Good Shepherd Award

Though the last week has been exhausting, at least emotionally, I feel the need to revisit the events one more (last) time. I cannot but wonder at the humanity, excellence and professionalism of the Rev. Tom (last name withheld for the sake of privacy). His presence throughout Joe's long illness means more than just being a Good Shepherd. A wholesale and bulk distributor of God's love, perhaps? Blessed with the ability to share Jesus' great gift to humanity? Does that sound too extreme? I think not.

I only know of most his actions and deeds second hand, but it seems to me that Rev. Tom has been a pillar of strength and spiritual support for each and every member of Joe's extended family, a friend indeed. I don't know if they can teach that in divinity school -- I suspect that they can't. Rather, it has to have something to do with the inner workings of the person in question; the ability to touch without touching, share without demanding anything in return, to give unilaterally. A smile, a look, a nod of the head ... a comfortable silence. Simple, but exquisite in concept and impact.

Sure, he is an ordained minister, conversant in the ways of community service, the Bible, and the sort of public relations required of a professional. But while a person can be taught the ability to remember names, to look people in the eye and shake hands in a positive way ... you simply cannot teach empathy and kindness. Those who attempt it without the gift of actually meaning it, always seem fake or shallow. Think of the vast majority of bottom dwellers in the Congress of the United States, it is self explanatory.

Which sets up the distinction of someone who has devoted their lives to others as compared to others who have "devoted" their lives ... ostensibly to others. Rev. Tom would be fantastically successful in business, as a lawyer, a police officer, or just about any other endeavor you might care to choose. But luckily for us, he has chosen to devote his life where his success is not measured in dollars and cents, trophies, memberships or awards, but by the far more difficult standards of his calling, as set out by our Lord. Difficult standards, indeed.

Allow me a review, Rev. Tom, while I cannot mark your test (for who can?), I can tell you that as far as I am concerned -- and I think that I speak for my extended family in this regard -- you deserve an "A."

A good day to say "good-bye."

It is hard to conceive of this notion, but there was a good day to say, "goodbye."

Last Thursday was chilly, windy and overcast. Not the dark and cloudy sort of day, but hazy and gray, with leaves rustling under mostly barren trees, the occasional gust lifting them to swirl around the gathered figures, heads bowed low, all dressed in black. Earlier these same people, mostly family and some close friends had met in a low, nondescript brick building in the Town of Crafton, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Crafton seemed to reflect the sense of loss felt by the mourners, itself a wan image of days past, long before industry left Pittsburgh scared and forlorn.

Perfect, then, as a place to pay one's last respects to someone who fought heroically against the implacable foe that is cancer. Up until last week, Joe Davey stated, "I am going to beat this," even as his strength and vitality seeped away, a memory of the past. But in dying in the way he did, with the courage he displayed, he did beat cancer. It may have killed the body he inhabited, but the spirit of the person was victorious, triumphant even.

Buddhists regard the body as a shell for the spirit within and believe that it should be treated with great respect and care ... but the spirit is independent, a temporary resident. That spirit departed from the shell of Joe Davey sometime early last Monday morning on its solitary journey to the next plane of existence -- whatever and wherever that might be. Joe -- for the shell remaining is but inanimate mass, incapable of assuming the dignity of a name -- is surely now with God. But it seems that he didn't travel there immediately, choosing to tarry a while, perhaps to say goodbye to us.

At the service for Joe held at a Methodist Church near to where most of Joe's family still lives, Joe decided to let us know he was watching the gathered family and friends: he kicked over a vase of flowers by the altar, as if to say, "get on with it -- I have a tee time and enough is enough." He was no doubt smiling, having a joke with his wife to whom he promised to send a sign.

When at last, at a bleak cemetery to the North of Pittsburgh, the shell of Joseph Davey was laid to rest surrounded by family both above and below the ground, the spirit Joe was released to proceed to the starter. I picture him in my mind's eye, golf bag over his shoulder giving a jaunty wave as if to say, "I'm off! Don't be sad and don't worry about me ... see you in a while."

