Oriflamme

Justice is Blind, Deaf and Dumb.

2008-02-13T10:43:00.003-06:00

LONDON - One of the United States' top judges said in an interview Tuesday that interrogators can inflict pain to obtain critical information about an imminent terrorist threat. And because we don't know when a terrorist threat is imminent, due to the secretive nature of terrorist threats, we can inflict pain on anyone at any time.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said that aggressive interrogation could be appropriate, even if used against a standing President. Such interrogation could be used to learn where a bomb was hidden shortly before it was set to explode or to discover the plans or whereabouts of a terrorist group.

"It seems to me you have to say, as unlikely as that is, it would be absurd to say you couldn't, I don't know, stick something under the fingernail, smack him in the face. It would be absurd to say you couldn't do that." Scalia told reporters when asked about the prospect of obtaining critical information from a resurrected, terrorist messiah.

Scalia said that determining when physical coercion could come into play was a difficult question. "How close does the threat have to be? And how severe can the infliction of pain be? I don't think these are easy questions at all, in either direction."

"In fact," he added "...without knowing how close the threat is there is no basis to hold back from maximum torture." Then, rubbing a whetstone along a stilletto, he said "And as for how severe the infliction of pain can be ... how am I to know what is in the mind of another? I think the existentialists demonstrated the absurdity of such an argument."

U.S. interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, have been the subject of growing debate in the United States, where some citizens have argued that they would rather not know about such practices and a more vocal opposition group has argued that we will not be safe until everyone is waterboarded.

Waterboarding could play an exciting role in the military trials of six men charged in connection with the Sept. 11, attacks. The issue also could find its way to the Supreme Court, where Justices Ginsburg and Stevens are most likely to be waterboarded.

Scalia, referred generally to those methods as "so-called torture," and said practices prohibited by the Constitution in the context of the criminal justice system -- including indefinite detention -- are readily allowed in other situations, such as when a witness refuses to answer a question in court. "Therefore, I believe we should start waterboarding witnesses who refuse to answer questions."

"I suppose it's the same thing about so-called torture," he said in the interview. "Is it really so easy to determine that smacking someone in the face to find out where he has hidden the bomb that is about to blow up Los Angeles is prohibited by the Constitution? Or who is a witch?"

"Is it obvious, that what can't be done for punishment can't be done to exact information that is crucial to the society? I think it's not at all an easy question, to tell you the truth." Scalia, a judicial icon among American conservatives, an acerbic wit and often abrasive personality, said Europeans had no business "smugly" decrying those techniques as torture, if they know what is good for them.

Earlier in the interview he also faced down criticism of the U.S. death penalty."Europeans get really quite self-righteous, you know, (saying) 'no civilized society uses it.' They used it themselves -- 30 years ago," he said, adding that a majority of Europeans probably supported capital punishment in their homes and workplaces.

Scalia said that neither he nor any of the eight other Supreme Court justices who collectively make up the United States' highest court should be seen as setting the moral tone for the international community. "In fact, with few exceptions, we should be waterboarded ourselves to make sure none of us are withholding critical information."

"I don't look to their law, why do they look to mine?" he said smugly.

"We don't pretend to be Western mullahs who decide what is right and wrong for the whole world," he said in the broadcast. "We pretend to be Western Jesuses who decide what is right for Christians and that all others will burn in hell for all eternity."

Scalia also took issue with his "tough guy" reputation, placing his thumbnail below his upper teeth and making a flicking gesture towards reporters.

Safe and Secure

2007-11-15T14:30:00.001-06:00

The news this morning was wonderful. Right before Thanksgiving travel they have a news story on how some government agents managed to sneak by TSA agents at the airport with liquid explosives and other explosives. They then show how the government agents later joined together the explosive components in a car and showed the effects on the car. And the newscasters wondered are we safe? And why are we not safe after spending so many millions of dollars on air safety.

Ah such is the nature of an asymmetrical threat. A determined threat can penetrate even a comprehensive defense. What the newscasters will never ask is "is it ever possible for something to be completely safe?" or "at what cost is total safety possible?" My guess for No. 1 is no. I just don't think anything like air travel can be completely safe. I mean you are in a giant metal tube thousands of miles above the earth, with the laws of gravity still in effect and with parts of that giant tube that are not filled with people or unknown cargo, filled with jet fuel. I mean come on. You can certainly screen the passengers and screen the cargo, but you can't possibly hope to eliminate every threat all of the time. Who knows what someone will come up with to get past metal detectors, bomb sniffing equipment and body cavity checks. With regard to the second question I can only believe that the cost of total safety is prohibitively expensive. And I'm not sure total safety is really worth a lot of the non-economic costs I would be expected to pay. Once people are scanned and frisked and asked to travel without bags, maybe we would all be safer, but I think most of my travel would get cancelled at that point.

Part of the problem seems to me to be the particular nature of air travel. You don't hear stories about terrorists running trains into buildings. Trains run on tracks you see. And even when they blow a train up (see Spain) its not likely to take out more than the terminal. Better to bomb-proof a terminal than to waste a bunch of time and money screening everyone and mounting anti-aircraft defenses on tall buildings. But hey planes are so cool.

I guess in the big scheme of things, I don't really worry about another 9/11. I care that it doesn't happen of course. I am just not willing to stay in my house afraid anymore. I am sure something like 9/11 will happen again, and I hope next time we respond appropriately, then stop. I am becoming increasingly disillusioned with the idea that we need to make everything so safe that nothing bad ever happens to us. I guess FDR was right.

Sick

2007-09-13T09:49:00.000-05:00

I am not sure if I will be able to watch the President's address tonight.

When I passed the bar, I took an oath as an officer of the court to uphold the Constitution of the United States. I believe the president has violated the spirit of the Constitution if not the letter. I believe his continued presence in office is aConstitutional if not un-Constitutional. I believe he is diametrically opposed to what the Constitution stands for.

I was going nuts the other night listening to the Republicans mention that we can not leave Iraq without "honor." I don't know what honor is anymore I guess. Are we supposed to leave with the thanks and support of the Iraqi government.? That would seem to be a hollow gesture from a hollow government. Are we supposed to leave with the thanks and support of the Iraqi people? That is looking increasingly impossible. Are we supposed to leave Iraq a pro-Western democratic state? How exactly is that supposed to happen? Are we supposed to leave Iraq after all the insurgents are dead? Hell, I watched Red Dawn, I'd be an insurgent if someone invaded my country. After all the Iraqis are dead? Why use troops then? After all the Muslim extremists are dead? Are we getting rid of the Christian extremists then too? Isn't a Muslim always an extremist according to some Christian extremist? Are we supposed to get rid of all the Muslims? Again shouldn't we be using bigger bombs then? Are we supposed to leave with the oil? What honor are we supposed to leave with?

Maybe I should just write about Disneyland soon.

A Lynching

2007-08-23T11:12:00.000-05:00

As a Falcons fan, it is weird to have mixed emotions about Michael Vick. I guess its the same way I felt about him for the last few years though.

But at least it gets me thinking. And I can't help thinking - every black man who f's up on some B.S. like fighting dogs, dealing drugs, using drugs or gang banging is getting lynched just the same as if Forrest and his knights rode into town.

Living right next to the ghetto of a major American city I couldn't help but notice the liquor stores, smoke stores, pay day loan stores and vacant lots. Try to find a fresh fruit store in a black ghetto. There is no doubt in my mind that the culture of the black intercity has been fostered by inaction (at best) by the white community. After all we can't lynch black people any more. But if we allow them to kill eachother, through inaction or legerdemain - that's different. No fingerprints. And we can even point the finger at our willing accomplices - see who ruined that black guy's life - that other black guy. And so it is two for the price of one.

I had a conversation with my wife today about a friend of the family, an 8 year old. 14 year old boys in his community are urging the 8 year-olds to fight. Preparing them for their future. And the 14 year-olds get a little entertainment value out of the whole thing. And I can't help thinking, these boys are helping the old guard white racists more than they can possibly imagine. I mean if they won't pick cotton, then they will die or rot in jail. Is there any understanding of who set up the system that they live in, of who is pulling the strings? I suppose the lack of quality schools cements the ignorance.

I've always thought that the ultimate expression of entrenched discrimination is when you can create infighting amongst the discriminated, and thus operate "hands-free." The discriminator can then merely say - "this is not of my doing, look how they fight themselves." Today I waffle between whether blacks or women are more discriminated against.

... and Taxes

2007-04-18T16:03:00.000-05:00

Fitting that a day after Death, I should write about taxes. We did our taxes on Monday night. Of course both of us had looked them over a month or so ago. We had a few hiccups figuring out a couple things. Otherwise, following the instructions from our tax software was fairly easy. I remembered at the last minute that we had installed some insulation and some windows when we remodeled the kitchen and it felt responsible and good to take a tax credit on that.

I really never understood complaining too much about taxes. I mean I can understand some spirited discussion about the tax brackets, the constitutionality of income taxes and the obvious discourse we all need to have about the level of services we want, how to fund them and the problem of graft. But assuming the status quo, if your taxes are high that means you are making money. The more money you make, the higher your taxes are. When faced with the very real possibility of making nothing any given year, I'll take taxes thank you.

I remember taking Tax Law in law school. Basically, the key issue in that class was how to reduce a client's taxable income. My answer was make less, own less. Every other answer is what is wrong with the system. Sure you can depreciate assets, carry over losses, etc. etc. etc. But if you really hate paying taxes more than you love making money, there solution is right there for you. Making money is okay, paying taxes hurts the bank account a little, but theoretically, I can't help but think that my added tax burden correlates directly to my income and my relative purchasing power. My problem is that I can't find a way to correlate my income to my happiness. Ease maybe, but not happiness.

Death

2007-04-17T14:29:00.000-05:00

It is a strange time at home. My four year old is asking a lot about death. It is hard to know how to answer his questions. And though we haven't exactly been letting him watch the news coverage of VA Tech, death is everywhere around us. Only the most whitewashed cartoons do not depict injury or death, and those are hard to come by at times.

Without strong religious beliefs, it is a struggle to answer questions. It takes a lot of mental agility. I have just resorted to telling him that most people live into their 80s (given the current life expectancy in the US) and that that is a long time to live. Since one of his schoolmate's parents died from cancer I have also explained that some people die when they get really sick or are badly hurt. He wants to find a way to keep both mom and dad and the cat and himself alive forever. I just explain that we are trying our best to keep him from getting sick or hurt and teaching him how to keep himself from getting sick or hurt. With regard to dying, I haven't said too much except that living a good life is important and then getting old or sick or hurt is not as bad.

As far as I can tell he just thinks people go away when they die. Since I haven't found the truth to be much different I haven't elaborated on that.

The 300

2007-03-15T15:34:00.000-05:00

I saw the movie last weekend. I don't see many movies these days. My four year old likes to watch the movie Cars on a loop and my wife and I don't get out for dates too much these days.

I liked it. But I had a long discussion with close friends who don't like it. I understand why. One of my good friends noted immediately that the discussion about the Spartans being free and democratic was a half-truth of the worst kind. The Spartans, I have read operated in a part-democratic, part-feudalistic, part-totalitarian society. Aside from the serfs, some were also slave owners. The society was obviously organized along martial lines, which is clearly depicted in the movie.

Another friend, who is a brilliant movie critic, thought there was nothing redeeming in the movie. He believed it bordered on pro-fascist propaganda. He noted, correctly I think, that the main democratic body depicted in the film was incompetent and that only the strong leader could cut through that bodies inaction to command his society and organize it for war.

I don't disagree with any of their comments. We also discussed the fact that the Persians in the movie were depicted as deformed, homoerotic, mystical and perverted. Such a depiction was obviously heavy-handed with no basis in historical fact.

I value the opinions of my friends. Unfortunately, one of my first comments was - is anybody going to realize where Persia is? (and equate this film with the current political climate).

I think our conversation was right and wrong at the same time. What have we reduced ourselves to when our argument becomes (1) will people be stupid enough to realize what this movie means? or (2) will people be stupid enough to be influenced by this movie? How are either one of these positions persuasive?

Hopefully, the movie can be isolated and enjoyed for what it is. A fictionalized account of a single battle. Most good histories will note that the significance attributed to the battle has long been overemphasized. I avoided the political and philosophical implications of the movie, because I think they do not translate well. Sparta after all did not develop into a lasting world power. My only coherent comment, was that perhaps people will watch the movie and start asking questions about the Greeks and the Persians and history. They will learn that history has a tendency to repeat itself.

If all else fails, watch this film once and follow with V for Vendetta.

A Guy's list

2007-03-14T16:42:00.000-05:00

Maybe a feeble attempt, but a response to a list from an old friend.

1. Think about sex
2. Own stock, follow the market.
3. Play golf.
4. Bring in business.
5. Don't cry at sad movies.
6. Don't cry when she cries.
7. Don't cry.

8. The more you weigh, the funnier you must be.
9. Be able to hold a 15 minute conversation about any sport or any sports team.
10. Have at least a dozen movie quotes handy which carry and convey emotions without directly expressing them.
11. Don't ever kiss your child.
12. Stand up straight.
13. Suck in your gut.
14. Try and date, marry or sleep with someone prettier than yourself.
15. Never love her as much as she loves you. Or pay her lots of compliments.
16. Be able to brag about your conquests without caring.
17. Be able to instill fear in others when necessary.
18. Compete.
19. Win.

