I was out having dinner with the Petersons, the Giers and the Mathews last Friday when coincidentally the Fosters and Karen sat down at the adjoining table. After dinner, Joe came over with a joke for us. It involved an Arab and a Jew. Always in the mood for a good story (particularly one with ethnic accents), we were all ears.
Now without the accents this loses something in the translation, but here goes anyway.
The Arab and the Jew were in a plane over the Atlantic, traveling to the United States. Everyone had settled in and was relaxing; the Arab taking off his jacket, the Jew removing his shoes, etc. Muhammad, being in a window seat, asked Benjamin if he would be so kind as to find the flight attendant and get him a drink. Benjamin agreed. While he was gone from his seat, the Arab took one of the Jew’s shoes and proceeded to spit in it. Benjamin returned to his seat with Muhammad’s drink and the flight continued uneventfully.
Upon approaching their destination, the Arab put his jacket back on and the Jew his shoes. With this the Jew says, “When will it ever end?!.... Spitting in the shoes….. Pissing in the drinks!
Odd how we find reality so humorous.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Another Political Rant
It’s been a while since I made any political comments. Truthfully, politics have frustrated and angered me to the point that I no longer follow it as well as I used to.
As a general and rather casual observation, national politics have evolved into an obstructionist name calling fiasco, with no thought given to sincere problem solving. Here are some examples.
1. The Democrats have launched a campaign to point out that the involvement of the United States in Iraq was based on faulty intelligence. (Haven't we already beaten this dog?) They maintain that Bush “cherry picked” the reports to support his personal vendetta against that country’s president. They fail to mention that their own party members (most notably Kerry and H. Clinton) read the same intelligence report and clearly supported a war to overthrow that great humanitarian Suddam Hussein. The truth is, the minority party sees Bush’s low poll ratings and is hammering away to win seats in the next election. If the Democrats have a comprehensive plan to defeat terrorism; lets hear it!
2. The hearings regarding the appointment of the Supreme Court Justice are a joke. Should the nominee’s record be examined? Of course it should. If a nominee lacks the experience necessary to carry out the tasks of so important a position, they should be eliminated post haste. I believe nominee Meirs was a case in point. On the other hand, if a nominee is qualified, even though they may have different views than yours or mine it should not disqualify them. Other than whether or not they have the necessary credentials, the only question that’s pertinent is whether they will uphold the constitution of the United States. Congress makes the laws and the Court interprets them. If Congress has done its job well, it shouldn’t fear that a justice would misinterpret any law it has written. The truth is most of the hearings are blatantly obstructionist.
3. In order to keep this fairly short I won’t get into details. It regards a letter to the editor of our local paper. In it, a citizen went on a rant “exposing” how Bush and Cheney have been profiting from everything from the war in Iraq to the price of gas. I don’t know if that’s true or not; and neither does the writer of the letter. My point is, if a person makes a statement; support it with facts and if it’s an opinion; say so. If that person is unable or unwilling to do either then he or she should say nothing.
4. Although I could go on, the last item I’ll comment on is impeachment. I’m specifically referring to a bumper sticker I saw yesterday calling for Bush’s impeachment. Impeachment is not a devise to be used by the losing party to reverse the outcome of an election. It is a devise to accuse an elected official of illegal misconduct. If you are unhappy with the performance of an official, simply vote him/her out of office during the next election. If it can be shown that an elected political figure has broken the law; impeach him. This action is nothing to be bandied about lightly.
Both parties are guilty of “playing politics”. As trite as this rhetoric is, wouldn’t it be refreshing and maybe even helpful, to see them attack the myriad problems that this country faces instead of each other.
As a general and rather casual observation, national politics have evolved into an obstructionist name calling fiasco, with no thought given to sincere problem solving. Here are some examples.
1. The Democrats have launched a campaign to point out that the involvement of the United States in Iraq was based on faulty intelligence. (Haven't we already beaten this dog?) They maintain that Bush “cherry picked” the reports to support his personal vendetta against that country’s president. They fail to mention that their own party members (most notably Kerry and H. Clinton) read the same intelligence report and clearly supported a war to overthrow that great humanitarian Suddam Hussein. The truth is, the minority party sees Bush’s low poll ratings and is hammering away to win seats in the next election. If the Democrats have a comprehensive plan to defeat terrorism; lets hear it!
