Beth's Contradictory Brain

Quote

AOL was the finger in the dyke of the Internet. Can't pass that one up!

Music is good for the soul

I finally decided to take advantage of living in a university town. (No, I didn't go ogle college girls.) A couple of weeks ago I printed up the UT School of Music concert schedule. So, last night we went to hear the Huntington Brass Quintet. Damn were they good. And it was free! Those musicians are some of the best I've ever heard, and the accoustics in the music hall were fantastic.

I played trombone all thru middle school and high school - marching band, concert band, and jazz band. I was a pretty good player in a pretty good music program. But when it came time to go to college I didn't want to spend time on music anymore. And it was one of those things were I was good at it, but not great, and if I couldn't be great I didn't want to bother.

I still have my trombone though. Several years ago when I was going to church I played in the music group at church.

Being a musician is one of those roads not travelled for me. There's nothing like being in a jazz band and really playing your heart out. It was the only thing that ever took my complete concetration and took my away from thinking.

It's my money not the governments

As always, Arthur has read my mind and printed it up on his site.

...mandatory taxation, imposed under the threat of severe penalties for non-compliance, is exactly the same -- in principle -- as a robber holding a gun to your head, and demanding your money. What could possibly be the difference? The government says to us, every day: You will pay all these taxes, or we will put a lien on your property, confiscate the funds in your bank account, garnish your wages, put you in jail, etc. To paraphrase Bush the other night: "If that is not the definition of force, then force has no meaning."

Our government now forces us -- in countless ways, and most obviously through taxation -- to help and support the needy and the dispossessed, whether we want to or not. Again, the issue is not whether we might want to help them ourselves; the issue is whether the government has the right to violate our rights, and make us do so whether we choose to or not. And to frame the question clearly is to answer it: there can be no "right" to violate the rights of others.

I do not want the government involved in the economy at all: I want a complete separation of government and economics, for the same reasons that we have a complete separation of government and religion. I want the government out of the medical and insurance industries; I want the government out of the antitrust business; I want the government out of business altogether.

It's so hard not to be contradictory sometimes!! I do support Bush and I'm glad it's him in office and not a democrat. I do think, as you all know, that we should go in and liberate Iraq - partly for the sake of the Iraqi's and partly to prevent more days like 9/11. I think that defense (and offense if necessary) is a valid function of government.

Social programs of any kind however, are not a valid function of government in my view.

Where liberals get all pissed at conservatives is that they think just because we don't want the government - thru our tax dollars - giving money to every needy program in the country and world that that means we don't want the needy helped in any manner at all. That all those damn rich white folks (they don't seem to mind rich minority folks for some reason) want to do is sit around and count their money. But all stats on philanthropy show otherwise. People who think Bill Gates and Oprah should be required to give away X percentage of their money just because they can - then should everyone be required to give away X amount based on percentages?? Because esentially that's what taxes are all about. Bitch all you want about taxes paying a war instead of x y and z social programs - but I think you're completely backwards on the roll of government and don't have a clue about real world economics.

As Arthur states and states again, it should be my choice what I do with my money - not the governments. Free markets do work, even when it comes to helping the poor and needy. Those who think the government is an acceptable middle man are deluded. How many more social, medical, whatever programs could there be without the government keeping probably 80% of all money received in taxes and only giving out the other 20%.

Look at your pay stub - since it's tax season. What if you were able to keep 80% of the money you've paid in income taxes and so forth - wouldn't you be able to not only support you and your family better - but also give more to the charity of your choice?? And if every family could just support their own family better - wouldn't there be a lot less need for social programs?

I guess that will always be the big political question - is the government some rich grandparent giving the grandkids everything they need? Or is it just there for those few things stated in the Constitution?

Cartoon

This cartoon is Nerdstar and I. I'm being all intellectual, and she's all about the food. It's the Jan. 30th strip.

