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Wednesday, August 27th, 2003

Ten Commandments monument moved
CNN, Wednesday, August 27, 2003 Posted: 1:21 PM EDT

"Supporters threatened to boycott the company that moved the monument. "

How very 'christian' of them.

"No! You Can't Touch My Graven Image!"

"My Monument To The Ten Commandments. And My Monument To The Constitution!"

"Rock, Paper, Scissors. Paper Beats Rock..."

"Maybe I should Ad... 'Thou Shalt Not Demagogue', To Cover Alabama Chief Justices..."

"The Road To Democracy Has Its Setbacks! It's Not Easy Overcoming Religious Fanaticism... Cultural Backwardness... Or Ego-Crazed Demagogues! But We're Making Great Progress.... In Alabama!"

"Thou Shalt Have No Other Court Above Mine!!"

"IDOLATORS!"

"You Feel Religiously Persecuted? Get On A Boat And Go Find Your Own Country!!"

Monday, August 25th, 2003

From CNN, Monday, August 25:
Commandments monument may be moved soon

"MONTGOMERY, Alabama (AP) -- About 100 demonstrators prayed Monday outside the Alabama Judicial Building, keeping up their opposition to a federal court order to remove a 5,300-pound stone representation of the Ten Commandments from the building's rotunda.

Federal courts have held that the monument violates the Constitution's ban on government promotion of a religious doctrine.

(Judge) Moore, who contends it is his duty to acknowledge God in the public rotunda of the state government building, was suspended last week by a state judicial ethics panel for disobeying the order by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson to move the monument."

Since it appears that Judge Moore's 10 commandments will soon need a new home, I have a crazy, novel suggestion: PUT THEM IN A CHURCH!

I've written extensively about the importance of separation of church and state. Too many people either think the issue not worth considering, or actually advocate the mixture. Too many people have forgotten the lessons of the past, and the stated principals of this country.

Since it seems that few people like to read - I'm going to let some political cartoons do the talking for me today...

"..And the Eleventh Commandment Says Thou Shalt Not Remove These Commandments from Government Buildings!"

"Ten Commandments Monument VS. Separation of Church and Sate... Let Me Check My Case Law!"

"The Commandments Provide The Foundation For Our Laws And the Foundation By Which I Live My Life.

-'What About the 2nd Commandment Against Graven Images?'

I'm Pretty Sure That's A Typo."

"What Separation Between Church and State? - Sweet Home Talibama"

"What if... 'Alabama Will Never Give Up Its Right To Acknowledge God'"

Further Reading:
Which Ten Commandments?
(Adobe Acrobat .pdf file, opens in a new window).

Americans United For Separation of Church and State

Tuesday, August 12th, 2003

Behold, another truly evil pop-up advertisement.
This deceitful little bugger appears to a system warning to Microsoft users.

Click here to see a larger (and far more legible) version of the ad.

The ad is clearly deceptive and should be illegal.

How exciting! I have an actual debate happening on my Web site from two readers.

On April 24th of 2003 Joe Stafura contributed an essay regarding Senator Rick Santorum's comments on privacy in the United States. You can read his original posting here.

On Friday, May 9th, 2003 reader Corey Davis responded to Joe Stafura's editorial. Corey's comments are found here.

(It's kind of like watching a ping-pong tournament: back and forth, back and forth!)

And now, Joe Stafura replies:

"Hello Corey,

I am responding belatedly to your comments on my post on Glen's website.

When I refer to the performance of the economy I was thinking of the growth statistics rather than gross numbers. This is a method of determining the success of current policies vs. past history. I could post some numbers in isolation but that would be playing a game rather than presenting facts.

You can look at a number of sources but using the data on nationmaster.com it is clear that the Spanish economy is growing at close to double the rate of Germany and France over the past decade. So I'm not sure what is strange about the statement that the Spanish Government is outperforming, defined in this instance as; To carry on; function.

You re-enforce the point by mentioning China, their economic growth rate is shown to be accelerating in coincidence with a loosing of the grip of government dogma and an increased acceptance of globalization.

That being said they have a way to go, they have yet to crack the top 100 in GDP per capita, still remaining well behind such luxury destination spots such as Latvia and Romania. The point is that the increase in openness can be correlated with the gains. Is that the same as causal, no, but economics relies on correlation more than causality due the complex nature of the beast, hence the famous past performance is not an indicator of future results statement.

As for the last sentence, what I'm trying to convey is that it is better to be accepting vs. rejecting in nature and that fear is a controlling mechanism that works very well.

