Thursday, July 28, 2005

The War on Terror is OVER!!!

Dateline: According to the braintrust running our country we are no longer engaged in the war on terror. No, we are now involce in The Struggle Against Extremeism. Apparently the war on terror was not polling well. Either that or the word war was turning people off since we are not doing so well. We are, after all, used to kicking some ass and getting out and winning our wars. But now that we are engaged in a struggle, well, as Stephen Colbert says in this report from the Daily Show (hat tip crooks and liars for the link), "a struggle is something we can live with...like the weight on our hips."

This mess is going so well the damned adminstration has to re-brand it. What asses.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

The Poem

This is the poem that my friend Ziggy read at our wedding.

This is for Mae.

___________________
As the sun shines in the midday sky; and
The moon makes the tide roll in; and stars
Guide the sailor to the places unknown.
You are my light.

The stones that mark the place of time:
Unmoveable; solid; They tell the story.
Staying in their spot. Unmoving: eternal.
You are my rock.

The trees that give shade to those who tire, and
food to those who hunger; shelter to the
weak, and rest to the weary.
You are my refuge.

As the water falls down the rock and
Carves it story. As it leaves its
mark in the canyon floor, and brings forth beautiful life
You nourish me.

You are my light, my rock, my refuge, and nousihment.
You guide me when I have lost my way.
You are there; solid; unmoving; endless.
You wrap your arms around me; envelop me.
You fill me in body, mind, and soul.

The endlessness of the gifts of creation;
Tell the story of my love to you.
The pieces that have been in place since the
Begining of time are the reminders of
All you mean to me.

Brother Sun and Sister Moon;
Brother Wind and Sister Water;
Brother Fire and Sister Mother Earth;
All are gifts; since the begining

With the eternity of these gifts,
I give you my all. For as long as they
Have been on earth, and for as long as they remain;
My love for you will join them: everlasting.

Monday, July 25, 2005

It Is Orfishal


Happily Ever After, originally uploaded by Si Adam.

We is Married.

I hope to have more pictures soon on Flick, but for the time being check out Si's Flickr.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

The Time Has Come


Mae on the Phone, originally uploaded by CelticWander.

Aint she cute.

No, this is not a good by cruel world blog post. This is a, HEY I AM GETTING MARRIED on Saturday post.

Yup. Saturday at 4 pm the wedding begins. I am guessing about 4:15 we will officially be married. If I am timing things right, that is when the preachers release the mojo. Ain't holy mystery grand!

I have know Mae for roughly 2.5 years, 1.5 of that we have been engaged. It has been a fantastic time. Really, eventhough most of that time was 400 miles apart. I think that may even have helped strengthen the relationship.

I am excited about this. Those who konw me find this hard to believe, as I am one who usually does not show emotion outwardly. But last night I was cleaning the apartment, and I couldn't stop. Anyone who knows me knows this is a sure sign something is up. I tend to live with the Radar O'Reilly system of stuff. Piles, i like piles and i know where things are.

Any way. The next time I post I will be a married man.

Have fun everyone and be happy

Woo Woo Is Missing

Ronnie 'Woo Woo' Wickers is missing

From the MSNBC website:

WMAQ-TV

CHICAGO - Ronnie "Woo Woo" Wickers' famous chant hasn't been heard inside Wrigley Field lately.

Wickers' wife reported him missing on June 29. After this story was posted on NBC5.com, several viewers have e-mailed to say they have spotted the Woo Woo in recent days at sporting events and an Independence Day parade.

Police said they don't know where Wickers was last seen, but said this is not the first time he has disappeared.

Woo Woo was last reported missing in 2002, when he went to visit friends. Then again in 1987 when he failed to show up for the Cubs' home opener. At that time, he was working and couldn't get off.

Woo Woo has been a staple at Cubs games since the 1960s.


I hope Woo Woo is safe. I talked with him for about 10 minutes after a game last year, and he is a sweet sweet man.

Monday, July 11, 2005

New Template

What think you?

I found this Here. Lots of Free blogger freindly templates.

Peace

Thursday, July 07, 2005

On A Lighter Note

Though I don't really want to see it based on its title, I will need to go see The Break Up staring Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston. You see, they are filming right outside my office for the third day in a row. I saw Vince yesterday. Ahhh...Chicago.

London Attack


London Attack, originally uploaded by greggchadwick.

I woke up this morning to the news of the attack in London. I was/am numb. The person I know who lived there moved back to the US in the past couple months. She is safe.

I sent prayers to the victims and the people who did this. All suffer in such situations. I pray for peace, daily, hourly. I pray for wisdom for leaders. I pray, it seems that is all I can do.

If you are up to it, Flickr.com has a page setup for people to send pictures of this tragedy . It is here.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

It's A Girl

Cliff, Anna and Sofie have a new arrival. Stop by and wish blessings to Delaina Rose Healy and her loving family.

Friday, July 01, 2005

Hoodathunk

That a rock star would have so much pull that his/her words get twisted in a state department memo to mean the exact opposite of what the star meant. Shoot, hoodathunk the State departement would ever quote a rock star to beging with...what is this werld comin to?

A State Department release from Monday doctored remarks from U2’s Bono, twisting his quote to mean the very opposite of what he apparently believes. Here’s the State Department paragraph, two graphs below the lede [besides underlining, excerpt appears exactly as published]:

Bono, lead singer of the Irish band U2 and longtime activist for aid to Africa, echoed Geldof’s praise for President Bush as he told an American television interviewer June 26, “[Bush] has already doubled and tripled aid to Africa .… I think he has done an incredible job, his administration, on AIDS. 250,000 Africans are on anti-viral drugs; they literally owe their lives to America.”

In fact, Bono only said the latter half of that quote during his appearance on Meet the Press last Sunday. The first part — “[Bush] has already doubled and tripled aid to Africa” — is deceptively transplanted from an interview Bono did with Time magazine that Tim Russert quoted on the show, and the State Department has taken it entirely out of context. Here’s the full quote:

Question: Which of the G8 leaders do you think remains the toughest nut to crack?

Bono: The most important and toughest nut is still President Bush. He feels he’s already doubled and tripled aid to Africa, which he started from far too low a place. He can stand there and say he paid at the office already. He shouldn’t because he’ll be left out of the history books. But it’s hard for him because of the expense of the war and the debts.

In other words, Bono was relaying President Bush’s claim (which he repeated during his press conference with Tony Blair this month) that his administration has tripled aid to Africa. Yet we know Bono does not believe that Bush has tripled aid to Africa. On Meet the Press, Bono said that while Bush has made a commitment to triple aid, that will only be the case “if he follows through” on that pledge.

This blatant dishonesty is even more relevant in light of the study by Susan Rice that Brookings released this week. Rice’s analysis showed that…

…U.S. aid to Africa from FY 2000 (the last full budget year of the Clinton Administration) to FY2004 (the last completed fiscal year of the Bush Administration) has not “tripled” or even doubled. Rather, in real dollars, it has increased 56% (or 67% in nominal dollar terms). The majority of that increase consists of emergency food aid, rather than assistance for sustainable development of the sort Africa needs to achieve lasting poverty reduction.


Taken from Think Progress.