Nonsensical Ravings of a Lutheranatic mind

07:55 am - No one has talked about it. . .

Since no one has talked about it. . . what are people's thoughts on the bill that passed in the House for health care. Specifically, I am interested in:

A. What you think of the bill as stands.
B. What you think it's prospects are for a Senate bill passing.
C. If you think the combined bill will look anything like the house bill, and if not, what will be changed.

Note: There will be ground rules for this.

1. You get one comment, to be made to this post directly. I don't want a debate, I just want to know what people are thinking. (Note, if your thoughts go over one comment, you can reply to your own comment - however, use this to expand your ideas, not to critique or complain about what others have written)

2. I will not respond -- I am not trying to trap any one or make you feel burdened upon or threatened for your opinion. I simply want to know what people are thinking - as most of you are much more passionate on this issue than I am.

(++edit+++ If I could make a suggestion - don't even read the comments before you post - simply put forth your ideas if you are so inclined. We should have opportunity to put forth our thoughts +++edit+++)

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My own brief note -- I think the abortion amendment shows how loose a coalition the Democratic party is internally. One issue almost tanked the whole thing.

Also - Pelosi said that as one Republican voted for the bill that it was a bi-partisan bill. I think something along the lines of, "This bill was not as bi-partisan as I would have liked, but hopefully when we vote on the bill that has been reconciled with the Senate that there will be more support for the wishes of the American people shown on both side of the aisle" would have been much better.

07:50 am - It was 20 years ago today. . .

no, not that Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play.

It was 20 years ago today that the Berlin Wall fell. Just. . . hmmm.

11:40 pm - O.o???

Buffy had a kid September 19th

Take from this any strange significance that you will.

07:54 pm - New Jordan. . . is out.

So you guys know, the 12th book of the Wheel of Time has been released - "The Gathering Storm" by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.

No, it is not the last book. According to Sanderson's forward, the notes would yield a book three times the size of a typical Jordan book - so we are getting this one and two more (and he was halfway through number 13 as of June, 2009).

...

Oh, and Jordan had written the entire ending beforehand.

I've read the prologue and part of the first chapter -- seems to be quite a bit tighter than the more recent ones (feels more like Lord of Chaos in terms of rambillage).

12:48 pm - No, Rebel Owl, I am your father. . .

09:07 am - Rebelowl robbed again!

Wow. . well, once again Rebelowl came in second in the Heisman voting (although he won the Maxwell and the Doak Walker). I think this happened because we ran things up a bit in the Big 12 Championship game - his 370 yards and 6 TDs in our 84-28 defeat of Nebraska was seen as excessive (all we did was run in the second half)

But, after 13 games, with the national championship to go - Rebelowl had 3191 yards rushing (on 276 attempts for a 11.6 per carry average) and 53 touchdowns. Oh, you caught for 408 yards (25 catches) and 2 TDs as well.

Fox_C won the Thorpe award for best DB. Explosive Turtle had the best defensive play where she tipped a pass to herself and rumbled 90 yards for a touchdown on a pick.

As for me - 178-271 for 3404 yards, 30 TD, 6 Picks.

Now to play the Concordia Theological Seminary Kingsmen (Big East Champs) in the title game.

06:41 am - But if I used real money. .

Yahoo has a fantasy game where you predict College Football games (of all the top 25 teams) against the spread (i.e. what you would use when betting). This year, I am right 60% of the time - 90 out of 150, which puts me in the 97%, 2078 overall.

Now, a few thoughts:

1. The fact that I am only hitting 60% and am 97th percentile shows why Vegas makes money.
2. If I tried this with real money, I'd only be hitting 40%.

06:47 am - Firefly on Castle

For those of you who missed it here is the Firefly reference to end all references on Castle.

09:43 pm - Wow. . .

"Badger" is showing up as a potential villain in the new show "White Collar"

Thought 2: Who needs Twitter, I have livejournal.

11:08 pm - Random Post Number 2

Having some pet Lemmings would be awesome.

That is all.

10:37 pm - Hotnessilism

When I was in England, I noticed that, as a rule of thumb, the men there were better looking then the women. Just, if you took an 80% British male and an 80% British woman, the guy would be much better looking than the gal.

This stood out to me because I have my basic American theory of attractiveness -- we tend to be pretty good at finding someone roughly on our appearance level, and those levels tend to be pretty equal. The hotties end up with the hunks, and the trolls end up with the other trolls, and everything moves on relatively well (with the few exceptions. . . but eventually Angelina Jolie moves away from Billy Bob Thorton to Brad Pitt, and all is right in the world again).

