Unwanted Commentary

I was struck with an interesting thought. The longer the war goes on, the more likely it is that the American populace will forget about it and worry more about Who Want's to Marry a Porn Star...or whatever.

I can see it...three months from now. "More bombs were dropped on Baghdad and in other news Freidmon Snortensniff was the latest of Fox's Pop Star competition to be reported as formely being a low level illicit vegetable traffiker."

I know I know...friends shouldn't let friends drink and blog

Posted by Jeff at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Ah Southpark...I hadn't really watched an episode of Southpark since the movie came out. Since we got DSL I rediscovered my source for downloading the episodes in mpeg format. Clever, random weirdness.

My wife is going though finals for the Winter quarter and it has been stressful for both of us, though more for her than me. Thankfully this is it and after today we're both taking a week long break. That'll be nice.

I'm trying to avoid talking about the war as it seemed to be all I could talk about, but I suppose there isn't anything wrong with that.

Posted by Jeff at 02:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow I feel so geeky, I'm using Mandrake Linux, Open Office 1.0 and Mozzila to make this post. Yes, I use a word processor to proof my posts...so much for gramarical and spelling rebellion.

I'm digging it so far, a guy I work with gave me the CD's and installed it on my old work PC. It's only a 400MHz PII with a 138M of RAM. It doesn't move real quick, but that could be because the system specs are pretty dated. Still it runs as well as XP did and this was all free. The installation was easy enough, I didn't have any problems with it and it has been a long long time since I've dealt with Unix...I bought Linux when it came out back in the day, but never messed with it because I couldn't play Civ. :-)

It installed all sorts of things for me, several different browsers and Open Office, which in some respects is nice. I'm still getting a feel for it, but right now I think it isn't something I would want one of our secrataries using...though I admit that may be because I don't know how to set it up properly

Interestingly I couldn't copy and paste from OpenOffice to Mozzila, but I could to the Konqueror browser...curious.

I burgled a 64M DIMM and things seem to be running a little better. My hunger for RAM is growing...must...find...more...DIMMMMMMMS!!!

Oh, sorry :-)

Posted by Jeff at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm getting burnt out on the war coverage, at this point I just check in to make sure there haven't been any major calamities. I've always felt that the new media overdoes everything...especially after our local news spent five hours telling us that the roads were icey during our brief winter storm here in Dallas.
I thought having lots of news coverage would be good and I still largely believe that. But all the repetive, melodramatic crap has me yearning for just the facts...please.

Posted by Jeff at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been trying to make prayer more of a priority in my life…I haven't been very successful. I have been praying for "peace", for the safety of all the soldiers involved in the war, even for Saddam and Bush. I feel that it would be hypocritical not to pray for everyone involved…I worry that this may be hopelessly paradoxical, but my feeling is that God is big enough to handle it…besides God gave us the biggest paradox of all in Jesus being fully divine and fully human, so I'm sure it's up his alley.

It is very confusing to ask for God to bless Saddam Hussein and know that I support his removal from power or even his death. My feeling is that I must rely on faith and that is almost as confusing and difficult as it is to ask for the blessing of those we are actively engaged in fighting.

I feel that I have to do it though, I cringe when I hear people praying about the righteousness of America, as if our country is somehow supported by God and He is supporting our effort in this war…I just don't buy into that. I really don't like the fact that Bush uses God so frequently in his speeches, though I do hope he takes God into consideration when making decisions and if he does pray then I find that encouraging.

Posted by Jeff at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hearing the news of American casualties and POWs really got me to thinking again about this whole situation, though at this point I'm almost sick to death of hearing about the war. While I still support the war effort and deem it as necessary I admit that the news has inundated me with an underlying sense of sadness and mourning. I would suspect that most of us do.
After watching part of a special on Saddam that aired on PBS I believe now more than ever that we are doing the right thing. The irony of my war support is that there is some small chance that I could be called to serve in the war and that really changes my perspective. It has been far too easy to accept the war as long as there was no real chance that I could be drafted, but what if that changes? I admit it is a scary thought to carry around with me and it tempers my feelings for war.
Just the thought that my life could be interrupted to go fight, thinking that I might not ever be able to resolve the little issues of my life or achieve my personal goals is a humbling thought. Knowing that all those things could get swept away in the face of a larger situation makes me feel…well, weird for lack of a better word. It makes me appreciate even more the sacrifice of our soldiers, especially since so many of them are so young, who had been standing right at the threshold of beginning their lives.

