The EUnuchs Are At It Again

There’ll be no more “Misters” in Europe. No more “Madames” or “Mademoiselles,” “Fraus” or “Frauleins,” “Senoras” or “Senoritas” either. The European Union issued a booklet for EU Parliamentary Staff instructing them to eliminate all “gender-specific” terms from its literature. According to Lifesitenews.com: “. . . terms, such as ‘statesman,’ are to be replaced with gender-free alternatives, such as ‘political leader.’”

The article didn’t say if this resulted from a vote in the EU Parliament, but if that’s what Europeans want, fine. As long as the United States is a sovereign nation and isn’t controlled by liberal EUnuchs or the United Nations, they can do whatever they want over there.

Feminists are a strong force in the UN and many of their proposals are bizarre. At several UN Conferences on women, they suggest eliminating all references to gender in humans. They think gender a social construct with no biological basis. They would eliminate men’s rooms and ladies’ rooms and replace them with unisex rest rooms. Others would force public buildings to add a “transgendered” restroom because persons whose “gender” changes from day to day would feel uncomfortable in a men’s room or ladies’ room. I don’t care whether they feel comfortable or uncomfortable, and I certainly don’t want my tax money being used to construct special bathrooms for them, but let the EUnuchs do whatever they want with their own money.

Other feminists disagree with the unisex approach. Instead, they would expand the number of sexes from two to five. Anne Falso-Sterling wrote an article entitled "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough." She (and she’s not alone) thinks the five are: male, female, homosexual male, homosexual female, and bisexual.

The United Nations takes this stuff seriously. I’d be happier if my country resigned from the UN and evicted them from New York City. Let them to go Europe where they can build as many bathrooms as they like.

Some of this stuff is happening here too. The New Hampshire legislature votes this week on HB-415, which would allow “transgender” people to use whatever bathroom they choose on a given day, depending on how they feel. You don’t like that? Then you’re the problem, not the cross-dresser. Etransgender.com claims: “Employers facing the restroom issue for the first time are legally inclined to apply the ‘Principle of Least Astonishment,’ which is that a person who presents as a woman will be less astonishing using the women's restroom than the men's, vice versa for a person presenting as a man. If a concern arises, from the corporate legal department or another employee, the employer must provide alternative solutions for the employee complaining - NOT the transgender individual.”

You’re astonished by the drag queen next to you? You’re homophobic and you need Sensitivity Classes.

Feminists see men like me as members of the Evil Patriarchy that oppresses women everywhere. They don’t like the Catholic Church either because it teaches that homosexuality is “intrinsically disordered,” and it insists that only men can be priests. If women want to become priests, they can join the Episcopal Church, where they can be openly homosexual too, and even be promoted to bishop. Episcopalians are fading away, but they’ll probably hang on for a few more decades.

The Roman Catholic Church has resisted fads for thousands of years. We’re not without our feminists though, and they’re making inroads. While singing hymns at mass lately, it bugs me to notice that the lyrics have been changed on some of my favorites. One is “Be Not Afraid,” by John Foley SJ, which used to go: “. . . and if wicked men insult and hate you, all because of Me, blessed, blessed are you.” Having read and heard plenty of insults, and not a little hatred for my opinion columns over the years, I related to that line. Now, however, “wicked men” has been replaced by “wicked tongues.” Now I’m distracted by visions of disembodied tongues floating in the air and uttering nasty things about me.

Another is “Turn to Me,” also by Foley, with the lyrics “Turn to Me, oh man and be saved, says the Lord for I am God.” Now, however, it goes: “Turn to Me, oh turn and be saved,” and that bugs me. Did Foley agree to the changes? If he did, well, they’re his songs and he can do what he wants with them. But if it’s stealth feminists playing with my mind, I don’t like it. Those hymns became special when I learned them at a men’s retreat called “Cursillo” twenty-five years ago. They were written by a man; Jesus Christ was a man; but feminist Christians have a hard time with all that. Women can certainly enjoy the hymns if they want, but no one has the right to change them except John Foley.

