Great, and I do mean great, rebuttle to this can be found here.
In my ute, I was quite the Northern Socialist. Grew up in a Union town, in a Union family. I still proudly wear my grandfather's Carpenter's Local 248 jacket when weather dictates. And I don't even think about buying foreign cars. So while I'd never given a whole lot of thought to the Civil War, I was content to think it was all about slavery. I conceded that it was sometimes indirectly about slavery ("state's rights" = "state's right to have slaves"), but still held that as the primary reasons.
Now, it was never something I cared a whole lot about. I was a socialist. I cared about the Labor movement in the 1880's-1930's. I cared about Civil Rights. I cared about the history behind issues affecting my community. In Toledo, the Civil War means little to nothing. There were other wars we cared more about.
But I moved. To North Carolina. Don't get your map out, it's in the South. Jesse Helms is my Senator. Need I say more?
Well, outside of my immediate environs, I would see these "The South was Right" bumper stickers. And it was clear that if it really was just about slavery, people would not still be so damn pissed off about it. So I read about it. I'm an Info-God: it's what I do. And it turns out they really, truley, were right. For the most part.
It's not the first time my text books lied to me.
This is old news by now. But I sometimes work at work.
I heard this on the "news" this morning:
C. McDermott (Dem. Critter - Washington) was in Bahgdad to pressure the Iraqi's to accept UN inspectors, and said: "I think the President would mislead the American people"
And my first reaction was: No shit.
Then I saw Trent Lott (Asshole - Miss.) say this: "For him to be in Baghdad, the center of one of the most dangerous dictators in the world, with all kinds of weapons of mass destruction, to be questioning the veracity of our own American president, is the height of irresponsible. He needs to come home and keep his mouth shut."
Wow. Did I miss something, or was this the same guy that spent 8 years questioning the veracity of our own American President? And I can't tell you how impressed I am with Trent's masterful debate techniques. "Oh yeah? Well shut up."
Reminds me of yet another hilarious post @ DefectiveYeti
Here is a nice collection of possibly false ideas about our President that most people in America are accepting as fact these days. Stuff to consider, if you care to consider things.
Scoble links us to a guy he knows that engineered a dual-fuel system for his car. The second fuel is Cooking Oil. Like Wesson. And yes, Virgin Oil is cool, too. Even works with used cooking oil (that has been filtered) They are selling conversion kits, too. Pretty nifty.
Turns out everyone's favorite little virgin really is a dirty little girl. Not that that will hurt her image. But I'd remind Ms. Spears that God killed Sodomizers by the thousands. Petty thiefs weren't even on His radar. So instead of preaching to me about how wrong it is to download music from internet, do a little research about your own behavior. You'll find it's far more sinful.
I'm ambivilant about this. I like that these anti-science groups have recognized the importance of local politics, and concerted their efforts in those areas. Of course the best way to impact public policy is by dictating the curriculim. School Boards were the focus of their attacks on religious freedom. It was a very smart ploy, and one I wish other groups would take note of.
And I'm glad they have taken power in some limited capacity. For now we can see just what they want to do. They have accomplished their mission, which was to capitalize on the unending ignorance of most people towards science to further their own objectives. Foremost among those objectives is to create a Christian government. And little by little they have made huge inroads.
The specifics of this particular case as they impact the lives of children is minimal. Telling kids that Evolution is a theory, not fact, is fine with me. Just make sure to put the same disclaimer on Gravity, and I'll be ok with it.
Of course, most kids that get worse than an A in their science classes could not explain the difference between a theory and a fact. I'm certain few of the people pushing for that disclaimer understood the distinction. Nevermind the utter silliness of making sure people thought of the Theory of Evolution was "just a theory". Kinda rendundant.
And until we have 150 years and millions of man hours devoted to testing and retesting whatever testable hypotheses are manifest in Creationism, I submit to you that it does NOT belong in a science class. It would be just as silly for me talk about it in my Math class. It is NOT science. Even allowing that it's true, it is still NOT science!
Now, I better go find out just who the hell MY school board is.
This never stops annoying me. From here:
"We want to hit fans with the message that downloading music illegally is, as Britney Spears explains, the same as going into a CD store and stealing the CD," said Hilary Rosen of the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA).
