Tuesday, July 18, 2006

 

A brush with fame

A few weeks ago an old friend called me and said she was going to be in DC that night. (Anne is very smart, funny, cute, and in a relationship. We may have to kill that boy.) There is a good story here that I have lost the energy to tell well. Basically, unbeknownst to me, Anne works at Comedy Central. She was in town to help Christian Finnegan record a live CD for Comedy Central. Anne, being awesome, put me on the guest list and all of my drinks were free. I also met Christian and his outstanding fiancée Kambri Crews. Anne, Christian, Kambri, and I had drinks after the show. It was a great time.

The irony here is that, I am told that Christian is a big name comedian and yet I had no idea who he was. I don’t watch television. I don’t even have cable. Talk about a cool moment wasted on a square. However, I will report to you, my dear reader, that he was unbelievably funny that night. I will also report that Kambri has an amazing life story. I will not even try to summarize it here. She has a blog that I recommend.

Hell of a night. It was a blast.


Monday, July 17, 2006

 

Affirmation

"If we try for something at least we tried."

- Andrew WK

Friday, July 14, 2006

 

I Cannot Resist

Ok, OK. I’ll say it. Someone has to say it. A soccer player insults your family. You are so angry you retaliate with violence. This is violence that will have you thrown out of the World Cup finals. So in a rage you headbutt his chest…. That is your devastating attack?

I am not sure where I should even go with this. Should I write “No wonder France can’t win a war”? Should I ask why a sport driven by nationalist rage is played in a submissive and pathetic fashion? I have never seen a game where grown men are pushed, fall down on the grass, and whimper without cause. What about this one: in the middle of a vicious argument someone surprises you with a headbutt to the chest? How does that happen?

I am starting to miss the days when nationalism was about killing lots of people, not about playing a long boring game that ends in a tie.


 

Thoughts of the Other

While convincing me to read “The Duel” by John Lukcas, Nemesis made one very good point. The book is worth reading because it makes you think about the events as if they were happening today. He ignores the hindsight is 20/20 canard and forces you to understand the difficult decisions people have to make in the real world.

On that note, I suggest Rambling Hal’s blog. A Canadian-Palestinian now living in Jordan, her heart has been torn by the war. I don’t agree with her assumptions or solutions. However, to understand the Middle East you have to understand this woman’s pain.


Wednesday, July 12, 2006

 

Me vs. Genius

I have finally faced my destiny. I am assaulting Spengler’s “Decline of the West.” I fear the Germanic bastard may be the death of me yet.

 

Frank Meyers is dead.

Let us just accept it. 50 years ago the Conservative writer Frank Meyers put forth the idea of Fusionism. Fusionism was a combination of Classical Liberalism (aka Libertarianism) and social Conservatism. The idea was that both sides wanted a smaller government. The Classical Liberals wanted individual freedom (less taxes and less regulation) and the Social Conservatives wanted the government to stop ordering them around (illegal school prayer and illegal nativity scenes.) Everyone agreed on less agreement.

This is over. Someone please clear up the cognitive dissonance that unites the congressional declaration on Terry Schiavo with the Flat Taxers.

The Republican Achilles’ heel is exposed. We will see if the Democrats can hit the obvious target.


 

Decency?

“Well, I'm a Democrat, and I'll say it: anyone we capture on a battlefield should be subject to the minimum standards of decency outlined in the Geneva Conventions.”

The above statement was made by prominent leftie blogger Kevin Drum. And unfortunately Drum misses the point of the Geneva Conventions. The Geneva Conventions protect uniform soldiers. They do not apply to criminals or terrorists.

This is not simply a semantic debate. What Drum misunderstands is the agreement between civilized nations. They have agreed that in war Soldiers have a modicum of rights. They have not decided that anyone who straps explosives to their chest is a Soldier.

P.S. I believe Drum is making a logical error. He is not trying to equate terrorists to Soldiers. I think it is about time that the writers in the blogosphere acknowledge their differences without character assassination.



 

Too Little too Late

A 1 Billion dollar project turns into a 14 Billion dollar boondoggle and the American taxpayer gets to make up the difference. Now the faulty engineering of the Big Dig has killed a woman. One person should not be fired for this. A whole lot of people need to be arrested.


 

Tales of the Mechanically Disinclined

Somehow I have managed to actually replace the valve system in my toilet. I am not sure how this happened. And I am wondering if I just got drunk and don’t remember calling a plumber.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

 

On Kos


The most obnoxious aspect of a populist is the populist's belief that he is speaking for the people. The people speak when they vote.


 

Going down swinging

There is something noble in not bowing out gracefully. Senator Lieberman has decided to run as an independent if the anti-war activists defeat him in the Democratic Primary.



Tuesday, July 04, 2006

 

Happy 4th of July

May you all eat too much and get drunk in honor of this great nation's founding.

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