If You Need a Chuckle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmsOIjzQ1V8

FWZ

This is a small building I designed for the Fort Worth Zoo - was working on construction administration when I left Nader's office. Mackenzie sent me the pictures today - I thought it turned out pretty well.

Movie Review

Saw 'Borat' tonight. I was really disappointed. The premise seemed like it could be funny but overall I would say it was poorly done. The entire film was lewd. There were a few moments that were funny but the rest of the film didn't have any redeeming qualities. 'Fast Food Nation' is still on my list of films to see.

Looking forward to Thanksgiving festivities tomorrow!! Mmmmmmmm..........yummy!

Movies

I saw a pretty good film the other day called 'I love Huckabies' (not new). I really want to see 'Fast Food Nation' http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/fastfoodnation/trailer/
(coming out Friday !!!!)
I would also like to see 'Bobby'
http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=334717

Other than that, I have been trying to decide what to do for my Master's Design Study. I have been thinking of doing something with the trinity river vision project. I am thinking I want the project to site itself in Fort Worth; we'll see.

Thank You Virginia!!!

Here Comes the Sun

On the Democratic victory yesterday:
'The end of a six-year nightmare for the world,' EU parliamentarians say.

Ain't that the truth.

Now, let's hope that the Virginians finish the job.

Victory for the Democrats

Show the warmongering, dictatorial, environment polluting, corporate whipping boy republicans you don't like their games - VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRATS.

Here's a promise...if the democrats win I will 'limit' my derogatory comments about george bush and his evil little cronies. That is my promise to you america.

The Devil's Dictionary

Lawsuit: A machine which you go into as a pig and come out of as a sausage.

Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel.

Fork: An instrument used chiefly for the purpose of putting dead animals into the mouth.

Ocean: A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills.

War: God's way of teaching Americans geography.

"Family Values"

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Ney-Corruption.html?hp&ex=1160798400&en=1f7a46a339e273fc&ei=5094&partner=homepage


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/washington/09foley.html?n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fF%2fFoley%2c%20Mark%20A


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/us/13awol.html?ref=us

Iraq War

Iraqi war deaths estimated at 655,000. Shame on George Bush and all who continue to support him.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/10/11/iraq.deaths/index.html

History of the pledge

The Pledge of AllegianceA Short History
by Dr. John W. Baer
Copyright 1992 by Dr. John W. BaerSee also www.PledgeQandA.com

Francis Bellamy (1855 - 1931), a Baptist minister, wrote the original Pledge in August 1892. He was a Christian Socialist. In his Pledge, he is expressing the ideas of his first cousin, Edward Bellamy, author of the American socialist utopian novels, Looking Backward (1888) and Equality (1897).
Francis Bellamy in his sermons and lectures and Edward Bellamy in his novels and articles described in detail how the middle class could create a planned economy with political, social and economic equality for all. The government would run a peace time economy similar to our present military industrial complex.
The Pledge was published in the September 8th issue of The Youth's Companion, the leading family magazine and the Reader's Digest of its day. Its owner and editor, Daniel Ford, had hired Francis in 1891 as his assistant when Francis was pressured into leaving his baptist church in Boston because of his socialist sermons. As a member of his congregation, Ford had enjoyed Francis's sermons. Ford later founded the liberal and often controversial Ford Hall Forum, located in downtown Boston.
In 1892 Francis Bellamy was also a chairman of a committee of state superintendents of education in the National Education Association. As its chairman, he prepared the program for the public schools' quadricentennial celebration for Columbus Day in 1892. He structured this public school program around a flag raising ceremony and a flag salute - his 'Pledge of Allegiance.'
His original Pledge read as follows: 'I pledge allegiance to my Flag and (to*) the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.' He considered placing the word, 'equality,' in his Pledge, but knew that the state superintendents of education on his committee were against equality for women and African Americans. [ * 'to' added in October, 1892. ]
Dr. Mortimer Adler, American philosopher and last living founder of the Great Books program at Saint John's College, has analyzed these ideas in his book, The Six Great Ideas. He argues that the three great ideas of the American political tradition are 'equality, liberty and justice for all.' 'Justice' mediates between the often conflicting goals of 'liberty' and 'equality.'
In 1923 and 1924 the National Flag Conference, under the 'leadership of the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution, changed the Pledge's words, 'my Flag,' to 'the Flag of the United States of America.' Bellamy disliked this change, but his protest was ignored.
In 1954, Congress after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus, added the words, 'under God,' to the Pledge. The Pledge was now both a patriotic oath and a public prayer.
Bellamy's granddaughter said he also would have resented this second change. He had been pressured into leaving his church in 1891 because of his socialist sermons. In his retirement in Florida, he stopped attending church because he disliked the racial bigotry he found there.
What follows is Bellamy's own account of some of the thoughts that went through his mind in August, 1892, as he picked the words of his Pledge:
It began as an intensive communing with salient points of our national history, from the Declaration of Independence onwards; with the makings of the Constitution...with the meaning of the Civil War; with the aspiration of the people...
The true reason for allegiance to the Flag is the 'republic for which it stands.' ...And what does that vast thing, the Republic mean? It is the concise political word for the Nation - the One Nation which the Civil War was fought to prove. To make that One Nation idea clear, we must specify that it is indivisible, as Webster and Lincoln used to repeat in their great speeches. And its future?
Just here arose the temptation of the historic slogan of the French Revolution which meant so much to Jefferson and his friends, 'Liberty, equality, fraternity.' No, that would be too fanciful, too many thousands of years off in realization. But we as a nation do stand square on the doctrine of liberty and justice for all...
If the Pledge's historical pattern repeats, its words will be modified during this decade. Below are two possible changes.
Some prolife advocates recite the following slightly revised Pledge: 'I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, born and unborn.'
A few liberals recite a slightly revised version of Bellamy's original Pledge: 'I pledge allegiance to my Flag, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with equality, liberty and justice for all.'

