Hey, it took me 10 years to finish this damn doctoral program....coursework and dissertation, so allow me to gloat for a while. 

"Landman at Dusk" 7/15/04 

Mari's Beach Bannana 

Cheva and I: spring 2004 

The Dissertation is DONE!

Well, I mailed off the revisions to my dissertation.....finally!

I'm set to defend on the 28th of June. Then graduate on August 7th!

I began the PhD program at Tech in 1995, although took some courses in the fall semester 1994. Now it's 2004. I did take some time off from 1999 onward, and restarted the dissertation in earnest July 2003 after I was terminated from Southwest Museum Services.

It's been a long road, and I should have finished sooner. But thankfully it's over!

The Ten Commandments - Texas Style

People here in Texas have trouble with all those shalls and shall nots in the 10 Commandments. Folks here just aren't used to talking in those terms.

So, some folks out in west Texas got together and translated the "King James" into "King Ranch" language: Ten Commandments, cowboy Style.

Cowboy's Ten Commandments posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie, Texas.

(1) Just one God.
(2) Honor yer Ma & Pa.
(3) No telling tales or gossipin'.
(4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting.
(5) Put nothin' before God.
(6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal.
(7) No killin'.
(8) Watch yer mouth.
(9) Don't take what ain't yers.
(10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff.

Now that's kinda plain an' simple don't ya think? Y'all have a good Day.

Where are the Gorillas?

Landa Park in the mist 

What a Great Job?!

Here are some of the issues and events that happened during our time at my last full-time job.

1. Sexual Discrimination

- Following one installation, although at least four people tested positive to a drug test, only one person-a women-was fired.
- We were told on several occasions that women should not be in management positions because they get “bitchy” at least once a month.
- One woman feared physical violence from a vice-pres. They arranged a plan for one of the men to protect her if the v. p. came to her area to harass or frighten her.
- A crony regularly sexually harassed women.
- Two cronies began intimating that several man were homosexuals.
- A crony would commonly make sexually explicit comments about women. In one case he loudly proclaimed how he enjoyed choking women while he had sex with them.

2. Racial Discrimination

- A crony commonly used the word “nigger.”
- When management was told that one musuem wanted to include information about the African Americans in their community, I was sarcastically told, “There aren’t any African Americans there!"
- The Vice President made no secret that he opposed interracial dating and marriage although several employees violated his views.
- After a woman got a negative review and was denied a raise, the V.P. mentioned that he opposed her interracial dating. He also suggested that she should go off and have some children (sexual discrimination)
- An attitude against hiring or working with African Americans
- The men working in the back were called “vatos” and management made no secret that they were undocumented workers. The owner made it known that if there was any question, the company line was that their paperwork was in process. The new bookkeeper noted that some of the Social Security numbers were incorrect. It was common knowledge that one of the men had the same number as an 80 year old man.
- One man was told not to use his real first name because it was too ethnic.

3. “Whistleblowers” Terminated

- I was aware of the sexual discrimination and harassment issues and encouraged several women to bring the issue to the owner.
- We counseled a woman about the v. p.'s threats, and even went to upper management.
- Several people were all fired after the OSHA investigation and all has talked to OSHA during the investigation. It was commonly known who called OSHA in the first place.
- Although it was announced at a meeting, we both knew that after a Labor Department investigation that resulted in a fine because the company wasn’t paying the construction laborers overtime the owner told the staff that he was paying the men in cash
- A crony told us that the owner ordered him to doctor the time sheets not to reflect overtime.

4. People With Medical Needs Fired

- The people fired in the last round of terminations had medical conditions
- One had had sinus surgery and was taking regular medication
- One was pregnant and was the initial concern over the misuse of chemicals at work.
- Another had had recent cervical surgery.
- Another man had had intestinal problems.
- Another woman had recently taken several sick days and was concerned about her health because of the chemical smell in the office.
- When told the front entrance was not ADA compliant, one of the owner's cronies said, “I don’t know why we need to be compliant, we’re not going to hire any cripples.”

5. A Threatening Atmosphere Existed
-

Women believed that if they complained about sexual harassment they would lose their jobs.
- The owner's henchman would skulk around the office eavesdropping on conversations.
- Any criticism could result in termination. One man was fired after he told the previous owner that the reason components had not been ordered was that the request was sitting on the other owner's desk for approval. One man was fired for pointing out defects in design plans. Two employees were fired for bringing attention to misunderstandings about their pay.
- At various meetings the owner would announce that he did not want people to talk about work amongst themselves, if they had any problems they should come to him, and that really meant termination.
- He commonly fired people citing only “bad attitudes.”
- It was widely known that upper management only wanted “blue sky” reports. Negative reports could result in the charge of having a bad attitude.
- The V.P. usually tried to intimidate employees

I dunno! You think it was a bad place to work?

Sophisticated, Smart and Down to Earth!--Write that Down!

Athena


?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla


Now here's another good quiz to take if you have aspirations of godhood.

