The Peace Is Deadlier Than The War

The number of dead US soldiers since the President declared victory on May Day has now outnumbered those killed during the war. Some victory!

Rama vs. Allah

Allah, for the moment, has the upper hand in this battle. But, expect for Rama to get in some blows too.

Hardwood Floor?

Last weekend Jean and I went to Home Depot to see how much it might cost to get a hardwood floor in our living room, because the carpet in there was all worn out. We found these parquet tiles for $0.98 per sq. foot. Well, you can't beat that price! I mean usually the stuff costs $5.00 per sq foot. We measured the room and it's close to 350 sq feet. So we decide to buy it. She had heard a radio ad that said this company would come to your house and do 8 hours of work for $350. Well, putting all that together it's like $700 for a hardwood floor, when they usually cost around $4,000. So, Monday after work I go to Home Depot and buy the flooring. Jean called the company on Monday and they said yes they will do that work and yes it's $350. She called again on Tuesday to confirm that they would do the work for $350. Well, that afternoon a guy calls saying that she had been given the wrong price, that it would be more like $2000. So, we tell them to forget it. We try to find someone else and of course no one else does it that cheap either. Except for yours truly, of course.

Now, I'm not one of those guys that likes home projects. In fact, I hate them. I would rather pay too much than do the work myself. But, in this case, I really don't have any choice except to take the flooring back. So, I decide to do it myself. We spend last night moving furniture, and pulling up carpet. Today cleaning the concrete underneath, blah, blah, blah. So then about 11:30 this morning I started laying the wood tiles. I just stopped a little bit ago, and let me tell you, it is just as hard as I thought it was. It is not easier than I thought, and it's not harder than I thought (of course, I am naturally pessimistic and I thought it would be pretty nigh impossible to start with). Lemme tell ya, it's a bitch. My hands are used to typing as the most strenuous thing they do, so putting down adhesive, laying these interlocking tiles, and being on my hands and knees all day has just about done me in. So my hands and knees are all swollen and blistered. Poor me! Poor me! And I'm not even fucking through. I have the other half to go tomorrow!

Don't try this at home. Let someone else do it for you!

You Can Say That Again!

Prosperity and ruin issue from the power of the tongue.
Therefore, guard yourself against thoughtless speech.

-Tirukkural 65: 641-642

Levitra

From a report by the Associated Press emphasis added: "The FDA approved Levitra, known chemically as vardenafil, based on studies showing that men were on average five times more likely to achieve an erection suitable for intercourse when taking the pill compared with those given a dummy medicine."

Steak and Kidney Pie?

Idi Amin, gourmet cannibal and former Uganda dictator, is looking for a kidney donor. He doesn't need it to live, he just wants a snack.

Now, That's What I Call Humane

From Harper's website: Thailand announced that it will start using lethal injection to execute prisoners instead of shooting them with a machine gun while they hold a stick of incense and a lotus blossom.

McArabia, It's Not a Joke

McDonald's in Egypt has launched a new sandwich called, get this, the McArabia. It's a chicken sandwich with two pieces of "Arab bread." It's their effort to win customers back after the boycott against American products. I'd like to try one, to get a taste of some "authentic Arab food."

Hiroshima

Today is the day in 1945 that the US dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima. The mayor of Hiroshima has accused the US of "adoring arms as if they were a god." Our SAM missle, hallowed be thy name, thy warhead come thy will be done on earth as it is in Lockheed-Martin. Give us this day our daily violence, and forgive us our peace inklings as we forgive those who make peace against us. Lead us not into conservation, but deliver us from ecologists, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the depleted uranium forever. Amen

Is He Dead Yet?

A prayer you can agree with.

Not Very Encouraging

The Buddha forbore to specify:
as long as there is any 'one' to suffer
- he will.
- 'Posthumous Pieces' by Wei Wu Wei

Do What?

Someone who is about to admonish another must realize within himself five qualities before doing so [that he may be able to say], thus:

"In due season will I speak, not out of season. In truth I will speak, not in falsehood. Gently will I speak, not harshly. To his profit will I speak, not to his loss. With kindly intent will I speak, not in anger."

-"Vinaya Pitaka," translated by F.S. Woodward

It's Gettin' Harder and Harder to Do

Those who cannot renounce attachment to the results of their work
are far from the path.

-Bhagavad Gita 6:1-2

Reduction in Force

We are being riffed. I am having to apply for the fucking job I already have. After 18 years with this place, they are going to do that to me! Getting madder by the minute.

That Explains a Few Things

A new study says that if you wear your tie too tight, you run the risk of going blind. So, that's what's wrong with the politicians!

Just Say No to a Hard-On?

The (mis)use of Viagra in Brazil has spread to those young people that have no need for it, according to the government there. So now it is illegal to advertise Viagra in Brazil. Too many people getting the "benefit" of it. What's next, will use of "personal lubricant" become too widespread among those persons young enough not to need it? Do we have to make advertising that illegal too?

Cuban Ingenuity

Cubans have been under an embargo by the US for 35 or 40 years. We haven't allowed any trade with them, so they have all these Chevys and Fords from back in the '50s that they have miraculously kept running. Now, they've made a '51 Chevy truck into a motor boat. We need those guys here! What did we send them back for?

Step Back from the Fan, 'Cause the Shit's About to Hit

This is the kind of stuff that'll getcha killed.

Life After Death, What For? Isn't Once Enough?

Excellent thoughts on reincarnation. At least not everybody used to be Cleopatra!

May You Be Well...

May all beings everywhere plagued
with sufferings of body and mind
quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid,
and may those bound be free.
May the powerless find power,
and may people think of befriending
one another.
May those who find themselves in trackless,
fearful wilderness--
the children, the aged, the unprotected--
be guarded by beneficent celestials,
and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood.


- Buddha