20. Know how to fix things.
21. Know where a dipstick is, and how to check all the fluid levels on your car.
22. Know how enignes work.
23. Take an interest in cars, but don't overstep your knowledge.
24. Mow the lawn, clean the gutters and take care of the outside of the house.
25. Do the dishes.
26. Have a few signature dishes you can prepare.

27. Listen to her, but understand that she wants you to fix her problems without fixing her problems, by just listening, she already has the answer and just wants you to continue asking questions until she tells you about it.

28. Listen to her when her stories make no sense, have no point or are on a topic which you have absolutely no interest in (and you have pointed that out before).

29. Keep telling the same joke until no one is laughing anymore and you feel like an idiot.
30. Try to stay clean and smell nice, but never be as clean and smell as nice as she does.
31. Sound important when you talk.
32. Work long hours.
33. Don't retreat from your family life by working long hours.
34. Make more than she does.
35. Keep your hair.

36. Have a story about that time you broke your something.
37. Make sure that story is funny.
38. Master self-effacing humor while having unwaivering and total egotistical confidence.
39. Love kids, but not too much.
40. Distrust others.
41. Deal with men on behalf of the women in your life.
42. Protect the women in your life.
43. Don't overprotect.
44. Compliment her for her beauty and have a reasonable attitude when other men look at her.
45. Pay the bills.
46. Be better with money than she is.

47. Be able to buy her the perfect gift that she wanted and know how to give it to her the right way, taking into account your financial situation, her preferences, her romantic ideals, and the nature of your relationship.

48. Know how to give a great backrub and great footrub.
49. Don't develop an interest in girl things.
50. Think that the girl things she does are magic.
51. Don't ever suggest that that magic doesn't take a great deal of time and effort.

52. Be able to insult someone.
53. Insult your friends.
54. Be able to take insults from your friends.
55. Be able to insult someone to the point of crushing their spirit.
56. Attack weakness.

57. Dress sharp, without having any particular interest in how you got there.
58. Know how to unhook a bra but not too well.
59. Be incredibly smooth and charming, without developing those skills until you meet the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with.
60. Be a little bit of a bad boy, or fake it as best you can.
61. Be able to turn her into a vixen.
62. Multiply your romantic history.

63. Drink socially
64. Be able to drink anyone under the table.
65. Have lots of good stories about drinking and college.
66. Refer to your old friends by their last names or nicknames.
67. Have one friend she hates.
68. Make sure your friends think she is hot and then keep them away from her.

69. Wait until she nags you before you do anything, and then know how to make her feel like hell for it.
70. Nag her for sex and then be indignant when she makes you feel like hell for it.

71. Wear a suit or a uniform or know how to dress up.
72. Be political enough for both of you.
73. Let her be religious enough for both of you.
74. Be either a masculine throwback or an evolved man.
75. Look good clean shaven and with stubble and know when to be clean shaven and when to have stubble.

76. Have a profound answer when she asks you what you are thinking about rather than than what is likely the truth - nothing, some woman who walked by, or a spot you saw on the dashboard.

77. Make sure you have been thinking about sex the entire time you have been reading this list.

Ash Wed.

2007-02-21T14:49:00.000-06:00

For some reason Ash Wednesday spawns irrational fears of markings denoting religion and exclusionary policies which can accompany such outward displays. Not that I think the reality is a reflection of anything other than holiness, I just worry.

On a more positive note, I do like how Easter is tied into the lunar calendar. It's like a tip of the hat to the Jewish roots of the holiday. Also with a little bit of pagan transposition and etymology Ash Wednesday really is Ash Odin's Day. Interesting, as Ash was considered the Adam of Norse mythology (Elm being the woman). Oh, well.

Beautiful

2007-01-16T16:34:00.000-06:00

I couldn't stop snickering last month about that whole Trump beauty queen thing. I mean she got caught clubbing, drinking, drugging and screwing boys and girls? And such a demure young lady.

What is the point of a beauty contest? Is it the ideal woman? For what exactly?

Well I think that a woman's woman would measure herself by her accomplishments rather than her looks and probably wouldn't have any interest in a beauty contest as a means of self-validation. A guy who likes that type of woman isn't going to be spending a lot of time watching a beauty contest.

But a beauty contest is pretty clearly designed for woman to measure their value by, for and through men.

There isn't much doubt that guys like to look at hot chicks in bikinis and heels. And it's doubtful that those guys (who by the way are some of the same guys as in the above paragraph) aren't going to be secretly hoping that the same girls like to get drunk, go clubbing and have three-ways. It seems to me if we are being honest with ourselves, that is the type of behavior that should be encouraged in our pageant winners. And then made available on DVD.

A while ago I worked for a Village's Planning and Development Department. They tried to draft an ordinance to keep all adult uses out of the village. Being from the big city, I laughed. They told me no one in the Village wanted adult stores and that only truckers used them. What bullshit. I'm sure the adult industry has remained a multi-billion dollar industry precisely because no one wants those stores. I hate to invoke the free market on this one, but people are voting with their dollars. Their punchballot votes, to me, are overvotes and can be ignored.

But we try to cling on to values that we don't believe in behind closed doors, pretending that we have nothing but disdain for the adult industry and that our beauty pageant winners should remain chaste, wholesome virgins until marriage. (And hopefully after they marry us, realize what tramps they are). How backwards is that?

Camping

2007-01-15T10:22:00.000-06:00

Sometimes simple pleasures are the most important. The other night, my four year old son and I camped out in the living room. It's been quite a tradition, originally started to watch a little late night post-season baseball after his bedtime. I roll out my sleeping bag and he has a cot roll. Then we get the warmest covers we can scrounge and roll up on the floor, watch a little TV, talk a little and pass out.

Some of the time I wake up and discover he is long gone. It is a fun change of pace though. One of these days we will have to get a tent and head out for real. I miss camping from time to time. And canoeing. There was a park and a river I used to know like the back of my hand, but that was a long time ago. These days I wonder whether anyone (besides a small dedicated cadre of the outdoorsy) really camps or canoes.

When I was younger I remember people talking about not locking their front doors or their cars. I haven't heard that kind of talk in a long time. And try living with that mindset of safety and sleeping in a tent. It doesn't work. But, for me, its hard to feel more alive than I feel in the woods. Unless of course its in the woods in a rainstorm. For now though, I'll have to settle with nostalgic feelings.

Becks

2007-01-12T10:07:00.000-06:00

Thank goodness, in the midst of if all, there is a little bit of good news. I guess if nothing else, I can have my bread and circus.

David Beckham is coming to the MLS. Now, I know he's lost a step or two, but it is still good news. Beckham is a spectacular dead ball player. He can still compete and is a level above most of the athletes in the league. Perhaps he will generate some added revenue for the league. I can say certainly that the MLS is more likely to see some of my money with Beckham in the league, I've already paid money once, only in the misguided hope of seeing him, when Manchester United came to the US to face Bayern Munchen. If nothing else, I did get to yell Khan in my most Shatneresque toward the Munich goal.

I had a fairly stong feeling that Beckham was on his way here, but I had a feeling it would take a few more years. It is fairly clear that Posh would love to spend some time shopping in LA. And the US is as good a place to play as any for a player on the back stretch of his career. You get the love of the fans and stay competitive a few years after you would be run out of any European league on a rail. Mattheus did precicely the same thing, and if I recall correctly his wife was looking forward to shopping in NY.

I just hope the move doesn't repeat what happened to major league soccer with Pele. In its first few years the MLS came perilously close to building an unstoppable juggernaut in DC a la the Cosmos. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the US can market itself as the optimal pre-retirement destination and share the love.

Hangman

2007-01-05T16:31:00.000-06:00

I watched the execution of Saddam Hussain today. I guess I was more concerned about the lack of picture quality than anything else. I read at a bunch of sites that the footage was disturbing and brought home the depth of man's inhumanity to man. Maybe I've been practicing law for too long. I just didn't see that. I could barely see what was happening at all.

In almost every scenario I am opposed to the death penalty. Justice requires a length appellate process for such a final penalty, and often the cost of that process outweighs the cost of lifetime incarceration. I also don't like the government in the business of execution, except I guess when there is a war to fight - I don't believe pacifism is a real world solution to those with murderous intent. Perhaps even the biblical parable to turn the other cheek, presumes there is a cheek at all to turn after an initial encounter.

Where I really start having a problem is with people who commit genocide, or something I will dub ecocide. The deliberate singling out and extermination of a group of people, or the destruction of the environment on a massive scale. Saddam fails on both counts. My only hesitancy in applying the death penalty in such a situation is that it is precisely the people who can wield such power that by failing to examine them, we may condemn ourselves to re-live the experience with their successors.

So I'm relieved that he is dead. Only its unfortunate that it had to happen as it did. My first choice would have been trial at The Hague. I think that would have been a much more fitting end for Saddam, but with the US rejection of international law, I'm not sure that was ever a possibility. And I still can't stop myself from wondering, why didn't we just kill Saddam a long time ago? I mean you don't have to invade an entire country to assassinate its leader. Not my first choice, but on the off chance it would have spared the lives of thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, I'd be willing to live with that solution. I'm fairly confident that the assassination of foreign leaders is already in our repetoire. And even if it isn't, the only compelling reason against it (aside from that pesky executive order) is because it would clearly open the possibility of a quid pro quo. Even with some of our best presidents I think that might be a better than fair trade. We don't have a king to give you see.

Mostly true.

2006-11-11T09:55:00.000-06:00

WASHINGTON - A 74-year-old man suffered internal injuries after lighting a small firecracker he had inserted into his buttocks, paramedics said Thursday.

The incident took place early in the morning on November 11, 2006, when the United States observes Veterans Day, traditionally marked with fireworks to celebrate the armistice signed after World War I and the American victory, likely over the Communists, in that war. The man suffered burns and other unspecified internal injuries in the incident just outside of the District. It is unknown if he will be able to make a full recovery just outisde his District.

Katherine Shenton, a spokeswoman for the North East Ambulance Service, said a caller had phoned in that the victim, identified only as Donald R., was bleeding after the firecracker exploded.

Several of the man’s friends recorded the incident on a mobile phone. The blurry images show a man bent over with his pants down and a white flash as the firecracker explodes.

The Times newspaper reported the man is a soldier who recently returned from Iraq. Police cannot yet confirm whether intoxicants were involved, but observers reported that Donald R. has been distraught ever since losing what was described as his high ranking military position.

Initiatives

2006-11-10T09:00:00.000-06:00

I wish I could get excited about the actual people elected in the recent campaign, but with the possible exception of Bernie Sanders, I am having a hard time. Everything is so incremental.

The only thing which really sparks my interest is the ballot initiatives. And those were a mixed bag. I think it was seven states which approved a ban on gay marriage. Some of the states imposed a ban on anything which even looks like gay marriage. A while ago, I think there was a Nebraska bill which would have invalidated anything which even composed an incident of same sex partnership - power of attorney for health care, power of attorney for wealth management, commingling of assets, joint tenancies over property, wills, etc. etc. I think it would have been really interesting the first time someone claimed a gay relationship in order to get out of a contract or business deal. Think about having to prove you are not gay as a precursor to entering any legal arrangement. Now hey, I know you are so not gay, but I've got $200 and a friend that will say different. As it stands now regardless of what you think of homosexual unions, the state of the law primarily assists people who want to screw over gay people - primarily financially, but also with regard to caring for themselves and their families.

Also affirmative action went down in Michigan. I have mixed feelings about affirmative action. But if you have a society where without affirmative action you have a "race" of people who aren't thriving, then you have a problem. I think that is pretty close to what is happening now, if you look at the census data, the prison rolls, the educational data and housing statistics. I think the evidence of existing discrimination is pretty clear cut. I suppose there are other alternative explanations like if you don't think certain "races" by their nature can succeed. Let us know when you come up with the science on that one. And how you would propose to deal with such a problem, at least on your plantation.

Oh and there was a referendum on Iraq. Kind of an afterthought I think. But I wholeheartedly agree with the president. The terrorists are evil. We are fighting a war against terror. If you figure out how to defeat evil, please give him a call. Please also contact Epicurus.

Provisional ballot.

2006-11-06T08:46:00.000-06:00

I'm somewhat dreading voting tomorrow. We moved about a month ago and it looks like I'll be casting a provisional ballot. My fault. You know, the kind you get when you live in one of the predominantly black precincts in Florida where they take your vote, "thank you," give you a sticker and shuttle it off to an election judge who holds it up to the fluorescent light, flips it over a time or two and puts it into a plastic ballot box to be set adrift on the Gulf of Mexico. You get to keep the sticker though.

As everyone else has said twenty times, it will be nice to have the ads end. But of course, nothing else will change. I think we had a two party system at some point, but there is so little movement on anything significant lately I don't even know what we are doing voting besides getting a little civic exercise. I can't imagine the Democratic or Republican representatives or senators creating some kind of paradigm shift. Abortion and gay marriage, while huge, seem like the tailings of much larger issues. And even with those issues the discussion is at the fringes. We talk about parental notification and imagine pedophilia is the natural outgrowth of homosexual unions.

