You are looking at posts that were written on December 22nd, 2007.
Posted on December 22nd, 2007 by Mark.
Categories: Editorials, News, Politics.
It’s enough already. Does anybody out there still believe that Matt Drudge is not partisan? I have to admit, his trumpeting today of Harry Reid’s stance on the surge and how it has changed from April to now, brought a chuckle. After all, Harry Reid is an imbecile. Where I tend to loathe Drudge is in his inability to also call out Bush and the rest of them, for all of their “mistakes”. I can respect a man that says, “I was wrong.” Reid seems to at least go that far, but does Bush? Hell no. This is a man that resisted sending adequate numbers of troops to Iraq and then changed his mind… did he not? Where was the trumpeting of that.
Let’s just take a look at all of the different reasons we went into Iraq.
1. WMD (whoops, none found)
2. Support and training for terrorists (pretty shady intel on that one)
3. Liberation of an oppressed people (finally one that could stick, but lacks urgency)
It seems to me that Bush is just as wishy washy as Reid when it comes to his stances. After 9/11 it was all, “dead or alive” when it came to Bin Laden. Now it’s, “I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.” Wow. I think Reid’s reflection pales in comparison to Bush’s, yet somehow people like Drudge and all the rest, let it go. Shocking. Disgusting. Partisan.
Posted on December 22nd, 2007 by Mark.
Categories: News, Uncategorized.
Let’s hope that this David Pfahler pulls a Sonny Bono at some point (sorry Sonny). This guy should not be skiiing. There is a risk involved in sending ones self hurtling down a mountainside. There are all kinds of people out there. This was a seven year old child. I can tell you this, if this guy would have grabbed a kid of mine and cursed and threatened a suit, there would have been hell to pay. Forget the lawsuit, start worrying about survivability.
VAIL — A 60-year-old man is taking an 8-year-old boy and his dad to court, claiming the third-grader caused a ski-slope collision that left the older man with a shoulder injury.
David J. Pfahler of Allentown, Pa., filed suit in Denver federal court claiming Scott Swimm, of Vail, then 7, was skiing fast and recklessly when they ran into each other in January. Pfahler’s suit says he suffered a torn shoulder tendon.Â
The boy told Pfahler he was sorry and started to ski away when the man grabbed Scott’s legs, cursed at him and said he would sue, Robb Swimm told The Aspen Times.
Posted on December 22nd, 2007 by Mark.
Categories: News.
If this one doesn’t tug at the heart strings, I don’t know what qualifies.
A military working dog wounded in Iraq during a rocket attack that killed its Marine handler was adopted Friday by the slain Marine’s family.
Cpl. Dustin Lee’s family planned to take home the bomb-sniffing dog — named Lex — on Saturday after the 8-year-old German shepherd was granted early retirement. It was the first time a working dog was granted retirement to live with the handler’s family, officials said.
“Nobody can do anything to replace the void in this family,” said Col. Christian Haliday, commander of the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, where Lee and Lex were assigned.
“We hope Lex can bring a small piece of his spirit and help maintain his memory,” he said.
It’s nice that this family has something to hold onto. Some connection to the brother/son that they lost. It’s a terribly tragic story that has a bittersweet ending.
Posted on December 22nd, 2007 by Mark.
Categories: Just Dumb, My Life.
I’m here. In my dark place. We all have it; that place you go where nobody can see you. It’s that cave, that hole, that tiny linen closet at the back of your mind. It’s the holidays and I am there. I don’t know that it’s such a bad thing. I’m doing some of the best writing of my life. A maturity has settled over me. A sense of well-being and dread. I have a philosophy when it comes to life, a belief if you will. The dimmer your bulb, the less defined your shadows. I think with intelligence and insight there comes a price. There is that thing that sees too much, knows more than it likely should, understands. Ignorance is bliss or so they say and I suppose I’ll have to take their word for it, it’s not a gift I’ve been given. My shadow is well defined, a dark silhouette of mine own self. Cold, but not unfeeling.
I could temper this. Three fingers of Jameson would likely take the edge off. Gulp and repeat a few more times and I’d likely be downright jovial. Old St. Nick would have a run for his money. I’d be easily cast as pathetic, and set aside. I resist. Right now I don’t know that there is anywhere else that I want to be other than here in the dark place. Sometimes I need this. Why fear the feeling? Maybe that’s what I don’t understand about alcoholics. I walk the line, press my nose to the glass… but never slide into that oblivion. I can’t stand the constant numbness. I can appreciate the escapism of a good drunk; the way at times that it liberates by removing inhibition, but it’s so fleeting. Alcohol like a tool is something to be used when circumstances call for it. The choice as I see it is the dark place or the hollow. One is a facet and one a figment. One is the truth and one is a lie.
The dark place is a part of me. I bury bodies there, I bury dreams there and sometimes I walk amongst the grave stones. “Such gloom and doom it’s the holidays,” but for my part I see no more fitting a time for reflection. I am not all sugar plums and candy canes. Rampant consumerism brings no relief to those of conscience. I had closed the door on my dark place, padlocked it and tossed away the key. I had abandoned that part of me that is in a way my charm. Those that know me best, know that this piece of me is a part that serves me well. We all must be who we are.
So Merry Christmas from the dark place… it’s really not so bad. I’m not looking for sympathy. It’s a reawakening of me and what makes me tick and in a way it’s a gift. Hiding away in supposed change, tossing off a part of who you are because at times it is hard to look at… it’s stupid. My dark place is not some place of hurting, it brings no harm to others least of all myself. It is a place where the world is righted, where truth is untempered and where I can set myself straight. It is the place of last stands, and I have been too long without a will to fight.