Goodbye to MSN Groups, a source of much fun and also much frustration.
My "main" group (because I, like so many other mgrs., had several) would have been ten years old this July. It seems like only yesterday....and sometimes seems light years ago...that my friend elle and I decided we would have a go at running our own group.
I'm not going to miss Groups. Most of my lasting online friends had moved on long ago anyway. I'm certainly not going to miss the over-officious mgrs. of *some* groups. I won't miss the drama queens, nor will I miss the stifling censorship of those same mgrs. I'm sure I don't hold the record for deleted posts, nor for banned Passports, but I certainly had more of those than I deserved.
In all my "non-MSN" experiences, I've had but a couple of posts denied/deleted. All-in-all, I'm satisfied with that. I can't say the same thing about my time in Groups. At times I feel as though the majority of my time spent in Groups was time wasted.
Aw, I could gripe about Groups forever but it's time to move on, forget the past. I'm so pleased to have discovered Blogger and love how it lets me express myself without fear of having this site deleted/shuttered because I posted a graphic of a mooning smiley.
(Blogger lets me make an ass out of myself without getting in trouble for a cartoon one)
So, here's a salute to you, MSN Groups! 
It's definitely "the end".
February 21, 2009
Goodbye, MSN Groups
February 20, 2009
Friendship 7
On Feb. 20, 1962 at 9:47 am EST, John Glenn launched from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 14 to become the first American to orbit the Earth. In this image, Glenn enters his Friendship 7 capsule with assistance from technicians to begin his historic flight.
Glenn rejoined NASA in 1998 as a member of the STS-95 Discovery crew. This 9-day mission, from Oct. 29-Nov. 7, supported a variety of research payloads including deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform and investigations on space flight and the aging process.
Image Credit: NASA
I admire Glenn, but was really angry when he was chosen (or lobbied) to go on the shuttle mission. I think Chuck Yeager should have been selected to make the trip.
Glenn, along with John McCain, was implicated (and both were later exonerated) in the Keating Five scandal and was reprimanded for "poor judgment". It forever tarnished his otherwise honorable career, IMO.
Dots My Word!
Seriously, it's my word. I use it enough, so it's my word. I even had it as a topic label, then decided I'd trim down the list a little bit.
If only I had kept it....
From the Word of the Day feed in the right-hand column:
ellipsis \i-LIP-sis\, noun:
three dots used to show an omission in writing or printing;
the omission of a word or words in text
Trop de sucrerie !
(Too much candy!)
Just about the most adorable thing I've seen in ages.
Too much candy from Capucha on Vimeo.
Pecans in the Cemetery
From the email archives:
On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts.
'One for you, one for me, One for you, one for me,' said one boy. Several dropped from the tree and rolled down toward the fence.
Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard,
'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me.'
He just knew what it was. He jumped back on his bike and rode off. Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along.
'Come here quick,' said the boy, 'you won't believe what I heard! Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls.'
The man said, 'Beat it kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk.'
When the boy insisted though, the man hobbled slowly to the cemetery. Standing by the fence they heard ,
'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me.'
The old man whispered, 'Boy, you've been tellin' me the truth. Let's see if we can see the Lord.'
Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord. At last they heard,
'One for you, one for me. That's all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence and we'll be done.'
They say the old man made it back to town a full 5 minutes ahead of the kid on the bike.
SMILE, God Loves You!
PETA Wrote Me!
Dear Mike,
Dogs need your voice right away. Please take a few moments now to send a message directly to the NFL. Michael Vick is going to be released from prison any minute, and in light of recently released government evidence that he enjoyed putting his own family "pet dogs" into the ring with fighting pit bulls, PETA is urging the NFL to make Vick take a test for anti-social personality disorder (ASPD), or psychopathy. Vick seems to fit the profile for ASPD, which includes lying, manipulating others, enjoying others' suffering, and being aggressive and charming. If Vick has ASPD, the NFL needs to know. That's because people who have ASPD cannot be truly remorseful and are likely to repeat the anti-social behavior that pleases them. If he isn't a psychopath, that's fair enough, but if he is, he shouldn't ever be presented to children as a hero. He needs to take the test!
Please help us keep the pressure on by sending an automated letter to the NFL today asking it to require that Vick pass a brain scan for ASPD and the accompanying psychological evaluation before the NFL even considers the possibility of allowing Vick back into the league, where he will be in a position to influence many fans, including countless children. Your letter will be sent directly to the NFL, letting it know that we will not rest until appropriate action has been taken. It is reasonable to try to figure out if Vick can be reformed or not.
Please cross-post this e-mail and forward it to others who might be interested in speaking out against dog fighting. Visit PETA.org for more information about dog fighting and to learn about ways that you can make a difference.
Thank you for your continued support and for all that you do for animals!
Sincerely,
Heather Whidden, Activist Liaison
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
HeatherW@peta.org
Ms. Whidden, I love dogs and like you, also think what Vick did was reprehensible but I also believe that when he gets out of prison, he will have paid his debt to society.
As far as letting him back into the NFL, I have mixed feelings. I agree that there's something fundamentally wrong with a culture that condones fighting animals for sport; it's but one step down from the Romans feeding the Christians to the lions. I understand your issue with Vick being reinstated, but the truth is there are players in the NFL who have barely escaped being tried for murder (of humans) so it seems a bit hypocritical to single out one who has killed dogs.
One thing I can't understand, though. You said:
"Vick seems to fit the profile for ASPD, which includes lying, manipulating others, enjoying others' suffering, and being aggressive and charming."
Seems to me that would also describe the current President and the majority of the Congress of the United States.
It also seems to me that might very well fit PETA.
Sorry, but I refuse to help you because you are an organization that has its priorities all wrong. For example, when your members break into mink farms and release all the animals and then many of the animals die from being hit by cars or suffer agonizing deaths from exposure...when you announce you hope hoof and mouth infects our meat animals...when you start referring to fish as "sea kittens"...when you think animals have more rights than humans...well, it just shows you're a bunch of nutjobs, not worthy of any sane person's consideration, much less their money and support.
Even nutjobs should have priority over animals, but then again, I might need to rethink my position on THAT one.
If times get much worse, we'll be eating dogs before long.
Sincerely,
Mike
P.S. "Dogs need my voice"???
OK, I'll help 'em. "Arf Arf, Woof Woof"
There, I've spoken up for them.
