Metulj

Another "Who cares?"

2005-04-30T12:55:00.000-04:00

War. Genocide. Social Security. Culture clashes.

Major news outlets think the story of a runaway bride is interesting. This is news how? Where? Why?

John Brown, Daily Beacon Columist is Literate

2005-04-26T14:56:00.000-04:00

And a typically inconsistent Right winger.

His recommended reads for the summer include:

“Atlas Shrugged” — First of all, there is this classic Ayn Rand novel. What would happen if the creative minds of the world went on strike? What happens when collectivism completely overrules individualism? And who is John Galt? You will find the answers in this book, written in 1957. Though over 1,000 pages long, it has the ability to hold the reader’s attention from start to finish. This work (particularly Galt’s speech) is considered the basis of Rand’s philosophy of objectivism.

Ayn Rand is proof-positive that John Dewey's dictum that all humans are philosophical at their core is true. Rand's core was incoherent, megalomaniacal and mean-spirited enough to make Aristotle blush. It isn't enough to call her the figurehead of a cult. Chick Corea is a Scientologist. That doesn't scare me. Alan Greenspan is a proud Objectivist. That scares me. If you want a conservative philospher see Leo Strauss or Michael Oakeshott. The former is nuts, but interesting; the latter sublime.

“1984” — Probably George Orwell’s most famous work, “1984” is a nightmarish vision of a future in which the state has taken total control. Originally published in 1948, it’s difficult to read this novel and not notice that some of Orwell’s fears are becoming reality.

“Animal Farm” — Another great work from Orwell, this novel is the story of a group of barnyard animals who overthrow their abusive, corrupt farmer and institute a government in which they are all equals. Of course, this utopian state does not last very long, and the society quickly devolves into yet another tyranny. Representing the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, the symbolism is amazingly easy to pick up, and the story itself is engrossing.

Conservatives who cite Orwell make me giggle. Ah, yes, the coalfieds union organizer and author who was a life-long socialist is an inspiration for the American Right. Heh. Inconsistent as usual. Eric Blair (Orwell) was dedicated to fighting against totalitarianism. The Soviet Union was not a socialist state, it was brutal totalitarian dictator with a smattering of breadlines and such. I suggest you give Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism a read as well as Rorty's extensive treatment of Orwell in Contingency, Irony and Solidarity.

“Modern Times” — This outstanding history of the world from the 1920s until the 1990s is a must-read for anyone interested in history. Written by British historian Paul Johnson (who also wrote the equally outstanding “A History of the American People”), this book also cuts through much of the politically correct garbage that clouds history, and also gives one a good idea of what is needed to confront the future.

1. "Politically Correct Garbage" -- code word for scholarship that clashes with one's ideology.

2. "also gives one a good idea of what is needed to confront the future" -- Yes, history is a endlessly repeating pattern that only certain people can discern or have we reached the end of history? I can't ever keep this straight and it seems neither can the people who espouse this rehashed 18th Century philosophical view.

Still, I should read this book. So points to Brown for having one that I could bear.

“The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror” — Former political prisoner and Israeli statesman Natan Sharansky explains why freedom is the natural longing of all mankind, and why promoting democracy abroad is in the best interest of all Americans. As a former prisoner in the Soviet Union, Sharansky knows a thing or two about oppression. Even though the book is critical of President Bush at times, Bush has embraced it. And so will anyone who reads it with an open mind.

I've heard this book is a good read, but pedestrian in places. I'll see if I can squeeze it in somewhere. That being said, democracy does not equal the end of tyranny. Example: Great Britain is a democracy. It is difficult to say that the various crackdowns in Northern Ireland were not tyrannical in many ways. You can go on and on. It is a naive argument at best.

"Bush has embraced it. And so will anyone who reads it with an open mind." -- Open Mind: Code word for 'agrees with me.' That George Bush read it is astounding enough, but as a barometer of intellectual prowess I think I will look elsewhere and even within his own administration.

“Intellectual Morons” — Another good recent book by Daniel J. Flynn. Here, Flynn takes on sacred cows of both the left and the right and exposes how, when one blindly adheres to a single ideological bent, they can be manipulated into believing or doing almost anything. If you know someone who seems to have a fanatical streak, pick up this book for them.

David Horowitz. I choose David Horowitz as my giftee. Anyhow arguments from the middle are fraught with as many intellectual problems as arguing from the poles. What's it say in the Bible about being 'lukewarm?'

“Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America’s Youth” — Recent UCLA graduate Ben Shapiro takes on the modern politically correct American campus in this brilliant exposé on academic bias. Drawing on his own personal experiences in addition to many well-documented cases, Shapiro will convince all but the most zealous leftist that academic bias is a serious problem that must be addressed. If you are undecided on the Academic Bill of Rights, you owe it to yourself to read this book.

Right. Academic bias exists on both sides. I am geography grad student. You would be hard pressed to find many Bush voters among my faculty and peers. That being said, the opposite is true in the Engineering School, Business School and Law School. The Academic Bill of Rights is an attempt squash criticism not stop indoctrination. Indoctrination goes on both sides of the issue. Wait until the first professor is trotted out for admonisment under one of these laws: the AAUP and the ACLU are licking their chops over this unconstitutional steak.

“The New Dealers’ War: FDR and the War Within WWII” — Historian Thomas Flemming is something of a radical. This book takes on the Roosevelt administration with a ferocity few ever have. Well researched and easy to read, Flemming exposes FDR as a leader far short of what his legions of admirers would have us believe. Though I can’t say I agree with Flemming on everything, this is definitely an eye-opening book that presents a look at history that you won’t often hear, especially in the university.

You will find plenty of 'leftist' criticism of FDR's handling of any number of issues during WWII especially the ignoring the signs of genocide (not pointed out by 'rightist' historians) and the mad rush to build atomic weapons (again, not a point of conservative criticism). I'd like to read this though. Something tells me that Brown thinks academia is like the Freeper echo chamber except with degrees from places like Harvard, Berkeley and UCLA, not Chicago, George Mason and wherever Stacey Campfield got his degrees online.

“How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (And Found Inner Peace)” — Reformed leftist Harry Stein comes out of the closet as a conservative, and looks back on his days as a radical, and explains his gradual realization that he was a conservative — whether he liked or not. Hilarious from start to finish, this book is easy to read and will leave you smiling.

As someone who came in from the Dark Side (I voted for Bush I at the tender age of 19), I would probably be able to switch terms and identify with this book. That being said, if I want to laugh, it won't be at something so serious as mindset that is hell bent on spreading poorly thought out bathroom wall philosophies via lies, intimidation and force.

I'll just read my beloved P.G. Wodehouse. He was a filthy commie and a Nazi sympathizer at the same time, somehow. What?

So what's the cost to Tennessee

2005-04-06T14:40:00.000-04:00

California loses 21.7B bucks a year to obesity. What's it cost one of the fattest states in the Union, Tennessee?

ALA President goes after blogging

2005-02-25T10:35:00.000-05:00

Michael Gorman goes after blogs in this post to LibraryJournal. I think he is right in many ways especially with the google-cut-and-paste-a-link crowd who consider this to be "research."

Quote: "It is obvious that the Blog People read what they want to read rather than what is in front of them and judge me to be wrong on the basis of what they think rather than what I actually wrote. Given the quality of the writing in the blogs I have seen, I doubt that many of the Blog People are in the habit of sustained reading of complex texts. It is entirely possible that their intellectual needs are met by an accumulation of random facts and paragraphs. In that case, their rejection of my view is quite understandable."

I am a graduate student and I blog. OK. This is the refutation of his premise. I have to do enormous amounts of sustained complex reading. I treat my blog as a way to blow off steam or post a funny thing or to air out a thought. It is not authoritative in any way. But, there are many, many people who consider what is posted to a blog to be the God's Honest Truth(tm). It isn't. I know through a friend who works a Google that Google has really had to deal with bloggers and cross-linking because it seems to give authority by placing posts, which may be some wacko spewing vitriol, higher than more relevant status. This has devalued Google to some degree. This has been addressed, I think, by Google Scholar.

Still, there is no subsitute for going to the library and really digging in resources that will never be on the internet because the costs are so high to digitize and store it. Ask any librarian if they would like to digitize and make everything available to everybody and the answer would be "Yes!" The reality is much different.

