Saturday, August 29, 2015

Friday, August 28, 2015

Post Copied from Joe.My.God: Official Misconduct Charges Filed Against KY Clerk

http://www.joemygod.com/2015/08/28/2breaking-official-misconduct-charge-filed-against-renegade-clerk-kim-davis-by-rowan-county-government/

KimDavisAugust

BREAKING: Official Misconduct Charge Filed Against Renegade Clerk Kim Davis By Rowan County Government

Late this afternoon the Rowan County, Kentucky government filed an official misconduct charge against anti-gay clerk Kim Davis.  Lexington’s CBS affiliate reports:
The Rowan County Attorney’s Office said on Friday that it has referred to the Attorney General’s Office a charge of official misconduct against Davis. A release from the county attorneys office says, “Kentucky Bar Association rules of the Supreme Court of Kentucky prohibit the Rowan County Attorney’s Office from prosecuting Davis” because they are involved in current litigation with Davis. “Typically, the Attorney General’s office refers conflict cases to a prosecutor from another county,” the release says. The release also says Rowan County Government and the Rowan County Attorney’s Office cannot take any other action against Kim Davis. “Kentucky state government is the only entity that can move to have Kim Davis removed as Rowan County Clerk,” the release says. A spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s office told WKYT they are looking into the matter. The referral of charges comes after Davis refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple Thursday morning.
More from the Morehead News:
KRS 522.020 and KRS 522.030 deal with official misconduct in the first and second degree, respectively. “A public servant is guilty of official misconduct in the first degree when, with intent to obtain or confer a benefit or to injure another person or to deprive another person of a benefit, knowingly commits an act relating to his office which constitutes an unauthorized exercise of his official functions or refrains from performing a duty imposed upon him by law or clearly inherent in the nature of his office or violates any statute or lawfully adopted rule or regulation relating to his office,” according to KRS 522.020. Official misconduct in the first degree is a Class A misdemeanor and is punishable with imprisonment not to exceed 12 months and fines of $500. Official misconduct in the second degree is a Class B misdemeanor and carries a potential punishment of up to 90 days imprisonment and fines of $250. The charge must be tried in court before a designation of first or second degree is placed upon it.
It appears that the ball is now in the court of Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, a Democrat who last year refused to defend the state against the marriage suit that ultimately ended up before the US Supreme Court. Following Conway’s refusal, Gov. Steve Beshear hired outside counsel. Conway is the 2015 Democratic gubernatorial nominee to succeed Beshear, who will be term-limited out of office this year.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Quote: Humanity

" In our quest for happiness and the avoidance of suffering, we are all fundamentally the same, and therefore equal. Despite all the characteristics that differentiate us - race, language, religion, gender, wealth and many others - we are all equal in terms of our basic humanity." - Dalai Lama

Friday, August 21, 2015

Word of the Day

Pestiferously

pes·tif·er·ous  (pĕ-stĭf′ər-əs)
adjective
1.Producing or breeding infectious disease.
Infected with or contaminated by an epidemic disease.
2. Morally evil or deadly; pernicious.
3. Bothersome; annoying.

"That great America on the other side of the sphere, Australia, was given to the enlightened world by the whaleman. After its first blunder-born discovery by a Dutchman, all other ships long shunned those shores as pestiferously barbarous; but the whale-ship touched there. The whale-ship is the true mother of that now mighty colony." - Herman Melville

Quote: Fear

Thursday, August 20, 2015

The Beach

Stopped by the Glider Port on my way back from an appointment in Carmel Valley. I walked further down the cliff this time.

Coco Chanel

Born on this day in 1883.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Moby Dick

I've started reading Moby Dick and loving it. Why have I not read this before?

stove:  stōv/
past and past participle of stave.

stave:  stāv/
verb: break something by forcing it inward or piercing it roughly.
"the door was staved in"

" In fact take my body who will, take it I say, it is not me. And therefore three cheers for Nantucket; and come a stove boat and stove body when they will, for stave my soul, Jove himself cannot." - Herman Melville

Word of the Day: Catarrhs

Word of the Day: Catarrh
[kuh-tahr]
noun. inflammation of a mucous membrane, especially of the respiratory tract, accompanied by excessive secretions.

“One complained of a bad cold in his head upon which Jonah mixed him a pitch-like potion of gin and molasses, which he swore was a sovereign cure for all colds and catarrhs whatsoever, never mind of how long standing, or whether caught off the coast of Labrador, or on the weather side of an ice-island.”   - Herman Melville

Monday, August 17, 2015

Quote: Anne Lamott

Quote: Listen

What should I do today?

