The End of Elvis Week

The good folks over at Elvis.com say that Elvis Week extends to next Wednesday, but that's just crazy. Any "week" is Monday to Friday, plus maybe a weekend or both.

So, to round out your Elvis Week experience, here are a few more stanzas that the King did sing:

Well there's gold in the mountains, love in the hills
I don't need no city women with their diamonds and frills
There's gold in the mountains and oh what scenery
The prettiest girls I ever did see

-There's Gold in the Mountains

They say God made land
And He gave it all to man
Yes I know He's mighty good and true
There is no God, but God
And He knows everything to do
So just you call on Him
And He will share His love with you

-There Is No God but God

You know I'll be your slave
If you ask me to
But if you don't behave
I'll walk right out on you
If you want my love then take my advice
Treat me nice

-Treat Me Nice

Near East Football

It's the fourth quarter with ten minutes left on the clock. The Tel Aviv Blue Stars are ahead 49-27, but the Green Bay Packers used to be down 28-3. Oh wait, that's not the Packers. Sorry, I got confused by their yellow and green. That's the Tehran Proxies on the field! In any case, the Proxies found themselves far out of this game, but are now making rapid advances. The Blue Stars are still trouncing the Proxies, however.

So why would either team want to quit playing?

Failure Should Never Be Rewarded

Whether it's Hezbollah and their badly aimed rockets, or a coworker that missed a deadline, or a child's soccer team that lost a game, don't reward failure. It merely reinforces unwanted behavior. Don't take them out for ice cream until they win a game, or else they'll never bother trying to win. Let them explain to the client why the deadline was missed, or else they'll never meet a deadline ever again. Treat the terrorists as if they actually hit their intended targets, or else they'll just keep shooting and killing.

Well, okay. Attempted murder shouldn't receive as harsh a penalty as actual murder. But all I'm saying is that you shouldn't give a guy a new car and a million dollars just because he failed to kill his intended target.

And that's exactly how people with the European/Liberal worldview seem to want to treat Hezbollah, et al.

Baghdad Jim

Three weeks ago, the House of Representatives passed a resolution (HR 921) which supported Israel's right to defend itself against its enemies (Hezbollah, Hamas). I noticed that my representative (who I would never vote for) voted against the resolution. He was one of eight "no" votes.

So I asked him why.

He finally responded today. Here is his reply, in full:

Dear Mark:

Thank you for your recent communication regarding the conflict between Israel and the terrorist forces of Hezbollah and Hamas. These attacks make it even more urgent for our government to pursue an even-handed foreign policy in the Middle East, a goal that has yet to be embraced by the House of Representatives.

Recently, the House voted to pass House Resolution 921, which guaranteed American support for Israeli military action anywhere in the Middle East. One clause in the resolution said that we "support Israel's right to take appropriate action to defend itself, including to conduct operations both in Israel and in the territory of nations which pose a threat to it." I have unwavering support for Israel, its safety, security and right to exist, but I also know from experience how this kind of language can be interpreted. I voted against this bill because it is a blank check that could include such rash actions as a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

A resolution in the House of Representatives will not change what the world already knows about U.S. support for Israel's right to exist, but it might encourage what the world already fears: a wider war with greater casualties, undermining fragile but crucial support for Israel among Arab nations, and further endangering Israelis and other innocent civilians across the region.

As rockets continue to kill innocent civilians in both Southern Lebanon and Israel, lasting peace in the Middle East might seem like a pipe dream. The United States, however, cannot sit idly by and condone further killing on both sides of this conflict. At the recent talks in Rome, American diplomats failed to support a cease-fire proposal that was supported by the majority of the 15 other nations participating in the talks.

It is with this in mind that I have signed on to co-sponsor H. Con. Res. 450 calling for an immediate cessation of violence. We must use our influence as the world's only superpower to foster peace in the world's most violent regions.

Thank you for writing and I will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind as the 109th Congress continues.

Sincerely,
Jim McDermott
Member of Congress

Maybe I should ask him what he thinks of Frank J's proposal.

Nah. Here's the response I sent him:

In the world, there are good guys and there are bad guys. Do not treat democratic, free nations as equal to repressive, theocratic regimes. If you truly want peace in the world, you must defeat the bad guys. Otherwise, we're just their dhimmis, bowing our heads till they chop them off.