2. The hearings regarding the appointment of the Supreme Court Justice are a joke. Should the nominee’s record be examined? Of course it should. If a nominee lacks the experience necessary to carry out the tasks of so important a position, they should be eliminated post haste. I believe nominee Meirs was a case in point. On the other hand, if a nominee is qualified, even though they may have different views than yours or mine it should not disqualify them. Other than whether or not they have the necessary credentials, the only question that’s pertinent is whether they will uphold the constitution of the United States. Congress makes the laws and the Court interprets them. If Congress has done its job well, it shouldn’t fear that a justice would misinterpret any law it has written. The truth is most of the hearings are blatantly obstructionist.
3. In order to keep this fairly short I won’t get into details. It regards a letter to the editor of our local paper. In it, a citizen went on a rant “exposing” how Bush and Cheney have been profiting from everything from the war in Iraq to the price of gas. I don’t know if that’s true or not; and neither does the writer of the letter. My point is, if a person makes a statement; support it with facts and if it’s an opinion; say so. If that person is unable or unwilling to do either then he or she should say nothing.
4. Although I could go on, the last item I’ll comment on is impeachment. I’m specifically referring to a bumper sticker I saw yesterday calling for Bush’s impeachment. Impeachment is not a devise to be used by the losing party to reverse the outcome of an election. It is a devise to accuse an elected official of illegal misconduct. If you are unhappy with the performance of an official, simply vote him/her out of office during the next election. If it can be shown that an elected political figure has broken the law; impeach him. This action is nothing to be bandied about lightly.
Both parties are guilty of “playing politics”. As trite as this rhetoric is, wouldn’t it be refreshing and maybe even helpful, to see them attack the myriad problems that this country faces instead of each other.
New Ride
I’ve been riding so much I haven’t been very good at keeping up with these entries. Did I mention that I bought a new ride back in August? The Vulcan 800 was terrific, but I wanted more POWER. In any even, I traded in the 800 and got a Kawasaki 1600 Vulcan Classic. Fun ride. Since I bought it in August, I put about 5000 miles on it. The snows about to fly around here, so there probably won’t be too many more miles on the old odometer until 2006. Check out the picture above. As money permits (if money permits) I intend to put a hyper charger and new pipes on it (oh, and a chip so it will still run). I’ll let you know if and when that happens (like anyone cares).
Flashback
During the summer (August 12th to be exact) Michael and I surprised Kim with a visit by hauling our scoots to South Elgin via the parking lot know as I-94. I mentioned in a previous entry that we had a great time and that I would comment more about that trip. So, here’s a little more.
It was great to see Kim and after settling Landi in for the weekend, the three of us set off to see the countryside, and a few of Kim’s friends. I don’t know that part of the world very well, but Kim led us through some pretty countryside and some communities near South Elgin.
We visited Toni, who was in crisis mode, because her car accident caused the loss of her job; but it was good to see her anyway. We also visited the home of Bonnie and Al (and girls). That was the first I met them, but Michael walked with them in the Y-Me breast cancer fund raiser earlier in the summer. They owned a Harley and both enjoyed riding; although a garage sale that weekend prevented them from joining us. Later Saturday evening, while I rested, Kim and Michael visited Denise; a friend of Kim’s who also participated in the Y-Me fund raiser.
During the weekend Michael and I wore our “colors”….. The picture is above.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Halloween '05
Well there you have it; another Halloween behind us. I usually plan for about 350 ghouls and goblins to assault my humble abode, but as always I was disappointed and nothing showed up but a bunch of street urchins and ankle biters demanding candy of me lest they mope and whine. The truth is, that about an hour into the appointed (and city approved) “trick or treat” time, the heavens opened, dampening costumes and spirits and limiting the number of knocks at the door. On the surface this may seem like a good thing, and in the grand scheme of things probably was, but the actual outcome is that I have been left with two unopened bags of treats that I will consume, contributing even more to my already over endowed girth. Actually the kids were generally polite, well mannered and most of them even wore costumes.
The day before, some of us more seasoned ghouls (there didn’t appear to be any goblins among us) took a little afternoon ride on our scoots, and ended up at Dan Olson’s house on Silver Lake. His wife is a Halloween aficionado and does their property up in a big way. We stayed for a while to enjoy her handy work and as it turned out celebrate her fiftieth birthday. I’ve included a couple of pictures for your perusal. All in all a beautiful day, an entertaining diversion and a fun ride.
Next we set our sights on November when that old boy Tom joins us for dinner. Will the fun never end?
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