From my dad on his birthday: Wise Old Saying

Don't sweat the petty things,
Don't pet the sweaty things.

Club says winning essay in Hannah Montana contest was a fake

If I wasn't already cynical enough, I read this in today's newspaper. Apparently the girl's mother helped with the winning essay. She did admit that the information was false though.

Club says winning essay in Hannah Montana contest was a fake: "GARLAND — A 6-year-old girl who won four tickets to a Hannah Montana concert with an essay that falsely claimed that her father had died in Iraq won't be going to the show after all....

"We did the essay, and that's what we did to win. We did whatever we could do to win," Ceballos told Dallas TV station KDFW on Friday. "But when (Caulfield) asked me if this essay is true, I said, 'No, this essay is not true.' "

*'Twas The Day After Christmas*

From my dad....

Twas the day after Christmas, and all through the house, Every creature was hurting-- even the mouse.

The toys were all broken, their batteries dead; Santa passed out, with some ice on his head.

Wrapping and ribbons just covered the floor, while Upstairs the family continued to snore.

And I in my T-shirt, new Reeboks and jeans, Went into the kitchen and started to clean.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the sink to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the curtains, and threw up the sash.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a little white truck, with an oversized mirror.

The driver was smiling, so lively and grand; The patch on his jacket said "U.S. POSTMAN."

With a handful of bills, he grinned like a fox Then quickly he stuffed them into our mailbox.

Bill after bill, after bill, they still came. Whistling and shouting he called them by name:

"Now Dillard's, now Broadway's, now Penney's and Sears Here's Levitz's and Target's and Mervyn's--all here!!

To the tip or your limit, every store, every mall, Now chargeaway-chargeaway-chargeaway all!"

He whooped and he whistled as he finished his work. He filled up the box, and then turned with a jerk.

He sprang to his truck and he drove down the road, Driving much faster with just half a load.

Then I heard him exclaim with great holiday cheer, "ENJOY WHAT YOU GOT ... YOU'LL BE PAYING ALL YEAR!"

Author Unknown

Bad Santas

From Slate...

The End of the World

All is well....

How the Southern Baptist Convention has tried to keep its members from becoming Mormons. - By Neil J. Young - Slate Magazine

I listened to the podcast version of this article this morning and thought I would pass it on. I thought there were more than a couple of interesting insights. Click on the link to see the entire article.

How the Southern Baptist Convention has tried to keep its members from becoming Mormons. - By Neil J. Young - Slate Magazine: "As the race for the Republican presidential nomination heats up, the competing theologies of the front-runners are getting as much attention as their differing policy proposals. Mitt Romney, a devout Mormon and the former governor of Massachusetts, faces a tough challenge from Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister and one-time governor of Arkansas. Huckabee's surge in Iowa owes itself in part to the strength of evangelical voters there who like his values and dislike his competitor's faith. He has catered occasionally to those supporters with sly references to their belief that Mormonism is a cult, such as his recent musing—which he later apologized for—in a New York Times Magazine cover piece: 'Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?'"

Twas the Night Before Caucus: The Democrats

Kind of funny

Mitt whopper fib: he didn't see his dad march with Dr. King

Interesting development. So much for a family legend. As I recall a lot of Mormons thought that MLK was a communist because that is what J. Edgar Hoover told then apostle Benson.

Sent to you by davidaustex via Google Reader:

Mitt whopper fib: he didn't see his dad march with Dr. King

Great Caesar's Ghost, I knew folks say Mitt Romney will say or do anything to get into the White House, but cripe -- there's a whole lot of bearing false witness going on...

The Phoenix's David Bernstein decided to dig into the GOP Clown Car occupant about Mitt's assertion that he watched his father march with Dr. Martin Luther King during the civil rights era in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He recounted this fable not once, but twice -- first in his Faith in America speech ("I saw my father march with Martin Luther King."), and again on Meet the Press, where he said:

"My dad marched with Martin Luther King. My mom was a tireless crusader for civil rights."