Posted by Jeff at 08:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My wife is studying to be an Interior Designer and I felt the need, though she rarely reads this, to give her a huge :clap for her good work lately. I sometimes get a little frustrated by her work habits, but lately I've have been very impressed with the amount of composure, skill and focus she's exhibited I really hope that her instructors reward her for her effort.

To continue bragging she got spontaneous applause for her presentation of her project about Architecture in Middle Earth (which I thought was a very clever and imaginative subject) and audible gasps when her group presented a Photoshop project.

I married such a kick ass gal!

Posted by Jeff at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are these stupid little flying things that are constantly buzzing around our office and no one knows where they are coming from. They don't look like fruit files, but more like gnats. I just wanted to say that I hate them and I wish they would go away.

Posted by Jeff at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm tired of talking about war and things pertaining to the war. So I'm going to revist Lent. First off I'll fess up, my attempt to give up drinking and games was a complete failure, but I don't see this as that big of an issue. My goals, which I hoped giving things up would facilitate, have largely been successful, while maybe not extraordinaryly succesful...I feel I made progress.

However, I hope to continue onward with what I've learnt from this experience and I think that is more important in the long run. I will continue to keep pressing the changes that have happened throughout the year and hopefully by the time Lent rolls around next year I'll be able to continue on with the process.

I think next year I may be up front and choose something to give up as a disciplinary exercise. While the idea that Lent is more of a spiritual exercise I think the idea of removing something from your life that will force you to discipline yourself could be a good thing. We'll see.

Posted by Jeff at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Continuing with on the theme of confusion…I was reading this article on Yahoo.

To quote "The world is not with us for the most part," says Andrew Kohut, director of The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which interviewed more than 5,500 people in nine nations from March 10-17 with a margin of error varying from 3.5 to 5 percentage points. "But they think there will be positive changes in Iraq and the region."

The United States roughly has a current population of 291 million people.
Romania: 21 million.
England: 59 million
Spain: 41 million

This totals 412 million people and this was only four of the nine countries polled. Now if I understand correctly they polled 5,500 people. This is 0.0013349514563106795%. So, does this necessarily constitute "The world is not with us for the most part"? I think I could deal with that part being against me, they certainly don't have numbers on their side.

So, I don't know, what do you think? To me this makes all the numbers thrown around in the article pretty much meaningless and irrelevant.

Posted by Jeff at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I spoke to another person yesterday in the elevator who, like me, has gone back and forth on his stance with the current world situation. It made me feel a little bit better about my own confusion. Maybe that's the problem with this whole situation is that no one feels like their getting the full story. My hope is that we are getting as much of the story as we possibly can from our government, that perhaps the "smoking gun" information can't be released to the public because it would endanger too many lives or some other reason I can't fathom. The other side of the coin is too far depressing to even discuss.

Posted by Jeff at 08:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow, I'm a blogging fool today. Work is slow.

Currently Reading: Otherland - River of Blue Fire by Tad Williams (little over 1/2 done)

Finished Reading: Fvlminata: Armed with Lightning (RPG Source book)

Trying to Read at the same time: Cicero by I don't know.

Posted by Jeff at 01:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cancer (June 21 - July 22)
Why did life develop in this fragile boundary between earth and sky? Because life exists at the edge of chaos. You'll find that is particularly true, this week.

I admit it, I blatantly and unashamedly stole this idea from Bernie who is a co-blogger on Dyanna's site. I don't care, I find it amusing :smug

Posted by Jeff at 01:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've always held the belief that humans haven't changed at all throughout history, only our environment has…for better or worse. This thought has been reinforced off and on throughout the years, so I feel pretty secure about it.