Quiet

Feelin kinda quiet today in some ways. Maybe a little melancholy. I rarely talk about it, but the longing for kids is always just under the surface. I'd have to say that failing to get pregnant has been the biggest disappointment of my life so far. Last year I wanted nothing more than a baby and a house. Nerdstar wants a job and a baby and a house. Maybe this year we'll get two out of three.

The Speech

I watched the whole thing, waiting patiently for the "good part." I kept hoping it would be like a movie and he'd have the balls to declare war then and there.

But, as I've been mulling it, although it was politically brilliant - and the stuff on the war on terror and Iraq and the other bad guys rocked, all this domestic stuff sucks. Arthur at The Light of Reason takes it point by point.

Recommendation

Bigbadchinesemama And you don't have to be a big bad Chinese mama to enjoy this site!

More Life With Pets

Well, the person who is taking care of Noel came over to my desk today and told me that while she'll continue to foster Noel for a while, she doesn't think that she's a good candidate for taking care of her permanently. She leads a lifestyle that frequently takes her away from home, so she said that it would not be fair to just keep her in a empty apt. without much interaction. I was a bit disappointed, but so much because Noel did not do anything wrong, she's just a dog trying to relax and recover from her heartworm infection. I guess grandma will get her and there would be someone there all the time. Noel must have been confused as to why I took her to all these different places, and staying with all these different people. Thank goodness that she's easygoing enough that she pretty much just adopts everyone that she meets. I think that she sort of makes up for all the crappy people that I'd meet, she just makes up for all their shortfalls and the dishonesty....I mean, she actually looks like she's appreciative of what you are trying to do for her. Can't quite say the same for people, not now anyways.

More on testing

My company is responsible for the standardized testing in public schools in Texas and a few other states. So I have lots of time to contemplate testing - the costs, pros, cons, etc. I contend that if taxpayers really understood the $ cost of these tests - and how many schools could be built and teachers could be hired instead - there just might be a little revolution. Most of my coworkers disagree with me.

But that's not the point today. The point is that standardized tests (or the tests our managers are going thru) are a lazy way to evaluate people and just shouldn't be necessary. Those in favor of standardized tests argue that they hold people accountable. But in the public schools it shouldn't be left to a test to hold teachers accountable - that's what parents, principals, and school boards are for. In businesses, that's what managers and bosses are for - or should be I guess.

Pics

I really did take some pics of the living room and some art work the other night, but alas, the computer wouldn't agree to upload them. Nerdstar is headed to Houston this weekend to spend Chinese New Year with her grandparents, so I'll wander around Austin, see if I can take some decent pics and get them all up here.

Carnival

If you've never read or participated in Carnival of the Vanities - you really should do both! The title says it all - it's a carnival hosted by a different blog every week where all the vanities of the blog world can submit their best stuff to be compiled with all the other vanities.

Would You?

The managers where I work have had to individually take 3+ hour of apptitude tests. But from what they're saying, it's not directly related to managerial skills, but more like a mix of intelligence testing and personality testing. Seems wrong to me! They were saying the last part had questions like "in the past four weeks have you... wanted to be alone, felt jealous" stuff like that. They're all joking about it and such, but if I were a manager I'd be pissed. Whether or not anything is riding on the results of this test isn't know for certain, although popular opinion says no. So, it was either a complete waste of time and resources, or it's a totally inappropriate means of evaluation and promotion. (There probably are tests that would be an appropriate means, that's not the issue.)

So, if you were a manager would you just go along and take the test? Honestly? I'm tempted to say that at the very least I'd not answer the "in the past four weeks" part. I'd love to think that if I were the big boss giving out this kind of test (hmmm... all parts of that are highly unlikely) that I'd at least give extra credit to someone willing to say "now wait just a minute..."

A related scenario I was talking with Nerdstar about, in h.s. when I worked at McDonald's, there was a descrepancy with the money one shift. The store manager wanted everyone to take a polygraph. I refused. Nothing ever came of it.

There is also talk in the news of DNA databases for everyone starting at birth - not just criminals.

