The journey from there to here
Gideon MacLeish's Articles » Page 30
August 25, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
When infamous receiver Terrell Owens made the jump from Philly to Dalls, sportswriters counted on him giving Dallas one stellar year, then becoming poison. He did it in San Francisco, he did it in Philly, he'd be almost certain to do it in the "Big D". One thing they hadn't counted on though: Terrell Owens has climbed to such undeserved stellar heights that he no longer needs to "prove himself" for a year before infecting the team with his wretched attitude. He showed up to camp, and has put ...
August 25, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
Whenever politicians make a decision we don't like, we're quick to fall back on democracy to insist that they must always, necessarily vote with the majority. We do so assuming the majority have the same interests we do and that the power given by the majority vote won't be abused. But while it sounds good on paper, majority rule is not always the best way to make a decision. That is why we function better as a Republic than as a Democracy. Let me explain: Assume we ran our country by majorit...
August 24, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
You may not be seeing as much of me in the weeks to come. I have decided at long last to venture back into the world of academia, for a spell. I'm still doing the online paralegal studies, but since I really don't wish to make a whole lot of extra money doing that (I think most of my regular readers know what my goals are with that particular field), I will be studying network administration so that I can make a buck or two on the side. While my writing gets read, I can't plan on publication to ...
August 22, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
Part of the joy of living in a small town is that weather events are news. Sometimes MAJOR news. I knew we were in for a fun one when I could finally no longer sleep with the high decibel thunderclaps that filled the sky at 4:00 in the morning. I walked out to see the rain falling with such ferocity that you could barely see 100 feet. No wind to speak of, no hail, just a solid, pouring torrent of water that rolled down our (ahem) lawn (In this part of Texas, growing lawns seems a luxury ...
August 21, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
We were discussing the war in Iraq. The opponent, a seasoned Democrat, was appalled at our presence over there. Her comment was blunt, and forceful: "We don't have the RIGHT to force democracy on other people". I rolled my eyes, having encountered another inconsistency of the left. Allow me to illustrate with a few similar observations using the history of our own nation (note: a few of these positions I actually agree with, most I don't. We'll leave it at that): We don't have the RIGHT to ...
August 19, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
I left the end of the title blank because I don't want to be accused of flaming the individual in question. But I had to address a VERY hyperbolic statement by one of our JU regulars. This individual wrote, in response to one of my blogs: Your apparent fixation with Soros is making me start to question your sensibilities. It seems lately every post you make has something to do with Soros. I gather you just got done reading that "Shadow Party" book? My "fixation" with Soros has been large...
August 18, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
I still haven't firmly committed my vote in November's Gubernatorial race. But as time goes by, I would say my vote is increasingly likely to go to Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the current state Comptroller. As Kinky Friedman is running a campaign based on largely ignoring the Texas Panhandle to campaign downstate (a practice I find detestable; it was first used [to my knowledge] by Bill Clinton in 1992 when he ignored completely the states that had no electoral importance to him), and as...
August 17, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
When news footage told the story of the shocking death of JonBenet Ramsey, we wanted to believe, in our perverted sickness, that the fine trimmed lawn and expensive furnishings of the Ramsey held a deep, dark secret; that the Ramseys were TOO perfect, and that that "perfection" had to cover an underlying sickness that led them to do the unthinkable. Given the recent turn of events, it appears that we were duped. More to the point, we ALLOWED ourselves to be duped, because the fiction we creat...
August 17, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
This is a direct quote in a response on an article I wrote recently. I did not edit it or take it out of context: IF SATAN-THE-DEVIL runs this November in CT ... against the incumbent I WILL VOTE FOR HIM. This kind of thinking greatly frightens me. While I certainly appreciate anti-incumbent sentiment, and am, in fact, banking on it in my own campaign, I do not believe in anti-incumbency at all costs. I will give this respondent credit for the rare honest response. At least he is wil...
August 16, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
I am actually progressing in my years long struggle to play the guitar. In previous years, I've picked it up, but not sincerely, and I haven't put a wholehearted effort into it. But, without getting too much into the personal side of me, I recently decided that the guitar playing is a metaphor for some other things in my otherwise charmed life, that it is representative of "unfinished business", and that I should work to a level of competence, even if mastery is not within my grasp. I had rea...
August 15, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
A blogger made a comment on another blog about the conditions in jail, from what they had seen on a movie. From what the blogger has written, I don't think they have much experience in jail. I have been in jail. Many, many years ago (far more than I care to count), I "did my time", and I have to say that the conditions in jail, even in "the hole" are far better than is deserved by most of the inmates. In fact, the housing that many of the poorer among us have to rent is far less than the stan...
August 14, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
Link In the latest news from Islam's practitioners of the "religion of peace", Hezbollah is claiming victory against Israel in the latest offensive. And, indeed, they have won a very substantial victory. To the world's loss. For, you see, Hezbollah has effectively been established as another "state" with full diplomatic recognition. Basically, we've given Islam's equivalent of the KKK the status of a nation, even as they most likely continue to work on further plots to do harm to civili...
August 13, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
As Connecticut's Senatorial race begins to heat up, the possibility of a Joe Leiberman victory is looming large. A Leiberman victory would be the ultimate slap in the face to Soros and the radical left "shadow party" that are trying to hijack the Democratic Party and chase the moderates (such as Leiberman) away. A Leiberman victory would mean a Senatorial seat that will go to an Independent, and not to a Democrat. To a party trying to regain seats in November's election, this would be a loss,...
August 12, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
In his summer movie, "An Inconvenient Truth", former Vice President Al Gore demands that we are on the brink of catastrophe, and that only through drastic actions can we avoid suffering the consequences of global warming. He insists that we need to live "carbon neutral lifestyles". This despite the fact that in 8 years as Vice President, he did not do anything meaningful to advance the United States in this pressing issue. This despite the fact that he has never encouraged developing countrie...
August 12, 2006 by Gideon MacLeish
On August 22, foie gras will be banned in Chicago. Link The city made a recent decision to bow to the pressures of animal rights groups who protested the delicacy by banning it in restaurants within the city. While I'm not particularly a fan of livers of ANYHING (livers, after all, are the body's toxin filter...any poisons the animals eat will process through that same liver...but I digress), I AM concerned about this particular piece of legislation. While the ban many cities place on u...