Adventures of a Seattle Dad

George the Cat has returned. He moved out for a while, but now he's back. George was a neighborhood cat for a long time. He knew where all of the good handouts were, and he made the rounds, but he always stayed just out of reach. Many cats didn't like this rough cat coming around and they defended their territory, but George is a tough guy. He has scars on his face and pieces missing from his ears from frequent fights. George can fend for himself, too. He will wait patiently, sitting for an hour and half next to a mole hill so he can eat a juicy mole. George became our friend when we found him in the backyard one day. For once, he didn't run away when I walked up to him, and I discovered that he was bloody and had an abscess from fighting. I took him to the vet and got him patched up, and when he had recovered, he decided that he liked hanging out with Alexander and I. Gracie the Cat was outraged by the invasion of this stinky boy, but he was used to that, and most of

As the political landscape becomes more and more polarized, well meaning, nice people everywhere are tuning it out. Why can't we all just get along? Why can't we just agree to disagree? Surely that would be the better thing to do. Most of the time, I agree, that is the best policy. Sometimes, however, to not disagree is a problem. There are those among us that think that the Holocaust didn't happen. I believe that I am correct in saying that most people would disagree with that view and would not just dismiss it with the statement "Can't we just agree to disagree." How about children being sold into slavery in the sex trade? Somalian pirates firing rocket propelled grenades at cruise ships? There are extreme cases that most reasonable people will agree are just wrong. The issue, then, are the borderline cases. When do we cross the line? When people of different political parties disagree it often results in compromises that help the country. Personally,

Recently, a friend posted a link to a Flickr photo site called Teabonics  on Facebook. It features signs made by Tea Party protestors who have exhibited a creative use of the English language. Anyway, my friend posted the link without comment. I looked at it briefly and then went on with my life. Since my friend and I went to school in a deeply conservative portion of the country, we have some classmates, and now Facebook contacts, that tend toward the ultra conservative. Speaking for myself, I consider my political views to be middle of the road. For example, I have no problem with background checks for gun owners, and have happily completed the form each time that I have purchased a gun; I want to own a gun, but I do not want criminals and crazy people to own them. That sentence will cause aneurisms in people to both the far left and right.  Anyway, one of our more vocal former classmates responded to the Teabonics link post with a rather remarkably insane rant that linked the Tea