The question is - would you willingly give up your rights to probable cause, due process, privacy, etc. etc. just to "not cause trouble" or "go along with the flow" or "stand out"?

I just started reading Atlas Shrugged last night - seems appropriate for the times.

Compliment

I was thinking the other day that the highest compliment someone could give me would be to say "I was thinking about what you said..." Yep, I'm a strange girl.

Webring Sight Seeing

Farrago is giving a tour of her home town, Sea Point, in South Africa, pictures and maps included. This impreses the hell out of me! If there was ever a blog idea that should take off - this is it!

Maybe I'll even start with a picture of my living room :-) And then try to remember to take my camera around Austin this weekend and see what I can see.

Monday Morning

It seems I killed the phone in my office Friday. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't intentional! I spilled a lot of water all over it. But, it worked all day Friday, just kinda sounded like it was underwater. *grin* This morning though, it looks like it will work, but it's playing dead. The lights are on but nobody's home. Oh well, a day at work without my phone.

More on the superbowl commercials, because, you know, not everyone and their dog will be talking about them! The Fed Ex one based on Castaway was just lame. (Hmm. I think that was my word from yesterday, too.) It's not like the entire movie Castaway wasn't a long, boring ass, Fed Ex commercial - nope, they had to go and rehash the whole thing.

The MLife re-doing Gillighan was even worse. Again - WHY?

And the Levi's commercial with the buffalo - whatever!

So, Lileks not only tackles the commercials - he also takes on "ordinary people's quotes". And Andrew is at his best this morning. (Both linked right over there -->) The point of remembering 9/11 is not to prove that Saddam did it; but to remind ourselves that some combination of Saddam and others could do far worse in the future. So what should we do? Wait and hope we can keep this thing under control by a series of defensive actions? Or go on the offensive and do what we can to stop, deter and reverse this threat? There's so much more - go forth and read!

Lame

I'm not sure which has been more lame today - the game or the commercials. I mean really now - Willie Nelson doing tax crap?? Is that really anyway to sell your tax services? Old M.J. taking on Young M.J.? Maybe a couple of years ago before we all saw just how old M.J. is it would have worked. The rest I don't even remember. How damn lame!!

Other than that it's been a productive yet fairly restful weekend - and for those of you with cheesecake obsessions - we didn't have any.

The highlight would have to be changing out our cable box for a new and improved digital video recorder box with Time Warner - it seems to be a lot like Tivo and it's only an extra $10 a month. Oh, and twelve new pairs of underwear - can't beat new undies.

As you can read below, Nerdstar's pretty sad today. Me, some but not as much.

Life with pets...again

Today I took Noel to a co-worker's house, she volunteered to take care of her for about two weeks and if things worked out fine, she might keep her. I have to tell you that at times, I sort of wished that she would chicken out on keeping her, and we'll end up having to keep her, because you know how easily I get attached to kids and puppies.

I wrapped up her food bowls, favorite blankets, and I also got her a plushy squeaky toy to keep her company.

I showed my friend how docile Noel is and how all she needed is a quiet place without other animal distractions, trying to almost sell Noel to her for free...but already, I was starting to miss her.

I just got back from her place and the superbowl is on, but I am in no mood to watch it, it's pretty stupid if you ask me. In fact, I'd just as soon lose all my respects for those so called "stars" once they perform at the halftime show or the opening. Anyway, that was just my feeling about televised football games, just another excuse to sit on the couch and stuff our faces.... I can do that any other time!!

I am going to have to explain to Ramen what the heck just went on and pet him some more.

Life With Pets 2

We've placed Ramen on diet food, and also cut his food portion somewhat, and late last night, I heard scuffling and some chewing sounds... then I just knew it, Ramen was doing some digging in the trash for some tasty trash... maybe some chicken bones or old bread. "Ramen, no!" I said to him, then swipped him on the butt and told him to go back to bed (he sleeps on this flannel sheet next to our bed.). B. was like "You bad mom, Ramen is starving so he had to go and dig into the trash!" Well, she was the one who told me to stop feeding him for the night!!

