Yesterday I took a video of my kitty Shadow chasing and attacking something 9 times her size.  Click on the image to watch.

After seeing that cartoon, I e-mailed its author.

~Terry

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Terry Bohannon <______@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2005 02:03:50 -0600
Subject: "Pat Tillman"
To: Ted Rall <chet@rall.com>

Ted Rall,

I just saw your cartoon that was published last Thursday, "What Ever
Happened to Pat Tillman?" and must say that I am disappointed.

It does not disappoint me that you attack Republicans, that's totally
fair.  What disappoints me is that you have absolutely no respect for
one of our honored soldiers that died in combat (even if it were
friendly-fire).

I'm sure you hate ideologues on the right, the fundies, and neocons.
But with that cartoon you dredge a foot deeper than the worst of them.
In using Tillman to attack the right, you have become like those you
negatively characterize.  And by using Tillman in that way, you
demonstrate why the Democrats are losing elections all across the board.

American people read your cartoons and react to them.  I'm sure that's
what you want.  You want them to seethe in hating rage; but not at
you.  You'd prefer that they adopt your absolute hatred of President
Bush and everything connected to him; yet cartoons like your latest
"Tillman" only end up convincing regular voters that immaturity lies
on the left, not the right.

Respectfully yours,

Terry

This political cartoon drawn by Ted Rall is so outrageous that I seriously want to kick his butt.  He is disrespecting and showing great dishonor to Pat Tillman, a hero of the Iraqi conflict, as he uses him to attack Republicans.



This junk tempts me to use words I often don't.

Two weeks ago, my spam meter was at 20,000.  It has increased a bit:

See my video of Shadow attacking a squirrel (click on image):

I was sent a picture that explains why Floridians keep their doors locked.

When making fun of MENSA, I coined a few bumper sticker slogans.  I liked one of them so much I went to Kinkos, designed it, and put it on my car.

I was in a funny mood today, and sent an e-mail making fun of the group MENSA. The organization has a "genius" IQ requirement.

MENSA bumper stickers:

"MENSA, smarter than you think"

"You fool / (this car is driven by MENSA)"

"Think smarter than you are, join MENSA"

"I brake for Schadenfreude" [this one's going on my car]

"Keep Honking / I love the attention"

"Ego's too short, join MENSA"

"Fight Crime / Claim Smarter"

If anybody wants 20,000 spam mails a month, I can forward them their way...

> so where do you think humanity should be, as far as reasoning
> is concerned?  a few thousand years of evolution is not really
> enough to for humanity to evolve its ability to reason.  btw,
> the christian bible says that the earth is only 6000 years old.
> but the christian bible is also full of stories of slaughter,
> lust, violence, betrayals, wars, and other dark deeds of man.
> which is not at all different than today's events.  so even by
> christian standards, humanity's ability to reason hasn't changed
> much over the years.
>
> Eugene

I agree with you on your point about the stagnation of human reason. You ask me where I think human reason should be.  I think it should be were it is, it is how "God created man in his own image", not only by having a soul, twining the nature of animals and angels since God made us "a little lower than the angels", but with reason, our ability to know that we know (Genesis 1:27a; Psalm 8:5a).

It is true that the Bible makes it clear that human sinfulness is inescapable through our powers of reason, with our corrupted will.  The Old Testament (Tanakh) gives us examples of Israel's faithlessness.  In Isaiah 5:1-7, Israel is depicted as a vineyard that is given the best care and upbringing, through the laws and prophets, yet the vineyard bears bad fruit. Israel was unfaithful, worshiping other gods, even with a faithful and loving viticulturist.

The Tanakh, from Genesis to Chronicles (its order of the 24 books is different than the Old Testament) makes it clear that sin is inescapable even for the best of us.  King David, "a man after [God's] own heart," fell into sin (1 Samuel 13:14).  He had a lustful heart, and destroyed his family and the life of one of his top generals because of that sin.  Yet, King David was truly a man after God's heart.  Even in his pain, in his suffering, he never turned away from God.  He was contrite and, as Psalm 130 shows, never abandoned his Lord.

