I was recently sniped by an anonymous user who said they had never seen anything so venomous and misguided as my post. The post was one on Michael Moore, and I went back and took an objective look at it to examine if the allegations were, indeed, true. They weren't. I would say that my position (the worst I called Moore was a "muppet"), while definitely one sided, fairly presented the argument I was trying to advance, that Moore's endorsement of Kerry might ultimately help Bush more than i...

The year was 1930, and in an era where very few women had any college education, Olive walked across the stage and received her master's in divinity. She had worked hard for this moment, and had dreams of working full time as a minister. Life, however, set her on a different course, as she fell in love with a veteran and settled down with him in rural Indiana to raise a family. A year later, their first child, a daughter, was born, and they would have four more in the span of the next 13 y...

Having five females in the house (one wife, four daughters), has led me to the conclusion that there are some food differences that us males with the "Y" chromosome just don't have. Of particular instance to me is my two year old, who, I have recently discpvered, can actually hear a slice of cheese being unwrapped from two rooms away (I'm actually not kidding here!). The thing that really stands out about the five females in my house is: the whole stereotype about women and chocolate...is ...

I am a road trip afficianado. Even having children hasn't decreased my yen to hit the road, if anything it has INCREASED, because now I have a whole carful of little acolytes to proselytize to the joy that is the open road. I would have to say, however, that the coolest road trip I ever took was in June, 2001, to a bluegrass festival known as Smilefest in western North Carolina. We loaded up our kids, hitched up the popup camper, and hit the open road. About halfway through Indiana, we ...

I have been meaning to write a blog on penal reform for a long time. This article will only touch on some of my feelings, and I will write more in depth later. One of the key problems with our penal system in America is that it is largely revenge based, rather than rehabilitation based. We think that, by removing the criminal from society, by executing them or demeaning them, we are somehow "dealing with" the crime problem in this country. The fact is, that is just not the case. We are "de...

Well, sorry for another blog complaining about the heat, but it darn near kicked my rear end today. And the heat advisory now has been continued through tomorrow, which means AT LEAST another day in this miserable, wretched (but at least it's a DRY HEAT!) climate. I went through my 3.25 gallons of water by 1:00 (I work until two), and had to make a run for an emergency powerade supply. Before I hit the sack, I will drink another 3-4 gallons of water; it seems impossible to drink enough. ...

I have always appreciated intellectual discussion. It is truly enjoyable to see what our minds can conceive when we bounce ideas, suggestions, and questions off of one another. The great minds throughout history always had contemporaries who helped formulate and create their ideas; they didn't exist in a vaccuum. But intelligence can, in the wrong context, be a liability. It's not just the age old argument about the fine line between genius and insanity at play here; intelligence can be...

Well, despite my egress from the mine almost two months ago, I received the Teamsters Union newsletter today (I think they consider me valuable enough to hang on until after the election). Frankly, anything from the union is a slap in the face considering the working conditions we underwent there, despite being union, on paper at least. Here's the scoop: --$9 an hour for all positions, with no raises...at least not for anyone within their first two years of employment (remember, this wa...

For those of you who didn't read my earlier post, we finally got a Sonic drive in in town. Having lived in the upper midwest for 10 years prior to last December, I have not eaten at a Sonic drive in in nearly twelve years. Also as stated before, there are only two places where I will willingly down a hot dog (the other being at a ballpark). Something about knowing exactly what hot dogs ARE kinda ruins the magic. But I love Sonic's footlong chili cheese coneys, and that is exactly what I or...

Here's yet another in my blogs about "brushes with greatness". I have always loved to play the "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" game. My personal favorite moment was when I realized I'm THREE degrees from Kevin Bacon. The connection is as follows: I screen tested for a movie called "Come See the Paradise" (for those who haven't seen it, I highly recommend it) starring Dennis Quaid (I actually got a callback but the message wasn't relayed in time, throw that in the "what might have been" ...

OK, for those of you who actually read my thread on my friend who went into the lengthy discussion of the procedure to remove his boar's testicles (see "I don't care how bug your boar's testicles are), I was reading through the paper last week, and Lo! and Behold! Here's boar testicle guy on page 1. I have known him for some time, he is a prominent member of a strain of Christianity with which I heavily disagree, but I haven't let that get in the way of being friends with him. The article ...

Today, I am pleased to report that a brand spanking new Sonic drive in opened in our community. For the uninitiated, Sonic's food is the best of the worst; it's coney cheese dogs are to die for, and probably the only way that I will eat the compilation of pig lips and bovine rectums willingly outside of a major league ballpark or an appearance on "Fear Factor". I have many fond memories from high school of Sonic, as there was one three blocks from school. That being said, i have not liv...

Mano mentioned McCarthyism in one of his posts (not related to this one), and I thought it would be interesting to share the direct connection I have to this dark chapter of American history (on both sides of the coin). To begin with, my son is named after a friend of mine, J. Quinn Brisben, one time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party USA. While I have long renounced my socialist leanings, Quinn and his family remain people that I admire, chiefly because Quinn was an excellent ...

There are a few threads popping up by teen bloggers in which they are feeling a little bit bashed. One of the subjects on the thread of one of the posts, led me to blog on one of the biggest lies we tell teens: "These are the best years of your life". Frankly, if I'd have thought the teen years were the best years of my life, I would have offed myself before the age of twenty. They're not the best years, and for a number of reasons. Most teens have not-quite adult minds; that is, they have...