Homeland (In)Security

I stumbled upon this article, and I'll be honest--it sort of scares the bejeebees out of me!

The article (in case you don't want to read it) states that some atheists are suing the state because the state charter for the Kentucky Department of Homeland Security requires the department to post a plaque stating that the safety of the state "cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God."

I don't care one way or the other about the atheists' lawsuit (The plaque isn't damaging the atheists' ability to not believe. I think lawsuits like this are just a way to keep some attorneys employed), but the plaque DOES bother me, and not for religious reasons. Here's my problem: I sort of want the Kentucky Department of Homeland Security to be trying to achieve safety via HUMAN methods, not religious ones. Don't get me wrong. I'm all in favor of reliance upon God, but sometimes, as the saying goes, God's gonna help us if we help ourselves. I mean, come on! That's what the Department of Homeland Security is all about!

I feel a little less safe knowing that the plaque is there, and that the Kentucky Homeland Security director is being directed to rely upon God. Picture this press conference:

Press: How is the state of Kentucky ensuring that the few high rises it has are safe from terrorist attacks?

Homeland Security Director: We're going to count on God.

Press: What is your contingency plan in the event that an epidemic, such an outbreak of avian flu, were to strike the state?

Homeland Security Director: We' re praying about that.

Press: Have you considered the idea that large bridges, like the bridges in Louisville and Northern Kentucky, could be vulnerable to attack?

Homeland Security Director: Have YOU considered the lilies of the field?

I hate to side with the atheists, but I'm all for getting rid of the plaque, too!

The Price of Progress

This morning I was reading the Frankfort State-Journal's website online, which is something I don't usually do, but I was interested in what the Frankfort paper had to say about Beechwood's win over Frankfort High Friday night. As I was looking for THAT article online I saw another article that said that--after decades in business--the Cliffside Restaurant closed for good last weekend.

I remember as a teenager delivering hamburger on occasion to the Cliffside Restaurant, and I remember as an even younger child stopping there with Dad on the way home from the grocery store. He was making a delivery of hamburger as well, but my memory isn't focused on that. We both had an ice cream cone (I remember mine was butterscotch) and I wasn't supposed to tell Mom (Sorry, Dad, if I just got you in trouble. Lighten up on him, Mom. It was 35 years ago!).

Anyway, the closing of the restaurant makes me a little sad. Though I haven't been in there in 20 years, I always had fond thoughts of it (And I suspect that Cliffside Restaurant is the type of place that is much nicer in memory than in reality anyway). It's just another of the "old" Frankfort establishments that have gone away over time. Like Sweasy's Grocery, the Cliffside Restaurant was a relic from another era, when restaurants and towns had individual identities. Sweasy's Grocery was supplanted by a Kroger that looks just like the Kroger in Erlanger which looks just like the one in Louisville which looks just like the one in Batavia, and the Cliffside Restaurant was supplanted by an Applebee's that looks just like the one in Florence which looks just like the one in Lexington which looks just like the one in Crestview Hills.

Such is life.
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P.S. The comments at the bottom of the Cliffside article are really funny. Don't people have anything better to do than argue with one another online? On the other hand, I guess they could say, "Don't you have anything better to do than read the arguments of other people online?"

Moving In!

Well, today is the big day! The movers come at 9 AM today to move the few items that we didn't feel like touching ourselves (The washer and dryer, the couch, the TV cabinet, etc.). And tonight we will sleep at our new address!

We're all pretty excited. We're all also pretty tired. It's been a long Thanksgiving weekend of moving, and I'm glad that--despite the dozens of boxes all over the place, and despite that I'm not sure where my brown dress shoes are--at least we're in one place, one painted, moved into place, and though we still have a lot of work left to do, at least I don't have to hear anymore, "That's not here. It's at the other house!"

If you're in the process of moving, is that an axiom: "No matter what you need it will be at the other house"?