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<channel>
	<title>moodboom</title>
	<atom:link href="http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com</link>
	<description>...what I've been up to, more or less...</description>
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		<title>Clean scan!</title>
		<link>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/07/24/clean-scan/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/07/24/clean-scan/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:15:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>m</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Life]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/?p=883</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I have SO MUCH to add to the blog but I&#8217;m knee-deep in projects and can&#8217;t find the time! But I did have a 100% clean CT scan &#8211; abdomen and lungs &#8211; on Wednesday, that&#8217;s too good a news not to share. Thank you Dr. Levine! Whoop! Six months of no more worrying, Amen [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I have SO MUCH to add to the blog but I&#8217;m knee-deep in projects and can&#8217;t find the time!  But I did have a 100% clean CT scan &#8211; abdomen and lungs &#8211; on Wednesday, that&#8217;s too good a news not to share.  Thank you Dr. Levine!  Whoop!  Six months of no more worrying, Amen to that.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>FIFA&#8217;s reward for overworked refs?  &#8220;Go Home.&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/06/29/fifas-reward-for-overworked-refs-go-home/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/06/29/fifas-reward-for-overworked-refs-go-home/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:04:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>m</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Consumption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rants and Raves]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/?p=877</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[FIFA refuses to come out of the stone age, instead preferring futbol to be refereed by one human being guaranteed to make mistakes &#8211; mistakes that the world can watch in gorgeous hi-def slow motion, over and over, seconds after they occur. Players perpetually dive and shove and take cheap shots behind the ref&#8217;s back, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>FIFA refuses to come out of the stone age, instead preferring futbol to be refereed by one human being guaranteed to make mistakes &#8211; mistakes that the world can watch in gorgeous hi-def slow motion, over and over, seconds after they occur.  Players perpetually dive and shove and take cheap shots behind the ref&#8217;s back, unashamed of the camera catching their every move, simply because it pays off &#8211; the fans may boo, but the play goes on in their favor, and the only one clueless to the truth is the poor overworked referee.<br />
Poorly distributed cards aside, the number of bad calls at this year&#8217;s World Cup has been staggering, with the most well-known errors leading to an incorrect score.  Even before the World Cup began, complaints regarding the famous French handball that knocked Ireland out of qualifying were at a din.  During, the US were mysteriously stripped of a winning goal against Slovania without explanation, England was denied a critical goal that was a yard inside the net, and Argentina was given a goal against Mexico when it was clear to everyone that their man was offside.  These kind of errors not only change the actual score, but provide a mental blow that certainly further affects the outcome.  And don&#8217;t even get me started on the red cards, apparently distributed randomly as the lone referee grapples with maintaining control.<br />
The most shameful thing that FIFA has done is scapegoat the referees.  All three refs that made the goal errors have been sent home, as well as another that sent off Kaka after some ridiculous Ivory Coast acting.  Talk about not fixing the problem.  Until FIFA adds more referees, implements goal-line technology, and generally decides that truth is better than drama, they will be ON MY LIST.  <img src='http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif' alt=':P' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>World Cup Frenzy</title>
		<link>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/06/23/world-cup-frenzy/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/06/23/world-cup-frenzy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Jun 2010 22:24:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>m</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[All My Rowdy Friends]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Daily Life]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/?p=873</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We had the best time this morning, I took off work and Andrea Reiley Wren Bailey and Larry and I met at the My Way Tavern for two awesome simultaneous games: US vs Algeria, and England vs Slovenia. These were the games that determined who got through the group stage for Group C &#8211; it&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We had the best time this morning, I took off work and Andrea Reiley Wren Bailey and Larry and I met at the My Way Tavern for two awesome simultaneous games: US vs Algeria, and England vs Slovenia.  These were the games that determined who got through the group stage for Group C &#8211; it&#8217;s nail-biting time for the World Cup!  The place exploded when Donovan gave us all a rush scoring in the 91st minute.  Man I love that man.  Still shopping for a jersey&#8230;</p>
<ul>
<li>mexico 1-1 south africa        the refs stole a goal from mexico &#8211; NO HE DIDN&#8217;T, know the rules dummy!<br />
http://getpublished.news-leader.com/wordpress/blog/2010/06/11/world-cup-south-africa-vs-mexico-offsides-for-dummies-and-espn-announcers/</li>