In spite of what they claim in their academic treatises at university Women’s Studies Departments, men and women are quite different and they always will be. Confused men and women can change their language and cross-dress every other day. They can cut off and sew on genitals and take all the hormones they want. Just don’t ask me to pay for any of it, and don’t send out the PC Thought Police to arrest me when I call attention to their foolishness in this space. This is still America, and we still have a Constitution with a First Amendment - for the time being at least.

Father Daughter Date Night

Saturday Night was Father Daughter Date Night. Mrs. Manda and Mrs Sindy, my Sunday school teachers, put this on as a "Surprise" most of us had no clue what was happening until our dad's "picked us up" like it was a real date. It was a lot of fun. We got to dress up, have a nice dinner, dance(in a Baptist church and the earth didn't shake or anything!) and have a whole bunch of pictures taken. It was so much fun. I can't wait until we have another one.

Pictures------

#1- Emily, Brandy, and I

#2-Morgan and I

#3- All the Home Schooled girls posing in their dresses

#4-All the girls and their dad's

Intergalactic Adventures.... Or Not So Much

No, I have not fallen off the place of the planet. I havent gone into deep out of space. Nor have I ( somewhat unfortunately ) been building a lovenest with Mr Gil for the past week or so. NO, I have simply been shunted off for work and havent had much at all to write home - or blog - about.

As i have previously mentioned, I am working away from home for a little while. I've been sent a long way from home too - interstate to a rural city called Mackay ( Dash, you may be the only person reading this who knows where i am ). I've already passed one week of work - five more sleeps and i'm on my way back to DubVegas. Mackay hasnt been treating me too badly i suppose - i've really only been at work or in my motel room, so there isnt too much that could be going wrong. I will admit to feeling a little out of place on the first day, but that feeling has since worn off. I'm not long back from dinner and drinks with two of my colleagues ( one of whom is also visiting from out of state ) down at the harbourside pub, which was quite nice.

What was also nice - ok, kind of awesome! - was roadtripping yesterday. My old national manager S lives up here, and she always said if i was ever in town i should give her a call and we'd go do something. Ever the diligent employee and friend i did just that - and she decided we'd trip up to Airlie Beach... on a Harley! Woo hoo! Ok, sure i didnt actually ride the Harley on my own ( i road bitch behind her husband ) but it was still great. The sun was shining, riding at 100km/hr into a head wind was blowing me around a bit, the scenery was pretty and i was riding a Harley Road King..... yep, quite a good way to spend a Saturday. Airlie Beach itself wasnt too impressive - we strolled around some markets ( i didnt buy anything ) and had a bit of lunch ( a prawn foccacia and iced tea ) but my skin is now nicely sun dappled ( yes, i know about skin cancer, cut me some slack ) and i can now boast about having taken a Harley ride. Sweet as bro.

Whats not as sweet as is how much i have found myself missing Mr Gil. We have been texting back and forth all day and talking every night before bed, and i honestly cant wait til Friday evening when he picks me up from the airport. It'll be nice to be able to speak with him face to face again, and pick up our fledgling relationship where it left off. Five more sleeps and counting...

Different Feeling

I've never felt this way before.
So it's different.
But this feeling,
It just seems right,
And if I try with all my might
Just maybe something special
Can happen
Between you and me.
I can't explain.
Why I feel the way I do.
All I know
Is that I feel this way
And hope that you do too.
So I wonder.
Can this happen?
Can we make this into something
That has never been done.
It's just a feeling.
Yeah, I know.
But this is different
Than anything I've ever known.
So tell me
Can we
Take this feeling
And make it something
That we've never dreamed
That it could be

Insomniatic Musings

Who's the Coward?

“Hello fellow cowards,” said Ward Connerly after stepping up to the mike at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) last month. Thousands in the crowd with me laughed uproariously. He was referring to what President Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, said the previous week - that we are “a nation of cowards” because we don’t talk about race enough. He wants to “foster a dialogue between the races.”

I couldn’t disagree more. I got tired of talking about race decades ago and most people I know are tired of it too. Remember 1997 when President Clinton began his second term saying we needed a “national dialogue on race”? I was thinking, “Oh boy. Not again.” We talk about race way too much, but Democrats are obsessed with it - so on and on it goes. Where it stops, nobody knows.

