News ( Read more... )

News:
Mexico has filed a lawsuit against the state of Arizona, demanding that their new immigration law be declared unconstitional.

Comment:
This now takes over as the most absurd bit of news from Mexico in the last month, dethroning Felipe Calderon badmouthing the United States in our own Capitol building. A country that has no translation for "rule ( Read more... )

I do not enjoy shopping. At all. It brings me no joy. I prefer to get in, find what I want and vacate. Most of that problem is interacting with other people. People who get in the way, who can't work the self-checkout, kids who are grabbing for stuff or whining because they can't have everything in the toy aisle.

Last night, I was shopping, moving ( Read more... )

On my keychain, I have a metal "98." It is probably the last memento of my high school graduation that I held onto, besides my diploma. A reminder of everything that I accomplished, the people who impacted my life (and me theirs) the fun emotional highs and the despondent lows, the sublime and the strange (like finding out that my name was left off ( Read more... )

There is a great scene toward the end of the film Quiz Show, where Charles Van Doren is testifying before a Congressional hearing and he finally admits his role in the quiz show scandals. He finishes his bit, and somewhere in the hall, one of the audience begins the slow clap as if it were a John Hughes film and not Serious Business. One of the ( Read more... )

I would love to say that "out of nowhere, Ken Griffey Jr. retired from baseball today", but I don't quite believe it. I think he saw that his time was running out, and rather than drag out what has become a lackluster season with a "Goodbye Griffey" day and the crowd cheering as PA guy Tom Hutyler says that last time "Now batting, Ken Griffey... ( Read more... )

One of these days I'm going to run out of material for Memorial Day, but after a discussion with a really good friend, I figured out the angle. I saw a bunch of people posting a cut-and-pasted remembrance note for Memorial Day, and I wonder, how many of us had a regular ol' three-day-weekend? I certainly didn't go to a cemetery or anything. I ( Read more... )

I like to think that I have been able to duck, dodge and avoid fads and the cultural touchstones of my generation. Whether it was those slap wrist bracelets, pogs, Harry Potter, Pokemon, Lost, Twilight or anything I’ve already forgotten, I've been able to resist the temptation. I watched on as the youth of America was rapt with Obamamania, and ( Read more... )

Here I was, all ready to write about Draw Mohammed Day, and the various ins and outs of why I think we should all participate (even those among us who cannot draw) and then news hit: an "immigration reform" rally had disrupted life in downtown Seattle.

I have probably written and cast aside half-a-dozen blog bits pertaining to illegal immigration, ( Read more... )

Years and years ago, among my classmates and friends, homosexuality was spoken of in hushed tones. "Did you hear thus-and-so is a lesbian?" "So-and-so is gay, can you believe it?" and so on. I never quite understood the reluctance to deal with sexual orientation in an open way, as if being gay or lesbian was on par with cheating on your taxes or ( Read more... )