Qualified to be a Professional? a little humor along the way

The following short quiz consists of 4 questions and tells whether you are qualified to be a "professional".

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Wrong answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the refrigerator. Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer: The elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. This tests your memory. OK, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross. But it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer: You swim across. All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

According to Andersen Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the professionals they tested got all questions wrong. But many preschoolers got several correct answers. Andersen Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of a four-year-old.

Cross in the Mojave to Remain

In a 5 to 4 decision, the Supreme Court allows a war memorial cross to remain in a remote part of the Mojave Desert.

While I tend to affirm tradition, even when a new context would have us do something differently, I was shocked to hear one commentator defending the memorial say, "The cross is no religious symbol."

Well, if it isn't a religious symbol, what is it?

Let's be honest for a moment: our Jewish war dead are buried beneath the Star of David. And more often these days, we're finding the Crescent, to make the graves of Muslims.

The cross IS a religious symbol, but more than religion, it's also a symbol of state power - reflecting a time when the national governments of Europe were deeply connected to the state church - when Cross and Crown were linked together to maintain their bastions of power. In all the wars of Europe in the last thousand years, nation went to war with nation, each of them carrying the Cross of Christ.

Throughout Nazi Germany, the cross was a powerful symbol of German imperialism, even as the cross is a symbol of white supremacy here in the States. The cross is clearly a symbol, and what it sometimes represents is anything but the Man who died on it.

Certainly the cross, as religious symbol, captures the hopes of millions of Christians, but simultaneously, it represents bigotry and sufferings for millions of Jews and Muslims. If you have a question about this, ask your Jewish or Muslim neighbors.

In this day and age, we'd all think a little more thoroughly before erecting a single-symbol war memorial. And I would hope that Christians, long accustomed to being king of the hill here in America, will awaken to the new reality of our world and begin to exercise a greater sensitivity to our neighbors.

As for the war memorial, perhaps we could erect a field of symbols, including the Star of David and the Crescent, to name just a few.

Go HERE to see a list of authorized emblems for our National Cemeteries.

It's time for Christians to be honest about what the cross means to millions of people around the world, and rather than shoving it in people's faces, to show some restraint, some humility, and some basic kindness. What a great move it would have been for the erectors of that cross to voluntarily take it down and replace with a monument to honor all of our brave American soldiers.

We can do better!

AZ Immigration Law

Jim Wallis rightly describes Arizona's new immigration law as a "social sin."

To read more, click HERE.

As always, Wallis' judgment is on target.

Whatever your faith-perspective might be, I invite you to dig deep into your soul and ponder this retrogressive action, and why in AZ?

What's going on there?

And what's to prove by these harsh measures?

Flexing someone's muscles? To be king of the hill? For what end?

Palin Is an Anarchist

I'm a Dem, and have been one since I cast my first vote many years ago.

Though I admit, with regret, that I voted for Reagan when he ran against Carter. Mr. Happy-Face Reagan beguiled me as he did this nation. I was a fool!

Oh well ...

During the Bush regime, I prayed for Bush often, and did what I could to support him. After all, he was the President of my country, the leader of my land.

I didn't march on the streets, I didn't write hateful letters, and when Gore lost the election to the Bush Supreme Court, I joined Gore in wishing Bush well and getting on with things. I didn't lash out; I didn't spew hatred. I tried to find ways and means that I could support the GOP agenda and move this country ahead.

I didn't plot the overthrow of the government, I didn't engage in "violent" words of rebellion, I didn't call down the wrath of God and pray for Bush's demise (although the thought occurred to me a time or two).

Am I patting myself on the back?

Not at all.

I'm simply an American, a real American, and I was doing what real Americans do - in sickness and in health, however we see it, I stood by my President and I supported the democratic process.

Which is to say, what we see with the GOP, Boehner and Cantor, Palin and Beck, is an abomination.

They are not Americans, whatever the hell they are. They are engaged in a program of de-construction, playing upon the fears of millions of naive Americans. Sadly, there would be no room for Palin if American citizens fully understood the glorious of our Democracy. But 50 years of Happy-Face Reaganism has deplete the national treasury of more than money - the GOP has looted our intelligence, along with its right-wing compatriots in American pulpits, led by the banality of a Robertson, the guilt-laden remorse of a Colson and the mean-spirted heart of a Dobson.

They are all terrorists determined to undermine our Democracy, sowing the seeds of discontent, malice, rage and craziness.

They are, by far, the greatest threat facing our nation, even as they pull the curtain and turn on the smoke and thunder machine, pointing us to mostly imaginary threats overseas, taking us to war, wasting billions and condemning thousands of our finest soldiers to death and tens of thousands more to a life-time of pain and medication.

They are behaving shamefully and without regard for the wellbeing of our nation.

They are prisoners of their own rage (Boehner) and ego (Palin and Beck) and a perverse religion (Colson and Dobson).

Their mutual hatred of Obama is painfully obvious, with shades of racism and everything evil.

They are not to be trusted; their words are misleading.

