Random Thoughts

Cheney's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The whole gun totin' Cheney affair was a non-starter for me. As I may have mentioned, I think hunting is hardly an adult passtime. However, while the shooting was an unfortunate incident, I don't see how there is any political traction here. It was, afterall, nothing more than an accident. I am hardly a Cheney fan. What I know of him, I don't like. But, enough all ready. Let it go. It means nothing. Find something worth chewing on.

The Dubai Port Authority: Well, I really don't know enough about it to make an informed comment. All I can say is that it seems dumb. So much of politics is concerned with appearances. How does having an Arab/muslim country in charge of running our seaports look? Circumstances being as they are, it just looks bad. I suppose it just came down to dollars and (lack of) sense. Obviously, there was no transparency in the selection process. Apparently not even the pres (bless his little Texas heart) knew about it.

Winter Olympics: Americans are doing okay, I guess. As of this AM the US was second in the medal count. The biggest flop obviously has been Bode Miller. What a piece of work. Other disappointments are too numerous to mention. Delights? Well, of course, so far Sasha Cohen has been great. Belbin & Agosto also did us proud. (I guess it doesn't hurt that both the ladies are - to use the technical term - hot!)

Agnostic Mom: Several days ago I read one of Agnostic Mom's posts (or possibly a comment on one of her posts) wherein she stated that she doesn't know whether or not there is a god. For that reason she believes that she is an agnostic. That's not how I define the term. An agnostic, as I understand it, has not decided what she or he believes. It's not a question of knowing.

I don't know that there is no god. I definitely don't believe in the existence of any god. Regardless of how much anyone believes, or doesn't believe, no one can know that there is or isn't a god. At this stage of our knowledge, we cannot prove either position. I have read some of the "proofs" for and against god's existence on The Carnival of the Godless, other sites, books, etc. No matter the often excruciating extent some go to state their case, if god suddenly materialized and forced us all to listen endlessly to John Tesh music, all such arguments would be rendered moot. Of course, there is even less likelyhood that some proof against god's existence will present itself. Proving the negative is more problematic. Nevertheless, I don't believe in god's existence. I am an athiest.

Cartoons: The cartoons above are not in any way provocative. They are scans of a couple of pen and ink drawings my father drew, probably around 75 to 80 years ago. He attended some type of school to learn the process of lithography, which at the time was still done by etching images on limestone. While I never knew these drawings existed until well after his death, I assume that he created these and other drawings we found while attending the school which, I believe, was located in Dayton, Ohio. He later became a lithographer, more specifically a stripper which had to do essentially with cutting and pasting in the photo-lith process. Ultimately, he and a couple of co-workers at a large offset company in Indianapolis, Burfords Printing Co., started their own shop in the late '40s. They named it Modern Litho Arts. It was a struggle, but they eventually achieved some small success. My dad retired, selling his interest in the company to the one remaining partner in the early '70s. Dad was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1972. It finally claimed him just over 28 years ago on February 20th, 1978. I miss my dad.

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