The letter of the law....

Another gem courtesy of my wife, so you don't think I'm some kind of stuffy conservative:

Background: Laura Schlessinger is a US radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that as an observant Orthodox Jew homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22 and cannot be condoned in any circumstance.

The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by a US resident, which was posted on the Internet:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to follow them.

1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
   
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
   
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
   
4. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
   
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 5:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?
   
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?
   
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
   
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?
   
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
   
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev.24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14) I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help.
    

Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted disciple and adoring fan.

Jake

Food for thought....

I received this in my e-mail some time ago from my wife, and thought I would share it.

Think about this:

1. The number of physicians in the US is 700,000.
   
2. Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year is 120,000.
   
3. Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.
   

(US Dept. of Health & Human Services)

Then think about this:

1. The number of gun owners in the US is 80,000,000.
   
2. The number of accidental gun deaths per year (all age groups) is 1,500.
   
3. The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is 0.0000188.
   

Statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun
owners.

Fact: Not everyone has a gun, but almost everyone has at least one doctor.

Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets out of hand. As a public health measure I have withheld the statistics on lawyers for fear that the shock could cause people to seek medical attention.

"Milk for the masses...."

Scottish students unite against whack-jobs from PETA. It makes me proud enough to shed a tear.

Protecting freedom....

Hunting around the internet, I found a couple of articles, one called Fun with the Second Amendment, and the other called Why We Liberals Don't Like Guns. The first article, surprisingly enough, seems fairly intelligently presented, recognizing the fact that guns aren't the cause of American crime, and removing them from the equation won't truly solve the problem. However, they obviously don't understand the intention of the Second Amendment, an intention corroborated by the writings of such people as Thomas Jefferson. Sadly, the second article simply presents them as a bunch of doddering milquetoasts, if not exactly whack-jobs, and they seem to be the people Ben Franklin was referring to when he said "They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

While this might indeed seem extreme, as does wondering why anyone should be up in arms about a ban on assault rifles, stop and think for a moment. Where does one draw the line? While they may be assault rifles now, they'll be pump guns next, followed by any repeater. The laws present on the books in California prevent a champion target shooter from practicing in her own state with a small-bore, single shot target rifle. Absurd! you say? Damn right! But that's California for you.

California now... what next? Nowhere, I hope. Instead, I offer these collected quotations on the topic of freedom.

Wonder no more....

As if we needed to confirm what piss-poor drivers the denizens of Chicago are, my wife and I went to that same city over the weekend to visit with some friends. While we enjoyed our time there, there were two things we despised: the drive there, and the drive back. The worst, by far, was the hit-and-run trifecta coming out of the last toll plaza on our way in. A van side-swiped a car, taking out the driver's side mirror, and once they had pulled off onto the shoulder, the van took off. When the car caught up again they both pulled off onto the shoulder, and the van took off again. You'd think they'd both had learned their lessons, but this strange thing happened a third time. And people wonder why the residents of Wisconsin hate Illinois drivers.

Soup's on!

Campbell's is donating a can of soup (up to 5 million) to area food banks just by clicking on any helmet (We like the Packers one though) at their website. It's quick, easy and can be done once a day. It's really simple and is for a really good cause! Some inspiration -- Packer fans ruled last year, having twice as many cans as the 2nd-place team.

Good-bye....

On Thursday, October 3, 2002, my father passed away quietly at home. He was 55 years old. He was eulogized by friends who loved and respected him. The service was performed by Pastor Vance, who may not have known Dad very well, but nonetheless conducted a beautiful service. I'm sure it was all quite more of a fuss than Dad would have wanted, but anything less would have been insufficient.

No sense of humor....

Well, it looks like PETA can't take a joke. Barnes & Noble removed the review that I previously linked. Now we can say that not only is PETA a bunch of whack-jobs, but they're whack-jobs without a sense of humor.

It lacks flavor....

Check out these reader-submitted cookbook reviews at Barnes & Noble. In honor of PETA.

Off the market....

