Some Random Thoughts

Let’s say the government of Pakistan suspects that some bad guys, suspected terrorists, are holed up in a motel in Tampa. Let’s say that the government of Pakistan blows up the motel and kills some of the bad guys along with some of the rest of the motel’s guests who are not suspected of anything by anyone. That would be OK, right? We are allies, after all, and collateral damage just can’t be helped if you want to get those terrorists. Is there a flaw in my moral reasoning?

When the Soviet Union broke up, how is it that the huge threat that it was supposed to represent all those years suddenly evaporated? Could it be that the threat was a con job? Were the Soviets conning the US government, or was the US government conning its subjects? Seriously, all my life up until then I supposedly had thousands of missiles aimed at me. What happened to all those missiles?

What is Senator Clinton up to trying to out-hawk the administration on Iran? She’s starting to freak me out. It’s not like I was ever in love with her or anything, but now she’s scaring me. I wanted her to win the Senate just because it would piss off a lot of wingnuts, and now she is starting to sound like one.

How long is it going to take the Ellis Island immigrants to assimilate, for crying out loud? I know lots of Italian Americans whose families came over about a century ago, and they still eat lots of pasta and practice Catholicism. They even use some Italian words now and again. And the men tend to wear more jewelry than I consider proper. I know a bunch of Jews whose families came over about the same time, and they still cling to their Judaism. They eat knishes and bagels and use Yiddish expressions (all of which seem to mean penis). Mrs Vache Folle’s Slavic ancestors came over between 1889 and 1902, and many of her relatives still adhere to Roman Catholicism and eat pierogies and beet based dishes. Mrs VF has adopted good old American Protestantism and otherwise can pass for an American. Maybe that’s because she is part English. Why can’t these other immigrants be more like her?

In defense of immigrants, on the other hand, let’s all try to be more careful with stereotyping. For example, let’s try to keep in mind that less than half of Italian Americans are involved in organized crime.