Belicove.Com - BeliBlog

« August 2004 | Main | October 2004 »

September 25, 2004

I'M SORRY

For the past 10 days, we Jews have been observing The High Holy Days... a deeply reflective time in which we examine our relationships with other human beings (and with God, too, I suppose), and attempt to right past wrongs and ask forgiveness for wrongs we have committed, both intentional and unintentional. The High Holidays officially started this year on September 16th with Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), and they end this evening at sundown (6:37 p.m. here in Indianapolis) with the winding down of Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement).

Many people have heard that on Yom Kippur--which is today--some Jews choose to fast, i.e., not eat any food for around 25 hours or so, which is exactly what I'm in the midst of right now. The intention of fasting, we were told as children, is not to torture ourselves or to punish ourselves for the sins we have committed. Rather, fasting is supposed to help us to transcend our physical natures. We were told as children that praying without concern for food allows us to completely focus on the prayers.

Well, for me, ever since I was old enough to create meaning for myself, the fasting has served as an intense reminder of all that I have done wrong in the past year. The fasting encourages my prayers and reminds me that I am not perfect and that I must hold myself accountable for my own misdeeds.

This past year has been a remarkable one. I've had the opportunity to interact with, and be a part of, so many different lives and their associated stories. For some, I was a positive influence... I was someone who was fully engaged and supportive. For others, well, quite frankly, I was not.

If I offended you over the last year with any of my actions or words, please accept my apology. I'm a work in progress, and some days, especially today, I wonder when the work will be done so that I and all of those around me may finally have a little bit of peace and quiet.

As always, thanks for reading and for being a part of my life, as well as for allowing me to be a part of yours. Sincerely, if I have upset anyone, please know that I am sorry and that I am committed to being more mindful of all of my actions (and reactions, too).

Posted by Mikal at 9:05 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 24, 2004

FOUR FOR FRIDAY

Q1: When shopping for food or related sundries, how important are brands in your decision-making process? For instance, let's say you're standing in the cereal isle at your local supermarket, and right there in front of you are two of essentially the same item, but one carries a brand name or label you're familiar with, while the other is labeled with the name of the supermarket? All things being equal except price, which box of cereal do you purchase?

Q2: If you wore eyeglasses, based on what you know today about the procedure, would you choose to have elective laser surgery to correct a common eye disorder such as nearsightedness, farsightedness or an astigmatism (distorted vision)? Do you know anyone who has had this sort of surgery, and if so, what have they said about the experience and/or the results?

Q3: What do you do when you're given the wrong amount of change when purchasing something with cash? Does your reaction differ depending on which side of the equation you land, i.e., receiving too much change verses not enough?

Q4: Do you have confidence in the airport screening procedures in place in the United States?

Posted by Mikal at 12:00 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

September 21, 2004

Since TV commercials are always trying to push a political candidate the same way they seek to sell a new car, maybe we should think of ourselves as shoppers. That's what PriceGrabber.com, an Internet comparison-shopping tool, and the University of Southern California's Center for E-Government have done. The result is a website where you and I can compare and contrast national and statewide candidates' backgrounds, fund-raising totals, and positions on a wide variety of issues.

Approximately 100 candidates for public office are in the database, which we can search by state, gender, age, office, marital status and so on. Click here to see the presidential comparison-shopper tool.

September 20, 2004

There's no denying it. Yesterday morning, at approximately 5:35 a.m., I turned 39-years-old. It's hard to believe that the next 12 months will be the last of my 30's, and in a little less than one year from today I'll be 40-frickin-years-old. Crazy, I tell ya; just nutty. I don't feel a day over 28, whatever the heck that's supposed to mean, and I certainly do not feel like I almost 40. Anywhoo...

