Clarification
My comments yesterday may have been taken as a direct indictment of the motives of the current administration. OK, they were. But let me make one thing perfectly clear, I don't harbor any particular resentment for a republican administration. I am not a Democrat, I don't despise Republicans just because of who they is. Allow me to quote Bill Hicks, "all governments are liars and murderers." Replacing this administration with a Democratic one would not make me happy. The change has to be cultural and that ain't going to happen in my lifetime.
With that said maybe we should just go ahead and go to war. Who really cares what the motives are. let's just find some way to get the people fired up, slaughter a few hundred thousand "enemy combatants." I get it now, it's our nature. We can't not go to war. We have to fight or we'll explode or become apathetic and boring. We'll lose our creative drive. This administration is unfortunate to live in the information age. Bush can't do something similar to what FDR did with the Japanese oil supply to force their hand. He maneouvers inside a glass bubble. His machinations won't wait thirty years to surface.
We need to live in a world that is a Marty Robbins song. Where Mexican maids love outlaw cowboys who die gloriously and bloodlessly for their women is dusty west Texas streets. The alamo is a song and a battle cry and those that died there did so without regret while focusing on their place in history, becoming symbols and they lose their lives. Cowboy troubadors lament their demise with an old six string around a dying fire while the walking food things mew contentedly under a sky blanketed with stars. What the hell, I'll join this fantasy world. Hitch up them ponies and head on over there. I'll stay behind and sings the songs of your heroism.
Thursday, February 06, 2003
Wednesday, February 05, 2003
These are revelations?
So our secretary of state goes in front of the United Nations and shows evidence that Iraq is deceptive and dangerous. Duh. They've been that for a long-ass time. That still does not detract from the fact that Bush wants to go to war. That's all this really boils down to. For whatever reason, this administration desires to go to Iraq and kill people. They can drum up whatever reason they want to make an impotent Iraq appear dangerous but they ain't fooling me. They just want to kill.
You gotta love the rhetoric that gets used by the president. He tries to create an atmosphere of tension and give us the feeling that we are threatened. He talks up this intangible ideal of the "strength of the American people." This Rooseveltian and Churchillian language is empty unless there is a real danger from a prospective foe. A fight to keep gas prices low is not enough to fire up the American fighting spirit. The real danger is from staging a war is an unstable part of the world. What are you going to do if a war starts, print of propaganda posters that say "loose lips raise prices at the pump?" "Support our hegemony?" "You ain't seen nothin' yet?"
Maybe all these guys that desire to go into Iraq and finish what was started in the Gulf War would feel better if they each could kill one or two Iraqi's. Perhaps Saddam could ship over about 100 convicted murderers or rapists and those in the administration with an unfulfilled desire to take life could execute a prisoner or two. Those particularly hawkish can have two and those just curious about the senstation only get one. The form of death can be up to the executioner. He can poison, shoot, stab or push his prisoner off a cliff. Whatever gets him off. Just as long as someone barely in his twenties doesn't have to go overseas and put his ass on the line.
We could use the same strategy for those officials who want us to drill for oil in northern Alaska. You can give each of these characters a quart of oil and a square yard of turf that is planted in a wooden box. The official can then pour the oil into the box and watch the grass die over a period of a few days. He'll get the same rush of destrucion he can get from unleashing the oil companies on virgin land.
So our secretary of state goes in front of the United Nations and shows evidence that Iraq is deceptive and dangerous. Duh. They've been that for a long-ass time. That still does not detract from the fact that Bush wants to go to war. That's all this really boils down to. For whatever reason, this administration desires to go to Iraq and kill people. They can drum up whatever reason they want to make an impotent Iraq appear dangerous but they ain't fooling me. They just want to kill.
You gotta love the rhetoric that gets used by the president. He tries to create an atmosphere of tension and give us the feeling that we are threatened. He talks up this intangible ideal of the "strength of the American people." This Rooseveltian and Churchillian language is empty unless there is a real danger from a prospective foe. A fight to keep gas prices low is not enough to fire up the American fighting spirit. The real danger is from staging a war is an unstable part of the world. What are you going to do if a war starts, print of propaganda posters that say "loose lips raise prices at the pump?" "Support our hegemony?" "You ain't seen nothin' yet?"