Maybe I'm just cynical but imagine the parental notification laws are intended to set up a system whereby parents can be charged with murder for sanctioning the abortions of their teenage daughters. But hey, we still won't put the boy in jail, he didn't have the abortion. He got the girl pregnant, creating life - not destroying it. Just jail that slutty little daughter and her no-goodnik parents.

And the world turns upside-down again. I love the preacher who got nailed. Day 1: I bought meth, but I didn't do it. I did not have gay sex. Day 2: I may have a drug problem. The gay prostitute is still a liar though. Day 3: I am a sinner with a gay sex and drug problem. I guess he was for the sex and drugs while he was against them. I can only assume that because he theoretically believes what he did was wrong, he will see the light and the way. In his own mind.

I can't stop thinking that we now live in something a little darker than a democracy. The president seems more interested in turning the machine of the state to effectively and efficiently fight Al-Qaida than in maintaining its original intent of serving the constitution and the will of the people. I can only believe that type of administration best suited to destroy Al-Qaida is something other than what most people would chose to live under. But hey, Dancing with the Stars is pretty cool and there are only a matter of shopping days left before Christmas.

Election sickness

2006-11-04T09:57:00.000-06:00

I can't take too much more election crap. The ads are abysmally. I saw the miscegenation ad against Harold Ford in Tennessee. Sad. And the only newsclip I saw of him responding he said "I like girls." More sad. Piling on homophobia. I mean what does it say for the qualifications of our elected officials that they must to the last man like penis-in-vagina intercourse. Of course they can't like it too much, and better not cross racial lines. If we were using the actual biological definition of race, maybe that would make sense. Of course, we're not.

There is an ad closer to home where one candidate insists that the Democrat wants to give amnesty and social security to illegal immigrants (read: dirty Mexicans) by taking away our (read: White Americans) tax breaks. Um, the tax breaks were only on the wealthy, friend. I don't recall a tax break for White Americans, but I'd surely be interested in hearing about it, if it exists.

And then John Kerry. Here's an idea. Don't botch that joke. Unfortunately, perception has become reality on this one, and everyone is perceiving that he was insulting the intelligence of the troops. No Republican really believes that, but they perceive it to be true. Unfortunately, it appears that most people don't concern themselves too much about it other than to lash out at the Democrats. What poor options we have.

And in the mix, I'm reading "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris. It's an interesting book that argues for the end of religious tolerance by non-believers. I haven't yet come across an explanation of how we are to get to a society of non-believers, but I'm real interested to see how he thinks that's going to happen. The only plausible course for that would be the destruction of all religious groups in a holy war, which is something he does discuss. And every year it seems like we are headed down that road a little further. I don't care for that option though. And yet he correctly argues that it is another litmus test for our politicians.

Remember the Sunnis and the Shiites were going to come together in a spirit of harmony and welcome our invading Christian forces as liberators. That is exactly how it happened during the crusades, as I remember.

It is funny to read some of the comments on the internet about Harris' book. A lot of ire by people who said, "we tried no religion before - it was called communism and it didn't work." Again, communism is an economic system. It means centrally planned control of an economy. We have a little bit of communism in the US. The no religion thing is totalitarianism. Admittedly, Communism and totalitarianism frequently go hand in hand. Totalitarianism is almost always a bad thing - centralized control by an autocratic authority - except I guess when god is the autocrat.

And to top it all off, this administration has basically eviscerated habeas corpus. Now we live free at the pleasure of the president. George, do you want to take another look at that Second Amendment friend?

Las Vegas

2006-11-03T09:30:00.000-06:00

Recently back from my second trip to Las Vegas. The first trip was memorable because I got married. I don't think I like Las Vegas. What is the opposite of a hypocrite? Or maybe I am a hypocrite, although any virtue I have is likely by happenstance.

I don't gamble. I consider gambling a tax on stupidity. In that way it strikes me as a regressive tax, or at least a predominantly regressive tax. And it is frightening to look at the people at the slot machines and not be able to tell where the machine ends and where they begin.

I rarely drink. I don't enjoy the taste of alcohol and I like to stay in control of my faculties and I have a heredatary disposition both towards liver disease and alcoholism, separately and together, so I try and steer clear.

I'm married. That wipes out most of the remainder of things I could do.

So I did shop, and I can proudly say a friend and I closed down the video game arcade at the Mirage with a spirited Gauntlet extravaganza, but not too much else. The food was good. The girls were pretty. I don't have a conservative mindset that Vegas shouldn't exist or is bringing about the downfall of civilization. I like it for other people, just not me.

Hearth

2006-10-12T13:35:00.000-05:00

It was cold last night. But I wasn't disappointed. For the first time I started a fire in our new fireplace. I don't remember the last time I lived in a house with a working fireplace. Our recent move has been stressful, but to be able to relax in the living room with a fire crackling was nice. I admit on my first try, there wasn't much heat, or much light. I'll do better tonight.

Chimney sweeps, family and the internet have passed on their fireplace knowledge in the last two weeks. Add to that fading memories from summer camp long ago and I had a pretty good idea of what to do. Tinder, Kindling and Fuel. I was most concerned with burning down the house. I made sure to double and triple check the dampers in both fireplaces and had a pit in my stomache when we turned in for the night, even though the meager fire had burned down. A new simple pleasure to enjoy.

Monopoly

2006-10-11T10:54:00.000-05:00

Monopoly is a waste of time. Growing up, my mother didn't allow the game to be played in her house. I do remember playing it as a kid from time to time at friends houses, but I don't recall it making any impact beyond Life or Sorry or Parcheesi or any other game I played as a kid.

I do recall playing a little more in college. It seemed more like a game of chance, and I don't remember a time I played with a strategy. The game did seem popular with some of the other guys I played with though. I didn't play well with others. I remember long discussions about whether or not you could refuse to charge rent to another player. Or whether you could give some or all of your money or property to another player.

But I recall having longer discussions about Monopoly in law school. One friend of mine, who had roughly the same opinion about the game as I did made some particularly interesting comments. He said "nobody wins that game." Now sure, you can meet the criteria on the game board for a victory, but then what happens? Presumably you put the game back in the box for next time. But the message of the game is flawed. Once one person controls all the money and all the property what do you do then? I suppose the winner could divide everything up again, which would be interesting. I'd think you are more likely to get Baltic Avenue than Park Place though. Perhaps a parent would step in applying the Sherman Act. Maybe in some cases it would be interesting if the winner had to fight to retain his winnings. The answer that history gives us is a violent one.

Clark Oil Case

2006-08-13T07:23:00.000-05:00

A couple guys are sitting in the lunch room at the refinery where they work. They were killed in an explosion which originated outside of the lunch room when an untrained, unqualified company mechanic made a mistake in repairing a piece of equipment at the plant.

The guys got some money under the workers compensation act, which is great but limits the recovery you can get. So they sued Clark's parent company/shareholder. That company had allegedly made a determination to take a great deal of capital as profits and had limited company reinvestment in infrastructure and overhead including safety, maintenance and employee compensation. Apparently as a result Clark hired untrained and unqualified mechanics to work on an increasing number of failing equipment.

The parent company argued it had no control over the day to day operations of Clark, which is a critical factor in assessing liability.

Corporations are considered separate entities and generally one company is not charged with responsibility for the actions of another corporation. But the court looked closely at the parent company's actions to determine that it was not entitled to avoid trial via a motion for summary judgment.

I don't recall the ultimate disposition of the case, but it sure says a lot about how corporations can be run. Now don't get me wrong, I think the workers compensation act is a pretty good system and much of the time the money that corporations pay out when not protected by the act is obscene. And no doubt Clark was responsible itself for what happened. But in the most egregious situations to protect a parent company in this situation just rewards a company for setting up subsidiaries which it can divest when they kill people.

Maybe I just don't understand how we can be in favor of Gekko when he makes his speech about greed is good, and be opposed to the enterprising hitman who is hired to kill him after fradulently emptying his bank account and stealing all the worldly possessions from his home.

America the Beautiful

2006-08-12T16:53:00.000-05:00

A little ramble today. What is better. To love this country right or wrong or to love it in spite of itself? Is there a difference?

I still talk to some conservatives from time to time. They think the United States is the best country in the world. Although I wonder from time to time, I'm willing to accept that argument for the most part. I guess you have to presume that it is something better than a choice between imperfect alternatives. Too many arguments are "love it or leave it" etc. etc. Too much chest-thumping for how great we are. And then some of the same people get bent out of shape why everyone wants to come here.

To me it seems like the expression has contorted to mean something more like "love this country because it (by virtue of it being it) is always right and never wrong." I would be a little disappointed in myself for supporting genocide against Native Americans, African slavery or the poll tax. Not to mention the fact that if you can't understand why other people hate us you are operating at a severe disadvantage in this day and age.

I believe Bono said the European view of wealth is different that the American view. The American looks up at the white mansion on the hill and says, "someday I'm going to have a house like that." The Irishman looks up and says, "someday I'm going to get that bastard." Kiss me I'm Irish.

I've just been thinking lately, isn't it better to love what this country has been able to achieve and could be without blinding yourself to the incredible damage and destruction we have also wrought.

I remember right around the time of the millennium a political radio station was taking calls on the most evil or murderous men of the 20th century, trolling for answers like Hitler, Pol Pot and Stalin but more happy to entertain discussions when callers said "Bill Clinton" or "Ronald Reagan." I called in and said Roosevelt and Truman. Of course a discussion about the bomb ensued. And I appreciate Roosevelt and Truman in spite of what they did. But to absolve them of responsibility for their actions is a mistake. It may make things easier, simpler, less troubling, but it is still a mistake.

I feel the same way about the country. Our decision to relate to other societies by destroying them is in error. But our response to that error can be great. I hope it is.

Pigs

2006-08-11T14:59:00.000-05:00

BP is living the life right now. Choke supply, raise demand. Then increase supply and hold the price steady. Don't invest anything in infrastructure during those windfall profits years. Got to make those shareholders happy you know. And when your infrastructure crumbles, use it to raise prices again. Pass those costs on. Love means never having to say you're sorry.

Soon BP will be looking for welfare. Oh sorry, I mean reinvestment or something. Or maybe they'll do it the old fashioned way. The criminal who begs for money and when you shuffle past doing your best to look busy, next time asks again with the gun to your temple.

I know, I know corporations are made up of people like you and me. I believe that for the employees but not the shareholders. Shareholders are shadows of people. The way the system is set up its hard for a shareholder to be very concerned about anything other than pure profit. I don't think mixed fund managers exactly take an interest in the election of the latest board, or the newest changes in the by-laws. And being a shareholder you have a certain amount of anonymity. Even more so if you merely own a share of a fund.

Now maybe I'm a bad person but if I look at my 401K I'm hoping to make money. If I owned shares of a company, I'd be even more motivated to make money, I suspect. In the best case scenario I probably wouldn't read the mandatory disclosure from the corporation that they were about to undertake a lucrative business operation in human trafficking. In the worst case scenario, I'd vote for the operation and pray with the extra money I could buy a nicer security system to protect my wife and daughter.

Corporations run efficiently, but to what end? To me the flaw at the center of corporations is the flaw at the center of humanity. We might never do anything bad on our own, but when we're in a comfortable group we force ourselves not to pay attention, or worse - rationalize, when they are building the ovens at the work camps.

Toronto

2006-07-31T13:33:00.000-05:00

Just back from a trip to Toronto. Passing through customs two times was exciting. I felt that maybe they would catch a terrorist. Unfortunately the closest I came to seeing that was the lady who refused to turn off her laptop during both takeoff and landing after repeated requests. I thought maybe we would get to see her arrested. Frankly, I think that using your laptop DVD player to watch Elton John videos should be a crime.

It was a lovely city. It seemed European in many ways. Less crime, more smokers, great public transit, horrible drivers, beautiful people, and beautifully planned. And they seem to have a complex about being Canadian. Apparently there are lots of Americans who look down on Canadians. Most Americans I know don't think about Canadians. (Which is worse?). I'm sure a good percentage of the US population can't even find Canada on a map.

It was nice to have money in my pocket with a picture of the queen and Cadbury chocolate in my belly. And to be in a country where getting attacked by terrorists is something of an afterthought (although not entirely).

On our way back to the hotel one night we passed a Lebanese protest rally. There was loud yelling and angry chants and calls for the heads of the Zionists. I'm sure somewhere their counterparts were responding in-kind. Our three and a half year old was over-tired but had the energy to let us know that he didn't like that noise. My sentiments exactly.

The Reasonable Man Standard

2006-07-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

Have no misconception that even ultra-liberals believe in the Second Amendment. Only in its proper context, right after the First Amendment. And in all other ways penultimate.

So I got to talking with friends last night. As we talked about September 11, my wife told them the story about the threats her building has received. On one occasion, the building was evacuated and the evacuees crossed the street, only to look back at the building to see if a plane hit it. The news crew was also camped right across the street. Not real bright. Well shortly after September 11 and that threat they had conferences with the tenants of the building and let them ask questions. After informing the tenants that the building could likely withstand most assaults and that the stairwell doors were 4-hour fire doors, some of the tenants asked what to do in the event of a direct hit on their floor by a plane. Well there's no good answer to that question.