<li>uruguay 0-0 france</li>
<li>south korea 2-0 greece        s korea was on FIRE!  greece on their heels</li>
<li>argentina 1-0 nigeria        nigerian goalie is AWESOME, argentinians big and strong</li>
<li>england 1-1 us                us was energetic, england was ok too &#8211; green is a dead man</li>
<li>algeria 0-1 slovania</li>
<li>serbia 0-1 ghana</li>
<li>germany 4-0 australia        ROBBED by a totally ridiculous red card from the mexican ref, most calls were TOTALLY BAD</li>
<li>netherlands 2-0 denmark        holland in orange looking really good</li>
<li>japan 1-0 camaroon            japan hard working, camaroon too but frustrated</li>
<li>italy 1-1 paraguay            at first i had the teams confused &#8211; paraguay was energetic!</li>
<li>new zealand 1-1 slovakia    gorgeous nz cross+header at 93 minutes!</li>
<li>portugal 0-0 ivory coast    c.ronaldo looking good &#8211; yellow carded!, ivory coast getting some shots on goal</li>
<li>brazil 2-1 n.korea            brazil not as effective as you&#8217;d think</li>
<li>hoduras 0-1 chile            missed most of it</li>
<li>spain 0-1 swiss                HOLY CRAP!  swiss strikers showtime!  spain hammered over and over, hit post 2-3 times, couldn&#8217;t get it in!</li>
<li>swiss striker ROLLED into the net, another followed it in &#8211; spain defender came up with cut face</li>
<li>germany 0-1 serbia            klose red-carded, germany was screwed</li>
<li>s.africa -</li>
<li>us 2-2 slovania                TOTAL $#*$ ROBBERY!  no one even knows why us goal 3 was denied!!  US WAS ON FIRE!</li>
<li>uruguay 1-0 mexico            mexico the better strikers, uruguay scored and played defense</li>
<li>france 1-2 s.africa            france, the disgrace of the 2010 world cup, AS I PREDICTED &#8211; zidane&#8217;s shame lives on</li>
<li>argentina 2-0 greece        greece sucks &#8211; altho their one lone striker had impressive moments!</li>
<li>nigeria 2-2 s korea            awesome game, well played by nigeria but not enough to go on &#8211; going to miss that goalie</li>
<li>us vs algeria                do or die!  algeria came out shooting first, tense &#8211; then us got upper hand, scored &#8211; DENIED &#8216;offsides&#8217; bah!<br />
then chaos at the net at 91st minute, Donovan follows up to SCORE!!!  win 1-0, US GOES THRU!!</li>
<li>england vs slovenia            england scores first half, keeps game muted after that &#8211; not stellar but ENGLAND GOES THRU!  AMAZING!!</li>
</ul>
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		<title>Cool camping on a hot day</title>
		<link>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/06/21/cool-camping-on-a-hot-day/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/06/21/cool-camping-on-a-hot-day/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:29:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>m</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[All My Rowdy Friends]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Daily Life]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/?p=870</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We went camping this weekend &#8211; even though it was 95 degrees! But we avoided the heat &#8211; we brought the inflatable boat and spent all our time in Lake Jordan. I did my best pirate impression and kept the girls on the run &#8211; including Sparrow (Wren), Calypso (Scarlett), Starfish (Savanah), Spongebob and Patrick [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We went camping this weekend &#8211; even though it was 95 degrees!  But we avoided the heat &#8211; we brought the inflatable boat and spent all our time in Lake Jordan.  </p>
<p>I did my best pirate impression and kept the girls on the run &#8211; including Sparrow (Wren), Calypso (Scarlett), Starfish (Savanah), Spongebob and Patrick (Olivia and her friend), and my arch-enemy, Rat (Reiley).  We rafted, they rafted, we captured, they walked the plank, they stowed away, they abandoned ship, they stole our oars, they captured the treasure from us, they buried the treasure, they swam right past us with it without giving it away.  They did a fine job of keeping Captain Jack (Richard) and me baffled as to the whereabouts of the rare and valuable green sword for most of the time at sea.  Scurvy little sea scum rats!</p>
<p>We had a nice campfire with dogs burgers corn beans and smores, classic.  Cameron drew the lucky straw and came with us, he was a darling.  And the new tent is fantastic.  </p>
<p>It was a compact and fun trip, and we made it back in time to relax, watch more World Cup (go US!), and celebrate Father&#8217;s day.  What a life.  :></p>
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		<title>Soil sampling</title>
		<link>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/06/09/soil-sampling/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/06/09/soil-sampling/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:12:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>m</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Life]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/?p=865</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We took some soil samples from some land we were looking at, NC has a nice soil testing service through the Agronomics branch of the Agriculture Department. You just drop off some soil and they send you a report, awesome! Takes about a week&#8230;]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We took some soil samples from some land we were looking at, NC has a nice soil testing service through the Agronomics branch of the Agriculture Department.  You just drop off some soil and they send you a report, awesome!  Takes about a week&#8230;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Wrenny shows off her African dancing skills</title>