From "Was It All a Dream?"

[W]hile the late George W. Romney, a four-term governor of Michigan, can lay claim to a strong record on civil rights, the Phoenix can find no evidence that the senior Romney actually marched with King, nor anything in the public record suggesting that he ever claimed to do so.

Nor did Mitt Romney ever previously claim that this took place, until long after his father passed away in 1995 - not even when defending accusations of the Mormon church's discriminatory past during his 1994 Senate campaign.

...And, Mitt Romney would not have known about the event, let alone had a chance to "see" it. He was at that time in the middle of his two-year mission for the Mormon church in Le Havre, France. By his own description and others', he was cut off from virtually all contact with his family; and at the time, King's Grosse Pointe appearance was no more than local news.

Oh my -- and it gets worse. You have to read the response from the campaign. It's after the jump.
Mitt was also aided and abetted by David Broder in perpetuating this falsehood, and the Detroit Free Press took a look at its archives and there's no Romney to be found at the march, for religious reasons:

Romney's campaign cited various historical articles, as well as a 1967 book written by Stephen Hess and Washington Post political columnist David Broder, as confirmation that George Romney marched with King in Grosse Pointe in 1963.

"He has marched with Martin Luther King through the exclusive Grosse Pointe suburb," Hess and Broder wrote in "The Republican Establishment: The Present and Future of the GOP."

Free Press archives, however, showed no record of King marching in Grosse Pointe in 1963 or of then-Gov. Romney taking part in King's historic march down Woodward Avenue in June of that year. George Romney told the Free Press at the time that he didn't take part because it was on a Sunday and he avoided public appearances on the Sabbath because of his religion.

Broder could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

What was camp Romney's response to the charge that Mitt had his facts wrong about his daddy marching with Dr. King? (protect your keyboards):

"He was speaking figuratively, not literally," Eric Fehrnstrom, spokesman for the Romney campaign, said of the candidate.

Hat tip goes to David at Blue Mass Group, who said:

Faced with the unfortunate reality that Mitt was making things up, his campaign has retreated into a hilarious Humpty-Dumptyism about what it means to "march with" someone. You see, it doesn't mean that you were actually there. It means that, well, you participated in a march about a related topic on a different day, and maybe you thought about the guy while you were doing it.

a deterrent to holiday spending

Emily sent out a link to an interesting and sober web presentation. Below is a teaser from YouTube. Click on the link above to see the entire presentation.

Quick Change Artists on America's Got Talent

Now this is why I have a blog, so I don't end up sending stuff like this to everyone I know. Someone at work sent me this video, luckily I found the same thing on Youtube. It is pretty darn amazing (the video clip that is).

Wrong Gift?

It's that time of year again....

Rest in peace Dan Fogelberg

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg, famed for the soaring vocals and elegant instrumentation of tunes such as "Longer" and "A Love Like This," died on Sunday, three years after being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. He was 56.

"He fought a brave battle with cancer and died peacefully at home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side," said a posting on his Web site (http://www.danfogelberg.com).



"His strength, dignity and grace in the face of the daunting challenges of this disease were an inspiration to all who knew him."



Fogelberg, a native of Peoria, Illinois, broke into the music industry in the early 1970s, at a time when it was embracing introspective songwriting, or "soft rock," by such acts as the Eagles and America.



Fogelberg, who distinguished himself with his angelic vocals and lyrics that celebrated beauty and romance, hit his commercial and creative peak in 1981 with "The Innocent Age," which yielded three top-10 singles, "Hard to Say," "Same Old Lang Syne" and "Leader of the Band."



His most recent release, "Full Circle," came out in 2003. The following year, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, and urged men over the age of 50 to get tested for the disease.

