Downsized. Let Go. Laid Off.

The good news is that they’re saying I did a fabulous job and they feel really bad about it.

Apparently the cost of the malpractice suits just overwhelmed their ability to budget a file clerk.

I will comment on this, but several friends I greatly respect have strong, invested opinions on this issue, and I want to hear their thoughts before commenting.

~ Connor

* * * * *

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/05/31/gays.communion.ap/

Gay supporters denied communion at Chicago Mass

Minnesota Catholics blocked at altar

Monday, May 31, 2004 Posted: 1203 GMT (2003 HKT)

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) — Parishioners who wore rainbow-colored sashes to Mass in support of gays and lesbians were denied communion in Chicago, while laymen in Minnesota tried to prevent gay Roman Catholics from getting the sacrament.

I believe that, at long last, the links in the sidebar (right) are more-or-less complete.

I tried to be as comprehensive as possible without being overwhelming. In some cases, I cut 3 out of every 4 links, so I hope that what’s left is quality and relevant.

Yes, I am feeling confrontational tonight.

For those of us who still haven’t learned the true form of the Lord of the Ninth (that is, more of a jelly spread miles deep in a fissure than the suave, horned sophisticate we know and loved), I have this interesting bit of news:

Pat Buchanan’s Reform Party (you remember, the arch-conservative that wanted to build a Berlin Wall along the Mexican border?)

Would you believe me if I told you that I was one of two hundred plucky souls who, as part of a progressive movement, brought rush hour traffic on Lake Shore Drive almost to a complete standstill?

It’s true.

The #6 Jackson Park Express bus I was riding progressed up the Drive before encountering functional difficulties while stopped just north of the McCormick place.

“Why are there so many songs about rainbows

And what’s on the other side?

“Rainbows are visions, but only illusions,

And rainbows have nothing to hide.

“So we’ve been told and some choose to believe it

I know they’re wrong, wait and see.

If anybody is interested in seeing the picture I took, from which I derived the main image in the heading of this blog, I’ve put it up here.

So there’s been some fuss at the University of Chicago, among students and a few faculty members, about the recent choice to change the title of “course programs” from concentration to major.

The argument for can be summed up: referring to such programs as “majors” dates back to the 1950s, and was a concession made to a group no longer present at the university (the Hutchins crowd).

This has been a strange weekend; when I’ve been social, there’s been an overabundance of friends, drink, and merriment.

And when I’ve been alone, I’ve been so alone.

Jess left on Friday. I tend to forget, sometimes, just how much my social life is dependent upon her.