On two different forms this school year, government asked my students to categorize themselves by “race,” even though that same government outlaws racial discrimination. Everybody in America is forced to do this over and over again in an ordinary lifetime. Government is obsessed with race but ordinary people are moving well beyond it. It compiles statistics endlessly about how “African Americans” score on tests, are infected with HIV, own their own homes, are aborted, are imprisoned, what their average life expectancy is, and on and on. If there are discrepancies between how blacks are doing and how whites are doing on anything, it’s assumed to be the result of racial discrimination by whites against blacks. Democrats in government proclaim that “Affirmative Action” is necessary to “remedy” the situation.

That generally takes the form of racial quotas in hiring, awarding contracts, admission to universities, and, most recently - writing sub-prime mortgages, according to economist Thomas Sowell. Community organizers like President Obama’s buddies at ACORN threatened to sue banks if they didn’t lend to “minority” applicants who too often couldn’t afford the kind of house they wanted to buy. This sort of “affirmative action” is at the root of the economic debacle we’re currently facing, but such a discussion is not the kind of dialogue Attorney General Holder wants to have - and I’ll probably be accused of racism for writing about it.

Democrats think their racial discrimination is benevolent. They tell themselves and everyone else that granting jobs, contracts, and college admissions to women, blacks, and other minorities over white and Asian males isn’t discrimination at all. Such doublethink is their stock in trade. That’s why they get 95% of the black vote and 75% of the Hispanic vote.

With the exception of conservative black men such as Ward Connerly and Thomas Sowell quoted above, there’s little or no inclination among most so-called black “leaders” to scrap the racial discrimination euphemistically known as “affirmative action.” Even though much was made of Barack Obama’s election as the first black president, and his appointment of Eric Holder as the first black Attorney General, those two men are making sure they play the same old victim tune previous unsuccessful black candidates like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton make their livings on.

Speaking to a group called the “State of the Black Union” two weeks ago, President Obama said, “You know that tough times for America often mean tougher times for African Americans. This recession has been no exception.” He obviously intends to continue affirmative action, saying that he is “closing the gap between the nation we are and the nation we can be,” by including it in his “economic stimulus” bill.

About the jobs in that bill, Obama’s chief economic advisor, Robert Reich said, “I am concerned, as I’m sure many of you are, that these jobs not simply go to high-skilled people who are already professionals, or to white male construction workers.”

Victim mentality pervades the 95% of blacks who voted for Obama and other Democrats. They don’t tend to think of themselves as Americans first. They’re “black” first, and Americans second. Hence the now ubiquitous term “African American.” The dysfunctional numbers gathered for blacks by a race-obsessed government show a lead in nearly every negative category: illegitimate births, crime, unemployment, HIV infection, lowest life expectancy, and so forth. Black “leaders” and liberal Democrats desperately want something else to blame for all this and avoid examining their own culpability. Slavery and white racism kept blacks down for centuries, but the above-listed issues cannot be explained that way. Most flared up after the Civil Rights Act - and after Democrat “War on Poverty” subsidies nearly destroyed the black family, and after a gangster subculture began filling the vacuum created.

The Civil Rights Act was intended to outlaw discrimination and equalize public and private treatment of people regardless of race. Liberal Democrats, however, used it to substitute one form of discrimination for another, then masked it by calling it Affirmative Action. Hence the title of Ward Connerly’s latest book, “Creating Equal,” in which he argues for an end to it. He wants bookstores to take it out of their “African American Department” and include with all their other books.

If Eric Holder wants to talk about these issues, fine. But we know they’d be off the table because cowards like him are afraid to address them.

Do Trees have eyes? Yes I believe they do

Keeping a Challenge Promise, and an Update

And so, as promised on Andy's blog, i said i would take part in this challenge. Apparently the rules say you need to go to your sixth folder of photos and post the sixth picture, and give a little background on what it is. No worries - seeing as i dont yet have six folders of pics saved to this computer, i've used my Facebook photo albums. Here's wgat you get:

So, as you can probably guess, this is a wedding photo. Well done to all of you who got that one. It happens to be my best friend P's wedding ( thats her there in the middle, in the white dress ) and thats me on the far right. I was very proud to have been her heads bridesmaid for the day, even if it meant having to help her go to the bathroom once or twice ( man, that dress was huge! ). P is one of the closest people in the world to me, and it was great to see her so happy for once. This was taken at her house, after we ladies had finished getting ready and before we headed to the ceremony. I know she was really nervous but i dont think it shows in the photo - she just looks gorgeous.