To the extent an answer exists, it is the reasonable man standard. When the law works its best, this is the engine that works. You cannot put land mines in your front yard to guard against terrorists, but a nuclear power plant is expected to have safety protocols even against criminal actions. The question is how far are we willing to go? Is it reasonable to divest ourselves of democracy in order to prevent terrorist attacks? Or again is the unfortunate answer not to spend billions and billions of dollars to make us as safe as we can be and instead to concentrate on what we believe is the reasonable, optimal level of safety. I don't want to be as safe as possible in the world. There will be plenty of time for that after I'm dead.

Of course, for fun there is another option for your building that we joked about last night. On every building over 40 floors the 41st floor can be a dedicated anti-aircraft floor. With several AA guns with overlapping fields of fire and blow out windows. You know, guns kind of like the one that Jane Fonda sat on in Hanoi. Imagine the next time someone tries to fly a commercial jetliner into a building being one of the tenants. Hearing the air raid siren, seeing the 41st floor windows blow out, hearing the guns start to power and roll on their tracks and by the time you see that jetliner, explosions of black and white smoke and flak fill the air. The plane starts to bob and weave like something right out of Operation Marketgarden in Band of Brothers. Instead of that last picture from the tower with the airplane photoshopped in, we could have a new postcard. With the plane in the field of fire as it gets torn to pieces. Of course superimposed over a background of a waving American flag, with a superimposed translucent "spirit" eagle appearing to use its talons to crush the plane out of the sky. Sounds reasonable right?

Fiat 124 Spyder

2006-07-07T11:22:00.000-05:00

So for the 4th of July weekend, we were in the Detroit suburbs
where I met one of my wife's brothers and two of her sisters. (We got married in Vegas you know). And sitting in the brother's garage was one of these beauties. A 1978 Fiat 124 Spyder in British Racing Green with a tan interior. The wheels are a bit different and there is less rust on the version in his garage.

Of course I had to go after it. Maybe my midlife crisis is early, but I ocassionally miss a car to tinker with - with my old man. Now I just have to work out a place to put it. I even found a mechanic who knows Fiats. So I can only believe the stars are aligning on this one. I first remember seeing the car about 7 years ago parked in my mother in law's garage where it lingered for a long time. I liked it back then too.

I may be totally off base too, but getting a car like this seems like anti-keeping up with the Joneses to me. I mean they are cheap, old and not especially sought after. It doesn't go that fast and isn't too luxurious. But if I can manage to close the deal, I think the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts.

My most fantastic lunch.

2006-06-15T17:31:00.000-05:00

Today I had the most fantastic lunch. Well, the lunch was only the smallest part of it. Really the food was well - British. A salad with some kind of vinaigrette dressing and a few tomatoes. A seafood pie with cod and shrimp and mashed potatoes on top. I do so love British food. It is spectacularly bad.

But the lunch was perfect. I was watching England defeat TNT in an English pub. Only two things could have improved on the occasion. (1) If I had been in England and (2) If the crowd had spontaneously broken into song (I would have suggested "God Save the Queen" or "One Nil to Arsenal"). As it was there was much cheering and merriment, and everyone in the pub seemed to recognize the difference between a poor cross and a good set piece. Beckham is still fantastic with a dead ball.

It's a wonderful time of year for a diversion.

Too Busy to think.

2006-06-02T15:49:00.000-05:00

The billing cycle just ended, so hopefully I will be back to posting again soon. But till then here is a meme from a friend.

10 Favorites

Favorite Season: Winter
Favorite Color: Silver
Favorite Time: 11:11
Favorite Food: Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast
Favorite Drink: (1) Chocolate Milk (2) Root Beer (2) Apple Cider
Favorite Ice Cream: Wavy Gravy
Favorite Place: The Woods
Favorite Sport: Futbol
[Ed: I don't really have a favorite actor or actress, these are just guesses.]
Favorite Actor: John Cusak
Favorite Actress: Kate Winslet
[Ed: My favorite movie is Star Wars. My favorite director is Akira Kurosawa]

9 Currents

Current Feeling: eager
Current Drink: water
Current Time: 3:54 p.m.
Current Show on TV: Not near one.
Current Mobile used: Some Motorola
Current Windows Open: Current version. No real windows open.
Current Underwear: Boxers.
Current Clothes: Blue button down shirt, jeans.
Current Thought: Waiting to see Garland pitch tonight.

8 Firsts
First Nickname: JT
First Kiss: A girl from Canada, seriously. Along with several girls in the Niagra Falls area...
First Crush: A girl on the Pom Pom squad, ouch that smarts.
First Best Friend: Jeff "Baker" a francais.
First Vehicle I Owned: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT - and still champion. Better than dad's Vette.
First Job: Eagle Food Stores.
First Date: Voix, I think.
First Pet: Billy the cat.

7 Lasts
Last Drink: water.
Last Kiss: this afternoon with my wife. stopped by her office to kill time.
Last Meal: Snacks for breakfast, Jamba juice for lunch. Free dinner tonight.
Last Web Site Visited: Voix.
Last Movie Watched: X-Men 2
Last Phone Call: Insurance Adjuster.
Last TV Watched: Local Morning News.

6 Have You Ever...
Have You Ever Broken the Law: Mostly minor traffic violations.
Have You Ever Been Drunk: Yes, a long time ago.
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: No.
Have You Ever Been in the Middle/Close to Gunfire: No.
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: No.
Have You Ever Broken Anyone's Heart: Maybe yes, probably No.

5 ThingsThings You Can Hear Right Now:
Hum of air conditioning, people talking in the hallway, clicking of keys, footsteps, silence.

Things On Your Bed:
Fitted sheet, flat sheet, duvet with cover, four pillows, probably a stuffed animal and some clothes.

Things You Ate Today:
Jamba Juice, breakfast pastry, water.

Things You Do When You Are Bored:
Surf internet, watch TV.

Things You Do For Comfort:
Sleep, build legos, eat.

4 Places You Have Been Today:
Home, Office, Courthouse, wife's office.

3 Things On Your Desk Right Now:
Hiroshige Calendar, FLWright Coasters, piles of work.

2 Choices
Salt or Pepper: Pepper
Hot or Cold: Cold

1 Place You Want To Visit
England, again.

Time Warp

2006-05-11T12:07:00.000-05:00

If you are reading this, then I am sorry for not providing my typically useful, insightful rants that you may have been accustomed to reading. Please take the opportunity to go back and read the May posts, which I have started backfilling today.

Not much longer now.

2006-05-10T11:44:00.000-05:00

Ah Democracy, dies with a whimper. Now the government knows who you are calling. They are doing it to catch terrorists. I guess if you call a terrorist's number they will sit you down for a chat. If the reports are true there are tens of millions of people that they are compiling phone records from. Are that many people calling terrorist's numbers? What definition of terrorist are they using? Really what they need to do is start listening to those calls. And how much longer before they get the green light on that? They already have it for some international calls anyway.

I wouldn't presume to think everyone who follows Pat Robertson is a terrorist just because he has publicly called for the assassination of a popularly elected world leader. I wouldn't presume everyone in the NRA was in favor of the violent overthrow of the government even though many will explain that part of the foundation for a strong second amendment contemplated that possibility. Why monitor their phone calls or worse yet listen in on them.

I don't know if there is a clearer indication of the contempt and/or distrust the government has for the American people. Yet here we are in a time when people not only understand the government's motives but actually applaud them in certain circles. And I though Republicans were opposed to big government. It was supposed to be the liberal left that set up the mechanisms for totalitarianism.

Democracy in action

2006-05-09T11:54:00.000-05:00

I read today about the tax cuts on dividends. That means tax cuts for the wealthy. And the tax package also protects many Americans who are about to be hit by the Alternative Minimum Tax.

Well my family is doing well this year. But I didn't see any Alternative Minimum Tax in sight. Exactly how well do you have to be doing to hit that bar?

Love the land of Democracy. Unfortunately in this country it seems it is one person, one vote; one dollar, one vote. Thats something different entirely than democracy, isn't it?

Route 66

2006-05-08T12:10:00.000-05:00

I spent most of the day Saturday driving the Mother Road. It was fun, but telling. So many of the communities on the road are withering on the vine. Huge stretches of the road lie decommissioned and abandoned. The interstate, and even the reroutes of the route have sucked the life out of so many small towns which were formerly great, or at worst, someone's home.

But to me the road should still be celebrated. Not because of wonderment and days gone by, but because we chose to stake our fate on the automobile. For fortune or folly, we celebrated the car. Drive-ins, diners and the two-pump gas station abounded. Now it seems part of our history we want to forget. And not for something better. Strangely the roads and way that we drive now is not something we embrace. We want to forget the present as we drive. Forgettable superhighways, forgettable stops for fast food and gas. All in the name of the convenience in time and direction. Well, convenience isn't all I thought it would be.

Relegation

2006-05-07T12:21:00.000-05:00

I've been watching a ton of baseball this year. I don't really know why. Well really I do know why. The Sox won last year. It was a nice change from what I'm used to. Unfortunately, I am not a baseball fan. I keep watching, and now I think I understand large parts of the sport. I can appreciate a lot of the sport. I do find it fascinating that the game is so intellectually complex, so cerebral on some levels, when played correctly. I just don't find it to be good sport. To me football (and I'm talking about soccer here) is so much more entertaining. But that's all personal preference.

My dad didn't really care for sports all that much and aside from a few Ali fights, I don't recall him ever following anyone in particular. He still doesn't. And I don't have any specific memories of him taking me to a ball game at any time, although it's possible. But I do recall going to soccer games with him.

Chicago, before 2003 was a bad town for a baseball fan. To me, although I love underdogs, a team that doesn't win a championship in 90+ years is a team that shouldn't exist. To call them an underdog is somewhat of a misnomer. Failure is a more appropriate term.

And although no one cares, I think there is a solution for such teams. Relegation. In the Premier League in England if you are one of the worst few teams in the league, you get the boot and go down to their equivalent of AAA ball. Why we don't do that here I don't know. Frankly, I think it is the only way the Cubs have a chance at success. The are owned by the Tribune company which has no incentive to improve the team so long as their ballpark is a shrine, filled with beautiful people and beer. The GM and coach are either perennially incompetent or tow the party line. And you continually hear "wait till next year." It's a lie. No one will stop going to that ballpark regardless of the product on the field. The owner makes more money by fielding a low payroll team than by fielding a good one. So what's the point? Just imagine if the Cubs were playing AAA ball along with the (former) Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Kansas City Royals. And wouldn't you love to see some scrappy guys from AAA ball elevate to the big game as a team? I know it's about as American as Fish and Chips or Mincemeat Pie but the alternative is just as rotten.

In harm's way

2006-04-28T17:10:00.000-05:00

Ug. I was reading about the controversy over "King & King" in New York and just read about the Harper v. Poway School District case. I don't know why or where people find the time to discriminate against gay people. Is it really so necessary? And what's the point, its unlikely that they are going to change any minds. Are they so desperate for a beating? The "King & King" book involves some prince who avoids other princesses until he finds another prince to kiss at the end of the book and they live happily ever after. I guess some parents were upset about the "sexual content." If so, we should get rid of any book where anyone kisses or lives happily ever after. I guess we would still have Batman.

What's that I was reading earlier today about Lot? Oh yeah, his two daughters seduced him. (That happens). There's another book for the bonfire, I guess.

And the Harper case was about some schmuck who decided to wear an anti-gay T-shirt to a day of tolerance (for LBGT) at his school. I'll defend his right to wear the shirt. On the other hand, I don't think I'd go too hard on someone who ripped it right off him, mitigating circumstances and all.

The Findlaw article linked it to that nutter who is disrupting the funerals of soldiers arguing that their deaths are punishment for the US accepting homosexuality. Seriously, protesting at soldier's funerals? Aren't those often populated by other soldiers and ex-military? Not too bright.

I remember talking in law school about battered women who kill their abusive spouses and the ticking time bomb defense. It works sometimes but not always. And you have to basically argue that the woman was crazy, insane, in the heat of passion. I was so angry. I just kept thinking, why not tell the jury, yeah she knew what she was doing. She knew exactly what she was doing, that guy deserved what he got. Frankly, she has had long talks with a psychologist and me, and she would take 20 or 40 years in jail over having that guy stay alive any day. We've told you why. Better to be free in jail than keep taking a beating from a guy that tracked her down anywhere, anytime. If you want to put her in jail, go for it. Maybe it will make you feel better, maybe it's the right thing to do. But if you think you are punishing her by doing so, you couldn't be further from the truth.

Dismantling the South

2006-04-27T16:42:00.000-05:00

I love how the recommendation to dismantle FEMA is out there now. Actually, FEMA worked when James Lee Witt was in charge, during the Clinton administration. It is the current administration that allowed it to die on the vine. And I wholeheartedly agree, this FEMA should be dismantled, but with a few caveats. I know the president also wants to curtail the EPA, Health and Human Services, and some parts of the Department of Education. If we make these cuts, might I also suggest eliminating the executive branch.