He must have been a former famine victim, just like I was in a previous life, because for as much as we feed him, he'd still sit next to your chair at the dinner table and stare at you with sad puppy eyes, just wishing that you'll throw him a piece of bread, chicken meat, etc. Did I tell you that he'll even eat tofu?
B. can be pretty immune to that look, I am trying to be stronger about it, and it's a work in progress.

Strange how the kids just love her to death, and I love the kids but they still just keeping running to her.

Reason for war

Recently, for me, war with Iraq has come down to the question - if I were living in Iraq, under this dictator, in these conditions, would I want any country who was able to to come in and remove this dictator and in doing so improve my life.

Yes, there is a valid argument for a country to be isolationist - although in modern times I think it's hard to pull off. But other than that, do we (Americans) not have an obligation, not only to protect our own citizns (and Hussein is a threat to us, if not today, then in the near future), but to also help liberate oppressed people in other countries? Because if we don't, then let's stop spending so much on foreign aid and such.

So I don't really care if Bush thinks this is about oil or revenge (but I don't think he does!), I care that when it's said and done there are more people living in more freedom in this world.

Yes, there will be Iraqi casualties, as well as American soldiers who die. But, I'd be willing to bet, that unless Hussein intentionally places his citizens in harms way, there will be less Iraqi civilian casualities than there were Americans who died on 9/11. Not that I expect any press in the world to accurately report Iraqi casualties.

It's too easy to get bogged down in the political bullshit and forget about the people who need our help.

Brains are Evil

At least my brain seems to be evil. Usually that evilness resides just under the radar, humming along very quietly with all the non-evil thoughts, content to be unnoticed while being subversive.

I realized years ago that crazy thoughts don't actually seem crazy until you say them out loud. My evil brain knows how to keep my mouth shut.

At this point I am probably supposed to provide quaint/subversive/amusing examples.

Nope.

Good News

Lesbian Partner Of 9/11 Victim Gets $500,000.

Yuck

Well, what a damn shame. Seems the Bloggies are all fucked up. Read this post at A Small Victory and all the comments and trackbacks to get the full picture. As usual in these sorts of situations, the sad part is it didn't have to be all fucked up, there was a great procedure in place by the guy who started the awards, but people had to act like junior high schoolers.

And if anyone can explain to me how to use trackback, I'd be thrilled!

Finally

Just below this entry you'll see Nerdstar's first post here. She kept wanting me to write about "life with pets" and I kept telling her that if she wrote it I'd post it for her. So we finally did that. How fun!

Life With Pets 1

Well, I talked to my folks (grandparents) today, since I was at work, I tried a bit to tell them about how I was going to take Noel home and have them look after her. I took her in to the vet's for heartworm treatment earlier this morning, and on the way back, I was thinking about all these bad things that could be wrong with her health and how I am going to react if it was true. I am such a sucker for dogs and puppies, I guess. The cats mostly now just like to snuggle with Beth and look at me like I am completely insane, which may be true. Anyway, my folks are the kind who'll say that they are not animal people but will turn around and feed the stray cat from the neighborhood. So I hope this "arrangement" will work out fine. In the meanwhile, we've got to help Ramen drop some weight! (My German Shepard mix) He has been eating a lot of Noel's food and showing the effect of it!
Beth usually doesn't like sleeping when all the cats and dogs are in the house, but a household without them just seems downright empty....besides, there are naps that we can take.

Dreaming of coffee and cheesecake right now.....

Sentence for the day

There is no amount of planning that can counteract complete stupidity.

Ugh

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not at all impressed with the nominees for the Bloggy awards. Yes, I read A Small Victory most days, and Jill Matrix on occassion, but the rest of the blogs nominated just didn't really catch my interest as I was looking at them this morning.

As usual, I feel like I'm standing just outside the circle of everyone else. Even on the Dykewrite webring I'm a part of I usually just feel like the dissenting voice.