Is this superficial? Yes - but guess what, we live in a pretty superficial world.

At any rate, England has a dearth of good looking women. At least London does. So I have long been advising my single female friends to consider moving to Britian - I mean, a decent looking American gal ought to be able to rope in a quite fine British gent.

This past weekend, sitting in an Indian restuarant in Kansas City, with the Indian TV going in the background, I made a realization (one that should be quite obvious to any of us who know the illustrious Tashar) -- the ratio in India is the exact opposite of what it is in England -- there are lots more hot women than men. Even at the higher "Bollywood" levels -- the gals just are so much better looking than the guys.

Even consider the image of the typical Indian Housewife as presented in the media - always gonna be better looking than the guy. Simple as that.

Which made me wonder - could this have been a factor in the British interest in India? Indeed, in colonization as a whole, perhaps? Did centuries worth of British men leave home just in search of better looking women? Let's consider:

Ireland - hotter women, oh yeah.
India - hotter women, oh yeah.
The Far East - hotter women, oh yeah.

Compare this with England's half hearted attempts at places elsewhere where the women were less hot.

I wonder if this could be a way of reevaluating all of history -- are actions based not on economics, or ideals, or religion, but primarily on hotness? Could Hotnessilism provide an explanation to various historical problems that socialist or post-modern truth-power paradigms couldn't answer.

For example - the US doesn't really go Imperialist until we end up getting less hot immigrants from overseas and at the same time have an increase in obesity. . . perhaps this isn't coincidence.

(Insert your own JFK and Vietnam observation here)

And then, of course, the main point of contention between the US and Russia is of course -- the hot Russian spy.

Hmmm... this could also be why we pulled away from England at the end of the 18th Century and starting interacting more with France. . . who knows, who knows.

Well, it's something to consider.

+++ Edit +++

Additional Anecdotal evidence regarding India.

Dr. Doty once told a story in class when we were discussing Caste systems. India came up. Apparently he had an Indian roommate when he was in college. Didn't think anything of it - until he saw a picture of the fellow's sister, who was much, much more attractive than him, surprisingly so. Quoth Doty - "My first thought was, 'My God, I'm rooming with the wrong one.'" Hence, anecdotal evidence.

Also, the brother was proud because she was going to marry a fellow of a higher caste - her bethrothed was a troll. Again. . . more evidence.

03:28 pm - Hitchery

If you are planning on getting hitched in the coming year, and more importantly are wanting me involved with the hitchery, if you would let me know here so I can start planning where I am supposed to be and when.

Thanks.

06:56 am - My mom's humor

I rarely send forth anything my mom sends me, but this was good.

Obama Named Country Music Entertainer of the Year

NASHVILLE (The Borowitz Report) - President Barack Obama stunned the country music world today by picking up its highest honor, Country Music Entertainer of the Year.

Mr. Obama was chosen unanimously, according to the Country Music Association, beating out such favorites as Carrie Underwood and Toby Keith.

In Nashville, country music insiders were shocked by Mr. Obama's selection, given that he has only been in office for eight months and during that time has yet to record a single country song.

But Mr. Obama was gracious in receiving the honor, saying that he was "honored and humbled" by the award before excusing himself to accept this year's Heisman Trophy.

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There was a wonderful campaign photo of the President wearing a big old black hat, tipping it in greeting. It was good.

10:34 am - I hadn't realized. . .

That it was Seth Green who unleshed the whole Cha-ching thing of the 90s upon us.

Nor that Oz was Willow's girlfriend way back in "My Stepmother is a Alien". Things that happen when you are bored and looking at imdb.

++++ Edit ++++

Ack! Seth Green is the uber-burger pimp! He even did Burger ads in the 80s as a child!

And Nerf toys

Agh, you tube will melt my brain!

08:44 pm - Slight political pontification

What will follow is an insight into how I am thinking politically. If not interested, look not behind the cut - but what will follow will be neither liberal nor conservative, will not deal with specific policies (other than in an cursory, referential fashion), or the like. It is my general thoughts.

( Read more... )

08:39 pm - What would Kurt say?

I just used a copy of Vonnegut's "Player Piano" to smash a spider.

This seems like it should have some sort of significance.

08:35 pm - Hey WBJ, where you going?

