Jacob Runge

So,
Another set of my freinds officially procreated today. Jacob Runge was born to Eric and Gailen Runge.

I asked Eric how being a Dad was. He said he didn't know yet. But his son was real cute.
He was relieved of that. He was afraid he might have an ugly baby.

Has everyone ever seen an ugly baby?
I mean really?

Worry not Eric.

Even if your baby hadn't been cute, he'd have been cute.

I suggested that if he wanted to ugly Jake up a bit he could get an early start on body modification. Have Jake get belly button piercieng and some tatoos.

I think Eric and Gailen are passing on that suggestion.

I've also never met a parent that didn't think their baby was cute.

I just love when people are on the edge of a new beginning and just a little bit nervous.

Congrats.

So here is a good quote....

From Mark Russel tonight in Oakand...

If the Iraq War is a liberation, how come there haven't been any war brides yet?
We we liberated France, the French women threw themselves at the Americans.
As Ernie Pile said to Andy Rooney on the night of the liberation of Paris.
"If a Joe can't get laid tonight, he's a sissy."

By that criteria, we may have a ways to go in Iraq.

The Angels of the Election

I’m going to get over this election eventually. But in the mean time I’m having a lot of fun listening to people explain it. Some of the more silly series conversations I’ve heard recently on this subject center around the place of Angels in our heritage and how they affected the election. I’m not talking about angelic people, but rather real Angels. You know, the Michael, Gabriel, Lucifer kind. Its pretty weird to figure out how Angels have anything to do with the election. But in explaining Fundamentalist Christian thoughts and “Moral Values” I seem to get involved in conversations about how many angels got kicked out of heaven when Lucifer fell.

Apparently one third of the angels got kicked out of heaven. You know, The Archangel Mike, kicked Lucifer out cause he (Lucifer) (Mike’s more humble) thought he was as beautiful as God. –Apparently the Christian God is a jealous God. --So I interpret from what John say’s in Revelation. –That, and an awful lot of stuff in the Christian Bible where God doesn’t like anyone paying attention to other deities or points of view.

The interesting thing about these discussions is how people take what are obviously, at best, drug induced, or, at worst, schizophrenic, ramblings of John serious. I bet that if anyone came up and said the Archangel Gabe (my favorite, cause he had this stellar winged horse that he flew Mohammad around with) had just showed up, and talked to them, they’d end up committed. On a direct flight from San Francisco to New York, one of my roommates once thought he was Jesus. The good people of American Airlines, were doubtful, and dropped him off in Salt Lake city. A fact, I’ve always thought ironic. In recent history, the Mormons cite the latest appearance of Jesus (and angels for that matter). So I guess corporate America sends them all possible new candidates for a reappearance.

The Mormons are an interesting study. Not because they believe Jesus appeared to the Indians in America, or that the Angel Moroni gave them a divinely inspired Second Testament of Christ, they are interesting because the old school Christians think they are nuts. “Imagine, thinking Jesus could appear again.” “ Imagine there could be a new Angel that wasn’t written about in the Old or New Testaments.” “My God, that’s the work of Lucifer!” I suppose Mohammad is the work of Lucifer too. Though if you read the Koran it appears he’s the work of Gabriel. The Koran and book of Mormon leave me very confused as to who is a good, sneaky, or cool angel with a winged horse. I won’t tell you where my zealot Christian associates leave me.

So, as part of these Angelic conversations, one of my old girlfriends was trying to nail me down on my religious beliefs the other night. Mainly cause I had just made the mistake of listening to a Pat Robertson interview on Fox while I was at the gym. Old Pat can get the hair up on my back pretty quick. Mostly cause he spends all his time explaining in a folksy facade how everyone who isn’t white and Baptist is probably an instrument of the devil. He seems to have a real fascination with Gays. (I’m of the opinion I know were Lucifer is. He has a TV show.) Pat’s a bit like Osama Bin Laden, the sooner he’s no longer able to make videos, we are probably better off.