Oh well. Thankfully I never have my heart set on winning a popularity competition.

family

If you don't read Cubicle Girl on a regular basis you're missing out on some great writing, story telling, and life sharing. (eeww that last phrase sounds corny, but it's somehow accurate.) Her last few entries have been about her weekend with her parents and dealing with past and present with them.

I don't think there is anything harder in this life than dealing with family. Especially after growing up and moving out, it's hard to gain some distance and perspective and then go back and visit parents in particular and see that nothing has changed for them, certainly not the things you think need to change. I can't tell the number of times I'd go home during college and walk out my parents front door begging God to burn their house down just so they'd have to move and deal with change. (They've lived in the same house for over thirty years.)

And then there are all the things I wish I could say to them, or all the ways I wish my relationship with them was different, but to say and change those things requires efforts I cannot even begin to imagine taking. So, in the name of a peaceful truce and going along and getting along, I just keep it all to myself and gloss over who I am when I'm with them.

Anyway, go read Cubicle Girl, she's a much better writer!

Peace Protesters

Of course I believe that anyone who feels strongly that going to war with Iraq is the wrong thing to do has the right to say so and to protest. It would be nice if any of those protesters could give reasonable, informed, viable alternatives on how to dispose of Hussein.

But, the protesters this last weekend were not really for peace, they're against America. There are many stories and reports on sites like Instapundit and the likes, but this one is my link for today. If you're inclined to agree with the protesters, do a little surfing and make sure these are the people you want representing you.

MLK, Jr. Day

If you truly want to honor this very honorable man, I can only recommend you read his writings. I wrote earlier this month about Stride Toward Freedom, which was about the bus boycots in 1954-55. Last weekend I read Why We Can't Wait, which he wrote in 1963-64 about the Civil Rights Movement in general.

As aways I wish I knew history so much better than I do. Maybe then how we got from A to B to C to Q would make sense to me. In reading his writings about the Civil Rights Movement and it's nonviolent system, I am in awe of the people who participated and what they achieved. But as I've said before, how we got from there to this messed up welfare state where some people feel entitled to something they haven't earned is beyond me. It might have all started out well intentioned enough, especially on the parts of some in the Democrat Party (ie Kennedy), and maybe even to some degree LBJ, but the implementation got all fucked up somewhere along the way.

So, I'm also still reading Ayn Rand. I couldn't find a link to her 1963 essay "Man's Rights" like I wanted, but I did find think link on racism that pretty much explains things.

So long as the Negro leaders were fighting against government-enforced discrimination -- right, justice and morality were on their side. But that is not what they are fighting any longer. The confusions and contradictions surrounding the issue of racism have now reached an incredible climax.

Today, it is not an oppressor, but an oppressed minority that is demanding the establishment of racial quotas. (!)

There is so much more in her essay that was written in the early 1960s.

R.I.P. AOL

It's kind of a sad night, after probably close to six years I finally cancelled my AOL account. So many memories. So many people in and then out of my life thru AOL. Sigh. Oh well. Three times in the past five months our email accounts have been hacked into and hundres of emails sent from them, only to have AOL lock up my account and then blame me for the whole mess. So, we've switched to NetZero and we'll see how that works, it's cheaper anyway and we don't use the internet much from home.

Yesterday morning we got up early and Nerdstar took the dogs to the kennel and we drove to Dallas. One of my cousins got married yesterday. It was a typical baptist wedding. I felt pretty cynical sitting there with my girlfriend, and then sitting in front of me was my brother who's wife is screwing him over. It was hard to be optmistic and goodwilled toward the institution of marriage and the religious side of the ceremony.

My grandmother was in town from Kansas. She's so serene it's amazing. A woman who truly believes in God and His hand on her life. Found out yesterday her and my grandfather met and then eloped a few weeks later when she was 18, how cool is that? They had six kids and moved around a lot, he was a preacher and whatever other jobs he could find. They were married until he died of cancer when I was in college.

Today was lunch with the family and then the drive home. Nicely uneventful.