Mark Knoke

Peace March

There's going to be a "peace march" tomorrow afternoon from the Northgate mosque to the mall and back, starting at 2:00. I have an urge to go with a sign saying "Peace Now: Stop Hezballah!"

Or maybe "Peace Now: Destroy Hezballah!"

Whadaya think?

The King's Good Word

Come hear my serenade, my desert serenade
Wherever lovers dwell, it weaves its magic spell
Soon a thousand dreams will start,
And romance will fill your heart
My lips conceal love that's warm and real

-My Desert Serenade

You never order water
When you order south of the border
...In to kiss a lovely senorita
Ooh... the samba, la bamba
...I'll go where you go

-Mexico

My Random Selection of CDs for the Week

Every week, I rotate the cds I bring to work throughout my collection. I manage to get a wide spectrum of music types usually, but this week is particularly wide:

Weird Al Yankovic, Dare to Be Stupid
Richard Wagner, Overtures and Preludes
Supertramp, Crisis? What Crisis?
Star Wars: A New Hope soundtrack
My Morning Jacket, Z
The Very Best of Deep Purple
A Decade of Steely Dan
Ultra Find, Seattle New York Los Angeles
Christmas Morning instrumental Christmas collection
System of a Down, Mezmerize
Music Kiev, Da Capo 2000
"Dark Side of Future Passed" - a personal mix cd of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and the Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed

It's still Elvis Week!

Let us bow our heads as we listen to the good word of the King:

Moonbeams play peek-a-boo
Three awake became two
And my song was almost done
When the land of Nod took one

-Five Sleepy Heads

Pretty girls eighteen to twenty-three
If their technique ain't what it should be
Get love instruction for free from me
Through the courtesy of the
Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce

-Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce

Raise your hand quick

I had a business trip to Spokane today. I have a project under construction that I haven't seen since before bids. Now the cmu walls are up, but the steel hasn't been put in yet. So it's just a big concrete room under the blue sky. Stark but nice. I think the client will want a roof, though.

For my return flight, I'd booked the 5:30, just so I wouldn't feel rushed at the site. I returned to the airport at about 2:15. The ticket agent said she couldn't put me on standby for the 2:30 since it was less than 30 minutes before the flight. So she put me on standby for the 3:30.

I walked over to the gate and saw that they were just starting to board the 2:30. The agents at the gate counter had a stack of a dozen or more standby tickets, but they started calling names out. After all the ticketed passengers boarded and they still had several standby tickets they were calling, I asked if there was a chance I could get on. One of the agents said, "No, all the seats are taken." So I sat down.

But I kept watch on them.

They called the last few of their standby tickets, but one guy wasn't showing up. They called him a couple more times.

And then she said, "We have one seat remaining. Whoever can. . ." I start to stand up. ". . . raise their hand the fastest--" My hand shot up like no tomorrow. She pointed at me. "I saw you first." And I got on the plane. She didn't even bother to print out a boarding pass.

Anything to get out of Spokane.

All hail the King!

I know you all are deeply distraught over the destruction of His teddy bear, Mabel, but we must persevere, for today marks the beginning of Elvis Week.

So let us all remember the words the great King sang:

If I have wounded any soul today,
If I have caused one foot to go astray,
If I have walked in my own willful way,
Dear Lord, forgive!

-"An Evening Prayer"

and:

I roar like the jungle, I fight tooth and nail
I just gotta get you, you'll fall without fail
I'm ready for the kill, I'm right on the brink
It's animal instinct

-"Animal Instinct"

Can I get a "Huh-huh-huh!"?

Surprise!

Went on my first hike in a while yesterday. Beautiful day for a walk in the woods. We went to Surprise Lake near Stevens Pass, which is where I wanted to go for the backpacking trip back in June, but there was too much snow then. No snow now.



First thing I did upon arriving at the lake was go for a swim. Not very cold at all, as alpine lakes go. 50° or so. The only other person to go in was Matthew, and he didn't go very far out at all. He said it was colder than Copper Lake last weekend.



And everybody else wimped out.



A couple more pictures:

My Geopolitical Analysis

The Good Guys:
United States of America
Israel
Australia
United Kingdom
South Korea
Taiwan

The Bad Guys:
Iran
North Korea
Syria
Saudi Arabia
China
Russia

Pet Peeve of the Day

Clients who email me to say "Please call me."

Why don't they just call me themselves like they did the day before??

Or at least say their piece in the email itself?