Do I Look Like Athena?

How depressing: All dressed up for a Toga Party and no place to go 

The Passion of the Gene

I was doing a little research today. I subscribe to The Daily Gospel, which gives you the daily Catholic readings. I saw in the first reading today (Acts of the Apostles 18,9-18) a
reference to Gallio, proconsul of Achaia. I decided I would find out more about this historical character. I found out his appointment was in the year 51 AD.

As a historian, I guess this is just a part of life-to check on historical accuracy. I finally got around to seeing the Mel Gibson movie, The Passion of the Christ. I was a bit overwhelmed by the movie, but did find the punishment scenes to be very believable. I think that punishment and especially crucifixion recreations were probably pretty close to what happened. Of course this information has long been available for many years. Medical analysis of the crucifixion can be found on the web, too.

I liked the way the Passion portrayed Pilate, and the role of his wife. According to the New Advent Catholic Enclycopedia entry on Pilate, some believe he and his wife became Christians, and in some circles they are considered Saints. I think Gibson's movie was especially sympathetic to Pilate's position and I liked his guard's attitude toward Jesus. I found it believable that Pilate's closest guard would have seen Pilate's wife's concern and understood that Pilate did not consider execution a just punishment, so his attempts to protect Jesus from brutality were not off-character. I found that this more sympathetic view of Pilate originated in one of the Apocryphal Gospel, the Gospel of Nicodemus. I read it (it's pretty brief) and discovered much of the trial of Jesus, as it appears that the movie Passion of the Christ, was based upon the Nicodemus text.

If you're interested, check it out HERE

Do You Remember Where You Were When You Last Saw the King?

This is where I saw Elvis 

Check it Out!!!

Ok, This is probably wrong, but check out this blog.....an alter ego!

New Saints!

Pope John Paul II cannonized six new saints in May 2004.

1. Gianna Beretta Molla (1922-1962), an Italian doctor who chose not to have an abortion that would have saved her life.

2. Josep Manyanet y Vives (1833-1901), a Catalan priest who founded two religious orders and was known as the “prophet of the family.”

3. Father Luigi Orione (1872-1940), Italian founder of Little Work of Divine Providence to assist the poor and disabled.

4. Father Annibale Maria Di Francia (1851-1927), Italian founder of Rogationist Fathers of the Heart of Jesus, and the Daughters of Divine Zeal.

5. Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini (1808-1858), a priest of the Lebanese Maronite Order

6. Paola Elisabetta Cerioli (1816-1865), an Italian widow and founder of two religious congregations for women dedicated to helping families.

The Liberal Controlled Media?

THANK GOODNESS!

 

I've been forced to listen to more and more conservative talk radio lately.  The talk radio stations in Houston have realigned their schedules to concentrate more conservative shows at the same drive time slot.  So, instead of listening to someone with some credibility and sense, like Sam Donaldson who I really liked, I now hear Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, or local prank-monkey Chris Baker.  Here's a puzzle for the right-wingers, Riddle Me This: If Liberals Control the Media, why are Conservative Talk-Shows the only ones on the radio?

 

I will admit sometime I think these guys have legitimate concerns and thoughts....after all a broken clock is correct twice a day....but for the most part they are parrots and limp-minded runny butts.  They all ape Rush Limbaugh, who is really the undisputed king of conservative talk radio.  I actually used to enjoy Rush, and despite the fact that he is full of bloviation  the sounds of his borborygmus rants sometimes cause me to laugh uproariously (a hazard when I am in traffic).  I actually think Rush is more entertaining and doesn't really take himself seriously...I sure don't.

nbsp;

NOW! a new website published by former conservative mouthpiece David Brock and others, is a welcome relief from the verbal diarrhea free-flowing from their mouths.  Consider Media Matters for America, a watch-dog group that lists the libel, slander, and unsubstantiated vituperation from the right-wing.  Check out the site!

 

Back to Rush.  You know, I was looking over his list of drugs....of course he smokes cigars, and thus I feel a sort of brotherhood with the man and will not disparage him for this...Hydrocodone, Lorcet, and OxyContin, all of them narcotic analgesics that can affect the central nervous system causing lightheadedness and a false sense of well-being.  How seriously can you take a man who sat in a chair behind a microphone and criticized people like Ted Kennedy for his alcohol abuse, Bill Clinton for his sexual tomfoolery, and any number of other so-called liberals for any of their weaknesses?  I remember something once said by Jesus:

 

"Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."

 

I found that in Matthew 7 of my bible, of course, it may not be in the Conservative Bible

 

Here's another cool word for the women

Ok, here's a new word for the women-folk to consider:

 

If I said, "My, you're looking callipygous today," you should reply, "Why, thank you."

 

The word callipygian comes from the Greek kallipygos, and means having shapely buttocks, so it is a compliment.  Of course, if you consider it came from the Greeks, it was something men usually said to one another.

 

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=callipygian

 

In a Tux?

I clean up real nice 

Wow! This Looks New!

