Sunni links to and discusses an article by Charles Murray in which the author advocates more vocational training and less college prep: http://www.sunnimaravillosa.com/archives/00000890.html
I pretty much accept the premise that we are more or less born with a certain degree of smarts and that we are never going to get any smarter. There are things that can make us stupider, such as poor nutrition, disease, head trauma, watching Fox News; however, we can’t add to our intelligence. Each of us is equipped for just so much schooling, and going beyond our capabilities is a waste of time and money and energy. Accordingly, schooling might be more efficiently and cheaply provided if efforts were made to identify the potential of pupils as early in the process as possible so they could be placed in appropriate tracks. A pupil of low normal intelligence is not college material, and it would be better to equip that pupil for adult life by teaching her the skills she will need to succeed.
I was lucky to have been born relatively smart and with a good memory. School was a breeze for me, and I backed into a full ride scholarship from a local manufacturer. I ended up with a college degree and almost no prospects. I sold calculators, a job for which college was superfluous but which was required as a qualification by the company. I managed a movie theater, and I drifted up and down the coast doing this and that (but not the other). I decided that I had to go to law school or that I would never do very well financially with my liberal arts credential. Many of my classmates had their sheepskins from the same expensive private university and ended up working at jobs that required no college at all. One went to a short tech school and got into computers. Another became a TV cameraman. Yet another became a stand up comedian. Others went into various sales jobs or police work or bureaucracies. Others went to grad school like me to delay their dates with destiny.
Frankly, I don’t reckon that a college degree was really necessary for me to have gone on to law school (which I loathed every minute of). You don’t need any of that undergraduate book learning to study lawyering, and you could easily crank out lawyers in an undergraduate course. College was just a sorting mechanism and was not preparatory at all. Frankly, I went to college because I felt like I had to. By the time I went to college, it had become the equivalent of a high school diploma from my father’s day. You had to have the credential to do much of anything white collar, and you had to have graduate level training to match what college used to mean.
In fifty years, I predict that all but the most profoundly retarded will have college degrees, that 75% will have masters or professional degrees and that the other 25% of the population will have doctorates. You will need a bachelors degree to take tickets for the tilt’ a’ whirl and a masters to sell encyclopedias. Kindergarten teachers and cashiers at Barnes & Noble will have PhDs. Every third person will be a lawyer or MBA. By today’s standards this will seem like a success, but at that time the goal of the Department of Education will be doctorates for everyone!
Because of the premium placed on Ivy League degrees, it will be necessary for the Ivy League schools to expand and open franchises all across the country. By 2057, 90% of all college degrees will be granted by Ivy League franchise institutions. State colleges will specialize more and more in graduate schooling.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Polygyny Is Good for Women
I made “The Red Queen” my “bathroom book”, so I’m still reading it and probably will be for some time. I found out that we have only two sexes because of compromises necessitated by conflicts between cytoplasmic genes. Species engaged in fusion sex that did not settle on the male with small manifold gametes and the female with a few large gametes tended to be wiped out by competition between genes from the organelles. I don’t really understand it all that well, but I’ll take the author’s word for it.
I have finally reached the part where all the background about sexual selection is applied to humans, and I am learning quite a bit that surprises me. I did not know that ruling elites over the millennia had so damn many wives and concubines and that so many lower class men were forced into celibacy as a result. Having a royal ancestor would be the norm rather than anything special given the breeding prowess of kings and emperors. Even ostensibly monogamous medieval lords kept harems of “serving girls” and sired large broods of bastards.
If you were a lower class schmendrick in such a highly polygynous society, investing in daughters would be the best way to make sure that you had many descendants. Your son might not breed at all, but your daughter had a shot at being concubine to a powerful man. Peasants would, therefore, tend to leave their wealth to daughters and to exhibit more of a matrilineal family structure in the lower classes while the upper classes, where males could expect to have many mates, would do the opposite and invest in sons. Elite families would be patrilineal.
Foragers tend to be monogamous since there is not much chance to accumulate the wealth needed to support multiple wives. Farmers can get richer and support several wives at the expense of their less fortunate or capable fellows. Warlords, with their hoards of treasure, can accommodate hundreds or thousands of wives and concubines.
Enforced monogamy benefits those men who would be left without a partner in a polygynous society. It restricts the strategic options of women who, to paraphrase one of the quotes in the book, might rather be the second or third wife of John Kennedy rather than the first wife of Bozo the Clown.
Enforced monogamy also makes hypergamy more difficult for women since it means that the highest social class will be more apt to intermarry within itself rather than to look for wives in the lower orders. In a polygynous system, middle class women might become supernumerary wives to rich and powerful men rather than settling for some mook from their own class.
It looks to me as if enforced monogamy is bad for women and good for less attractive men. I probably benefit from it whereas Mrs Vache Folle could have done way better in a polygynous society.
I have finally reached the part where all the background about sexual selection is applied to humans, and I am learning quite a bit that surprises me. I did not know that ruling elites over the millennia had so damn many wives and concubines and that so many lower class men were forced into celibacy as a result. Having a royal ancestor would be the norm rather than anything special given the breeding prowess of kings and emperors. Even ostensibly monogamous medieval lords kept harems of “serving girls” and sired large broods of bastards.
If you were a lower class schmendrick in such a highly polygynous society, investing in daughters would be the best way to make sure that you had many descendants. Your son might not breed at all, but your daughter had a shot at being concubine to a powerful man. Peasants would, therefore, tend to leave their wealth to daughters and to exhibit more of a matrilineal family structure in the lower classes while the upper classes, where males could expect to have many mates, would do the opposite and invest in sons. Elite families would be patrilineal.
Foragers tend to be monogamous since there is not much chance to accumulate the wealth needed to support multiple wives. Farmers can get richer and support several wives at the expense of their less fortunate or capable fellows. Warlords, with their hoards of treasure, can accommodate hundreds or thousands of wives and concubines.
Enforced monogamy benefits those men who would be left without a partner in a polygynous society. It restricts the strategic options of women who, to paraphrase one of the quotes in the book, might rather be the second or third wife of John Kennedy rather than the first wife of Bozo the Clown.
Enforced monogamy also makes hypergamy more difficult for women since it means that the highest social class will be more apt to intermarry within itself rather than to look for wives in the lower orders. In a polygynous system, middle class women might become supernumerary wives to rich and powerful men rather than settling for some mook from their own class.
It looks to me as if enforced monogamy is bad for women and good for less attractive men. I probably benefit from it whereas Mrs Vache Folle could have done way better in a polygynous society.
Musing on Libertarian Totalitarianism
David Friedman has an interesting take on the libertarian-liberal alliance: http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/2007/01/liberals-libertarians-objectivists-and.html. The conclusion (in the sense that it concludes the post):
David refers to a Cato poll that showed that 15% of the American public is “libertarian”. They are libertarian in the sense that they are relatively socially liberal AND economically conservative, as those characterizations are popularly understood. Anti-state hard core libertarians are much rarer. Even the 15% identified by Cato is not even enough to counter the wingnut authoritarian right with its 25% let alone counter the remaining 60% who otherwise embrace the state wholeheartedly. Unless the libertarians win over a lot more people and become even more libertarian in their leanings, there is no way that the democratic process is going to do anything for libertarianism. On the contrary, the democratic process will mean more and more government until every aspect of our lives is completely managed by the state right down to our bowel movements.
With the democratic process, the best libertarians can hope for is to put a slight drag on the inevitable slide into totalitarianism.
Perhaps a free society will come only with the seizure of power by revolutionaries. History has shown that a small ideological minority can take the reins of power in a state and impose its will on the masses if it has an army. It would not be enough for libertarians simply to destroy the state, because the masses will simply sell their freedom to any master who will reconstitute it at the first opportunity. Rather, libertarians must take over the state and monopolize the initiation of force in order to prevent the development of any other nascent state-like institutions. Powerful institutions of voluntary civil society would not be problematic, but no person must be able to impose any involuntary obligations on another except under the authority of the revolutionary party.
Could such a state devoted to entirely to inactivity on its own part other than the defense of its subjects from internal and external enemies be maintained without succumbing to the corruption of power? It could be maintained only so long as its apparatchiks were selected based on ideological purity. Party membership must be restricted to those who profess only the profoundest commitment to liberty. Selection to the people’s congress would be from party members by lot rather than by election; therefore, the congress would not necessarily be comprised of the most ambitious and power hungry people. Sponsors of legislation and those who vote in favor of any legislation, other than to repeal something already on the books, will be considered to have resigned from the congress and will be ineligible for the central committee or the chairmanship or other high office. This will ensure that activist legislators do not gain advancement. The chairman will have a veto which cannot be overridden.
The state will have only such personnel and perform only such functions as are absolutely necessary to perform its "essential" obligations:
Defense of the realm;
Criminal justice and dispute resolution;
Self Preservation;
Maintenance of party power.
Insofar as possible, the defense of the realm should be in the hands of voluntary militia. Criminal justice should be handled by a voluntary constabulary and trials presided over by party members with paty member juries. Dispute resolution should be done by courts convened and paid for by the litigants, subject to review by local party apparatchiks. Self preservation and maintenance of party power may require the maintenance of a substantial security and surveillance apparatus. Despite this, rule by the party will be far less costly than the current system of government, and the tax burden on the people will be miniscule. It may be difficult for the opposition to develop much interest in the masses to revolt, since about the only limitation the party will place on the people is to restrict their ability to meddle with their neighbors.
The only way to defeat the state may be to capture it and tame it.
“Politically speaking, if Republicans supported less government instead of more,
they would be natural allies for libertarians, whether those libertarians
reached their conclusions via Catholic philosophy, natural rights,
utilitarianism, skepticism, or hedonism. Since Republicans at the moment support
more government—more even than Democrats as of the last time they were in
power—it is worth looking for other allies.”
David refers to a Cato poll that showed that 15% of the American public is “libertarian”. They are libertarian in the sense that they are relatively socially liberal AND economically conservative, as those characterizations are popularly understood. Anti-state hard core libertarians are much rarer. Even the 15% identified by Cato is not even enough to counter the wingnut authoritarian right with its 25% let alone counter the remaining 60% who otherwise embrace the state wholeheartedly. Unless the libertarians win over a lot more people and become even more libertarian in their leanings, there is no way that the democratic process is going to do anything for libertarianism. On the contrary, the democratic process will mean more and more government until every aspect of our lives is completely managed by the state right down to our bowel movements.
With the democratic process, the best libertarians can hope for is to put a slight drag on the inevitable slide into totalitarianism.
Perhaps a free society will come only with the seizure of power by revolutionaries. History has shown that a small ideological minority can take the reins of power in a state and impose its will on the masses if it has an army. It would not be enough for libertarians simply to destroy the state, because the masses will simply sell their freedom to any master who will reconstitute it at the first opportunity. Rather, libertarians must take over the state and monopolize the initiation of force in order to prevent the development of any other nascent state-like institutions. Powerful institutions of voluntary civil society would not be problematic, but no person must be able to impose any involuntary obligations on another except under the authority of the revolutionary party.
Could such a state devoted to entirely to inactivity on its own part other than the defense of its subjects from internal and external enemies be maintained without succumbing to the corruption of power? It could be maintained only so long as its apparatchiks were selected based on ideological purity. Party membership must be restricted to those who profess only the profoundest commitment to liberty. Selection to the people’s congress would be from party members by lot rather than by election; therefore, the congress would not necessarily be comprised of the most ambitious and power hungry people. Sponsors of legislation and those who vote in favor of any legislation, other than to repeal something already on the books, will be considered to have resigned from the congress and will be ineligible for the central committee or the chairmanship or other high office. This will ensure that activist legislators do not gain advancement. The chairman will have a veto which cannot be overridden.
The state will have only such personnel and perform only such functions as are absolutely necessary to perform its "essential" obligations:
Defense of the realm;
Criminal justice and dispute resolution;
Self Preservation;
Maintenance of party power.
Insofar as possible, the defense of the realm should be in the hands of voluntary militia. Criminal justice should be handled by a voluntary constabulary and trials presided over by party members with paty member juries. Dispute resolution should be done by courts convened and paid for by the litigants, subject to review by local party apparatchiks. Self preservation and maintenance of party power may require the maintenance of a substantial security and surveillance apparatus. Despite this, rule by the party will be far less costly than the current system of government, and the tax burden on the people will be miniscule. It may be difficult for the opposition to develop much interest in the masses to revolt, since about the only limitation the party will place on the people is to restrict their ability to meddle with their neighbors.
The only way to defeat the state may be to capture it and tame it.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Cully Stimson Should Pick Up HIs Medal of Freedom and Go Home
Here’s a puff piece on the reptilian Cully Stimson for his alma mater’s paper http://bulletin.kenyon.edu/x336.xml . If you look at his experience and education, the man is no more qualified for his job as master of detainees than I would be. He was a Navy JAG, and that’s about the only thing in his background that remotely prepared him for the job. Except for some brief work at some prep schools, he has never had a real job. He is a career parasite.
Anyway, why hasn’t he been fired yet? This is the guy that wants corporations to pressure law firms financially so that their lawyers won’t represent detainees. Is this the kind of lawyer that George Mason turns out? Is he speaking for the regime even while the Pentagon distances itself from him? He’s not distant enough if he still works there.
I want to know which companies pressure the firms so I can boycott their products.
Anyway, why hasn’t he been fired yet? This is the guy that wants corporations to pressure law firms financially so that their lawyers won’t represent detainees. Is this the kind of lawyer that George Mason turns out? Is he speaking for the regime even while the Pentagon distances itself from him? He’s not distant enough if he still works there.
I want to know which companies pressure the firms so I can boycott their products.
Meritorious or Just Obedient?
Kevin Carson posts about folks who blame the masses for their own degradation: http://mutualist.blogspot.com/2007/01/you-dont-get-to-be-pharoah-by-working.html
It seems clear to me that the myth of the meritocracy is a means for the ruling elite to persuade the smarter proles to identify their interests with the elites rather than their working class comrades. Middle managers, such as myself, are taught to think of ourselves as successes by virtue of our worthiness and merit. Those poor slobs who aren’t as successful have only themselves to blame, since the system that advances us is nothing more than an unbiased mechanism for sorting folks into categories of the worthy and the unworthy. That being the case, the elites above us must be the worthiest of all.
This myth inspires us to work to maintain the system. We are convinced of the necessity of the state to keep the unworthy in line and to manage their affairs down to the most niggling detail. That this impairs our own freedom does not occur to us because we have already surrendered it voluntarily like well trained domesticated animals. We love the leash and take delight in the praise of our masters. We enjoy our relatively better appointed homes and the other rewards of our relative prosperity and think we are the right kind of people.
We don’t pass much time with the elites themselves. We may get glimpses of the fringes of the power elite from time to time, so we don’t realize just how far above us in wealth and power they are. This allows us to think that we are more like them than those folks lower down on the socioeconomic scale with whom we actually have much more in common.
If the meritocratic system does not sort for merit, what does it sort for? Domestication.
It seems clear to me that the myth of the meritocracy is a means for the ruling elite to persuade the smarter proles to identify their interests with the elites rather than their working class comrades. Middle managers, such as myself, are taught to think of ourselves as successes by virtue of our worthiness and merit. Those poor slobs who aren’t as successful have only themselves to blame, since the system that advances us is nothing more than an unbiased mechanism for sorting folks into categories of the worthy and the unworthy. That being the case, the elites above us must be the worthiest of all.
This myth inspires us to work to maintain the system. We are convinced of the necessity of the state to keep the unworthy in line and to manage their affairs down to the most niggling detail. That this impairs our own freedom does not occur to us because we have already surrendered it voluntarily like well trained domesticated animals. We love the leash and take delight in the praise of our masters. We enjoy our relatively better appointed homes and the other rewards of our relative prosperity and think we are the right kind of people.
We don’t pass much time with the elites themselves. We may get glimpses of the fringes of the power elite from time to time, so we don’t realize just how far above us in wealth and power they are. This allows us to think that we are more like them than those folks lower down on the socioeconomic scale with whom we actually have much more in common.