The Nashua Advocate: CBS Speculates That Karl Rove Was Jeff Gannon's Contact Inside the White House; Retitles Article to Highlight Gannongate Element

2005-02-18T18:50:00.000-05:00

So CBS (insert inane wingnut muttering) is going to pick up the mantle of JimJeff and ride with it to the Promised Land. I think this thing is picking up steam. Supposedly, JimJeff, after saying that he would never talk to the media again, is now going on CNN. Clearing the name? He better be careful that he says nothing outside the limited protection a "journalist" gets. Will he be with Larry King? Softballs are all that old man is about so they should get along swimmingly and, who knows?, if King has a couple of extra C-notes around he could get an hour's worth of those "8 inches, cut." Just think of it!

Alan Keyes Abandons His Child. Child Thrives.

2005-02-15T12:25:00.000-05:00

Especially, if she is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. Good for her. No need to just be a social worker or a gym teacher! Best to get out there and let your hatefilled father and his ChristoFascist buddies know that you are going to be a pain-in-the-ass for them for a very long time. You go girl.

McLibel or the How Corporations are Individuals

2005-02-15T06:27:00.000-05:00

Nearly twenty years ago, a couple of anti-fast food activists started telling the truth about McDonald's. This was long before "Super Size Me" and "Fast Food Nation" (sidenote: I highly recommend the followup to "FFN": "Reefer Madness"). Well, MickeyDs got really pissed, because, as we rapidly are finding out in the Bush Ownership/Freedom/Personal Responsibility Society, it hurts when people say mean things about you, no matter how true. But what was most interesting about this whole debacle was that McDonald's sued the folks who said that "McDonald's contrbutes to litter" and "McDonald's is bad for the environment. In Britain, one can sue another for libel in even the most silly of cases and the libeler must provide defense against the accusation that libel occured (that's right the burden of proof is on the person accused, as it usually is in civil cases).

The case went to court in 1990. After 7 years of being bankrupted by one of the world's largest corporations, the activists were found guilty and fined 40000GBP. They vowed to never pay a penny. During the court case, they represented themselves against all of McD's high powered legal team McDonald's spent nearly 10M GBP to go after a couple of folks who were 1. Telling the Truth and 2. Exercising a Human Right: Freedom of Expression.

Guess what? An European court has overturned the whole stinking case against them. This was important. Why? Bloggers around the world should be watching this as Britain is a famous place to air a libel case against someone and it appears that this playing field is now closed. British law is based almost wholly on Common Law or, more simply, precedent. Since it had been done before, therefore it can be done now. Before the supranational (and by treaty, binding) court's ruling, any person whom a blogger commented about (Like Jeff Gannon/Guckert/Boy Toy) could, if they had the means, drag you before a British court and make you pay. This is a typical tactic for celebrities who get maligned by paparazzi or tabloids. I think you could see the chance for abuse. In the US, libel and slander are very, very difficult to prove, libel even more so than slander.

I think the import to bloggers in obvious and we should commend people who are willing to go through such a process to just prove a point that "I have a right to say this against what I see as wrong." Most importantly, though, this whole case belies the sense and, especially in the US, that corporations are individuals with feelings, emotions, etc. Interestingly, corporations spend billions to show that they are not responsible for all kinds of wrongs Bhopal for example) that, if perpetrated by a single person (Saddam Hussein and gassing his own people) would get a nation invaded (admittedly as part of a package of other lies -- WMDs!). Corporations are not our friends. They do not identify with us as individuals. I think that a definition of an individual should probably begin with "Has identified others as individuals." They do not care when they do wrong, and almost never correct a wrong until someone takes them to task. As a moral person, I have corrected my own wrongs several times before they were either known or to minimize the effect of those wrongs. McDonald's it seems would rather spend millions to say that "We were wronged, not the wrongdoers." Phhbbbt. Be glad you have a friend in the White House who sees how much of an individual deserving of rights accorded to indivicuals, McDs. Be Glad.

Wax On. Wax Off.

2005-02-08T13:26:00.000-05:00

I hated "The Karate Kid" when I was in High School. I wanted to punch Ralph Macchio in the junk so bad I could taste it. Now, looking back at it, it was probably the first movie that I ever heard religiously quoted by everyone (not just the movie geeks like me). The first one I ever regular quoted was "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." People on Quaaludes should not drive. People are now nostalgic about KK. Not me. But it makes me remember all of those times I would toss out a line from some stoner flick and no one would know where it came from, but it soon became part of the rural Vehjenya zeitgest.

Cars big as bars and rivers of gold...

