July 2004 Archives

If you want to read the entire 9/11 Commission Report, click here.

I saw the movie The Manchurian Candidate tonight. Wow! The similarities between the movie and the 2004 Presidential Election were more than transparent. I kept thinking it should have been entitled The Halliburton Candidate. Oops! Did I really say that?! If you don't know, I will spare you.

Let's just say that the folks at Halliburton are really, REALLY good friends with Dick Cheney. Oh! He's the vice-president of The United States, former CEO of... And in the movie... And Halliburton got how many contracts in... Hmmm

Based on the 1959 book, The Manchurian Candidate, by Richard Condon, the first movie was produced in 1962 and starred Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, and Angela Lansbury. (I was shocked at how evil Angela was!!) This 2004 movie has some of my favorite actors in it: Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, and Meryl Streep, one of my favorite actresses of all time.

The plot revolves around using fear and mind games to manipulate, dominate, kill, and ultimately get very, very rich from the abuse of power. Hmmm. Well done! A must see!

To see video of Bill Clinton's speech at the DNC click here.

Audible and iTunes are among my favorites! Audible is providing the executive summary of the 600-page 9/11 Commission Report, “which outlines the narrative of the full report and the recommendations that flow from it,” for free at the iTunes store! The summary is 1 hour, 1 minute. Download it now. Click here for the free download!

You must have iTunes!

I am a very conservative guy in many ways.  No, really!  Here are just three of my conservative declarations:

Declaration I: Be Fiscally Responsible
Fiscally I am very conservative.  Ultra-conservative.  More conservative than the republicans ever thought of being apparently.  (With sentence structure I can be liberal.) You see, unlike the republicans, I think that we should not spend more than we make personally or as a nation.  The last four republican administrations, with the help of the republican House and Senate, have more than quadrupled the national debt.  Hello, I’m not just making that up.  Check the facts from any source.  I believe that saddling our children with enormous national debt is irresponsible and just simply wrong.

The republicans talk about fiscal responsibility, but talking about it is not, in my little humble opinion, a substitute for actually being fiscally responsible.  If you talk the talk, you must walk the walk.  Isn’t this too a rather conservative notion?  So are the republicans really conservative on fiscal matters?  As I recall, the Clinton administration gave the nation three substantial consecutive budget surpluses in a plan that would have balanced the nation’s budget in 7 years.  I recall the republican party wanting to spend that money then.  I recall a budget showdown that led to the shut down of the federal government over this very issue.

I recall the republican party has blamed the terrorist attacks of 9/11 for the nation’s economic crisis.  I recall they blame the terrorist attacks on 9/11 for everything, including bombing and killing innocent people in Iraq.  In my mind this is nothing short of political opportunism for economic policies that do not work.  They use this politically opportunistic excuse to blind people from the truth and to prod our country into giving away fundamental rights and living in fear–to accept what we fundamentally believe to be unacceptable.

Declaration II: Treat People with Respect
I believe we should treat people with dignity and respect.  Fundamental Judeo/Christian faith practice requires a moral responsibility to be kind to people.  I believe that part of that responsibility means we take care of those who are in need.  I find all of these statements to be rather conservative notions and to be at odds with the republican party who seem more interested in promoting more wealth for the wealthy, supposedly believing that it will eventually trickle down to those who have basic and fundamental needs like health care, affordable housing, education.

I am horrified that the business community literally brags and boasts of stealing from the elderly and the poor (Enron), can be completely self-consumed with profits and graft, appear to be more motivated by profit margins and what “the market will bear” than providing service to people who are in need.  I am saddened that our nation’s people will tolerate this criminal behavior, will dismiss it with a wink and a nod.  I see a republican party eager to bomb and kill innocent people at extraordinary financial burden to this country–125 billion dollars as of this writing, money which lines the pockets of the close personal friends of those in the highest positions of power.

Declaration III: Be Honest
And one final thing I feel a need to declare.  I grew up in the extremist conservative right wing religious and political movement.  I saw and heard first hand well-meaning people who were eager to substitute doing what was the right thing with talking about what was the right thing.  I see this more now than I did as a child.  I have this conservative notion that we need to actually do what is right, not just talk about what is right.

I find that these conservative values, my conservative values, have been assailed by the republican party and are inconsistent with what the republican party does or tolerates and supports.  Now, if our nation is redefining conservatism, so that these values are now considered liberal, please…consider me a very, very liberal man.

The republican party has hijacked the concepts of patriotism, conservatism, integrity, and morality.  They talk the talk; yet, they fail to walk the walk.  They have, in a time of unparalleled  empathy with the United States, alienated the entire world.  Their extremist and unbalanced right wing views are out of step with the majority of the American people who value bringing people together in kindness and understanding, not fracturing our nation with fear, hatred, and greed.  I am concerned that continuing this behavior in our political, economic, and social systems will come to no good end.  So, am I conservative or am I liberal?

My mantra: “Just be nice!”

Today, on my way home, Michele Norris did the first broadcast in a series on creative spaces, the physical space in which creative people choose to create. Her first broadcast featured artist James Prosek's studio, an old schoolhouse built in 1850. Being the creative sort myself, I know how much attention I pay to the space in which I work creatively. My needs in the space change. My requirements of the space change. I found the broadcast fascinating. This young artist, famous for his paintings of trout, was insightful and wise. I especially appreciated what was said: Two decades later, Prosek bought the property and turned the schoolhouse into an artist's studio. “I try to make it sound smaller than it is,” he says about his workspace, “that there's a small space where I work because I want it to be a humble space. Humility is a big part of being open and receptive to everything you see. Part of being a good observer is to know you don't know anything.”

