Possibly somebody else who got frustrated by the Bush presidency?

This was just a random news picture I picked to see if I could get a picture into the blog if I do the entry via AIM.  Unfortunately, I can't find it again to give proper photo credit.

State of the Union?

I didn't watch the State of the Union speech tonight. I find myself unable to watch Bush for any amount of time without the urge to shout "BU__SH__" at the screen.

This morning I listened to Howard Dean on NPR. This didn't cheer me up any. The essence of that Democrat's moral argument is that they aren't in power so nobody bribed them.  I understand the argument -- I'm happy to belong to the Swedenborgian Church, because it's so small and insignificant it doesn't have the power to persecute anybody or start religious wars.  But it's not exactly the moral high ground.

I figured out I have put $21,000 into a life insurance policy over the last two decades that, due to the decline in interest rates and the increase in both insurance cost and the "policy expenses", is now worth $14,000.  Losses on insurance policies are not deductible, but I roll it over into an annuity, my basis will be $21,000 so I can "recover" the loss that way. Or, I can let it ride and let the cash value pay for the $100,000 insurance, while probably will last until roughly 2030. Will I care then? Too many scenarios to draw a plausible conclusion.

At least I HAVE savings. The Tribune reports that Americans had a negative savings rate in 2005, for the first time since 1933, at the depths of the Great Depression.

So, not a good news day.  But then my daughter Beth sent a funny story from her day of teaching, and so I will go to bed chuckling.  If Mexican 8th graders can be amusing in English class, maybe there's hope for the world yet.

 

Fr. James A. DeManuele, C.P. -- R.I.P.

One of my fellow high school seminarians -- one of the few who made it through and became lifetime priests -- died of cancer earlier this month.

Jim was a year behind me in the minor seminary. Everybody has a few Jim DeManuele stories, and they are all fun to tell. That is (part of) his legacy.

My early Jim DeManuele story concerns a guitar I was given by the optimistic nuns in my parish. I struggled mightily with this because it was a gift and because I thought it would be a good thing to learn, but had neither talent nor real enjoyment in the experience.

Freshman Jim, searching for a prop for whatever story he was acting out at that moment, grabbed my guitar, shouted "El Kabong!" and slammed it down. Then the repeat: "El Kabong!" and another slam, until the guitar was nothing but a few shattered pieces.

I was somewhere between angry, horrified and relieved. While I was choosing which emotion to bring to the fore, Jim disappeared.

Still can't play the guitar.