************************************************************************************

And so, to the update - Amy and Mr Gil, sitting in a tree.... K.I.S.S.I.N.G! I know some of you will probably think this is kind of soon, but Mr Gil and i have decided we are officially an item. He said his mum had been asking if i was " the new lady in his life " and he had told her it was a definate yes. He asked if that was okay with me - i didnt have any reservations about it, so we decided we may aswell put a label on it. So yes, Mr Gil is now my 'boyfriend' and he is happy to call me his 'girlfriend'. Really happy in fact - this weekend just gone he took me to meet his nephews. That might not sound like much - a 2yr old and 6 yr old boy arent exactly equivalent to parents, but consider this: his nephews live almost 4 hours drive away. Which means we roadtripped it. And we stayed overnight. So yes, you can say that we went away together overnight for our 5th date. Big step ? Yes. Too soon ? Maybe. Did i have a good time and would i do it again ? Absolutely.

His nephews ( along, obviously, with their parents, Mr Gils brother and sister-in-law ) live in a tiny little town, nearing what some people may refer to as " The Outback ". The population may be as high as 50 people, although i'm only estimating that based on the ( from memory ) 10 or so houses i saw. Mr Gil took me on the back of a quad bike to show me the sights and smells of the place, which was really cute. His eldest nephew wanted to take me but he's only 6, so i promised him when his legs get longer he could escort me around town on his own " four wheeler ". We stayed outside most of the time, having a few drinks and a bbq and playing with the neighbourhood kids, who all wanted to come over and play seeing as " Uncle Mr Gil " ( obviously, thats not quite what they call him, but i'm still not revealing his real name... ) was visiting. I'd never been to a town that small and wasnt quite sure i'd fit, nervous that his family wouldnt like me.... but i loved it. His eldest nephew even once, completely innocently, referred to me as " Aunty Amy ". Yes, i know, wow, thats kind of big for what is still a very new relationship, but it completely made me melt.

And so, i have gone to another state to work for the next two weeks. When i agreed to cover for this store, i didnt have anything but my regular "work-gym-home " routine to keep me amused in DubVegas. Now, i dont really wana be here.... i miss Mr Gil already....

Wednesday Fun and I feel like setting this up as a movie script

Act One- It just came out all wrong
Characters- Amiee, Micah, Tessa, Matthew, and Chris - in a circle with the guys all sitting on the stage.
Micah walks up and sees the group joking around and laugh so she joins just in time to see Tessa smack Matthew on the leg.
All laugh and Aimee decides to hit him too.
Micah- "So is this hit on Matthew...." stops realizing what she said and looks embarrassed while trying not to laugh.
Amiee- (laughs and runs off to collect herself then comes back)
Tessa- (laughing) Did you just say that?
Micah- I didn't mean to. But it just....
Aimee- That was so funny! Matthew did you hear what she just said?
Matthew- "No" he answers while taking his ipod ear buds out. "What?"
Aimee- "She just said is this hit on Matthew night or something?
He does nothing and just puts his ear buds back in.
Fade out