		<link>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/06/05/wrenny-shows-off-her-african-dancing-skills/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/06/05/wrenny-shows-off-her-african-dancing-skills/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 06 Jun 2010 00:34:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>m</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Life]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/?p=866</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fumbling with iphone wordpress app, it won&#8217;t post video&#8230; forthcoming&#8230;]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Fumbling with iphone wordpress app, it won&#8217;t post video&#8230; forthcoming&#8230;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Wrenny&#8217;s team wins their soccer tourney!</title>
		<link>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/05/20/wrennys-team-wins-their-soccer-tourney/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/05/20/wrennys-team-wins-their-soccer-tourney/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 May 2010 13:48:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>m</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Life]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/?p=861</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What a fun day, two games on Saturday, taking the team to the winner&#8217;s circle!  Gary, Randy and I have coached these girls for years, and watched them come together as a team.  I&#8217;m like a broken record, but I&#8217;d rather see the girls play as a team, with great crosses, using the whole field, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What a fun day, two games on Saturday, taking the team to the winner&#8217;s circle!  Gary, Randy and I have coached these girls for years, and watched them come together as a team.  I&#8217;m like a broken record, but I&#8217;d rather see the girls play as a team, with great crosses, using the whole field, leading passes to open spaces, etc., even if it means losing to the poorer strategies of teams that leverage one kid dribbling the length of the field, or the whole team playing packball.  The beautiful thing about this tournament was the fact that our team-based effort is now officially blowing the doors off those strategies, with the kids&#8217; constantly-improving level of play taking them to a coordinated effort that is truly a beautiful thing to watch.  Every kid is a contributor, and they were on FIRE on Saturday.  Way to go, Allie, Brooklyn, Chloe, Dania, Holly, Jennifer, Jessica, Kylie, Olivia, Syndey, Wrenny, Zoe!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>One cute puppy</title>
		<link>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/05/19/one-cute-puppy/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/05/19/one-cute-puppy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 May 2010 01:38:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>m</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Life]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/?p=859</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Pictures forthcoming&#8230;]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Pictures forthcoming&#8230;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>An ode to bro</title>
		<link>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/05/17/an-ode-to-bro/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/05/17/an-ode-to-bro/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 May 2010 02:39:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>m</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[All My Rowdy Friends]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Words of Wisdom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/?p=854</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My bro is constantly trying to fight the right-wing hate machine that lives and breathes through all the bitter old people that use the internet (read: forward junk mail).  He does a beautiful job of debunking the bs, but it always falls on deaf ears (and minds). So&#8230; I am reposting his inspired responses so [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My bro is constantly trying to fight the right-wing hate machine that lives and breathes through all the bitter old people that use the internet (read: forward junk mail).  He does a beautiful job of debunking the bs, but it always falls on deaf ears (and minds).</p>
<p>So&#8230; I am reposting his inspired responses so they aren&#8217;t lost in the bottom of an overstuffed inbox.  All in good fun.<span id="more-854"></span></p>
<p>On 05/17/2010 10:05 PM, Dan Miller wrote:</p>
<blockquote cite="mid:000301caf62e$a8322eb0$f8968c10$@miller@comcast.net">
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<li><strong>I’m tired of people making up complete lies and attributing them falsely to famous people. (Robert A. Hall is the idiot that penned the whining rant below without ANY sources. Robert D. Hall is the CSI actor, no relation)</strong></li>
</ul>
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<li><strong>I’m tired of Republicans citing quotes from the Founding Fathers that were never said – they do it ALL THE TIME (show me where Ben Franklin ever said that. I can show you several sources attributing it to Libertarian, James Bovard, from 1994) If an email says “Andy Rooney” or “Paul Harvey” or “fill-in-the-Founding-Father”, look it up. In my experience, most times, it is falsely attributed.</strong></li>
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<td width="576" valign="top"><strong> </strong></td>
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<li><strong>I’m tired of idiots like this inferring that Democrats have no work ethic and support laziness.</strong></li>
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<td width="576" valign="top"><strong> </strong></td>
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<li><strong>I’m tired of people that don’t take responsibility for their emails, being unable to formulate their own ideas.</strong></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