In reality, they're anarchists.

They have no vision for the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. They cannot work with anyone else, and they can't even work with one another.

They are anarchists.

They pose a real danger to America.

15th Anniversary of the OKC Bombing

April 19, 1995, 168 people died because Timothy McVeigh decided to exact vengeance on our Federal Government for the Waco Siege which ended in the death of 76 people two years earlier.

Filled with irrational ideas, McVeigh declared war on America.

As bizarre as this sounds, it's what the Confederate States were all about, and these days, the t-bags and all such related anti-government ideas. If Communism ever posed a threat to this nation, and it never did, being used only as a ploy by McCarthy to gain influence, the t-bags are a threat, especially as they are backed by the well-healed, none of whom love this nation, but all of whom love the almighty dollar.

America, a land of incredible freedom, has always had its share of nut cases. That we should have room for them is our glory as the "land of the free."

Yet what sadness they have wrought, especially when used and encouraged by fascist, if not anarchist, interests. Oonce again, their influence is being felt, fueled by a media fascinated with them and welcomed by an indiscriminate public often unable to tell the difference between fact and fiction. All of this cheered on by cheap politicians and cheaper-still pundits out for a quick buck on their latest ghost-written book. And in the background, the powerful who who expect to profit from a weakened Federal Government.

There is nothing proud about the t-bags, and nothing American about them.

They are a threat to our national security and a poison in our soul

The Associated Press: Poll: Majority lacks trust in government

The Associated Press: Poll: Majority lacks trust in government

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No wonder folks distrust government - after 50 years of GOP bull shit about "government is the problem," folks actually believe this nonsense.

And watching the GOP dunces foul up the waters even further, no wonder folks have lost their confidence in our Constitutional system, one of the finest in the world. Sadly, what rates as the GOP today is a twisted impostor of Lincoln's Party. I've had the pleasure of knowing many a fine GOP politician - they were gifted and collegial. They know how to stand their ground and how to reach across the aisle. But these days, the GOP has no ground to stand upon; they are a party without purpose. And without purpose, they lack the means for reaching across the aisle. They have no clue what to work for, so they're unable to work with anyone else. And as Palin and her sideshow grow increasingly influential, we'll see the GOP imploding. It won't be a pretty picture, and it surely won't help this nation out of the political morass into which we are sinking.

The Dems haven't helped either - they've been too afraid to stand up and be counted, to buck the insanity of Bush and to be what Dems should be - a party of The People. Only a few dared to raise the right questions about the Iraq adventure, and when our allies raised questions, we turned on them with a pathetic rage - trying to rename "French" Fries as "Freedom Fries." How silly; how immature; how shallow!

24-hour news services jump from one crisis to another, chasing ambulances, if you will, rather than engaging in real journalism - after watching the news, we're left breathless with exhaustion and not a shred of wisdom. Though I stand with MSNBC as a source of traditional values - compassion and the common good. This is the stuff of Real American and real greatness. Keith Olbermann and Rachel Madow and Chris Matthews are clearly prophets in the land, helping us embrace the best in ourselves. Though prophets are often without honor.

With the demise of our great newspapers, either going under for want of revenue or simply becoming tawdry mouthpieces for ideologically-driven owners, we have a dearth of real information and an abundance of opinion.

Without our knowing it, without our awareness, Washington has been bought by the highest bidders, and it was put up for sale by the GOP.

What we have witnessed under the Reagan umbrella is nothing less than the rape of America and the degradation of our democracy, even as the GOP and its right-wing religionists have brainwashed huge numbers of every-day Americans who will believe even they're hanging from the highest tree and told to go to hell by the privileged.

It's a real mess we have on our hands, and we have only Mr. Happy-Face Reagan to thank for the gutting of the Republic and the gutless-wonder Dems who went along for the ride, pocketing lobbyist monies along with all the rest.

I believe President Obama understands our system better than any President since FDR, and better than most, Obama is a President of the people, by the people and for the people, even if the people haven't a clue, even when believing the lies and illusions perpetrated by insidious economic forces intent only on blinding us with the bright lights of empty promises while looting the national treasury. We had a chance some years ago with Mr. Carter, but we choose illusion instead and elected Reagan. I voted for Reagan in some mad effort to be an independent voter. It was the first time I voted for a Republican, and it has the been the last, and given the current state of affairs in our land, I can't imagine a GOP candidate for whom I'd vote.

We've wasted ourselves on war, we have welcomed the violent rhetoric of Joe the Plumber, we have ignored The People, we have allowed lobbyists to become our government, we have filled our benches with small-minded ideologues who are blind to the Constitution and its greatness.

Where are we headed?

Let's be honest.

We could be headed for disaster.

Thank you Mr. Reagan, Mr. Bush and Bush, and all those who have turned their back on American greatness and settled for the husks of bigotry and rage.

Go t-bags. You are well on your way to destroying your nation, and you haven't a clue.

You are a pitiful group, deluded by the matrix. You think you're eating steak, when you're only eating gruel.

Wake up America before it's too late.