Monday, October 23, 2006 

Life in Politics

“I’ve acquired a lot of new friends this year,” Mr. Frank said. “And I haven’t gotten any nicer.”

What a great political quote. He's talking about how people expect the Democrats to gain control of the House, and how he stands to gain significant political power.

And for those of you who are wondering...no, I haven't quit. I just haven't really had anything to say, or even if I did, the time to say it here.



1:32 PM | |

Tuesday, October 03, 2006 

They Took My Deodorant

First, let me establish my bona fides. I'm the guy who always thanks the airport security people after they search me. And I fully appreciate how important and thankless their job is.

So please realize my ire is directed not at them, but at their bosses in DC.

I just wenr through airport security, and they took my deodorant and my toothpaste. As if Right Guard and Crest were two synonyms for Al Queda and Hezb'allah. And me with a kipah.

I have two problems with this. The first is that evidently, under 3 oz. of liquid or gel is fine. As if 3 oz. of C-4 plastic explosive won't blow a big hole in an airplane. So my 2.75 oz. Edge Gel is good to go, but my 6 oz. bottle of toothpaste goes in the trash. How about they just have me eat some? No one would eat liquid explosives. But no...in the trash it goes.

But the main problem I have is that we're fighting the last war. We're protecting ourselves against an attack that already was tried...and *failed*. They're going to try something else next time. Something we haven't thought of, and something we're not going to think of, because we're spending our time afraid of flouride.

Apropos of nothing whatsoever, anyone know where I can pick up some toothpaste and deodorant in Houston?

12:53 PM | |

Friday, September 22, 2006 

Awesome

Some of these are really inventive.

11:16 AM | |

Wednesday, September 06, 2006 

In Other News...

...Water is wet.

4:44 AM | |

Friday, August 25, 2006 

We Barely Knew Ye

Pluto's not a planet anymore. I don't know how to feel about this. Although, half my science education has been disproved since I last took a science course, so I guess I'm fine.

5:14 AM | |

Monday, August 07, 2006 

Just In Case You Forgot

Islam: Religion of Burning Children

I still think about this news article, linked below.

This is the nature of our enemy. This is what they do.

Just in case you were wondering what I mean when I say that the enemy is Islamic Fundamentalism, and that it's evil. Maybe you thought I was engaging in a little hyperbole when I said "evil."

Read the article, and tell me I'm wrong.



2:29 PM | |

 

Free-Falling Prestige

A Question for Our Times

I read quite a few opinion columns, both from the right and the left, and if there's one common theme among them, it is this: American prestige in the Arab world is falling, and in fact our actions contribute to the growing fundamentalist trend in Islam.

To which I reply, "who gives a shit?"

Why does anyone care what our standing is among the enemy? Did anyone ever care whether Musollini liked us? Or Hitler? Or Tojo? Are you kidding? Our enemy doesn't like us? Good. If our enemy did like something we did I think that'd be immediate cause to reconsider the course of action.

Let's be clear: the two emotions I want in my enemies are hate and fear. I want them to hate everything about us. Because they hate really good things, like freedom, pluralism, equality, democracy. And they like things I hate, like intolerance, totalitarianism, religious oppression, indiscriminate murder. I want them to hate me.

Does this mean eternal war with Islamic Fundamentalism?

Are you daft? Of course it does. Making war on evil isn't wrong. It's a moral imperative.

And what's my exit strategy?

Let me quote Winston Churchill for that answer:
You ask, What is our policy? I will say; “It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.” You ask, What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.

12:51 PM | |

 

Grammar Five-Oh

Try And

Yes, I'm back on the whole grammar thing.

The phrase, "try and..." as in, "I'm going to try and help those people," is always incorrect. The correct phrasing is "try to." "Try and" is a speaker's convention that crept into the written form. Alas.

The only time "try and" is correct is when it is followed by another verb in opposition to trying, as with "failed." "I'll try, but—be prepared—I'll most likely try and fail."

Have a nice day.

7:58 AM | |

Tuesday, August 01, 2006 

Professional Nerd

Is MooCow in New Zealand yet? Because this is so his new career path. Some guy is paying some kid $45 per hour to help him learn to play Halo 2 better. No, I'm not kidding. This from the Wall Street Journal.

Let's not even discuss why this is news. The WSJ front page is always a little quirky.

8:45 AM | |

 

An Apology Apology

I'm Sorry

I've heard too many non-apology apologies in my time: "I'm sorry the situation arose," "I'm sorry if your feelings were hurt," "I'm sorry for this misunderstanding." All these include the word "sorry," but don't actually say that the person recognizes that they did something wrong. Which is the essense of an apology. To recognize that you've done something wrong, and regret your acts. "I'm sorry I yelled at you." "I'm sorry I insulted you." Those are apologies.

So while I'm a little pissed at Mel Gibson for his anti-semitic, drunken tirade, and his newly-outed anti-semitic beliefs—in vino veritas—I must admit that the man knows how to apologize:

August 2, 2006 -- There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of Anti-Semitic remark. I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge.

I am a public person, and when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena. As a result, I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words.

The tenets of what I profess to believe necessitate that I exercise charity and tolerance as a way of life. Every human being is God’s child, and if I wish to honor my God I have to honor his children. But please know from my heart that I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot. Hatred of any kind goes against my faith.

I’m not just asking for forgiveness. I would like to take it one step further, and meet with leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I can have a one on one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing.

I have begun an ongoing program of recovery and what I am now realizing is that I cannot do it alone. I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display, and I am asking the Jewish community, whom I have personally offended, to help me on my journey through recovery. Again, I am reaching out to the Jewish community for its help. I know there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable. But I pray that that door is not forever closed.

This is not about a film. Nor is it about artistic license. This is about real life and recognizing the consequences hurtful words can have. It’s about existing in harmony in a world that seems to have gone mad.

8:32 AM | |