I've sort of come up with another, that our society tends to go through periods of over indulgence and then, as if in repentance, we decided to tone back down. This is probably a glaring over simplification of what occurs, but sometimes I really hope that the last two decades of what seems to be a slow downward slide into ever increasing depravity and disrespect will reverse itself.

And I think it's the disrespect that bothers me the most, there just seems to be so little of it now-a-days, especially from kids. Perhaps as adults we don't demand it enough or we don't care enough to act as role models for the children around us.

Anyway, just some random thoughts.

Posted by Jeff at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For some reason this just makes me happy. I was reading in Yahoo News that "All American Girl" flopped in its debut on whatever network it aired and in addition to that the "Hot or Not" show also had posted very mediocre ratings. My hope is that this is the beginning of the end for reality television; perhaps the public is slowly tiring of these intellectually and morally devoid programs. If not, well perhaps it at least means that even our American culture has its limits and that is an encouraging prospect.

Posted by Jeff at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The current world situation is like some appropriately slippery and slimy object. The more I try to get my hands around it the more it wiggles right out and I'm left struggling to grab it again. In the beginning I was against a war in Iraq, over time I've gone back and forth when at last I decided to take a pro war stance. I felt pretty good about my resolve, but as time goes on and I take in more and more information I feel myself slipping again back into indecisiveness.

Saddam is a nut case, I don't think there is any argument there. The article that the link will take you to is a pretty interesting look into Saddam's psyche; it's long, but interesting.

I think I'm sinking into apathy. How ever you look at it what I think about this situation isn't going to amount to a hill of beans and there's nothing I can do to stop it. I'm going to sit and watch, hope and pray that whatever happens will take the best possible course. I have a certain amount of fear, I'm not one gives the "end of the world" or "end times" crowd much credit, but it all seems a little uncanny and amongst all the other supposed scenarios, I suppose the apocalypse is a contender as well.

Posted by Jeff at 03:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How much should we worry about what the French, Germans, Chinese and Russians think. Let's look at this:

The Germans allowed the most brutal and evil person of the last century to rule their country.

The French capitulated under force and collaborated with said person. (I'm willing to cut the French a little slack here, few countries suffered the casualties that France did during World War I: 73% casualties; 1,357,800 dead; second only to the Russian Empire 76% casualties)

The Russians, do we really have to say it? Stalin, Lenin, can anyone really argue that the Soviet regime was not one of the most brutal, wasteful and destructive in history.

The Chinese, the point could be made that they've made communism work for so much longer because they've had the short 'n' curlies to do the things that even the Soviets wouldn't.

This has all been gone over before and probably in better/deeper detail. But I just have to have my moment. None of these countries or their citizens has the right to slander us when they are the legacy of some the most brutal regimes in history. Europe itself has been the spawning point of the two most catastrophic wars ever fought and in large part because they were a bunch of complacent, wishy-washy nincompoops.

Oh, and one more thing! Where do these arrogant European wankers get the right to attack the US Government on our transgressions against the Native Americans? Almost every European power was involved in colonial Imperialism, which had everything to do with exploitation and displacement of the indigenous populations

Posted by Jeff at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have you been driven away from Christianity? If so, how or who did it to you?

Posted by Jeff at 09:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've heard the Whiffenpoof Song...you just learn all kinds of things when reading Time articles.

The Wiffenpoof Song

Posted by Jeff at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I don't have a lot time or initiative to blog right now, at least the way I usually do it...so I'm just gonna throw some sheet down.

My knee jerk reaction to the news about Blix and the data he left out of his oral report to the Security Council is one of milldly unsurprised shock. I had hoped out of all of this that at least the weapons inspectors could be trusted to do their job. I mean as much as I am a supporter of Bush, I sometimes have my doubts...and as for the Germans and French, while I disagree I don't necessarily think that they're all anti war out of the goodness of their hearts. And I know Saddam has been a liar all along. But the inspectors? I say mildly unsurprised because I've just gotten used to expecting the unexpected...I would bet that most of us have. And I'm sorry, but if Blix did what I think he did and has been hiding or covering or going soft on Saddam...well the inspection process has lost every last shred of believability, purpose and is now completely irrelevent.
As wrong as I've felt that Germany, China, France and Russia have been thus far...well...they just look like complete drooling morons now!