He went on to state that when you think you know something, you may well be shutting yourself off to something you don't know, something you don't see or feel because you erroneously think you already know something that you really don't. You conform yourself to something you think you know. You block yourself from being receptive and original. Being open to beauty, to possibility, to that which is better and more pure, more alive and profound is such an essential part, not just of creativity, but of beautiful human existence.

Once again, thank you NPR!

“Don't be too nice. They might come visit!”

Bill Clinton
“Strength and Wisdom are not opposing values.”
“These are good people in the White House doing what they believe is right. We just disagree.”

Al Gore
Al Gore also made powerful points. I want to just quote the whole of his speech, but for that, simply click here.

“The first lesson is this:  take it from me-every vote counts. In our Democracy, every vote has power. And never forget:  that power is yours.  Don't let anyone take it away or talk you into throwing it away. And let's make sure that this time every vote is counted.



Let's make sure not only that the Supreme Court does not pick the next President, but also that this President is not the one who picks the next Supreme Court.



The second lesson from 2000 is this:  what happens in a presidential election matters. A lot. The outcome profoundly affects the lives of all 293 million Americans-and people in the rest of the world too. The choice of who is president affects your life and your family's future.



And never has this been more true than in 2004, because-let's face it-our country faces deep challenges. These challenges we now confront are not Democratic or Republican challenges; they are American challenges-that we all must overcome together.



It is in that spirit, that I sincerely ask those watching at home who supported President Bush four years ago:  did you really get what you expected from the candidate you voted for?



Is our country more united today? Or more divided?



Has the promise of compassionate conservatism been fulfilled? Or do those words now ring hollow?



For that matter, are the economic policies really conservative at all? Did you expect, for example, the largest deficits in history? One after another? And the loss of more than a million jobs?”

Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter, a man I so greatly respect, said it powerfully and bluntly:

“Today, our dominant international challenge is to restore the greatness of America—based on telling the truth, a commitment to peace, and respect for civil liberties at home and basic human rights around the world. Truth is the foundation of our global leadership, but our credibility has been shattered and we are left increasingly isolated and vulnerable in a hostile world. Without truth—without  trust—America cannot flourish. Trust is at the very heart of our democracy, the sacred covenant between the president and the people.



When that trust is violated, the bonds that hold our republic together begin to weaken. After 9/11, America stood proud, wounded but determined and united. A cowardly attack on innocent civilians brought us an unprecedented level of cooperation and understanding around the world. But in just 34 months, we have watched with deep concern as all this goodwill has been squandered by a virtually unbroken series of mistakes and miscalculations. Unilateral acts and demands have isolated the United States from the very nations we need to join us in combating terrorism. ...



You can’t be a war president one day and claim to be a peace president the next, depending on the latest political polls. When our national security requires military action, John Kerry has already proven in Vietnam that he will not hesitate to act. And as a proven defender of our national security, John Kerry will strengthen the global alliance against terrorism while avoiding unnecessary wars. ...



At stake is nothing less than our nation’s soul. In a few months, I will, God willing, enter my 81st year of my life, and in many ways the last few months have been some of the most disturbing of all. But I am not discouraged. I do not despair for our country. I believe tonight, as I always have, that the essential decency, compassion and common sense of the American people will prevail.”

The Democratic National Convention

This makes for an interesting conversation piece if nothing else. This is a list of many of the famous people who were being watched for various reasons by the FBI. The list includes: Lucille Ball, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Irvin Berlin, JFK, Martin Luther King, and many, many more. Clicking on a name in the list will bring up a pdf of that person's FBI records secured through the Freedom of Information Act. Check it out.

I saw it today. I wanted to laugh, but the power of the message was too overwhelming. I am going to write an article here soon entitled, “Am I Conservative Or Am I Liberal.” The duplicity of the republican platform actually hurts my heart.

In recent years many have seen the message campaign of the conservative christian movement, “What Would Jesus Do?” or “WWJD.” The bumper sticker read:

“What Would Jesus Bomb?”

A friend and I had just eaten at one of my favorite “mom and pop” restaurants that has been in the family for over 60 years now, The Silver Grill, a meat and three veggies on the cheap. After dinner we decided to take a walk through Piedmont Park since the weather was really nice for July.

We came across the picture on the right which someone had spray painted on the cement “rail” next to the steps in the park. It reminded me of the picture on the left which we have all seen before. I took a picture of it for you. After seeing the picture on the right, I decided that I need to more fully understand “The USA Patriot Act, H.R. 3162.” (The preceding link is a pdf of the actual law.)

For additional information on the Patriot Act, click here. (Validity of source unknown)

Then	Now

CNN has a special section of their website dedicated to the 2004 Presidential Election.  Keep up with what’s going on by checking it out.  The web is great!

I've always been mildly curious about astrological signs.  I don't really believe in them but find them entertaining and curious.  Then, of course, I run across a site like this, Astro.com, and the information presented about a person born under my sign is far more accurate a description of me than not.  Hmmm.  I'll let those of you that know me decide how much of it is accurate and how much is not.  :o)

This text below is quoted from the site Astro.com.  Check them out. They have several free things such as this.

Today I took my stereo system from upstairs and placed downstairs in the new den. I connected the TV, DVD, and stereo system. Nothing out of the ordinary. However, I purchased an Airport Express for downstairs. I connected it as well. The wireless signal from my network was just too weak and unreliable for use downstairs. The Airport Express has remedied that problem.

Not only can I access my wireless network downstairs now, I can also send music from iTunes on my computer upstairs into the downstairs stereo system. So here I sit, writing in and uploading to my blog down in Texas on my laptop downstairs in Atlanta while listening to music from my computer upstairs. All of this is being done with no wires! Cool. And now my network signal in the basement is full strength!

OK, some equal opportunity bashing...

Two funny bumper stickers:

“Somewhere in Texas, a Village Is Missing Its Idiot”

And, next to a picture of Kerry and Edwards, “Because they have more money and better hair”

This little tag is on clothing made in America and sold in France and is funny and unexpected.