Last year I marked my birthday with the following words, and this year the sentiment's exactly the same:

As much as I might like to go on-and-on about the whole age thing, I have very little to complain about. To put my age into perspective:

I was 34-years-old at the time of the 9-11 attack
I was 34-years-old on the first day of Y2K
I was 31-years-old when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash
I was 29-years-old at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing
I was 28-years-old when O.J. Simpson was charged with murder
I was 27-years-old at the time of the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center
I was 25-years-old when Operation Desert Storm began
I was 24-years-old during the fall of the Berlin Wall
I was 20-years-old when the space shuttle Challenger exploded
I was 18-years-old when Apple introduced the Macintosh computer
I was 17-years-old during Sally Ride's travel in space
I was 15-years-old when John Hinckley, Jr. short President Reagan
I was 14-years-old when the Iran hostage crisis began
I was 10-years-old on the U.S.'s bicentennial Fourth of July
I was 8-years-old when President Nixon left office
I was 6-years-old when Alabama Governor George C. Wallace was shot
I was 3-years-old at the time the first human being stepped onto the Earth's moon
I was 2 years-old when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated

Susan B. Anthony (b.1820 - d.1906) said it best... "Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these."

September 17, 2004

Q1: Breakfast: Do you eat breakfast every morning? If so, do you generally tend to eat the same thing each morning, or do you try to mix it up on a daily basis?

Q2: Lunch: If you could have lunch today with any two or three people you wanted (dead or alive), who would you have lunch with? Also, if you were able to eat that lunch at any location on the face of the planet, where would that be? And finally, if you could choose to eat anything you wanted, what would you have?

Q3: Dinner: On average, how many nights per week can you be found cooking dinner for yourself or for yourself and others at home in your own kitchen?

Q4: Generally speaking, which do you feel you have more of in your life... control or influence?

September 16, 2004

According to an e-mail message I just received, live hurricane coverage can be found on the Internet, courtesy of several TV broadcasters in the midst of the storm. New Orleans' WWL and WDSU are streaming their signals as is Mobile/Pensacola's WPMI .

September 14, 2004

I've always been interested in band names. The Canonical List of Weird Band Names is a blessing for anyone looking to name their band, or oddly enough, name their Blog. My favorites (the clean ones, that is) include the following:

September 13, 2004

As Guest Blogger Bradley Wolaver's post for today has been somewhat delayed by a nasty head-cold, I thought I would post the following, which was sent to me by my old friend Julie Manning in Colorado:

Step 5. Your PC will ask you, "do you really want to get rid of George W. Bush?"

September 10, 2004

Q1: Elton John has those colorful glasses. Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan (b.1911 - d.2004) had his Jelly Beans. And former U.S. Senator Paul Simon (b.1928 � d.2003) had bow-ties� lots and lots of bow-ties. How about you... do you have any 'signature' or 'trademark' items; things that just scream that it's you because you either always have it on your person, in your car, at your office, etc., and which friends, family, or colleagues universally know you by?

Q2: President Clinton did it in 1998, and President George W. Bush is threatening to do the same in 2004. Do you think an incumbent President seeking reelection should be allowed to bow out of one, two, or any or all of the Presidential Debates sponsored and managed by the Commission on Presidential Debates?

Q3: Which would you prefer... to be rich beyond your wildest imagination... as famous as anyone dead or alive... or as powerful as the most influential person you can think of?

Q4: Do you have reoccurring dreams? If so, and you feel comfortable talking about them, what do yours focus on, and, do you think they actually mean something, or to you are they're just these things you tend to dream up while sleeping which you feel have no baring on anything whatsoever?

Up until today, anytime you opened one of the 'comment' windows on a Beli-Blog posting, the ensuing window remained static (meaning, you couldn't resize it, unless you were using the Safari browser). This was a significant source of frustration for a lot of people� because when you clicked on a link from within a �comment� box, the ensuing page always showed up in this tiny little box that limited your ability to see the complete page. Starting today, 'comment' windows on my site, along with referring links contained within those windows, are totally resizable. (Special thanks goes out to Jerry Chrisman at Grip Media for troubleshooting and solving the problem.)

September 9, 2004

Wow... if you have an extra moment, click here and read Cindra's blog entry for last night, Wednesday the 8th. I know all too well that this is a clich�, but so what... don't ever think you don't or won't make a difference in this world. Each and every one of us does! Thanks, Cin... it was a real and surreal honor meeting you too.

For the last 10 years, it has been illegal in the United States to manufacture or distribute some of the most deadly semi-automatic guns in the world. The majority of U.S. citizens support the Assault Weapons Ban, and at least by some measures, gun violence has decreased since the ban went into effect. So why are most members of Congress, President Bush, and John Kerry all looking the other way while this law is set to expire next week?

