... from my church's minister. http://uusf.org/Flame/nl-Knoxville-080728.html

I am used my religion to being the target of gentle jokes by Garrison Keillor. Friends let me know they know Unitarian Universalists believe in nothing because we demand no acceptance of a creed or statement of beliefs. Yesterday, two Unitarian Universalists died for their belief in nothing.  The shooter says he targeted us because we're liberal and support equal treatment for gays and lesbians. In comfortable, tolerant San Francisco it's easy to forget that promoting civil rights for all people is not easy to do throughout the world or throughout the country.  I have trouble grasping that the list of martyrs [...]

I'm a bit slow, but after 3 clients. 2 vendors , and 3 purely personal friends asked me to join their LinkedIn networks, I decided I should complete the profile and jump into another social networking pool. If you're already LinkedIn and want me in your network, see if this link works! Or, if you're not yet signed-up for LinkedIn (and/or if the first funky-looking link doesn't work), check out my profile, register, and add me to your network.

Tim is rebooting his practice after spending about a year dealing with now-resolved health issues. I'm helping him get more exposure to potential clients.  I've updated his website and he's putting advertisements in the BAR, Bay Guardian, and SF Weekly.  (The graphic for this post will run in the BAR online starting next Thursday.) Tim's very bright, energetic, and dedicated to what he does. The problem, of course, is that none of us want to use Tim's services.  Tim's an excellent criminal defense attorney.  Now who woke up this morning deciding that they'd improve their life by hiring defense counsel? [...]

I'm worried. After a barroom discussion yesterday about the wisdom of Barack Obama's vote for the unconstitutional FISA "compromise" bill, redozdachs sent me a link to Obama's rationalization on Huffington Post.  Then I read and commented on Barack's rationalization at Obama's own site. Eloquent. But, please get the message to him:  ENOUGH COMPROMISE!I am a 54-year-old moderate Democrat, so I understand the benefits of compromise better than many. But, Barack needs the enthusiasm of new voters to win and fix the country.  He's moving too far to the right too fast.  He has compromised on a key value, not on a minor [...]

We've encountered a roadblock in updating our iPhones to V2.0 of the software. Updating the iTunes to 7.7 goes fine, if slowly. Updating the iPhone to 2.0 goes very slowly but continuously until the phone is reset to factory settings. Then the iPhone (no longer "Galen's iPhone" in the iTunes display) tries to connect to iTunes to reactivate.  The attempt to connect to the iTunes Store times out. Going to the iTunes store for other purposes works.  But we've gotten a timeout on the iPhone connection for over a half hour. So, 1 dead phone for a while. If you're [...]

How long has it been that mornings in Noe Valley are tainted with just barely detectable smoke? Is there a fireplace going near-by?  So early in the morning? After a short, irritated hack of a cough, I remember. The smoke from the Big Basin Complex fires -- or from one of the other 1000 fires in California -- drops to the ground overnight. Red sun at morning, firefighters take warning. During the day, especially with the afternoon off-shore breezes, there's no trace of the inferno. But, it in the morning, every morning, the smoke's back.  The worst effect on our [...]

"[Senator Jesse] Helms regularly clashed with Bill Clinton, and once said the president "better have a bodyguard" if he visited North Carolina. He later said the comment was meant in jest." (Wall Street Journal 7/5/08)"Your tax dollars are being used to pay for grade school classes that teach our children that CANNIBALISM, WIFE-SWAPPING, and the MURDER of infants and the elderly are acceptable behavior." -- Senator Jesse Helms campaign mailer "Both presidential candidates this year are calling for an end to what they say are politics of division and vitriol that have intensified in Washington over the past quarter-century. "In [...]

Feeling old(er)?   Enjoy Newsday's 2008 version of Born to be Wild.  Wistfully nostalgic. Kinda sad. Very fun.  We were spoiled, pushy wild, But now we're bored, tubby and mild. Sit in your chair and rock to Bored... Tubby... Mild!

My condition started a week ago Tuesday about 8:15 am when redozdachs dropped me off at the celebration van my co-religionists had set up across Polk Street from San Francisco City Hall.  I looked around at the crowds of smiling, cheering people and started grinning. As I talked with fellow Unitarian Universalists handing out wedding cupcakes to everyone on City Hall steps, I kept grinning.  When Ed came by to pick up two blue wristbands saying "To Marriage" -- our congregation's "something blue" gift to newlyweds -- I grinned ever more broadly. Watching couples walk out of City Hall, waving their [...]