It is absolutely, positively NOT the same thing. To steal the CD, you are taking a physical item for which there is a price. When you take it, you deprive the owner of it's use. The record store can't use it anymore, b/c you took it. And that is WRONG. It's not right, under any normal circumstances, to steal a CD.
Now, to download a copy of Ms. Spears's songs from Kazaa (or whatever you use) you are downloading a digital copy. It's not the thing. It's a copy of the thing. It is not stealing in any sense of the word. If you download it from me, you do not deprive me of anything.
I understand Hilary must say these things. But when will journalists start challenging her phrases? The BBC of all places should be a bit more adversarial to a lobbying body. Perpetuating falsehoods is hardly the role of the Media.
Oh wait, it's the sole reason for Media. Nevermind.
I'm making up a list of books/movies I want for my Giftmas list. I have a few pooter books, as that's generally all I think about. But my interests are far broader than that. I'm strapped for time, as my in-laws are rather insane about when they do their shopping (that we aren't done by now is a pregnancy inspired anomoly).
Z suggested Culture Jam, which I've been meaning to read for some time now. I still haven't finished (or really started, for that matter) the geeky science books I got last year. So i want to keep this batch limited in scope to books about parenting (only if you've personally read them), or books about how rampant consumerism is destroying our world.
So far I have:
1. Essential Blogging (Obviously, I need to read that book :)
2. OS X, tmm (Pouge's excellent book, 2nd Ed.)
3. iMovie 2, tmm (I have digital camcorder. I have Mac. I have iMovie2. I have a kid (soon). I need to know how to use iMovie.)
4. Culture Jam
5. You are Being Lied To (well, you are.)
6. Trust us, We're Experts (because I love that sort of thing)
7. The Zinn Reader (Becuase I've always loved Howie)
8. No Logo (That, or buy another pair of Nikes.)
9. Coercion (This should be higher on my list. The old BS radar needs tuned once in a while)
Give me some suggestions, if you have them.
DVDs: All Widescreen, if available.
1. Monsters Inc. (So I can annoy K with my impersonation of Roz)
2. Simpsons Season 2 (I just gotta have it sooner or later)
3. ET (the 2 disc set thing. Because Guns are scary)
4. SW 2 AotC (Widescreen, baby)
5. School House Rock! (Really, this belongs at the top.)
6. Pulp Fiction (Because nothing is as good as a SLJ Soliloquy)
7. The Royal Tenenbaums (I'm told is quite worth having)
8. Pi (I'm a math guy, after all)
Those are just ones I could think of. Any suggestions are welcome. I have a decent AV setup (DTS, Dolby Digital, 6 speaker), so I like to justify its expense.
This isn't a final list, by any means. Just something to work from. So if you have ideas, let 'em flow. And is it me, or does Amazon seems afew dollars high on some of those DVDs? I think Target might be cheaper.
I'm sure there are things on TV that are more enjoyable. But you need to spend 9.99/hr to watch them.
Derek seemed like an alright guy at first. He was smart. Kicked some serious butt @ OSCon. Then I found out he was unrepentant Yankees fan. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't think a little bit less of him for it. But I know it takes all kinds to make this world what it is. I've taken a Mitigating Corporate Liability course (AKA Diversity in the Workplace). So I accepted it, and moved on. Pretty much, anyway.
But now...now he tells us he loves big hair bands. It's bad enough I married one of those people. Last thing I needed was another.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go pretend Robert Plant was bald.
I don't care for too many TV shows. I'd much rather putz around on the internet or read something. But two things I like are The West Wing (which I like the most) and the Hardball College Tour (which is a lively, energetic political talk show). MSNBC has scheduled Hardball's College Tour for Wednesdays @ 9. In direct conflict with West Wing.
Now, the demographics for these shows overlap BIG-TIME. Only political junkies give two shits about Hardball. And most political junkies would sooner vote for the other party than miss the season premiere of The West Wing. So why do they bother? Because they are dumbasses. Given the choice, Chris Matthews would rather watch West Wing. I'm sure his mother will be.