And for a little song that slaps around both candidates, check out this.

in more ways than one.

This .Mac member, Craig Kuehne, who lives out in LA and works in “the business” has created a number of short films. This particular one is a spoof: a “serious” look at flatulence. You have to be in the mood for a good laugh.

The name of his movie is Molecule.

I have noticed that having a “100 Things About Me” list is pretty standard for blogs. So, I went to work on one. This was very hard for me to do actually and has taken 5 (+1 more = 6-- since I upgraded to v: 1.1) days to complete. I don't think about this kind of thing on a conscious level. Perhaps forcing myself to do one was a good thing. Some of the things on my list are heavy, really heavy, others just float about at their leisure.

1. My name is Tim, and I am a chocolate addict. I am not in recovery.
2. I’m a very conservative liberal. :o) [The pervading opinion seems to be that I'm a liberal liberal. Am I missing something?! [wink]]
3. I have a Master of Arts degree in Piano Performance and have traveled the USA giving concerts.
4. Aside from the newly arriving gray, I have 3 different colors of hair on my body (facial, head, arms & legs), and none of it is dyed.
5. I have never purchased a lottery ticket even though I am an educator.
6. I worked at a Tasty Freeze (an ice cream and hamburger joint like Dairy Queen) when I was a kid. [Trust me, it was a “joint” and not even a place!] I loved to serve hamburgers without any meat to see how long it would take the customer to notice. Some never did.
7. I’m a Mac fanatic. I’m just crazy about OS X and Apple products. Long term therapy would be far less expensive.
8. I actually enjoy honestly and open-mindedly considering dissenting opinions. I have profound appreciation for critical thought and the deeper understanding that can be born of clashing ideas.
9. I hate talking on the phone. No, I mean I really hate talking on the phone.
10. I entertain very weird ideas: bacteria and viruses are really alien life forms attempting to dominate the genetic pool of the human race. [Now, I don't really believe this, but I don't hesitate to allow my mind the freedom to think, “what if?”.]
11. Creativity is an essential part of my being.
12. Aside from the required reading in my education, I have only read one work of fiction: a novel about a submarine, Run Silent, Run Deep. Within 60 seconds of my finishing the book, which I tremendously enjoyed, I learned that my grandfather, who I adored, had unexpectedly died. I only read non-fiction. I read a great deal.
13. Helping others create beauty and introducing people to the beauty that is around them brings me great joy.
14. My favorite quotation, and I have no idea who said it, is: “You don’t know what you like; you only like what you know.”
15. I have often been told that I am a great listener.
16. I named my first car, a 1966 Ford Falcon with over 100,000 miles on it when I got it, “Or” because the “F” and the “D” had fallen off.
17. My second car, a Plymouth Fury III, which was given to me by a church, was named “Moose.” It was big. It was brown. It looked “moose-esque.”
18. The only other 2 cars I have named are my previous car, a 1994 green Integra named “Kermit,” and my present gold (Nissan calls it pewter) Murano, named “Big Bird.”
19. I went to college a lot, as in four degrees, and I loved it! I miss academia.
20. I love using those little dental sticks to clean my teeth. I hate flossing!
21. I have lived in the following places:
    • Pensacola, FL (3 locations over 18 years)
    • Greenville, SC (6 locations over 6 years: college time)
    • Durham, NC (2 locations over 4 years)
    • Champaign/Urbana, IL (6 locations over 8 “years”—mostly summers only for summer school, but 2 of these were actually “full years” for degree residence work)
    • Marietta, GA (2 locations over 8 years)
    • Atlanta, GA (2 locations, 3 if you count storage, over 1 year: moving from Marietta to Decatur got “complicated”)
    • Decatur, GA (1 location since 1995)
22. As of 2005 I have traveled to 30 states: [infoplease on the 50 states]

    Alabama	Maryland	Oklahoma
    Arkansas	Massachusetts	Pennsylvania
    Colorado	Michigan	South Carolina
    Florida	Minnesota	South Dakota
    Georgia	Mississippi	Tennessee
    Illinois	Missouri	Texas
    Indiana	Nebraska	Virginia
    Iowa	New Jersey	West Virginia
    Kansas	New York	Wisconsin
    Kentucky	North Carolina	Wyoming
    Louisiana	Ohio	Wyoming