A good day to say goodbye.

Speaking of Idiots ... Meet the Speaker of the House

Nancy Pelosi continues to outdo herself in her desire to destroy the United States' reputation and prestige abroad -- not to mention threaten US troops' security and in the process ... ultimately discredit President McMoron. Anything to benefit the Democrats and who the hell cares who gets hurt in the process? Pelosi figures that she can always blame it on Boosh and the "people" will lap it up: they have been told enough by our media that he is the source of all that ails us.

Case in point: she vows to press ahead with the vote in the House to declare the genocide of the Armenians -- the reason? Because the last people who suffered and were targeted for liquidation are just about dead from other causes, to wit: old age. Hmmm. She wants to make a bunch of old (perhaps illiterate) people feel better about themselves because the Congress of the United States formally declares what everyone already knows.

In return, the Turks will likely -- forced by pride and politics -- cut aid to our presence in Iraq, forcing our troops into an even more difficult position for supplies, fighter air support and ... encouraging the Turks to get on with their on-going persecution of the Kurds. Not that the Kurds probably don't richly deserve a slap or two, given their safe haven for insurgents dedicated to killing Turks. We lose, no matter what. Pelosi ... will blame it on Boosh. Not that Bill Clinton couldn't have passed this resolution 10 years ago if the Democrats really gave a shit about this.

The real kicker comes when Pelosi refuses to consider a similar House motion against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The idea was to get them declared a terrorist organization ... which they most CERTAINLY are. They have been caught time and again supporting Hezbollah and Hamas, and training and supplying insurgents with IEDs used to kill American troops. Pelosi asks when have "we" ever declared a part of the military of a sovereign state a "terrorist organization?" When indeed? Bill Clinton simply bombed the Serbs. Purposely bombed the Chinese Embassy (which was acting as an agent provocateur supplying military advice, intelligence and support for a group actually attempting genocide). No declaration necessary!!! Ronald Reagan declared an entire group of countries the "Axis of Evil" and the Soviet Union an "Evil Empire."

But to make the declaration of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (not the mainstream Iranian military) as a terrorist organization, she might be helping the administration and THAT needs to be avoided at all costs, no matter how many American troops it might save in the end. But then she is not really concerned about Americans that might be soldiers ... too many of them might vote, and vote against her liberal agenda. If you, as the reader, don't see this ... then you need to wake up and smell the coffee: PELOSI and her liberal friends represent a massive danger to our country.

Deval -- liberal idiot (related to Dubbya, perhaps?)

Deval has a great new idea: pressing the lenders holding the mortgages to accept losses so that the homeowners can sell the houses and pay off smaller loan balances. These are so called "short sales." The idea is to stabilize the neighborhoods being hard hit by sub-prime mortgages. Thomas Callahan, the head of the Massachusetts Association for Affordable Housing notes that while he supports the idea strongly, most of the holders of sub-prime junk are out of state ... and so far they have been less than enthusiastic about the "program." The Mass Housing Finance Agency has another great idea, taking $250 million to refinance borrowers more than 60 days lates on their mortgages.

This means one thing: Deval and his band of morons wants the tax payer to bail out those people in the hole with subprime debt way beyond their means. On the surface, this is income redistribution, pure and simple. But it may also serve to bail out the scumbuckets that made the loans inthe first place. Either result is unacceptable. There are, of course, many families who sought to get onto the housing ladder and for them ... I am truly sorry. But the reality is that (most) everyone involved was depending on the "greater fool" theory: they expected to be able to flip the housing stock for a quick profit. 'Cause, as everyone knows, you can't lose money in property -- thereby inflating housing prices beyond the very people most hurt by it, the poor.