If the meritocratic system does not sort for merit, what does it sort for? Domestication.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Better than American Idol
American Idol sucks. Death Wore a Feathered Mullet sums up how I feel about it: http://vivalasvegass.blogspot.com/2007/01/american-idol-once-more-with-hatred.html
I have an idea for a better reality show. Let’s call it “American Genius”. The idea is to locate the brightest potential engineers and mathematicians and scientists from the lower classes. The winners will get a full ride to good schools and all the help they need to fulfill their potential right through postdoctoral research. This would inspire American youth to study maths and sciences (I love using the plural of maths although Word tells me it’s wrong). This would make it cool to be smart. I am having some trouble figuring out how to make the show entertaining, though.
I have to figure out how to work sex and backbiting into the show. I suppose if The Apprentice or The Biggest Loser can make it on TV, a bunch of smart kids can be made watchable. Sponsorships shouldn’t be too hard to get.
The panel of judges could be superstar scientists and mathematicians. Stephen Hawking would be the Simon of the show and would insult losers with his mechanical voice. Bill Nye the Science Guy could be tapped as host. Or we could just use Ryan Seacrest.
The core of the competition would be manifold, involving experimental design, written and oral exams, and presentations. It would be like academia to some degree, only with sexy models hanging around as lab assistants and proctors.
I have an idea for a better reality show. Let’s call it “American Genius”. The idea is to locate the brightest potential engineers and mathematicians and scientists from the lower classes. The winners will get a full ride to good schools and all the help they need to fulfill their potential right through postdoctoral research. This would inspire American youth to study maths and sciences (I love using the plural of maths although Word tells me it’s wrong). This would make it cool to be smart. I am having some trouble figuring out how to make the show entertaining, though.
I have to figure out how to work sex and backbiting into the show. I suppose if The Apprentice or The Biggest Loser can make it on TV, a bunch of smart kids can be made watchable. Sponsorships shouldn’t be too hard to get.
The panel of judges could be superstar scientists and mathematicians. Stephen Hawking would be the Simon of the show and would insult losers with his mechanical voice. Bill Nye the Science Guy could be tapped as host. Or we could just use Ryan Seacrest.
The core of the competition would be manifold, involving experimental design, written and oral exams, and presentations. It would be like academia to some degree, only with sexy models hanging around as lab assistants and proctors.
Stuff
Translating dentist-speak:
What the dentist says: What it really means:
“This may pinch a little.” The pain will be exquisite.
“This may be uncomfortable” You are going to weep.
“Let me know if you feel this.” Is it safe?
I had my top braces removed on Friday. I had been looking forward to it. That’s because I did not know how brutal the removal process is and that I would have to wear a retainer 24-7 for several months. I spent the weekend talking like Mush Mouth and drooling uncontrollably. I can finally talk again, but I have to speak with my natural southern accent instead of using Standard English. The drool problem went away. I know not what horrors will befall me when the lower braces come off.
The Bathroom Remodel continues, albeit slowly. The infrastructure of that part of the house wanted rebuilding from scratch, and this has set us back days and dollars. By the end of today, there should be a sub-floor and roughed in plumbing at least together with insulation. The contractor inadvertently unplugged the sump pump on Friday, so the basement flooded and submerged some of the supplies left there.
I met my revised goal of 235 pounds this weekend but blew it by going out for Indian food at Tanjore in Fishkill. We didn’t realize how big the portions were and ordered enough food for a platoon. It was among the Best Indian food I have ever had, and we will be a regular there from here on out. Hat tip to the preacher’s wife for suggesting the place.
What the dentist says: What it really means:
“This may pinch a little.” The pain will be exquisite.
“This may be uncomfortable” You are going to weep.
“Let me know if you feel this.” Is it safe?
I had my top braces removed on Friday. I had been looking forward to it. That’s because I did not know how brutal the removal process is and that I would have to wear a retainer 24-7 for several months. I spent the weekend talking like Mush Mouth and drooling uncontrollably. I can finally talk again, but I have to speak with my natural southern accent instead of using Standard English. The drool problem went away. I know not what horrors will befall me when the lower braces come off.
The Bathroom Remodel continues, albeit slowly. The infrastructure of that part of the house wanted rebuilding from scratch, and this has set us back days and dollars. By the end of today, there should be a sub-floor and roughed in plumbing at least together with insulation. The contractor inadvertently unplugged the sump pump on Friday, so the basement flooded and submerged some of the supplies left there.
I met my revised goal of 235 pounds this weekend but blew it by going out for Indian food at Tanjore in Fishkill. We didn’t realize how big the portions were and ordered enough food for a platoon. It was among the Best Indian food I have ever had, and we will be a regular there from here on out. Hat tip to the preacher’s wife for suggesting the place.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
A Cunning Plan
Via Daily Kos comes this exchange between Captain Blackadder and his commanding General:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/11/84226/3452
General: Now, Field Marshal Hague has formulated a brilliant new tactical plan to ensure final victory in the field.
Captain Blackadder: Ah, would this brilliant plan involve us climbing out of our trenches and walking very slowly towards the enemy, sir?
Captain Darling: How could you possibly know that Blackadder? It's classified information!
Captain Blackadder: It's the same plan that we used last time, and the seventeen times before that.
General: Exactly! And that is what is so brilliant about it! It will catch the watchful Hun totally off guard. Doing precisely what we've done eighteen times before is exactly the last thing they'll expect us to do this time! There is, however, one small problem...
Captain Blackadder: That everyone always gets slaughtered in the first ten seconds?
General: That's right. And Field Marshal Hague is worried that this may be depressing the men a tad. So, he's looking to find a way to cheer them up.
Captain Blackadder: Well, his resignation and suicide would seem the obvious.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/11/84226/3452
General: Now, Field Marshal Hague has formulated a brilliant new tactical plan to ensure final victory in the field.
Captain Blackadder: Ah, would this brilliant plan involve us climbing out of our trenches and walking very slowly towards the enemy, sir?
Captain Darling: How could you possibly know that Blackadder? It's classified information!
Captain Blackadder: It's the same plan that we used last time, and the seventeen times before that.
General: Exactly! And that is what is so brilliant about it! It will catch the watchful Hun totally off guard. Doing precisely what we've done eighteen times before is exactly the last thing they'll expect us to do this time! There is, however, one small problem...
Captain Blackadder: That everyone always gets slaughtered in the first ten seconds?
General: That's right. And Field Marshal Hague is worried that this may be depressing the men a tad. So, he's looking to find a way to cheer them up.
Captain Blackadder: Well, his resignation and suicide would seem the obvious.
I could almost hear GW Bush start his speech last night with “I have a cunning plan….” Baldrick would make a better preznit than GW Bush.
Progress Report
Here’s a piece of free advice. If you are having the bathroom remodeled and the floor is torn out, don’t try to use that bathroom in the middle of the night. That’s what I found out. If it weren’t for my catlike reflexes, I would have fallen through to the basement. As it was, I barely managed to get on the one piece of plywood on the joists without impaling myself on a wrecking bar. I have a few scrapes and bruises but am otherwise none the worse for wear and doubtless a wiser man for the experience. The demolition and infrastructure aspects of this phase are taking longer than expected because the floor joists and beams have to be replaced. It turns out that they were rotten and sagging, and I prefer that my new bathroom not collapse into the cellar.
I finally broke through my weight loss plateau and am down to 236 pounds buck naked at home in the morning and 245 clothed and shod on the scale at the gym. I can’t account for the difference since I know my gym clothes and shoes probably don’t weigh nine pounds. I choose to regard my home scale as accurate. I am gradually increasing the weight on all the exercises in my circuit training routine, and I am gradually getting faster on the treadmill. I’m still pitifully out of shape even after 12 weeks of working out, but I can really feel the difference. I reckon that I have been able to fight off the nasty bug everyone’s been getting thanks to my improved condition.
I am getting the braces on my upper teeth off tomorrow morning, and I’m really looking forward to getting all this hardware out of my mouth. The lower braces may come off next month. The procedure has been a success, and I now have a normal bite and don’t bang my front teeth together. I can masticate a lot better, too. This should help me keep my incisors longer. I should have done this long ago instead of just living with the malocclusion.
I increased my Zoloft dosage by 50%. This has taken care of my anxiety and compulsive behaviors, and I have the added benefit of having my sex drive disappear altogether! Having just celebrated a 23rd wedding anniversary, I don’t really need a libido at this point in my life. Seriously, are middle-aged women really all that happy about Viagra? Just when the fat slob stops bugging her so much for his semiannual intercourse, along comes a pill that makes him as randy as a rooster. Come to think of it, if someone opposes homosexuality, what better way to reduce the amount of homosexual sex going on than to encourage homosexuals to marry?
I am still on my mainstream media news fast except for Keith Olbermann’s show. That is one quality news program. Olbermann and Jon Stewart are the best journalists on TV right now. The best pundit is Stephen Colbert. I missed the season opener of Battlestar Galactica, but it looked as if it was turning into an interstellar version of Melrose Place.
I have decided to give up on Lost. I think the writers are just making it up as they go along. There is more recap than show, and the flashbacks don’t add anything to the story. I watch too much TV as it is.
On the literary front, I'm still reading the "Red Queen" by Matt Ridley. I finally finished "Rough Crossings", the book about American slaves who defected to the British during the War for Independence and were emancipated. A lot of them ended up in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and then migrated to Sierra Leone. They were hosed every inch of the way, but at least they were free. I have started a biography of Mao, and it turns out that he was not even cute when he was little. So far, I'm only up to his early 20s when he was a minor Communist functionary. I just found out that there is a new novel in the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, and I may have to drop everything and get it right away.
I finally broke through my weight loss plateau and am down to 236 pounds buck naked at home in the morning and 245 clothed and shod on the scale at the gym. I can’t account for the difference since I know my gym clothes and shoes probably don’t weigh nine pounds. I choose to regard my home scale as accurate. I am gradually increasing the weight on all the exercises in my circuit training routine, and I am gradually getting faster on the treadmill. I’m still pitifully out of shape even after 12 weeks of working out, but I can really feel the difference. I reckon that I have been able to fight off the nasty bug everyone’s been getting thanks to my improved condition.
I am getting the braces on my upper teeth off tomorrow morning, and I’m really looking forward to getting all this hardware out of my mouth. The lower braces may come off next month. The procedure has been a success, and I now have a normal bite and don’t bang my front teeth together. I can masticate a lot better, too. This should help me keep my incisors longer. I should have done this long ago instead of just living with the malocclusion.
I increased my Zoloft dosage by 50%. This has taken care of my anxiety and compulsive behaviors, and I have the added benefit of having my sex drive disappear altogether! Having just celebrated a 23rd wedding anniversary, I don’t really need a libido at this point in my life. Seriously, are middle-aged women really all that happy about Viagra? Just when the fat slob stops bugging her so much for his semiannual intercourse, along comes a pill that makes him as randy as a rooster. Come to think of it, if someone opposes homosexuality, what better way to reduce the amount of homosexual sex going on than to encourage homosexuals to marry?
I am still on my mainstream media news fast except for Keith Olbermann’s show. That is one quality news program. Olbermann and Jon Stewart are the best journalists on TV right now. The best pundit is Stephen Colbert. I missed the season opener of Battlestar Galactica, but it looked as if it was turning into an interstellar version of Melrose Place.
I have decided to give up on Lost. I think the writers are just making it up as they go along. There is more recap than show, and the flashbacks don’t add anything to the story. I watch too much TV as it is.
On the literary front, I'm still reading the "Red Queen" by Matt Ridley. I finally finished "Rough Crossings", the book about American slaves who defected to the British during the War for Independence and were emancipated. A lot of them ended up in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and then migrated to Sierra Leone. They were hosed every inch of the way, but at least they were free. I have started a biography of Mao, and it turns out that he was not even cute when he was little. So far, I'm only up to his early 20s when he was a minor Communist functionary. I just found out that there is a new novel in the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, and I may have to drop everything and get it right away.
The Speech I Would Have Written for Bush
Against my better judgment, I caught Bush’s speech last night. The guy is demented. I reckon he aims to provoke Iran and Syria into war and make an even bigger mess. Then we’ll be nostalgic for the days when the armed forces were just mired in a civil war in Iraq.
Here’s the speech I thought he ought to have given:
“My fellow Americans. Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me. And let me tell you, it has been one foul up after another from the get go. Worse than that, I lied to get us in this mess, and I have used the war I sold the country as an excuse to crap all over the Constitution. My conduct has been inexcusable, and I am not fit to serve as your President. If there was ever a case for impeachment, my administration is it. To save time and resources and to allow the country to make a smooth transition, I am resigning effective noon tomorrow. I urge Vice President Cheney, who is an even bigger wanker than me and is just plain evil, to do the same so that Speaker Pelosi can get to work as the new Commander-in-Chief without delay.
God bless America.”
Here’s the speech I thought he ought to have given:
“My fellow Americans. Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me. And let me tell you, it has been one foul up after another from the get go. Worse than that, I lied to get us in this mess, and I have used the war I sold the country as an excuse to crap all over the Constitution. My conduct has been inexcusable, and I am not fit to serve as your President. If there was ever a case for impeachment, my administration is it. To save time and resources and to allow the country to make a smooth transition, I am resigning effective noon tomorrow. I urge Vice President Cheney, who is an even bigger wanker than me and is just plain evil, to do the same so that Speaker Pelosi can get to work as the new Commander-in-Chief without delay.
God bless America.”
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Bathroom Remodel Begins; Contractor Shows Up Even After Advance Payment
It is Day Two of our Bathroom Remodel. It was supposed to be Day Three but the contractor didn’t make it on Monday, not a promising start. So far, everything in the downstairs bathroom has been ripped out except part of the floor. That should come out today. The washer and dryer are on the deck under a tarp along with the commode (which we are moving upstairs in the second phase of the Bathroom Remodel). We’ll be visiting the Laundromat for a couple of weeks, and we’ll have to trudge upstairs every time we have to relieve ourselves until the new toilet is installed.
I was amazed at what a hodgepodge that part of the house was under the drywall and tile. It looks as if the builder just made do with whatever materials he had lying around. Some of the wall is block and some is brick. There was no insulation! No wonder the bathroom was so cold.
The dogs are not too happy about all the hullabaloo and noise and being locked in the downstairs bedroom instead of having the run of the house. They don’t derive any benefit from the Bathroom Remodel. In fact, since we might actually spend more time in the bathrooms once they are done, they are going to be spending more time whining outside the bathroom doors and wondering what we are up to in there.
I hope the contractor knows what he is doing and that this turns out well. He has done good work on other things in the past and usually shows up. He is also cost conscious and strikes me as honest. But he is a contractor, and they are apt to disappear for days at a time while you have a big gaping hole in your house.
I was amazed at what a hodgepodge that part of the house was under the drywall and tile. It looks as if the builder just made do with whatever materials he had lying around. Some of the wall is block and some is brick. There was no insulation! No wonder the bathroom was so cold.
The dogs are not too happy about all the hullabaloo and noise and being locked in the downstairs bedroom instead of having the run of the house. They don’t derive any benefit from the Bathroom Remodel. In fact, since we might actually spend more time in the bathrooms once they are done, they are going to be spending more time whining outside the bathroom doors and wondering what we are up to in there.
I hope the contractor knows what he is doing and that this turns out well. He has done good work on other things in the past and usually shows up. He is also cost conscious and strikes me as honest. But he is a contractor, and they are apt to disappear for days at a time while you have a big gaping hole in your house.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Dos and Don'ts at Hangings and Autos da fe
The execution of Saddam Hussein was spoiled by the rudeness of the executioners and witnesses. To keep future hangings civil and decorous, I thought I would remind everyone of the etiquette of hangings.
Executioners should be silent and professional. Witnesses should be quiet and respectful, like at a golf match when the players are putting. Imagine that it is your mother that is being hanged. How would you like it if witnesses were noisy and heckling your mom's execution? You wouldn't, unless you really hated your mom, in which case you have other problems beyond the scope of this post.
Wear a tie, if you are a man, and a nice suit if you are a woman. A hood is de rigeur for the hangman.
Small children are out of place at hangings and are apt to disturb the other witnesses and the condemned with their mewling. Leave your pets at home as well.
Take off your hat if you are a man when the deed is being done. You are at a judicially sanctioned murder, for crying out loud, and you had best show some respect.
