An on-point and very disturbing article on what "waterboarding" really is, and why Bush Et. Al want to use it on prisoners. Any time your country uses the same interrogation "techniques" as the Khmer Rouge, it's time to reassess, don't you think?
DavidCorn
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Let It Go
This is an oldie but a goodie, especially in the context of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which is coming up this weekend. Ironically, the following is a sermon by TD Jakes, a Christian pastor. Regardless, I think his larger point is worth noting, internalizing and making happen:
Let It Go for 2004
There are people who can walk away from you. And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk away from you....let them walk.
I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you. I mean hang up the phone. When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left...
People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make them stay. Let them go. And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person; it just means that their part in the story is over. And you've got to know when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead. You've got to know when it's dead.
You've got to know when it's over. Let me tell you something. I've got the gift of goodbye. It's the tenth spiritual gift, I believe in goodbye. It's not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm faithful, and I know whatever God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat I don't need it.
Stop begging people to stay! Let them go!
If you are holding onto something that doesn't belong to you and was never intended for your life, then you need to Let It Go!
If you are holding onto past hurts and pains--Let It Go!
If someone can't treat you right, love you back, see your worth--Let It Go!
If someone has angered you--Let It Go!
If you are holding onto some thoughts of evil and revenge---Let It Go!
If you are involved in a wrong relationship or addiction--Let It Go!
If you are holding onto a job that no longer meets your needs or talents--Let It Go!
If you have a bad attitude--Let It Go!
If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better--Let It Go!
If you're stuck in the past and God is trying to take you to a new level--Let It Go!
If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship--Let It Go!
If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help themselves--Let It Go!
If you're feeling depressed and stressed--Let It Go!
If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling yourself and God is saying, "Take your hands off it" then you need to--Let It Go!
Let the past be the past. Forget the former things. God is doing a new thing for 2004. Let it go! Get Right or Get left...think about it--then Let It Go!
Let It Go for 2004
There are people who can walk away from you. And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk away from you....let them walk.
I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you. I mean hang up the phone. When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left...
People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make them stay. Let them go. And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person; it just means that their part in the story is over. And you've got to know when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead. You've got to know when it's dead.
You've got to know when it's over. Let me tell you something. I've got the gift of goodbye. It's the tenth spiritual gift, I believe in goodbye. It's not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm faithful, and I know whatever God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat I don't need it.
Stop begging people to stay! Let them go!
If you are holding onto something that doesn't belong to you and was never intended for your life, then you need to Let It Go!
If you are holding onto past hurts and pains--Let It Go!
If someone can't treat you right, love you back, see your worth--Let It Go!
If someone has angered you--Let It Go!
If you are holding onto some thoughts of evil and revenge---Let It Go!
If you are involved in a wrong relationship or addiction--Let It Go!
If you are holding onto a job that no longer meets your needs or talents--Let It Go!
If you have a bad attitude--Let It Go!
If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better--Let It Go!
If you're stuck in the past and God is trying to take you to a new level--Let It Go!
If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship--Let It Go!
If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help themselves--Let It Go!
If you're feeling depressed and stressed--Let It Go!
If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling yourself and God is saying, "Take your hands off it" then you need to--Let It Go!
Let the past be the past. Forget the former things. God is doing a new thing for 2004. Let it go! Get Right or Get left...think about it--then Let It Go!
Get Me a Book Deal
I have decided that I should write a book for the simple reason that everybody else has.
During one of my hospital days I had the dispeptic displeasure of watching the Dr. Phil show. I was riveted on the breathtaking arrogance of that day's show for one reason: it was entirely devoted to his wife's new book "Inside My Heart."
And his wife is WHO exactly? Oh right: Mrs. Dr. Phil.
Her book description is thus:
"You've seen her on television with her husband, Dr. Phil. But now it's time for a heart-to-heart conversation with Robin McGraw. In Inside My Heart, Robin speaks woman to woman, inspiring you to embrace and celebrate the many roles you play and encouraging you to make deliberate choices that lead to a richer, happier, and more meaningful life. She shares with you the life-changing moments of her childhood years, dating and marrying Dr. Phil McGraw, raising two sons, and asserting herself as a woman in a man's world to show you that you have the power to make choices in your life. In fact, she's convinced that you must choose to go after the life you want."
Well, Mrs. Dr. Phil, the life I want--and that I choose to go after--is writing a book about myself based on my stature as nobody in particular. Just like you. I just don't have a show where (I kid you not) my husband has three women in the green room "who have NO IDEA! that they're going to meet their idol, Robin, today on this program!" Dude, they can meet Robin McGraw at every single one of your programs. She sits in the front row of every d*mn show! That's the only reason anyone knows what this woman looks like, much less what "life-changing moments" she experienced in her childhood.
Puh-leeze.