The Worst Christmas Movies Ever

Cream of the crop from Slate.com

globeandmail.com: Cellphone user rings up $85,000 bill

A 22-year-old Canadian learned about cell phone bills the hard way. He racked up $85,000 on his cellular phone. He used the phone as a modem for his computer. That wasn't covered under his plan. The cellular company reduced the bill to $3,243 as a good will gesture.

A little Christmas spirit, George W. Bush style

Great parody by Alec Sokolow. Click on the link to see it all.

On the first day of Christmas my president gave to me a preemptive war without an exit strategy.

I can remember a few years back when a lot of folks would think that something like this amounted to treason. At least here in Texas :)

I'll Be Home For Christmas

I am listening to Christmas music as I type this. I just heard the song "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and it brought back some memories.

When I was a teenager I went with my family to the church for a Christmas party. As part of the entertainment one man dressed up in what I remember as a WWII military uniform and he sang this song. At the end I noticed that most of the adults had tears in their eyes. I thought it was because to me it sounded like the guy had butchered the song, but then again I was just a teenager, what did I know.

A few years later I was sitting in the cafeteria in a department store in Tokyo having lunch with the other missionaries I was working with and I heard this song. For the first time I really got it, since I knew that for the first time in my life I would not be home for Christmas. The second Christmas in Japan I had been reassigned to the same area that I had spent my first Christmas in what was at the time called the Tokyo 2nd Ward aka North Branch, so for me it was kind of like being home for Christmas all over again.

Since getting married and having children I now realize that home for me is where I am. This year James and Emily with presumably be having their very first Christmas with just their three boys (I miss them already) and Russell and Sarah Jane will be visiting her folks outside of Pittsburgh so it will be a different Christmas for Barbara, Rachel, John and myself. There will of course be more than enough love to share and send no matter where everyone else in our extended families may be.

Below is a clip from Josh Groban. Enjoy!

Changes

I just dropped Barbara, Emily, Harris, Jack and Will off at the airport. They are flying through Denver to Salt Lake City today and will stay with Barbara's mother this evening. Rachel will drive Emily and the boys to Idaho Falls tomorrow (Thursday) to meet up with James and start the next chapter of their lives.

I am of course happy that James was able to find a job that he likes but at the same time I am feeling some sadness having his family leave. It is has been a true joy and a blessing in my life to have them here. With every hello there is a built in good-bye, at least good-bye for the time being.

I also said good-bye to my manager of eight years this morning. We had a big reorganization at work last week and he no longer fit in, according to upper management. My work group is still recovering from the death of a beloved team member a few months ago. Nothing is forever except maybe change.

The Competition

I enjoy listening to episodes of ‘This American Life’ on my Ipod. I am about halfway through the following episode and I had the reflect that my work situation could be much worse.

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1220

Stories of the unintended consequences of market forces.

Prologue.

Host Ira Glass talks to reporter John Bowe about the story of John Nash Pickle, who ran a company in Tulsa, Oklahoma that made steel tanks used in the oil industry. According to 52 Indian men whom Pickle hired and brought to America, Pickle was trying to compete with foreign companies, doing something most companies never try. Instead of simply opening a factory overseas with cheap labor, the men say, Pickle decided to run an overseas factory with cheap labor...on American soil...inside his own Tulsa Oklahoma plant. (3 minutes)

Act One. Cowboys and Indians.

We continue the story of John Pickle. He hires skilled, experienced welders in India and brings them to the United States. He takes their passports, barely feeds them, pays them half the minimum wage. And when the men protest, Pickle insists he's helping them—doing them a favor in fact.

John Bowe's book, in which this story appears, is called Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy. (32 minutes)

Dog Driver

From my dad:

As I drove into a parking lot, I noticed that a pickup truck with a dog sitting behind the wheel was rolling toward a female pedestrian. She seemed oblivious, so I hit my horn to get her attention. She looked up just in time to jump out of the way of the truck's path, and the vehicle bumped harmlessly into the curb and stopped.

I rushed to the woman's side to see if she was all right. "I'm fine," she assured me, "but I hate to think what could have happened to me if that dog hadn't honked."