Do not chew gum, smoke, eat or drink at the hanging. There will be plenty of opportunities at the reception afterwards. No whistling or humming, please.
It is not customary to applaud the executioner's handiwork, although a discreetly offered gratuity would not be out of place.
If the condemned is being burned alive, it is absolutely improper to toast marshmallows or roast wieners or otherwise use the fire for any purpose other than burning the condemned. At drawings and quarterings, do not gamble on which piece will be the biggest (place any such bets before the event, and never collect winnings at the site of the execution). At stonings, let the family members of the victims of the condemned have the first tosses. Don't go for a quick kill by showing off your rock throwing skills; rather, cooperate with others to extend the agony of the condemned so that more stone throwers will get a chance to be part of the execution. At decapitations, stand back far enough that you won't get blood on you. This is not a Gallagher performance, so you can't bring a tarp.
If these rules seem too complex, just think about how you would want to be murdered by the state and act accordingly.
Executioners should be silent and professional. Witnesses should be quiet and respectful, like at a golf match when the players are putting. Imagine that it is your mother that is being hanged. How would you like it if witnesses were noisy and heckling your mom's execution? You wouldn't, unless you really hated your mom, in which case you have other problems beyond the scope of this post.
Wear a tie, if you are a man, and a nice suit if you are a woman. A hood is de rigeur for the hangman.
Small children are out of place at hangings and are apt to disturb the other witnesses and the condemned with their mewling. Leave your pets at home as well.
Take off your hat if you are a man when the deed is being done. You are at a judicially sanctioned murder, for crying out loud, and you had best show some respect.
Do not chew gum, smoke, eat or drink at the hanging. There will be plenty of opportunities at the reception afterwards. No whistling or humming, please.
It is not customary to applaud the executioner's handiwork, although a discreetly offered gratuity would not be out of place.
If the condemned is being burned alive, it is absolutely improper to toast marshmallows or roast wieners or otherwise use the fire for any purpose other than burning the condemned. At drawings and quarterings, do not gamble on which piece will be the biggest (place any such bets before the event, and never collect winnings at the site of the execution). At stonings, let the family members of the victims of the condemned have the first tosses. Don't go for a quick kill by showing off your rock throwing skills; rather, cooperate with others to extend the agony of the condemned so that more stone throwers will get a chance to be part of the execution. At decapitations, stand back far enough that you won't get blood on you. This is not a Gallagher performance, so you can't bring a tarp.
If these rules seem too complex, just think about how you would want to be murdered by the state and act accordingly.
Which is Scarier?
Identify the bigger threat to world peace:
(a) a country that is enriching uranium for nuclear energy and is years away from enriching enough for weapons.
(b) a country that has nuclear weapons and is making noises about using them preemptively on the country described in (a) above.
(a) a country that is enriching uranium for nuclear energy and is years away from enriching enough for weapons.
(b) a country that has nuclear weapons and is making noises about using them preemptively on the country described in (a) above.
Friday, January 05, 2007
If Sex is so Great, Why Don't We Have More Sexes?
I’m reading Matt Ridley’s “The Red Queen” about the evolution of sex and its utility in reshuffling genes so as to thwart parasites. The “Red Queen” is an allusion to a character in a Lewis Carroll story. The Red Queen was always moving just to stay in the same place. Sexual species are always reshuffling just to stay abreast of corresponding evolutionary changes in parasites.
I was astonished to learn that some fungi have hundreds of sexes, and I am looking forward to finding out why we humans have only the two and are not all hermaphrodites. I can see why asexual reproduction would not be advantageous in an environment of predation and parasitism, but I don’t yet know why sexes don’t proliferate so that we can reproduce with more people. As it stands now, I can only reproduce with the just over half the population that is female. If there were three sexes, that would mean that two thirds of the population could reproduce with me, and I would be fitter, or so I think now not having read far enough in the book to find out why I’m wrong.
A three sex society could be interesting. Suppose that you had sexes A, B and C where A could impregnate B, B could impregnate C, and C could impregnate A. What would religious fundamentalists reckon would be the divinely sanctioned household organization? If everyone is potentially both a pitcher and a catcher, what would that do to notions of power in sexuality?
Everyone would have a slot and a tab, of course. If a B inserted his/her slot in an A’s tab, which would not contribute to reproduction, would that be wrong or deviant? Would folks go about complaining that it was “unnatural”? Presumably, the three sex species would be driven both to pitch and catch, so it is likely that threesomes would be common and that reverse slot to tab sex would be a substitute for a proper third party. There would still be same sex partners and threesomes, I reckon. Auto-erotica would doubtless still be practiced.
Porn would be way different. I imagine that orgies with chains of slots in tabs would be a common theme, and folks would fantasize about “making the beast with twelve backs”, “doing the horizontal conga”, or “making a benzene ring”. Strap-ons would not be in much demand.
Families would be different. An adult in a family might be mother to one and father to another child and genetically unrelated to a third child. Children could be full siblings or half siblings. Come to think of it, that’s not so different from the families that emerge from serial monogamy. I have a full sibling, a half sibling and several unrelated step-siblings, and I am a member of a two sex species. Extended kin would get weird and complicated.
In developed societies, ideal family size would be one child of each sex.
.
I was astonished to learn that some fungi have hundreds of sexes, and I am looking forward to finding out why we humans have only the two and are not all hermaphrodites. I can see why asexual reproduction would not be advantageous in an environment of predation and parasitism, but I don’t yet know why sexes don’t proliferate so that we can reproduce with more people. As it stands now, I can only reproduce with the just over half the population that is female. If there were three sexes, that would mean that two thirds of the population could reproduce with me, and I would be fitter, or so I think now not having read far enough in the book to find out why I’m wrong.
A three sex society could be interesting. Suppose that you had sexes A, B and C where A could impregnate B, B could impregnate C, and C could impregnate A. What would religious fundamentalists reckon would be the divinely sanctioned household organization? If everyone is potentially both a pitcher and a catcher, what would that do to notions of power in sexuality?
Everyone would have a slot and a tab, of course. If a B inserted his/her slot in an A’s tab, which would not contribute to reproduction, would that be wrong or deviant? Would folks go about complaining that it was “unnatural”? Presumably, the three sex species would be driven both to pitch and catch, so it is likely that threesomes would be common and that reverse slot to tab sex would be a substitute for a proper third party. There would still be same sex partners and threesomes, I reckon. Auto-erotica would doubtless still be practiced.
Porn would be way different. I imagine that orgies with chains of slots in tabs would be a common theme, and folks would fantasize about “making the beast with twelve backs”, “doing the horizontal conga”, or “making a benzene ring”. Strap-ons would not be in much demand.
Families would be different. An adult in a family might be mother to one and father to another child and genetically unrelated to a third child. Children could be full siblings or half siblings. Come to think of it, that’s not so different from the families that emerge from serial monogamy. I have a full sibling, a half sibling and several unrelated step-siblings, and I am a member of a two sex species. Extended kin would get weird and complicated.
In developed societies, ideal family size would be one child of each sex.
.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
More Mooching Parents
One of my conspecifics at work lives in Maplewood, NJ where middle schoolers have been so troublesome that the local library is closing for part of the day to keep them out: http://1010wins.com/pages/166312.php?contentType=4&contentId=277057
It turns out that the parents of these kids see the library as a free babysitting service, and they tell the kids to go to the library and hang out there until they can be picked up when the parents get off work. These are middle schoolers, so I reckon that they are beyond the age where they want constant surveillance. Are there no sandlots or parks for these kids to play in? Why can’t they just go home and hang out there?
These parents already foisted their kids on the public for most of the day since they attend a public middle school, and now they expect others to provide after school programs for them. Having kids is a great hobby, so I’m told, and it’s great if you can get other people to subsidize your entertainment (if you can live with yourself, that is).
My conspecific, who is understandably pissed at the prospect of more taxes, suggested that the situation was comparable to my saving money on a dog walker by taking my dogs to the town library every day and releasing them there.
It turns out that the parents of these kids see the library as a free babysitting service, and they tell the kids to go to the library and hang out there until they can be picked up when the parents get off work. These are middle schoolers, so I reckon that they are beyond the age where they want constant surveillance. Are there no sandlots or parks for these kids to play in? Why can’t they just go home and hang out there?
These parents already foisted their kids on the public for most of the day since they attend a public middle school, and now they expect others to provide after school programs for them. Having kids is a great hobby, so I’m told, and it’s great if you can get other people to subsidize your entertainment (if you can live with yourself, that is).
My conspecific, who is understandably pissed at the prospect of more taxes, suggested that the situation was comparable to my saving money on a dog walker by taking my dogs to the town library every day and releasing them there.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Free Advice for Parents: Maximize the Elves
Parents have a pretty good weapon in the notion that Santa Claus has children under constant surveillance and that the quantity and quality of Christmas presents are functions of how good the children have been. I know some parents who claim to have Santa on speed dial and threaten to call him and rat out their kids when they’re bad. The best part is that this tool is available when kids cannot be reasoned with when they are small and stupid.
The down side is that parents can’t keep the charade up forever. Moreover, it only works at most in the three months leading up to Christmas. I reckon parents could keep the elf surveillance system on their kids’ minds and working for them for the better part of the year if they worked at it a little. I would tie it in with birthdays and other events. Let your kids know that Santa and the Easter Bunny share intelligence, that you are in regular contact with Santa and that you receive reports on their goodness level, especially when a birthday is coming up.
Parents also make the mistake of assuming that kids won’t figure out that they get presents even when they are bad and that even their worst behaved siblings and friends get pretty good presents every Christmas notwithstanding their evildoing. They begin to have doubts about the elf surveillance system’s efficacy, and the whole thing begins to unravel. Every now and then, let one or more of your kids wake up on Christmas morning to no presents or, at most, socks or a sweater. Their siblings will revel in their fantastic gifts while the target child is reinforced with the idea that Santa knows what he or she has been up to. The lesson won’t be lost on the others, either.
How do you choose which of your children to target in any given year? One way is to pick the one that you are pretty sure has been the worst behaved in the previous year. If you aren’t sure, just pick randomly. Your kids have done a lot of stuff that you don’t know about, and they’ll just figure that they are getting their comeuppance.
This program will strengthen the elf surveillance program child control strategy and may actually help to extend the time that it works on your kids.
The down side is that parents can’t keep the charade up forever. Moreover, it only works at most in the three months leading up to Christmas. I reckon parents could keep the elf surveillance system on their kids’ minds and working for them for the better part of the year if they worked at it a little. I would tie it in with birthdays and other events. Let your kids know that Santa and the Easter Bunny share intelligence, that you are in regular contact with Santa and that you receive reports on their goodness level, especially when a birthday is coming up.
Parents also make the mistake of assuming that kids won’t figure out that they get presents even when they are bad and that even their worst behaved siblings and friends get pretty good presents every Christmas notwithstanding their evildoing. They begin to have doubts about the elf surveillance system’s efficacy, and the whole thing begins to unravel. Every now and then, let one or more of your kids wake up on Christmas morning to no presents or, at most, socks or a sweater. Their siblings will revel in their fantastic gifts while the target child is reinforced with the idea that Santa knows what he or she has been up to. The lesson won’t be lost on the others, either.
How do you choose which of your children to target in any given year? One way is to pick the one that you are pretty sure has been the worst behaved in the previous year. If you aren’t sure, just pick randomly. Your kids have done a lot of stuff that you don’t know about, and they’ll just figure that they are getting their comeuppance.
This program will strengthen the elf surveillance program child control strategy and may actually help to extend the time that it works on your kids.
The Universe Could Be Only Six Days Old
If Kirk Cameron wants to believe that the universe is a tad over 6,000 years old and that evolution and cosmology and most of science are elaborate demonic hoaxes, then who am I to stand in his way? Belief is involuntary, so he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter, and I reckon that the marketplace of ideas can handle this one just fine. Besides, it’s not as if the world has lost a great scientific mind to creationism. Kirk Cameron was never going to be a scientist, and folks who believe as Kirk believes wouldn’t make good scientists, either. In a way, Kirk and his ilk are doing the world a favor by helping us identify folks who should be discouraged from scientific endeavors.
I suppose that an agnostic creationist could be a passable scientist. By this I mean a person who believes in the whole 6,000 year old universe thing but who acknowledges that it is not susceptible to scientific proof. That person could apply the canons of science and do scientific work without necessarily believing in the metaphysical truth of falsity of the results, and he wouldn’t be looking to make his observations fit into his young earth paradigm. This could conceivably happen, provided that the agnostic creationist could get past the gatekeepers of the profession, which he couldn’t. He would likely be relegated to some fringe institution where any effort to do science independent of the preferred creation myth would not be well received.
Let’s suppose that I believe that the entire universe, with its appearance of great antiquity and everything in it pointing to a history, spontaneously came into being last Thursday. This is highly improbable, but it is not entirely impossible that this is so and that all my personal memories from before the creation of the universe are just so many false patterns in my newly minted brain. Kirk Cameron never really acted in “Growing Pains” even though I think that I remember his artistic oeuvre as actually happening. No. He came into being last Thursday just like everyone else complete with a fabricated past that will fool him into thinking that the universe is at least several millennia old. Poor deluded sap.
What harm does my Last Thursday Creation idea do? I’m not a professional scientist. I’m pretty sure that I can’t prove that the universe came into being last Thursday, so I’m not going to advocate any kind of Last Thursday Creation Science or demand that it receive full attention in government schools. Others may insist on the teaching of LTCS (it already has an acronym!) and be publicly and vocally skeptical of the 6,000 year old universe theory and those other theories that rely on the appearance that the universe is billions of year old. Even then, what harm could come of the adoption of the belief in LTC by a substantial number of people? None, as long as they don’t become so numerous that they endeavor to impose this belief on others by force.
I reckon that LTC will never become such a potent force as to overwhelm the marketplace of ideas. It has to compete with Last Wednesday Creationism, 3/15/1992 Creationism, Biblical Creationism, and science. Even the adherents of LTC will break into schisms, based on which hour of the day creation took place. The Last Thursday Morning Creationists won’t even be on speaking terms with the Last Thursday Late Afternoon About Sixish Creationists.
I suppose that an agnostic creationist could be a passable scientist. By this I mean a person who believes in the whole 6,000 year old universe thing but who acknowledges that it is not susceptible to scientific proof. That person could apply the canons of science and do scientific work without necessarily believing in the metaphysical truth of falsity of the results, and he wouldn’t be looking to make his observations fit into his young earth paradigm. This could conceivably happen, provided that the agnostic creationist could get past the gatekeepers of the profession, which he couldn’t. He would likely be relegated to some fringe institution where any effort to do science independent of the preferred creation myth would not be well received.
Let’s suppose that I believe that the entire universe, with its appearance of great antiquity and everything in it pointing to a history, spontaneously came into being last Thursday. This is highly improbable, but it is not entirely impossible that this is so and that all my personal memories from before the creation of the universe are just so many false patterns in my newly minted brain. Kirk Cameron never really acted in “Growing Pains” even though I think that I remember his artistic oeuvre as actually happening. No. He came into being last Thursday just like everyone else complete with a fabricated past that will fool him into thinking that the universe is at least several millennia old. Poor deluded sap.
What harm does my Last Thursday Creation idea do? I’m not a professional scientist. I’m pretty sure that I can’t prove that the universe came into being last Thursday, so I’m not going to advocate any kind of Last Thursday Creation Science or demand that it receive full attention in government schools. Others may insist on the teaching of LTCS (it already has an acronym!) and be publicly and vocally skeptical of the 6,000 year old universe theory and those other theories that rely on the appearance that the universe is billions of year old. Even then, what harm could come of the adoption of the belief in LTC by a substantial number of people? None, as long as they don’t become so numerous that they endeavor to impose this belief on others by force.
I reckon that LTC will never become such a potent force as to overwhelm the marketplace of ideas. It has to compete with Last Wednesday Creationism, 3/15/1992 Creationism, Biblical Creationism, and science. Even the adherents of LTC will break into schisms, based on which hour of the day creation took place. The Last Thursday Morning Creationists won’t even be on speaking terms with the Last Thursday Late Afternoon About Sixish Creationists.