Well, it's official now: I'm a married man. It all happened on Saturday, September 21, 2002. Frankly, even four days later, I'm exhausted. It hasn't all quite sunk in yet, but I'm happy. Everyone had a wonderful time at the ceremony and at the reception. Maryanne and I enjoyed a brief honeymoon before returning to Madison and returning to reality.

Wacky....

If you haven't checked out Fark yet, you really should. Lot's of interesting news stories here, and a wealth of stories about whack-jobs. Why, just today I found this article about some of the more over zealous proponents of environmental causes.

Bizarre....

My favorite whack-jobs, PETA, are in the news again. Check this out.

In God's name....

Their collective heart is in the right place, but the folks at the ChildCare Action Project (CAP) come across as a group of trite prohibitionists in an age when political correctness, morals, and ethics are beaten beyond recognition. It pains me to see what some people will do in the name of Christianity.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my mother's birthday. Happy birthday Mom!

Shining in the dark....

Maybe I should start a page about police stupidity. Following in the footsteps of the Fitchburg police office who executed the Hail Mary exit, last night was the night for the police of the city of Madison to shine. Five squad vehicles (and I say vehicles because three were cars and two were SUVs) all converging on the scene of some hubbub about 9:00 last night and not a one with their headlights turned on. It gives you a warm fuzzy feeling to know that Madison's finest are apparently unaware of the Wisconsin law that requires headlights to be turned on after sunset.

Setting an example....

When I was driving home from work Monday, I saw someone make a Hail Mary exit, starting in the left-most lane behind me and somehow managing to exit on the right in front of me. While it didn't really bother me, per se, since I've been known to do the same thing myself on occasion, something did strike me as interesting: the driver was a Fitchburg police officer, and he didn't use a turn signal. I'm so happy to see law enforcement officers setting a nice example for us civilians.

Lake effect....

It has been far too long -nearly a month- since the last time I posted any news. In that time I have gotten a new job and moved to Madison, Wisconsin. It's quite a change of pace moving from a small town like Algoma to a city like Madison. One of the biggest noticeable changes has been the weather: I really miss Lake Michigan! I now truly appreciate the lake effect, for there has been some very humid weather around here.

But "it does a body good...."

I read this article on Ask Yahoo! about why the winner of the Indy 500 drinks milk. I was very disturbed to find those whack-jobs at PETA want to do away with this longstanding tradition, claiming milk to be a "beverage born out of cruelty to baby calves" and a "racist drink." Of course, this isn't the first time PETA has done something fairly ridiculous; it seems that most of their hare-brained schemes tend to backfire. Maybe they should devote their time to more constructive things.

Forget Geico....

Today is my 25th birthday. I'm a quarter of a century old now. The good news is that this means my auto insurance rate will be lower.

Excitement!

Two posts today. Can you believe this shit? I can't.

I am quite ecstatic over the fact that it may seem, at long last, that Deep Purple's tour stop in Milwaukee may be confirmed. Tickets don't go on sale until Saturday, though, which leaves me plenty of time to get a confirmation of that fact.

The first of May....

Well, today is the 1st of May. It should be a time when we know it's spring, but here in northeast Wisconsin there is actually a chance of snow in the forecast.

Dead end....

After conducting a brief test, I have found further evidence of GeoCities' shortcomings in that it does not support PHP. I also doubt it supports CGI/Perl scripting of any sort, at least if you do it yourself. So far about all it does seem to support is HTML and JavaScript. I'm very disappointed by it all. I'd love to learn some PHP, and get back to some CGI/Perl scripting, but sadly, using GeoCities is like a one-way street that ends in a cul-de-sac.

Going down....

You know, I used to be such a fan of Yahoo. They had a monstrous index, free e-mail, free web-hosting, free games. I was even willing to put up with all the ads all over the place (with the help of Panicware's Pop-Up Stopper). Now, they're charging for everything, and it's reaching the point where there are a lot of limitations. There are lots of things I'd like to do with this website and can't, and you now have to pay if you want to access your Yahoo mail with a POP client or forward your Yahoo mail to another account. I almost hate to say it, but Yahoo may be headed for the shitter. Not financially maybe, but as far as my opinion of it goes.