James starts work today

James started out bright and early Monday morning and drove to Idaho Falls. Barbara will fly up next Wednesday with Emily and the boys to Salt Lake City. Rachel will drive Emily and the boys from there to Idaho Falls.

James has already found them a place to live. Last weekend he flew to Pittsburgh to get their belongings out of storage and on to a truck to have it delivered to Idaho Falls. I already miss having James around the house and I am not looking forward to the rest of his family leaving. On the other hand, I am delighted that James has found a good job. Apparently Idaho Falls is not far from where James and Emily went to school at BYU Idaho.

For fun I went to Google maps and plotted the drive from our house to their new place.

View Larger Map

From my dad: Origin Of Liquids

The Kansas Board of Education voted today to eliminate mandatory teaching of the theory of evaporation from schools across the state. Most scientists believe that water and other liquids are spontaneously converted by so-called evaporation into the form of a gas, and carried off into the atmosphere. This, they say, is the explanation behind sudden disappearances of water all across the state.

Many non-scientists, however, stand by the widely accepted theory that a lovable invisible thirsty blue giraffe named Clarence is responsible for the disappearances. The two theories, evaporation and Giraffism, will now be taught on a more equal footing to school-children across Kansas. Parents are pleased, saying that Giraffism is easier to understand and far more comforting to small children. "There's nothing happy about evaporation," says Frank Nubbins, father of Jason, 6, and Sue Ellen, 4. "Clarence the giraffe is blue, and he's lovable. You can't say that about evaporation, that's for sure. I love my children."

"Nobody has ever adequately explained evaporation," says Dr. Harold Thumper, of the Kansas Board of Education. "With evaporation, we're expected to imagine that water just disappears, all by itself, with no rhyme or reason. That's ridiculous."

Clarence the lovable invisible blue giraffe, on the other hand, is always thirsty, an explanation which is simple and obvious. He has a well-established presence in children's literature. "Every culture on the planet," says Dr. Thumper, "has a story about giraffes, or thirstiness, or lovable blue things. Most of these have happy, happy endings. My children just love these stories. But I challenge you to find a single good story about evaporation."

The theory of evaporation is getting a dry reception in academia these days. At leading universities including Harvard, Stanford, and MIT, it's impossible to find a single professor of Evaporation on the faculty. "What's the point?" says Gwen O'Malley, dean of the Harvard Medical School. "It's not exactly a good career move to spend your life trying to explain evaporation to people."

Why Do They Hate Us?

Granted I would guess they don't pick the brightest bulbs to be contestants but really...

Faking it

Rachel wrote an interesting post in her blog Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten.... She probably picked up some of those feelings from me, I feel the same way at times. I often have the feeling that I missed an important day in first grade where everyone learned some basic key to understanding life that was so obvious that no one ever brings it up. I had hoped that my kids would come home from school and let me in on the secret.

Rachel is one of the smartest and most capable people I know. I know my telling her that is not going to change the way she sees herself anymore than when I hear someone say the same of me. I had a roommate in college who told me that I all but called someone a liar when they paid me a compliment so I have learned to be a lot more gracious when someone says something nice about me. And I will say that now I do let some of it sink in. As they say "Progress, not perfection."

I wrote the following comments on Rachel's post:

It is interesting that most people see us differently than we see ourselves. One of the things that I have learned as I get older (or is that wiser?) is that most people feel like they are faking it to some degree or other. In my world of computer programming there are things that I barely understand, somethings I can bluff my way through, and then there are the things that I know so well that I am an absolute expert (no one knows as much as I do about it).

When I was a young adult I was surprised to hear my father-in-law (a plastic surgeon) tell one of his children that they needed to take on of the grandkids to a pediatrician pronto. I figured since my father-in-law was an M.D. he would know everything there was to know about medicine when of course there is too much for any one person to know.

Live and learn.