LEAVE IT TO PEEVER
London bridges falling down
— Bumper sticker of
the week: I love my country ... but I think we should start seeing other
people.
— Quote of the week:
ÒThe only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my
measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old
measurements and expect me to fit them.Ó George Bernard Shaw
— Bush declares,
ÒItÕs worth the sacrifice.Ó Easy for him to say. There are no blood stains on
his fancy tailored suit. With no weapons of mass destruction having been found,
the new battle cry becomes, ÒWe have to stay the course. What would they do
without us?Ó The question should be, ÒWhat will they do with us?Ó Tens of
thousands dead, a destroyed infrastructure, and a serious tip in the balance of
power, putting Iraq on the brink of civil war. Now we hear, ÒWe canÕt possibly
leave. TheyÕd kill one another.Ó I suppose itÕs better that we kill them? All
the wrong questions being asked by all the right fools.
— Some positive
peeverisms (for you cynics out there):
1.For that new business
park, I hear the Out-House Builders of America are dancing in the non-existent
streets.
2.The North Broad Street
house remodeling project has been a contractor's delight. A hundred more jobs
like that, and we could call it a housing boom.
3.Wal-Mart has their
building up for sale on their internet site. TheyÕre apparently planning on
moving or closing. We can only hope. My confidential sources, whom I will never
divulge, prison or no prison, tell me a KohlÕs is interested. That would
definitely be a step up.
4.Someone is remodeling the
old theater, turned church, next to Big Lots. Plus putting up what looks like a
strip mall. My confidential source tells me it will be a MarshallÕs. I donÕt
have a clue what a MarshallÕs is, but I suppose thatÕs good.
5.The city council is said to
be talking about some new parks, and fixing up the ones we have. That would be
good.
6.You canÕt beat the July
4th fireworks
at Lake Storey. People get all bent out of shape over the traffic. Bunch of
country hicks whining about a 10 minute traffic jam. Visit Chicago for a day.
That will cure you.
— Speaking of
Chicago: I went there a couple weeks ago for my son's birthday. Had a great
time. Ate at a new restaurant called Alinea, which a local doctor is part owner
of, and went to a Sox–Cubs game. The restaurant experience was
great, and the Cubs won, making that nothing short of a miracle, so I was
extremely pleased by both. Every time IÕm in Chicago, they hold the Gay Pride
Parade. IÕm not really sure if there is any significance to that, but it makes
me a little nervous. I assume everyone realizes I donÕt care about a person's
sexual preference. For that matter, I donÕt care what animal preference a
person has. But I have never thought you should make a nuisance of yourself to
prove a point. Men wearing see-thru jock straps with a red boa wrapped around
their neck is not my idea of good publicity. Still, I try not to judge. Or
laugh. I canÕt for the life of me figure out what they are trying to prove.
ItÕs kind of a stick-it-in-your-face, shock approach. ItÕs like me going to
church on Sunday morning, singing in the choir, and joining the Rotary on
Monday. It just doesnÕt add up.
— Stealing the
memorial donations at a funeral is just about as low as you can go:
Surprisingly enough, thatÕs exactly what happened recently. Somebody lifted the
memorials right out of the hearse. One can only hope that the user of said
funds will experience some real bad luck in the real near future.
— Iraq will never
resemble the free market, pro-American, Israel friendly democracy that the Bush
administration promises. The presence of American troops in Iraq has made this
country less safe, and more hated around the world. Tony Blair, BushÕs cohort
in the war against Iraq, has now been introduced to what it means to promote
war rather than peace. London bridges came falling down. His first response,
ÒWeÕre going to get even.Ó ThereÕs nowhere to go with that but down.