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Thursday, March 31, 2005
Boys Night Out
After picking up Emma Okesson and dropping her and Emily off at church for kids choir practic, the boys and I leisurely drove to GD Ritzy's. (Jenny was attending the Josh McDowell event with Angela Collins.)
The boys and I ate hamburgers and fries and had some fun conversation. Isaac seemed to like the oldies music and moved his shoulders to the beat of the music. A fifty-something gentleman was working in the eating area, cleaning tables and vacuuming the floor. He was very friendly and smiled and talked to most of the patrons, including Jacob, Isaac and me. He came over and made some idle prattle with the boys and we commented on the relative innocence of the 50's music compared to today's secular slop. Isaac was still sort of dancing in his chair to the music and the guy and I were very poorly singing some silly lyric to a song, which Isaac found very humorous. Jacob, who tends to the shy, easily embarrassed side, asked me to please stop, although you could tell he liked the silliness.
I allowed Jacob to take a five dollar bill to the front and get his own junior scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in a cake cone. He came back with the change and his ice cream exuding a proud, "I did it all by myself" look on his face. Isaac was still working on his hamburger. I asked Jacob how much the ice cream cost, and he said the lady didn't tell him. I told him that if he could figure it out, that I would give him a quarter. He said he couldn't do it without a pencil. I obtained a pen and a napkin from the counter and he proceeded to count up the change ($3.83), then wrote down 5.00 - 3.83 on the napkin and figured out the correct answer of 1.17. I had to remind him not to forget the units, at which point he promptly added the $. During that time, I had taken the change and went with Isaac to get his ice cream and used up the quarters along with another quarter I had in my pocket, leaving me in a dilemma - no quarters to give to my little mathematician. So, I opted to just give him a whole dollar. Jacob was a very happy camper.
I commented on how the afore-mentioned gentleman was still working very hard cleaning up, being friendly and pointed out the fact that he had an excellent attitude. I mentioned to Jacob that jobs like this don't pay very much, but it's very encouraging to see that the guy was so friendly and worked so hard. Jacob mentioned that the guys attitude and friendliness would please God.
We finished up and I was gathering up our stuff to throw away and noticed Jacob was fiddling with the dollar I had given him. I told him he should put it in his pocket so he didn't lose it. He had one of those, "I want to say something, but am not sure if I should" looks on his face. I asked him what was on his mind. He shyly mentioned that he would like to give his dollar to "that guy" for working so hard. Meanwhile, the gentleman had disappeared momentarily. We took our time cleaning up, waiting for him to come back out. We ended up having to request someone let him know we'd like to talk to him. He came out a bit perplexed. Jacob, who is typically very shy with people he doesn't know, took the dollar out (plus another dollar I had given him because I told him I thought that his idea was a great one) and handed it to the confused man, telling him, "Here, I wanted you to have this."
The guy was obviously touched; as was I. That boy can really drive me crazy sometimes. Tonight was a rewarding time to be his father.
3/31/2005 08:27:00 PM by Todd Bacon
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Surprised she was able to speak on college campus at all...
Wednesday, March 30, 2005 3:24 p.m. EST
Ann Coulter Draws Cheers, Jeers at KU
Ann Coulter fired blistering volleys against liberals and, on occasion, heard them fired back at her from the crowd of 1,800 people at the University of Kansas's Lied Center.
And though the overwhelming number of people who attended were fans of hers, the best-selling author, columnist, lawyer and sought-after political analyst also had to deal with small crowds of hecklers.
She handled it in her usual top-notch manner, with wit, humor and verve, suggesting they were simply misguided students who "meant to be at the sexual reorientation class down the hall."
Coulter even praised liberals, noting they are "kind of cute when they're cold, shivering and afraid." And, reported the Lawrence Journal-World, she even pledged to entertain questions from liberal attendees – or at least those who could "thrash their way to a coherent thought."