Confusion--this manifests as not setting clear priorities because the path ahead doesn't look clear and decisive.
Distraction--this manifests as a hundred small things that pull your attention this way and that.
Disorganization--this manifests as a lack of orderly thinking that leads to productive results.
Confusion is solved by getting your priorities straight.
Distraction is solved by getting better at focusing your attention.
Disorganization is solved by throwing out non-essentials and tending to the important things first and foremost.
...the unsettled mind comes about through one thing only--losing sight of who we really are. You can't be a puppet of outside demands and pressures unless you see yourself as secondary while the world "out there" is primary.
Deepak Chopra

Sunday, August 16, 2015

The Return Of MerlinThe Return Of Merlin by Deepak Chopra

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“...if one has courage, the whole enormous load of fear, the dead weight of the past, can be shed.”

"...behind the door to freedom, past the demons of fear, there is nothing but love."

The Return of Merlin is a fantasy tale. In his first foray into fiction Deepak Chopra takes the legend of Camelot and continues the story into current times. The implements, the sword and the cup, reappear and the characters, Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Mordred and Merlin are reincarnated. Their task is to rediscover their purpose before Mordred dooms the future. The novel is an allegory in which Deepak Chopra illustrates his spiritual ideas through the trials and adventures of the characters. It is a surprisingly good first novel with engaging three dimensional characters. Both adults and young people will find it engaging. And he gets across fairly advanced, complex metaphysical ideas in clear, easily understandable prose and dialog. The writing is a little bit clunky in it's word choice and going from chapter to chapter is a bit jolting because each chapter is illustrating a different lesson and is very different from the ones before and after. But I liked it very much. The book made clear in new ways some important ideas; seeing ourselves in everything around us, seeing everything as connected and as light, being able to create ones own life, seeing clues and importance in everything, knowing this earthly life is temporary and an illusion. Very much recommended.



View all my reviews

Morning Ride Photo Op

Overlooking Balboa Park's golf course to downtown.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Bubba Studying

Photo by Craig Deutsch.

Found on the Web

Photographer not specified.


Why do some photographs work in black and white so well?

San Diego Skyline

Photograph by my friend Thomas Merkel.

Quote: Live on the Beach

Family Circus with a Friedrich Nietzsche Quote

Shameless Saturday Selfie

Got a walk and a drive through the park with the top down before it got too hot. Coffee with the guys was fun. Now to avoid the heat.

Morning Light

Quote: Contentment

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Quote: Rare Joy

“For this kind of rare joy, we are here.” - Elizabeth Gilbert

Manners

A couple weeks ago I went with Steve down to the San Ysidro Outlet Mall. The mall is within a stones throw of the US/Mexico border. Everyone there, workers and shoppers alike, were way more polite than at any other place I've been to. I don't think they have any less cause to be angry than people anywhere else. I think they've figured out that taking their anger out on each other only makes things worse.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Quote: The Dead Weight of the Past

“...if one has courage, the whole enormous load of fear, the dead weight of the past, can be shed.” - Deepak Chopra

Quote: Courage

"Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently." - Maya Angelou

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

When Women Go 'Into the Woods'

   I watched 'Into the Woods' on DVD last week and again last night with Everardo. Such a great musical and I really enjoyed the movie. Even though they changed some of the 2nd half, the critics were lukewarm and lots of people hated it, I really liked it. The first half tells the story of four fairy tales merged together and the second half looks under the hood to all the grey areas and presents the characters with the consequences of their actions. Stephen Sondheim's music and brilliant lyrics are on full display and I loved the children's fairy tale set.
   One of the consequences in the second half is that several people die including the Baker's Wife. She falls off a cliff after a dalliance with The Prince. On the surface this is just a plot twist, but I was reminded of Susan Sarandon talking about her part in 'Bull Durham' and how that role was one of the few offered to women where the character is able to fully express herself without paying a severe, even fatal, price for it.
   Take for instance 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice': a curious lad looking to turn hard work into lazy play takes a tool he doesn't fully understand and causes an environmental disaster. His consequences; a swat on the rump and the flood just disappears.
   Now compare that to 'The Red Shoes': a female dancer forsakes the domestic roles expected of her, follows her passion, and dies. I've long been aware that gay characters had to meet disaster in order for the book to get published up until not too many years ago. I'm just starting to become aware how often women get the same treatment.
   So ladies; ignore the cautionary tale of 'The Red Shoes', follow your curiosities and your passions, make room for other parts of your life or not, as you wish. And you won't die from exhaustion or be pushed off a cliff for it. But don't cause any more environmental disasters. We boys have already done too much of that.

Folly

Temple of Apollo, Stourhead England, by Paul Jervis.