Year: 2003

If you should let sleeping dogs lie, should dogs who are awake be compelled to tell the truth?

PAD

As aggressive as mankind is about not learning from his mistakes, there is at least one valuable lesson that’s been learned insofar as shameful behavior by Americans go.

When soldiers returned from Vietnam, they were treated like each and every one was a war criminal. Remember? “Baby killers!” people would shout at them. Many soldiers who come back from wars have to deal with the difficult readjustment, but it was far tougher for the Vietnam vets because they returned to such a hostile environment. It was disgraceful.

Now, no matter how unpopular the war in Iraq may get (and that’s what we have, make no mistake), it seems that one theme is justly recurring: Support the troops. At least now there’s an understanding that these guys are just trying to do an impossible job under impossible conditions. Although there may be strident disagreement as to why we’re in Iraq and whether we should be or not, let’s be thankful that at least there’s–as near as I can tell–a total lack of condemnation of the people who are over there and consistent support for them when they return.

And if Bush was going to visit them, as he did, certainly the manner in which he did was the eminently smart way to go about it. In general I’m not a big fan of the press being lied to, but in this instance, advertising his dropping into a war zone would have been madness.

PAD

It’s not whether you win or lose…it’s whether *I* win or lose.

PAD

At the Star Trek on-line chat last night, I invited folks who had questions and such to swing by this here website. So I’m doing another “What’cha Wanna Know?” thread.

It’s real simple. Post your questions (not trivia questions, okay, wise guys?) and over the next few days I’ll post replies right here in this thread directly to your questions. However, please: One question to a person, okay? Last time we did this, a number of people asked multiple questions and it took forever. So one to a customer.

And for you newcomers, welcome to the monkey house.

PAD

(Reminder: Please use spoiler text where appropriate.)

OKAY, ALL FINISHED. I BUMPED IT UP TO THE TOP OF THE BLOG SO, JUST IN CASE FOLKS FORGOT IT WAS HERE, THEY CAN READ UP ON IT.

If someone who was constipated expressed his condition by saying he couldn’t give a šhìŧ, might he be misdiagnosed as clinically depressed?

Think about it.

PAD

As a writer, I tend to edit the world. I see misuses or misspellings of words whether I want to or not. When I see, for instance, Rich Johnston–in his latest “Lying in the Gutters”–use the phrase “reign it in” instead of the correct “rein it in,” I just shake my head and sigh.

But every so often I notice stuff that really just drives me nuts. For instance, in checking my PO box, I received a flier from the Bayport Library system. What do they advertise as a movie they’re going to be running this month?

“Oaklahoma!”

Now if they’d advertised “South Pasific” or “Carosel,” it would merely be annoying. But “Oklahoma!” features a title song that SPELLS THE ÐÃMNÊÐ TITLE.

Oh brother.

PAD

“Never look a gift horse in the mouth” is actually pretty poor advice. Had the citizens of Troy looked in the mouth of the gift horse they were receiving, they’d have seen the Greeks hiding within, matters would have gone very differently, and they wouldn’t have wound up having to relocate their city to upstate New York. Which leads us to wonder: Was the Trojan Horse ribbed for her pleasure?

Think about it.

PAD