23. I have traveled to the following countries:
    • Italy
      • Rome
      • Civitavecchia
      • Naples
      • Capri
      • Pompeii
      • Murano
      • Burano
      • Venice
      • Sicily
        • Catania
    • Vatican City
• Greece
  • Santorini
    • Oia
    • Thira
  • Rhodes
  • Athens
  • Katakolon
• Belgium
  • Brussels
• France
  • Paris
  • Versailles
• Spain
  • Madrid
• Mexico
  • Costa Maya
  • Cozumel
• Norway
  • Balestrand
  • Bergen
  • Oslo
  • Geilo
  • Grotli
  • Loen
  • Solstrand
  • Trømso
  • Voring Fossen
• Hispaniola
  • Labadee
• Jamaica
  • Ochos Rios
• Bahamas
  • Nassau
• Puerto Rico
  • San Juan
• United Kingdom
  • Bibury
  • Bourton-on-the-Water
  • Broadway
  • London
  • Morton-in-Marsh
  • Stonehenge near Amesbury
  • Stow-on-the-Wold
• US Virgin Islands
  • St. Thomas
• St. Maarten
• Cayman Islands
  • Grand Carman
24. I was married in 1984, divorced in 1991, and have been single ever since.
25. I am a profoundly independent spirit.
26. In no particular order, these are my favorite smells on planet Earth:
    • Starbucks!
    • Honeysuckle Vine Flowers
    • Magnolia Tree Flowers
    • Mimosa Tree Flowers
27. I wore braces on my teeth as a teenager and again as an adult in my early 40's.
28. I don't understand why we allow people to use cell phones in cars if we prohibit drinking and driving when studies consistently show talking on a cell phone reduces response time at least as much as driving under the influence of alcohol.
29. I hate cigarette smoke, and I will not be around a person who is under the influence of alcohol.
30. I literally do not keep food in my home as I eat out every meal and could count on one hand the number of times I or my x-wife ever cooked at home.
31. Some of my old clothes become like old friends. My favorite T-shirt, from Life Is Good, has a graphic of a TV on it and says: “Think outside the box” .
32. The thermostat in my car is always set on an even number, but the thermostat in my home is always set on an odd number–odd I know!
33. I only use deodorant, never antiperspirant. I think if my body wants to sweat, it should allowed to do so.
34. I value critical thinking immensely; therefore, dissenting opinion is of great importance to me. Oh, I already said that didn't I!
35. The huge, enormously significant difference between ideas and beliefs is seldom explored. Too many people confuse the two.
36. I call my sister “the sistoid unit.” She likes that. It was my own invention. My half sister goes by the nickname, “Cricket.” I have no idea how that got started.
37. My father said from time to time that he could easily be a hermit. Genetics fascinate me. I value solitude–but not to the extent my father did. Silence speaks, and I often like what it says.
38. I'm a geek, a gadget-loving fool, and my iPod is probably my favorite gadget. My bluetooth wireless cell phone headset is a close second.
39. I love Starbucks' espresso brownie, even though it is ludicrously overpriced!
40. I love wearing bright, vivid colors in the spring and summer.
41. Fall is my favorite season: the angle of the sunlight, the gorgeous leaves as they change colors and gently drift, and float, and crunch, the crisp smells wrapped in invigorating coolness.
42. I actually saw the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in the early 1980's.
43. The Gulf of Mexico at Florida's panhandle gives me a profound sense of strength and peace, bringing the world back into focus and balance every time I visit it.
44. Listening to J. S. Bach, especially his fugues, also has the same effect on me as taking in the Gulf of Mexico.
45. I love composing music.
46. I am published but not nearly enough. Perhaps one day I will set aside the time to remedy this.
47. My piano playing is now only for my own personal enjoyment and self-expression. I do not own an acoustic instrument. I have no place to put a grand and couldn't begin to afford one if I did!
48. One of my favorite things my family did in my childhood was go camping during all 4 seasons. I loved it!
49. I am told I laugh easily and frequently. I don't notice it really. Laughing is like oxygen. We all need it to live.
50. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.
51. My home was being remodeled for the last 2 years! I was, and still am, over it!
52. I love vegetables, even the ones most people hate: spinach, turnips, cabbage, broccoli, to name a few.
53. Going to my present dentist, who I really like, is still a trauma for me because my childhood dentist drilled my teeth with his knee in my chest and no Novocain in my mouth while screaming, “This can't possibly be hurting you!” He died in the 1990s from a massive heart attack while actually drilling in some poor patient's mouth.
54. I love independent films and art cinema.
55. I am really rather shy and quiet by nature (Remember my dad always said he could be a hermit. I got at least 2 of those genes.) which is sometimes confused with snobbish or conceited by people who do not take the time to really get to know me.
56. I am very difficult to get to know. One of my friends would probably say that I “vibrate at a different level.” I love her expression. When she uses it to describe someone, she gestures with her hand “vibrating” up over her head, which she sort of ducks out of the way of the “vibration.” She will use two hands if the intensity or the level of the “vibrating” so warrents. She is very cool.
57. Walking in the woods is a favorite past-time. I value breathing deeply and deliberately. I think that taking the time to feel the breath enter into and exit out of our bodies helps release stress and centers our life energy.
58. Mother and I video conference from our computers more than we talk on the phone. (Remember, this man hates talking on the phone.) Those that know her find this unbelievable, I know.
59. One of my favorite secretaries frequently reminded my that I “need a keeper.” Lord, she is right!
60. Among my favorite restaurants are those little mom and pop “shops” that have been in the family for years.
61. I have a hard time listening to George Carlin because of the language he chooses to use pervasively. However, I think he makes some really important points about meaningless choices in our society giving us a false sense of freedom [and I would add a false sense of purpose]. He also makes the point that the more important the choice is the fewer options we have from which to choose. [In the interview linked above, he doesn't use profanity.]
62. I love pets but don't have any.
63. I don't care for Mexican food really. Although, On the Border is great a couple times a year.
64. I strongly dislike jewelry. People are beautiful enough as is.
65. I never pay attention to people's shoes.
66. All of the CDs in my music collection are now ripped and the covers scanned!
67. One of the things I hate the most: shopping! I'm a short-trip-to-the-mall-for-a-specific-item(s)-and-get-out-fast-kinda-guy.