Wherein I Reluctantly Accede to the Necessity to Hang Politicians
I’m not an advocate for capital punishment, but James Bovard makes a pretty good case for applying it to presidents: http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/02/what-if-nixon-had-been-hanged/
If Nixon had been tried and punished for his many crimes, would that not have deterred later politicians and high ranking officials from engaging in similar wrongdoing? What if aiding and abetting death squads in El Salvador had been punished as accessory to murder? If everyone responsible for the mass murder at Waco, right up to Janet Reno, had swung for their crimes, wouldn’t that have had a chilling effect on the excesses of abusive cops thereafter? If Clinton thought that he might be held accountable for bombing folks in the Balkans, would he have undertaken that campaign?
If Presidents and their minions had been held to account over the last few decades, GW Bush would never have even run for office, what with its being so much less fun for sadistic bastards like him and his henchmen. The hangman would be busy indeed if the logic applied to the condemnation of Saddam Hussein were applied to the Bush administration.
I hate granting the state the authority to kill people, but I might just twist myself into an intellectual pretzel to rationalize making exceptions for politicians. No, I'm going to stand my moral ground and oppose hanging even folks in the current regime. It's not that I would go on a hunger strike or launch a protest or anything. I'd just refrain from going to the hanging and cheering the executioners on.
And for lesser offenders, such as those in the senior executive service who have not been complicit in murder, let’s consider bringing back tar and feathers and the riding out of town on rails. There is really no need to hang every official.
If Nixon had been tried and punished for his many crimes, would that not have deterred later politicians and high ranking officials from engaging in similar wrongdoing? What if aiding and abetting death squads in El Salvador had been punished as accessory to murder? If everyone responsible for the mass murder at Waco, right up to Janet Reno, had swung for their crimes, wouldn’t that have had a chilling effect on the excesses of abusive cops thereafter? If Clinton thought that he might be held accountable for bombing folks in the Balkans, would he have undertaken that campaign?
If Presidents and their minions had been held to account over the last few decades, GW Bush would never have even run for office, what with its being so much less fun for sadistic bastards like him and his henchmen. The hangman would be busy indeed if the logic applied to the condemnation of Saddam Hussein were applied to the Bush administration.
I hate granting the state the authority to kill people, but I might just twist myself into an intellectual pretzel to rationalize making exceptions for politicians. No, I'm going to stand my moral ground and oppose hanging even folks in the current regime. It's not that I would go on a hunger strike or launch a protest or anything. I'd just refrain from going to the hanging and cheering the executioners on.
And for lesser offenders, such as those in the senior executive service who have not been complicit in murder, let’s consider bringing back tar and feathers and the riding out of town on rails. There is really no need to hang every official.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Progress Report
Despite working out religiously and eating sensibly, I did not lose any weight in December. Not an ounce. This is pretty frustrating, and I reckon that I need to eat even more sensibly and work out even harder if I am to leave the ranks of the morbidly obese other than in a box. Here’s my plan for victory: cut out most carbs and add some more cardio workouts to my routine. I aim to lose 10 pounds by the end of January even if I have to go on Scarsdale to do it (shudder).
On the positive side of things, I am getting progressively stronger and fitter, albeit slowly. The gym has become a good habit, and there is little risk now that I will skip workouts because I enjoy them so much. I have made a huge change in eating habits by having balanced meals that include vegetables. I have cut out snacking and most sweets (other than fresh fruit). I no longer overeat at meals and stop when I have finished my allotted portions.
On the positive side of things, I am getting progressively stronger and fitter, albeit slowly. The gym has become a good habit, and there is little risk now that I will skip workouts because I enjoy them so much. I have made a huge change in eating habits by having balanced meals that include vegetables. I have cut out snacking and most sweets (other than fresh fruit). I no longer overeat at meals and stop when I have finished my allotted portions.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Maintaining Public Confidence is not a Good Thing
John Markley reckons Gerald Ford’s biggest contribution was also his biggest failing: http://thesuperfluousman.blogspot.com/2006/12/maintaining-public-trust.html. What he said.
Ford “maintained public confidence” in government by pardoning Nixon. This was a good thing if you were among the power elite and their parasitic toadies. It was a bad thing for everybody else. The spectacle of Nixon on trial for his wrongdoing, Reagan on trial for Iran-Contra, or Bush on trial for any number of things would help the people lose their irrational and counterproductive confidence in government.
It is the duty of every right thinking individual to do all that he peacably can to undermine public confidence in the government.
Ford “maintained public confidence” in government by pardoning Nixon. This was a good thing if you were among the power elite and their parasitic toadies. It was a bad thing for everybody else. The spectacle of Nixon on trial for his wrongdoing, Reagan on trial for Iran-Contra, or Bush on trial for any number of things would help the people lose their irrational and counterproductive confidence in government.
It is the duty of every right thinking individual to do all that he peacably can to undermine public confidence in the government.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
I Don't Care If You Want to Practice Polygamy. Good Luck with That.
Polls consistently show that Americans overwhelmingly oppose the practice of polygamy. I read somewhere that as many as 92% of Americans hold this opinion. Since that is the case, it hardly seems necessary to have laws outlawing polygamy since so few folks would practice it that it wouldn’t have any of the supposed deleterious societal impacts such as a surfeit of unmarried young men.
What’s that you say? You not only oppose polygamy for yourself but you don’t think anyone else should practice it, either? You are willing to use violence to stop someone else from taking on more than one spouse at a time? Even a total stranger whose practices don’t affect you in any way?
Seriously, why should I care about the composition of someone else’s household? In what way am I harmed by polygamy or gay marriage or any other voluntary arrangement that folks try out for themselves?
Now that I have abused the device of the rhetorical question shamelessly, let me make my point plainly: except for its constituents, it’s nobody’s business how you organize your household.
I recall a church leader who explained his condemnation of homosexuals by saying that they were not living the “perfect plan of God” for their lives and that he could not tolerate that. Who is, Churchy? I am afraid of folks who will not rest until they have seen to it that God’s perfect plan, as they see it, is fulfilled in everyone. I don’t know what God’s plan is for everyone. I don’t even know what it is for myself most of the time, so I don’t reckon it makes sense for me to go around interfering in other folks’ lives, particularly through threats of violence.
A conspecific at the office defended outlawing polygamy on the basis that it would be “confusing” for inheritance and employee benefits and such. It need be no more confusing than serial monogamy. Moreover, such a legitimization of interference in household structure would apply as well to monogamous families and other arrangements.
How do so many of my conspecifics move with such facility from the proposition “I like/dislike A” to “the state must promote/outlaw A”? The second proposition rarely follows from the first, if ever. It is usually an absurd leap.
What’s that you say? You not only oppose polygamy for yourself but you don’t think anyone else should practice it, either? You are willing to use violence to stop someone else from taking on more than one spouse at a time? Even a total stranger whose practices don’t affect you in any way?
Seriously, why should I care about the composition of someone else’s household? In what way am I harmed by polygamy or gay marriage or any other voluntary arrangement that folks try out for themselves?
Now that I have abused the device of the rhetorical question shamelessly, let me make my point plainly: except for its constituents, it’s nobody’s business how you organize your household.
I recall a church leader who explained his condemnation of homosexuals by saying that they were not living the “perfect plan of God” for their lives and that he could not tolerate that. Who is, Churchy? I am afraid of folks who will not rest until they have seen to it that God’s perfect plan, as they see it, is fulfilled in everyone. I don’t know what God’s plan is for everyone. I don’t even know what it is for myself most of the time, so I don’t reckon it makes sense for me to go around interfering in other folks’ lives, particularly through threats of violence.
A conspecific at the office defended outlawing polygamy on the basis that it would be “confusing” for inheritance and employee benefits and such. It need be no more confusing than serial monogamy. Moreover, such a legitimization of interference in household structure would apply as well to monogamous families and other arrangements.
How do so many of my conspecifics move with such facility from the proposition “I like/dislike A” to “the state must promote/outlaw A”? The second proposition rarely follows from the first, if ever. It is usually an absurd leap.
I Hate Guilt
I think I need to increase the amount of Zoloft I take. I am fairly happy right now and much blessed, but I am also engaging in a little compulsive behavior (incessant doodling and list making) as well as experiencing unwelcome pangs of guilt over my many wrongdoings over the years, including minor schoolyard offenses. The doodling occupies the mind to keep out the unpleasant memories. Along with the pangs of guilt about the past, I am also feeling a lot of guilt about not doing more for the poor and downtrodden and imprisoned among us. I suppose that I am feeling that I don’t deserve to be happy and that some catastrophe is bound to befall me to set things right and bring on me the misery that I truly merit. Thanks a lot, Southern Baptists, for inculcating in me such a powerful sense of guilt and a keen awareness of my own worthlessness.
Of course, the guilt would be more efficacious if it actually deterred me from stupid or malicious actions. As it is, it just makes me feel bad about the stupid and malicious things that I am going to do anyway. It really makes no sense with respect to events in the distant past that I cannot now remedy. I take solace that God does not hold my sins against me even though I seem to do so mercilessly. And it is some comfort to realize that I have always done what it was foreordained from the beginning of time that I would do, so none of it is really my fault in a cosmic sense.
I reckon that this is a foretaste of hell as I conceive of it. Those of us with lots of sins will spend eternity making it up to those against whom we have sinned, either by omission or commission. We won’t enjoy paradise nearly as much as folks like Mother Theresa or St Francis. For some, say Hitler or Stalin, paradise will be agony.
Life is going well, and my blessings are manifold, but I have to work around my guilt mechanism to take pleasure in them.
Of course, the guilt would be more efficacious if it actually deterred me from stupid or malicious actions. As it is, it just makes me feel bad about the stupid and malicious things that I am going to do anyway. It really makes no sense with respect to events in the distant past that I cannot now remedy. I take solace that God does not hold my sins against me even though I seem to do so mercilessly. And it is some comfort to realize that I have always done what it was foreordained from the beginning of time that I would do, so none of it is really my fault in a cosmic sense.
I reckon that this is a foretaste of hell as I conceive of it. Those of us with lots of sins will spend eternity making it up to those against whom we have sinned, either by omission or commission. We won’t enjoy paradise nearly as much as folks like Mother Theresa or St Francis. For some, say Hitler or Stalin, paradise will be agony.
Life is going well, and my blessings are manifold, but I have to work around my guilt mechanism to take pleasure in them.
Global Dimming: Another Reason to Take Zoloft
I watched a nature documentary last night. It turns out that, in addition to global warming, the earth has experienced significant “global dimming”. Visible particles of pollutants in the atmosphere block the sun and cause clouds to be more reflective such that some areas of the planet have seen a 30% decrease in solar energy within the last 30 years. The “good news” is that global dimming has countered about half of the global warming the earth would have experienced without it. The “bad news” is that visible pollutants have been reduced while greenhouses gases have not, so we are looking at a possible acceleration of global warming such that I may actually be inconvenienced by it in my lifetime.
Global dimming and the pollutants that cause it are bad for respiratory health. Moreover, it plays havoc with the monsoon system and may be responsible for monsoon failure in the Sahel in the 1980s and the ensuing famine in Ethiopia. Sorry about that, Africans. We didn’t know that our energy consumption and pollution would kill so many of you. Our bad.
China and India are developing rapidly and just starting to pump visible pollutants into the atmosphere on a massive scale. On the one hand, this may mitigate global warming. On the other hand, they may just screw up their monsoon system on which billions of folks in Asia rely. We’re talking famine and misery on a huge scale as well as lots of respiratory disease.
The good news is that global dimming is reversible with reductions in the output of pollutants. The bad news is that humans are not up to the task of doing this until it is too late. The additional bad news is that global warming is worse than we thought.
Global dimming and the pollutants that cause it are bad for respiratory health. Moreover, it plays havoc with the monsoon system and may be responsible for monsoon failure in the Sahel in the 1980s and the ensuing famine in Ethiopia. Sorry about that, Africans. We didn’t know that our energy consumption and pollution would kill so many of you. Our bad.
China and India are developing rapidly and just starting to pump visible pollutants into the atmosphere on a massive scale. On the one hand, this may mitigate global warming. On the other hand, they may just screw up their monsoon system on which billions of folks in Asia rely. We’re talking famine and misery on a huge scale as well as lots of respiratory disease.
The good news is that global dimming is reversible with reductions in the output of pollutants. The bad news is that humans are not up to the task of doing this until it is too late. The additional bad news is that global warming is worse than we thought.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
US and Sudan Allies
I am not at all surprised that the USG and the murderous gang that runs Sudan are “allies”: http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/37/11283
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Poughkeepsie Journal Owes Me 50 cents Plus Punitives
I nominate for most worthless newspaper in the country the “Poughkeepsie Journal”. The problems with the paper are legion, not the least of which is publication of Michelle Malkin’s “column”. The presence of Malkin’s hateful, toxic spew should be accompanied by a prominent warning so that unsuspecting folks don’t accidentally buy the paper. I would never knowingly patronize a paper that printed Malkin, so I felt defrauded.
Bush Needs to Do It Himself
Those damn generals just don’t get it. GW Bush aims to “win” in Iraq and salvage for himself a glorious legacy instead of going down in history as an incompetent cipher of the neocon death cult. There’s nothing for it but for GW, as commander in chief, to follow the precedent set by Geo Washington and lead the “surge” he is set on himself. He is going to have to delegate domestic stuff to Dick Cheney or some other underlings and go to Baghdad and handle this thing himself. Nobody else seems to have the vision or the will to win, and apparently nobody else has the required deciding capabilities to get the job done.
When he goes, he needs to take with him a cadre of volunteers itching for action and slavishly devoted to the cause. Forget the military; it’s broken. He’s going to have to put out a call for volunteer regiments of irregulars, like the Rough Riders in 1898. Based on the number of pro-war bloggers and pundits and war apologists at Fox “News” alone, he ought to be able to put together a goodly force of raving warmongers to lead the surge out of the Green Zone and secure Iraq and bestow democracy upon it even if they have to kill every man, woman and child in that country.
Seriously, the neocons must have a plan for the war they manufactured. Now’s their chance to put it into action without having to rely on the insufficiently indoctrinated military. With their glorious leader right out front with his troubadour Tony Snow by his side composing epic poetry for the occasion, they will be so inspired as to be unbeatable. In any event, they will be willing to fight to the death of the last man and woman among them.
When he goes, he needs to take with him a cadre of volunteers itching for action and slavishly devoted to the cause. Forget the military; it’s broken. He’s going to have to put out a call for volunteer regiments of irregulars, like the Rough Riders in 1898. Based on the number of pro-war bloggers and pundits and war apologists at Fox “News” alone, he ought to be able to put together a goodly force of raving warmongers to lead the surge out of the Green Zone and secure Iraq and bestow democracy upon it even if they have to kill every man, woman and child in that country.
Seriously, the neocons must have a plan for the war they manufactured. Now’s their chance to put it into action without having to rely on the insufficiently indoctrinated military. With their glorious leader right out front with his troubadour Tony Snow by his side composing epic poetry for the occasion, they will be so inspired as to be unbeatable. In any event, they will be willing to fight to the death of the last man and woman among them.
Happy Boxing Day
My favorite Christmas movie is “A Christmas Carol” or “Scrooge”, particularly the 1951 version with Alistair Sim: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044008/. Unfortunately, the Dickens inspired classic seems to have fallen out of favor. Even “It’s a Wonderful Life” doesn’t get the play it used to. “A Christmas Story” about young Ralphie’s desire for a BB-gun seems to be the new classic.
This year, I caught most of a version of “A Christmas Carol” with Scrooge played by Patrick Stewart. It was pretty good, not as good as the 1951 version, but it satisfied the Scrooge craving.
One of my favorite SNL skits involved imagining the consequences of Scrooge’s change of heart a year later. Everybody took advantage of and abused his generosity. Cratchit was chronically tardy and unproductive. Charities hounded Scrooge relentlessly. His business was going to hell. It was pretty funny, but I don’t imagine that is how Scrooge’s life turned out
Scrooge gained by his opening himself to others and to community. His firm, which he had devoted his life to building, would have continuity even after his death as Scrooge involved his nephew Fred and Bob’s son in the business. What would have become of Scrooge & Marley, Ltd had Scrooge died a lonely miser?