In 1994, Congress passed, and President Clinton signed the assault weapons ban, effectively making 19 different types of semiautomatic firearms and high-capacity magazines illegal. Of course, this wasn't a complete ban--guns already on the market were exempted, and an additional 650 types of semiautomatic weapons commonly used for self-defense, hunting and target practice were allowed. Critics and supporters of the ban agreed that the law had flaws, but now, some 10 years later, polls still show that most U.S. citizens support the law.

When it passed, the assault weapons ban had a political addendum known as a sunset clause--meaning that the law would expire in 10 years if Congress didn't vote to extend it. Next Monday will mark that 10 year deadline, and The House of Representatives' Majority Leader, a goon by the name of Tom Delay, has said that he's unwilling to allow the reauthorization of the ban to come up for another vote, and the Bush administration has signaled that it will not urge him to do so. Even John Kerry has kept relatively quiet on this issue.

Why all the political silence on an issue that so many U.S. citizens say they support?

During his campaign for office, then Texas Governor Bush pledged to support renewing the assault weapons ban, and as recently as May of this year, White House spokesman Scott McClellan reiterated the President's support for re-authorizing the ban when he said: "The President supports the current law, and he supports re-authorization of the current law." Yet yesterday afternoon McClellan had this to say at a White House press briefing:

September 8, 2004

Ford Church's mind is experiencing perpetual brain freeze. He's attempting to come up with a name for a non-profit organization whose purpose would be to implement the Community Adventure Program. As some of you may recall from a previous post, the Community Adventure Program is designed to blend adventure and service to connect students with their communities. Ford wants to know what we think about the following names:

Cottonwood Institute
Cottonwood Initiative
Cottonwood Project
Cottonwood Ventures
Adventures in Service
Community Adventures
Community Ventures
Community Endeavors
Civic Awareness Initiative
Civic Endeavors
Civic Quest
Civic Adventures
Civic Network
Altruistic Endeavors
Altruistic Adventures

If none of those are inspiring, perhaps the following brainstorm will juke something else.

* Catchy, fun, exciting, and relevant to potential donors and the students it will ultimately serve.

* Words to run a thesaurus check on: Outdoor, adventure, explore, wild, natural, wilderness, survival, camping, community, civic, service, volunteer, altruism, engagement, awareness, environment, environmental, earth, ecological, local, citizen, activist, grassroots, empowerment, transform, project, program, initiative, institute, association, etc.

* Results: Al Fresco, Quest, Venture, Journey, Voyage, Discover, Organic, Backcountry, Base camp, Advocate, Innovative.

* Ecology words: Cottonwood, Yucca, Riparian, Alpine, Community, Glacier, Gully, Scree, Tundra, Grassland, Prairie.

* What about using a person's name: Paul Petzoldt, Everett Reuss, Emerson, Thoreau, Muir, Roosevelt, Robert Service, Wendell Berry, Edward Abbey, permission issues? How about a literary reference from one of these works?

* Cottonwoods are in just about every Western community and are an excellent survival tool for water location, bow-drill fire sets, etc.

Help Ford out by suggesting a name today. Please leave a comment below if anything comes to mind.

September 7, 2004

After David Meek's entry on 41 different quantitative responses to the definition of when a fetus/baby achieves personhood, I thought I would carry on this key, central issue in politics and philosophical debate. This key issue is of paramont importance to many, myself included, but I often wonder if we fully understand, evaluate and offer up various justifications for our positions without implicating oneself and falling into the preverbial "slippery slope." So, during this week and next, I'm posting a three-part series, Life, Liberty, and Abortion, that explores this debate from many perspectives.

To preface this exploration, let me mention that as a Catholic and a member of the human race, I believe a duty to right moral action and value for life is at the core of who we are. However, the lack of a "real" debate about the philosophical and political reasoning in both positions has weakened the stance that many take. Today, we'll explore the various issues at hand through a published article by a leading journalist on the pro-life/pro-choice debate. I understand, most don't want to read another judgmental, critical article about one side or the other, however, this article is very well articulated and balanced.