Michigan Case

As usual, I'll refer you to Light of Reason for the more well written take on things.

I've been reading Ayn Rand's The Virtue of Selfishness for about a week now and it's only a 168 pages. I'm almost thru and trying to digest it well. Her most basic concept is that there is no such thing as a "society" or any other "collective" of people, only individuals, and therefore only individuals have rights (and if they so choose, responsiblities.) That's a hard concept to fully let sink in and apply to life in our world.

In cases like diversity and affirmative action and such, I think it's all backwards as can be. In university admissions, military service, job hiring, anything and everything there should be a standard and the best qualified person meeting that standard should be admitted, hired, whatever.

No one is owed a job, a university degree or anything else. Yes, life is harder for some people than others - but oh well. There are plenty of "rise above circumstances" stories out there to know it can be done. False rewards never truly benefit anyone in the long run.

And I'll save my rant for how it's now conservative white guys (girls) who are discriminated against the most in colleges now anyway.

Fluff

Nerdstar said my site has been way too boring lately! I told her I thought the story of the guillotine and killing rooster added some spice, but she just sighed. I said it's a politics and dumbfucks site - she still wasn't amused. So, the three entries just below this are pics of our pets. I keep telling her if she'd just write up a "life with pets" post I'd be more than happy to put it up here. Maybe then I'd get some comments!!

Queen Silly

Silly This is my cat Silly - or Queen Silly Butt as I call her. I've had her for over five years, and she would much prefer it was just her and I. It was bad enough Nerdstar moved in, then we got Little Man. She wacked him upside the head and then mostly proceeded to mostly ignore him. She's still pretty pissed about Ramen and has taken to self starvation in protest of another damn dog in the house. But what can I say, I love her.

Our Dogs

Dogs The black and tan one is Ramen, who we got from a shelter last March for Nerdstar's birthday. The redish brown one is Noel, who is the stray we're trying to find a home for.

Cool Cat

This is a picture of Nerdstar's cat, Little Man. He's not too bright, but he sure looks cool! Actually, while she's my Snuggle Bunny, he's usually my Snuggle Kitty, her on one side and him on the other.

That's one way to do it

A 36-year-old man is believed to have beheaded himself with a home-made guillotine, according to police.

Mexico

While I'm posting about the world, here's a look at what our neighbors to the south (that would be Mexico) *grin* have planned for us!

Africa and North Korea

I was briefly watching New Hour on PBS last night and caught a story about how one of the countries in Africa was refusing corn from America because it's been genetically modified. I can't imagine being a leader of people and refusing them any kind of food that would prevent them from starving to death. This morning I ran across this article about the bigger picture in Africa.

Mostly it just makes me ever more aware of how lucky I am to have been born in America.

I also found this article this morning about our attempts at diplomacy with North Korea.

Most people don’t understand what President Bush means when he says that we will pursue a “diplomatic solution.”

And there is another factor that the Chinese leadership always has to keep in mind: the possibility that any of these events might trigger domestic disturbances, a coup or even a revolution within China.

That's just a couple of exerpts, the whole thing is worth reading.

Great Writing

If you haven't read DoubleXDeviant lately, go read her site NOW! Every post up on her site now is written so damn well it makes me jealous! And I understand completely her reaction to the artsy couple dancing - so if you want to know what I'm talking about, go read her!

The Iraqi everyman side of it

This article from the BBC is another must read related to my If/Then post.

The truth is that the overwhelming majority of Iraqi dissidents are an embarrassment to the Left. After enduring misery few of us can imagine, they have discovered that, without foreign intervention, their country won't be freed from a tyrant who matches Stalin in his success in liquidating domestic opponents. Only America can intervene. Therefore an American invasion offers the possibility of salvation.