Oh and another thing, where do the French and Belgians come off being so holier than thou. They both pursued brutal colonist expasnion in the last few centuries...especially the Belgians who used the Congo as a personal slave state.
And the Germans, after being a prime aggitator in the first World War and the instigator of the second...hell they should recognize tyranny when they see it...I suppose the French should too, but then they're just collaborators and appeasars....somehow I would bet that French are just pissed since they lost their middle eastern holdings after the WWII.

(this is a rant, I could be wrong on my facts in a few spots...but it needed to be let out)

Posted by Jeff at 02:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I bought a Netgear DSL Gateway Router today and that seems to have fixed my problem with getting my computer on the Internet. I had tried a few work arounds in an attempt to avoid any additional cost, but I just kept hitting the wall. Thankfully I found a nice router for $65 or so with tax and it has a $10 rebate, so I feel pretty good about that.

It seems to be working pretty well, it's not blazing fast, but it's better than dial up by a long shot. I've gotten pretty spoiled by the LAN connection at work, they have some pretty serious bandwidth at that place. The aggrivating thing is that I can't get into the Exchange server via Web Access thinngy, I have a suspicion that Beavis and Butthead forgot to turn it back on when they applied SP3 today :clap

Posted by Jeff at 07:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As you may have noticed, things are changing around here. Jeff's random image script is up and running again and the Stars-related stuff is gone. In the next couple days, the colors may be changing a little bit and the images will be modified for size.

Posted by Jeff at 02:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We have DSL now, it's all very exciting...I haven't had it in quite a few years...after having been one of the first people in Plano, TX to get DSL I've spent the last 4 years at dial-up speeds...but it was in the name of Love and I married her, so it was well worth it.

A lot of things have changed since the old days, evidently connecting more than one computer has gotten more complex and I haven't quite got it figured out yet. My wife's computer runs great, but mine just isn't working very well. I think it may be my old Hub and I wonder if getting a switch may fix it...I've noticed a lot of packet collisions.

Oh well I have DSL :boogie

Posted by Jeff at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm a bad Christian I admit it, but I keep trying. One of the good things about this situation is that God knows I'm going to be a bad Christian, so there are lots of chances to try again and as long as I keep trying then I'll be okay. At least this is what I hope.

My attempt at observing and really using Lent as a spiritual tool to be a better Christian has really brought out my shortcomings. Shortcomings that I've always been aware of, but have safely tucked away and figured I'd deal with at a later time. I think the biggest issue is knowing what I need to do, but not really doing it. I know that I need to be more involved in my faith on a conscious level through each day and I feel I know how to do that, but the burden is that if I make the effort then I'm really obligated to make the changes. Holding the philosophical and theological ideology is all fine and good, but it doesn't really take me anywhere. And now that I'm trying to get somewhere I see how really difficult it is.

It has only been one day, but already the temptations are there and while I've been technically good I think I have to be honest with myself in saying that I haven't honored the real spirit of my proposed bans. I decided that I needed to give up playing games on the computer and drinking, not because I feel these things are evil but because I feel they keep me from taking care of my responsibilities, both spiritual and in daily life. But I think what I'm finding out is that the removal of these things from my life doesn't automatically make me more responsible, I just find other things to do. Now I'm not surprised that there was no quick fix, but I've realized that I'm going to need to make an active change in focus and while I do intend to keep my ban on drinking (I'm not a drunk, but not drinking for awhile can't hurt), I've slightly amended the gaming ban to violent games just based on principal.

Perhaps I'm just trying to wiggle out, but I know that if I just honor my bans without applying the real change then I haven't really accomplished anything. So if I play some games or a have a few drinks I'm not going to feel I've failed in my convictions, as long as, I've actively made the changes that I want to make in my life. Then bans are a way to help make the change in direction, but this requires my effort, my foot power, to walk in the new direction.

