Virtuous Circle

FAMILY PENN GRADUATION

FROM LEFT-MIKE-CAROLINE-PENN-REID (JACK IN FRONT)

French Broad River

Me

Jack

Family Eeaster 2006

JNBS-Fishing

THE VIRTUOUS YOUNGEST SON FISHING-MAY2006

2.5 LB LARGEMOUTH BASS

HAPPY EASTER

THE BOYS

ME AND THE VIRTUOUS WIFE

HAPPY EASTER

Book of Daniel-Jesus Not Offensive

THE REST I'M NOT SO SURE

I watched the opening episode of NBC’s the Book of Daniel tonight to see what all the fuss was about. Also since the virtuous father in law is an Episcopal priest, I’m sure the topic will come up at some point. First, the portrayal of Jesus is not in my opinion blasphemous-rather he was shown as a real presence in the life of the protagonist-Rev Daniel Webster (yes we get it Daniel Webster who out debated the devil himself).
The dialogs with Jesus are an attempt to deal with the burdens of life that the minister finds overwhelming. Jesus’ advice is-well-Christian, no place to find offense there. However almost everything else especially because it’s so ubiquitous is at least cumulatively offensive.

The two hour premier begins with the teenage daughter busted for selling pot. She needs the money to purchase a computer and software upon which to indulge her formidable talents in a stylized form of Japanese animation. Of the two brothers one is gay and the other an adopted Chinese is an instigator and actually quite funny. The minister and his bishop are both Vicodin addicts and the ministers wife is an alcoholic. The neighbors are bullies and racists. The brother in law embezzles the entire church school building fund. The wife’s sister is a lesbian-leading to the funniest line of the night-“why are you surprised she did go to Vassar.

In order to recover the church’s money he must engage the mafia connections of the local catholic priest.

There was some humor particularly the rough verbal play between the siblings but more of the show is a high brow sort of soap opera. Somehow thought there are possibilities-the primary theme of very flawed but not mean or vicious people trying to live a Christian life is a pretty good one. The show will either evolve to be more madcap in which the characters remain one dimensional but funnier or the characters can display more depth and ambiguity in which case the humor will have to be more restrained and subtle. Either could work but right now the show resides in the gaping hole between these possibilities.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Haven't posted forever but wanted to say hello-busy as can be running a public company-blogging was God's way of telling me I had too much time on my hands-would love to do the occasional book or movie review-so many people do politics so much more insightfully and eloquently than I do-

Here is a picture from Maine of us on the Palowan which was owned by Thoamas Watson Jr and apparently has quite a racing history scroll down on this link and also click through

Separated At Birth

WARD CHURCHILL                                                         PETER BOYLE AS YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN

Even For the AP-A New Low

I haven't posted in two months because I have a life. I took on a real job after enjoying a number of years of semi-retirement. I expect posting to be infrequent. Also,we won-thank God. However this headline on Yahoo News

Arabs Hope Mideast Cease-Fire Will Hold Because the Yahoo News Link will disappear in a few days I'll paste the whole article. My comments are in Blue. First the Headline-Is It Only the Arabs that Hope Cease Fire Will Hold? and second does the story even correspond to the headline? CAIRO, Egypt - Long wary of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) yet tired of incessant regional violence, Arabs across the Middle East expressed hope that Tuesday's Israeli-Palestinian commitment to end four years of violence could pay off. AP Photo Still, many noted that because the burning issues are yet to be tackled — including the continued Israeli occupation of Arab territories, Palestinian demands for Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state and the right of return for Palestinian refugees — the bloodshed may not be over. "I am happy to see Sharon here today and making this (cease-fire) agreement, but if he doesn't stick to his word the violence will resume," In other words of we don't get our way including the right of returning(ie the destruction of the Jewish state) the violence will resume. Hamid Youssef, a 40-year-old grocer, said while lugging a box of bananas into his Cairo store. Several hundred Egyptian students and journalists staged separate protests to criticize their president, summit host Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites), for inviting Sharon to Egypt — the latest in a series of steps toward normalizing relations. Despite their 1979 peace deal, relations have never been warm. "I am against normalization with Israel and I see no step forward (from this summit) for the rights of the Palestinians," Don't sense any eagerness here boss.Egyptian journalist Dina Heshmat told Associated Press Television Network during a protest outside the Egyptian Journalist's Syndicate in Cairo. Others felt the summit could ultimately help end a conflict that has taken its toll on a region longing for political reform and economic prosperity. "While I don't mind Sharon, I sure don't like him. But if this is going to stop the bloodshed for the Palestinian kids, I don't mind having him in my house," said 33-year-old Hassan Abd el-Warith, a fruit shop owner in a bustling, downtown Cairo souk. Bloodshed for the Palestinian kids-guess the Jewish kids who get blown up got what they deserve-Hassan-by the way does the AP interview anyone other than journalists or fruit shop owners. Prominent Palestinian refugee and author Waleed al-Barghouti criticized the summit, saying it left Israel holding the upper hand. "I am not against appeasement and would encourage any chance for peace, but I don't trust the Sharon administration," al-Barghouti said in Cairo, where he arrived in 1963 as a student but was prevented from returning home because of the outbreak of the 1967 war. Some Palestinian refugees in Lebanon said Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, would pursue key Palestinian demands. "President Abu Mazen will be successful and will not give up on Palestinians' legitimate rights,"and what are these legitamate rights said Khaled al-Aref, representative of the Palestinian Liberation Organization from the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp, the largest among Lebanon's 12 Palestinian camps. But many Arabs, familiar with the peace process' steps forward and back, felt little would change. "I will not be optimistic until I see Sharon and his (extremist) line of thinking out of office," said Abdullah Sahar, a political science teacher at Kuwait University. "Only then can matters be treated with realism and justice." Enough already -Why the hell would Yahoo  link to this crap.Where is the Israeli side in the headlines today. "