But as I was saying the old girlfriend called me that night, and decided to discuss the election. Somehow we got on the subject of Angels. How, I’m not sure. I asserted Pat spreads bigotry in the name of Jesus, and we quickly moved to Angels. Probably because the best way to steer clear of a subject Christians don’t want to THINK about is to talk about some supernatural being that leaves no physical evidence of being. Not that I’m accusing her of diversionary tactics. She was just trying to clarify points of the scripture to me. --Though I didn’t ask her too. But I’m really talking about a lot of others I’ve been talking to lately. They keep mentioning Lucifer’s work. They like to quote crap from Revelation as the basis for electing Bush. They seem to think we are involved in some last day’s war, --Evil angels against the less sneaky ones. One person even asserted Gay’s and their agenda were the work of the devil and the other angels cast out at the end of Angelic Wars. (Those would be the sneaky ones.)

Let me get this straight. Gays are gays because Lucifer lost a war inside a schizophrenic’s head?

That’s a basis for a vote?

I’m beginning to think direct election of the president would be a bad idea.

Angelic involvement or not.

Just remember, when everyone (Christians) are picking on Gays. Lucifer got cast out cause he thought he was better than someone. That’s if you believe in something as silly as angels.

The Utility Conspiracy

So, about a week ago I had a power surge or something. This knocked out my DSL line somehow. I mean it burnt out my router, and blew out my spliter and shorted out some telephone lines. I think my house was stuck by lightning or something. Its okay now. The tech from SBC came out, scratched his head a lot and rewired my phone system, gave me a new splitter, and asked me what happen. I said, I think God smited me

Somber Calls

A lot of friends have been calling me lately. --Mostly to console me or themselves about the election. But with the somber meek miserable stomach influenza tone they talk in, you’d think my wife had died or something. Actually, it’s more like my wife has cancer. All my friends have heard about it by now. They wish they could do something about the cancer. But they just fumble with their words. They fumble with their frustration. But most of all the fumble with the feelings of betrayal because their prayers to God to cure the cancer go unanswered. Every time they call me, the cancer is still there. But that’s not what makes it so bad. It the fact that incidental people in there lives, people they’d prefer not to know right now, when the cancer is mentioned say things like, “What cancer? I saw his wife the other day. She’d lost weight. She never looked better.”

Meantime I’m making funeral arrangements.

I suppose those same incidental people will come to the funeral and say that reason my wife died was because she was a sinner. That’ll be consoling. I always have liked simple answers to complicated situations.

Review of voter demographics in Berkeley

So, I went and voted yesterday. Who and what I voted for is not really material at this point. Though its still illegal to sell yourself on the streets of Berkeley, and we are getting a new bore in the Caldecott Tunnel. I voted for both of those. So, I might venture to Orinda and back on weekends in a about ten years from now in less than two hours and I'm still won't get asked if I want a date on Telegraph Ave.

But what was more interesting were the actual voters of Berkeley. My precinct now votes in the local fire house of the Berkeley FireDepartment. (B.F.D.) as is says on the side of the big red trucks. -Tothe amusement of many friends who visit me. The Elmwood Park precinctis full of dedicated voters. Turn out was like 98 percent. I know this cause I stood in line with all my neighbors yesterday for 90 minutes for the privilege to vote. We really don't have enough of those voting machines to handle the passionate of Berkeley. So, we wait in line. Patiently but liberally. I guess.

While waiting in line we tend to do things which are a little communal. By that, group voting and consensus building seems to be okay. People pull out their sample marked ballots and ask you if you understand this or that proposition. We had like 40 to vote on. The woman next to me asked me to clarify several for her. One the additional 911 phone tax to pay for emergency rooms she asked me about because she saw myphone company badge. I told her I was voting for it because, my CEO leftme a voice mail telling me not too. I'm such a rebel at times.

The other big controversy was that people just discovered that voter registration lists are posted at polling places. Mainly for you to check to make sure you are registered. But they also contain your home address, phone number and party affiliation. This upset people inOakland. It was on the morning news. But in Berkeley, Elmwood Park, we studied the list for general demographic amusement mostly. In Elmwood Park 65 percent of voters are registered Democrat. Twenty five percent Non-Partisan. There are a smattering of Republicans, which we laughed at. Those poor isolated Republicans. "We should take up a collection for them", we mused. But the best line of the day came from the woman who had been in line behind me for an hour. She looked at the list, looked at her neighbors and said, "Oh, that young college guy next door is registered Green. How cute."

I, I, I,

Give all you reddies, an F for the day.
But in mulitiple subjects.
An F: for econonics and accounting.
An F: for sociology.
An F: in reality. And don't go complaining to the democrats when you don't get any social security.
but most of all I give you all,
An F: for citzenship.
You greedy bigots.