Just knock Donaboohoo from 8 to 9, and move the special edition of Hardball to 8. Not a hard thing to do. Hardball is the best show on MSNBC. It's idiotic to subject it to a timeslot that it has no chance in hell of doing well in.
And yes, I ended that sentence with a preposition. Get over it.
Our Davis Cup team has been eliminated. I blame the clay. Those cowardly frogs wouldn't have a chance against our boys on grass or hardcourts. *sigh*
Where have you gone, Jimmy Connors?
Virgin Airlines outfitted its new airliners with a "family" room complete with plastic changing table for changing baby's diapers. A very nice and thoughtful thing to do. Unfortunately, many of the tables were being broken. The cause? Passengers using them to join the "Mile-High Club", and breaking them in the process. Sex on Virgin Airlines. That was the irony, in case you missed it.
John hit on an annoyance that I'm sure many of us have. Stories posted on news websites that do not link when linking makes sense. Essentially being on the Web but not acting like it. Go read John's explanation on Inluminent/Weblog.
And try to keep your mind on the story. I dare you. :P
This was a fairly interesting development. Teens are mixing Ecstasy with Viagra (stolen from parents/neighbors) to fuel all night love-fests. Damn. And to think all I ever did as a teen was drink beer.
My Beloved Buckeyes looked pretty bad today. They were flat, and as usual against in-state opponents, they were in a fight for their lives. Losing at halftime, I knew I must do something. I brought out the big gun. The Buckeye Necklace. And they came back to win.
I don't even mind not being mentioned in the recaps. I know what I did to help the team win. And that is all that really matters.
This is freaky. I did not realize it was possible in higher order species.
I seem to have deleted this entry, so I'm posting it again.
I play tennis. Not very well. But i play. And I love photos of the tennis ball as it is being hit. I found a few good shots today:
Andy Roddick
Jelena Dokic
James Blake
Tamarine Tanasugarn (Great Shot)
A coupla drunk thugs running on a baseball field and punching a coach is kinda funny. A women beating the shit out of her little girl is not. Fortunately, they know her name, and she'll be caught soon enough.
I'd wish the same thing on her that she did to her child, but I suspect she's already suffered the same treatment. Violence being cyclical an all.
There is video, if your stomach is not weak.
Wherever you are!
Another White Trash Photo. Heh. Classism is Fun!
Apparently Sex and Violence is my theme for today. Do blogs have a sweeps week?
But they did have shoes. So they weren't really naked. God I love the Law.
This was insane. But I don't know why it hasn't happened before. Catch SportsCenter to see the video.
ASOS (As Seen on Slashdot)
Kids using IM slang on homework assignments. I do love our language. Too bad English Teachers don't appreciate the rate at which language is now evolving.
NYT Link. (I'm cookied. Free Reg may be required)
Also, I found this on Mark Pilgrim's blog: satire relating to the topic.
As many of you know, I moved to North Carolina a few years ago (I'm from Ohio) to avoid long periods of depressing darkness and frozen snot.
Lucky for us, one of the most hotly contested (read: Richest) Senate races is to replace Jesse Helms, who has retired, not died. This "free" election is essentially betwen Elizibeth Dole (born in Salisbury, hasn't lived here for the better part of a Century) and Erskine Bowles, former Clinton Chief of Staff.
Moving on... There is big money being spent. The ads are non-stop. Erskin is a heady guy, knows what he's talking about. He wears wire-rimmed glasses, so he must be smart. His commercials are good, he focuses on an issue, and talks about how he's going to help deal with it. He's a nuts and bolts kinda guy. Policy wonk, in the vernacular. He's the guy I'm probably voting for.
Lizzy, OTH, is an empty dress. Her ads are all sugar. When she "talks tough" in her ads, she's very good at using a few keywords and not talking about anything close to being meaningful. She's getting hit for this in the media. Op Eds calling her out, saying she's nothing but a name, etc..
So she needed to do something about that. What she's done is added a short, 5-second blurb onto the end of each of her commercials, telling people to go to DolePlan.com and read the "comprehensive and detailed Dole Plan". I was a bit shocked when I saw that, since I thought she really was an empty dress.