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<td width="576" valign="top"><strong> </strong></td>
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<td width="576" valign="top">
<ul>
<li><strong>I’m tired of being told that poor people are lazy.</strong></li>
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</td>
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<td width="576" valign="top"><strong> </strong></td>
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<td width="576" valign="top">
<ul>
<li><strong>I’m tired of being told that rich people work harder than everyone else.</strong></li>
</ul>
</td>
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<td width="576" valign="top"><strong> </strong></td>
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<td width="576" valign="top">
<ul>
<li><strong>I’m tired of hearing the rich whine that the government is taking all their money. I have yet to meet a poor person that said they used to be rich, but the government took all their money (the casinos on Wall Street are not the government). Okay… Willie Nelson maybe?</strong></li>
</ul>
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<li><strong>I’m tired of hearing the Republicans say America is Communist and Socialist and then trash Democrats for saying how bad America is, when in reality, I only hear Republicans throwing up their hands, giving up hope, and screaming that America is heading into the dumpster.</strong></li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li><strong>I’m tired of Racists using fear to foster hatred and grow their ranks.</strong></li>
</ul>
</td>
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<td width="576" valign="top"><strong> </strong></td>
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<ul>
<li><strong>I’m tired of Freedom of Religion being applied only to Christians</strong></li>
</ul>
</td>
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<td width="576" valign="top"><strong> </strong></td>
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<li><strong>I’m tired of Republicans shouting from the rooftops that Obama is against freedom, Obama is against the individual, Obama wants an all-knowing government, and other ridiculous sweeping generalities that have absolutely no meaning whatsoever.</strong></li>
</ul>
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<li><strong>I’m tired of lame attempts to make a list seem more weighty. Bush was criticized for exercising? Really?! That’s in your top list of complaints??!!</strong></li>
</ul>
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<li><strong>I’m tired of cry-baby Republicans that do nothing but complain, vote no, yet offer no solutions.</strong></li>
</ul>
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<li><strong>I’m tired of Republicans claiming that illegal aliens are on Welfare. It’s just not true. If a person can’t prove citizenship, they’re ineligible for Welfare. Period. Find out the facts <em>before</em> you try to rebut them.</strong></li>
</ul>
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<li><strong>I’m tired of doing the research that these stupid idiots refuse to do. I’m tired of my mother being duped by their lies. I’m tired, but I keep on trying to defend the truth.</strong></li>
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<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>-Dan Miller, May 17, 2010</strong></p>
<hr size="2" />Subject: FW: &#8220;I&#8217;m 63, and I&#8217;m tired!!&#8221; (Snopes.com verified)<br />
Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 17:35:40 -0400</p>
<p>&#8220;Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what&#8217;s for dinner.</p>
<p>Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.&#8221;</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Benjamin Franklin </span></p>
<p>Takes awhile to read but worth it<strong><em> </em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>There is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on!<br />
This is your chance to make a difference.</em></strong></p>
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<td width="100%"><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Robert A. Hall is the actor who plays the coroner on CSI if you watch that show. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">This should be required reading for every man, woman and child in the United States of America .</span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
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<td valign="top"><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">&#8220;I&#8217;m  63 and I’m Tired&#8221;<br />
</span></strong><em><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">by Robert A. Hall<br />
</span></em><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m  63</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">.  Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I&#8217;ve worked, hard, since  I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven&#8217;t called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn&#8217;t inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there&#8217;s no retirement in sight, and I&#8217;m tired. Very tired. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m  tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of being told that I have to &#8220;spread the wealth&#8221; to people who don&#8217;t have my work ethic. I&#8217;m tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m  tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of being told that I have to pay more taxes to &#8220;keep people in their homes.&#8221;  Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I&#8217;m willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of being told how bad  America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities  America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of  Zimbabwe , the freedom of the press of  China , the crime and violence of  Mexico , the tolerance for Christian people of  Iran , and the freedom of speech of  Venezuela .