Act Two- about five minutes later- The Spray bottle and the jacket
Characters- Micah, Morgan L., Landon, and Will
Micah and Morgan stand in front of the front row talking while Will and Landon are leaning on the back of the chairs with their backs turned to the girls talking with someone.
Micah bends down and grabs a bottle of "Black Raspberry and Vanilla" body spray and grins at Morgan
Micah- "Morgan should I?" she asks holding the spray bottle as if to spray the back of Landon's jacket
Morgan- "Do it."
Micah- "OK" and she starts to spray the back of his jacket and the puts the bottle back in the purse
Morgan- "It needs more..." so she grabs the bottle again and put three more sprays across the back of the jacket "There..."
They put the bottle back and stand trying not to laugh waiting for the guys to react. The smell of the perfume is very strong right now and smells really really bad.
The boys start to notice the smell and the looks of disgust on their faces are priceless.
Will- "What's that smell?"
Landon- "Ah that's gross"
They begin to smell of their shirt selves.
Will- "did someone spray me?!?"
Girls begin to laugh loudly.
Landon- "It's all over my jacket!!"
Will- "What is it?"
Morgan- "It's Black Raspberry Vanilla. Do you like it?"
BY now other's have noticed and are laughing and passing around the bottle of perfume.
Landon- "Why'd you have to do that? My jacket stinks now!!!
he pulls off his jacket and walks across the room to his brother who he makes smell the jacket and then walks back.
Landon- "Just for that I'm not going to play tonight!!" he says threatening Micah who he is in the praise band with
The girls are still laughing and they feel suddenly like giving some mercy
Micah- "It'll wash out. I promise it will."
Landon-"It better..." he says gruffly.




And this was part of my Wednesday. These events did happen somewhat like I wrote them here. Enjoy!

Roof Perchers and Retirement

Roof-perchers. That’s what Laura Ingraham calls them, and their numbers are rising. They’re people who depend on government for everything. If there’s a flood coming, they don’t heed evacuation orders. They don’t head for higher ground. They certainly don’t keep an inflatable raft on hand. They climb on their rooves and wait for government to rescue them. If there’s any delay, they whine to the media who amplify their complaints. Why don’t they take common-sense precautions? They don’t have to, they don’t want to, and they’ll never learn to until government cuts them loose.

That’ll never happen, you say. Oh yeah? As the roof-perchers increase, the number of rescuers declines. More are climbing on the wagon to ride between floods while wagon-pullers are getting tired and getting scarce too. To sustain their ever-increasing numbers, President Obama will increase taxes on the rich, right? Trouble is, the rich are already paying most of the taxes. The top 1% pay more income tax than the bottom 90%. How much more does the president think he can squeeze out of them until they collapse? How long before the goose that laid the golden egg lays down and dies? It’s unsustainable. The socialist programs he’s pushing haven’t worked anywhere they’ve been tried and they won’t work here either.

Last June, Iowa flooded. Did you see people on rooves waiting for government to rescue them? I didn’t. Why were there so many in New Orleans? Because people there are descended from generations who have depended on government. Soon, with all President Obama’s bailout programs and pork-barrel, “economic stimulus” programs, most of the country will become roof-perchers and wagon riders just like them. They’ll reach a critical mass even in places like Iowa and there won’t be enough rescuers or wagon-pullers to keep things running. Eventually, someone is going to call 911 and nobody will be there to answer the phone.

It’s tough watching it all unravel around us. I knew it was was going to get worse when left-wing Democrats consolidated their control over Washington DC, but I didn’t think it would start collapsing so quickly. Meanwhile, it seems every other person I bump into lately asks me, “When are you going to retire?”

Heh. What a quaint notion. Retirement doesn’t seem sustainable either.

I’ve been teaching in the same community for a long time and I have children of former students in class regularly. “You must have enough years in by now,” people say. I don’t think I’ll be able to stop working until I’m either dead or drooling in a rocking chair, but I’m more fortunate than many. I have three jobs and I like them all. The work is interesting, rewarding, and I enjoy most of the people I work with. It gets a little hectic, but my schedule is flexible enough where I can get away from time to time. I’ve been eligible to retire for a while. Theoretically, I can depend on pension checks for life.

Theoretically.

However, I’m hearing horror stories from friends in the private sector about their retirement funds disappearing as stock markets nosedive. Some envy my public-sector retirement “guarantees,” but should they? Is my pension secure? It says so on paper in the state capitol, but I don’t believe it. The Maine State Retirement System is a pension fund like others. It’s invested. Market declines hit MSRS as hard as they hit someone’s 401K and it’s down 28% for 2008 - the biggest decline ever. I hate to even look at what’s happened to it in the six weeks since Obama was inaugurated. But it’s is backed up by the taxpayers according to statute, right? Uh-huh. This poverty-stricken state is one of the highest-taxed states in the country already. Do I want to depend on the prudence of Maine State Government for my support? I’d rather depend on myself, but I’ve been forced to give them my money for three decades. I had no choice.