But this breath-taking in its impact: the average joe who is prudent with his or her finances, will wind up having to eat the tax increases that will be be necessary to finance the bail-out (for however you look at it, this will wind up costing money). But Deval, being a politician, knows that the poor CAN vote to themselves the assets of the rich. And there are more poor than rich -- meaning that Deval can depend on the "support" of the people. The trouble here is that the "people" do not understand that ultimately, "we, the middle class" might be able to afford the tax hit, we will then be less likely to spend, causing recession, unemployment ... and perversely, doing nothing to bring housing prices back to where they should be.

The Tribe Lose the 1st in ALCS

Yah. But did you notice how Mike Lowell and Taz must have been separated at birth?

Nobel Prize -- STD

The Nobel "Peace Prize" has now been relegated to the type of surprise you might get when all of a sudden it starts to hurt to pee.

It was bad enough when the Prize was awarded to Yasser Arafat. Imagine the inspiration for generations of terrorists and bombers lauded with the "Peace Prize." That award made the process a contradiction in terms. But this .... Les Morons du Jour: a bunch of wankers sitting in Oslo (I understand that this is where the committee sat this time around).

The delicious irony is that but two days ago, a British High Court Judge Michael Burton ruled as a matter of law that Gore's film was so fraught with inaccuracies, alarmism and exaggeration that it could only been shown in school accompanied by guidance from teachers to explain the political bias inherent in the film and to point out the flagrant problems (nine major issue errors cited in the ruling). But the left wing wanted it shown -- for POLITICAL reasons, and not just educational concerns. This form of brainwashing and blatant disregard for the truth was brought to the attention of the media in a court action to prevent its showing to school children.


But in the realm of the Nobel idiots, Gore is God.

A Litany of Idiots

Jimmy Carter (somewhere a village is missing its idiot) stated that the United States tortures prisoners in violation of international law. "I don't think it, I know it," Carter told Wolf (another idiot) Blitzer yesterday. This is reference to head-slapping, sleep deprivation, waterboarding, and cold treatment. Not pleasant pastimes, but not thumb screws, nail pulling, interesting electrical devices and places to put them, Black and Deckers to the knee caps and that sort of thing.

Jimmy, if you do not ask the questions you do not get the answers. Simple. And we cannot afford not to get the answers.

Mr. Carter, don't stick your nose into geopolitics, you are simply too thick to understand the damage you do as an ex-officio spokesman for the whacked out in the USA. You almost single-handedly destroyed American prestige in the world while you were President: you created a laughing stock of my country. Every dictator with an AK decided he could take you on -- and did. You embarrassed me and every American living abroad. You are an anti-semitic idiot.


The House Committee on Foreign Affairs (now controlled by Democrats, so I should have expected this) passed a resolution 27-21 for calling the WW1 massacre of Armenians by the Turks a "genocide." Uh, there are plenty of Armenians around, so that would be "attempted genocide" and that happened almost 100 years ago. But is it a very present slap in the face of the ONLY Muslim country in NATO and the only Muslim country that might cooperate with us if the poop hits the fan over there. We also have more than a few fighter aircraft stationed there, along with the supporting personnel. So in our wisdom, we have decided to "kick them in the nuts."

OK, so the Turks ought to chill out too, but this is a very, very sore spot in their history and it is still gasoline on the fire of every Turkish ethnic national (the Kurds are different). Why? Because the Turks see and Armenian conspiracy under every bed and with some cause: Armenians and Kurds have in the recent past bombed and killed Turkish civilians. Remember 9/11?

Did they do it? Yes, they tried. There is very little real doubt. But Germany tried to kill us all and we don't continue to "make them pay." The Japanese were brutal beyond all comprehension and we still don't parade Manchuria in front of them. But the Democrats -- seeing a Bush (quasi) ally won't let this pass. Idiots. We might lose another country of potential allies -- when WE need them for posturing for the "folks at home." Fucking idiots.

History Lesson!!

I've been lazy, but this is a prime e-mail on the subject of subjective memory:

Subject: History

A little history lesson. If you don't know the answer make your best guess.
Answer all the questions before looking at the answers.