What follows is a post WBJ made - I know many of you don't follow anymore. I found this to be. . . amusing.

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OK. So ... I've been working for over two weeks... but the government has been on me to take re-employment training (teaching me how to make a resume and how to interview properly), or 'measures may be taken'.

So I called the number they gave me.

The person on that line told me to call a second number.

After waiting on hold for a while, I got someone who took my information. They will

Submit a request for consideration of a work search waiver on the grounds that I am currently employed full-time to their legal department. Someone should get back to me eventually on whether or not this is sufficient reason to consider me eligible for consideration of a waiver.

And people wonder why I don't trust government agencies to make my decisions for me...

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I just find this amusing. . . and I will say that I think any bureaucracy can do such things (just to be neither liberal nor conservative with this)

01:21 pm - But they are orange

I'm re-reading 8-bit theater. I this link in honor of old friends from college and their dietary struggles.

And I still say that in that game she was just resting her heart.

07:08 am - Um. . .

Okay. . . so President Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize because of his efforts to. . . well. . . apparently it is summed up in the fact that he's nice when it comes to diplomacy.

"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population," it said.

So. . . how to react to this?

My second reaction was to consider what a blunt statement this was on Bush. I mean, when a new President can win a Nobel Peace Prize which he would have been nominated for within 10 days of assuming office (nominations are due Feb. 1) - Bush must have really, really screwed the diplomatic pooch (which we all knew).

But my first reaction was. . . why? Because we. . . rattled our sabers at Iran over nuclear issues? Or are thinking about a surge in Afghanistan? Or are still plugging away in Iraq? Or still running Gitmo? And still have no work down concerning Israel and the Palestinians?

What has he done?

Apparently it's not about what he has done - Jagland said he hoped the prize would help Obama resolve the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Also. . .The Nobel committee recognized Obama's efforts to solve complex global problems including working toward a world free of nuclear weapons. You mean global problems like. . . global warming. . . or a new nuclear treaty. . . or. . . um. . . I just don't get it.

Wow. . . maybe we should call it the Nobel Hope for Peace Prize. . . which is just so, so ironic that it is released on the eve of our 8th anniversary of being in Afghanistan as the debate rages over how much to increase troop numbers by - (not if. . . how much).

And he had to have been nominated by Feb 1st. . .

++++++ Edit ++++++

I knew I should have gone to Fox News for additional entertainment this morning. How's this for a quote:

"So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far. He is still at an early stage. He is only beginning to act," said former Polish President Lech Walesa, a 1983 Nobel Peace laureate.

When the even the Poles go "Huh?"....

02:36 pm - More Rough news for Rebelowl

RebelOwl,

I'm sad to inform you that you finished 2nd in the Heisman voting to Tim Tebow by one point - 1777 to 1776. Tebow had only 344 first place votes to your 355, but 321 second to your 308, and 103 third place votes to your 95.

There was obviously some bias against the Pacmen of Pasadena Community College, even though they won the Big 12 South with an undefeated season. You at least got the Doak Walker Award.

Here are some stats prior to the Bowl Game

I was 191-295 for 3064 yards, 30 TD and 9 picks
Rebel Owl had 219 carries for 2251 yards and 34 TDs - also caught 28 balls for 261 and 2 TDs. . . and you were 13 of 14 in field goals and averaged 44.5 yards per punt - and and 9 tackles on kickoff coverage

Wyvern - well, you were the number 2 wideout - 32 catches for 398 yards and 2 TDs.

Marimblanlr - 36 catches for 923 and 9 TDs

Me bride caught 28 for 368 and 6 TDs as a tight end. . . aw yeah.

Wolfbrother - as a FB you caught 11 balls for 100 yards and 2 TDs, also rushing 15 times for 62 yards and a TD

Defensively, FoX_C (SS) led the team in tackles with 91 - 23 for loss, 3 sacks, and 4 INTS (2 returned for touchdowns)

Your hubby at FS had 56 tacks, and only 1 pick

The cornerbacks were our Alaskan friends. The beautiful one had 53 tackles and 5 picks (3 for TD) - the studly one only had 33 tackles but 7 picks, again for 3 TDs.

Arywlen -- I controlled you on D - you had 8 sacks as a Defensive end.

And the explosive turtle, due to her former temporary size increase, also played on the line - she had 40 tackles and 8 sacks as well.

Those are the major highlights - a good season for you all!