LEAVE IT TO PEEVER

– Bumper sticker of the week: I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.

– Quote of the week: "We enjoy not only the privilege of existence but also the singular ability to appreciate it and even, in a multitude of ways, to make it better. We have arrived at this position of eminence in a stunningly short time. Behaviorally modem human beings – that is, people who can speak and make art and organize complex activities – have existed for only about 0.0001 percent of Earth’s history. But surviving for even that little while has required a nearly endless string of good fortune. We really are at the beginning of it all. The trick, of course, is to never find the end. And that, almost certainly, will require a good deal more than lucky breaks." A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson

– Most talk therapy is just that: The therapist does the talking and the client does the sleeping. Somehow, it’s all supposed to help. The therapist gets to use his/her book-learning and the client gets some much-needed rest.

– In our frantic effort to live forever, we are dying more and more frequently from stress.

– This country is morally bankrupt. Soon it will be financially bankrupt. Yet Dubya keeps turning millionaires into billionaires. I think it’s Texas magic.

– If Lane Evans votes to give Bush more money for his Iraqi debacle, we need to seriously consider retiring him.

– Speaking of debacles: This Wong thing needs to get settled. Soon! This is a public official accused of mishandling money who currently handles money belonging to Knox County taxpayers. If there were ever a need for a speedy trial, this is it. Outsiders are laughing at us. Hell, insiders are laughing at us.

– Why any Maytag employee would go to a Maytag company picnic is seriously beyond my wildest imagination.

– NASA made serious blunders with the shuttle program: NASA has always swept serious management mistakes under the table. Unfortunately for them, when people get killed, it is much more difficult to do. They have been known to release blatant lies about what they do, or fail to do. Anyone with half a brain would have suspected that something may have been damaged when those panels fell off during the launch of the Columbia. Someone needs to make a strong argument as to why we should continue to give billions of tax dollars to the space program. What is our primary objective? I get a strong notion it is about 90% military and 10% corporate. Where is the pay-off for us? So far, super glue.

– Freedom: The distance between church and state.

– How to make the most out of life:

Try to take the positive things in life and use them to your advantage. Don’t limit yourself.

Sleep at least eight hours each night. It takes your unconscious mind at least that long to

straighten you out.

Keep work no higher than 5th on your list of priorities.

Do something worthwhile for someone else at least once per day.

Never hand-feed hungry alligators.

Read a lot. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry. Dump the Enquirer dime-store novels. These things only clutter your mind with unnecessary nonsense.

Never listen to anyone you claims to know "the truth," or "the way."

Give yourself a break. You’re going to do stupid things. The best you can hope far is that

they won’t be fatal.

When it comes right down to it, and you’re taking that last breath, try to do it with dignity

and as few regrets as possible.

– A sewer subject: I see the good old boys are having trouble figuring out how to get rid of all our crap. Have I got an idea.