68. I have a lady in the car. I don't know how I ever lived without her! She gets me everywhere I go! I love her! She is my GPS/Navigation System.
69. At this moment 8 things sit in my refrigerator: mayo, mustard, ketchup, relish, half a stick of butter, peach preserves, garlic spread, and parmesan cheese. Well, ok, there are 9 things if you include the box or Arm & Hammer Baking Soda. Several things have long since passed their expiration date. Why do I bother?!
70. I don't like to be in crowded places.
71. My brain takes me where I go, but my heart will decide how long I stay.
72. Duplicity is toxic to human growth and empowerment. I utterly loathe it! You will see why later in this list. Too many people exist in a duplicitous state without even realizing it.
73. Ironically, an atheist named P.K., a brilliant intellect and razor sharp thinker, introduced me to some of the most powerful ideas that, in time, found deep resonance in my soul and transformed my life:
• Platonic thought (which tends to have taken root in Eastern philosophies and ways of thinking) focuses on defining the life experience based in what things share in common, how things are alike. Aristotelian thought, on the other hand, (which tends to have taken root in Western philosophies and ways of thinking) focuses on defining the life experience based in how things are different from one another. He also spoke of Socratic thinking as well, but I'll spare you.
• Human beings are more alike than different.
• He spoke of the power of the being verbs: “I am...”, “I believe...”, “Human Being.” He said that to “believe” was to “be living,” to bring into reality by doing (do, does, did). He said the being verbs (am, is, are, be, have, do...) are the most powerful and most abused words in our language. We use them carelessly, wrecklessly, and without appropriate thought.
74. As I reflect back, my right wing, fundamentalist upbringing, which I neither dismiss nor disdain, seemed to be fear-centric and focus on how people are different.
75. Love focuses on how we are the same and seems to have little space for fear. I think when we are motivated by fear, we too often tend to fall short of creating the “space” needed for understanding. Rather than exert the effort to more fully understand difference (which can be arduous and time-intensive), we tend to take comfort in dismissive condemnation. You see, I believe [being verb used with care] that the “second greatest commandment, which is like the first”* literally demands the former thus denouncing the later.
76. Klaus Witz, a tiny feather-lite professor who ran all over Champaign/Urbana, IL., continued to fuel my transformation when he told me that all intelligent people should use all of their resources to pursue truth. He believed, and so do I, that God is truth. Truth is Love. Truth empowers people to love. He believed that the ultimate purpose of education was to pursue Truth.
77. Ed Garcia, a wise, insightful, spiritual man, reminded me that we as people are easily addicted to form but are more powerful when we focus on function/substance. He echoed Klaus' deep belief, though he does not know him, that we are our most powerful and authentic selves when our minds, hearts, and actions are all aligned in our pursuit of Truth. “Make Truth real, reality, by doing Truth.” To say you are (when you aren't) ... [fill in the blank], or that you should be ..., or that you will be one day, in other words to substitute talking about it or feeling guilty over it for actually focusing our minds, hearts, and actions in actually doing [notice all of these pesky little being verbs which were used with deliberation] the work of Love, stalls us as we journey.
78. I live with a sense of deep abundance and, though rarely expressed, pervasive gratitude. I will probably never tell anyone why.
79. I believe that to motivate adults with fear or guilt is cheap, insulting, disrespectful, and ultimately ineffective. Using it with children may be needed for the immediacy of safety but is equally inappropriate for long term empowerment. To empower people with love, however, is utterly and pervasively transformational and the very essence of respect and everything that is good.
80. I drive waaaay too fast.
81. Pez is cool. I know a real person called Pez. She's cool too.
82. I was born in '57 and graduated from high school in '75–nice little number flip thingie. In '75 I couldn't imagine being 43 at the turn of the century as I couldn't comprehend living to be that old.
83. Nutella is the best! Did I mention that my name is Tim, and I'm a chocoholic.
84. My favorite men's fragrance is Boucheron, which is made in Paris. I bought a bottle when I was in Paris. It was stolen by airport security in Madrid.
85. My mother is utterly terrified of thunderstorms, as well she should be I guess. She has nearly been struck by lightening 4 times, once while holding little infant me. I, on the other hand, love thunderstorms!
86. I have a piece of the Berlin Wall.
87. When I was a teacher, my students would bring me little plastic “creatures” like the Raisin People, The Noid, the type of toys you would get in a happy meal. When I quit teaching, every flat surface in my classroom was covered with them. I stopped counting at 600. I gave my niece all of them except the Raisin People, 6 of whom sit in my kitchen window to this day.
88. In the Matrix, would you have chosen the blue pill or the red pill? I want to know the truth. I need to know the truth.
89. Having a depth of spirituality is profoundly important to me.
90. In the past I called them “old man eyebrows.” You know what I'm talking about–those wild, bushy, out-of-control-hairs that sprout out of your eyebrows over night. Now that I have them they are properly called “wisdom hairs.”
91. I love writing–always have. I've enjoyed sharing in my new blog, a wonderful tool for reflection and thought. I hate writing this list.
92. I rarely watch TV.
93. Aside from my computer, my only telecommunications device is my cell phone.
94. I love sleeping in a very very cold room under the weight of lots of heavy covers.
95. I do not like for people to give me gifts, celebrate my birthdays, or in any way bring attention to me.
96. My trip to Europe in late Fall, 2003, was one of the most awesome experiences in my life. The world is a big, beautiful place, and I just got a glimpse!
97. Surely I have some chocolate in this house someplace! If I kept food in my home, I would weigh 300 pounds!
98. The most important things I have learned about technology were all taught to me by people about half my age at the time.
99. I bought a special watch for Y2K. It would tell time even if all of the electrical devices and computers went haywire at the turn of the century. It is a sun dial on a watch band. I love it and still wear it periodically!
100. My mantra: “Just be nice!”