Saul, by contrast, was a good man whose heart darkened and rotted in his lust for power.  Saul turned his eyes from God, shut his ears from God's prophets, and refused to carry out God's will.  In his arrogance, he rebelled against God and became a man after his own heart (1 Samuel 15:17-26).

The New Testament brings us hope: that sin, although inescapable for us, embodied by Christ at the crucifixion, is conquered by His Grace through our individual selfless faith in Christ.

The Bible does not empirically tell us when the earth was made, your suggestion that it tells us it God made the heavens and earth 6,000 years ago is an interpretation of Genesis.  I have heard a Rabbi argue that since the Hebrew word for 'day' (Yom) was not attached to a number, so would more rightly be translated as "time" instead of the day we think of as 24 hours.

I hope you at least partially understand where I am coming from.  I would never close my ear to your arguments, though I disagree.  I hope you give Christians the same respect.

In Christ,

Terry

I thought this might interest some:

Rule #1 from Ashlee Simpson: "All backup singers must be made uglier than I; makeup may be misused for task."

Against heavy competition with the Dodge Viper and the Porsche 911 Turbo, the 2006 Corvette Z06 has upped the ante.  I would love to be pressed into the plush leather seat of that 'Vette as it goes 0-100mph in under 8.0 seconds.  There's one problem.  I can't exactly afford it.

Maybe I could find myself a very wealthy and generous friend who lets me ride (or drive) the 'Vette. ;)

I have had a very 'tough' week as sleep goes (or hasn't gone)...

I hope to write something in a few days, but I thought I'd update the last 30 day spam count:

I can't believe this.  I have all e-mail from various accounts I don't use anymore going to a gmail account.  This is so I can easily filter through the spam.  I used to get between 3,000 and 4,000 e-mails a month but now it's starting to get ridiculous.... over 10,000 spam e-mails in the past 30 days -- gee.

Today as the NY Times accused the Bush Administration of being stingy, the Scotsman suggested that America should be less active in dispensing humanitarian aid.  From Edinburgh, the Scotsman wrote:

The president has announced that the US, Japan, India and Australia would coordinate the world’s response.

But former International Development Secretary Clare Short said that role should be left to the UN.

“I think this initiative from America to set up four countries claiming to coordinate sounds like yet another attempt to undermine the UN when it is the best system we have got and the one that needs building up,” she said.

“Only really the UN can do that job,” she told BBC Radio Four’s PM programme.

“It is the only body that has the moral authority. But it can only do it well if it is backed up by the authority of the great powers.”

It is quite interesting how people like Clare Short would quibble and balk at such multilateral efforts, involving four industrialized countries, only because it's being spearheaded by the Bush Administration.  She suggests that the only way America should help the tsunami victims is through the UN.  However, perhaps blinded by delusions of a unipolar world (opposed to the bipolar US vs USSR) and misguided by persistent 'misunderestimation' of President Bush, she intrinsically values the gain of a political point more than the lives and continued health of tsunami survivors.

Although she doesn't have an ounce of schadenfreude toward the tsunami victims in her heart, her words tell a different story.  They communicate that 'even if' aid can be delivered expediently without the UN, it should still in charge -- even if we have to wait. That may not be what she wishes, but it is the logical end of her statement. She may very well fear a 'nullified' UN far more than she cares about those in need.

The UN has found itself tarnished with various scandals recently. After the oil-for-money scandal and the Congo sex scandal, it was no surprise to many around the world that President Bush spearheaded a humanitarian effort. It would definitely not a surprise those who are aware of Bush's "take charge" leadership style.

If this happened on Bill Clinton's watch, he would be on the cover of NY Times and CNN would spend hours flashing and reflashing his photo-ops to their viewers.  Much would be said and tears would roll off cheeks. However, America now has a president that cares more about action than image.  Our papers are putting this news on the second page, trying to bury it, and I'm sure some American papers will lament Bush's "unitarianism" as he once again shows himself to be a world leader. The 'diplomatically forsaken' at the EU and UN would prefer an American president they can either ignore or control; President Bush isn't that kind of president.