Next week, we'll look at two leading opposing philosopher's positions (including post-modern feminism). This timely debate exposes the radical positions in this fiery climate that we "might" face in the upcoming political and judicial agenda's of those implicated.

For now, click here to read an article that may just challenge your own position, and look for Part II on this topic next Monday, September 13.

September 6, 2004

As I sit here in my office plowing thru some work that needs to get done, I thought take a little break by doing some research into the origins of what's keeping everyone else out of the office today.

Labor Day is celebrated in the United States (and Canada) on the first Monday in September, and is meant to honor labor�s contributions to society. Peter J. McGuire, a carpenter and union leader, generally receives credit for suggesting a holiday to honor workers. In 1882, McGuire chose the September date to give workers a holiday midway through the long stretch between Independence Day (July 4 in the U.S.) and Thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday in November). The first Labor Day observance was held in New York City on September 5, 1882. That year, thousands of workers marched in a parade from New York City's city hall to Union Square. Afterward, they gathered in a park with their families for a giant picnic and speeches.

In 1887, Oregon became the first U.S. state to make Labor Day a legal holiday. Other states soon followed. Early on in the holiday's history, Labor Day parades were actually demonstrations in support of an eight-hour workday. Then, in 1894, the United States Congress passed legislation that made Labor Day a federal holiday. That year, railway workers in Pullman, IL, had gone on strike to protest wage cuts. President Grover Cleveland sent federal troops to Illinois to end the strike, which resulted in the deaths and jailing of many of the railway union's members and leaders. Congress and the President hoped to pacify labor with the holiday.

For some time Labor Day remained an occasion not only to commemorate labor�s contributions but also to draw public attention to the plight of workers and the struggle of labor unions to improve working conditions. Parades in which workers march with their local union and at which labor leaders give speeches are no longer a major feature of Labor Day celebrations in many U.S. towns and cities. Nowadays the three-day weekend simply seems to signal the end of summer vacations and the start of a new academic/school year.

September 3, 2004

Q1: If you were able to possess any supernatural power, what would that power be?

Q2: On this day in 1935, at the Bonneville Salt Flats in north western Utah, famed English speed demon Malcolm Campbell blew through the 300-miles-per-hour barrier to set a new land-speed record of 310.13 miles. What percent of the time you spend behind the steering wheel of your car would you say you drive faster than the posted speed limit?

Q3: Can one live alone with just having friends in their life, or are we human beings only complete if we have a family of our own, i.e., a husband/wife/partner and children?

Q4: What is one thing that you could start doing today that would immediately improve the quality of your life?

September 2, 2004

With all of the reality television we're subjected to these days, some of us might benefit from a real dose of reality. Take the TV vs. Life Quiz to see how much television is like real life.

And, in case you hadn't noticed, there's another hurricane preparing to slam itself into Florida. With hurricane 'Frances' less than three days away from possible landfall, I can't help but think that hurricane names should be a hell of a lot more 'in-your-face' than they are. Look at 2004's names:

- Alex
- Bonnie
- Charley
- Danielle
- Earl
- Frances
- Gaston
- Hermine
- Ivan
- Jeanne
- Karl
- Lisa
- Matthew
- Nicole
- Otto
- Paula
- Richard
- Shary
- Tomas
- Virginie
- Walter

Okay, maybe "Ivan" is scary, but come one... Walter and Lisa? In 2005, Hurricane "Cindy" and "Dennis" are just two of the names we'll hear. We can come up with more descriptive names for terrifying storms such as these, can't we?

September 1, 2004

A few weeks ago, as a part of a Four For Friday posting, I asked if political conventions have lost their appeal. My response� Political conventions HAVE lost their appeal. No longer is there a debate to be drawn into or a drama to watch unfold. The last exciting thing to happen at a political convention� George W. Bush's father shocked everyone with his choice of Dan Quayle as a running mate. Nowadays, we're subjected to watching a coronation.

I propose doing away with both the Republican and Democratic conventions altogether, and in their place put on one unifying convention where all of the candidates for the highest office in the land speak and debate one another right up until election day. The event I'm proposing would end with an announcement of who won, toped off by concession and acceptance speeches, followed by a grand ball on the floor of the convention hall whose attendees would be from all political groups as a sign of unification and a willingness to work together over the next four years.