* Biblical reference. If you don't know it, I hope you look it up--powerful!

I took a personality test back on July 7th, 2004. The test supposedly identified a famous person who would have a similar score. My “similar mind,” as they call it, was Gandhi. I was merely amused but did not place too much stock in the evaluation.

Yesterday I found a completely different site that measures your “political compass,” as they call it, determining where you fall from “left” to “right” and from “authoritarian” to “libertarian.” The questions are tough and hard-hitting! The scores are plotted in quadrants. You can see my results in the right column of my blog.

They too have well known leaders who would be associated with similar scores. Guess who shares very similar scores to me...Gandhi. I am amazed. I may just have to read up on this man. I know so little about his life.

Oh, and, interestingly, George Bush, who scores were very close to Margaret Thatcher's, is in the exact opposite quadrant from me!

I find this interesting. You know of my fascination with what people think. This site, entitled, “What the Nation Thinks” has a variety of polls. The results are fascinating because they do not correlate with the mass media. Bottom line: the nation disapproves of Bush and think he lied about weapons of mass destruction. There are 1,921 polls on the site in 7 different categories. Play around. Entertain yourself, and vote.

And then this site, Electoral Vote, is also not in keeping with the mass media as it predicts Kerry will win by a land slide barring any unforeseen hoopla.

I am concerned that a very limited number of people control all of our news access in this country.

Thursday, the15th
I called an applicant's former employer to verify the reference for a position at my school. I dialed a long distance number in another state. I told the school secretary who I was and why I was calling. She paused then said, “I know who you are. Don't you recognize my voice?” Immediately I was shocked to realize I was talking to my mother's dearest friend in the whole world back in my home town!

Friday, the 16th
Today I was returning a call from one of my coaches. His wife answered the phone. She told me that they had recently watched the Wizard of Oz, and she had recounted to her husband all of these little trivia facts about the musical. He asked her how she knew all of this stuff. She told him she learned it from her really cool music teacher in her 8th grade music class. She paused a moment. She was in shock. She ran up to the attic and got down the old yearbook.

It's true. I had been her old music teacher many years ago!

Sunday, the 18th
I went to dinner with a friend. We chose to walk to a small quaint Cuban restaurant in the Highlands, Mambos. We sat next to a woman who had a 12“ Apple Powerbook at her table. She was enjoying the company of the restaurant's owner. Feeling the Apple bond that we shared I started talking to them. She was a former school board member in Ohio. We had a delightful conversation. When discussing where we all lived we realized that 13 years earlier she almost bought the very same house my friend purchased just a few months back.

All of this in the span of just a few days. Let's talk about 6 degrees of separation! We have more in common with others than we begin to realize.

A man for whom I have great respect, speaks with humor and seriousness of world peace, some of the conflicts and issues in the world, some of the work of The Carter Center. This audio is well worth hearing. I wish the power of his ideas would deeply permeate the American conscience.

President Carter does not solely blame politics, the republicans, or the present administration for our nation's woes or the horrors of the world. He blames the American people for tolerating and allowing what is happening in our nation and around the world. His assessment is brilliant and insightful.

He speaks to the present attacks on political opponents as personal attacks rather than, as was practice during his political career, referring to the opposing party's candidate, as “my distinguished opponent.”

I highly recommend you listen to his Speech on World Peace at St. Olaf College.

Former Vice President Al Gore spoke at New York University on Wednesday, May 26, 2004.

His speech is a blistering attack on a foreign policy that has failed. He demands resignations, holding people, by name, accountable for incompetent job performance, and speaks to significant issues in his speech. If you want you to hear excerpts from the speech, click here.

Separated at birth?!

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
April 16, 1953

	Before I am branded unpatriotic let me point out that I trusted our president. I believed him when he told us about the WMD in Iraq and agreed that the threat had to be addressed. Well, looks like that was all a lie. Now that we're in this mess, we need to finish it. But, I just want to know why the hell we're in this mess?! What was he really up to? This so reminds me of my post on The Fog of War.
This picture of Bush, a montage of all of the Americans killed in Iraq, is a link to a larger picture in which you can see the faces of all of those brave men and women who gave their lives in service to our nation. We must honor them. The original source is PhotoMatt.

NPR did a wonderful program this morning on political cartoonists, “Cartoonists Sharpen Pencils for 2004 Campaign: Edwards' Smile, Bush's Ears, Kerry's Jaw Fair Game for Illustrators.”

My work place is productive, energetic, and focused on problem solving. How was your day at the office? Oh, and did I mention that the building is under construction?!

Need a good laugh? This is some weird "news." Andy Borowitz

I grieve that I only speak English and have forgotten what little Spanish I once knew. I delight in these tools that actually work: translation the easy way!

You can translate entire web pages or copy and paste selected text into your browser. Very cool. Oh, and Mac users, don't forget Sherlock will translate for you too! It's free on every Mac.

Google's Translation Site can translate from nearly 100 different languages!

I was driving home from work today, and a helicopter was flying overhead. How did I know this? I didn't hear it as I was listening to my iPod through my awesome car stereo system. I didn't see it above me because my sun roof was closed. (All that bright summer sunlight makes me sneeze! I know, I'm weird.)

I knew it because, on the interstate in front of me was the shadow of the helicopter “flying” down the road just in front of my car. You could even see the shadow of the blades spinning. I followed the shadow for about a mile. (At my rate of speed that was just a few seconds--[wink].) I have seen shadows of planes or jets cross over the road near me, but never before have I actually followed a shadow. You should try it sometime.

I actually think we all need to focus more on how we are alike and agree than how we differ.  But from time to time, it's engaging to explore controversy.  Such explorations can enhance our critical thinking skills, help us explore meaningfulness, ourselves, and our values.

I am putting the controversial survey results on the “Continue reading...” link below so those who are not interested in running the risk of being offended can avoid seeing the results all together.  Aren't I just the sweetest thing?!

I really didn't like this personality assessment. These results probably more closely reflect my true personality. At work, in order to be successful, I am required to be far more outgoing and “take charge” than is really my natural temperament. Therefore, answering many of the questions was difficult because I behave one way at work and another in my personal life. Odd, I know.

Eysenck's Test Results      Extraversion (33%) moderately low which suggests you are quiet, unassertive, and aloof.      Neuroticism (26%) low which suggests you are very relaxed, calm, secure, unemotional but possibly too unobservant of your feelings.      Psychoticism (30%) low which suggests you are very good natured, trusting, and helpful but possibly too much of a follower.<br>      Take Eysenck's EPQ-R based Personality Test
(personality tests by similarminds.com)

Back in the previous century now, I was going home after work. The traffic was unusually bad, no, I take that back; it was wretched beyond belief! When I was about 5 miles from my home the traffic came to a complete stand still. I was inching forward ever 30 seconds or so. But not to worry, I am prepared for this inevitability, which happens far more than I wish it did. I had a book, my current read. I started reading: reading and inching. I wasn't paying much attention to the traffic, to the vehicles around me, to the heat outside. I was racing along in the world of my book as I inched forward in the real world.