And everyone white in New Orleans took a group dump on Mayor Ray Nagin. Now sure, the man made some huge mistakes during Katrina and perhaps it is time for the city to move on. But the real reason everyone is pissed off at him is because he said he wants a "chocolate city." Oh the outrage! I remember how upset everyone was and all the web poles that race should not be a factor in rebuilding New Orleans. Well welcome to America, where race is a factor in everything. Doesn't anyone wonder, if New Orleans rebuilds as a 100% white city does that create any moral dilemma? At some point doesn't laissez-faire economics demonstrate racism? Every national survey shows that blacks and Hispanics make less than whites, that women earn less than men. At what point does everyone wake up and say, is it more than two standard deviations? Well something must be screwing up the system? Or are we all just content to believe in the survival of the fittest as we keep our heel on the throat of those who look different than us, or don't help to remove our neighbors heel from that throat? Or worse yet, rationalize that those who aren't succeeding aren't the fittest.

I love New Orleans. Even though I generally don't drink and have only been there one time. I got my rear grabbed by two girls on Bourbon Street. I didn't get a real good look at them but I think they were attractive. My wife clapped as they continued through the crowed and told me they had good taste. The reason I loved the French Quarter though was because it was different. French, Spanish, Creole, Cajun, African. I have the distinct impression that others love it just for the booze and broads. What a waste. New Orleans was appealing in part because it was black. If that ends, the city becomes a Disneyland version of itself.

When my wife and I were there we went on plantation tours, I remember other people laughing about the stories that slaves had to whistle when they brought food from the kitchen to the main house, so that their masters knew they weren't eating food. And at the story of the slave boy who would pull on a cord attached to a fan hanging over the dining table during the white-table-cloth two-hour-feasts. And of course all the slave houses on the plantation had been torn down. After all they weren't built very well and weren't much to look at.

They should tell you about the slaves who were beaten to death when they didn't whistle. And frankly, they should rebuild the slave houses. That's what the plantation tours should be. You should tour the slave houses exclusively. If you want to go on the tour for free, they should let you pick cotton for an hour. You should be able to take pictures of the main house, but not go in.

Standard Oil

2006-04-25T11:20:00.000-05:00

Now the president eases back the environmental controls on oil. Got to get those prices down. Might as well streamline the refining process, eliminating additives. Smog be damned. Hell, let's bring back leaded gasoline. Oh for those days of leaded or unleaded pumps. I miss looking down at the odometer and seeing "UNLEADED FUEL ONLY" just below the turning dials. At least he made a little bit of sense when he called for taking back some of the tax incentives granted to oil companies. What a pinch for congress, I can't wait to see how they handle it.

And the president's call for a move to different types of energy makes Jimmy Carter look downright prescient. Back then we all laughed because a helicopter crashed and we ran him out on a rail remembering the lines at the pumps. I guess the sun is setting on the America that Reagan talked about. But the ground is still lit with the fires of the oil wells burning in the distance.

Yeah, Earth Day came and went. Didn't Clinton celebrate that? I guess if mother earth was a woman, Bush would just try and get her drunk and take advantage of her.

Back to oil. I think the conversation I had the other day with the man waiting for the bus illustrates the point well. Dislike of the war, but resignation and perhaps the price of gas will be low. Well now we don't even have cheap gas. Something is wrong here. Every good person knows that at least the gas was supposed to be cheap. And where is that anger going to be directed? Not at a Democratic president, not at a Democratic House or Senate. One step forward, two steps back (just don't let those steps back allow you to have any perspective). I thought every dead American would give me at least a half a cent or so off at the pump, right?

Finally, a young boy who knows about saving the environment says the answer is Jesus. What was the question again? To be clear, he was in kindergarten so I wouldn't exactly be too hard on him. And I think someone could probably write a wonderful essay on how one of the answers to helping the environment is religion or even Jesus. (I applaud the recent efforts by some religious organizations to begin to move in a Green direction). But his parents decided to sue. No doubt the school's move to take down his poster about Jesus and saving the environment wasn't exactly viewpoint neutral, it was censored for its promotion of a specific religious viewpoint. Which to me raises some interesting questions. How about instead of long elaborate proofs in Algebra and Geometry, I simply wrote, "the answer is Jesus." Then I could sue the school for viewpoint discrimination after I got bad marks. After all my answer was right, from a certain point of view.

Man on the Bus

2006-04-22T07:17:00.000-05:00

Met a man waiting for the bus last night. A working class black man. He struck up a conversation about the price of gas. When he said he thought it was probably going to hit $3 I told him I thought it would end up being above $4. I know, it was a strange conversations with a stranger. He thought the war was supposed to get us cheaper gas he said. I mentioned that lately it meant the price would be going up and that now the areas producing oil disliked us more than ever. He wondered why so many young Americans had died then. Well I agree that the war had something to do with oil. After all we don't go forcibly removing every dictator who abuses his subjects or invades a country nextdoor. I explained to him that in order to reduce the price of oil, one need only purchase a block of shares of ExxonMobil or the like. The dividends offset the increase in gas prices. Neither one of us remembered the miniumum wage, but thinking it was around $6 I explained that if everyone making minimum wage would just devote a dollar per hour earned to investing in oil stock, they would defray any increases in gas prices. He nodded in agreement, until I told him I was bullshitting him, at which point he breathed a sign of relief. I was wearing a suit after all.

After that, he also admitted that he didn't want to take the bus through the black part of town, which I thought was interesting. He had a rough week last week and is working all weekend and back to work next week.

But here's why I write about him. His mother apparently passed this week and his wife is in the hospital. But he said at least I have god, pointing up. I only managed to say "good." But if I was a religious man, I would have said I'll pray for you. I suspect this was what he was hoping for. And though I can't or won't pray, I know people who will. So I'll ask in writing, include this stranger on the bus and your wife in your prayers for today, or how ever long you want. Thanks.

God Save the Queen

2006-04-21T07:01:00.000-05:00

...Make her victorious, happy and glorious, long to reign over us...God save the Queen.

Or something like that. Tempted to say Queen mum, she looks so much like her, but no just Queen. What an interesting woman. Actually has some sense. Served as a lorry driver during the war. Not a douchebag like Prince Charles. Everyone is ripping on Prince Harry lately, but I can't help but think to myself, is this boy who drinks, makes incredibly stupid mistakes, but is clearly hardheaded and otherwise sometimes likable much more like the real kings of England of the past (like his Grandmother) rather than the effeminate emasculated Charles? I'm sure William will do well, but perhaps Harry is the boy who should be king.

Now I'll admit I'm a total anglophile, but the more I think about it lately, I think there is some value to the monarchy. Now to the extent they actually rule, I recognize the problems there, but these monarchs are figureheads mind you. But the value is demonstrated in this country. Here where in the next election we may have a (Jeb) Bush versue a (Hillary) Clinton. Monarchy anyone? And it isn't a new trend either. Washington could have been president for life if he had so chosen. Two Adams, two Roosevelts (one of whom was basically elected for life), several two term presidents, a father and son Bush, and as I have mentioned, Bush is related to Pierce. I'm sure I'm also missing a couple. So it seems people gravitate towards monarchy in a way. I'd much rather see a parlimentary system here, and a figurehead monarchy. Maybe we could be really novel and elect our figurehead monarchy, maybe then our desires for a Bush v. Clinton world would make sense. Every few years we could switch back and forth. Prince Billy. Princess Jenna. Don't those sound wonderful?

Krieg

2006-04-20T20:27:00.000-05:00

I can't stand reading about Darfur. They keep begging for a UN army that will never arrive. Is there a more clear cut illustration of man's inhumanity to man?

And our army is nation building. Armies don't build nations, mostly because they aren't particularly good at it. They don't train to build nations, or to serve as a police force. They are designed to make war, and that's what they are good at. They are a blunt instrument. They are made up of a bunch of cocky kids who like to play Socom when not on the march and 'Let the "Bodies" Hit the Floor' through their tank soundsystem. And God bless them. And boy could they be doing some serious damage in the Sudan, where they are needed, instead of playing in Dubya's sandbox taking fire from partisans.

Seriously, where is the strategy here, get the whole world pissed off at us? Couldn't we be building some good will by shipping retroviral drugs to subSaharan Africa and building schools. Are we content to let China corner the market on good deeds and building inroads into Africa. How long can we just dump on the world and jerk it around before it comes back around?

Baseball berry berry good to me.

2006-04-18T07:04:00.000-05:00

Spent Easter at a baseball game with the family, which was quite nice. Good food and nice seats. Of course our three year old was the life of the party, dancing to the music coming over the loudspeakers. He pretended to play the piano and the drums. And of course when he came back from the restroom he proudly announced to all of our neighbors that he pooped in the potty. He also helped entertain the group of young boys sitting behind us. I think his favorite part of the game though was watching them remove the tarp from the field and place the tarp back over the field. By the end of the game he was also insisting that he keep his baseball hat on as well.

It was much better than the part of the day that we spent doing our taxes.

Easter Rewrite

2006-04-17T09:12:00.000-05:00

Well the holiday is over. We had fun dying eggs, hunting for eggs and eating the eggs. The chocolate bunny this year gets two stars. If Lindt or Kinder or Cadburry made something moderately sized for a three year old I would have snapped it up.

My apologies for trashing the holiday a little yesterday. I don't think a spring time holiday with a resurrection theme is necessarily a bad idea, I would just do a little rewrite.

So lets take some of the main themes for our pot, god killed, god resurrected (bodily), betrayal, murder by man. God or gods dying is not really too new. Ragnorok is one example and I think some of the Titans died when Zeus and Hera ascended although my memory on this may be shaky. But when you've only got one god and you kill him off, that's balsy. I don't know of anyone else who does that. Resurrected bodily is a little more difficult. I know one of the heresies was that god was not resurrected in corporeal form but rather returned as an apparition. If you are a literalist, I would think this would be the way to go, but corporeal reinvestment makes sense in another way too. The betrayal of god and murder by man are two of the most interesting elements of the Christian story. I can't think of another tradition off the top of my head that shares these elements, but please enlighten me. And maybe tweak a couple of things regarding the death. First let's be clear that mankind killed god instead of some group of mankind. That way no one can go on death rampages against anyone. And maybe dial down the suffering of god a little. The first reaction to hearing about god suffering seems to me to be most often religious fervor, rage or aggression rather than what is intended. And really isn't it man who suffers for killing god rather than the other way around?

And lets sprinkle in some other things. First lets tie in Spring firmly to the holiday. It's convenient enough because the holiday we do celebrate is primarily a spring holiday. The holiday is right around the equinox and frankly the Christian tradition seems to have slipped far from its necessary connection to nature, with too many invoking the idea that man has dominion over nature rather than being a part of it. Then addition by subtraction. Let's make god not the god but a god. For me anyway this solves some of the problems of hostility between religions. Too many argue we believe in the one true god and you don't. Now some will say well we probably all believe in different manifestations of the same god. But there are too many counterarguments that say, well there is only one manifestation of our one true god, so again you don't. Perhaps if we had more than one people would be a little flexible on this. Maybe not all the gods have been revealed and everyone's god is some manifestation of some god or of the godhead. With two gods the holiday can get a lot more interesting. Now addition by addition. Lets make the holiday about the resurrection of two gods instead of one.

So in the brief time I allow myself to write this post I would come up with a holiday with roughly this framework.

Two gods, one male and one female are born and resurrected on or around the vernal equinox (depending on your hemisphere). They are reborn and resurrected in bodily form after a death of six months during which time the nights lasted longer than the day. Coinciding with their rebirth/resurrection the world is reborn and resurrected in spring. Their rebirth happens not once, but every year for us to celebrate. And of course, since we attribute human characters to god and because everyone is pretty clear how people create life, it is fairly obvious how the holiday is celebrated or can be celebrated amongst both the gods and the people. And frankly given "spring fever" it is pretty obvious the spring is already celebrated in this manner. Most of this tradition is celebrated through May Day, Beltane and Easter. (And hey, they would have a kid right around the Winter Solstice, isn't that interesting).

The gods born on Easter would be gods of justice and natural gods. A little New Testament, a little Old Testament, but given the nature of the season I could only suggest a gentle god, Jesus-style. The fact they are born and die on an equinox would naturally lend itself to the idea of balance, as hopefully would their relationship - with one another which is something which would be extremely useful and is not well provided by the Christian tradition. Very zen. Their pairing, and the pairing of male and female while allegorical would not need to be absolutely literal, but about the joining of parts balancing a whole.

As the summer ends, then the bible Easter story springs into action. A conspiracy of man against these two gods. Perhaps one man given the knowledge that he would be called upon for a necessary betray of god (Peter and the Gospel of Judas - Judas), and one may with ill will (canon gospel Judas). Of course, both gods would have the knowledge that they must die in order to live again and in order for the world to be reborn, so they would in a sense have the same knowledge and behavior of Christ at the last supper. They could even draw parallels to eating of their body and drinking of their flesh, although I would suggest they broaden the scope a little bit and focus on the fact that their being is all of the earth and all food and drink from the earth is part of them, rather than narrowing in on the similarity between wine and blood. At the appointed time around the autumnal equinox they would both be murdered in cold blood, the murder having no clue that his evil act was actually life affirming, echoed forever by their final statements at the time of their death. And they would be murdered with the support of everyone, who had turned against them from failure to see and/or understand. I can't see exactly how they would be murdered, but I'd be willing to take suggestions. Something not to gory or gruesome, so as not to instill hate in people, but something that does not entirely destroy their bodies, as immediately after their death, their bodies would have some significance to the harvest.