2005-01-29T20:05:00.000-05:00

Well, Metuljica and I are tucked in nicely at The Benjamin here in lovely, yet cold Manhattan. We came up for the Vintage Clothing Show and scored a a bunch of swag for reasons I don't understand, but, shit, I got two pairs of Ben Sherman brothel creepers. If you don't know what those are then, phbbbt. Yesterday, we continued Metuljica's love of checking behind Zagat's. Piccolo Angolo was on tap last night. Brunch today was at Le Singe Vert. Both were excellent. Tonight is a surprise. I am so looking forward to our relocation back to New York City. Still, I have a tug on my heart for ole Knoxville.

A New Drink!

2005-01-24T21:24:00.000-05:00

So Metuljica and I put the girls to bed and were feeling like a drink. We've been doing the Atkins diet and abstaining from the fermented rewards. Both of us have dropped some weight, but the siren call of an "after-the-kids" are out drink could not be resisted. I strolled over to the liquor cabinet and looked a the playing field.

We had a fifth of Jameson's, part of 1/2 gallon of gin, some dry sherry, 1/4 of a bottle of Mandarine Orange and (in the fridge) some Noilly Prat vermouth. I started to puzzle. "What would Bertie Wooster do?" Improvise of course.

The recipe:

1 ounce Jameson's
1/4 ounce Mandarine Orange
Dash of dry Noilly Prat vermouth

Pour over ice. Shake vigorously. Pour into martini glass or over the rocks with a twist of lemon or orange.

We couldn't decide what to call it for an official drink name other than "Excellent." I am thinking the Vermillion Shamrock. Or the CosmoMerckx. Or the "Waterford Waterloo." I need help on this one.

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Charity: priceless

2005-01-21T16:25:00.000-05:00

Uh oh. Ina Hughs has stepped in it.

I agree totally with her. Funny thing is: All of the great religions of the world focus on charity as key to salvation, heaven, nirvana, etc. Muslims must practice almsgiving. Absolutely without question. Jews are also compelled to do so. The Buddha instructed that if one did nothing else to spin the wheel of dharma, then do charitable works first and foremost because of its worldly effect. Jesus was no slouch and second runner on this either. You can prove it. Why? It is in the Bible.

That being said, politically right evangelical Christians despise the notion that good acts make God happy and get you into heaven. Hell, they are willing to preach the Gospel of Wealth, but not spread it. Why? Well, their belief system is founded in old notions, some of which go back at least to medieval times, that hold that there must be domination and the dominated do not deserve any more charity that the fact that they are not killed. This is why people who ascribe to these belief systems are not fit to lead. They are not in the business of leading. They are in the business of dominating others.

The ten states that fought the Civil War to preserve an unfeasible early modern economic system are the same ones that practiced Jim Crow and, now, hold on to the death penalty so tightly. Why? Their cultural identity is consumed by a hagiography of domination. That the South is now the focus of the politically right evangelical movement ( or the land of its genesis) is self-evident. They coupled their insatiable cultural need for domination to religion (not even old time religion at that) and rode it to the White House. The historian C. Vann Woodward was asked why he didn't retire back to the South after he finished teaching. He replied that, for all intents and purposes, the South, both good and bad, had come to him.

The point that I am making is that no matter how hard they try to paint the right-wing evangelical movement as the saving grace of America the Imagined, the fact of the matter is: They merely want to dominate. And this time, the slaves are not just going to be black. It will be anyone who isn't there when the Bugle sounds.

So back to charity and why I mention C. Vann Woodward and such. I am reminded as to an old saying I heard about people in the South: "They will do anything for you, and everything to you." Do not think that people proposing to repeal the 22nd Amendment is just nuttyness on the part of a fringe. There is a whole swath of America that has bought into the South's charm, and forgotten just what they can do to you after the charm has ended. People in Midwestern "Red States" may identify with some part of the Bush plan, etc., but I think that when the rubber hits the road and they are faced with what is really up with these people, they will blanch. Unless, they get Jesus hard and have the scales placed in their eyes in the worse way. Then they will hardly know what they do.

The question is: Can we forgive them for it as Christ would?