Finally, after about 30 minutes, I reached the right turn onto my street and put my book away. The red van in front of me also turned onto my street. I followed. Suddenly, about 500 feet down the street, the red van locked its tires coming to a screeching stop. I was shocked as this was completely unexpected. I hit my brakes full force and came to a safe stop without hitting the van. We just sat there. I wondered why the driver had stopped. I thought a child must have unexpectedly run out in front of the van, or maybe an animal, a pet. But surely the issue justifying the stop would have been resolved by now, yet here we still sat, stopped on the road. What was the deal?

I tried to look around in front of the van to see what had happened. Nothing was apparent. Finally, I decided to go around the stopped van. Perhaps the driver had mechanical failure. As I pulled around I could see no reason for the sudden stop. Perplexed, I looked up at the driver as I passed. The woman was in a rage. She was screaming at me. She alternated between shaking her fist at me and beating them on the steering wheel while making horrible faces, and she appeared to be swearing like a sailor.

My goodness. Why was she in a rage, and, even more odd, why was she directing her rage at me?! I had no clue at all. Bewildered by the strange sequence of events, I drove on, rounded the sharp curve, turned into my driveway and drove up into my carport, reflecting on the odd incident. As was my custom at the time, I got out of my car and started to walk down the driveway to get the day's junk mail. About half way down the driveway (literally, as I live on a steep hill), the woman in the red van rounded the curved driving very, very slowly. When she arrived near the entrance to my driveway, she stopped.

She was insane with rage. Still screaming, swearing, shaking her fist at me, pounding them on her steering wheel, giving me the finger, pointing at me, and gunning her van as if she were about to charge up the driveway to run over me. What the hell was wrong with this lunatic?! I had a serious lapse in judgment...

While cutting the grass yesterday, I met the guy that lives next door to me. He moved in about 3 months ago, and I've not made the time to go meet him or his girlfriend, who I saw for the first time last week. He seemed like a nice guy, but I mention him because, more often than not, he rides his bike to work. I was shocked because he works a good 30 minutes from here by car!

I can't imagine riding my bike even half way to work (which is roughly the same distance). Just the thought of it makes my body feel like doubling over with cramps. I would have a heart attack before I even got to the end of my street (which is up hill)! Of course, he is a good bit younger than I am and probably doesn't have a single fat cell on his body. And then there's the whole issue of getting run over by some cell-phone talking fool driving his Hummer at a high rate of speed. Well, I'm just impressed at the man's physical endurance and his sheer raw courage.

He works for BMW. That fact will be more significant to you once you have read yesterday's post.

He is the third neighbor to live next to me on that side of my house. The last young family were quiet and to themselves. The first guy, living their when I first moved here, was very outgoing and friendly. He was from Canada. But, as these are tiny little houses, once the children start getting older, the house is just too small: time to move.

This is also the third set of neighbors to live on the other side of me. He's an attorney of some sort, and I don't know what his girl friend does. They are friendly and outgoing but not nearly as friendly as the girl who lived there, prior to them, with her partner. She was an absolute blast. I miss her craziness. She's come by to visit a couple times since she's moved. And the guy who lived their before them was really quiet and unusual. He's the man who let the homeless guy live in his car under the carport (see previous posting; search: homeless) and got fired when he accidently aired a porn movie he was watching at work. I'll have to write more about all of that later.

I and the guys on both sides of me cut the grass yesterday. The hood be lookin' good.

Is there really such a thing as a car that is indicative of a sex machine? Well, according to a “news of the weird” report I read a couple months back, at least one research firm thinks so. The firm sent out random surveys to thousands of men asking two simple questions: 

1.   What car make do you drive?
   How often do you have sex?

Those who drove BMWs professed to have almost twice as much sex as those who drove Porsches. Unfortunately, the report only mentioned those two car makes by name. Naturally, I was curious about my own make! I mentioned this little “factoid” to the people I work with in the office. Suddenly, everyone in the office is paying a tremendous amount of attention to BMW owners. I'm serious! Driving down the road on the way to lunch one of my co-workers, who will remain nameless, all but leaped out of the car, “O, my god! Look! It's not just a BWM, it's a black convertible BWM!!”  Jeeze! I feel like a little kid in the back seat of the car playing Piddidle: looking for cars with one headlight, or Slug-Bug: punching my little sister when I would see the VW Beetle first. What?! ... You didn't do that?  I wanted to replicate the research study on my blog, but my polling script can not cross correlate responses. Rats! So, the next big question on everyone's mind is: “Is it true?” All of the talk of late on my blog about politics has become too intense. Let's go to the polls about something that's really important!!     

Car Make Indicates Sex Machine??

&nbsp;      Do you really believe that BMW drivers have the most sex,
2x more than Porcshe drivers (who were second)?                         

&nbsp;              &nbsp;      Current Results

Hmmm, this one caught my eye:

“Look for Osama to be produced during the democratic convention*. (And about time, too!)

* WASHINGTON, July 8 - Osama bin Laden and his chief lieutenants, operating from hideouts suspected to be along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, are directing an al-Qaeda effort to launch an attack in the United States sometime this year, senior Bush administration officials said on Thursday.
”So someone please explain to me,“ writes my pal, Joe Porter, ”why our 130,000 troops are in Iraq rather than Afghanistan?“

*No, really – click here.”

[The above quoted from Andrew Tobias’ web site posting on July 9, 2004]

Years ago, in the early 80's, I lived in Durham, NC. I loved it.