Maybe all these guys that desire to go into Iraq and finish what was started in the Gulf War would feel better if they each could kill one or two Iraqi's. Perhaps Saddam could ship over about 100 convicted murderers or rapists and those in the administration with an unfulfilled desire to take life could execute a prisoner or two. Those particularly hawkish can have two and those just curious about the senstation only get one. The form of death can be up to the executioner. He can poison, shoot, stab or push his prisoner off a cliff. Whatever gets him off. Just as long as someone barely in his twenties doesn't have to go overseas and put his ass on the line.
We could use the same strategy for those officials who want us to drill for oil in northern Alaska. You can give each of these characters a quart of oil and a square yard of turf that is planted in a wooden box. The official can then pour the oil into the box and watch the grass die over a period of a few days. He'll get the same rush of destrucion he can get from unleashing the oil companies on virgin land.
In order to deal in this game, got to make the queen disappear
Last week I sat and watched the movie Elizabeth for the second time. I enjoy a good period piece movie occasionally. I've noticed from the little bit of the book I have read that the movie takes great liberties with the life of the queen. Knowing this has not reduced my appreciation of the film since it really is impossible to know the true nature of a person that has lived so long ago events and characters were adjusted to portray one possible Elizabeth.
This movie is especially fun to watch because the costuming is fantastic. It also has some nice palace intrigue.
And Cate Blanchett makes me weak in the knees. I used to get her and Gwyneth Paltrow confused but I got them figured out now.
Seeing the movie caused me to want to learn more about Elizabeth I. I am currently reading a biography about her by Wallace MacCaffrey. I think I am in a bit over my head with this book. My knowledge of English history before Churchill is spotty at best and this is one of those biographies that assumes you know everything about the time period except the subject of the book. I need to find one that covers the times as well as the queen, I reckon.
Last week I sat and watched the movie Elizabeth for the second time. I enjoy a good period piece movie occasionally. I've noticed from the little bit of the book I have read that the movie takes great liberties with the life of the queen. Knowing this has not reduced my appreciation of the film since it really is impossible to know the true nature of a person that has lived so long ago events and characters were adjusted to portray one possible Elizabeth.
This movie is especially fun to watch because the costuming is fantastic. It also has some nice palace intrigue.
And Cate Blanchett makes me weak in the knees. I used to get her and Gwyneth Paltrow confused but I got them figured out now.
Seeing the movie caused me to want to learn more about Elizabeth I. I am currently reading a biography about her by Wallace MacCaffrey. I think I am in a bit over my head with this book. My knowledge of English history before Churchill is spotty at best and this is one of those biographies that assumes you know everything about the time period except the subject of the book. I need to find one that covers the times as well as the queen, I reckon.
Tuesday, February 04, 2003
True Sailing is Dead
I saw a review of recent show by the Doors in the new Rolling Stone. My initially shock and soon gave way to righteous contempt after I saw the ticket prices for their upcoming show at the Universal Amphitheater in Hell A are $40-$125. I would only go see these guys if they were performing instrumental versions of their songs for ten bucks in a club. Would you want to see Crazy Horse playing Neil Young songs with Eddie Vedder singing? Of course not. Would you go see Crazy Horse play new original songs in a club? I would. Heck they wouldn't even have to be originals, I'd go see them play blues standards. Why can't the Doors do something like that?
I saw a review of recent show by the Doors in the new Rolling Stone. My initially shock and soon gave way to righteous contempt after I saw the ticket prices for their upcoming show at the Universal Amphitheater in Hell A are $40-$125. I would only go see these guys if they were performing instrumental versions of their songs for ten bucks in a club. Would you want to see Crazy Horse playing Neil Young songs with Eddie Vedder singing? Of course not. Would you go see Crazy Horse play new original songs in a club? I would. Heck they wouldn't even have to be originals, I'd go see them play blues standards. Why can't the Doors do something like that?