Unexpected....

I should have posted much sooner, like Monday. Monday was the day Wayne Harmann, the owner of Harmann Studios, my employer, died suddenly and unexpectedly of an apparent heart attack. The situation, of course, has caused a lot of grief for friends and family, which includes the employees of the company, because of our size. The visitation was held Wednesday evening, and the funeral mass was Thursday morning.

With this turn of events comes a bit of uncertainty about the future, but indications are that the family wishes to continue in the business. On a personal level, I am glad, since it means I will continue to have a job. On a wider scope, I am glad as well, because it means that the family is finding a way to move onward.

Hilarious!

The Fox network has done it again. Last night I was actually able to watch an entire episode of "Greg the Bunny." This show is hilarious. I'm sure using puppets helps. The lines would be funny spoken be actual actors, but when spoken by puppets they're hilarious. It's pretty twisted humor. That's probably why it appeals to me so much.

Dream on....

So early this morning sometime I had this very unusual dream. I won't go into much detail. Let it be sufficient to say that it involved some people and places from my past, my college years, more specifically. I suspect it all has to do with watching "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" on Fox last night. I'll be sure to watch next week to see what other fucked-up images my brain can produce for me during R.E.M. sleep.

April Fools!

According to John C. Dvorak, I should be posting here everyday, while I'm at work, complaining and using blog slang ad nauseum. While the piece seems to be tongue-in-cheek, that's not going to stop me from saying that John C. Dvorak is a strange man.

In local news, we're having a wonderful snow storm today. The temperature is hovering right around 32° F, meaning it's a sloppy, messy, and dangerous snow storm. Just in time for April. Maybe it's Mother Nature's April Fools' joke.

Blogless....

Well, it seems that yet another month has gone by without me posting any kind of news or commentary. I'm sure you're all thinking, "Terry, how could this happen?" Well, it's pretty easy, really. You just don't post anything. Call me crazy. "You're crazy!" See what watching too much Match Game does to you?

So, to update you on a few things.... It may actually look like spring is on the way. And those of you who know me well know that spring is my favorite season. Also, the blog thing didn't happen. Seems I need PHP code to do it. I don't know PHP code, and even if I did, I don't think GeoCities would support it (they're funny about writing your own code). So, unless those web gurus on the GeoCities team can generate a blogging tool that's not fubar, or unless I move this site somewhere else, there won't be a blog here, at least not in the true sense of the term.

A blog only in name....

Well, it seems that I've neglected to post any kind of news update for over a month. Shit happens. Either for lack of material or lack of motivation, I hadn't done anything here. Sue me.

While this little news and commentary thing amounts to a web log (a "blog" for all the technophiles out there), I have yet to get the motivation to use one of the many web logging services out there. Maybe it's a fear that it won't use my style sheet properly. Maybe it's a fear that it won't archive properly. I guess some research is in order.

Happy Birthday!

A very happy birthday to my fiancee!

Senseless....

Well, there's not really that much to comment on, but since I'm sitting here kind of bored and unmotivated, I thought I would produce a news update. You may ask how I can produce a news update without news. I'm kind of wondering that myself. But since I also use this space for commentary, I can do what I like. It's my website, after all.

I had no idea planning a wedding would be so time consuming! While there's a marginal sense of urgency for the time being, there's no need to panic yet. The date is set, the church is reserved, and the reception hall is reserved. However, there remains plenty to do.

Looking ahead....

Well, here it is, the year 2002. I'm hoping 2002 will shape up to be a better year than 2001. Not that 2001 was terrible, although after September 11 it was pretty much dominated by thoughts of what happened and the consequences of those events.

I spent a lovely New Year's in central Wisconsin with my fiancee, keeping busy with friends and future family. It was all very pleasant.

This website is averaging about 1,000 hits per year. I suppose that's decent for what is basically a personal website. More hits would be nice, though.