Shadow of Diogenes

Haiku # 073109 (Poem)

The pale moon

Weeping above the mountains,

Monks snoring beneath warm covers.

Banana Cream Pie Banned

You can no longer get banana cream pie in Montgomery County Maryland. It has been banned because it contains trans fat. Evidently someone has decided that trans fat is not good for our increasingly obese population and to protect us from ourselves the politicos in one Maryland county have said, "No more banana cream pie " Well, excuse me ! I shall eat what I damned well please and let me say that I am not a fan of banana cream pie, but the next time that my brother and I take a road trip to New Jersey I am going to take a banana cream pie and eat it in a local police station in Montgomery County Maryland and if they arrest me (and I have never had as much as a parking ticket in my life) I will call the American Civil Liberties Union and go on a banana cream pie  binge in the pokie . Flash - The New York Board of Health has banned the use of trans fats in restaurants in NYC. P.S. I mmust add here that I try to eat sensibly. My doctor says that i have better cholesterol levels than she does - so I feel good about that situation. I am no proponent of trans fat, but I just resent being told what I can and cannot eat by a government body. Do these food fascists think that the public has to be told what to do, think and eat ? For crimminy sakes, please don't get me started.

Tonight at the Chess Club

Tonight (Thursday) we played the second round of the Ashland X tournament. In the first round game last week I lost. Tonight was a long struggle that went back and forth and ended with Craig Patton, my opponent walking into a checkmate on the 55th move. Craig felt bad, because I had offered him a draw earlier. I was in time trouble at that point and when our game ended I had 6 minutes on my clock and he had 40 minutes left . I feel his pain believe me. He fought hard and gave it all that he had, but even old dudes get lucky once in awhile...

Question of the Day

(Q)  Do you feel that some African-Americans are too quick to play the race card or to inject race into a disagreement between themselves and Whites  ? 

A Unique College

Berea College in Berea , Kentucky was founded in 1855 and it was the first co-educational, integrated college in the South. It is a unique college in that its students do not pay tuition and thus emerge from college with little or no debt. All students work at least 10 hours a week in campus and/or service jobs to help the college to operate since there is no tuition. It is a diverse academic environment and is guided by Christian principles. It might be worth investigating if you have a child who wants to attend college.

Question of the Day

(Q)  Did Glenn Beck cross the line when he labelled President Obama as a racist (in effect) ? Please elaborate. For what it's worth I think Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have little room to criticize anyone. These boys just like to fan the flames and inflame the lunatic fringe on the right. Some day they may regret it but I doubt it.

Language Police

This morning I caught the tail end of a Fox News report about the effort, in some states, to reshape our attitudes by reshaping the language that is used in our school text books. I think that there are better ways to try to change attitudes than by having the "language police" attempting to do it arbitrarily under the guise of education. As most of you may know, I tend to be liberal in personal matters e.g. what I do in my bed room, the books that I read and the movies that I watch and conservative on issues such as national defense, immigration et cetera. It seems that the language police want school students to refrain from using the phrase "founding fathers" and instead use "the founders" for example. I reserve the right to use either one (as I please) and I prefer founding fathers, because that is what they were. I do not recall, for the life of me, a Thomasina Jefferson, Georgette Washington or a Janine Adams who were one of our founding fathers. Do you ? And that is no disrespect to women who have made tremendous historical contributions to our nation and its history. It is just historical fact that men (oh should I use that word?) were the ones who guided us at the birth of our nation. Freedom of thought is as precious to me as freedom of speech and I will resist anyone who trys to abridge or take those rights from me. And since I am on a roll - I do not own a gun, but by Jehovah is you want to own ten of them you have that right. There is a Constitution and a Bill of Rights that still resonates in our country. It is up to the citizens to maintain our legal rights, because some politicians (from both sides of the aisle) keep trying to take them away from us ! If you want to try to change attitudes and points of view, then do so by the force of your intellectual arguments not by changing words in a book ! And a pox on political correctness. I'll say Redskins if I plase when it comes to Washington's NFL football team.

3 Television Shows Worth Watching

(I)  Rescue Me - Dennis Leary's tribute to firefighters. As an old retired Brother, I can say that this show is worth watching. It's very true to life as far as firefighters are concerned.

(2)  No Reservations - Anthony Bourdain's mix of good food and travel. I like Tony and that makes the show even better.

(3)  Deadliest Catch  - Crab fishing in the very dangerous Bering Sea with some memorable characters like Captain Sig and Captain Phil . 

3 Kick Ass Rock Bands

(1)  Judas Priest - Rob Halford was a great front man.

(2)  The Clash - Joe Strummer, Mick Jones and the lads. They fought each other and bands on the venue with them.

(3)  AC/DC - Angus Young in those school boy shorts and weird antics.

Now there are others of course so feel free to ley us all know whom are your favorites.

Question of the Day (Mark Sanford)

(Q)  Most of us have read or heard about South Carolina's Governor Mark Sanford's recent revelations about his adultery and his leaving state government in the lurch for a few days while he visited his paramour in the Argentine . In your opinion should the man resign his office ? Please feel free to elaborate.