According to the AP, Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer, died today.

With all the politics and partisanship, perhaps it is time to pause to think what is really important. Life, family, etc.

Pausch was famous for his "last lecture" that he gave in 2007, celebrating his life. It was meant for his children, but many found inspiration in his courage.

Below is the link to the link to the video of his last lecture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

For the work week ending June 2
http://bullmooseblogger.blogspot.com/archives/2006_05_28_bullmooseblogger_archive.html
I like to read the Bull Moose (Marshall Whitman) blog. I don't know why. The man, for a democrat, seems rather self loathing. Let's go thru his blatherings for this week.

Monday (Memorial Day)
You can't disagree with honoring those that have fallen for our country. I have some friends now residing in our national cemeteries.

Tuesday, May 30
Big day - Two entries, Containment and GOP Good News
(Marshall rips into the dems, again and again)

(More after the flip.)

There's not much for me to say. I was stumbling across some websites and found a site touting the top 100 speeches in America. There was, of course, Lincoln, FDR, Reagan. But hidden in there was this gem by Elie Wiesel
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ewieselperilsofindifference.html

I highly recommend you read the whole thing, but I have provided some excerpts below the fold.  

Think of this speech and this life the next time you feel overwhelmed and want to give up, let the bad guy win. The speech starts with the day he was liberated from a Nazi death camp.

The US Military Academy's Center for combatting terrorism http://ctc.usma.edu/  issued a report that examines what the administration's policy should be in fighting the Iraqi jihadist movement.

Bottom line. It ain't rocket science. But too complicated for an administration that hasn't the desire to read it.

The United States government reached a significant stage in the fight against jihadi‐inspired terrorism this past year when it decided to place a greater emphasis on fighting its ideological roots. Yet despite this appropriate course adjustment,the U.S.  Government and its Western allies generally do not know the main producers of this ideology and the significant issues that unite and divide the movement -- information that is key to defeating it.

(more below the flip)

I originally wrote something similar to this for the 96 elections (my office ran out of coffee one morning), and figured I would re-create it for the current conditions. Enjoy!

President Bush announced today the invasion of Colombia. B Rubble, Ass. Press

Speaking in front of the Tom Delay School of Sewing for Underaged Girls in Mar De Plata, Argentina, the president spoke of the need to remove a tremendous supply of cocaine in the war on drugs.

"Narco-terrorism remain a problem for this great nation" Stated the President, "That is why our initiative is to replace evil drugs with beneficial coffee."  

More after the flip

One of the reasons I like the Booman Tribune is that I know I can type this diary without getting completely flamed, like I would at the other board.  Just in case, I am putting on my fire retardant suit.

We blew it! Not Cindy Sheehan. Us. WE blew it.

On the Daily Kos, there were issues of framing "Mother Sheehan" and comparisons to Rosa Parks. The right wing noted Cindy on Michael Moore's website, and guess what. Cindy got framed in the same light as Michael Moore. Now don't get me wrong, I like Michael Moore, and believe in what he is espousing, but the right wing thinks of him in the same way we think of Rush Limbaugh.

And we diminished Cindy in the process.
(more below the flip)

[Edited, thanks to the kind comments from Nanette]

It's time for liberals to define the lexicon.

For years, liberals have been defamed, derided and debauched. Now we are going to the term "progressive" to describe liberal ideals.  Correct me if I am wrong, but we went to the term liberal because the republicans were so good at framing "progressive" with communism.  I say it's time we fight back.

We have already started with the term "neo-conservative" for the far right wing of the republican party, framing neo-conservatives as a bad thing. But we need to go further.  I have some basic ideas below the fold, and I make some assumptions about the democratic party. Hopefully they are correct. If not, let me know, I'll edit it. If I've made a mockery of the Christian faith, let me know and I'll delete the diary.

Ya know, 1,500 US military deaths, tens of thousands (minimum) of Iraqi dead, and yet we all go about our business. It's someone else's child. We mumble a brief prayer for the family and move on with our lives.

This is Casey Sheehan's story. Actually, it is the story of a family coming to grips with the loss of their son and brother. A story that is repeated in various forms over 1,500 times.

Read the article. It's much better written than I can paraphrase.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/20/INGIGBNC46129.DTL