Scrooge began to take pleasure in his wealth by sharing it and allowing himself to live more completely. He became part of his church, his neighborhood, his family, and the business community. He did so freely and without resentment borne of obligation. As he aged and grew feeble, he could rely on the support of loved ones, and he could go to his rest knowing that he would be remembered fondly and that he had made a difference in the world.
This doesn’t mean that he became a socialist or rejected his capitalist ways. On the contrary, he kept the firm going and expanded it. He would have known from the spirits’ lessons that the state was not the answer to the evils that came in the wake of the Industrial Revolution (and there were evils, mind you, as well as good from this transition); rather, it would be voluntary person to person love and engagement that would ameliorate the bad conditions identified by Dickens. And he would have spent his money on himself and others instead of hoarding it with a positive impact on the local economy.
I suspect that I like “A Christmas Story” so much because it holds out the hope of redemption and conversion. Although I am not a miser, being more a spendthrift, I am, like Scrooge, cut off emotionally and socially from my fellow human beings more than I would like to be and more than I ought to be. I am terribly challenged by this and sometimes don’t know where to begin to remedy it. On the one hand, I crave community; yet, on the other hand, I shun it and its demands.
This year, I caught most of a version of “A Christmas Carol” with Scrooge played by Patrick Stewart. It was pretty good, not as good as the 1951 version, but it satisfied the Scrooge craving.
One of my favorite SNL skits involved imagining the consequences of Scrooge’s change of heart a year later. Everybody took advantage of and abused his generosity. Cratchit was chronically tardy and unproductive. Charities hounded Scrooge relentlessly. His business was going to hell. It was pretty funny, but I don’t imagine that is how Scrooge’s life turned out
Scrooge gained by his opening himself to others and to community. His firm, which he had devoted his life to building, would have continuity even after his death as Scrooge involved his nephew Fred and Bob’s son in the business. What would have become of Scrooge & Marley, Ltd had Scrooge died a lonely miser?
Scrooge began to take pleasure in his wealth by sharing it and allowing himself to live more completely. He became part of his church, his neighborhood, his family, and the business community. He did so freely and without resentment borne of obligation. As he aged and grew feeble, he could rely on the support of loved ones, and he could go to his rest knowing that he would be remembered fondly and that he had made a difference in the world.
This doesn’t mean that he became a socialist or rejected his capitalist ways. On the contrary, he kept the firm going and expanded it. He would have known from the spirits’ lessons that the state was not the answer to the evils that came in the wake of the Industrial Revolution (and there were evils, mind you, as well as good from this transition); rather, it would be voluntary person to person love and engagement that would ameliorate the bad conditions identified by Dickens. And he would have spent his money on himself and others instead of hoarding it with a positive impact on the local economy.
I suspect that I like “A Christmas Story” so much because it holds out the hope of redemption and conversion. Although I am not a miser, being more a spendthrift, I am, like Scrooge, cut off emotionally and socially from my fellow human beings more than I would like to be and more than I ought to be. I am terribly challenged by this and sometimes don’t know where to begin to remedy it. On the one hand, I crave community; yet, on the other hand, I shun it and its demands.
Friday, December 22, 2006
The Halls Are Decked
Last week, Mrs Vache Folle broke out the soap dish shaped like a Christmas tree. That really set a holiday tone at Chez Folle, provided you use the downstairs bathroom. I know it’s there, so the good cheer that it brings lingers even when I am not in the room with it. I reckon Mrs VF is a Christmas nut after all just like her mother.
Some Good Things About the Donald
He was cute when he was little.
He donated land for the “Donald J. Trump State Park” which I drive through every day: http://www.ny.gov/governor/press/06/0419061.html
He worked it so Miss USA could at least keep her crown, albeit at the cost of her dignity. (As far as I’m concerned, if Miss USA wants to drink and smooch with other women, more power to her. )
He donated land for the “Donald J. Trump State Park” which I drive through every day: http://www.ny.gov/governor/press/06/0419061.html
He worked it so Miss USA could at least keep her crown, albeit at the cost of her dignity. (As far as I’m concerned, if Miss USA wants to drink and smooch with other women, more power to her. )
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Islamofascism, Schmislamofascism
I can’t bring myself to read right wing blogs. I find them too toxic and brain destroying. Besides, tbogg http://tbogg.blogspot.com/ and the folks on his blogroll do a fine job of encapsulating what the wingnuts are talking about and in an entertaining manner.
It turns out that wingnuts live in a bizarre fantasy world where, among other things, Western Civilization is under siege by Islamofascists hell bent on establishing a Muslim caliphate from Indonesia to Spain and beyond. I can almost hear that movie trailer announcer: “In a world embroiled in a titanic clash of civilizations, a handful of brave right wing bloggers was all that stood between the West and the Islamofascist horde.”
Great googly moogly! This is bats**t insane, tin foil hat kind of stuff. I’m not sure what to make of this. Some of these wingnuts have degrees from good schools and appear to be basically literate, so it is hard to imagine that they are just plain stupid, although I won’t rule this out for some of them.
Let’s imagine for the sake of discussion that the wingnuts really believe this stuff. That means that they are (a) crazy; (b) crazy; or (c) crazy. It’s a paranoid delusion, plain and simple, and I reckon that some wingnut bloggers fall into the crazy category.
Another category would be those wingnut bloggers who know that the whole clash of civilizations thing is a crock of type 7 pooh but who promote it because it advances the authoritarian agenda that they serve. They reckon that if they can scare enough of the sheeple with this nonsense, they can influence them to acquiesce in all kinds of bad policy and power grabs. I call this category, the “evil” wingnuts. They could still be crazy, of course, but they don’t happen to be deluded about the Islamofascist threat.
Why do I even bother distinguishing between those who are crazy and those who are evil? Don’t they have the same impact? True, but the crazy ones, with medication, might be cured of their delusion; whereas, the evil ones would require years of reeducation in the camps after the revolution.
It turns out that wingnuts live in a bizarre fantasy world where, among other things, Western Civilization is under siege by Islamofascists hell bent on establishing a Muslim caliphate from Indonesia to Spain and beyond. I can almost hear that movie trailer announcer: “In a world embroiled in a titanic clash of civilizations, a handful of brave right wing bloggers was all that stood between the West and the Islamofascist horde.”
Great googly moogly! This is bats**t insane, tin foil hat kind of stuff. I’m not sure what to make of this. Some of these wingnuts have degrees from good schools and appear to be basically literate, so it is hard to imagine that they are just plain stupid, although I won’t rule this out for some of them.
Let’s imagine for the sake of discussion that the wingnuts really believe this stuff. That means that they are (a) crazy; (b) crazy; or (c) crazy. It’s a paranoid delusion, plain and simple, and I reckon that some wingnut bloggers fall into the crazy category.
Another category would be those wingnut bloggers who know that the whole clash of civilizations thing is a crock of type 7 pooh but who promote it because it advances the authoritarian agenda that they serve. They reckon that if they can scare enough of the sheeple with this nonsense, they can influence them to acquiesce in all kinds of bad policy and power grabs. I call this category, the “evil” wingnuts. They could still be crazy, of course, but they don’t happen to be deluded about the Islamofascist threat.
Why do I even bother distinguishing between those who are crazy and those who are evil? Don’t they have the same impact? True, but the crazy ones, with medication, might be cured of their delusion; whereas, the evil ones would require years of reeducation in the camps after the revolution.
Statism as Slomming
“The Soup” aired this insane anti-drug/smoking/what the hell public service ad: http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/the-ads/slom.htm
The premise is that kids have started “slomming” derived from the acronym for Sticking Leeches On Myself. The leeches stand in for drugs or smoking, get it? Neither did I.
BW Richardson’s recent post uses leeches as the perfect metaphor for government: http://bwrmontag.blogspot.com/2006/12/government-as-big-fat-leech.html
If you reimagine the ad about slomming as antigovernment, it starts to make sense.
The premise is that kids have started “slomming” derived from the acronym for Sticking Leeches On Myself. The leeches stand in for drugs or smoking, get it? Neither did I.
BW Richardson’s recent post uses leeches as the perfect metaphor for government: http://bwrmontag.blogspot.com/2006/12/government-as-big-fat-leech.html
If you reimagine the ad about slomming as antigovernment, it starts to make sense.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
It Has Cost Almost $12 Million Per Insurgent Killed
According to this site, the war in Iraq has as of this moment cost about $352 billion: http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182
I recently heard that the US claims to have killed 15,000-30,000 insurgents, Iraqi military and foreign fighters in the course of the war. If you take the largest number of people whom the US says that it intended to kill and divide the total cost per death, the cost per enemy killed is over $11.7 million!
Wouldn't it be cheaper just to pay Iraqis to be peaceful?
I recently heard that the US claims to have killed 15,000-30,000 insurgents, Iraqi military and foreign fighters in the course of the war. If you take the largest number of people whom the US says that it intended to kill and divide the total cost per death, the cost per enemy killed is over $11.7 million!
Wouldn't it be cheaper just to pay Iraqis to be peaceful?
My Plan for Iraq
My plan for Iraq has been consistent for years. In early 2003, my plan was “don’t invade Iraq”, but once the invasion was accomplished, I immediately adopted the “leave Iraq now” plan. My reasoning was that nothing good could come of occupying Iraq and that the US would eventually have to leave without accomplishing anything other than killing a lot of people and breaking their stuff and damaging national security. It followed that the US should minimize its losses by leaving at once so as not to waste additional lives and money. Every moment that the occupation continues means wasted lives and treasure, so the “leave Iraq now” plan is as sound as ever.
If the US leaves Iraq now, it can do far more good by using a fraction of the funds that it squanders on the occupation in providing incentives and means to Iraqis to rebuild and establish peace on terms that have been devised by Iraqis for themselves. Of course, I would rather the war profiteers footed the bill for this than for taxpayers to bear the burden, but even public funding of aid to Iraq would cost far less to the taxpayers than the military activities do now.
In addition, the US ought to take steps to make it structurally difficult to become embroiled in disasters like Iraq. For example, I regard the indebtedness of the US arising from the war in Iraq as an especially “odious debt” which the American people would be justified to repudiate (all the debt is odious as far as I am concerned, but even statists acknowledge some kinds of debts as subject to repudiation). Investors in US debt instruments may be considered to be on notice of the dubious legitimacy of this debt. It is important to repudiate such debt because it will make financing of such misadventures in the future more difficult.
Moreover, I regard the masterminds of the war in Iraq as criminals who ought to face justice, and I would not object to their being hauled before some kind of tribunal. Bringing the warmongers to justice is important to serve as a deterrent to future politicians and bureaucrats.
If the US leaves Iraq now, it can do far more good by using a fraction of the funds that it squanders on the occupation in providing incentives and means to Iraqis to rebuild and establish peace on terms that have been devised by Iraqis for themselves. Of course, I would rather the war profiteers footed the bill for this than for taxpayers to bear the burden, but even public funding of aid to Iraq would cost far less to the taxpayers than the military activities do now.
In addition, the US ought to take steps to make it structurally difficult to become embroiled in disasters like Iraq. For example, I regard the indebtedness of the US arising from the war in Iraq as an especially “odious debt” which the American people would be justified to repudiate (all the debt is odious as far as I am concerned, but even statists acknowledge some kinds of debts as subject to repudiation). Investors in US debt instruments may be considered to be on notice of the dubious legitimacy of this debt. It is important to repudiate such debt because it will make financing of such misadventures in the future more difficult.
Moreover, I regard the masterminds of the war in Iraq as criminals who ought to face justice, and I would not object to their being hauled before some kind of tribunal. Bringing the warmongers to justice is important to serve as a deterrent to future politicians and bureaucrats.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Useful Stool Chart
In looking up some information about diarrhea, I came upon this highly useful chart in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diarrhea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Stool_Chart
Now when I want to talk about my stools (as I surely will as I get older), I will be able to refer to type number rather than getting into a detailed description. Today and for the last several days, type 7 has been my lot, and I read in Wikipedia that this could be due to cholera. I have diagnosed myself with fructose malabsorption brought on by fruit juice and an excess of bad white wine from a box. Oh well. It is what it is.
Over twenty years ago, I consulted a nutritionist to help me combat hypercholesterolemia with which I had been diagnosed at that time. She gave me good advice and told me that I could track my progress by examining my stool production. The object was to eat in such a manner as to result in the production of the "perfect stool". I remember right, we were going for a type 3. In addition, it had to float, be a light brown in color, and break up during flushing. It took months, but one day I achieved stool perfection. I let out a whoop and called Mrs Vache Folle to come and admire my masterpiece. She not only declined to take a gander at el perfecto, but she would not even let me take a picture of it for my scrapbook. I reckon that her pooh-poohing of my achievement back then led me to go off my healthy diet and to return to my bad eating habits. That's the ticket. It's Mrs VF's fault that I am overweight and have maintained the diet of a puma for most of the last two decades. I am blameless. She should have supported me in my hobby.
A Slight Breakthrough
I had a breakthrough with one of my statist conspecifics the other day at lunch. I was complaining that my town spent tax dollars on frivolities like Christmas trees and lights, and one woman remarked that she liked it when her town had those things. I asked her if she liked it so much that she would be willing to hire armed goons to shake her neighbors down for the money to do it. Another conspecific chimed in and said that my characterization was unfair because, as he put it, “you can say thing about anything government does”. “Precisely!” said I. We should have the state do only those things that we consider so important that we would be willing to set goons on our neighbors to get them done. “That’s the problem with democracy,” mused my conspecific. “We don’t think about what we are doing in those terms.” This is as close as I have ever come to getting my conspecifics to understand where I am coming from in my anti-government stance.
Business Entertainment
In my last post, I hinted a little about my distaste for business dinners. When I travel on business, I don’t expect the folks I’m visiting to entertain me after work hours. I am pretty sure that they’d rather be with their families, and I would just as soon chill out at the hotel and order up room service which I will eat in my pajamas. The exception is colleagues and vendors and clients who have become my close friends over years of working together and who might genuinely enjoy my company for an evening. In every other case, I feel like a wanker keeping business acquaintances after hours.
When I am on the receiving end of business travel, I work like crazy to get out of entertaining visitors. I have a life of my own that I am keen to get to when the work day is over, and I am pretty sure that my visitors aren’t all that excited about staying on the job into the evening. It’s bad enough that you are away from home, and it’s worse to be compelled to hang out with business associates. I consider that I am still working, and I bet they do, too.
I might feel differently if we actually entertained visitors and showed them a good time, but we just take them to a fancy restaurant and bore them. My conspecifics at work and I are not particularly fun to be with in view of the proprieties that we are compelled to observe.
When I am on the receiving end of business travel, I work like crazy to get out of entertaining visitors. I have a life of my own that I am keen to get to when the work day is over, and I am pretty sure that my visitors aren’t all that excited about staying on the job into the evening. It’s bad enough that you are away from home, and it’s worse to be compelled to hang out with business associates. I consider that I am still working, and I bet they do, too.
I might feel differently if we actually entertained visitors and showed them a good time, but we just take them to a fancy restaurant and bore them. My conspecifics at work and I are not particularly fun to be with in view of the proprieties that we are compelled to observe.
It Is What It Is, Unless It Isn't, In Which Case It Is Not What It Is
bkmarcus is in language curmudgeon mode: http://www.bkmarcus.com/blog/2006/12/and-another-thing.html
I will follow suit and rant a little about the expression “It is what it is”. I have been hearing this all over the place in such manifold contexts that I am no longer sure of what it means. For years, I have heard “it is what it is” in the limited context of disputes over the interpretation of evidence. The discussants recognize that it (the evidence) is what it is and that their disagreement goes to what it signifies. This makes sense to me, whereas the practice of throwing “it is what it is” willy-nilly into conversation does not. It annoys. Mrs Vache Folle has adopted “it is what it is” as her catch phrase of late.
Sometimes, it seems that IIWIS is used as a substitute for “whaddya gonna do”, and I can live with that extension of meaning and usage to encompass a fatalistic acceptance of that which cannot be changed. It’s the throwaway deployment of IIWIS that bugs me. My boss’ assistant just used it in the context of the etiquette of business dinners as if to say that business dinners are an immutable physical law rather than a problematic social construction about which one may disagree. (I think it is rude when I travel to expect the folks I am visiting to entertain me after work hours when they could be with their families.)
