A great man is in the hospital today...

My great uncle, Charles Maier, went into the hospital last night. He has a blocked small intestine, and is in quite serious condition. According to his sister, my grandma, he had this sort of thing twice before when he was young and almost died both times. Unfortunately, he's getting on in age so the doctors are not sure he's going to make it past number three.

Uncle Charles served in the US Marine Corps during World War II. He fought in the Pacific, and was one of the few of his unit to return from the attack on Iwo Jima. After the war, he settled down in Omaha, married his wife Betty, and became president of Sieg Nebraska Co eventually, an auto parts supplier based in Omaha.

Uncle Charles was always an inspiration to me. He was the one who turned me onto politics, when he and grandma would get into political arguements (grandma's a Truman Democrat, Uncle Charles voted for Reagan in 1976, let alone 1980). He was the one who inspired me to read up on World War II, and from there I went even farther back, developing a love of history, of non-fiction writing, and the like. My parents made him my guardian in their will until I reached the age of majority.

He loves golf, a sport which I am horrible at, and after he retired went to help out a golf course every so often. He's a big Nebraska football fan, and like me is disappointed at the way the season went. He does smoke and drink, but I can easily look past that.

I love you, Uncle Charles. Get well...please. For me.

You will all love this little rant...since it is time to poke those I'm a 'member' of, the right wing...

I live in Omaha, dead smack in the center of the United States. It has a decent airport (though poor planning means very little growing room), they are building a convention center (too small IMHO, but still better than what they had), a world-famous zoo, a local Division I hockey team, 50 miles from Nebraska Football, plenty of movie theaters, a AAA baseball team, a hockey team now just across the river in Council Bluffs, Iowa...

And two riverboat casinos, and one dog track across the river in Council Bluffs as well.

With all this, and a great potential to grow, why are we so stuck in our backwards ways?

What I am talking about is the casinos. On Monday, two different chains showed up to promote the building of casinos in Omaha. One of them is a very famous chain in Las Vegas, the other one of the smaller outfits owned by a former Nebraskan. With the new convention center being built, a wasteful walking bridge across the Missouri River that will connect to nearly nothing, and plenty of room in the surrounding area to build things up, it is only logical to make Omaha the new Las Vegas. The revenues would be enormous, the prestige great, and it would solve unemployment issues in the area on both sides of the river.

So, of course it is opposed by the moralists in the city.

All of their reasoning has, honestly, gone out the window. They bring up the tired arguements of crime, etc. but really do not want the casino because of their religious beliefs. The casinos in CB already exist, all the supposed problems that the casinos are supposed to cause are already here, and there has not been that much of an increase in crime, poverty, etc. No, the entire thing is because they are fundamentalists that believe gambling is a sin.

Greed is a sin. Avarice is a sin. Gambling does cause greed and avarice, but it is of itself not a sin. But that even isn't the point...the same people that are fighting the casino are the same people trying to prevent the anti-smoking people from getting smoking banned in restaurants, and support the NRA.

Wait a second...you are claiming to be fighting for freedom on one hand, yet want to limit entertainment and freedom on the other. Frankly, folks, you cannot have it both ways. It is the same fight - the fight to drive an SUV or smoke in a restaurant is absolutely no different than fighting for gambling to be allowed. It is all about freedom.

Of course, someone would point out that the fact I am against drugs doesn't fit with the above paragraph, but I would dispute that. Drugs lowers performance measurably of ones profession/job. Driving an SUV doesn't, smoking - despite the claims - doesn't, and gambling in a casino sure doesn't. None of the latter measureably lowers a person's intelligence or reaction times, like drugs do. That's why drugs need to stay illegal...but the additional rant about this can wait.

"Gambling With The Good Life" already is gambling with my good life, and others in the area. Casinos, theme hotels, and major other attractions would make Omaha a boomtown in economically hard times, and with at least six people I know out of work from the information systems fields, we need that now more than ever in this community.

I cannot take credit for the following, but it is so true, it is scary:

To all you Hollywierd Leftists out there:

Miss America is a junior at Portland State University, hoping to eventually get a Master's degree in Bioethics.

Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from receiving any education at all, and cannot read or write.

Miss America has worked as a lab assistant at both the Oregon Health Sciences University and the University of Puget Sound.

Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from working.

Miss America's father is an engineer. Her mother is a teacher.

Miss Afghanistan's father was shot by a gang of Taliban militants. Her mother begs for bread scraps since she cannot work or remarry.

Miss America wowed the judges by singing a Puccini aria, "O Mio Babbino Caro".

Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from singing or even listening to music of any kind.

Miss America will be traveling the nation nonstop during her reign.

Miss Afghanistan cannot leave her house without a male family member, cannot drive, and cannot be out after dark.

Miss America is an advocate for breast cancer research.

Miss Afghanistan cannot be treated by a male doctor, and for all practical purposes has no access to medical treatment of any kind.

Miss America can date, marry, or divorce anyone she chooses.

Miss Afghanistan will be stoned to death if caught in the company of a male outside of her family. She is likely to be sold into an arranged marriage to a man who already has two wives.

Miss America wears sunscreen on the beach to keep from burning.

Miss Afghanistan cannot live in a house with windows unless they are painted black. Since she must wear a burqua outside, her pale translucent skin has not seen a ray of sunlight in years.

Miss America could have been disqualified if her swimsuit did not meet pageant standards.

Miss Afghanistan can be flogged if the holes in the mesh covering her face are too large.

Miss America will decide how many children, if any, she wants to have.

Miss Afghanistan will be pregnant 3-4 times more often than Miss America.. Unfortunately, her babies are 25 times more likely to die in the first year. One out of four will not see their 5th birthday.

Miss America is majoring in speech communications at PSU.

Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from speaking in public.

Miss America is 21. Since the U.S. life expectancy for women is 80, she's still a very young woman.

Miss Afghanistan is also 21. But since the life expectancy for an Afghan woman is 43, next year she will be "over-the-hill". (Besides having a shockingly short life expectancy overall, Afghanistan is one of the only countries in the world in which women have a shorter life expectancy than men)

Miss America is a beautiful, intelligent woman and everyone knows it.

Miss Afghanistan could be a beautiful, intelligent woman... but nobody will ever know it.

God Bless Miss America

God Help Miss Afghanistan

If ANYONE should be backing the war against Iraq, Afghanistan's Taliban, and other Wahabbists and Shiites out there, is SHOULD be the feminist advocates living in their Hollywood glass houses.