Telephone Reference Department Felled by Mystery Ailment
That is a headline I am afraid we will see in the local paper someday. Today I had to rifle through a stack of boxes that had recently been donated. I had to seperate the chaff from the sellable items. Some of the books were very old and moldy. Some even had holes marking the passage of bookworms. These nasty books were mixed in with some very nice new fiction and cook books. I am afraid someday that when I am sorting these old, dusty, moldy and generally nasty books that I am going to disturb the spore of some disease that has been long thought erradicated. I will develop symptoms that will go unrecognized by current medical knowledge. I will then spread this dread disease to my co-workers in telref and we will all die in agony within days of each other. Either that will happen or my sinuses will flair up. Both are very bad.
That is a headline I am afraid we will see in the local paper someday. Today I had to rifle through a stack of boxes that had recently been donated. I had to seperate the chaff from the sellable items. Some of the books were very old and moldy. Some even had holes marking the passage of bookworms. These nasty books were mixed in with some very nice new fiction and cook books. I am afraid someday that when I am sorting these old, dusty, moldy and generally nasty books that I am going to disturb the spore of some disease that has been long thought erradicated. I will develop symptoms that will go unrecognized by current medical knowledge. I will then spread this dread disease to my co-workers in telref and we will all die in agony within days of each other. Either that will happen or my sinuses will flair up. Both are very bad.
Monday, February 03, 2003
More than just stench
Today I wandered into the second floor men's bathroom. There was the usual layer of funk that permeates the room all day. Sitting on the small ledge between the two sinks were a few 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper. They were print outs that someone had made at one of the internet computers located nearby. The sheet sitting on top of the small stack of papers had some text written in hand with one of the library's golf pencils. It was a poem about being homeless. I cocked my head to the side and read it. It wasn't bad. The writer was mostly making the point that while average folks were going home to their families he (the writer) was looking for a place to "lay his head" for the evening. I was tempted to grab the papers and transcribe the text here. I went back a short while ago and the poem and accompanying papers were gone. They may be in the garbage in the bathroom but I ain't checking.
Today I wandered into the second floor men's bathroom. There was the usual layer of funk that permeates the room all day. Sitting on the small ledge between the two sinks were a few 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper. They were print outs that someone had made at one of the internet computers located nearby. The sheet sitting on top of the small stack of papers had some text written in hand with one of the library's golf pencils. It was a poem about being homeless. I cocked my head to the side and read it. It wasn't bad. The writer was mostly making the point that while average folks were going home to their families he (the writer) was looking for a place to "lay his head" for the evening. I was tempted to grab the papers and transcribe the text here. I went back a short while ago and the poem and accompanying papers were gone. They may be in the garbage in the bathroom but I ain't checking.
It's a bus not a godamn go-kart, you sumbitch!
My bus driver this morning was a friendly cuss. He cheerfully responed to my 'good morning' as I got on and even gave me a friendly wave as I got off. In between these two congenialities he turned into the Tasmanian Devil in driving gloves. He had two speeds during my commute: full and stop. He would brake at the last moment at bus stops. He bounced off the curb during the tight s-turn at the intersection of Park and Park. My lower back is still tender from the potholes on the bridge over I-277 that he hit dead on at full speed. That sumbitch. I was tempted to say "See ya later, Earnhardt" when I got off the bus but it's hard to be witty when your internal organs are shifting back into their proper positions.
Teen slut and hard cock haiku
I get the same kinda vibe when Barbara here at work reads us her junk mail but this guy has taken the subject headings of his spam email and made haiku poetry out of it. I don't usually link to a stranger's blog but what the hell. Even strangers need hits.
What the fuck is going on here?
Is this animal cruelty or just stupid?
My bus driver this morning was a friendly cuss. He cheerfully responed to my 'good morning' as I got on and even gave me a friendly wave as I got off. In between these two congenialities he turned into the Tasmanian Devil in driving gloves. He had two speeds during my commute: full and stop. He would brake at the last moment at bus stops. He bounced off the curb during the tight s-turn at the intersection of Park and Park. My lower back is still tender from the potholes on the bridge over I-277 that he hit dead on at full speed. That sumbitch. I was tempted to say "See ya later, Earnhardt" when I got off the bus but it's hard to be witty when your internal organs are shifting back into their proper positions.