Crackberry

2005-01-20T19:49:00.000-05:00

I just got a Blackberry and fully understand why they are called 'Crackberry.' Geez. I have done nothibg but play with this thing all day. I have even devolved so far as to post to my blog with the thing!
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Knoxville's Own Weekly Rag

2005-01-20T13:47:00.000-05:00

I was in jounalism school a long time ago when text analysis really hit the fore and did an analysis of the Metropulse comparing the content of articles to the content of ads. The correlation between what the articles were about and what ads (or who, more specifically) were about was astounding (r^2 approaching .40). Thinking I had hit on something, I went to the literature. Guess what: this is true of all 'alternative' papers. If they didn't do it, they would not be able to do any journalism at all. So get over the fact that MP can come across as a society rag mentioning people you think you met in a drunken stupor that allowed you a brief entrance into the downtown society set. It is. It is also the best game in town on many fronts (even with Tony Basilio). That being said: I still openly call it the Metroplug. :-)

It takes guts

2005-01-20T13:34:00.000-05:00

My soon-to-be parents-in-law went to the inauguration. Funny, I know nothing but liberals here in TN, but I had to go to the northeast to find a woman with wingnut parents. They haven't gone as far as to put a portrait of King Dubya of Dumbelot, but it is just a matter of time.

Inauguration: from the latin inaugurare -- to perform augury. In other words, to use animal guts to divine the future.

Oh, sweet mama, please!

2005-01-09T18:37:00.000-05:00

Newt Gingrich for president?. Oh, please, Lord, let it happen.

Nothing like a good old fashioned, ethically challenged, more-baggage-than-a-pullman-car numbnuts from the early 90s to pull the Dems back to the fight. Of course if they can repeal the 22nd Admendment as proposed last week in the Senate, then we can run the Big Dog, Bill Clinton again and, woo hoo, Happy Days will be here again. Tanned. Rested. And Ready.

Happy Holidays

2004-12-23T13:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I am off to see me Ma in Vehjenya for a couple of days. Then I hook up with my "metuljica" in NJ to meet her folks. New Year's is a blast to San Francisco for the party and a drift through some vineyards. Maybe a bit of hiking around the Point Reyes area? I need a break before I write my thesis!

Thanks to SouthKnoxBubba for the inclusion in The Rocky Top Brigade. I will try to keep up with the others! It'll have to be either Jameson's (not that Bushmill's crap) or some fine Slovenian cvicek. I don't like Scotch. :-)

A thought: Many people bemoan the passing of time. I think it is a glorious thing. We are with each passing moment a moment closer to a glorious time. No, not the rapture. The end of the Bush Administration. Hook or Crook. Krogle ali kroglica (I will leave that untranslated).

I will try to blog from Blackberry. There must be a way... Later.

Excellent use of GIS

2004-12-22T20:25:00.000-05:00

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/22/143719/67

He says that not just correlation, it's conclusive. Well, all you can
have is correlation in this case, but, not knowing the R^2 on this, I'd
damn well bet it is greater than .30. Love to have the spreadsheet for
some long hours in SAS!

Texas: Home of Big Belt Buckles and Cheaters

2004-12-21T21:21:00.000-05:00

Seems old W's model for his No Child Left Behind (read: no blacks or hispanics in college!) program is rife with cheating to make the grade. What? A Bush sponsored "reform" that doesn't make the grade? Can't wait to see what sort of mess he will make of Social Security. This is the undoing
of Dumbelot!

Where whisky's a-flowin'

2004-12-10T09:17:00.000-05:00

One more reason to go to Lithuania.

Now this is my kind of research

2004-12-09T10:53:00.000-05:00

People always say to me "Dude, you never seem to get any older." Now, I haven't figured out whether they are merely saying "You are still an immature fuck" or actually paying me a compliment.

Now research out of the Canada may offer the answers as to why. You see, I played a bit of football in college and was known to get a concussion whenever the sun struck me just right. These guys claim this is the cause of my ever-lasting gobbstopper of youth! Yea!

Even cooler: I am inline with my favortite Belgian cartoon character, TinTin. What a stud.

I am American

2004-12-07T15:48:00.000-05:00

I spend a lot of time overseas and I have yet to be bothered about being
American by any Europeans. Possibly this is because I don't look
particularly American (except for a nice paunch), dress nicely, don't wear
a baseball cap, and have good table manners.

A company has started selling T-shirts to traveling Americans so they
can avoid the embarrassment of being woefully out of touch with the rest
of the world by feigning to be Canadians. Instead of O' Canada, it is now
Poor Canada.

No matter whatm, I am not ashamed to be American. Not proud. Shame is not
the opposite of pride.