Oh, yes, my friends! The fine folks at Blogger have redesigned their site, and extended this option to their users.....namely...me!

That's really fantastic, because for some time now Blogger has been under the iron thumb of Google and has been promising changes--improvements, if you will--but they have not been forthcoming.

UNTIL NOW, MY FRIENDS!

Now the layout has changed, apparently you can make silly comments, and send notes of love. Ain't it grand?

Rules for being a Republican

My good friend Page sent these to me. Of course, they are for humor only (that's to confuse my Republican friends):

1. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you are millionaire conservative radio jock, which makes it an "illness" and needs our prayers for your "recovery".

2. You have to believe that those privileged from birth achieve success all on their own.

3. You have to believe that the US should get out of the UN, and that our highest national priority is enforcing UN resolutions against Iraq.

4. You have to believe that government should stay out of people's lives but it needs to punish anyone caught having private sex with the "wrong" gender.

5. You have to believe that pollution is ok, so long as it makes a profit.

6. You have to believe in prayer in schools, as long as you don't pray to Allah or Buddha.

7. "Standing Tall for America" means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.

8. You have to believe that a woman cannot be trusted with decisions about her own body, but that large multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind with no regulation whatsoever.

9. You have to believe that you love Jesus and Jesus loves you, and that Jesus shares your hatred of AIDS victims, homosexuals, and Hillary Clinton.

10. You hate the ACLU for representing convicted felons, but they owed it to the country to bail out Oliver North.

11. You have to believe that the best way to encourage military morale is to praise the troops overseas while cutting their VA benefits.

12. You believe that group sex and drug use are degenerate sins that can only be purged by running for governor of California as a Republican.

13. You have to believe it is wise to keep condoms out of schools, because we all know if teenagers don't have condoms they won't have sex.

14. You have to believe that the best way to fight terrorism is to alienate our allies and then demand their cooperation and money.

15. You have to believe that government medicine is wrong and that HMO's and insurance companies only have your best interests at heart.

16. You have to believe that providing health care to all Iraqis is sound government policy but providing health care to all Americans is socialism personified.

17. You believe that tobacco's link to cancer and global warming are "junk science", but Creationism should be taught in schools.

18. You have to believe that waging war with no exit strategy was wrong in Vietnam but right in Iraq.

19. You have to believe that Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney was doing business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

20. You believe that government should restrict itself to just the powers named in the Constitution, which includes banning gay marriages and censoring the internet.

21. You have to believe that the public has a right to know about the adulterous affairs of Democrats, while those of Republicans are a "private matter".

22. You have to believe that the public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades but that Bush was right to censor those 28 pages from the Congressional 9/11 report because you just can't handle the truth.

23. You support state rights, which means Ashcroft telling states what locally passed voter initiatives he will allow them to have.

24. You have to believe that what Clinton did in the 1960's is of vital national interest but what Bush did decades later is "stale news" and "irrelevant".

25. You have to believe that trade with Cuba is wrong because it is communist, but trading with China and Vietnam is just dandy.

"You're Fired!"

The news today carried an interesting story. Billionaire Real Estate mogul Donald Trump wants to trademark the phrase he’s made famous on The Apprentice—“You’re Fired!” The Smoking Gun published the trademark application.

What would this mean if Trump’s application were successful? Theoretically, no one could use the term without license from Donald. I was fired back in July. My supervisor, who cried when he fired me, never said, “you’re fired.” But what if my next boss fires me and uses the words, “you’re fired?” Could I then turn him into Trump Properties so they could sue the company because they used the phrase without license? What will this mean for all the jobs that are being “outsourced?” You know this could be a good thing for the Bush administration. Perhaps it will help the economy. People will be able to keep their jobs without fear of hearing the words: “You’re fired!” That would be great for Bush. He’s fortunate that there are enough issues to obfuscate voters from realizing they’ll have to pay at least $3.00 to put enough gasoline into their cars to get to the polls to vote for him.

Forbes magazine says “The Donald” is worth 2 ½ billion. He told Wolf Blitzer he’s probably worth more. CNN also reports that 98% of Americans know who Trump is. With that wealth and name recognition, Trump may be on to something. I’m reminded of Lisa Beamer’s attempt to trademark the phrase “Let’s Roll” after the September 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. The phrase was one of the last statements her late husband, Todd Beamer. Beamer, who died when the United Airlines flight he was flying on was hijacked and crashed a Pennsylvania field, and other passengers attempted to retake the flight from the hijackers.

My friends Dan, Shawn, and I should have thought about trade marking the phrase, “HOWDY!” We used to say that in the mornings when we were all working as history teaching assistants in grad school. My office mate was a freak. A sexually harassing freak. One morning, we were all saying “HOWDY!” to one another, and my office mate shouted, “No more HOWDYs!” Of course, that simply encouraged us even more to say “HOWDY!” Boy, was he ticked off. And we were pleased. Until at the end of semester when we were informed that our contracts would not be renewed. At least they didn’t say, “You’re fired!”