Who said it?

1) "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

A. Karl Marx
B. Adolph Hitler
C. Joseph Stalin
D. None of the above

2) "It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the
few, and for the few...... And to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity."

A. Lenin
B. Mussolini
C. Idi Amin
D. None of the Above

3) "(We) ...can't just let business as usual go on, and that means something
has to be taken away from some people."

A. Nikita Khrushev
B. Josef Goebbels
C. Boris Yeltsin
D. None of the above

4) "We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up
a little bit of their own ... in order to create this common ground."

A. Mao Tse Dung
B. Hugo Chavez
C. Kim Jong Il
D. None of the above

5) "I certainly think the free-market has failed."

A. Karl Marx
B. Lenin
C. Molotov
D. None of the above

6) "I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most
profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being watched."

A. Pinochet
B. Milosevic
C. Saddam Hussein
D. None of the above

Scroll down for answers










Answers

(1) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/29/2004
(2) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 5/29/2007
(3) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(4) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(5) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(6) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 9/2/2005

Be afraid, Be very afraid!!

Ok, I am afraid. Have been for quite a while. I just can't understand why others are not similarly afraid....

They ARE as they appear!!

I have been spending more than a little time in court recently and I have come to the realization that you can make generalizations -- at least visually. If you head down to arraignments on a Monday morning, you will see a parade of the guests of the Commonwealth marched up in front of the judge for a preliminary "why are you here" moment.

And they LOOK like criminals. I mean virtually all of them. It does not matter if they are white, black or hispanic or something from Mars, they look like people who do bad things, almost to a person. The gang-bangers are obvious, no matter the ethnicity, they have the same hang dog expression coupled with the latent threat. You want to shake them and yell, "hey, idiots, buy some pants that fit you. And while you are in the store, score some shirts with sleeves and dump the beat-your-wife vest. Also hats without the purchase stickers still on them might help make you look less criminal -- losers."

Then there are the shaved-headed ones: they intentionally shave their heads to inspire fear, also to make it harder for foes in a fight to grab onto something (skull caps in rugby fulfill the same purpose). Look for the lack of hair, tattoos and scars and you will see charges of assault. These guys also LOOK stupid, you know, the sort of retards in your high school class who laughed at other people's misfortunes, laughed at bad jokes and made inappropriate comments to girls -- as if that might excite the girls into having sex with them.

The greasy shifty-eyed types: sure to be there for assault with a deadly weapon, CPW (criminal possession of a weapon), robbery or sexual assault. And again, while certain ethnicities have a higher representation in this category, the overall "look" is uniform across the races.

It is as if each race makes an approximation of the "look" of that type of felon, but tailored to their social grouping. White and black gang members have a fondness for the "Tar Heels" of North Carolina ... even though the closest most of them have ever been to NC, is maybe New York. Everyone thinks that their butt-crack is attractive.

There is no eye-contact in the normal way from any of them: either they stare directly at you in challenge, or they refuse to make contact at all, except for the briefest of moments. The eyes being true windows to the soul seems to be more apt than the metaphor might suggest. Felony assault = direct stare. Sexual assault rarely more than a sly glance. Robbery with a weapon , stares followed by looking around the room, then stares with a smile, perhaps. Weird.

The whole experience is weird. But worthwhile. IF you have nothing better to do, visit the courtrooms of the Commonwealth: you will see that profiling (at least visually) does make sense.

In later court appearances, you can tell whether they have good counsel: a lawyer they pay for means a suit and an attempt to clean up. A public defender means, either they get hauled out of lock-up in the their custom jail threads, or it looks like they intend to attend a Mike Vick enterprises entertainment show.

Outside of the probate and family courts (in the Commonwealth, this is where divorces get their public sessions) the looks presented are more interesting -- but the faces tell the story here. No joy in Mudville. Depressing place.