Tooting own horn

2004-12-06T01:18:00.000-05:00

Following on the heels of Greg's admission to the California Bar (after
doing his best JFK, Jr. bit) , I just received news that I passed my
comprehensive examination for the master's degree. Comments from ranged
from "You soared!" to "Wow, you really did do the reading I assigned"
to "More concrete examples, please." :-) Anyone who has taken an exam
like this horror gets the black humor of "instructive" comments on a
Pass/Fail qualifier covering a course of study. All I have to do now is
write my thesis and teach a lab section of 132. The department head
assigned me the Tuesday and Thursday 8AM labs. Slackers, geeks and
football players. I identify with them all.

Jerry Springer on BBC! High Art has its day!

2004-12-03T13:19:00.000-05:00

I saw the Jerry Springer musical in London last summer. It was genius.
Now it is coming
to BBC2 in Britain. My favorite song was "Talk to the Ass." But I am
sure Greg would like "Here come the Hookers."

Star and Al

2004-12-02T11:29:00.000-05:00

OK. I have to admit this fact. I went to high school with Al Reynolds. He just married Star Jones of The View fame.

We werem't really friends in High School. Al ran with a different set of kids and I was more with the jocks and such. I did share a locker with his cousin, Lamont Scales. This being said, a lot of mean shit was written about Al in the media, especially about his sexuality. Whatever. It is all racism in the end. Nothing frys Americans' asses more than a "non-white" who makes it big. He didn't need Jones' money as he had already hit it big as an investment banker.

Example: My father went to his grave pissed about Reynolds' getting into UVa ahead of me. He claimed it was just because Al was black. I loved my dad, but he had blinders to the fact that I was a total slacker and didn't deserve the admit that I got to Uva (waiting list) let alone any admittance at all.

Anyhow, the truth be known: I am happy that they are happy. I think that Al has the sort of personality that can handle a celeb marriage.

The Flu Sucks

2004-12-01T16:36:00.000-05:00

Get this new flu now. It sucks, but get it now. If you are like me and
part of the demograhic denied the flu shot, just find a friend suffering with it and take it like a big kid. Man, my head feels like a basketball and I can't decide to run a fever or just kick it in the ass. Tylenol and lots of Alka-Seltzer Cold/Flu. The latter rules. You are out like a light in about 10 minutes. Settling in for 5 hours of rest is the best cure. And soup. Lots of soup. Ick.

So is it a conspiracy by the UN or by the GOP?

2004-12-01T11:34:00.000-05:00

A complete GOP tool has decided to go after Kofi Annan. Picking on the UN is like picking on the fat kid in the school yard. Interesting side note: Annan has stronger ties to Minnesota than Norm Coleman. Annan went to Macalester College, while ole Norm grew up in Brooklyn and went to Hofstra. So I guess you went fishing for a place to play politician and knew that your hometown wasn't having any of your GOP bullshit?

Bait and switch

2004-11-30T14:33:00.000-05:00

I remember back in the day when WalMart prided itself on selling cheap
shit made in America.

Of course this was only until it achieved complete market
saturation and could tell every American supplier to fuck off.

More on this later, but WalMart is, operationally, a corporate being
that eats the product of the poorest of the developing world and shits
product onto the poorest of America. You never see a Bush twin fighting
over Hanes panties when WalMart slaps a new "Always Low Price" on them.

Annoying Distractions

2004-11-29T09:58:00.000-05:00

This game makes Half-Life2 look like shit. Play it all day and learn as well!

If you duck, you are unpatriotic

2004-11-29T09:32:00.000-05:00

Cowards
in South Jersey are angry that their elementary school was
strafed. "Patriots" say that children being strafed by their own
military is part of the just war against Satan. Jerry Falwell offered a
home for unwed mothers in Virginia for strafing stating, "OK, the
forces of Satan want to protect children, so we offer 117 Whores of
Babylon in lieu." Fucking stupid.

Ah, SpongeBob Fetishpants

2004-11-25T18:02:00.000-05:00

Spongebob has been stolen.

Closeted gays everywhere are suspected.

BTW, Happy Turkey Day, USians.

Sweet Lou

2004-11-24T10:33:00.000-05:00

When I was a young man, I did childish things here. These included playing football, reading Nietzsche and eating mushrooms. I tried to do all three at the same time. I was only good at two of them. Well, Lou Wacker was the coach. He is retiring.

