Listen to me now, believe me later...yes, the Briefing is gone, please welcome back the Musings!
I hate it when people say "'nuff said." There's always more to be said. That's the argument of someone who has nothing to back up their side. It's like when Democrats say, "If you don't do this then you hate children."
I don't care if cell phones are banned while driving. What I do want to ban is the use of cell phones at sporting events. There's nothing more annoying than idiots waving to friends and family for nine innings behind the dugouts and home plate.
And yes, if I were sitting in those seats I, too, would call friends and ask if they could see me.
To regain the faith of it customers in the wake of the recent contest scam, McDonald's randomly handed out money at restaurants this weekend. To enter the contest you simply enter the restaurant or drive-thru, and if you're a winner you'll get a tap on the shoulder.
Huh. I sure am glad there's no way this giveaway could be rigged!
Eighth-graders who participate in religious activities have higher self-esteem than those who do not, said a study reported recently at an American Psychological Association convention.
The results may indicate religious institutions teach youths how to have positive images of themselves, the authors said, and that younger teens' closeness with their families reinforces religious involvement. (AJC's Faith & Values section, 9-1-01)
Strange, I thought the Left preaches that religion is a crutch, and that only "free-thinkers" could truly feel good about themselves.
Hmmm, I wonder why we wanted no part of the sham being called the World Conference Against Racism?
Just as we expected but were told had been fixed, African leaders asked for Western countries to apologize for the destruction caused by colonialism and slavery. They were divided on calls for reparations, though. No word on whether these leaders would ask that their own nations cease using the practice, as Western nations did well over a century ago.
And even more expected: Despite a promise that language stating that Zionism equates to racism had been dropped, a draft of the conference's final declaration denounced "practices of racial discrimination against the Palestinians as well as other inhabitants of the Arab occupied territories" and said Zionism "is based on racial superiority."
I applaud the U.S. and Israel for pulling out of that charade.
Meanwhile, Libya is marking the 32nd anniversary of terrorist leader Moammar Gadhafi's coup to take over the country. In his 2 1/2 hour speech, he railed against the U.S., saying it is controlled by 400 powerful families (I knew the Johnsons across the hall were up to no good!).
Later, he expounded on his vision of a perfect society in which, for instance, people economize on water by buying smaller drinking glasses.
No surprise that he would come up with something so bland and ridiculous. Really, do you expect anything imaginative from a country with nothing on its flag?
What's Newt Gingrich up to these days? Writing book reviews for fun on Amazon.com's site. As a "Top 500 Reviewer," the former House Speaker even has his own page.
''Friends were always asking me what I was reading, and so I thought it would be nice to write reviews. Half the things I read are light fiction, while the rest relate to politics, technology and warfare.''
As college students flood back to campuses across the nation, they have a lot of courses to choose from this fall. Some of the classes, though, are a bunch of politically correct malarkey.
The Young America's Foundation has pulled a list of the most ridiculous in its "Dirty Dozen" list of PC classes, culled from current course catalogs at 56 top public and private universities. The catalogs are full of courses that "are biased, outrageous, obsessed with sex, race, Marxism and class warfare," said YAF program officer Rick Parsons. "The professors and administrators have their own ideological agenda for the students," while free-market economics, U.S. history and classic literature often take a back seat to obscure pedagogy. Classes that do teach about conservatism often compare it to the Ku Klux Klan or Adolf Hitler, he said, borrowing language from an actual course on conservatism.
Among their findings:
-- Vassar College's "Black Marxism," which argues that "global racism works to shatter possibilities for solidarity, distort the meaning of justice, alter the context of wrong, and makes it possible for people to claim ignorance of past and present racial atrocities, discrimination, exclusion, oppression and genocide."
-- Harvard University's "Multicultural Biblical Criticism," which "attacks conventional readings of the Bible," says the YAF, and claims "African, Asian, Indigenous, Latin American, Aboriginal, American Indian, Latino-Hispanic, and Australian studies, as well as ethnicity, feminist, womanish, black, queer, liberation theological, postcolonial, and Third World studies, have begun to de-center the hegemonies paradigm of biblical studies."
-- DePaul University's "White Racism," which "creates and promotes racial anxiety," and describes white racism as "a set of socially organized attitudes, behaviors and beliefs about differences between blacks and other groups of color in the United States."
-- Villanova University's "Eco Feminism," which explores "the role of eco feminist thought in the development of a 'postmodern' societal paradigm and in a radical reconsideration of destructive and unquestioned beliefs concerning justice, peace and community."
-- The University of California-Irvine's "Sexism and Power," which teaches "feminist propaganda," says the YAF, and asserts that "males and females are objects constructed in powered language dominated and controlled by males to their positional and distributional advantage."
-- The University of California-Santa Barbara's "Capitalism and Racism," which emphasizes "the political uses made of racial categories that accompanied the emergence of modern capitalism, new divisions of labor, and specific economic incentives."
-- Williams College's "Practicing Feminism: A Study of Political Activism," which offers "hands-on training at feminist-friendly social service agencies and nonprofits." The course tries to answer questions like "What constraints and opportunities confront feminists as they struggle for social change?" (From The Washington Times)
China worry of the week:
"A senior Tibetan official said the Chinese government will decide on a successor for the Dalai Lama - countering the spiritual leader's prediction that his reincarnation will be found outside China. Raidi, the No. 2 leader of the Tibet branch of China's Communist Party, told visiting Hong Kong journalists the Dalai Lama's reincarnation would be chosen according to 'historical customs and religious rituals' and must be 'ratified by the central Chinese government.'" The Chinese official later added, "'Nuff said!"