I have lived in New York now for nine years, and I still don’t know how to use “fuhgeddabouddit” and “not for nothing”. They seem to me to be throwaways, but I suspect that they mean something. Perhaps, IIWIS is over my head just as those expressions are.
I will follow suit and rant a little about the expression “It is what it is”. I have been hearing this all over the place in such manifold contexts that I am no longer sure of what it means. For years, I have heard “it is what it is” in the limited context of disputes over the interpretation of evidence. The discussants recognize that it (the evidence) is what it is and that their disagreement goes to what it signifies. This makes sense to me, whereas the practice of throwing “it is what it is” willy-nilly into conversation does not. It annoys. Mrs Vache Folle has adopted “it is what it is” as her catch phrase of late.
Sometimes, it seems that IIWIS is used as a substitute for “whaddya gonna do”, and I can live with that extension of meaning and usage to encompass a fatalistic acceptance of that which cannot be changed. It’s the throwaway deployment of IIWIS that bugs me. My boss’ assistant just used it in the context of the etiquette of business dinners as if to say that business dinners are an immutable physical law rather than a problematic social construction about which one may disagree. (I think it is rude when I travel to expect the folks I am visiting to entertain me after work hours when they could be with their families.)
I have lived in New York now for nine years, and I still don’t know how to use “fuhgeddabouddit” and “not for nothing”. They seem to me to be throwaways, but I suspect that they mean something. Perhaps, IIWIS is over my head just as those expressions are.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Weird Weather, Miscellany and Progress Report
The weather in the Hudson Valley has been springlike this month, and the daffodils and some of my perennials are starting to come back as if they expect it to stay warm. I don't know what this bodes for spring when it really comes next April, but I hope that the plants will not be adversely affected.
I'm OK with the unseasonably warm weather as I have a long commute by car and hate driving on icy roads, especially the demolition derby venue known as the Taconic State Parkway. Also, dog walking is a lot easier and more pleasant when it isn't too cold and when there's no salt on the road. And our driveway and the road in front of our house are especially susceptible to icing up because of drainage problems. By this time last year, we had already had a big snowstorm.
I have been keeping up with my working out and with the sensible diet. Weight loss is agonizingly slow, and this is somewhat discouraging. I am hopeful, however, that the dietary changes I have made will help me to keep any weight I lose off. I am making what I hope will be permanent lifestyle changes rather than going on any kind of special diet just to drop weight more quickly. On the encouraging side of the ledger, I find that my clothes are looser and some of my conspecifics have remarked that my appearance is changing. Could it be that I am gaining muscle mass and that this slows down my apparent progress? It's hard to imagine that I could add significant muscle mass in so short a time, but I really don't know how it works.
We have been having extra practices in the run up to the Christmas Eve services in which the choir plays a major role. I have a couple of solos and will be playing the recorder, along with others, on a couple of pieces. In rehearsal Sunday afternoon, I really stunk. It was almost as if I had forgotten how to read music. I had an unusually hard time finding my notes. It doesn't help that the tenor section has been reduced to two men, one of whom has become hard of hearing and who has trouble finding his pitch on account of this disability. I'm not good enough musically to lead the section, and I hope that we will get back to full strength for Lent and the Good Friday and Easter performances. And I am hoping at least one other tenor will show up on Christmas Eve. The beauty of being a tenor is that you get invited to join choirs and choruses without the need for a whole lot of talent and sight reading ability, but this also means a lot of hard work to keep up with the more talented sections.
The choir has a lot of very talented singers and musicians, especially among the ladies, and we are expected to get by with what I consider minimal practice. I have been taking my music home and working on it on my own. I have to do this if I have any hope of keeping up. In my younger days, I could memorize the lyrics and my parts easily, but this is out of the question for me now. I did get new intermediate vision spectacles that allow me to read my music AND watch the director at the same time, and this has been a big help.
I'm OK with the unseasonably warm weather as I have a long commute by car and hate driving on icy roads, especially the demolition derby venue known as the Taconic State Parkway. Also, dog walking is a lot easier and more pleasant when it isn't too cold and when there's no salt on the road. And our driveway and the road in front of our house are especially susceptible to icing up because of drainage problems. By this time last year, we had already had a big snowstorm.
I have been keeping up with my working out and with the sensible diet. Weight loss is agonizingly slow, and this is somewhat discouraging. I am hopeful, however, that the dietary changes I have made will help me to keep any weight I lose off. I am making what I hope will be permanent lifestyle changes rather than going on any kind of special diet just to drop weight more quickly. On the encouraging side of the ledger, I find that my clothes are looser and some of my conspecifics have remarked that my appearance is changing. Could it be that I am gaining muscle mass and that this slows down my apparent progress? It's hard to imagine that I could add significant muscle mass in so short a time, but I really don't know how it works.
We have been having extra practices in the run up to the Christmas Eve services in which the choir plays a major role. I have a couple of solos and will be playing the recorder, along with others, on a couple of pieces. In rehearsal Sunday afternoon, I really stunk. It was almost as if I had forgotten how to read music. I had an unusually hard time finding my notes. It doesn't help that the tenor section has been reduced to two men, one of whom has become hard of hearing and who has trouble finding his pitch on account of this disability. I'm not good enough musically to lead the section, and I hope that we will get back to full strength for Lent and the Good Friday and Easter performances. And I am hoping at least one other tenor will show up on Christmas Eve. The beauty of being a tenor is that you get invited to join choirs and choruses without the need for a whole lot of talent and sight reading ability, but this also means a lot of hard work to keep up with the more talented sections.
The choir has a lot of very talented singers and musicians, especially among the ladies, and we are expected to get by with what I consider minimal practice. I have been taking my music home and working on it on my own. I have to do this if I have any hope of keeping up. In my younger days, I could memorize the lyrics and my parts easily, but this is out of the question for me now. I did get new intermediate vision spectacles that allow me to read my music AND watch the director at the same time, and this has been a big help.
Newt Gingrich is a Wanker
Newt Gingrich, self proclaimed genius, is still airing his crazy views, and he appears to believe that he has a political future, maybe as President. Newt could fool a few thousand slack jawed yokels in his congressional district in Georgia back in the day before he had exposed himself as a loon, but I am hoping that the American people are not going to let themselves get bamboozled by this guy. You don't have to be a genius to see Newt for the arrogant, know-it-all, self centered wanker that he is. He can't conceal it or his contempt for his fellow humans. He comes off as one of those guys who thinks he is always the smartest person in the room, and he is clearly devoid of conscience or principles of any kind.
You don't have to be the guy from the Dead Zone to get a real bad vibe from Newt.
You don't have to be the guy from the Dead Zone to get a real bad vibe from Newt.
Friday, December 15, 2006
It Turns Out I Have a "Type"
Mrs Vache Folle tells me I have a type, and that she is not it. I think Mrs VF is luscious, but she might have a point. I have from time to time remarked about how attractive these three women are:
Three American Ideas
Yesterday, I read HL Mencken's "Prejudices" on-line. I can't remember which blog led me to it, so I can't tip my hat. In one essay, HLM remarked that much of what passes for intellectual discourse in America consists of variations on three ideas: (1) democracy; (2) that it is a sin to be wealthy; and (3) that other folks' enjoyment is intolerable.
I think HL was on to something and that this observation still holds up today. Democracy is acclaimed as an unadulterated good, and debate is limited to how to administer it or improve it or have more of it. The term "undemocratic" is almost always pejorative. The "problem" of disparities in wealth and the concern with redistribution use up a lot of air and ink, and debate is reduced to a discussion about how much to let taxpayers keep of their own money to optimize public revenue to be doled out. Finally, nannies and busybodies are everywhere making sure that folks don't enjoy sex too much or smoke or gamble or eat deep fried foods. There's not much else to occupy the punditry or the intelligentsia than the three stupid ideas identified by HL.
I reckon that democracy is about the most idiotic way to select officeholders that could ever be conceived of. No other system is as certain to result in the selection of scoundrels. We would be far better off if officeholders were chosen at random by lot or on some other basis than the whim of the electorate. I say we want less democracy and that it is time for undemocratic ideas to get a hearing.
Prosperity is no sin if you come about it honestly. On the other hand, envy is a sin. It's not prosperity that is problematic; it's shady practices and corruption and undue privilege.
And let us mind our own business quite a bit more than we seem willing to do so far. If your neighbor's amusements are not to your tastes, what is that to you? I don't gamble. I think it's idiotic to gamble. But I don't reckon that I should try to impose my views on this matter (or a lot of other matters for that matter) on anyone else. This is a virtue that I would like to see more widely distributed in the population. I reckon every utterance about regulating other people's behaviors or vices should be challenged at once and up front by inquiring of the utterer what business it of his. By what stretch do you claim to be a stakeholder in another's doings?
I think HL was on to something and that this observation still holds up today. Democracy is acclaimed as an unadulterated good, and debate is limited to how to administer it or improve it or have more of it. The term "undemocratic" is almost always pejorative. The "problem" of disparities in wealth and the concern with redistribution use up a lot of air and ink, and debate is reduced to a discussion about how much to let taxpayers keep of their own money to optimize public revenue to be doled out. Finally, nannies and busybodies are everywhere making sure that folks don't enjoy sex too much or smoke or gamble or eat deep fried foods. There's not much else to occupy the punditry or the intelligentsia than the three stupid ideas identified by HL.
I reckon that democracy is about the most idiotic way to select officeholders that could ever be conceived of. No other system is as certain to result in the selection of scoundrels. We would be far better off if officeholders were chosen at random by lot or on some other basis than the whim of the electorate. I say we want less democracy and that it is time for undemocratic ideas to get a hearing.
Prosperity is no sin if you come about it honestly. On the other hand, envy is a sin. It's not prosperity that is problematic; it's shady practices and corruption and undue privilege.
And let us mind our own business quite a bit more than we seem willing to do so far. If your neighbor's amusements are not to your tastes, what is that to you? I don't gamble. I think it's idiotic to gamble. But I don't reckon that I should try to impose my views on this matter (or a lot of other matters for that matter) on anyone else. This is a virtue that I would like to see more widely distributed in the population. I reckon every utterance about regulating other people's behaviors or vices should be challenged at once and up front by inquiring of the utterer what business it of his. By what stretch do you claim to be a stakeholder in another's doings?
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Ten Unjokes
Unjoke Number One:
Joke teller: How many Romanian janitors does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Victim: I don’t know. How many?
Joke teller: While Romanian janitors are usually competent to change light bulbs without assistance, we must keep in mind that the act of changing the bulb is but one of many activities involving a multitude of people to produce the light bulb and deliver it to the end user. The suppliers of raw materials, the fabricators, and the third party logistics providers all along the line were indispensable in getting that light bulb in the hands of that Romanian janitor.
Unjoke Number Two:
Joke teller: Knock, Knock.
Victim: Who’s there?
Joke teller: Orange.
Victim: Orange who.
Joke teller: Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?
Unjoke Number Three:
Joke teller: I met a man the other day who said he hadn’t had a bite in weeks.
Victim: What did you do?
Joke teller: I gave him some money for food.
Unjoke Number Four:
A traveling salesman’s car broke down in a rural area, and he asked a farmer if he could spend the night. The farmer said that it would be okay for him to spend the night but that he did not have a daughter.
Unjoke Number Five:
Joke teller: What do you call a hundred female physical anthropologists at the bottom of a river?
Victim: I don’t know.
Joke teller: A mystery and a tragedy and probable foul play.
Unjoke Number Six:
Joke teller: What’s the difference between a gynecologist and a plumber?
Victim: Beat’s me.
Joke teller: A gynecologist is a physician specializing in the treatment of women, whereas a plumber is a skilled tradesman who specializing in pipes and drains and such.
Unjoke Number Seven:
Joke teller: I have a new knock, knock joke. You start it.
Victim: Knock, Knock.
Joke teller: Who’s there?
Unjoke Number Eight:
Joke teller: What did Buddha say to the hot dog vendor?
Vendor: I don’t know. What?
Joke teller: There were no hot dog vendors in India when Buddha lived, so he wouldn’t have said anything.
Unjoke Number Nine:
Joke teller: What do you get when you cross an elephant and a rhinoceros?
Victim: I don’t know. What?
Joke teller: Nothing. Those two species are so genetically dissimilar that it is not possible to breed a hybrid.
Unjoke Number Ten:
A man has been waiting anxiously while his wife was undergoing complicated surgery. The surgeon comes into the waiting room and announces that he has good news and bad news. The bad news is that a second tumor was found during the operation. “What’s the good news?” asked the husband. The surgeon replied, “We were able to remove the second tumor completely and believe that your wife will have a full recovery.”
Joke teller: How many Romanian janitors does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Victim: I don’t know. How many?
Joke teller: While Romanian janitors are usually competent to change light bulbs without assistance, we must keep in mind that the act of changing the bulb is but one of many activities involving a multitude of people to produce the light bulb and deliver it to the end user. The suppliers of raw materials, the fabricators, and the third party logistics providers all along the line were indispensable in getting that light bulb in the hands of that Romanian janitor.
Unjoke Number Two:
Joke teller: Knock, Knock.
Victim: Who’s there?
Joke teller: Orange.
Victim: Orange who.
Joke teller: Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?
Unjoke Number Three:
Joke teller: I met a man the other day who said he hadn’t had a bite in weeks.
Victim: What did you do?
Joke teller: I gave him some money for food.
Unjoke Number Four:
A traveling salesman’s car broke down in a rural area, and he asked a farmer if he could spend the night. The farmer said that it would be okay for him to spend the night but that he did not have a daughter.
Unjoke Number Five:
Joke teller: What do you call a hundred female physical anthropologists at the bottom of a river?
Victim: I don’t know.
Joke teller: A mystery and a tragedy and probable foul play.
Unjoke Number Six:
Joke teller: What’s the difference between a gynecologist and a plumber?
Victim: Beat’s me.
Joke teller: A gynecologist is a physician specializing in the treatment of women, whereas a plumber is a skilled tradesman who specializing in pipes and drains and such.
Unjoke Number Seven:
Joke teller: I have a new knock, knock joke. You start it.
Victim: Knock, Knock.
Joke teller: Who’s there?
Unjoke Number Eight:
Joke teller: What did Buddha say to the hot dog vendor?
Vendor: I don’t know. What?
Joke teller: There were no hot dog vendors in India when Buddha lived, so he wouldn’t have said anything.
Unjoke Number Nine:
Joke teller: What do you get when you cross an elephant and a rhinoceros?
Victim: I don’t know. What?
Joke teller: Nothing. Those two species are so genetically dissimilar that it is not possible to breed a hybrid.
Unjoke Number Ten:
A man has been waiting anxiously while his wife was undergoing complicated surgery. The surgeon comes into the waiting room and announces that he has good news and bad news. The bad news is that a second tumor was found during the operation. “What’s the good news?” asked the husband. The surgeon replied, “We were able to remove the second tumor completely and believe that your wife will have a full recovery.”