Teen slut and hard cock haiku
I get the same kinda vibe when Barbara here at work reads us her junk mail but this guy has taken the subject headings of his spam email and made haiku poetry out of it. I don't usually link to a stranger's blog but what the hell. Even strangers need hits.
What the fuck is going on here?
Is this animal cruelty or just stupid?
Sunday, February 02, 2003
It's in a loop and we can't stop it!
Yesterday after I got home from work I turned on the television to get an idea of how the news networks were covering the shuttle accident. No new information about the tragedy was forthcoming. I didn't really expect any but I had to check. I do have to say the CNN's coverage was the most tasteless. They were broadcasting in a split screen with varous "experts" and "reporters" yakking away about nothing on the left side while the other side was showing video of the acccident from every angle possible. I didn't mind that too much because I hadn't seen the footage and I was naturally curious. What was disturbing about CNN's coverage was the need of the female anchor, when talking to a field reporter in Texas, to mention the possibility of falling debris and "body parts." Where did that come from? 30 seconds later she did it again. It was pure conjecture on her part. There had been no mention yet of the discovery of human remains but this dolt was pressing the issue on the possibility of the there being a flurry of human remains over east Texas. Right before I took my after-work nap I saw some live footage of a couple of hundred people gathered around a cordonned off parking lot that contained a car-door-sized piece of shuttle debris. I was waiting for someone to grab it and holler Follow the Gourd! No follow the shoe! No follow this blackened piece of debris!
Yesterday after I got home from work I turned on the television to get an idea of how the news networks were covering the shuttle accident. No new information about the tragedy was forthcoming. I didn't really expect any but I had to check. I do have to say the CNN's coverage was the most tasteless. They were broadcasting in a split screen with varous "experts" and "reporters" yakking away about nothing on the left side while the other side was showing video of the acccident from every angle possible. I didn't mind that too much because I hadn't seen the footage and I was naturally curious. What was disturbing about CNN's coverage was the need of the female anchor, when talking to a field reporter in Texas, to mention the possibility of falling debris and "body parts." Where did that come from? 30 seconds later she did it again. It was pure conjecture on her part. There had been no mention yet of the discovery of human remains but this dolt was pressing the issue on the possibility of the there being a flurry of human remains over east Texas. Right before I took my after-work nap I saw some live footage of a couple of hundred people gathered around a cordonned off parking lot that contained a car-door-sized piece of shuttle debris. I was waiting for someone to grab it and holler Follow the Gourd! No follow the shoe! No follow this blackened piece of debris!
Saturday, February 01, 2003
Space Shuttle
On this day when seven astronauts perished my first informant managed to confuse me. We have a librarian here named Shaara. Martin came in and said "the shuttle is missing." I heard "Shaara is missing." I had a mental image of our co-worker fleeing the building. I wondered, how could Shaara be missing? If she's not in the building woudn't someone have seen her leave? If she wasn't seen leaving the building and she is missing why is Martin back here telling us when he should probably be calling security? It turns out his news was more serious than a missing co-worker. We lost seven more astronauts. Exploration is a dangerous profession.
Of course if these people died due to possible neglect then what do we do? There's risk and then there is danger.
On this day when seven astronauts perished my first informant managed to confuse me. We have a librarian here named Shaara. Martin came in and said "the shuttle is missing." I heard "Shaara is missing." I had a mental image of our co-worker fleeing the building. I wondered, how could Shaara be missing? If she's not in the building woudn't someone have seen her leave? If she wasn't seen leaving the building and she is missing why is Martin back here telling us when he should probably be calling security? It turns out his news was more serious than a missing co-worker. We lost seven more astronauts. Exploration is a dangerous profession.
Of course if these people died due to possible neglect then what do we do? There's risk and then there is danger.
God bless Jimmy Carter
The last honest man to ever hold the presidency had this to say about the intentions of the current corporate lackey to hold the office. Maybe two hundred years from now that will be Carter's entry in the history books: The last decent human being to ever hold the office of the President of the United States.
The last honest man to ever hold the presidency had this to say about the intentions of the current corporate lackey to hold the office. Maybe two hundred years from now that will be Carter's entry in the history books: The last decent human being to ever hold the office of the President of the United States.
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