Hmmm, why do I not like the controversy this could cause? Looks like we're heading for a world with two Dalai Lamas, similar to the two Popes of a millennium ago.
The next "Survivor" will be held in Jordan? I think it would be more realistic if they held it in the West Bank.
Since Congress held hearings on groups such as Publishers Clearing House for deceitful tactics, I think they should look into magazines, too. In the past year, in a cost-cutting measure I decided not to renew four different subscriptions: Baseball Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, Men's Health and Golf Digest.
Still, each of them sends regular notices making it appear as though I owe them money, with wording on envelopes such as "Payment Due!", as if they can guilt me into writing a check. I already paid the subscription; what they want is another year's worth. Which means in another year I'd get the same notices.
Here's the real kicker, though. Ent. Weekly is so bold, several times it tried to tell me that I was receiving my last issues, that the end of June was the end of my subscription. One magazine actually said, "This is your final issue." Nope, the next week another was in my mailbox. Why? Because I paid so much in advance earlier that I really have six more months worth! Liars!
From National Review: For the first time, as many Americans identify themselves as pro-life as pro-choice, according to a Gallup poll released last week. Just six years ago, the same poll had a 23-point margin, with 56 percent as pro-choice, and only 33 percent as pro-life.
In light of the historical polling data and conventional political wisdom on abortion, this is nothing short of a minor miracle. And yet, even though the poll has been out for over a week, a search of the New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, and the Associated Press finds nary a mention of this potentially major shift in popular opinion.
Gallup didn't even issue a press release to generate some buzz about this intriguing poll result. It was posted on their website, but not on the front page or any page highlighting their latest polls.
To be perfectly honest, I firmly believe that any single poll must be taken with a grain of salt. However, the media does not abide by this rule when a poll result confirms their liberal instincts.
The latest goodies from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's The Vent:
-- To the McCheaters that rigged my McGame: You McStink!
-- Personally, I think the food at McDonald's is also rigged.
-- New slogan on McDonald's sign: "Over One Billion Swindled."
-- I see where the alleged McDonald's scammer, "Uncle Jerry," has to post a $1 million bond. Will the feds take a winning game piece from 1999?
-- To the McDonald's Monopoly scammers: Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
-- Bush to White House reporters: "Keep bashing me and I'll take my next vacation in Texas, too!"
-- Gary Condit only had one interview with Connie Chung. It will take at least two more for him to actually answer a question.
-- The Condit interview reminded me of a definition that I heard of a filibuster: "A speech about nothing from a man that knows all about it."
-- When you have scandal after scandal after scandal, and don't vote for a change, you get what you voted for.
-- It seems that the person in line in front of me at the ATM is always using it for the very first time.
-- If four out of five people suffer from diarrhea, does that mean that one enjoys it?
-- You know you are in serious trouble when the guy in front of you carries a novel into the only working bathroom on an airplane.
-- Here's how algebra works in the real world: If the cable company has "X" number of phones and "Z" number of people to answer those phones, "Y" do they put everyone on hold?
-- I think I've become a hypochondriac, but I'm not gonna make myself sick worrying about it.
-- Forget the "Slow Children" signs. I'm still trying to figure out the "May Ice in Winter" signs. I mean this is Atlanta. When else could it ice?
-- I'm not worried about the "Slow Children" signs. I am worried about the "Blind Drive" signs.
-- I don't know about you, but if I had a clone, I'd be so happy! In fact, I'd be beside myself.
-- Is there any truth to the rumor that Bill Clinton's upcoming book will appear only in adult bookstores?
-- When Clinton's book comes out, are they going to put it in with fiction or nonfiction?
-- I read that the Russians and North Koreans are saying the U.S. doesn't need a missile defense system. Right, and the crooks are saying cops don't need bulletproof vests.
-- If high heels were so great, men would be wearing them.
-- Those subway cars New York dumped in the ocean should really confuse archeologists some day.
-- We were so poor that all of mother's recipes began with, "Steal two eggs..."
Another example of how Democrats rely on the fact that their voters are idiots: Georgia Democrat lawmakers have been trying to gerrymander districts to maintain control of the state's political maps. But that's not the only swindle they're looking at.
Another proposal has to do with voting methods: straight-ticket voting. Many Democrats want to return to the use of a single-punch ballot, in which voters just punch Democrat or Republican. The Left feels that this is the best way to get their base -- in particular, black voters -- to stay on the party line.
Lawmakers are being handed studies and statistics that show that, especially in statewide races, Democrats shot themselves in the foot when they abandoned straight-ticket voting seven years ago. Punch by punch, roughly a quarter of the voting power of African-Americans is lost as they progress down the ballot, according to one estimate. Meanwhile, Republican suburbanites "more faithfully completed their ballots than did voters who lived elsewhere," according to another report.
So, once again, Democrats show that the only way they can keep control is to make sure their voters are dumber than the average bear.
The $300 tax refund is fine, but even better are the new rules on student loan deductions. The deductions have been enhanced so that those like me with decent incomes are able to claim them and eliminate restrictions on the number of years I can do so.
Currently, you can deduct interest only on loans you've been repaying for five years or less. Once you earn more than $40,000, if single, or $60,000, if married, your ability to claim these deductions is reduced. Starting next year, interest deductions are available on all student loan payments - no matter how old the loan - for single people with incomes up to $50,000 and married couples with incomes up to $100,000.
Thank you to Pres. Bush and the GOP!
Homer quote: "There's a New Mexico?"
Batman's Words of Wisdom: "People who stay in glass hotels shouldn't throw parties."
Random site: Disturbing Auctions - People try to sell some strange stuff. My bid's already in on the velvet painting of Jesus blessing truckers.