Some Stuff I Liked
Wm N. Grigg on "Bush the Lesser":
"Of George W. Bush it can and must be said that he managed somehow to pass from adolescence into senescence without experiencing rational, sober adulthood. This wouldn't be a problem if he hadn't been handed the extravagantly swollen powers of the imperial presidency."
http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2006/12/hey-take-your-time.html
Anthony Gregory on the evil that is centrism:
"Most of the worst violations of liberty in American history were not conducted by extremists who grabbed power despite the majority’s more measured inclinations, but rather with the support of the masses. The Democrats were better at the game for the bloodier part of the 20th century. A mass killer like Franklin Roosevelt is currently admired by the entire middle of the spectrum, including by most conservatives. Indeed, FDR was an opportunist, not a leftwing ideologue at all, who courted big business and big labor only insofar as it served his interest. He denounced both radical socialism and extreme conservatism. Under FDR, the United States was saddled with its permanent welfare state and the military-industrial complex – and it was not the far left or right, but rather centrist politics that were responsible. Aside from the libertarians, only on the radical left or Old Right do we hear trenchant criticisms of FDR’s firebombings and corporatism."
http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory126.html
Jesus’ General on the importance of soy products to the economy, despite their "feminizing" properties:
"I do however disagree with your solution to the problem. Dropping soy from the American diet is not the answer. America's agribusiness heroes deserve better from us. The same goes for our automobile and oil industries as well. If we stop feeding soy products to our manchildren, who's going to buy tomorrow's Hummers, Dodge Rams, and Ford Excursions? After all, there'll be no incentive to spend that kind of money on a big, expensive, powerful vehicle if every guy is packing one of those huge, Italian 3+" man-cannons in his briefs. Men compensating for tiny thingies are what drive the American automobile market. The auto companies would need to retool without it."
http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2006_12_10_patriotboy_archive.html#116598965302723135
"Of George W. Bush it can and must be said that he managed somehow to pass from adolescence into senescence without experiencing rational, sober adulthood. This wouldn't be a problem if he hadn't been handed the extravagantly swollen powers of the imperial presidency."
http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2006/12/hey-take-your-time.html
Anthony Gregory on the evil that is centrism:
"Most of the worst violations of liberty in American history were not conducted by extremists who grabbed power despite the majority’s more measured inclinations, but rather with the support of the masses. The Democrats were better at the game for the bloodier part of the 20th century. A mass killer like Franklin Roosevelt is currently admired by the entire middle of the spectrum, including by most conservatives. Indeed, FDR was an opportunist, not a leftwing ideologue at all, who courted big business and big labor only insofar as it served his interest. He denounced both radical socialism and extreme conservatism. Under FDR, the United States was saddled with its permanent welfare state and the military-industrial complex – and it was not the far left or right, but rather centrist politics that were responsible. Aside from the libertarians, only on the radical left or Old Right do we hear trenchant criticisms of FDR’s firebombings and corporatism."
http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory126.html
Jesus’ General on the importance of soy products to the economy, despite their "feminizing" properties:
"I do however disagree with your solution to the problem. Dropping soy from the American diet is not the answer. America's agribusiness heroes deserve better from us. The same goes for our automobile and oil industries as well. If we stop feeding soy products to our manchildren, who's going to buy tomorrow's Hummers, Dodge Rams, and Ford Excursions? After all, there'll be no incentive to spend that kind of money on a big, expensive, powerful vehicle if every guy is packing one of those huge, Italian 3+" man-cannons in his briefs. Men compensating for tiny thingies are what drive the American automobile market. The auto companies would need to retool without it."
http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2006_12_10_patriotboy_archive.html#116598965302723135
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Miscellany and Progress Report
I finally broke through the 240 pound barrier and weighed in this morning at 239.4. I have been faithful in my working out and in my sensible eating plan. I went to two holiday parties this last weekend and avoided all the desserts, even Cindy W’s orgasm inducing key lime pie (the crust is made of shortbread cookies). I didn’t overeat despite all the opportunities and inducements that presented themselves to me. Mrs Vache Folle made fried chicken with vindaloo and maharajah curries for the potluck on Saturday, and I managed to eat only two pieces of it even though this is one of my favorite foods. She also made a vindaloo and onion dipping sauce that was excellent.
I have become addicted to the gym. It’s about time I became addicted to something that is actually good for me. I have to force myself to take days of rest. Thursdays are taken up by choir practice, and I have signed us up for ballroom dance lessons on Mondays starting next month. If I don’t rest, I injure myself, so it’s good that I’ll be busy two evenings. There’s no way I’m getting up early to work out. Morning guy does not work out.
I heard that curries prevent Alzheimer’s disease. That’s good news. I eat a lot of curry. I’m up there with Lister of the Red Dwarf in that I would have curry and lager for every meal if that were feasible. Curries make vegetables a lot more palatable, let me tell you. Mrs VF has a collection of curries and always seems to know just the right blend to use in any dish. Mrs VF is home today. Perhaps I can persuade her to make a shrimp curry. We have some huge freshwater shrimp from Bangladesh in the freezer that would be mighty tasty with some curry.
I haven’t been watching my food porn lately for fear that it will tempt me to overeat. Instead, I have been glued to the Science Channel and the National Geographic Channel for most of my TV viewing, and we have broken out our Firefly DVDs.
I’m also crazy about “Sell This House” with the attractive Tanya Memme. She can buff my hardwood any time, if you know what I mean. Seriously, she’s very handy and can do just about anything around the house. They spend about $500 restaging a house that isn’t selling and usually manage to get it sold almost immediately once they’ve worked their magic. There’s a similar show on HGTV called “Designed to Sell” but they spend thousands, and their host is some useless British dude with a beard who doesn’t even help on the project. “Sell This House” has a diagnostic open house where potential home buyers are caught on tape making snide remarks about the place. “Designed to Sell” relies on some real estate agent to come in and make suggestions. “Sell This House” is way better.
We bought a deicer for the pond and a 100 foot extension cord that I hope will be adequate when I “install” it this weekend. I aim to keep the comets and shiners alive through the winter as I have become attached to them. The water hyacinths that we brought inside the house didn’t make it. Mrs VF’s frugality insures that the temperature in the house is too low for some tropical plants to survive. I reckon that paying $25 for new hyacinths in the spring is more economical than ginning up the heat all winter to keep the salvaged specimens alive. Next year, I'm going to wait for the spring rains to subside since I lost a couple of batches of hyacinths because they washed away. Someone downstream was probably scrathing his head and wondering how his pond became clogged with some strange plant.
I have become addicted to the gym. It’s about time I became addicted to something that is actually good for me. I have to force myself to take days of rest. Thursdays are taken up by choir practice, and I have signed us up for ballroom dance lessons on Mondays starting next month. If I don’t rest, I injure myself, so it’s good that I’ll be busy two evenings. There’s no way I’m getting up early to work out. Morning guy does not work out.
I heard that curries prevent Alzheimer’s disease. That’s good news. I eat a lot of curry. I’m up there with Lister of the Red Dwarf in that I would have curry and lager for every meal if that were feasible. Curries make vegetables a lot more palatable, let me tell you. Mrs VF has a collection of curries and always seems to know just the right blend to use in any dish. Mrs VF is home today. Perhaps I can persuade her to make a shrimp curry. We have some huge freshwater shrimp from Bangladesh in the freezer that would be mighty tasty with some curry.
I haven’t been watching my food porn lately for fear that it will tempt me to overeat. Instead, I have been glued to the Science Channel and the National Geographic Channel for most of my TV viewing, and we have broken out our Firefly DVDs.
I’m also crazy about “Sell This House” with the attractive Tanya Memme. She can buff my hardwood any time, if you know what I mean. Seriously, she’s very handy and can do just about anything around the house. They spend about $500 restaging a house that isn’t selling and usually manage to get it sold almost immediately once they’ve worked their magic. There’s a similar show on HGTV called “Designed to Sell” but they spend thousands, and their host is some useless British dude with a beard who doesn’t even help on the project. “Sell This House” has a diagnostic open house where potential home buyers are caught on tape making snide remarks about the place. “Designed to Sell” relies on some real estate agent to come in and make suggestions. “Sell This House” is way better.
We bought a deicer for the pond and a 100 foot extension cord that I hope will be adequate when I “install” it this weekend. I aim to keep the comets and shiners alive through the winter as I have become attached to them. The water hyacinths that we brought inside the house didn’t make it. Mrs VF’s frugality insures that the temperature in the house is too low for some tropical plants to survive. I reckon that paying $25 for new hyacinths in the spring is more economical than ginning up the heat all winter to keep the salvaged specimens alive. Next year, I'm going to wait for the spring rains to subside since I lost a couple of batches of hyacinths because they washed away. Someone downstream was probably scrathing his head and wondering how his pond became clogged with some strange plant.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
My Plan to Put a Pony in Every Barn
I think we all agree that ponies are nothing but good for the families who are lucky enough to have them. Odds are that any sampling of families with ponies compared to families without them will show that those with ponies fare better on just about any dimension you are looking at. It follows that pony ownership is good for Americans and a worthy goal for everyone, so worthy indeed that any government that doesn’t do all it can to promote pony ownership is failing its people.
One problem that immediately comes to mind is the unjust distribution of ponies to families with the space and resources to maintain them. Is it really fair that such prosperous families should be privileged to own ponies, sometimes multiple ponies, while poor folks go poniless? Of course not. Something has got to be done to level the playing field and make sure that affordable ponies and their accoutrements are available to people of limited means. Price controls on ponies and fodder and such will just lead to even greater scarcity and would be self defeating. There is frankly nothing for it but to provide any family that wants one a government issued pony and monthly feed vouchers and veterinary care benefits.
A country as rich as ours can surely afford to put a pony in every barn, and it is our national shame that we have consistently failed to do so.
One problem that immediately comes to mind is the unjust distribution of ponies to families with the space and resources to maintain them. Is it really fair that such prosperous families should be privileged to own ponies, sometimes multiple ponies, while poor folks go poniless? Of course not. Something has got to be done to level the playing field and make sure that affordable ponies and their accoutrements are available to people of limited means. Price controls on ponies and fodder and such will just lead to even greater scarcity and would be self defeating. There is frankly nothing for it but to provide any family that wants one a government issued pony and monthly feed vouchers and veterinary care benefits.
A country as rich as ours can surely afford to put a pony in every barn, and it is our national shame that we have consistently failed to do so.
A Healthier America Within Reach
In my district, we threw out our old Congresscritter, Republican Sue Kelly, and replaced her with Democrat John Hall, a singer/songwriter by trade. One of Hall’s positions is that the federal government should provide universal health care. This didn’t inspire me to vote for him. I voted for him just to punish the GOP, and I would have voted for an inanimate carbon rod if it had been on the ballot as a Democrat.
Frankly, I’m against taking money from people by force in order to provide some benefit or other, but if my money is going to be stolen anyway, I would rather some good came out of it than for it to be squandered on a program that doesn’t work or that lines the pockets of bureaucrats more than it helps ordinary folks. That’s why I reckon that any plan to provide health care should start out small with pilot programs and the like to see what might work best.
For example, let’s start by paying for prenatal care for all pregnant women. This program might actually pay for itself in the long run if problems with low birth weight and the like can be addressed early. If healthier babies result, these children will be both lower maintenance and more productive. This modest program might actually have a chance to work if it is kept simple. You can run it through Medicaid or Medicare, so you don’t need a new bureaucracy.
If the prenatal pilot program runs well, then we could consider paying for health care for babies up to a year old. This time in a human’s development is so critical that the payoff can be expected to be enormous. In fact, it’s probably more beneficial to society than paying for retired people’s care as we do now. Presumably, this is because babies don’t vote and don’t have their equivalent of an AARP.
All along the way, we will be able to work out the kinks in the program and experiment with ways to provide the care. If the program works, it can be expanded to take in older children and eventually adults. Go slow. That’s the conservative approach I advocate.
Of course, once we are providing health care to everyone, it will become the business of the state to promote healthy lifestyles and to prohibit unhealthy and risky behavior by recipients of federal health care payments. The feds will have to monitor our caloric intake and make certain that each of us is eating sensibly and exercising, safely of course. Each of us will ultimately have a federal health system caseworker (one for every hundred American households) responsible for checking up on us and nagging us about our health. Eventually, they will be armed with the authority to compel compliance with health system directives and guidelines. Our fellow citizens will be encouraged to inform on any of us who do not make it to the gym regularly or who hit the smorgasbord a little too hard. Holidays will be especially busy for the “healthies” as they will be on constant pie alert.
That’s the dream anyway.
Frankly, I’m against taking money from people by force in order to provide some benefit or other, but if my money is going to be stolen anyway, I would rather some good came out of it than for it to be squandered on a program that doesn’t work or that lines the pockets of bureaucrats more than it helps ordinary folks. That’s why I reckon that any plan to provide health care should start out small with pilot programs and the like to see what might work best.
For example, let’s start by paying for prenatal care for all pregnant women. This program might actually pay for itself in the long run if problems with low birth weight and the like can be addressed early. If healthier babies result, these children will be both lower maintenance and more productive. This modest program might actually have a chance to work if it is kept simple. You can run it through Medicaid or Medicare, so you don’t need a new bureaucracy.
If the prenatal pilot program runs well, then we could consider paying for health care for babies up to a year old. This time in a human’s development is so critical that the payoff can be expected to be enormous. In fact, it’s probably more beneficial to society than paying for retired people’s care as we do now. Presumably, this is because babies don’t vote and don’t have their equivalent of an AARP.
All along the way, we will be able to work out the kinks in the program and experiment with ways to provide the care. If the program works, it can be expanded to take in older children and eventually adults. Go slow. That’s the conservative approach I advocate.
Of course, once we are providing health care to everyone, it will become the business of the state to promote healthy lifestyles and to prohibit unhealthy and risky behavior by recipients of federal health care payments. The feds will have to monitor our caloric intake and make certain that each of us is eating sensibly and exercising, safely of course. Each of us will ultimately have a federal health system caseworker (one for every hundred American households) responsible for checking up on us and nagging us about our health. Eventually, they will be armed with the authority to compel compliance with health system directives and guidelines. Our fellow citizens will be encouraged to inform on any of us who do not make it to the gym regularly or who hit the smorgasbord a little too hard. Holidays will be especially busy for the “healthies” as they will be on constant pie alert.
That’s the dream anyway.
Don't Make Me Pay For Christmas Lights
I like Christmas as much as the next guy, but I have to voice my objection to my town’s expenditures on holiday displays and celebrations. Route 52, for miles outside Hopewell Junction, has wreaths and lights on every power pole. The town has a ginormous Christmas tree at the main recreation center and a lighting ceremony. It bugs me that these things are paid for by money extorted by the threat of force from taxpayers. That it has been coercively organized and financed takes all the joy out of the decorations and events.
I have no objection to wreaths and trees and the trappings of the season in the public square, but let these things be paid for by way of voluntary contributions rather than taxes. If I want to put lights on my house, I don’t send goons over to my neighbors and shake them down for money to do it. I ask that my fellow subjects of East Fishkill show me the same consideration.
I was in Manhattan Friday night for Mrs Vache Folle’s office soiree. A good time was had by all. Mrs VF’s company knows how to throw a party. The island is gussied up pretty nice for Christmas. I don’t know how much, if any, of this was publicly financed or installed by city “workers”. The spectacle almost made it worth fighting the traffic. I was almost homicidal by the time I got to the $43 parking lot, but the party cheered me in short order. I suppose you could make a case that public investment in lights and decorations brings in shoppers and tourists and benefits the public by increasing sales taxes paid. In my case, I was going to Manhattan whether it was decorated or not and I would just as soon that about a zillion of the other folks on the streets had stayed home instead of tooling around in taxis and limos and private cars.
There are a few folks in our town who have gone crazy with Christmas lights. God bless them, but I don’t know how they do it and where they keep all the plastic statuary the rest of the year. In Seattle, we lived next to a community, Olympic Heights, where almost every house was festooned with an excess of lights and decorations. The streets were packed with onlookers all December. The halls were decked and then some. Some denizens of Olympic Heights even hired actors or forced their children to play Santa Claus or other Christmas characters on their front lawns. It was all a lot of fun, I’m sure, but I am glad all the same that I lived outside the confines of the subdivision and had no peer pressure to decorate my house.
I tried to put some lights on some shrubs last year, but my heart was not in it. It smacked of effort, and I couldn’t work out how to plug them in without having wires in the way. Then there’s the whole taking the lights down thing and storing them. I just don’t have the time or the inclination or the extra storage space. I reckon that my commitment to sloth outweighs my Christmas spirit by a pretty good margin.
I have no objection to wreaths and trees and the trappings of the season in the public square, but let these things be paid for by way of voluntary contributions rather than taxes. If I want to put lights on my house, I don’t send goons over to my neighbors and shake them down for money to do it. I ask that my fellow subjects of East Fishkill show me the same consideration.