As a way of explanation, this post has more to do with my own hem hawing and squirming than any definitive explanation of my resolve. This is as much an experiment in learning about myself as anything else and I don't know really what to expect whether I fail or succeed. This is also an effort in exploring the power of spiritual faith and the power of Christianity as a real world factor that can effect change in ourselves and the world around us. For much of my life church and religion have always been base support things, background tools that, while factors, only guided my life when I wanted them to. One hope in this effort is make my faith in God a real factor in my everyday thinking, because I feel that there is real power in all of this and it's good power.

Posted by Jeff at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It looks like the war is going to happen, I wish that it wouldn't, but odds are that by the end of next week US forces will be attacking Iraq. I haven't blogged much about the situation as I haven't been certain which side I fall on, I don't want war, but on the other hand the peaceniks annoy me.

Over the last week I've become a supporter of the war and I think it is the only way that Saddam can be dealt with. I feel that the Iraqi people will benefit from this war and that resistance will fall apart very quickly. I've read an article by an Iraqi nationalist and he made a pretty good case that the Iraqi general populace will support the American removal of Saddam and will work enthusiastically with us afterwards to establish a democratic government. The Iraqis want their own government and they deserve it, the deserve freedom.

I am a big supporter of President Bush and I think that he is doing a good job dealing with an incredibly hard situation. He has done all that has been asked of him in justifying the potential military action, congressional approval, going to the UN, etc, etc. Bush is determined to deal with Saddam and he's focused, I believe it's for the right reasons and is a necessity.

The costs of the war will be substantial, financially and loss of life. The cost of maintaining, placating and keeping a constant tab on Saddam will be even higher. I still hope that a peaceful resolution is possible, but as that depends completely on Saddam I don't see that happening.

George Bush is my president! God Bless America, God Bless Iraq and down with Saddam!

Posted by Jeff at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lent? What the hell is Lent? All I used to know about Lent was that it was this thing that Catholics did right after Mardi Gras. Growing up as a Baptist I never knew what Lent was about, nor Ash Wednesday…in fact I don't recall these things ever being mentioned in the many years that I attended a Baptist Church.

Not until I started attending a Methodist Church, with my then girlfriend, three years ago was I introduced to this ancient tradition of the Church. I was pretty skeptical about the whole thing, especially coming from a Baptist background where there is very little traditional ritual left, but I also was of the opinion that these things were unnecessary and quite possibly they detracted…that was my feelings on it. But we went to the Ash Wednesday service and it was a very interesting experience and started me down the mental road of realizing that these old traditions hold an important purpose, though more and more it seems they've been forgotten.

We just completed our third Ash Wednesday service last night and only now do I feel the purpose of the event. I have looked into myself and I am going to make the attempt at quitting a few things that I feel are leading me in the wrong direction, not only in a Christian sense, but many others as well. My goal is to make it to Easter, I may make it, I may not, I may revert afterwards, but I hope that having made the effort I will be enriched spiritually and mentally and overall be a better person, friend and husband. Of course the wonderful thing about this is that next year I have the same opportunity.

Even if your not a Christian and don't give a flip about spirituality or religion I would urge you to look at your life and ask the question. What can I give up that will make me a better person? It can be something as easy as "I'm not going to gossip" or "I'm not going to be judgmental" or something like that.

Just a thought
:angel

Posted by Jeff at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"The Romans believed that political corruption in the late republic was connected to moral decline. Immoral sexual behavior and the pursuit of political advancement led members of the upper classes to avoid marriage, divorce more frequently, and have fewer traditional relationships."
Excpert from:
Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2003.
© 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Draw your own conclusions...

Posted by Jeff at 08:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Welcome to the new and improved Unwanted Commentary.

Jeff is your host around here, but since I'm such a nice girlie, I've slaved all night long getting things moved over from GM. Yes, I'm being dramatic. I don't care, though, because in just a few minutes, I'll be snuggly-warm in my bed and I won't have a care in the world.

Anyhow, Jeff is a kick-ass guy, so you should come back here often and see what he has to say!

Have a kick-ass weekend!

Posted by Jeff at 04:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)