I hope the cooperation between the United States, Japan, India and Australia help the dispossessed and suffering tsunami victims.  I can imagine how unreal a little flooding can seem, yet I cannot fathom being in a country where most of the people I knew, loved, and cherished, were washed out to sea.  For the survivors, stranded from all they valued, life will be harder than they ever foresaw. With help, perhaps, they can get back on their feet.  Once on their feet, maybe they can begin to heal. It is our duty, linked as we are to them in our God-breathed beginnings, to pray for them and financially assist them if we can.

Zimbabwe, being a part of the former holdings of Cecil Rhodes (same of "Rhodes scholar") as Rhodesia until the country's independence in 1980, has been under the leadership of Marxist-leaning Robert Mugabe ever since.

Mugabe's failed leadership has shown itself in the various land seizures since the late nineties.  Land was taken from those who had it, mostly white farmers, and 'distributed' to those who had none.  On paper, that might have sounded like a grand idea for Mugabe, especially for someone still sympathetic to Marxists ideals.  However, these land seizures has depleted Zimbabwe of much of its economy; farmers who otherwise would have used the money they earn to buy food and supplies moved to countries like Mozambique instead.

After effectively destroying his country's economy, he made it a crime to speak badly of his name or office.  In the past two months, three people have been arrested, as the BBC claims in a news article.  They say, "One was arrested for labelling Mr Mugabe a dictator who ruled by the sword and another was jailed for calling him thick-headed."

And the most recent, a 72-year-old businessman "told his staff he could not give them a Christmas party or bonuses because of the president's policies."  He can expect up to a year of jail time.

Perhaps Zimbabweans will see better days than these, though those days can hardly be imagined under the aging and stubborn leadership of Robert Mugabe.  New leadership would be good for the country, though changing the culture of poverty would be beyond a new President, he could do much good -- especially if he wins despite massive election fraud in 2008.

According to Joe Strupp at Editor and Publisher, the Navy SEALs whose pictures were published with a story that suggested "the next Abu Ghraib" have filed suit against the Associated Press.  In Strupp's report, he says that the suit centers around how an AP reporter obtained the pictures, which were syphoned off a private website and used without permission.

In a press release, attorneys for the SEALs have brought to light a great irony in AP's handling of these photos:

"...[T]he SEALs showed more respect for the insurgents and terrorists that they were apprehending by obscuring their faces than the AP did for the Navy SEALs who were in Iraq risking their lives."

The Navy may very will win their suit, but that won't stop media bias.

It is very unfortunate that many of the important people (or nodes) that influence the network culture of the press came to intellectual and social maturity during the Vietnam War.  Their perspective on war and conflicts has the tenancy to move them to question America first, even to take the word of tyrants like Saddam Hussein before President Bush's -- as congressman McDermott's trip to Iraq demonstrated. The media that blames America first, though there are many that don't, will not go away as some dream.

Like Donald Rumsfeld, we must not let the press intimidate us, and we must keep the world scene in perspective. Like with Iraq, it is rarely mentioned that 14 of its 18 provinces is releatively peaceful. Schools, roads, and canals have been rebuilt, Iraq has reactivated its stock exchange.

A lot of Iraqi people have hope for their future, even if the media does not. Truth will prevail, for good or bad, future historians will have a far clearer eye on our time than the Assicated Press will ever report. It would be unwise to despair because a negative media, "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself," "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" (see Matthew 6:25-34).

It seems, today when reading Glenn Shuck's "Marks of the Beast", my mind wandered and found itself captivated by an idea.  An idea that's only a dream today, but may very well come to fruition one day.

This idea is a story.  One that came to me as Samuel Coleridge envisions the imaginative process, as though I were an Eolian harp.  I think it'd be good if this story, though I'll have to immerse myself in the period, were set in Alexandra during the fourth or fifth century.  The book could center around one man's search for meaning, where he wrestles with various heresies (like 'Gnosticism') and Christianity to discover the ultimate truth.