I was in Manhattan Friday night for Mrs Vache Folle’s office soiree. A good time was had by all. Mrs VF’s company knows how to throw a party. The island is gussied up pretty nice for Christmas. I don’t know how much, if any, of this was publicly financed or installed by city “workers”. The spectacle almost made it worth fighting the traffic. I was almost homicidal by the time I got to the $43 parking lot, but the party cheered me in short order. I suppose you could make a case that public investment in lights and decorations brings in shoppers and tourists and benefits the public by increasing sales taxes paid. In my case, I was going to Manhattan whether it was decorated or not and I would just as soon that about a zillion of the other folks on the streets had stayed home instead of tooling around in taxis and limos and private cars.
There are a few folks in our town who have gone crazy with Christmas lights. God bless them, but I don’t know how they do it and where they keep all the plastic statuary the rest of the year. In Seattle, we lived next to a community, Olympic Heights, where almost every house was festooned with an excess of lights and decorations. The streets were packed with onlookers all December. The halls were decked and then some. Some denizens of Olympic Heights even hired actors or forced their children to play Santa Claus or other Christmas characters on their front lawns. It was all a lot of fun, I’m sure, but I am glad all the same that I lived outside the confines of the subdivision and had no peer pressure to decorate my house.
I tried to put some lights on some shrubs last year, but my heart was not in it. It smacked of effort, and I couldn’t work out how to plug them in without having wires in the way. Then there’s the whole taking the lights down thing and storing them. I just don’t have the time or the inclination or the extra storage space. I reckon that my commitment to sloth outweighs my Christmas spirit by a pretty good margin.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
On Keeping Slaves Alive Past Their Prime
In the hope of becoming a house slave, I am thinking of embracing my servitude and helping my masters manage their servants more efficiently.
I can understand how the master might want to keep his slaves from eating tansfats and dying during their productive years, but it is harder to see why the master would want to extend the lives of his slaves once they have stopped being productive. Retired slaves are costly. They eat up a lot of social security and Medicare dollars while contributing little to the treasury.
It seems to me that the state ought to encourage smoking and alcohol consumption and all manner of unhealthy practices in order to shorten the life expectancy of the slaves. That way, unproductive retired slaves would require fewer resources.
On the other hand, younger slaves are more docile if they believe that their elders will be cared for and that they themselves will be cared for when they cease to be productive. This has a significant value. Moreover, the very idea that the state is the source of security in old age has the effect of weakening the competing institutions of the family and the church. What a brilliant scheme it is to make opposition to the state tantamount to opposition to the welfare of our grandparents!
Yet, it seems that our masters have failed to account for the fact that the slaves are not replacing themselves, except through immigration. I reckon some of the resources devoted to old folks could be diverted fruitfully to pro-natal policies to encourage the creation of more slaves through reproduction. Let us provide free pre-natal medical care to all pregnant slaves and medical care for all infants through the age of six. This will lead to the birth and survival of more and better slaves.
I can understand how the master might want to keep his slaves from eating tansfats and dying during their productive years, but it is harder to see why the master would want to extend the lives of his slaves once they have stopped being productive. Retired slaves are costly. They eat up a lot of social security and Medicare dollars while contributing little to the treasury.
It seems to me that the state ought to encourage smoking and alcohol consumption and all manner of unhealthy practices in order to shorten the life expectancy of the slaves. That way, unproductive retired slaves would require fewer resources.
On the other hand, younger slaves are more docile if they believe that their elders will be cared for and that they themselves will be cared for when they cease to be productive. This has a significant value. Moreover, the very idea that the state is the source of security in old age has the effect of weakening the competing institutions of the family and the church. What a brilliant scheme it is to make opposition to the state tantamount to opposition to the welfare of our grandparents!
Yet, it seems that our masters have failed to account for the fact that the slaves are not replacing themselves, except through immigration. I reckon some of the resources devoted to old folks could be diverted fruitfully to pro-natal policies to encourage the creation of more slaves through reproduction. Let us provide free pre-natal medical care to all pregnant slaves and medical care for all infants through the age of six. This will lead to the birth and survival of more and better slaves.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Wherein I Realize that my Generosity is not so Feeble
We don’t give as much money to our church as we probably should. We make some gifts to charities outside the church, but even with these, I don’t think we can consider ourselves especially generous. Much of this is due to our being house poor and going into debt to get our house up to snuff: furnace, septic system, plumbing, beams and joists in the basement, roof, etc. We just can’t do any more than we are doing.
And we are taxed out the wazoo. We are compelled to fork over about half our income to support old people, educate children, maintain the poor, and run the government for the “benefit” of all. I would like to think that I would be more generous and make voluntary gifts to provide for some of these things if the government didn’t make me do it. That’s the ticket. I’m really very generous. I just do most of my giving through the various levels of government that tax me.
The sermons in November really had me feeling guilty about my selfishness and miserly giving and about my inability to manage my finances in a way that would let me be more charitable.
How did I respond to this? We took out a mortgage to remodel the bathrooms! This helps the fine folks at E-Loan who underwrote the loan and who did it all with less than a half hour’s effort on our part. This also helps enrich the family that owns the bathroom supply house we used: Bath Bright in Hyde Park. See the knowledgeable and helpful Brian for all of your bathroom remodel needs. This will help enrich Steve and his family at CAS construction, the folks who are doing the work. And think of all the tile makers and folks who make a living making fixtures, not to mention the transportation providers who bring all the stuff in. We are not hoarding our wealth. We are putting it to work in our community and spreading happiness.
This also helps our neighbors because it enhances the value of our home.
I feel better already.
And we are taxed out the wazoo. We are compelled to fork over about half our income to support old people, educate children, maintain the poor, and run the government for the “benefit” of all. I would like to think that I would be more generous and make voluntary gifts to provide for some of these things if the government didn’t make me do it. That’s the ticket. I’m really very generous. I just do most of my giving through the various levels of government that tax me.
The sermons in November really had me feeling guilty about my selfishness and miserly giving and about my inability to manage my finances in a way that would let me be more charitable.
How did I respond to this? We took out a mortgage to remodel the bathrooms! This helps the fine folks at E-Loan who underwrote the loan and who did it all with less than a half hour’s effort on our part. This also helps enrich the family that owns the bathroom supply house we used: Bath Bright in Hyde Park. See the knowledgeable and helpful Brian for all of your bathroom remodel needs. This will help enrich Steve and his family at CAS construction, the folks who are doing the work. And think of all the tile makers and folks who make a living making fixtures, not to mention the transportation providers who bring all the stuff in. We are not hoarding our wealth. We are putting it to work in our community and spreading happiness.
This also helps our neighbors because it enhances the value of our home.
I feel better already.
A Program to Fix the Bush Presidency
1. Admit that the debacle in Iraq has become unmanageable and that you are powerless to do anything about it. Heck, face it, your entire reign has been an unmitigated disaster for everyone except some defense contractors and other fatcats.
2.Do you know why? There is a power greater than yourself at work here. It’s called reality. Stuff happens out in the universe despite all your plans and wishes and the dreams of the neo-cons. Embrace this reality and come a step closer to sanity. Trying to make your own reality is part of the craziness that you are suffering from. This is where you get on board with withdrawing the troops from Iraq. They can’t do any good there, so every day that you delay withdrawal just means that much more blood and treasure squandered.
3. Turn your life and will over to the care of God, and be cognizant of His creation and the way it works (that reality thing again). Use the sense of reason that God gave you, or, at a minimum, surround yourself with some folks who know how to reason. You’re going to have to purge your whole cabinet and senior staff. You need voices of reason to help you coordinate the withdrawal and to mitigate the aftermath.
4. This is going to be real hard for you, but you need to make a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself. You have done many bad things. Don’t blame Dick Cheney. Sure, he’s evil and all, but you didn’t have to listen to him. You were responsible. You were the freaking Decider.
5. Admit to God, to yourself, and to others the exact nature of your wrongs. Here’s a hint as to where to start: fearmongering, warmongering, murder, torture, oath breaking, beggaring the treasury, betraying the public trust, and defiling your office (I didn’t even think this was possible, but you did it).
6. Be ready to have God remove all your defects of character. It’s hard to face that your entire personality has to be overhauled, but you’ve got to accept this as a necessity.
7. Ask God to remove your shortcomings.
8. Make a list of all persons you have harmed, and be willing to make amends to them all. In your case, just make a list of the people you have NOT harmed. That will save time.
9. Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. This means, among other things, that you don’t get to raid the treasury to make your amends. They are your amends, not the taxpayers’ amends.
10. Continue to take personal inventory and when wrong promptly admit it.
11. Pray and meditate continually seeking knowledge of God’s will and the strength to carry it out. I recommend the Sermon on the Mount as a good basis for meditation.
12. Share your insights with other power mad politicians and practice the principles you have learned in all your affairs. Having done this, you may at last be fit to be President. Unfortunately, your term will have ended. But you may yet become a statesman whose legacy may be one of redemption. Otherwise, your legacy will be at best to serve as a cautionary example.
2.Do you know why? There is a power greater than yourself at work here. It’s called reality. Stuff happens out in the universe despite all your plans and wishes and the dreams of the neo-cons. Embrace this reality and come a step closer to sanity. Trying to make your own reality is part of the craziness that you are suffering from. This is where you get on board with withdrawing the troops from Iraq. They can’t do any good there, so every day that you delay withdrawal just means that much more blood and treasure squandered.
3. Turn your life and will over to the care of God, and be cognizant of His creation and the way it works (that reality thing again). Use the sense of reason that God gave you, or, at a minimum, surround yourself with some folks who know how to reason. You’re going to have to purge your whole cabinet and senior staff. You need voices of reason to help you coordinate the withdrawal and to mitigate the aftermath.
4. This is going to be real hard for you, but you need to make a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself. You have done many bad things. Don’t blame Dick Cheney. Sure, he’s evil and all, but you didn’t have to listen to him. You were responsible. You were the freaking Decider.
5. Admit to God, to yourself, and to others the exact nature of your wrongs. Here’s a hint as to where to start: fearmongering, warmongering, murder, torture, oath breaking, beggaring the treasury, betraying the public trust, and defiling your office (I didn’t even think this was possible, but you did it).
6. Be ready to have God remove all your defects of character. It’s hard to face that your entire personality has to be overhauled, but you’ve got to accept this as a necessity.
7. Ask God to remove your shortcomings.
8. Make a list of all persons you have harmed, and be willing to make amends to them all. In your case, just make a list of the people you have NOT harmed. That will save time.
9. Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. This means, among other things, that you don’t get to raid the treasury to make your amends. They are your amends, not the taxpayers’ amends.
10. Continue to take personal inventory and when wrong promptly admit it.
11. Pray and meditate continually seeking knowledge of God’s will and the strength to carry it out. I recommend the Sermon on the Mount as a good basis for meditation.
12. Share your insights with other power mad politicians and practice the principles you have learned in all your affairs. Having done this, you may at last be fit to be President. Unfortunately, your term will have ended. But you may yet become a statesman whose legacy may be one of redemption. Otherwise, your legacy will be at best to serve as a cautionary example.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Don't Interfere with the N-word's Evolution
I heard that Michael Richards used the N-word a few weeks ago in an unapproved manner. Based on the reaction and his apology tour, you’d think he had killed someone. Now, I understand that there is a move afoot to ban the N-word altogether from the English language. It is too powerful and hurtful for its use to be tolerated.
I don’t think the movement makes any sense at all. Attaching a tabu to the word adds to its power. Using it a lot diminishes its power. When people of African descent use the N-word, they are co-opting it and robbing it of its utility as an insult. If they stop using it and acknowledge it as a magical word with much juju, then they are empowering it. The word “queer” is an example of a term that underwent extreme pejoration, that was then co-opted by the insulted category, and that has now moved into common parlance largely free of its pejorative baggage. Even a straight person can refer to a homosexual as “queer” without intending offense, and it would be a rare instance nowadays in my experience for offense to be taken solely because the Q-word was used.
The N-word could undergo the same kind of transformation if folks would let the process run its course. At present, only black folks can use the N-word with impunity. Eventually, non-black folks will be using it without giving offense because it will have been sapped of its power. No word has intrinsic power. Why would anyone let the use of the N-word get to them. I’m not black, so I probably just don’t get it, but I can’t think of a single thing that you could call me that would get me as riled up as the N-word seems to get some black folks. I have in my day been called “cracker”, “redneck”, “white trash” and all manner of terms by folks who aimed to hurt me, but none of these epithets had any sting. Of course, it is unpleasant to be on the receiving end of curses and insults, but no particular word has any power to harm me. I have to take black folks at their word when they say the N-word is hurtful, and it is for this reason that I do not use it.
I would like to understand how the N-word became so potent. Presumably, it is a corruption of Spanish or Portuguese “negro” for black and would have been mainly descriptive in its origins. Of course, it would have been applied mainly to folks in the lowest state of involuntary servitude, to folks who had been dehumanized. It is easy to see how the term would undergo pejoration under these circumstances. Where I grew up, the N-word was commonly used in a descriptive manner, and it would not have made sense to use it as an insult toward a black person without attaching some other appropriate cuss words. To refer to someone as being the N-word meant that the referent was black. It would make no sense at all to tell a black person that he was black, so I don’t recall anyone’s ever using the N-word as an insult all by its lonesome.
The social context for this usage was the inferior status of black folks where I grew up. They lived apart from whites and did not mix socially with them. Their opportunities were limited by blatant discrimination and a widely held belief among whites that black folks were inherently intellectually and morally inferior to whites. Accordingly, the N-word carried all that with it as part of its deeper connotation. I recall on some occasions that particularly low white families might be referred to as “white niggers”.
It is plain that the N-word still connotes social inferiority, but I reckon that there will come a day when it does not solely by virtue of linguistic evolution, unless the invocation of tabu interferes with the process. There will come a day when a white man will call a black man the N-word, with malice and intent to insult, and the black man will respond with a smirk and “Are you kidding me?”
I don’t think the movement makes any sense at all. Attaching a tabu to the word adds to its power. Using it a lot diminishes its power. When people of African descent use the N-word, they are co-opting it and robbing it of its utility as an insult. If they stop using it and acknowledge it as a magical word with much juju, then they are empowering it. The word “queer” is an example of a term that underwent extreme pejoration, that was then co-opted by the insulted category, and that has now moved into common parlance largely free of its pejorative baggage. Even a straight person can refer to a homosexual as “queer” without intending offense, and it would be a rare instance nowadays in my experience for offense to be taken solely because the Q-word was used.
The N-word could undergo the same kind of transformation if folks would let the process run its course. At present, only black folks can use the N-word with impunity. Eventually, non-black folks will be using it without giving offense because it will have been sapped of its power. No word has intrinsic power. Why would anyone let the use of the N-word get to them. I’m not black, so I probably just don’t get it, but I can’t think of a single thing that you could call me that would get me as riled up as the N-word seems to get some black folks. I have in my day been called “cracker”, “redneck”, “white trash” and all manner of terms by folks who aimed to hurt me, but none of these epithets had any sting. Of course, it is unpleasant to be on the receiving end of curses and insults, but no particular word has any power to harm me. I have to take black folks at their word when they say the N-word is hurtful, and it is for this reason that I do not use it.
I would like to understand how the N-word became so potent. Presumably, it is a corruption of Spanish or Portuguese “negro” for black and would have been mainly descriptive in its origins. Of course, it would have been applied mainly to folks in the lowest state of involuntary servitude, to folks who had been dehumanized. It is easy to see how the term would undergo pejoration under these circumstances. Where I grew up, the N-word was commonly used in a descriptive manner, and it would not have made sense to use it as an insult toward a black person without attaching some other appropriate cuss words. To refer to someone as being the N-word meant that the referent was black. It would make no sense at all to tell a black person that he was black, so I don’t recall anyone’s ever using the N-word as an insult all by its lonesome.
The social context for this usage was the inferior status of black folks where I grew up. They lived apart from whites and did not mix socially with them. Their opportunities were limited by blatant discrimination and a widely held belief among whites that black folks were inherently intellectually and morally inferior to whites. Accordingly, the N-word carried all that with it as part of its deeper connotation. I recall on some occasions that particularly low white families might be referred to as “white niggers”.
It is plain that the N-word still connotes social inferiority, but I reckon that there will come a day when it does not solely by virtue of linguistic evolution, unless the invocation of tabu interferes with the process. There will come a day when a white man will call a black man the N-word, with malice and intent to insult, and the black man will respond with a smirk and “Are you kidding me?”
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