I have moved! That's right, I am out of beautiful downtown Grapevine, and now in the heart of BIG D! Right off of the 35E, I now stay on the 7th floor of the Sheraton Suites. The room is a little old school, but I have HBO and a much, MUCH better bed. The best thing is that it is more of a hotel. It doesn't have the amenities that the extended stay Homewood Suites offered, but I realized that is a good thing. I was getting settled in back in Grapevine, to my detriment. I want to feel like I am here temporarily, and the hotel atmosphere helps with that. Not to mention, it makes work easier, because every day I am reminded why I am here. Finally, it is more social. There are more people here, mingling about. It isnt the same dreadful conventioneers milling around. I will keep you all posted on the new developments, but the best thing has been getting back to the part of the city that makes me feel comfortable. I am right near the "young professionals" part of town, where the nice restaurants are, the fun bars, things of that nature. Its just a nicer neighborhood, and I feel more at home. Turns out, I am also very near where I lived last time I was here. I even saw a deli/grocery store that we used to shop at when we lived here, and I just loved it back then! It was great to see something so familiar. Anyways, things are good on this front, so think good thoughts. No more free wireless however, so I can't guarentee the blog will be updated as often as I like, but bear with me kids....
Im watching Spike Lee's Katrina documentary right now (part II of II). It's excellent, and I learn something more every day. You never really know how bad things have been until you watch something like this. I actually got a little teary when they interviewed the woman whose 5 year old daughter was found floating in flood waters. Those kinds of things are real, and Im glad this is on, because when I talk to these victims, it is so important that I sympathize with them, because what they have been going through is no joke. I spoke with one lady, Sharone, today, and she told me all about it. I felt like I was listening to a documentary, and I am a better person for it. I just know that I work as hard as I can when I am in there, because these people deserve my respect.
Here's a good story:
The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on August 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.
The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."
That's what I love about the bible, every single thing written in it has equal weight. The first epistle to Timothy carries the same weight as the ten commandments, which came right from God. It's literally as if you were able to overrule the Supreme Court with the minutes from the Lemont, IL city council meeting.
It is absolutely amazing to me that Air America broadcasts out here. Dallas is a pretty cosmopolitan town, but these surrounding areas are, well.....less than progressive? But everymorning and every evening, I listen to Bush-bashing radio on my commute (much to the delight of my car partner, Im sure....). Regardless, the point of this discussion was the commercial for The Forward, a Jewish-news periodical. Of course it is a good idea for there to be magazines and newspapers that cater to all groups, to insure that they are getting the information that pertains to them. But the ad was simply a series of questions that reading their newspaper would answer. "Will fighting escalate in Israel?" (Yes) "Will the US become entangled in the fighting?" (Of course) "How will it all end?" (Badly) "Is anti-semitism growing in Europe?" (Duh) There. Instead of paying for a subscription, I just gave you all the news you need, and you can fit it on a post-it note with room to spare. Enjoy.
I read two death certificates today, and I found two incredibly strange entries to the DC. First, they list your education, as in, how much education did you have. Which means, if you couldn’t finish high school, but you kept it a secret, in death, they blab it out to the world. Even odder is that they type out your job. Your job! What a statement on our society that in death, they take the time to include amongst your most vital statistics (DOB, height, weight, DOD) your education and your job. Is the death certificate really a resume for God? Can you not get into heaven without proper education and experience? "I see her you led a good life, but do you know Word and Excel?" Maybe there are no pearly gates, maybe its a mahogany desk, and St Peter looks over your death certificate, "Mmm hmm. Mmmm hmm. Look, this war down there in the Middle East is causing a backlog up here....do you speak Farsi? I see here you died in a machine accident. Was that at work? Yes? So you didn't leave there on very good terms, I imagine....."
I used to think that profiling would totally work, but would it really? What do you need to get through, the security check point? Think about it. If you can manage to create an undetectable explosive or weapon, and you can dismantle it into unrecognizable components, then you should be able to get it as far as the gate, where there is no secondary checkpoint. The problem is that there is a misunderstanding that the only real threats are people of Middle Eastern descent, Muslims, etc. What people fail to realize is that the only color that matters is green. I know that is a cliché, but there are enough white people on this planet that would be more than happy to transport a weapon component through security. Even the most devious, diabolical, mercenary-type can be cleaned up to look like any other businessman. Get 5 guys like that and one Muslim extremist. With profiling, the Muslim will be stopped, while your 5 mules trek through undetected. Once at the gate, the 6 meet in the rest room, and pass all of the items to the practitioner, in this case, an extremist who isn’t afraid to die. The other 5 board 5 other flights, while the terrorist travels onto his own plane with this new device. The bottom line is that you can always find someone to do the most evil thing imaginable, and they always have a price that can be met. They can get us if they want, that’s just a fact that we have to deal with. Weather it’s water bottles, or shoe bombs, or incendiary underwear. They will find a way, because they care that much. And for all of the security measures, there is little evidence that those in charge of protecting us care the same amount. So I say, step back, and take a deep knee bend. The odds of being a victim of a terrorist attack are, to be honest, quite remote. For the time being, let’s just take a deep breath and stop feeling like we each have a target on our back. This especially goes to those yahoos in Boise and Cheyenne and Slippery Rock, who support the war because, “We gotta fight em there so they don’t come here!” Look, Jethro. No terrorist in his right mind is coming to your town to visit, much less blow you up. I think you are ok. How about, next time there is a vote on whether or not to go to war against terrorists, we allow only the senators from places that are actual targets. I think it is quite revealing that senators from places like Illinois (Chicago), New York (NYC) and California (SF, LA, SD) would most likely be against this war, even though they have the most to lose. It is quite disheartening that the congressional members from Alaska, Utah and North Dakota get a vote on a matter that does not concern them in the least bit!
Sawx. That’s what they say EVERY time the Boston Red Sox are featured on a highlight. Sawx. I get it, because that’s how people in Boston talk, right? Pahk, my cah…havahd yahd? Genius. No really, keep it up with that incredible wit. It’s why I watch highlights.
