Streams of Consciousness

Dominic and I hightailed it out of town this past weekend. We drove to Iowa, while Sharon went on a scrapbooking sojorn and Benny stayed with Sharon's parents here in Kansas City. It had been a long time (March) since Dominic had been to Iowa. Benny and I had been there at the end of May, but other than that, we haven't made the trip often this year. I would like to go more often. However, I also would like to take either Friday or Monday off from work (or, both), because otherwise it just doesn't seem like enough time. By the time we get there late Friday night, it seems like we barely get a chance to say hello before it is time to turn around and come back home again. Dominic really looked forward to the trip this time. He was excited about going to grandma's house. It was our big adventure. He did very well in the car, both on the way there, and on the way back. I think it is the first time he ever went the whole trip without falling asleep. This was nice, ...

I don't like it. It feels like they are pushing content upon me, whereas it used to feel like I had more of a choice on what content I went after. Plus, I don't like all of the multi-media on the home page. I just want it to be the way it was for the past several years. Who moved my cheese?

Like many political junkies (which, I'm afraid, I've become), I've been fascinated by the defeat of Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary of Connecticut last week. 16-year veteran senators simply do not lose in their primaries very often. Both liberals and conservatives (and, I use those lables loosely, since they are applied with hostility by both sides) are claiming the result as a victory for their cause. The Republicans are trying to spread the line that the Democrats kick out the moderates of their party (how ironic is that?!). Democrates are claiming the result is a mandate against the Bush administration (as if he were that popular in Connecticut anyway). One thing is for sure. Since Lieberman has refused to drop-out, and the race has national attention, Connecticut is certainly going to witness a political bloodbath over the next few months. It should be interesting to watch, as new political alliances are formed, and old ones are broken. I think this is p...

Here is to hoping that the cease fire in the Middle East brings peace to the region, and allows the innocent civilians in Lebanon and Northern Israel to begin rebuilding their lives. Hezbollah needs to be obliterated. No organization that indiscrimanantly fires rockets into a civilian area should be allowed to exist. I understand that they cannot compete against the Israeli military, but that is no justification for their actions. At the same time, the Israeli military needs to be open to critisism for its actions without its defenders shouting "anti-Semite" at every turn. The bombing of the U.N. compound, and the high civilian death toll is unacceptable. If Hezbollah fighters are hiding amongst schools full of children, I believe they are off limits for ariel bombardment. Collateral damage is a poor excuse when it is a known fact that civilians are going to be killed in a particular bombing run. Jackie Marquez, a friend of mine from high school and college, left a com...