My wife and I had four children and they’re all working, but most of my generation had smaller families, in Maine and elsewhere. Our population would be declining if not for immigrants pouring in, many of them illegal, and with a higher percentage of them riding on the wagon than the native population. Making matters worse, Maine is a sanctuary state with better-than-average welfare benefits for illegals and all other kinds of roof-perchers and wagon-riders who move here.

But I’ll still have Social Security to help in my declining years, right? Hah! That’s funny. Retirement? People used to do that in the good old days. Roof perchers and wagon riders retire early, but retirement of for the middle class is history. That’s the kind of change President Obama has brought us.

Give It A Rest Already....

So here's the thing - is it wrong if i daydream about wringing my co-workers neck? Seriously ?

No, not J - i love J! Let me introduce you to Prematurely Old Dude - or POD. In my office their is myself and J, our male optometrist, and three staff on the health fund desk. POD is, due to the optom testing all day long, pretty much the only guy in a office full of women. He is only a few years older than me ( he;s 26 or 27 i think... ) but, as you may have guessed by the name, POD is not your average 20-something. POD is 20-something going on 83.... seriously, he carries on like a grumpy old man most of the time. Worse, sometimes he carries on like a grumpy old woman.

Today was one of those days - all he did was whinge and whine about EVERYTHING. Too many clients coming in: whinge. The phone keeps ringing and he doesnt have enough time to answer it: whine. God, i'm so hungry and its not even close to my lunchtime: whinge. Oh, i have to pick up my bike from the repair place and their going to charge me a fortune: whine. Seriously - blah, blah, freaking BLAH! I wasnt too impressed when i went to answer an incoming phone call and POD yelled across the office " Dont answer it - i've got it Amy! ". Firstly, thats not professional in front of clients, and secondly - dude, no need to yell at me. So it really got on my nerve when he had a go at me about throwing the recycling in the regular garbage. No, i'm not some kind of environment hater..... but if you put a few cans, some paper and go knows what else into a regular plastic bag and leave it tied up next to the garbage bin - what else am i supposed to do ? It looked like garbage, it was sitting next to the garbage.... therefore it is garbage!

And then, like the cranky old biddy he is, POD proceded to give me the silent treatment all afternoon. THANK FREAKING GOD.

Thats what i'd been hoping for all morning ....

This Could Be The Euphoria Talking...

And so i promised to keep you in the loop and if there is one thing i really try to do, its keep promises. I've been on a second date with Mr Gil and it was great. So great, in fact, that we've been on a third aswell, less than 24 hours after the second. Does that make sense ?

We had decided after last week that we would get together and so see some movies. We couldnt decide between " Gran Torino " and " Watchmen " and Mr Gil suggested if we couldnt make a decision, why not see both ? I was kind of happy at this suggestion - not only did i get to see two new films, but it meant i got to spend quite a bit of time with Gil. If went badly, well i could just settle into the film and ignore the fact i was on a date; if it went well, we'd have plenty to chat about when i invited him to dinner. Which, you'll be pleased to know, i did. That is, after " Watchmen " finished at about 7:30pm, i asked him if i could buy him a beer. He declined the offer ( not the beer part, he just wouldnt let me pay for it ) so i suggested we get that beer whilst also getting some dinner. So, to tally this up, we saw two movies, ate two scoops of icecream each, shared a good meal, and were the only two audience members for the local pub band ( because we had a few drinks downstairs while they were doing a soundcheck, not because they sucked. They did give us a " Thank you - you've been awesome! " shout out though... that was cool! ). I really enjoyed myself, and only thought that 9 hrs wasnt long enough.

