The way that the government operates is very interesting to me. Annoying, to be certain. But interesting. Take a look at this byline on a recent story in the Charlotte Observer: (County officials) agree that county won't shift entire cost of programs to users. They are flat-out saying that the people using facilities won't pay the full cost for doing so.
I'm no fan of Dubya. I'm just not. To be fair, I'm not paricularly fond of our two-party system, either. Neither one represents my interests, and there's not much possibility of getting a viable third party together. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying.
In any case, while everyone bickers about what was known and what wasn't known prior to September 11, the fact is this: It doesn't matter. I'm sorry, but the people who died that day are still dead. No finger-pointing is going to change that. For those of you who think the knowledge would have helped some live (I actually heard this on the news this morning), get over it.
Prior to September 11, every airplane hijacker had one thing in common with every other airplane hijacker: They wanted to live. Score some money, get some friends out of jail, whatever. But they wanted to live. These guys did not. No matter how many people knew that something was coming, you could have never seen this. It wasn't feasible then that someone would kill themselves. America was not then, and still is not now, particularly famliar with terrorist actions.
Strangely enough, it took less than an hour for people to understand. One plane hit, the second plane hit, the third plane hit. The fourth? It hit. The ground. The people aboard flight 93 prevented their captors from killing others with the plane, even though they died themselves. What motivated them? They heard what other hijacked planes had done and they didn't want their plane to do the same.
That's all it took. It didn't take prior knowledge of the events. It didn't take strip searches in airports. It didn't take the "patriot" act. It simply took realizing that these people were ready to die for their cause, and that in order to fight them, we need to resolve to make sure they don't succeed. Done. Over. Why are we still debating it? Why are our freedoms abridged on a daily basis? What happened to the pursuit of liberty? Before another commercial airline flew in the US, it had already been handled. Why isn't that obvious?
The damage done to our country since September 11 in the name of correcting the problem is vastly worse than the damage done on September 11 by the problem. If I were a terrorist, I'd be elated. Killing 3000 people is good. Killing an entire way of life? That's just awesome. How about we take back the values that we (used to) hold so dear and show them that it takes more than this to kill the American spirit? Simple. Everybody is too busy wanting someone else to take care of the problem for them.
How sad.
I've always loved puzzles. In third grade, I solved a puzzle for our class by recognizing that someone had cut her paper pumpkin apart correctly, but then colored the wrong side of one piece, and was trying to fit it into the reassembled pumpkin in that way. Flipped it over and it worked. The teacher even bought me a regular jigsaw puzzle to celebrate. Well, it was actually for the class - but I got to do it first.
Wal-Mart has about everything. They need mail. At least a mailbox. I needed to mail a letter the other day and the nearest mailbox was 5 minutes away from Wal-Mart. Okay, 5 minutes isn't going to kill me, but it was in the wrong direction. And it's not like I was walking, so I wasn't getting any healthier in the process. It would have been so much more convenient if I could have just mailed the letter at Wal-Mart.
Even better than a mailbox would be a little shipping center, like the UPS Store. I'm at Wal-Mart every week anyway. Then I could handle my shipping needs while I was there. Anyone in Arkansas listening? If so, I'd just appreciate a little finder's fee. Nothing much. You can check my wish list for ideas.
I finally managed to see Return of the King. I was going to go on Tuesday, when it was dollar day at the discount theater, but they changed their schedule at the last minute and screwed me up. So I had to wait a couple days and put out $1.50 instead.
In any case, I enjoyed the film. I'd say that both The Two Towers and the Return of the King tied for second best in the series. I immensely enjoyed The Fellowship of the Ring. The other two were pleasant, but I found them lacking. The scary thought is that if the Fellowship hadn't come out, then the expectations would have been lower, and I would have enjoyed them more. That's just the way that it is.
Camping. The mere thought brings fear to some people, and joy to others. All without even leaving the house. Not content to just think about it, our family actually went camping this weekend. Denise wasn't sure about the idea, but she bravely agreed to give it a try. So we visited Arrowhead Campground near Troy, North Carolina, located in the Uwharrie National Forest.
It's an easy enough word to spell. Too bad that it so difficult for the City of Charlotte to comprehend. While most normal people seem to understand the relatively simple rule of "you break it, you bought it", it looks like the city doesn't. It would appear that a city garbage truck recently caused some damage to someone's vehicle. Specifically, it knocked a basketball goal onto the vehicle, which broke the rear window and crushed the trunk.
Just a few minutes ago, I was intrigued by a headline that said that last year's star wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers, Steve Smith, had given up a $100,000 bonus to participate in an offseason workout program. Uh-oh. Smith's up to his antics again. Maybe a five-year contract wasn't such a good idea.
Then I read the story.
It turns out that Smith has decided to work on his own schedule, which allows him to get up earlier in the morning, turn in a workout, and be done about the time that others are getting to the stadium to start their workouts. This leaves the day free for the family. It also allows for the family to take trips, where Smith can (presumably) work out on his own schedule while out-of-town. Not an option with the team program.
I have to say I'm impressed. Not many people will give up money for their family. Fewer still will give up an easy $100,000 over a relatively short period of time for it. But Smith did. In his own words: I look at it like I'm forfeiting $100,000, but I'm gaining the smiles on my family's faces.
Bravo, Steve.
Last night marked the third time that Denise and I visited the Off Tryon Theatre Company (OTTC). The show this time was Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love. Quite a lengthy (and odd) title, to be sure.
While each one of the performers was on-stage for the whole night, there were primarily two title roles. Candy was played by Amanda Liles, who we saw previously in Boy Gets Girl. Her role here was much larger and allowed Ms. Liles to really show her range. She did very well. The role of David was played by Glenn T. Griffin, and he nailed it as well. Mr. Griffin kept bugging me as a familiar face, but I still haven't been able to place him. I can only assume that it's his role as Artistic Director of OTTC, and I've simply seen him around the theatre during other shows.
The latest school tactic to fight gangs is to outlaw solid-colored shirts. So you can't wear shirts with logos. You can't wear shirts imprinted with much of anything - fashion names, sports teams or even cities. Now you can't wear solid-colored shirts. We can only hope the next terrorist alert doesn't tell us that they wear pinstripes, or kids are going to be stuck with plaids and polka dots.
So you say that our government is actually of the people, for the people? In such an instance, what would you do if the government abandoned something? Stripped the pieces they wanted and left the rest? What if you were a collector and you were interested in restoring the item? What if you went through the process of registering your find with the government, dug the item out of a swamp, transported it halfway across the country and even did some work on it? I certainly have my opinion on who has the rights to the item.
That government for the people? They have a different view. "Oops, sorry - we want that back, and you need to pay the costs to make that happen."? This is for the people?
I don't particularly have anything against the army. I don't particularly have anything for the army either. And while I don't have anything against the idea of heroes in general, I can't seem to comprehend the hoops that people will jump through to create the heroes. Take Pat Tillman. He's the man who was killed recently in Iraq. Not that that would help you recognize his name. This is the guy who declined millions of dollars from the NFL and chose instead to join the army. Know him now?
I can respect that decision. It's an amazing example. Even if you don't agree with the reasons that the army is fighting in Iraq, it's still an inspiration to see someone make a choice like this. I'm sorry that he died before anyone knew about the story, as it should have been promoted from the get-go. But what I don't get is why the army feels that they need to embellish the tale by offering him a posthumous promotion.
It's nice, it's pretty, it gives me warm fuzzies. But the reason the army gave? They note that they promote people as a recognition that you have the potential to do more. I don't have anything against Pat Tillman, either. But what exactly is he going to do in the future that he hasn't done already?