There's a damnable logic to this that no amount of wriggling can escape. If you say to the Iraqi opposition that America is very selective in its condemnation of dictatorships, they shrug and ask why Iraqis should care. If you say that Iraq shouldn't be liberated from Saddam until Palestinians are liberated from Israeli occupation, they ask if the converse also applies. (It never does, incidentally.) They confront the anti-war movement with the disconcerting thought that there are worse things in the world than George W Bush and American imperialism, and Saddam Hussein and his prison state are among them.

I think this aspect of things (that of the Iraqi people truly being much better off without a dictator in charge, as I would say is true of any country under dictator rule) is far too often left out of any dialogue regarding this impending war.

In Washington, the future of Iraq is ferociously contested. The names of the competitors on either side of the argument prove that you should never believe easy political labels. To the surprise of the simple-minded, Donald Rumsfeld and his supposedly "far-Right" friends in the Pentagon support democracy, while the CIA and the supposedly "moderate" Colin Powell at the State Department hint that they want to replace Saddam with a more compliant dictator.

At no point has Mr Blair said he wants dictatorship to end if Saddam is overthrown. The organisers of last month's conference of exiles in London asked the Foreign Office if Mr Blair or Jack Straw would address the assembled delegates. Zaab Sethna, a spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress (INC), told me the men at the FO "laughed in our faces". Our leaders didn't want to waste their time on Iraqi democrats.

Instead of protesting the war, maybe more time and effort should be put into what kind of Iraq there will be after the war.

That's gotta suck

This *ahem* poor man was killed by his own fighting rooster. What a shame.

If/then?

While it seems a forgone conclusion that we're going to war with Iraq, I've been wondering how it will all play out. By the end of this month, it's reported there will be at least 130,000 U.S. troops over there. I know the stated goal is a regime change in Iraq, meaning Hussein will no longer be in power. For the record, I believe that is the goal and am highly in favor of it, and yes, even believe the Iraqi people are for it.

So, I'm assuming Rumsfield and company have some pretty damn good plans for actually finding the man and ... and that's my question - then what? Let's say the amazing Army/Marines actually find Hussein - do they shoot to kill or do they capture him? What in the world will be the reaction both here in the states and around the world for either scenario? Will the bad guys in the world who threaten more terrorist attacks threaten us more if we kill him or if we capture him? And let's say we do capture him (or Bin Laden for that matter) what the hell do we do with him? I can't even imagine the kangaroo world court that would arise.

I also can't imagine that there won't be thousands of American soldiers killed in the attempt to kill/capture this one man - no matter how good the plans are. I mean, sure, it would be beyond great if we could go in after a couple of days of having bombing and find that the bombs had dropped on his head, one of his own men had blown his brains out, or barring that, if one of our guys (girls?) blew his brains out. But I don't think it will be that simple.

So, why in the hell isn't the administration and media honestly getting this country ready for what's to come. CNN (which I hate beyond belief) has almost non-stop Iraq/war "coverage" - but are they actually giving us any useful information or tellings us best/worst case scenarios and how we can deal with them?

I have a feeling Bush will be doing many more such news conferences once the war actually starts "for real." (I think it's already started in some ways.)

I just don't see too many good tunnels on the way to that light at the end.

25th Hour

After a lazy day on the sofa for me, Nerdstar and I went to eat some Chinese food and to see 25th Hour, the new Spike Lee movie with Ed Norton - two talented men who's works I've usually liked and admired. 25th Hour was no exception, in fact, I'd say it's Spike's best film ever! I'm not sure Norton can ever top Fight Club in my view, but this was maybe an even better performance in some ways.

I'm so glad they left it set in the complete context of NYC after 9/11. The opening credits over the skyline of NYC with those two tribute light beams was fantastic! The scenes that had things directly tied to 9/11 were fantastic. I haven't seen any other films brave enough to do that.

Even more impressive is how a movie about a guy getting ready to go to jail didn't once seem to cave into tired old hollywood cliches. After sitting thru several previews of tired old rehashed plots, 25th Hour was a breath of fresh air.

One other detail I loved was the use of THX in the club scene, having the different dj sounds coming from the back was fun!

It's not a fast paced movie, more a character study, but more than worth seeing!