To add insult to injurious insult, I then did my usual online gossip search, only to find out that Lance Bass is writing a book. That's right: Lance freakin Bass. Former boyband member, aborted space flight passenger, and recently out-of-the-closet C-list celebrity. His justification? People were asking him questions about himself. "Experience is everything with 'N Sync, all my experience with space travel and Russia and the whole coming out thing. I have a lot to say, so I decided to go ahead and start writing it down." So let me get this straight: you are a minor, hasbeenish celebrity who comes out of the closet. Access Hollywood asks you questions about yourself. You determine, based on those questions, that people must be interested in your unique perspective on life. Therefore, you write a book.
Friends, we should ALL write books. You in particular, yeah you. The one reading this. Based on your experience in life, reading this blog, clicking to other blogs, offering comments--you must have a really unique view of life that I bet Simon & Schuster would invest some serious ducats in ensuring reaches the teeming masses.
Who's in? I am.
I'll call it: SSHaggis: My Contribution to Cultural Mediocrity.
My follow-up effort will be titled, "Bambina's Bon Mots: Everything My Kid Taught Me About Extending My Mediocre Brand." And don't miss the companion series: "Recipes in 30 Mediocre Minutes," "Tuesdays With Mediocrity," and a very special Principles of Mediocrity Workbook to track your contributions to our country's progress into cultural oblivion.
Quote of the Day
"I don't know what sort of person is running around with a sackful of panties and a large inflatable penis."
From New Zealand:
The girls at Hamilton strip club Firecats have a problem - someone has nicked their knickers. The underwear went missing when the Firecats promotional van was stolen on Saturday. The van was parked on Hood St in Hamilton about 2.30am when the driver got out of the vehicle to talk to two people who had asked him for a ride. Someone jumped in the van and drove off, eventually dumping the vehicle up a driveway on Upper Kent St in Frankton. The van was undamaged, but missing from the vehicle was a sack containing about 50 items, including g-strings and some of the performers' costumes. Also missing was an inflatable penis Firecats had brought to help with promotions during last year's British and Irish Lions rugby tour.
Firecats owner Tony Garraway wondered what use the thief had for the missing items.
"I don't know what sort of person is running around with a sackful of panties and a large inflatable penis," he said.
Mr Garraway said there was a delay in police being told of the van's discovery. The house at the end of the driveway where the van was left was split into two units, one occupied by a couple and one by a man. Mr Garraway said the occupiers of each unit thought their neighbours were "being a bit naughty", so did not call police. The performers were upset at the theft, as many of the missing items had been imported from the US, Mr Garraway said.
From New Zealand:
The girls at Hamilton strip club Firecats have a problem - someone has nicked their knickers. The underwear went missing when the Firecats promotional van was stolen on Saturday. The van was parked on Hood St in Hamilton about 2.30am when the driver got out of the vehicle to talk to two people who had asked him for a ride. Someone jumped in the van and drove off, eventually dumping the vehicle up a driveway on Upper Kent St in Frankton. The van was undamaged, but missing from the vehicle was a sack containing about 50 items, including g-strings and some of the performers' costumes. Also missing was an inflatable penis Firecats had brought to help with promotions during last year's British and Irish Lions rugby tour.
Firecats owner Tony Garraway wondered what use the thief had for the missing items.
"I don't know what sort of person is running around with a sackful of panties and a large inflatable penis," he said.
Mr Garraway said there was a delay in police being told of the van's discovery. The house at the end of the driveway where the van was left was split into two units, one occupied by a couple and one by a man. Mr Garraway said the occupiers of each unit thought their neighbours were "being a bit naughty", so did not call police. The performers were upset at the theft, as many of the missing items had been imported from the US, Mr Garraway said.
We Dontneedy Dotmobi
According to the Financial Times, new “dotmobi” (.mobi) internet domain names will go on sale today. Dotmobi is an effort (by parts of the telecom industry such as Microsoft, Vodafone and Nokia) "to drive the use of mobile devices as platforms to surf the web."
Do we really need another internet domain? Websites can be configured to be available via mobile phone screens, so--why are we doing this? FT states, "A senior lawyer at Verizon Communications, the second-largest US telecommunications group, said there was no 'particular business need' for 'dotmobi' and the company had only registered verizon.mobi to prevent others taking it...A lot of the new domain names just compound the problem of trademark infringement and fraud....Most of the new domain names have been failures and the vast majority of valuable real estate still rests in ‘dotcom’."
My guess is that some guys at Microsoft, Vodafone and Nokia decided over a few beers that they needed additional, mobile avenues for accessing bigjugs.com.net.org, because a man and his p0rn must not be rent asunder by lagging technology.
Do we really need another internet domain? Websites can be configured to be available via mobile phone screens, so--why are we doing this? FT states, "A senior lawyer at Verizon Communications, the second-largest US telecommunications group, said there was no 'particular business need' for 'dotmobi' and the company had only registered verizon.mobi to prevent others taking it...A lot of the new domain names just compound the problem of trademark infringement and fraud....Most of the new domain names have been failures and the vast majority of valuable real estate still rests in ‘dotcom’."
My guess is that some guys at Microsoft, Vodafone and Nokia decided over a few beers that they needed additional, mobile avenues for accessing bigjugs.com.net.org, because a man and his p0rn must not be rent asunder by lagging technology.
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