And then after the death of the gods the cold and hard winter approaches, with the justice that the gods might have sought in life, played out after their death.

Plus, I think there must be a way to have the female figure give birth to at least one sun god on the winter solstice, Christmas time, the sun/son god.

Well anyway. Someone should write that book. But until then, Happy Easter.

Eostre

2006-04-16T19:43:00.000-05:00

What a holiday today. From an outsider's perspective, Easter is about as morbid and disturbing as a religious holiday gets. God crucified, god resurrected, god ascends. The crucified part is miserable and the resurrection part just comes off as absurd. And the few times I've been in a Church on Easter have been equally diappointing. At least on Christmas most sermons revolve around thinking about and helping those who are less fortunate. On Easter I recall getting an earful about how everyone needs to be more religious. So needless to say, I avoid Easter services like the plague. Plus when your favorite part of the whole Easter story is Peter's denial while the cock crows, you don't make a lot of friends.

Well anyway, there is so much of the Easter holiday that is completely based on pre-Christian tradition. So is every other holiday for that matter. So the rabbits and the eggs are still a wonderful way to celebrate the fecund season. Kind of obvious to start kids out with this. Try explaining to a three year old that everyone decided to kill god and he rises from the dead today. Not so much.

The Code

2006-04-15T14:42:00.000-05:00

I just finished the DaVinci Code. [readers say in unison: you cheap bastard]. It was a good read and only took me a couple days. I've long thought that art which taps into modern myth is easy to make compelling. The Exorcist scared the hell out of me. I thought this book functions on the same level. I'm sure the Prose Edda had a similar effect for people who heard it back in the day.

I loved the controversy over people who are convinced the book is literally true. Fitting given the subject matter. I'm not even sure most textbooks are fair and balanced these days.

For me the most interesting aspect of the book was its focus on how Roman Catholicism and frankly most Abrahamic religions have eviscerated the role of females. To me that seems beyond dispute. I mean the two most prominent figures are either an unattainable impossibility (a virgin mother) or a whore. Oh yeah, and Eve was like a temptress tramp too. Jesus didn't get married or screw around, none of his apostles were women. None of the gospels written by women. I'm not certain, but are any of the angels or devils even typically depicted as women? No women popes, no women priests, etc. etc. I was never clear on what nuns did other that serve as the handmaidens of the church. An important role, but hardly equal to that of a pope or cardinal. I had considered all these things before reading the book, but it was a good read for that reason alone.

Frankly I don't even understand why any women really belong to the church. Except perhaps to change it.

Well hooray for the sacred feminine anyway, I hope it at least makes people think.

The Price of a Cheeseburger

2006-04-14T10:29:00.000-05:00

I love how the fast food companies are back in the news. Some countries use high fat oils, others use low fat oils. The companies insist that the use of oils is dependent on price, availability and customer preference. So fries in some countries in Europe are healthier than the fries here. No big surprise. And the explanation makes sense too.

But it presupposes another issue. How responsible are fast food companies for their own products?

I remember getting into huge lunch table arguments with other lawyers regarding the passage of the Cheeseburger bill. The bill which says you can't sue McDonalds for making you fat. Makes sense right? Personal responsibility right? Well it doesn't make much sense to me. The courts were already really hostile to those suits. Especially when people claimed they didn't know McDonalds food was bad for you. And maybe I'm just far too cynical, but I wouldn't give a company a license to injure people. I don't know what we are trying to incentivize by protecting them from suits, even in the unlikely event that they do deliberately try to hurt someone.

I think the way it was worked fine. McDonalds over the past several years, along with other fast food companies have been making a concerted effort to serve healthier food. That seems a good solution. That way if you pick a hamburger over a salad, you are the probelm. Clearly there is a difference between that choice and the choice between a bacon double cheeseburger and a double fish-fry sandwich. And with the threat of a suit connecting, the pressure to improve was a constant.

Now that we seem more willing to protect them, they have reverted to arguments about personal preference. I don't think anyone has a personal preference for the ill-health that comes with overeating.

Personal responsibility is a wonderful thing. But it has to be a two way street. Why shouldn't McDonalds be responsible if every item on their menu was horrendous. Why shouldn't city planners be responsible for curtailing the construction of fast food restaurant after fast food restaurant in areas that don't contemplate healthier options. Why shouldn't everyone take just a little responsibility for trying to make everyone else a little healthier?

There are too many communities where the options for supermarkets and dining are too limited. Usually, this occurs in the poorest of communities. And at some point, if you can envision a town or neighborhood with fast-food as the only option, and envision fast-food as an always unhealthy option, you have to wonder what went wrong.

Trickle down religionomics

2006-04-12T16:59:00.000-05:00

Passover is such a boon.

My great hope is one day to by chometz one day and walk in and claim some of it. Jews have to sell or dispose of all their leavened bread for 7 or 8 days during the holiday. Sometimes they sell some of it to a gentile and buy it back after the holiday is over. Check ebay. But the sale is somewhat legitimate, and I think within reason you can claim your chometz, but I wouldn't suggest being anti-semetic. I wouldn't eat a ton and would be willing to pay a little extra. I don't drink so I wouldn't hit the really expensive stuff. But I'd just love to pay say $3.50 for a house full of chometz including some breakfast cereal, and then have myself a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles. Maybe I'd discuss the Pascal lamb and whether a frog plague is really possible in today's world.

And I'd love to walk in somewhere for a good holiday dinner. Since at least some families set an extra place for Elijah, and then assume that weary travelers who come to their door might be Elijah, I might try that out too. But if I had to speak Hebrew, then I guess all bets would be off. That and asking for a good cheeseburger and it would be all over for me.

Well Easter is coming up too, so I feel kind of out of it this week. But maybe I'll right more on Eostre later. Right now I just started the DaVinci Code at long last.

Arid

2006-04-11T18:45:00.000-05:00

So I'm at another town meeting last night and we are talking about how a swank bar is on its way into town. Now that a no-smoking ordinance was passed it only makes sense right? Oh, and I forgot to mention the town is dry. Or should I say, was dry. I guess about 15 or 20 years ago someone decided that some alcohol sales were okay. They are really restricted though.

Now I know I am in a small minority, but I really liked the fact that the town was dry. I don't care that every town across the street is wet but I thought it was kind of renegade that we were one of the last bastions of prohibition. It was one of the consideration in my moving here. No one in my nuclear family drinks, so it worked out fine for us. Plus for those people who wanted to drink, I don't think there was anything preventing them from drinking at home. Oh well, I should have suspected something was wrong when I was on the same side as some religious wackos, but it was fun while it lasted.

Hard Labor

2006-04-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

One good day of hard labor this weekend. I helped my parents move on Saturday. Here is a picture of their new place which looks lovely. It is an antebellum building in my hometown. They bought the building a couple years ago I think for under six figures and served as the general contractor for the buildout. The building holds two condominiums, a rental apartment a commercial space and a full basement which was at ground level about 100 years ago and I believe was a dry goods store.

In addition to serving as general contractor, My stepdad did a lot of the work himself like installing the cabinets and building the stairs. The stairs were ceiling joists before the diagonal microlaminate beams pictured were installed. He also replaced and rebuilt all the windows himself, only ordering glass panels. My mom ran the books for the work and obtained historic tax credits.

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner this year.

Hup Holland Hup!

2006-04-09T11:04:00.000-05:00

We have the government we deserve I guess. I saw the attorney general half-smirking answering that if the president thought it was in the best interest of the country he could conduct domestic political surveillance. Scooter Libby said that Cheney told him Bush authorized the declassification and leak of national intelligence information which may or may not have included information on a covert operative. The only reason that information would have been disclosed is as political retribution. Someone floated out there that the use of tactical nuclear weapons is on the table in the Middle East. We are testing new bombs and bringing back the mushroom cloud to the Southwest. And anyone who speaks out against the government is supporting the enemy. Palestine is electing terrorists, Afghanistan is growing poppies, Iran is building nuclear weapons, North Korea is threatening to bomb our west coast and Iraq is happy-funtime land.

Ann Coulter calls liberals traitors like it is a bad thing.

Concert

2006-04-05T08:33:00.000-05:00

I went to see Cesaria Evora last night with my wife. It was a good time and I think she really enjoyed it. Most of the singing was in Portuguese and French and so either I couldn't understand it or I could only understand a little bit. The band was "tight" and she sounded exactly like she does on her studio albums. And we had the best box seats in the house, the closest to the stage.

Along with our prior visit to see Etta James, we managed two out of the three trifecta. Unfortunately, we won't be able to see Nina Simone.

I think for our next concert, we will probably see GWAR. Or not.

But is it wrong that instead of hearing Besame Mucho my mind heard Besame Coulo?

Death Penalty

2006-04-04T08:19:00.000-05:00

The Moussaoui trial got me thinking again about the death penalty. I am generally opposed to the death penalty because I am generally opposed to the state executing people. I can see how in the right circumstances you can make exceptions to the rule through, and I am sympathetic to people who support the death penalty. And in times of war all bets are off.
*
But my real question is, is it a penalty at all? Doesn't supposing death is a punishment presuppose the existence of an afterlife. If no afterlife exists aren't you really denying an offender punishment.
*
The elements of justice I remember are retribution, specific deterrence, general deterrence and reformation. There could be one more which slips my mind. I'll take them in reverse order.
*
Reformation is reeducation. It is the effort to try and reform an offender so that he may either lead a productive life in jail or perhaps in society if he is released. Job training, counseling, these kids of things come to mind. The American justice system and the American people modestly support reform of criminals, but it is not considered the primary focus of incarceration. Now with serious offenders it is unlikely that we would chose to release them, but some reformation might be necessary to keep them functional in a jail environment. Otherwise I don't think reformation is a concern for anyone other than the most liberal minded. Obviously, imposing the death penalty precludes any reformation.
*
General deterrence is a message to everyone not in jail. See what happens if you kill someone? You get locked up. Incarceration clearly serves as a message that you shouldn't do a crime. I suppose the death penalty serves the same message. However, if most criminals are poorly educated and/or prone to passion I question whether they will be able to coherently weigh the costs and benefits of committing criminal acts. And I've always questioned, if you are poor and have no prospects don't the benefits of committing a crime outweigh the costs? The worst you can end up with is having no freedom of movement and getting three square meals, well and maybe AIDS, which would suck. I don't know if most sane people would rather rot in jail or die. Don't most people who are vested in the society fear losing a house, a car, their possessions, a revenue stream their spouse and children as much or more than a stay in jail? So I think as far as the death penalty goes it could be a push.
*
Specific deterrence prevents the criminal from committing more criminal acts. Clearly, if you are dead the chances of you committing further crimes are slim. If you are alive conceivable you could be released or sprung and return to a life of crime. Or you could even commit crimes in jail. So this seems like the ultimate reason to support the death penalty.
*
Finally, retribution. Here is what really confuses me. As demonstrated by Moussaoui, retribution seems to be largely subjective, but for me always slants toward incarceration rather than execution. For some, I can imagine them becoming accustomed to jail or even learning to enjoy it, regardless of the level of hardship. For others I can imagine it being one hardship after another. Now death on the other hand for its punitive aspect is more of a dilemma. Sure death in and of itself is some measure of punishment, and if you fear death then that punishment is magnified. But isn't there an element of theism creeping in to what we view as the vengeful purpose of the death penalty. I hope you die and burn in hell, the movies say. Well what if there is no hell? What if a person just dies and we've missed out on the opportunity to really punish them? I recognize that we've just practiced the ultimate act of specific deterrence, but is that it? Couldn't the death penalty be the act that least punishes the offender as in the case of Moussaoui as much as it could be the act that most punishes him?

Opener

2006-04-02T15:34:00.000-05:00

Finally Spring is here. Thank goodness. As I listen to sports radio today, I am reminded of the change in season.

Rushing up to the stadium with the anticipation of an eight year old. The feel when you walk through your entrance, as it opens up in front of you and you get the rush that comes from sensing the mass of humanity surrounding you. Wiping what you hope is rain off the seat and collapsing your body into the hard plastic. The smell of the field and the sausages. The din of the crowd and the announcers trying to speak over them. Watching the players take the field, usually a distant sight of strong but small men which makes you wonder what they were talking about a before they came out, what they are thinking. The slow start of the game, event upon event, a play beginning to set up. Then an opening revealing a possiblity. One team capitalizing on a moment and the swell of emotion that accompanies it. And how it can last throughout the game. Or navigating your way through the emotions of a more complex game, where either your wisdom and patience prevail or you are stripped bare and acknowledge that you are still a child.

Of course, on the radio they talk about baseball. But the football season is here.

Pledge

2006-04-01T10:18:00.000-06:00

Ah for the good old days.

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The original pledge.

Marching out

2006-03-31T16:45:00.000-06:00

Well that's one month of blogging. If you are reading this please take the opportunity to post in my comments how you think I'm doing, if you have any thoughts about it at all, and what type of thing you'd like to read or if you'd like me to just shut up. Of course, I won't do that, but maybe you will feel better.