But then I realized I could probably write up a Plan, so surely she must have professionals on staff that could write up something pretty good. So I went to DolePlan.com to see what it was. You have to look around a bit to find the PDF. But when you do, you notice it's only 2 pages. It's just an outline! There is no plan! It's September! The Election is in 6 weeks. And she only has an OUTLINE? She LIED!!
Forgive me if I'm suprised. But her husband was one of the most powerful Senators in the history of the Senate. You'd think she had something more than an OUTLINE by now. Man, I can't wait for the debates.
Oh, and how stupid of a name is CREATINGJOBSANDECONOMICSECURITY.pdf? How about DolePlan.pdf? Morons.
Part of me thinks this is hilarious. But most of me thinks this was a horrible idea. A statue of a falling woman to commemorate 9.11.2002.
Here's a bigger picture.
I watched Govna Body on Hardball. I must say, I quite like the fellow. He balanced budgets, returned surpli to taxpayers. Extended health care coverage to every child in the state. Test scores are up across the board. He also mocked religion, something that I quite enjoy. He did it in a Playboy interview, which also somthing I enjoy.
But more than actually doing shit he said he'd do when he ran, he talked a little about how things ought to be. He said a lot of things that I found reasonable. But the best was this: (I'm paraphrasing)
"This country was suppossed to be run by Citizens. You come in, serve your 4 years, do your duty. Then you go back to whatever the hell it is you did before. When you have these "career politicians", they come to be concerned with one thing above all else: their career. They make decisions to benefit themselves. That is what's wrong with these shitheads."
Now, that's nothing I ain't heard (or said) before. But it's always nice to see your opinions echoed on TV. Even if it was just cable news.
Is on. They are talking to The Body @ UMinn. Great show. Go watch. MSNBC.
Ride a Bike? Make sure you slow down for those corners. Falling can hurt. :)
I'm a bit of a prick. I don't usually mean to be. I just have a hardcore intellectual upbringing, where things like tact and kindness were never part of the equation. What mattered was having your facts straight, and developing a reasonable opinion based on those facts. When someone disagreed with you, You could be relentless in battle, as long you stuck to the facts and reasonable assertions thereof. Think Fight Club.
The result was a passionate and unfailing energy to first decide what the facts were, and make sure your opinions did not disagree with them. This was the preeminate dogma of my childhood. And it worked very well. With that perspective, I could learn things as well as anyone. Reason was my God. I had an unfair advantage. :)
When I got to Jr. high, I became aware that the light of Reason had not yet shone upon many of my perceptions of the world. Things like God, authority (re: school) and freindship. I began to demand explanations when I was asked to do something for reasons I did not understand. "Why do I need to do this homework?" and questions of that type. Needless to say, Teachers don't like that. Principals hate it. That began an extended problem with authority. I just refused to accept it if it could not be defended. I was more than a "why?" brat. By the 9th grade, I knew as much about their jobs as they did (Me love libraries). So I was never without a counter-argument. They really, really, did not like me.
So I developed in my teenage years a sense of rebellion, as we all do. That I would not be able to exist in society as I percieved it being the person I was. People like me would not be treated well, as we cause too much trouble. I thought a lot about suicide, but frankly, I enjoyed way too much about life to end it. As miserable as I may sometimes have been, there was never a lack of joy about things most people take for granted. I still had (and still have) that essense of childhood wonder that makes life so wonderful.
I got by just fine. Made a lot of stupid mistakes, but I wouldn't be much fun if I hadn't. I went on to what I thought would be Heaven: a University. And that's where I first got the idea that my way could affect people in ways I did not want it to. It was the first week of ENG 102 (that I tested into). The 4th day of my college career. We were discussing slavery, the context escapes me. We went around the room, and people gave some thoughts. One young women said something about Jefferson's slaves not really being slaves b/c he let them learn to read. I was dumbfounded.
I ripped into her pretty hard. Didn't call her an ignorant little whore or anythihng like that. I just corrected the facts and expalined in rather direct terms why her conlusion was a stupid one. I was in college now, I didn't feel a need to hold back, as this person should be my equal.
She cried.
