the race yesterday, "for the good of the party." He gave a speech upon withdrawing from the race that, had he given it weeks ago, may have excited conservatives across the nation to realize that he was the one they had been looking for. Oh well, politics is a dirty business, and no one knows it better than the presumptive nominee of the GOP, John McCain. Combined with his toady, Mike Huckabee, they raised the issue of a Mormon running for President like it was some kind of sinister thing. The message couldn't have been clearer: "We want Mormons to vote for Republicans, but they need to remember their place as second class citizens. We don't need any uppity Mormons thinking they are our equals." And whereas I heard when I was a child that "anyone can grow up to be President of the United States," the tacit message of the GOP was that that does not apply to Mormons. Well, I heard the message, loud and clear, and yesterday I contacted the County Recorder and changed my voter registration to "No Party Preference," in other words, Independent. It is a tiny gesture, but it is the only gesture I can make. As a wise man once said, democracy is the form of government in which everybody gets what the majority deserve. And with a McCain/Hillary/Obama presidency, the majority is going to get it, good and hard.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Snow Again! (Danged Global Warming!)
February 4, 2008 - We are socked in with 18" - 24" of new snow. Mom will probably have to spend the night at the hospital tonight, because a lot of nurses can't get in. I got to come home from work early, because we all needed extra time to dig in before dark. I love rain! You don't have to shovel rain!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