Still, Coulter at one point had to threaten to end the lecture due to continued heckling.
"Could ten of the largest College Republicans start walking up and down the aisles and start removing anyone shouting? Otherwise, this lecture is over," she said.
At that point, the paper reported, there was no shortage of people willing to help her out. One student – a freshman named Michael Conner – said of the verbal confrontations that began within moments, "All I did was say they shouldn't stop her from speaking."
The blonde bombshell also took jabs at all of liberalism's icons – Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., whom she said was the Democrats' "spiritual leader" and whom she described as a "human dirigible"; award-winning filmmaker and best-selling Bush critic Michael Moore; "and former presidential candidate John Kerry, who she said got away with telling 'big, fat, enormous lies,'" the paper reported.
Coulter, who was paid $25,000 to appear, said that although Democrats lost big in the 2004 elections, they are basically beholden to the same tired, worn liberal ideas that got them defeated. She said the party believes it only "needs new labels for their bottles."
The paper reported that Coulter spoke at the 37th J.A. Vickers Sr. Memorial Lecture Series, an event sponsored by the Kansas University Endowment Association via financial backing from the Vickers family of Wichita. The series began in 1971.
3/31/2005 11:23:00 AM by Todd Bacon
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Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Human rights defense
from Newsmax.com:
Abu Ghraib Dems Mum on Terri
Liberal Democrats who were beside themselves with rage over what they called the "torture" of terrorist suspects by GI guards at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison have been totally silent on the starvation torture of Terri Schiavo.
As the prison abuse scandal unfolded last May, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton could barely contain herself, calling the actions of U.S. soldiers "depraved."
"I'm not satisfied yet that we understand fully what caused this depravity that was so shocking to Americans and such a violation of our values," she complained to NBC's Gabe Pressman.
"I have a problem that goes far beyond the disclosures of the horrible behavior and misconduct in the prison," she added, saying that Bush administration officials encouraged Abu Ghraib through "a pattern and practice of misjudgments that add up to incompetence and lack of credibility."
On the starvation torture of Terri Schiavo, however, Sen. Clinton's reaction has been muted. On the day Schiavo's feeding tube was removed, for instance, Clinton said ... well, nothing. And she's been silent ever since.
Failed presidential candidate John Kerry was likewise exorcised about mistreatment at Abu Ghraib, using some of the same language employed by Hillary.
Commenting on photos of the prison mistreatment, Kerry told the New York Times, "They are sickening and appalling, depraved and sad."
But on the starvation execution of Terri Schiavo, the Massachusetts senator is apparently still searching for the right words.
Last May House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the Abu Ghraib prison photos "reinforce my belief that a full congressional investigation is necessary." So far, however, Pelosi has yet to lend her support to subpoenas issued by Congress last week to probe the abuse of Schiavo.
Sen. Ted Kennedy was outraged by the Abu Ghraib scandal, calling it America's "greatest fall from grace."
"Who gave the green light for the violations of the Geneva Convention?" Kennedy demanded.
But on Terri Schiavo, the Democrats' foremost defender of young women has been, you guessed it, completely silent.
3/22/2005 04:59:00 PM by Todd Bacon
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Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Here's something new....
It's amazing that the head of the UN is just now claiming that killing and maiming innocent civilians is unjustifiable.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/3/15/152452.shtml
Annan Calls for Treaty Outlawing Terrorism
3/16/2005 10:14:00 AM by Todd Bacon
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Here's something new....
It's amazing that the head of the UN is just now claiming that killing and maiming innocent civilians is unjustifiable.
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http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/3/15/152452.shtml
Annan Calls for Treaty Outlawing Terrorism
3/16/2005 10:14:00 AM by Todd Bacon
0 comments
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Easter Play
Emily and I will be in this, so check it out.
3/10/2005 04:55:00 PM by Todd Bacon
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Monday, March 07, 2005
Nice title
3/07/2005 09:33:00 AM by Todd Bacon
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