Now, i know that the four wisest women in the world - Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte - say you shouldnt schedule the next date too soon: that we women, no matter how good the date and how much you want to see the guy again, should make ourselves seem unavailable for a few days, so as not to appear desperate. However, i have decided to say pooh to that. I enjoyed myself on the second date and i know Mr Gil did too, so why should i pretend otherwise ? I like him, he likes me and when i sent him a " good morning " text he said he'd really enjoyed last night and would like to see me again. I told him i felt the same way and then next thing i know my phone goes off and i've got " Today ? " sitting in my inbox. Why would i say no ? I wasnt doing anything else and i DID want to see him again so why would i follow the apparent dating rules and say " Oh, you know what , i cant.... ". Thats right, i wouldnt. I dont follow the rules - I'm a dating rebel !

And so i spent four hours lying around in the park with Gil, chatting, laughing and scheming to steal a piece of birthday cake from a chidlrens birthday party a few metres away. We didnt get any cake, but that didnt stop it being the perfect third ( first, second, twenty-fifth....whatever ) date. Mr Gil makes me laugh, and although we arent exactly from the same world, i really relate to him. I've never felt so immediately comfortable with someone. Its nice.
Plus, i spent four hours outdoors and managed not to get sunburnt.

And so, the first three dates - typically the hardest period in the dating game - are out of the way, and they've all been great. We have already agreed we are definately seeing each other next weekend, but then i have to go away for work for two weeks.

I'm going to be honest - i dont really wanna go....

* For the record, " Gran Torino " was great. " Watchmen " was good but could have benefited from being at least half an hour shorter...

I miss the color green

I want it to be spring. It's been winter too long. I hate the groundhog for seeing it's shadow. I mean really who's scared of their shadow? Maybe it's was the fact that when the groundhog came out that there were cameras, lights, flashes going off, tons of people around, weird men in tails and top hats. Maybe that's why he went back into his hole. But does anyone ever think of that? NO. The say Mr. Groundhog hid because there will be six more weeks of winter. Well I say no. NO MORE COLD!!!! I want spring. That's it.

Whats wrong with paper?

Ah.... the joys and wonders of modern technology.

I love how the big IT companies tell you that the computer will make your life so much easier - but isnt it a huge pain in the arse when they crash ? I'm writing this* ( on paper - how old school of me ) whilst at work, because the main program my colleagues and i need to function has thrown a full tantrum and is refusing to work properly. We're also supposed to be undergoing a server update and thats not co-operating either. And the best part ? We have two computer technicians here today who cant do any work either until the server has been fixed from our home office. Freaking fabulous! J and I have been able to do some work on other programs but everyone else has just had to sit around with their hands in their pockets all morning. I bet from the outside this looks like a really productive office....

Don't get me wrong - its not like i'd be without technology. God no. I get withdrawal symptoms if i dont check my email at least once a day. It just sucks that we've ( ok... I'VE ) become so reliant on it that we cant cope when it doesnt work. Or that we've become so reliant that we'll do anything, pay anything, to keep in the technological loop. Its bad enough that i'm willing to pay 25c per text message (Telstra, i'm talking to you ) because sending 60 text messages to one person in one evening so much better than actually calling them. However, people are spending small fortunes to buy a brand new, fandangled, MP3 playing, 6 megapixel picture taking mobile phone, and others ( ok, mainly men ) would give their right nut to be set up with the latest in mobile gaming. If eating two minute noodles and endless tins of baked beans for weeks on end is the only way you can afford a new Nintendo Wii complete with Guitar Hero - then thats not cool!

I have a laptop that i bought while it was on sale, a 4 year old mobile phone and Ipod Mini that i won in a work promotion, so i'm not exactly technology deficient....but sometimes i wish we could all just go " old school ", if only to make things less complicated!

* Yes, i wrote the post at work.... now i'm posting it from home, about 7 hrs later

Profile in Courage

Courage is rare. That’s why we prize it. The high point of my trip to Washington, DC last week was meeting Geert Wilders - a profile in courage for our times. He has lived for years under 24-7 guard after radical Muslims put out a fatwa on him, just as they did with Salman Rushdie twenty years ago this week. Wilders, a Dutch Member of Parliament, had the temerity to make a film called “Fitna,” which quotes incendiary lines from the Koran and depicts sermons by radical imams preaching hatred of Jews and other infidels. Interspersed with these are scenes where those quotes and preachings are put into practice, including clips of the September 11th attacks in the USA, bus bombings in London, train bombings in Madrid, and beheadings in the Middle East.