Show Trial

2006-03-30T06:57:00.000-06:00

The Moussaoui trial is so wonderful. We caught a terrorist. Well actually we caught a bunch but we aren't going to try them. Just Moussaoui for now. He's so helpful. He will plead guilty. He will try and testify for the prosecution. He will make up stories about how he was going to run a plane into the white house, even when the mastermind of the whole operation says he was going to be part of a second wave of attacks. And he was in custody at the time of the attacks. Oh and he will basically advocate for the death penalty against himself. But his testimony that he hates America and his lack of contrition is so useful, so wonderful, so motivating.
*
Wait a minute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is being held too. We're going to try him too right? No. Well we're going to try everyone in Guantanamo right? No. Oh that's right Scalia says they are enemy combatants and don't need a trial in a time of war. And then he tells you to go F yourself (That's Sicilian!). Only this war goes on forever and we haven't declared war against anyone and anyone could be the enemy. Usually you hold combatants until the end of the conflict. There is probably no end to this conflict so I guess we hold them forever. And since it's not against a nation state it is so unclear what the rules should be. But we haven't even clearly articulated a war against Al Quaeda. Instead we have a vague notion that this is a war against terrorism, Islamic fundamentalist terrorism or even evil.
*
Oh and there is Osama. Now I know we are going to try him. Or no. He's going to be Elvis bin Ladin. It's going to be 2038 and we're going to be talking about he could still be alive but just very old. And any man who walks into a local deli and orders a peanut butter and banana sandwich on the bread of the infidel (PBOA) could be him. And now the Democrats want to get him. If it wasn't a half-hearted attempt at reasoning their way out of the ideological basement its too little too late.
*
Now I'm no softie. I think we should have declared war on Al Quaeda. They took responsibility for the attack, they waged total war. They must be responsible for that. Only the Taliban is not Al Quaeda, the Iraqi people are not Al Quaeda, the people of Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Libya are not Al Quaeda. Right now it just looks like we have gone on the mother of all tangents.

Warning! This product may contain peanuts.

2006-03-29T10:31:00.000-06:00

Interesting post and links at Word Munger regarding self-censoring in the teaching of evolution.

Perhaps our public schools should offer concerned parents a waiver from the teaching of evolution. Not by teaching creation science and neglecting the teaching of evolution, but rather by letting parents opt out of teachings that do not conform to the bible. The would have the opportunity to keep their children from the secular explanations of the universe propounded by anthropology, biology, chemistry, ecology, and physics. Perhaps they could have study hall or gym during the time they would otherwise be in these classes. They could be allowed to read the bible in study hall. And sex education too (or health), that would be another opt out. And maybe English, to the extent that it covers secular texts. We could leave out non-christian history too, in order to avoid any appeal that a non-christian society might have. But math would remain.

Oh and presumably, these kids, once adults would have the good sense to make use of those people who learned anthropology, biology, chemistry, ecology and physics and those things which use science. Or maybe not.

God help us all.

2006-03-28T14:59:00.000-06:00

How wonderful for us to bring democracy to Afghanistan and to see the tyranny of the majority in its majesty. And in the trappings of religious fundamentalism. The example is too clear to go into and too parallel to rumblings in this country.

And we were for democracy in Palestine too. Until Hamas. And then we let them know the price of democracy.

And we are still so wed to it. And for good reason.

Its going to work really well in Iraq. I only think they need a hundred years of native post- enlightnement political philosophers to really lay the groundwork. And everyone knows that the Locke and Mill Marine brigades are training Iraqi philosphers to do just that.

TK421

2006-03-27T15:40:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, after much heavy lifting, I finally got a HDTV set up at home. Oh and the picture was beautiful. My wife remarked that she could see the fingerprints on C-3PO. That shows where her mind is at.

That movie is inescapable to me. How much of my entertainment time is spent chasing another Star Wars? Sure I've had to suffer with some plodding movie novelizations and a few Lucas movies of questionable worth, but I've also been able to discover Joseph Campbell and Akira Kurosawa.

I wonder if people who saw Gone With the Wind at an impressionable age felt the same way.

And for those who don't know - Red 2 was Wedge Antilles' callsign.

Recycler

2006-03-26T09:49:00.000-06:00

The Roman Catholic Church in Burundi has instructed its clergy not to perform church weddings for those infected with AIDS (or pregnant women) as individuals who have premarital sex have not followed the teachings of the church and are not entitled to be married in the church.

The story is interesting and I believe the liberal knee-jerk reaction is to say, "that's not right." And although I don't agree with the position of the church, I don't oppose it.

*
And so I will recycle my thoughts from my sparring with Deep Thoughts further down. The conversation was about same-sex marriage but can be just as easily applied to the little conflagration in Burundi.

I recognize that marriage is a Christian sacrament and don't think the government needs to take that away. I think the government should give control of marriage back to the church exclusively. No more marriages of gays, non-Christians, or people who the church doesn't want to marry. I'd be fine with that. Because I think Christian marriages can be essentially a good thing, I think the state should recognize them as a legal union and provide some benefits.

But I do think the government should set up something for everyone else. It wouldn't entitle you to get into heaven. It wouldn't qualify as a marriage in the eyes of the god of (insert church here). But it would be legally binding and be a good start for people who wanted to try and work together, perhaps raise kids or do something else important. It might allow you to inherit from the other person, share control over finances, adopt kids or have them, control medical decision making in the event the other person is incapacitated, etc. etc. etc.

Does that impose morality? I don't know. No one has to think the other system is moral, good or anything. But I think that everyone should be able to agree that you shouldn't discriminate against either group. If no one could agree on that, then I guess discrimination against both groups would be fair game.

So I think the church should have its way in Burundi. But I also recognize what the consequences are. According to the BBC 6% of the population in Burundi has AIDS. In some countries in Africa it is double or triple that or more. If the Church really clamps down on its dogma it isn't doing itself any favors.

Whether its in the best interest of the church is another question. If the main aim of a church is total unity of thought and behavior among its adherents, and it has a high ante in terms of dogma, it seems to me there are only three choices (1) be small, (2) be content with believing your flock is faithful, when the reality is different or (3) crush free will and thought. I'm good with two of those options. As for the third, a friend once said, the more you tighten your grip, the more will slip through your fingers.

iPod

2006-03-25T09:52:00.000-06:00

Somewhat mirroring Voix I post my current, somewhat embarassing iPod top 10 most played for my Saturday punt post. The list was not edited to relect positively on the author.

1. Hung Up - Madonna
2. The Distance - Cake
3. Take It Off - The Donnas
4. Bulls on Parade - Rage Against the Machine
5. I Wanna Be Adored - The Stone Roses
6. Rio - Duran Duran
7. Electrical Storm - U2
8. Trip Like I Do - The Crystal Method
9. Private Idaho - The B-52s
10. Listen to Your Heart - D.H.T.

Meet the Press

2006-03-24T09:07:00.000-06:00

I love the new war on the press because the coverage of "the Long War" is not upbeat. And in one sense the criticism is totally justified. The news media follows an "it bleeds it leads mentality." And I begrudgingly admit, that many arch-conservative commentators are completely accurate - many news readers are liberal and from time to time show their bias. However, the corporate ownership of the companies which produce the programs is conservative. If you think GE, a munitions manufacturer, parent company of NBC, is a liberal corporation, it is only because you are horribly misguided.

Why then do these conservatively owned companies continue to show gruesome, horrifying and morale-draining coverage of the war.

The answer is fairly simple - you. Liberal or conservative, the media is a ratings game. And if you think you are going to tune in night after night to watch a report of another school being built near Basra or the power grid increasing its capacity from 10 hours a day to 11 hours a day, you are fooling yourself. You would watch a heartwarming story about a GI helping some Iraqi kids get fresh water one time. Whether you hate the media or not, you love this story. Either you watch because you think the war is horrible and you can't bear to think that another day has passed with more American and Iraqi dead or you watch because you are furious that the liberal elite news media continues to show these misleading images and not the stories which you wouldn't watch.

The furor with which the news media has latched onto the story against the press demonstrates the point. Why aren't we hearing about all the wonderful things the press is doing and can do?

Ism

2006-03-23T13:08:00.000-06:00

Saw Crash the other night. Three stars. What the movie did make me think about was what type of racism is worse, open or concealed.

I always thought we have perfected a very advanced type of discrimination. I see the same pattern with racial minorities and women. The system is so entrenched that Jim Crow laws and flagrant discrimination against women isn't necessary. Instead the group is encouraged to self-discriminate and destroy iteslf. Black on black crime, women fighting other women. If you are in the dominant group you can simply throw up your hands and say "I didn't do anything, just look at what they are doing to themselves." Every discrimination can be done by proxy. It is clean and efficient.

Crash presents a world where racism is surprisingly upfront. While that is no doubt true from time to time, that kind of racism can be spotted, challenged and in many cases, defeated. Isn't the worse racism the gentle racism that goes silent and undetected through our everday lives? The kind that doesn't show its face or allow itself to be challenged by free speech and the marketplace of ideas.

Unjust War

2006-03-22T14:52:00.000-06:00

Oh. The BBC reports that "the US will not shy away from attacking regimes it considers hostile, or groups it believes have nuclear or chemical weapons" according to the new National Security Strategy Handbook of the US.

Michael Walzer would be sad. Pre-emptive attacks are not justified unless there is an imminent threat. Like the Egyptians getting ready to invade through the Sinai. Or even perhaps the provisioning with military supplies of a harbor outpost overlooking an enemy port. Or finding a group of people who have organized a plot to run planes into buildings.

Furthermore, developing nuclear weapons is not illegal, unless of course the country has signed and ratified the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, like Iran.

The broadly sweeping language of the government's admission is tragic. It has already encouraged North Korea to claim that they have the capability to strike the US with a nuclear missile and also claim the power to launch a first strike. Oh for the good old days when mutually assured destruction made people think, "well I don't want to die to kill them" rather than "today is a good day to die." What's with all the saber rattling? Everyone already knows we can launch a first strike. I mean we are the only ones who have ever dropped the bomb anyway.

Of course, there is a silver lining to the announcement. Reading the statement strictly, the US should immediately launch a full scale military action against itself. "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw the United States forever. We begin bombing in five minutes. "

And presumably, the government's endorsement of pre-emptive strikes is the recognition of a right guaranteed to the people of the United States through our elected representatives, and not just a right guaranteed to our elected representatives against us.

Opiate of the masses...

2006-03-21T14:44:00.000-06:00

A friend writes that I see no point in religion. And so I'll consider it. The answer varies greatly depending on who we apply it to.

Most of my friends are religious. Almost everyone I know was raised in a religious tradition except me. I got comparative religion. I thought I was raised agnostic until I went back and looked at flashcards that my parents made for me when I was little that helped me learn about churches and temples and crosses and stars. We always celebrated Christmas and Easter. I knew Christmas was Christ's birthday, but I don't remember ever learning about the religious significance of Easter until I was grown. I also remember spinning the dradle from time to time. I do remember having discussions with one of my parents about religion and was told, believe whatever you will. My other parent is areligious, if that is a word. I don't think he really considers whether god does or doesn't exist or whether he doesn't know whether god exists, so I don't think you can consider him religious or an atheist or agnostic.

Add to that growing up in a medium sized city in the Midwest that wanted to be a small town. Lots of people were very religious. I was a little kid and when some of my neighbors found out my family didn't go to church, probably because they asked me and I told them we didn't, they promptly told me I was going to burn in hell. I'm not exactly sure when they explained to me what burning in hell was, but once I found out, I was pretty devastated. And no one told me that I could save my soul by going to church, they just told me I was dammed. A few years later I remember collecting canned goods for the pantry that my mom ran and getting turned away after I was quizzed about what church I attended. Then I went to Catholic High School.

There I learned about the fights between Catholics and Protestants. I still chuckle about that from time to time. I find it so hard to distinguish between the two, and Judaism for that matter that I really don't see what all the fuss is about. Well I was a fairly good kid in High School and even led Our Father over the PA on numerous occasions, because I used to do impressions during announcements. Around the time of graduation I learned that several of the parents of some of my friends had been told that I was a bad influence, with respect to sex, smoking and drinking. Only it was my friends who did that and not me. Conveniently enough, because I was not Christian, and would have admitted that if asked, the parents bought into to the little myth.

Toward the end of High School I read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica entry on every religion and religious philosophy I could find, including animism, deism, polytheism, pantheism, atheism, agnosticism, and monotheism. I also had a pretty good working knowledge of history at the time. At the Catholic college I attended I also studied comparative religions.

But enough history.

Religion is fine for other people. Sure I'll box your ears if you want to talk to me about transubstantiation or the red heifer, but if you at least can articulate a position about those, then more power to you. Does it have a point? I guess. It helps people cope, or feel not alone or helps them have some purpose, or in the worst cases keeps them from being totally evil. For a lot of people it colors the emptiness of the space of things they do not know, or in the worst cases do not care to know.

But zealots? I don't much care for them. Too many wars, too many conversions by genocide, too many other bad things to mention. And amazingly these people have no concept of either (1) the things that their religion has perpetrated or (2) the theistic or historic underpinnings of their religion. So they are stupid or evil, and they will get an earful from me.

As for me, I am fine without answers. My religion changes to suit my mood. And that's how I work. Anything with dogma rubs me the wrong way, and as I stated in my first post, monotheism is not for me.

