Mnemonics

I subscribe to various RSS feeds from my hometown newspaper and while I was delighted to see that today's Letters to the Editor included several anti-Bush/anti-Republican letters, I laughed out loud at the last one on the page...

'Praying' For Pluto No More

I remember a conversation with my mother and grandmother more than 50 years ago in which they shared the mnemonics they had learned to memorize the planets: "Mary's Violet Eyes Made Johnny Sit Up Nights" was my grandma's device. My mom added "Praying" since she learned the solar system after 1930.

With Pluto's newly diminished status, I'll probably go back to my grandma's system, although I must admit I'll miss the mnemonic I've been using for the past 5 1/2 years: "Many Very Erudite Men Justly Scream, 'Unenlightened Numbskull President!' "

Cathy Wirzylo
Eastwick Drive

Stretch

I have raved and I have ranted about the miserable failure (who, as far as I'm concerned, has given the word "failure" a bad name!) for as long as I have published this blog. The man has done to this country (not to mention Iraq) pretty much exactly what he has done with every other enterprise he's gotten his hands on in his lifetime — driven it straight into the ground.

But beyond his more cataclysmic, er, achievements, I am really pissed and annoyed at this — from his August 21 press conference in which, by the way, he also admitted that Iraq had nothing to do with September 11:

THE PRESIDENT: Last question. Stretch. Who are you working for, Stretch?

Q Washington Examiner.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, good. Glad you found work. (Laughter.)

Q Thank you very much. Mr. President...

"Stretch"!!

This is — as far as I'm concerned — a perfect illustration of the lap dog nature of the press. The President of the United States apparently feels that it's okay to call people he hasn't met yet by nicknames, and as has been the case since this lamebrain took office over five years ago, the press has allowed him to get away with it.

At the very least, why didn't this reporter say, "Excuse me, Mr. President, but my name is _________________________"?

One of my closest friends is a journalist, and she happens to be less than five feet tall. What if he were to address a reporter as "Shortie"? How about "Chubby"? I mean, isn't that really what we're talking about here? This pathetic excuse for a public official can't demonstrate one of the basic skills of public discourse — that to give respect is to earn respect.

Poor Pluto

Just can't catch a break!

Life

This is what the right-wing religious zealots are all up in arms about...

They like to say they are pro-life, but only as it suits their political ends. I mean, when did you last hear these "pro-lifers" spew their outrage over these lives? I know I sound like a broken record, but clearly, life is not really the concern of the miserable failure or his largest bloc of supporters. So, what is it?

Speakina War Criminals

Nuremberg Prosecutor: Bush and Saddam Should Both Stand Trial

A chief prosecutor of Nazi war crimes at Nuremberg has said George W. Bush should be tried for war crimes along with Saddam Hussein. Benjamin Ferencz, who secured convictions for 22 Nazi officers for their work in orchestrating the death squads that killed more than 1 million people, told OneWorld both Bush and Saddam should be tried for starting "aggressive" wars — Saddam for his 1990 attack on Kuwait and Bush for his 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"Nuremberg declared that aggressive war is the supreme international crime," the 87-year-old Ferencz told OneWorld from his home in New York. He said the United Nations charter, which was written after the carnage of World War II, contains a provision that no nation can use armed force without the permission of the UN Security Council.

Exactly!

Nude teens raise eyebrows

We have a nuclear power plant a few miles away and a ridiculous war in the Middle East, countries getting bombed," said Ian Bigelow, a 23-year-old who had gathered with some of his friends outside a bookstore. "So why's it such a big problem if we chose to get nude?

Quote Meme

Quote Meme

I was tagged (Thanks for the nudge, Trish!) the other day and I'm finally getting around to writing something. The rules are simple: look through random quotes and pick five from this list that in some way identify you. Then, explain why that identification is appropropriate. Here goes...

There is one piece of advice, in a life of study, which I think no one will object to; and that is, every now and then to be completely idle – to do nothing at all. — Sydney Smith (English essayist, 1771 - 1845)

I think that I have fallen into this way of living for the past year or so. As many of my friends know, I've dubbed the past eighteen to twenty months as my Year Of Living Aimlessly! What?!? So, I'm stretching the definition of "year" a bit! Of course, I don't really consider my life as aimless, but it has seemed to be a major time of discovery for me. Some might call it a mid-life crisis, but that's because clichés are a bit easier to hang one's hat onto. (I've yet to buy a sleek new sports car so, technically, I don't think I quite fit that cliché!)

I said to myself, I have things in my head that are not like what anyone has taught me – shapes and ideas so near to me – so natural to my way of being and thinking that it hasn't occurred to me to put them down. I decided to start anew, to strip away what I had been taught. — Georgia O'Keefe (American artist, 1887 - 1986)

About thirteen years ago, I began thinking a little bit more critically about art and life and the world, and I found some very odd thoughts passing through my head. While I've never read the entire Unibomber Manifesto, I felt I could empathize a bit with what I understood his issues to be (although let me be clear that I absolutely do not agree with his methods for resolving them). Our world has so become a slave to the economy that we have virtually lost touch with our humanity. While I was a supporter of President Clinton (for the most part), I have remained at odds with his "It's the economy, stupid!" campaign theme. This world — and particularly the United States government — no longer seems to base decisions on how they might affect communities but on how they might affect economies (and, subsequently, chances for re-election).

You see things; and you say, "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?"— George Bernard Shaw (Irish playwright, 1856 - 1950) [from Back to Methuselah (1921), part 1, act 1]

This quote, of course, has often been attributed to Bobby Kennedy (he indeed used a slight variation of it), one of my personal heroes. I believe that a lot of what our country supposedly stands for died with him in 1968. In my opinion, he was the last politician that seemed to actually stand for something; that seemed to have the courage of his convictions. Seeing his son (Bobby, Jr.) speak a couple of years ago reminded me of that courage, that conviction as I saw the same spark in his eyes. Perhaps I've been blinded by the Kennedy "mystique"... I don't think so, however. While certainly every politician has a not-so-honourable side, I sincerely believe that both Bobby and John Kennedy understood the idea of public service; that their service in the government was purposeful; that the betterment of their country and the world was the aim of government — an aim that I believe is 180-degrees the opposite of that of the miserable failure and his band of crooks and liars.

Every English poet should master the rules of grammar before he attempts to bend or break them.— Robert Graves (English poet & novelist, 1895 - 1985)

I cringe at the treatment of the English language these days. Every noun, it seems, has turned into a verb; those whom you'd think would have an appreciation for the language (especially those that call themselves "journalists") are often the worst offenders. I get sick of hearing this crap about "living language" from those who don't seem to have a knowledge of it in the first place. I'm not a fan of capital punishment, but sometimes think really bad thoughts when I hear supposedly learned people saying such things as "from whence it came." !!! Really.... Don't get me started!

Calendars are for careful people, not passionate ones.— Chuck Sigars (The World According to Chuck weblog, September 8, 2003)

While I was in Paris last November, I missed my original flight home. Perhaps it's because I don't travel with a Blackberry, or a pocket calendar (like I once did), but I'm grateful for not being the most anal person on the planet. The extra nine days I spent in Paris due to my goof-up were amongst the best days I had while I was there. Hmmm... now I've got to tag somebody else! How about Rebekah, Leslie and Kathleen...