Wilders knew he would incur a death sentence when he released Fitna, but he did so anyway. He took up the mantle of courage from fellow Hollanders like Theo Van Gogh, who was murdered on the streets of Amsterdam after making a film depicting Muslim mistreatment of women, and fellow Parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who was driven out the Netherlands after the Dutch government declined to protect her following the fatwa issued against her.

CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) organizers were asked to give Wilders and opportunity to speak during their event at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, but they declined, claiming their schedule was full and they couldn’t fit him in. I hope that was the reason. I hope it wasn’t because they were too afraid. A separate reception for Wilders was thrown together elsewhere in the hotel at the last minute and word went around among CPAC attendees about when and where.

Although I showed up an hour early, I barely got into the small function room where it was standing-room-only. I’d been warned that no bags or jackets would be allowed inside, so I put those in my room and showed up in shirtsleeves with a camera and digital recorder. Uniformed security guys ran metal detectors over me and asked for my press pass. I hadn’t applied for one, so I had to talk my way past that. Inside were large, burly guys with folded arms, shaved heads, and stern looks surrounding the tall, smiling, blonde-haired Dutchman. The reception was sponsored by conservative activists including David Horowitz of Frontpagemagazine, Pam Geller of Atlasshrugs, as well as authors Robert Spencer and Dr. Andrew Bostom. After each made their introductions, Wilders came to the podium to thunderous applause. Speaking in mildly-accented English, he thanked the audience and thanked US immigration authorities saying, “It’s always a pleasure to cross a border without being sent back on the first flight.” He was referring to what happened to him the previous week, when he’d been invited to London to show “Fitna” in the House of Lords, but was deported immediately after landing at Heathrow Airport by a UK multicultural police squad who were afraid his presence on British soil would stir a riot by radical British members of the “Religion of Peace.”

It’s bad enough that Wilders must live out his life in safe houses, but his own government, the most politically-correct in Europe if not the whole world, issued criminal charges against him for “inciting hatred and discrimination” and “insulting Muslim worshippers.” Only under multiculturalism can someone “insult” Muslims by quoting them when they incite hatred and discrimination. The Dutch courts do not dispute what Wilders depicted in his film. They know it’s true. Wilders’ crime is publicizing the truth liberal Europe would prefer to ignore.

Genuine courage is indeed rare. Wilders’ display of it in the Netherlands sharply contrasts - and shines light on - Dutch government cowardice. That’s why they’re trying to shut him up. As Wilders himself put it last Friday night:

“In Europe freedom of speech should be extended, instead of restricted . . . As George Orwell once said: ‘If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.’”

" How was it ? " Can i get a woo hoo!

So - do you guys remember my first date scale ?

It is a scale on which to rate how well this first date went. For those of you who dont remember or never even read that post ( shame on you! ), here's what i'm talking about:
1. " Argh! " = terrible; horrible; could not have been worse;
2. " meh " = yea, it was alright .... i suppose...
3. " Woo hoo! " = great; fantastic; mind blowingly ace;

Well, this past Saturday i had myself a " Woo hoo! ". Yay me! I went on a really great first date with a young guy we shall, from here on in, refer to as Mr Gil. This is not because its his name, but rather refers to the town he lives in ( anyone i date and blog about must retain some amount of mystery - at least for a while ). It wasnt like we did anything crazy/dangerous/fun - like all the first dates are trying to be on MTV's " Next! " - but it was great. We went for lunch at a pub bistro and stayed for almost five hours, having a few drinks and a talk. And it wasnt like some great soul connecting, in depth, meaningful conversation either - it was plain old, getting to know you type of stuff. But it was light and it was breezy and he made me laugh. A lot.

So yep, it was a great date and yes, I'd like to see him again. And, before anyone asks, we are right now, as i really slowly type this blog post, making plans to see each other this weekend. Possibly for a movie marathon, if we can get the timing right ( either way, i'm totally seeing " Watchmen " this weekend.... ).

I'll repeat - yay me! Stay tuned folks...

P.S My sister ate my Furry Friend. What a bitchface.