Once he said to me: "Boy, you are so stupid, that if I took away your driver's license, you'd walk into trees." Fuck you, Coach. Anyhow, he had a 99% graduation rate, a bunch of championships and probably did more to make me realize that I was not prepared to be out in the world than anyone else. When I quit the team after some injuries and bad grades, he said. "You know, I don't like people who give up. You are just changing you mind. That's OK." Thanks, Coach.

So that's my homage. And another thing: He still owes me on a bingo-bango-bongo bet on the 3rd Hole of Emory Links. I was closest, you cheating old man.

Ann Coulter is a Man. So there.

2004-11-24T09:41:00.001-05:00

This guy had the balls to turn on the head the Coulter argument that the Bush Admin is more
accepting of minorities than liberals. Guess what? He has to apologize.
Does Coulter have to apologize for calling liberals "traitors" and
wanting to impose whacked out fundo Christianity in the Mideast? Hell,
no. Look, just because Colin Powell is black as well as Condi Rice AND
(neo)conservative, this has nothing to do with the fact that the former
was no more than a tie clip for the Bushies (his lack of influence and
long hours in Coventry, for example) and the latter is a failed
academic who was forced in administration at Stanford. Ever read her
scholarship. Tough to find, very weak and outmoded. Sovietology!

The Bush Administration is filled with incompetents and second rates.
That they happen to be pulling these fools from the ranks of our
minorities only demonstrates James Carville's old line that you can
drag a $100 bill through a trailer park and you never know what will
come out. If any of Bush's boys and mamas stepped out of line and said,
"Hey, you know that policy is bad for blacks and Hispanics," they'd be
teaching at Cardinal Direction Midwest State University so fast you
would only smell smoke,this after agood raking over the coals by
know-nothings like Coulter and her ilk. Notice people like Henry Louis
Gates are not lining up to take a position in the Bush administration.
One, he has to teach. And two, he probably realizes like the
aforementioned radio host, that any service in a Republican
administration by a person of color is tantamount to self-loathing.

The Headmaster Ritual

2004-11-24T09:41:00.000-05:00

Of course, only Catholic priests are repressed gays who prey on young
men. Trust me, nothing is more creepy than the white males attracted to
work as "Youth Ministers" and Christian school teachers among the
evangelical Protestants in America.
Whippings? I thought it worked the other way, but
who is to quibble about who is whipping whom?

Did you pray? Did it help?

2004-11-23T16:19:00.000-05:00

My friend Greg just passed the California Bar Exam. Now he just has to
take care of his predilection for San Francisco's finest establishments
like "The Manhole" and "The Stud" so he can live up to those ethical
standards lawyers seem to impose on each other, or does he? It is
California. I have always wondered about that German girlfriend of
his.... Anyhow he forwards
this tidbit about
people who are
both lawyers and willing to engage in self-abasement. Heh.

Damn! When are we moving to Brooklyn, Sweetie?

2004-11-23T13:56:00.000-05:00

U2 plays for free at Empire-Fulton Ferry Park. Whaaaaa!

Bending gender on the girl's field hockey team

2004-11-23T13:18:00.000-05:00

From my hometown newspaper (The Vaunted Bulletin).
Gender proscription, phhhbt, we don't need no stinking gender
proscription. I love some of these names. Like something out of a bad
Cordova, VA Wednesday women's writing circle novella workshop.

Carlisle School's Hilary Moore was named to the Virginia Independent
School Field Hockey Association all-state team. Moore shares the honor
with Emily Hewitt (St. Stephen's/St. Agnes), Shelley Wong (Norfolk
Academy), Liz Luckey (Collegiate), Carter Foote (St. Stephen's/St.
Agnes), Katie Perkins (Steward), Carrington Croft (St. Catherine's),
Louise Bance (St. Catherine's), Jessica Longo (Collegiate), Jennifer
Holden (St. Stephen's/St. Agnes) and Paxton Delaney (Covenant).

Holy Cats! Oscar Wilde had children???

2004-11-23T13:07:00.000-05:00

When will this end? Alexander the Great was bisexual. Whoa! Stop the presses. Why does this shit even matter or warrant wasting some poor court official's time with this case? Read up. Hey, folks. There's a war on, you know?

Like Writing on the Urinal Wall of The Internet

2004-11-22T18:26:00.000-05:00

Gol damn. Just tap your foot twice!