One early summer evening I was returning home from Duke University on a road much like an interstate. A short and intense little thunderstorm left as quickly as it arrived. Durham had many rainbows for some reason, and a particularly vivid, large rainbow was visible in the sky as I drove home.

I rounded a long lazy curve in the road and saw one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen: a bright, gorgeous rainbow sloped over the road immediately ahead of me and ended on the east side of the road. I actually saw the end of the rainbow! It was gorgeous! I gasped at the unexpected and beautiful sight.

Amazingly, and honest-to-god, the old, widely-held belief that a pot of gold is at the end of the rainbow is true! I saw it with my own eyes! For, on the eastern side of the road, where the rainbow ended by bathing everything in its warm rich colors was the NCNB (North Carolina National Bank) building!! Honestly. The NCNB building was all but glowing in the electric colors of the rainbow.

I tried to burn this astounding image into my memory forever, thinking that I will never again see anything like it again. I only wish we had digital cameras back then.

Perhaps it's both!

So, let me make sure I understand this: These people want all Christians to move to South Carolina, and then they will secede the state from the Union. Wow! They're not kidding. Click Here

I've heard pool maintenance is a real chore, but I had no idea...

SUV takes plunge in Hawai'i Kai

I just want the media to be open, honest, and unbiased so voters can make a reasoned judgement on election day based on the facts and critical thinking. I wish I didn't have to harp on the fact that I believe the republican media machine is busy trying to mislead, and, rather than focusing on issues and positions, continues a pattern of lies, deceit, and unjustified character assassination.

Matt Drudge, in a tacky and absurd campaign of smear and misinformation continues to suggest, as a “gag,” that Edwards and Kerry are gay lovers. Matt runs the National Inquirer of the right wing republican media machine, an internet site, Drudge Report, that blurs the line between reality and news and the distorted imaginations of a gossip rag designed to manipulate, suggest, twist, and just plane deceive. What I find alarming is that he gets over 6.5 million hits a day! Who pays for all of that bandwidth?! I mean, for real. That costs a fortune! Hmmm.

Perhaps the Republicans feel they are so weak on the issues (those missing weapons of mass destruction, consecutive years of horrific deficits, poor economic performance, outrageous gasoline prices, rising healthcare costs, unemployment, Iraq, etc.--all of which they blame on 9/11) so they are turning up the noise to distract the American people from this sobering reality. I believe the American people are smarter than that.

Using the republican litmus test first introduced by Ronald Reagan: I'm not better off today than I was 4 years ago. In fact, much the opposite! Are you?

I have wanted to add polls to my blog to gather information from readers, not that I have millions of them--yet! But I didn't want to have to go to the trouble of writing the perl cgi scripts to do it. I'm lazy and not very good at programming; so, it would just take too much time.

I recently read in one of the blogs I frequent about ALXNET. They provide free guestbooks, forums, polls, and quizzes for web-masters. Pretty cool, because their service actually really is free. For $15 you can upgrade with a few extra features and eliminate their banner ads from the polls. My doctoral advisor at the U of I, Dr. Charles Leonard, who thrilled in being crass, was fond of saying, “Why hell, I spill that much in a week!” So, in his memory and honor, I sprung for the extra $15.

Now no scripting or programming, just go through a simple set up process, copy and paste the code they generate, and poof! A poll! Here's my first, and rather meaningless, one. You must have cookies enabled. If you block pop-up windows in your browser, you will not get the poll results upon voting.


Getting to Work

  How long does it take you to get to work?

  Click Here for Current Results

I love unexpected irony, like this ad from the UK:

Click picture above to play the movie.
(which will take a second to download if you have high speed access)

On the night I arrived back in Atlanta after vacationing in Pensacola last week I heard the loudest bug sounds I have heard since living on the Chattahoochee River. I took my iPod outside and recorded them as this voice memo. Since the recording is mono and of limited fidelity, it doesn't begin to give you a sense of the tremendous volume of the "Critter Symphony." The sound simply permeated everything! Listen carefully and you will hear the faint cry of the train whistle in the distance about half way through. No wonder I sleep so well! Click here to listen to the bugs and the train.

When I was a child growing up in the extreme right wing fundamentalist movement, I heard many gloom and doom sermons about “the end times.”  The good Reverend Jack Van Impe had heard from God many times that the world was going to end at least a dozen times by now.  He preached his sermons with such fervor that, as a young developing mind taught to obey and trust my elders, he was utterly believable.  Souls had to be saved and lives gotten right with the Lord before immanent damnation.  The clock was ticking.    He, and all of those of his ilk, and they are legion, always pointed vividly to “the signs of the times.”  They plucked “the signs of the times” right out of the scriptures and found them manifested in the headlines of the day as proof positive that God would be back by sun down.  They said it so often anyone would start to think it true–must be a name for that psychological ploy.  I guess they all have good intentions.  I suppose they believe that fear can motivate people to “get their hearts right.”  Getting your heart right is a good thing.  (I choose to believe this rather than to be cynical and believe they are trying to motivate people to put money in the collection plates.)    And, I must agree with them that fear can be a powerful motivator.  Why, look at George W. Bush.  To keep the nation's heart right, he periodically terrorizes the nation with no real specificity at all, just with the colors orange and yellow.  That was a huge leap in thinking (about a book's worth I think).  I digress.  But the motivation fear provides is short lived.  I saw a bumper sticker on a car in Florida while I was on vacation.  This sign is truly a “sign of our times.”  I loved it.  The message was simple yet powerful and very clever.  It said...

I took this personality test online. I answered the questions honestly (big mistake?). The test supposedly identifies the famous leader most like you. But am I really emaciated?? I must admit, I like his glasses!

What Famous Leader Are You?
(personality tests by similarminds.com)