Maybe I do "see what you see" in some cases, the type of material on your web site is in line with the things that I think need to be exposed and understood, sorry you didn't get what I was driving toward in my comments. Interestingly I received replies from Sen. Santorum and the ACLU on my position, judging by the responses they seemed to get it, although being on opposite sides concerning the implication.

By the way, there is no doubt in my mind that you are not a hippy, nor do I think you have any concept of what that movement was about.

Peace, out..........Joe Stafura"

(Editor's Note: The thoughts and opinions expressed by guest writers may not be those of GlenGreenDotCom.)

Thursday, August 7th, 2003

Yesterday evening I saw Bruce Springsteen at 'PNC Park'.

First the cons and rants of the night:

Parking around the stadium is $20! Twenty freakin' dollars!

Isn't it enough that Pittsburgh's corrupt politicians built the stadiums in direct opposition to the vote and will of the people? (Incidentally, today the city announced the layoff of 731 city workers in an attempt to hold off bankruptcy).
Isn't it enough that tickets cost so much?
Isn't it enough that you can't even bring your own water into the park so that you are forced to pay $3.00 for a bottle of water?
No.
$20 for parking. For 1 car. $20! I wouldn't, and didn't pay it. Fortunately we'd arrived plenty early and had time to head into town for $5.00 parking. Revolts have to start somewhere, and mine starts at $20 for parking in a lot.

Even though I'd purchased $75 tickets on the first day that they'd gone on sell we were stuck in 'peanut heaven'.

There were worse seats in the park since we had a relatively straight view of the stage and others didn't, but we were so far away that the band looked positively tiny. I found that I almost never looked at the stage, but instead, I watched the jumbotron monitors. Watching a video of a concert isn't as much fun as watching the stage.

Seating chart for the August 6th, 2003 Bruce Springsteen concert in Pittsburgh

I was also disappointed by the sound. It seemed to improve as the show went on (or my ears adjusted), but generally it was too base and I found the lyrics to the first song (Jackson Cage) nearly incomprehensible under the pounding base. (A fault of the space, not the band.)

People are drunken idiots. The 'fair weather' fans get on my nerves. Quiet songs are seen as an opportunity to talk, scream, 'Born in the USA!, and to create a commotion as they walk out to piss some of the beer away.

The time listed on the ticket was for 7:30 but the show didn't start until 8:30.

Related but slightly off topic: stupid incompetent weathermen. All week long they'd called for rain. (A concern in an open air park). I was delighted when I checked weather.com the day of the concert and found that in spite of the morning weather prediction the new forecast was calling for nothing more severe than 'partly cloudy'. All day long I checked the weather. Suddenly at 3pm the weather site indicated rain starting at 5 and continuing until 9.
It never rained.

I need to become a politician or weatherman so that I can just relax and give up any pretense of competence.

The Pros:

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. People couldn't resist, during the three hour concert the music compelled dancing, singing and joy. Bruce and the band are the best, and if you don't get that, then you are missing out.

The city looked beautiful in the haze of a summer night, under the sickle of the moon.

Friends and family completed the outing.

My voice is horse, but one last time, "BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!"

Here is a brief description and set list from fan-zine 'Back Streets' :

August 6 / Pittsburgh, PA / PNC Park

Notes: The inaugural concert at PNC Park is also the first of the E Street Band's ballpark shows-a fact not lost on them, with Bruce saying that he and the band would "try to hit a home run... a grand slam!" Nils, Roy, and Danny-all on accordion- had the first at-bat, opening the show with "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Bruce referred to them as "the three tenors" as the rest of the band then took their spots, and the set proper started off with "Jackson Cage." "Glory Days" turned up in the encore, of course, and with a little hometown help. A special guest in Pittsburgh? Three guesses, and the first two don't count. Yep, Steeltown's Joe Grushecky joins in on "Glory Days," with his son Johnny as well. A long show at 27 songs (28, counting the accordion triple-play), including standouts like "Streets of Fire," "Blinded By the Light," "Further On (Up the Road)"... and "Rosie" keeps comin' on strong.

Setlist: Take Me Out to the Ballgame/Jackson Cage/The Rising/Lonesome Day/The Promised Land/My Love Will Not Let You Down/Prove It All Night/Streets of Fire/Empty Sky/Waitin' on a Sunny Day/Working on the Highway/Worlds Apart/Badlands/Out in the Street/Mary's Place/Blinded By the Light/My Hometown/Into the Fire/No Surrender

First Encore: Further On (Up the Road)/Bobby Jean/Hungry Heart/Glory Days (with Joe Grushecky)/Born to Run

Second Encore: My City of Ruins/Land of Hope and Dreams/Rosalita/Dancing in
the Dark

See past WorldView and Friends and Family News in the Archive