I've never been so stunned in my life. I'd 'corrected' people before. Nobody ever cried. That made an impact, to say the least. I don't think I was able to be disagreeable for a few days. I played that episode over and over in my head. I was not a mean person. Quite the opposite. But letting my hardcore Reason go unchecked was clearly making me appear to be one. So i worked on softening up my presentation in a classroom. It took some effort and help from freinds, but I got there. I could make valid criticisms and points without pissing anyone off. And it was a much better way, in that I stopped feeling the negative karma that typically followed a viscious outburst.
So I went about life for a few years with this kinder, gentler Reason. People stopped being afraid to talk, lest I disagree with them. I became a great deal less argumentative. Not soft, just nicer.
And then, I found Usenet. You know what they say about alcholics. Just one drink away from being a drunk. There, I could be an asshole. As long as I was Right, I didn't have to be nice. It was the Heaven I had expected college to be. It was a place I could be who I was at my very core. My Id was so very happy.
At the same time, I started working wit a group of guys that were just like me. Only more so. Some were smarter. Most were better educated. They were all Assholes. And reveled in it. So I picked up some of the habits I had broken before. Most of the time, I didn't need to be nice. I just had to be Right.
And I've manged to find trouble fairly easy ever since. I'm having to learn to keep my mouth shut again. And it's hard. I REALLY like explaining to people why they are wrong. Imposing my dogma is something I enjoy. Now I know why those Popes were so damn holy. Because once you get a taste of making people think how you want them to, you can't stop. Conversion is an intoxicating thing. Both converting others and converting yourself. Being wrong, and working though it with someone else until you are Right. That is a beautiful thing.
But I digress. The point here is that I'm a passionately reasonable fellow, who has trouble avoiding situations that ultimately degenerate into bad feelings. And I don't want to be punched or shot. Or my family to have to deal with any of the bullshit that get's thrown my way while I bring people around to my way of thinking.
It's time for me to let go of those desires, and return to the child-like wonderment and appreciation for Good Things. The abstract is not presently making actuality any better. So I'm cutting back on contributing too much energy to abstracts that do not directly benefit the flesh.
Why am I telling you this? Well, because I can. :P
Not like independent scientific review of your policies? Fine. Just overhaul HHS and get rid of them!
The President want sto go to war with Iraq. There are many reasons he could have for doing so. Your perspective of him will largely determine which of those reasons you will believe to be true. Is it really to control Iraqi Oil? To avenge Poppy's percieved failure? To rid the world of a Madman? I don't know. I don't really care. What is known and accepted by all is that he wants to kill that fucker Saddam. Badly.
So there has been a lot of talk in the Press about the Colin v Cheney/Rummy fighting over process. Colin, being the Boy Scout he is, wanted to go through the UN. Cheney/Rummy just wanted to say "Fuck you UN pussies. This needs done. We're gonna do it!". So they fought back and forth. Well, it seemed Colin won. The President spoke before the UN. Made a case. Had a nice list of all the UN rules Iraq had broken. 16 of them. I know, it's not nearly as many as the US ignores, but stay with me.
So Bush gives this speach. In his slow, one sentence, pause, another sentence, pause, etc... manner he made his case, such as it was. The UN pussies changed their tone. He seemed to have changed the perception of the World that he was just a gung-ho trigger-happy cowboy. The Neo-Cons orgasmed with delight. The UN was now speaking on OUR terms, and issued a demand for weapons inspectors.
Now, the "weapons of mass destruction" mantra was key for developing support for US military action. The last thing the President expected was for Iraq to open the doors and let the UN in. And that's just what they did!
So now Iraq is saying "Come see us. Stick flashlights up our asses looking for weapons of mass destruction. We welcome you with cheeks spread. We will show you we have nothing to hide, and America just wants our Oil!" They then hold up a picture of my truck to demonstrate America's need for Oil.
This is Brilliant! China and Russia (who don't want to the US to get that Oil) quickly come out and say how happy they are that Iraq has allowed us to check their colon for anthrax. The Administration, however, makes an awkward (but valid) objection, saying "Oh yeah? Well you still need to do all this other stuff!" and points out a few little things that are not the crux of their argument for military action. They reiterate that they will be kicking some ass if ALL of their demands aren't met.
So in one short day, the President went from dopey warmonger to respected protector of the World back to dopey warmonger. If he goes back, I'll right part 2. I won't be holding my breath. ;)