Bibliography:
Baer, John. The Pledge of Allegiance, A Centennial History, 1892 - 1992, Annapolis, Md. Free State Press, Inc., 1992. Miller, Margarette S. Twenty-Three Words, Portsmouth, Va. Printcraft Press, 1976.

School

School is going well though I am not pleased with being away from my family four nights a week. I also end up missing all of Topher's practices. Am looking forward to a somewhat more normal life. Thought the other day that America primarily practices what I call 'Outpost Architecture' as if we are not planning to stay very long.

Venice School TA Job Topher TexasOState God

Back from Venice, delightful. School is going to be really enjoyable this semester - three theory classes no studio. Am doing a TAship for a drawing class - class is composed of first year (first-professional) grad students, interesting. I must find a job - orders directly from the General. Topher has a ballgame tomorrow - his team is the polar opposite of last season - meaning emphasis not on winning - thank goodness. Texas Ohio State tomorrow night - I am so ready. I think God must be a female - more on that later....

golf today venice tomorrow

shot an 87 today after double parring the first hole with an 8. 1 birdie. have been hitting the ball pretty well lately - mostly hanging around mid to low 80's.

trying to finish up a house addition for some people - then maybe will make a book or two with christopher - was thinking about entering a competition - then it's off to venice!!

Why does Donald Rumsfeld still have a job?

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- A U.S. soldier testified Wednesday that four of his colleagues accused of murdering three Iraqis during a raid threatened to kill him if he told anyone about the shooting deaths.
Pfc. Bradley Mason, speaking at a hearing to determine whether the four must stand trial, also said that their brigade commander, a veteran of the 1993 ''Black Hawk Down'' battle in Somalia, told troops hunting insurgents to ''kill all of them.'' Mason is not one of the accused.
The alleged killings May 9 near Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, have dealt another blow to the reputation of U.S. soldiers over their conduct in Iraq and fueled anger against their presence.
U.S. soldiers and Marines have been accused of a string of civilian deaths in Iraq, including the alleged massacre of dozens in Haditha. Another hearing is scheduled later this month over allegations that five U.S. soldiers raped and killed a 14-year-old girl.


What a fucking mess. Thanks George.

great cnn article

Unfortunate 6 years for the progress of this country.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/25/dobbs.july26/index.html

How to Spot a Terrorist

Read this funny piece in another blog so am reposting:

How to spot a terrorist
I really had no idea how to spot a terrorist until I studied the manuals published by the Phoenix FBI, the state employees of Virginia, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Now that I have absorbed these manuals, I not only know how to spot a terrorist, but I have discovered that I probably am a terrorist.

The Phoenix FBI manual was published while Clinton was still president. The Joint Terrorism Task Force was formed to "help preserve the American way of life." Its flyer requested that citizens contact the task force if they saw any of the following:
Defenders of the U.S. Constitution against federal government and the UNGroups of individuals engaging in para-military trainingThose who make numerous references to the U.S. ConstitutionThose who attempt to police the policeLone individualsRebelsThe Phoenix Sheriff's Office did not care for the flyer, and it had a short life.

On to Virginia...This manual tells us to beware of the following people:
Members of anti-government and militia movementsProperty rights activistsMembers of racist, separatist, and hate groupsEnvironmental and animal rights activistsReligious extremistsMembers of street gangsAccording to the authorities in Virginia, terrorists stand out in the crowd because of the stuff they carry:
Sketch pads or notebooksMaps or chartsStill or video camerasHand-held tape recordersSCUBA equipmentdisguisesAnd finally, there's Texas, whose manual shares with us some characteristics of terrorists:

Focused and committedTeam-oriented and disciplinedFamiliar with their physical environmentsEmploy a variety of vehicles and communicate by cell phone, email, or text messagingTry not to draw attention to themselvesLook like students, tourists, or businesspersonsTravel in a mixed group of men, women, and childrenAvoid confrontations with law enforcementUse disguises or undergo cosmetic surgeryWell, there you are. Could someone pick you out of the crowd as a terrorist? As an emailing, camera-toting, focused and committed animal rights activist who sometimes looks like a businesswoman, frequently references the Constitution, and still has some leftover costumes from my years in New Orleans, I'm as good as gone.

New Orleans Abandonment

Emilie and I saw 'An Inconvenient Truth' a week or so ago - I highly recommend it.

We have been studying a great deal about New Orleans; not only the cause of the disaster after Katrina but also possible solutions. It is abundantly clear to me that electing George Bush is the absolute worst thing that could have happened to our country. In terms of New Orleans, he refuses to fund a plan that has been agreed is appropriate by just about everyone who knows - its cost, 14 billion (about 1 1/2 months in Iraq). He is putting the wetlands that surround New Orleans in jeopardy by blocking all funding for restoration that does not have corporate interests as its impetus. The wetlands that surround New Orleans (besides preserving wildlife (I know - only hippies care about that) help protect the city from storm surge. For every mile inland of wetland storm surge is reduced by a foot. To cite an example - the wetland loss that has occured between 1940 and the present would have reduced the Katrina storm surge about 7.5 feet, greatly reducing the impact of the storm.

The New Orleans issue fascinates me because I think it epitomizes a global current (or at least a national one). The disaster in New Orleans was/is the result of an attempt to control nature (levees), a willingness to neglect nature (wetlands), a feeling of human dominance over the natural world, and a lack of critical care for the region. I am continually amazed at the antics of the Bush Administration.

http://dir.salon.com/story/opinion/blumenthal/2005/08/31/disaster_preparation/index.html

Fun Game

Go to Google.
Type in 'failure'.
Click on 'I'm feeling lucky'.