Pickering Part 2

Byron York has written a follow up answering reader questions about Judge Pickering. The last question is about Judge Pickering lowering other criminals' sentences as well, read the whole thing.

LOTR by other authors

I found this link over on Instapundit. It's a post and messages about what if some other famous authors had written LORT instead. Very creative!

Rainy Weekend

The weather during this last work week was unseasonably warm and sunny. Then overnight Friday and Saturday morning it turned cold and rainy. But, I'm one of those weirdos who kinda likes it all snuggly for the weekend. So Friday night that's exactly what we did. We had a fire in the fireplace, no tv. no radio, just relaxing and some much needed sex (grin!)

Nerdstar has reserves drill this weekend so it's just me and the pets. The two cats were sitting on the back edge of the desk looking out the window a minute ago and the dogs are lying side by side beside my chair wishing like hell I'd stop typing and pet them! They're such wennies though they won't go out in the back yard and pee while it's cold and raining. I tell them it's their bladder they're abusing!

We finally took the stray, Little Girl, to the vet yesterday. $100 just to do shots and a checkup and all. The vet told us she has heartworms. She's fine for now, but it's going to cost about $400 to get her well. Oh well, what do you do? She's too sweet to let her stay sick and die, and I doubt we could find her a home with that much in vet bills looming over her head. I guess this is one of those times I mention the paypall thingy over there and say any help at all would be more appreciated than you know!

Thanks to d-Kitty for the comments and the help!!

Gay Hitler

I've read a few news items about HBO's upcomming documentary on Hitler being gay. I haven't been impressed enough to really care or write about it. Colby Cosh has saved me the time and energy and written about it very well.

Along the same lines, I'm not someone who thinks Bert and Ernie are gay. I am sure there are many people in history who had significant personal, even sexual, relationships with people of the same sex, but to go back and speculate on the "gayness" of some of them seems silly to me.

AgendaBender has some great thoughts on sort of the same thing about Harpo Marx. If you start here and scroll up, you'll also read great stuff about Herb Ritz's death announcement, and why the Mac Apple logo is gay!

AntiDrug

For your Friday afternoon entertainment. I'm sure you've all seen the commercials that say if you keep kids busy they won't do drugs.

Well, teach them all about the joys of masturbation - that should keep them busy and off drugs.

(spelling corrected thanks to my Nerdstar!!)

Permalinks??

I have trackback working, which seems completely unnecessary, so how do I use permalinks instead?

Outwritten again

Today, James Lileks writes a cute story about his dog, and then writes a great commentary on Scorsese and Gangs of New York and what he (and I) would really love to hear someone like Scorsese say instead of the usual rote anti-Bush/anti war drivel we usually get.

You know what I’d like to hear, just once? “As a New Yorker, I remember too well the death and destruction that arrived on our doorstep that day in September. As an American, I worry about regimes who possess both the means to kill innocent citizens and the devilish will to do it. As an artist, I value the freedom I have in a pluralistic, secular democracy, and I realize that these traits are not only rare and worthy of defense, but deserve to be extended to people in other nations. As a student of history, I am impressed by how our military - which has the ability to annihilate cities and nations - has spent billions to develop weapons that destroy a single building. Surely this says as much about us as our crass and extroverted culture; what other nation with our abilities would take such care? Presented with enemies who build weapons factories next to kindergartens, we invent missiles that take the former and spare the latter. This may not mean we are right, but it surely means we are are bound by a notion of decency our opposites lack. As a human being, I mourn the loss of innocent life that will surely attend any war - but I must admit, if we could have prevented 9/11 with a military action that cost a dozen innocent lives, I would have supported it with the reluctance that must attend any act of organized violence. And finally, as a filmmaker who lives in a special kind of isolation, surrounded mostly with affluent like-minded people from the arts community, I must admit that when it comes to foreign affairs and military matters I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about.

“Can we please talk about what it was like to work with Leo?”

Even better, imagine Hillary saying something to that affect.