</span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m  tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of being told that Islam is a &#8220;Religion of Peace,&#8221; when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family &#8220;honor&#8221;; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren&#8217;t &#8220;believers&#8221;; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for &#8220;adultery&#8221;; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur&#8217;an and Shari&#8217;a law tells them to. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m  tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of being told that &#8220;race doesn&#8217;t matter&#8221; in the post-racial world of Obama, when it&#8217;s all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I  think</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> it&#8217;s very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln  wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of a news media that thinks Bush&#8217;s fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama&#8217;s, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush&#8217;s military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn&#8217;t vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m  tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of being told that out of &#8220;tolerance for other cultures&#8221; we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and mandrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America , while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in  Saudi Arabia  to teach love and tolerance. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m  tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a  three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore&#8217;s, and if you&#8217;re greener than Gore, you&#8217;re green enough. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don&#8217;t think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I&#8217;m tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m  tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of illegal aliens being called &#8220;undocumented workers,&#8221; especially the ones who aren&#8217;t working, but are living on welfare or crime. What&#8217;s next?  Calling drug dealers, &#8220;Undocumented Pharmacists&#8221;?  And, no,  I&#8217;m not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it&#8217;s been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion.  I&#8217;m willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn&#8217;t have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military&#8230;. Those are the citizens we need. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m  tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war?  You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave?  Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are?  Not even close.  So here&#8217;s the deal. I&#8217;ll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we&#8217;ll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I&#8217;m tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in  Illinois , where the &#8220;Illinois Combine&#8221; of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama&#8217;s cabinet. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I&#8217;m tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Speaking  of poor, I&#8217;m tired </span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn&#8217;t have that in 1970, but we didn&#8217;t know we were &#8220;poor.&#8221; The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">I&#8217;m real  tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> of people who don&#8217;t take responsibility for their lives and actions. I&#8217;m tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Yes,  I&#8217;m damn tired</span></strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">. But I&#8217;m also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I&#8217;m not going to have to see the world these people are making. I&#8217;m just sorry for my granddaughter. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> </span></p>
<p><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Robert   A. Hall is a Marine  Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the  Massachusetts    State  Senate.<br />
</span></em></strong><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"><br />
There is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on!<br />
This is your chance to make a difference.</span></em></strong></td>
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<pre>--
<a href="http://thedigitalmachine.com/">http://thedigitalmachine.com</a></pre>
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		<title>Happy 14th Birthday Reiley!</title>
		<link>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/05/12/happy-14th-birthday-reiley/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.thedigitalmachine.com/2010/05/12/happy-14th-birthday-reiley/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 May 2010 14:13:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>m</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Life]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Fourteen, holy cow.  We went to PF Chang&#8217;s, had cake, opened presents, and stayed up &#8217;til midnight watching Woody Allen&#8217;s Manhatten Murder Mystery, fun fun!  The highlight by most accounts was the news that Reiley is in line for a puppy &#8211; let the next great search begin.  :&#62;]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Fourteen, holy cow.  We went to PF Chang&#8217;s, had cake, opened presents, and stayed up &#8217;til midnight watching Woody Allen&#8217;s Manhatten Murder Mystery, fun fun!  The highlight by most accounts was the news that Reiley is in line for a puppy &#8211; let the next great search begin.  :&gt;</p>
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