"My name is Maximus Desimus Meridius, commander of the armies of the north, general of the Felix legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Areillius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife, and I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next" - Maximus I hate movies that make me cry. Let me tell you about a movie I watched tonight. There was no bad guy in it. You felt real pain and anguish for everybody involved. It was a no-win situation, yet in the end, everybody won. It was the story of a young, poor, black crack whore who, when she needed to get high one night, threw her baby in the garbage. The baby was found, was taken to the hospital, and wasn't breathing. He was about to be pronounced dead, and the Dr. needed the social worker to sign off on, no extra services, meaning, "We're not gonna waste taxpayer's money to keep it alive." The social worker was like, no way, so the Dr. said, "Okay, lady. Play God." When he said that, I thought for a moment. She had a decision to make. Give up on a helpless child no one was going to miss, or, put every single bit of modern technology mankind has created to work, and save the child. The social worker, who was white, choose to save the child. That was just the beginning. Since no one wanted this tiny human being, she choose to adopt him. She gave him a beautiful home, all the material things he could ever want, and, most importantly, she loved him with every fiber of her being. Years pass, and the young, poor, black crack whore has transformed herself. No more drugs, no more prostitution, she got a job...she got a life! Now, she wanted her son back. All society saw was a young, poor, black crack whore. All she would ever be thought of is a young, poor, black crack whore. Everytime she looked in the mirror, she saw what society saw: a young, poor, black crack whore. BUT THAT'S NOT WHO SHE WAS. Well, there's a big trial, everyone ends up crying, the boy, now 4 years old, well, his young life is ripped apart. Okay, so it's a honey-coated ending where everyone basically agrees to share in the boy's life. "Okay, lady. Play God." The last thing she said to the boy was, "No matter where you go, or what you do, I will always be with you." "Okay, lady. Play God." That was pretty good advice. The kitten purrs.

"The word 'genius' isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
-Joe Theisman, quarterback and sports analyst

When I was younger, okay, much younger, I worked in a factory. Every Friday, right before the end of the shift, we cleaned the whole place. Guess what, it's Friday! Here's a little cleaning up.

Did Peter Mark Richman ever play a good guy?

From the looking-for-anything-positive-in-the-world department:
Congratulations to Rep. J. Dennis Haster for becoming the longest serving G.O.P. Speaker of the House.

In a recent survey , people were asked what they thought was the greatest invention in history. Results: fire, the wheel, the light bulb. Problem: fire was a DISCOVERY!!!

I don't care what anyone says , nothing will ever change my mind. The song, " View To A Kill" is NOT better than "Live And Let Die".

What is the difference between a "mate" and a "soulmate"?

From the here-we-go-again department: Scientists are now working to uncover the secrets of an early monotheistic religion from a 2,400 year old scroll found near Athens, Greece. I believe Dan Brown has already purchased the copyrights.

In a recent survey, 64% said "sit" from "sitcom" meant "sit".

The kitten purrs.

"I don't know what I said, but I know what I think, and, well, I assume it's what I said."... Donald Rumsfeld

Governor Bob Casey was banned from speaking at the Democratic National Convention.

Governor Tom Ridge was refused consideration for the Republican Vice-Presidency.

Casey, a Democrat, was a staunch pro-lifer.

Ridge, a Republican, was a staunch pro-choice supporter.

Why does Pat Robertson condemn Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Catholics, to hell for not believing his doctrines, THEN count them as "fellow saints" to vote Republican?

I realize that all those facts are already in the history books.
What I don't realize, is what makes anyone who reads a hermanuetics, or apologetics book think they are so superior to the rest of mankind that they must hold judgement on us.

I read that a Christians most important gift is the right to speak. "Free-Speech" was what he called it. Without it we could not pray. Without it we could not praise God.

The gift of hearing, this writer said, we could live without.
I do not wish to be callous and forget that there are handicapped people who cannot talk. There are handicapped people who cannot hear.

I am by no means a "Bible Scholar" equal to this great Man-Of-Faith. I remember verse after verse saying things like "Hear the word of the Lord"..."Blessed is the man who hears"..."How shall they believe who haven't heard"...{I may have to break out my concordance!}

All I am saying is every blessing the Lord gives us is a good thing. People who try to divide each and every little thing as pure goodness and pure evil probably need psychiatric attention.

The majority of Pennsylvanians voted for Casey, the majority of Pennsylvanians voted for Ridge.

Should the majority of Pennsylvanians be damned to hell, or be damned to watch "The 700 Club"?

The kitten purrs.

"I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport." —George W. Bush. Washington, D.C., Oct. 3, 2001

I really can't take it any more. Every news article on every news channel details someone denying, pointing fingers, making excuses, saying anything and everything EXCEPT what I want to hear.

The atrocities in Iraq are getting so bad, so beyond comprehension...there are no words in the english language to properly describe how utterly wrong things have gotten.

My heart goes out to the Jassim family.

I am not writing a speech for Hillary, nor a press release for Rumsfeld. Right now I couldn't care less what political or religous flag you wave. Whoever says it first will get my undying support. I just want someone to act like a human being for once. All I want to hear is:

I'M SORRY!!!

The kitten purrs.

"Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive." --- Elbert Hubbard.

My job is to always stay current with up-to-the-minute-breaking stories. Do I ever do what I'm supposed to?

I was watching Hardball last night and Chris said, just in passing, "Well, republicans are for tax cuts and democrats are for big government." He was transitioning from one political topic to another and SAID that as if to SAY, there's one thing that goes without SAYING. That statement of fact is more sure than the law of gravity. Right?

It comes to properly defining terms. What are taxes? Money we pay Uncle Sam for earnings and property. But we also pay Uncle Sam line fees and a bunch of other things for phone service, tarrifs and taxes and transportation fees for goods and services we buy, on and on it goes. I'm not a CPA, but think of all the day-to-day little things we pay, either directly, or to the companies who pass their woes down to us, without even thinking about it {gas taxes?}!

To further complicate matters, factor in that all or some of those expenses may also be charged by states, counties and cities.
One more monkey-wrench: let's say your governor lowers taxes. Great! Problem is, now Washington has to make up the difference. It works in reverse order too.

Okay, now what about "Big Government"? How do you define "Big?"
One president can cut 10% of the ACTUAL JOBS, and say in his state of the union address that he cut big government by 10%.

The next president can keep the same actual jobs, but cut PAY INCREASES by 10% and say in his state of the union address that he cut big government by 10%.

After all the state of the union addresses, the government should now be in negative integers!

Of course, I'm not saying anything new, probably most of you could have explained it better than I did. I just wanted Chris Matthews to know we were paying attention.

The kitten purrs.