"Pray for More Dead Kids"

The following is from an AP article about Brianna Denison, you can read the whole thing here.

...Outside the memorial service, several members of a fundamentalist Kansas church faced off against more than 150 counter-demonstrators.

The standoff, which occurred during a fierce snowstorm, ended peacefully when police escorted the three protesters associated with the Westboro Baptist Church away from the convention center, Sgt. Chris Lange said.

"There were a couple of eggs thrown at them and that's about it," Lange said.

Members of the Topeka, Kan., church picket military funerals out of a belief that the Iraq war is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality. Last month, the church announced it would protest the service for Denison because it believes God hates Reno.

Church officials said they targeted the city because local law enforcement officers failed to protect church members who picketed a Jan. 26 memorial service there for a soldier who was killed in Iraq.

On Saturday, the three protesters waved placards reading "Pray for More Dead Kids," "Don't Worship the Dead" and "God Sent the Killer."...

I've read more books than George Washington

That's not exactly the truest thing I've ever said. Danielle, some day she will pass him.

Last night's Globetrekker was about D.C., a trip to Mount Vernon revealed that our first president is believed to have read over a thousand books. It seems like an admirable number given his other obligations.

I had a good tie-in for this otherwise useless information. It involved the need for health benefits and the movie Office Space, and to a much lesser degree wrapping up our recording for a little while.

Danielle read a bit of Michael Pollan's new book aloud to me. One of his pieces of advice is to not eat anything that your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize. I'm not sure if it was his illustration, or Danielle's, but we talked about gogurt (yogurt in a squeeze tube, for those of you not familiar). The book is In Defense of Food if you're interested.

Sometimes I think I would be better suited emotionally for a slower time.

I want satisfaction, I want to know that the work I do benefits my family and my community. I want simple pleasures, but I also want real experiences.

I'm not sure how it happens, I suppose it's different for everyone, but I really think that we Americans are caught up in trading experiences for tangibles. I mean, what do so many people give up so that they can live in 3600 square foot houses? What could have been had instead of the off-white master bedroom suite with a love seat and two over stuffed chairs?

Is there a word for having a fear of regrets?

Make sure your beef bile hasn’t been recalled.

Seriously, there is a market for bile? Bile?

This is your meat industry...

• Various weight boxes of HALLMARK MEAT PACKING BEEF SMALL INTESTINES.

• Various weight boxes of HALLMARK MEAT PACKING BEEF LIPS.

• Various weight boxes of HALLMARK MEAT PACKING BEEF SPLEENS.

• Various weight boxes of HALLMARK MEAT PACKING BEEF SALIVARY GLANDS, LYMPH NODES AND FAT [TONGUES].

• Six-gallon containers of HALLMARK MEAT PACKING BEEF BILE.

• One- and six-gallon containers of HALLMARK MEAT PACKING BEEF BLOOD, .2% SODIUM CITRATE ADDED.