So does it have a point? Again my friend says, that Marx's statement seems to be conflicted. He liked the masses, thought that opium was bad, but in a way opium means something more. Webster's second definition of an opiate is "something that induces rest or inaction or quiets uneasiness" and that can't always be a bad thing.

Viewing

2006-03-20T06:57:00.000-06:00

Saw V for Vendetta last night. Interesting. Until I heard that the movie was about the nature of terrorism, I didn't really have any interest. And once I found out the movie was based on an Alan Moore graphic novel I was really hooked. Although I admit I've never read V and didn't even really read all of Watchmen, but The Dark Knight Returns (by Frank Miller) both renewed my interest and changed my mind about what comic books could be. And then came Alex Ross.

The problem is one I recognize from the Nazi seizure of Power, if you have a you're with us or you're against us mentality, and you keep adding to the behavior that is necessary to be "with us" then you have started down the road to a totalitarian state. It is precisely for this reason that I am concerned when even though the government recognizes that a call for censure from Sen. Feingold is doomed to failure, they continue to pay lip service to their supposition that sowing discord in this time of war gives aid an comfort to the enemy. Clearly Sen. Feingold is a treasonous traitor who hates our president and our country and is out to destroy it, right? So the question to me becomes, once you have decided, you are "against us" what then are your options?

St. Patrick's Day

2006-03-17T06:32:00.000-06:00

What a holiday. And unlike Valentine's day, we have retained the Saint. It was Patrick who drove the snakes out of Ireland. I'd kind of like to see the snakes back in Ireland myself. Maybe they would give the Catholics and Protestants someone else to direct their anger against.

I used to imagine that St. Patrick's day was a great day to partake in good English food, wear orange and St. George's cross. But I guess my beef against the holiday doesn't have anything to do with English or Irish or Catholic or Protestant. I actually kind of like the Ireland, the Irish and Irish culture. Plus I try to shy away from doing things that will get me beat to the point of unconsiousness. As with all holidays, I like the etymology. The green god, the leprechauns, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Not being Catholic or Irish, and not drinking, I'm not entirely sure what it is I'm supposed to do today. But I will wish everyone a happy St. Patrick's day.

Deep Thoughts

2006-03-16T09:30:00.000-06:00

I have been posting quite a bit in response to Deep Thoughts, at various places in the archives. Mostly here, here and here. And while I totally disagree with him on several issues, he is well intentioned and clearly more learned with regard to Aristotelian philosophy, which in fact I know next to nothing about, or really any philosphy for that matter, other than what I've been able to piece together in my free time without reading any philosophy books. So if you are one of the three or four people who ocassionally read my posts and want to read posts on life the universe or everything, read two people argue or throw in your opinion, please feel free to do so.

Stokely Carmichael

2006-03-15T21:10:00.000-06:00

Stokely Carmichael was a leader of SNCC and the Black Panther Party. He was an interesting guy. I only had the chance to talk to him briefly, and by the time I met him he had changed his name to Kwame Ture and was advocating for a Communist Pan-African movement.

I got the chance to meet him in the concrete block basement of a building that is now a dorm for seminarians. He was an imposing presence, and to me a man who seemed to straddle two eras. He talked about justice. I remember a few other white faces in the small group, but we were in the minority. I was shocked at the lack of people present and at the intimacy of his speech. I was only partially surprised that many of my friends had no interest in going to see him speak even after I explained who he was. Aside from the fact that I don't think he was turning cartwheels about a prolonged conversation with a white college boy, he seemed like a good man. Very political. He was pleased to hear I had learned his name along with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcom X as three of the prominant black leaders of the 1960s.

The other night, a friend gave me a car ride home from work. He had met Mr. Carmichael too, and I suspect had several conversations with him. He also knew Bill Ayers. Where have all the radicals gone?

Meme

2006-03-14T09:47:00.000-06:00

And today I punt. But for fun I will try a meme.

Lifted from SNL.

1. What was the biggest mistake I ever made?
Not trying hard enough.

2. What career was I really suited for?
Muppeteer.

3. Which of the girls I knew secretly had a crush on me?
None of them. The few girls who had a crush on me let me know about it.

4. Whats the 200th grossest thing I ever ate?
I don't kiss and tell.

5. Secretariat or Man-O-War?
Man-O-War.

6. Bent-knee or straight-knee sit ups?
Sit ups? Neither.

7. Beatles or Stones?
Beatles. Not even close.

8. Dogs or cats?
Dogs. Dog sized-dogs. I hate cat-sized dogs.

9. Smooth or chunky?
Smooth. Natural.

10. Irresistable force or immovable object?
Anything irresistable. Preferably in a pleasing shape. Damn you succubi.

11. Who is still alive? Elvis, Jim Morrison, Jimmy Hoffa, Andy Kaufman, or Hitler?
Andy Kaufman. But he is dead to me.

12. Did Bruce Willis make a deal with the devil?
Yes, but the devil apparently isn't interested in renewing the deal.

13. Sugar Ray Leonard?
No.

14. 368th most surprising truth?
The holy grail is in a pawn shop in Hoboken, NJ.

15. What's the wierdest thing that causes cancer?
Sepp Dietrich.

16. Why did they change the formula for Coke?
The freemasons.

17. What happened to the $50 bill I lost at graduation?
It went to pay down the national debt.

18. Does god have a favorite religion?
Mithraism. I'm so sorry.

Oriflamme

2006-03-13T09:45:00.000-06:00

Webster's defines Oriflamme as a banner or symbol inspiring devotion or courage. It is originally from the Latin for golden flame. The oriflamme was the war banner of the French kings. By the time the original flag was replaced by the banner of St. Denis, the banner was made of fiery red silk. The flag was raised in times of war. It was the rallying point in times of great danger.

Wikipedia notes that the red flag is linked with Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats, the revolutionary left and the radical left. The red flag is a symbol of incitement. It was also used by pirates (before global warming) to indicate they would take no quarter.

I'm no communist (not yet anyway), but I've given up on the Democrats. I was always much more hawkish than most of the Democrtic party anyway. And if this administration, which seems unconcerned with the checks and balances of the constitution, has given me one thing, it is a new found appreciation for the Second Amendment.

Pretrial

2006-03-12T08:24:00.000-06:00

It's strange. Last week I got to sit in a room and hear a bunch of people talk about how they thought they were going to die. Then I got to ask them questions. Such a strange job some days. But my questions were clinical, precise, I hope. Aimed at discovering the truth rather than merely bludgening the questionee.

I understand that some of them prayed in what they thought were their last moments. I would love to have a conversation with them in a different setting, although I don't know that it would do either of us any good. That idea seems so foreign to me. I can't imagine praying at the end. Maybe I'm wrong about myself, or everything, but I can't. Some of those who pray don't make it. Some do. Some of those who avoid praying have time to take action to save themselves. Some don't.

I remember Pascal's gambit. If no God exists, then belief or disbelief are of little consequence. If God exists, then you are better off believing than not. And yet if I prayed to Tyr or Hermes or Shiva I assume I would be roundly condemned as a heretic. And if I believed and prayed for others to be destroyed, then what would I be?

Amalekites

2006-03-11T06:36:00.000-06:00

Proof that life is stranger than fiction. Or. Putting the Nazi in Ashkenazi.

Did you know Jews are commanded by the bible to genocidally wipe out the Amalekites? "Go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass." (1 Sam. 15:3). Now the good news is that most rabbis will tell you that the Amalekites are dead, or at least that there is no way of knowing anymore. (I consulted with a Cohen on this one).

How strange is that? I mean the people who have been subjected to the most orchestrated genocidal campaign in modern history (you're not in an Austrian prison, right?), being commanded to commit genocide themselves. It certainly makes you question the moral authority of the text.

From Each According to Their Ability...

2006-03-10T06:31:00.000-06:00

Capitalism and technology working together to create a more communist society.

One of the first lessons you learn in economics is the law of supply and demand. Theoretically, you want to reach equilibrium between supply and demand. Unfortunately, doing so means you lose a potential market above the point of equilibrium, which would have paid more for your item, and you lose a potential market below the point of equilibrium, which cannot pay the asking price for your item. Of course, you do get to sell the optimum number of units at the optimum price.

The market has come up with some nice ways to try and retake these markets. Let's take an example - the movie Star Wars. Say for example, you wanted to see the movie before its general release date. You could have driven to a large city and paid a couple hundred to attend a special charity screening. That's the market above the point of equilibrium. Now lets say you don't have $10 to spend on the movie for you and your friends or family. You can wait until the movie comes out at a discount theatre, wait and rent it from the store, or if free works for you, wait until the television premiere. That captures the market below the point of equilibrium. Still, most people who actually want to see the movie are going to pay the $10 and see it.

Now the internet has come up with a genius way to handle supply and demand based on the information available about you! It's like capitalism meets communism. By keeping track of you on the internet a company can get a fairly good idea of your household income. It can then charge you according to your income for items you wish to purchase. Theoretically at least this same method could be used in a brick and mortar store. I know a lot of people were really pissed off when they found out a couple of companies online were using a sliding scale, but under laissez-faire capitalism I'm not sure what's so bad about it. It you want to pay less money you can always earn less money.

I can just envision Adam Smith and Karl Marx rolling over in their graves.

Polked, Pierced, and finally Bush.

2006-03-09T07:03:00.000-06:00

This is Franklin Pierce. He was President of the United States. He was born in New England. He was a northerner with southern sympathies. His excellent policy decisions helped bring about the Civil War. After he left office he drank himself to death.

Does he look familiar? He is an ancestor of our illustrious leader, Dubya. Did you know George Bush was born in Connecticut?

I guess it is a slight improvement to have started the Civil War in another country. But who knows. If the next president is Pat Buchanan, I'm going to get really nervous.

I can't figure out what he is reaching into his jacket for. Enlighten me.

Anniversary

2006-03-08T07:09:00.000-06:00

I love my wife.

When the chips are down there is no one else who I would rather have in my corner. As time stretches out in front of us there is no one more fun to just ride it out with. And when things are good, we both know to keep our mouths shut and enjoy it.

I love her populism, and her perspective. She reads about five times as many books as I do and retains practical knowledge. When I talk about how people want to exercise their rights, she reminds me that they need to put food in their mouth. She is self made. She knows how to work and do things, in addition to just talking about them. Practicality still eludes me, sometimes.

Because I had so much help along the way I can only admire her accomplishments, and never equal them.

And she has built a home. I don't think there is anything more important to me than that. I think it's the one traditional value I hold dearest.

And she's hot.

I love my wife.

God of War

2006-03-07T06:53:00.000-06:00

One facet of the War in Iraq I find brilliant.

"So we'll fight them there, we'll fight them across the world, and we will stay in the fight until the fight is won."

Originally, I think the idea was supposedly premised on the misguided notion that the Al-Qaeda was in Iraq. Only they weren't in Iraq. At least not in any great numbers. While I'm sure Saddam was happy to throw them a bone once in a while, he was running a secular state. He and fundamentalist Islamic terrorist organizations didn't exactly see eye to eye. And we knew this.

Now we have admitted that since the war started, all kinds of terrorist organizations have begun to concentrate in Iraq with the goal of destroying the US presence there. And I think that was one of the considerations in going to war. Present a remote site where Islamic zealots could attack the US without actually attacking the US or putting American civilians in harms way.

It's a brilliant idea. It has been as much as articulated by the president and other government spokespeople. I thinks it's a bit immoral though. Let's use someone else's country as the outhouse. Let's put a generation of young American in harm's way. And perhaps over time we will discover that we made terrorists as fast as we could kill them.

Ave Maria

2006-03-06T06:46:00.000-06:00

Naples, Florida (Red Press) -- Domino's Pizza founder Thomas S. Monaghan is in the midst of the rapture. He is undertaking a project to build a true Christian community in the United States, the first of its kind since the end of the witch trials in Salem. And likewise in this community, men will be discouraged from leaving property to women. He plans to spend upwards of $250 million on the project which he calls "God's advanced directive."

Civil libertarians are protesting the project, largely because Monaghan refuses to allow for the free flow of sex and drugs in the community. In a bold move to satisfy liberal slackers, each welcome wagon packet comes with a PS2 video game based on the popular "Left Behind" Christian book series, and the promise that Domino's pizzas can be delivered in 20 instead of the usual 30 minutes.

Monaghan notes that pharmacies will not carry condoms or birth control pills and that abortions will not be allowed. Catholics in the community are expected to adhere strictly to a policy of no sex before marriage. The lack of birth control pills and condoms are not expected to cause a problem in the town as adult women are expected to be divided largely into two groups. Prostitutes and mothers by virgin birth.

Periodic checks for non-Christian contraband will be conducted by the local constables. Regular churchgoers will be warned ahead of these searches, during services, to smear pizza sauce above their doors in order to prevent their houses from being targeted.

Men in the town will be given the opportunity to experience the life of Christ first-hand. They will attend Synagogue and learn the lucrative trade of carpentry. As young men, they are expected to begin taking a more active role in the church and to largely renounce all of their worldly possessions. Renounced possessions will be returned to Monaghan.

Jubilee years will be celebrated on a regular basis, with all debts, other than those to Domino's pizza, being subject to a potential interest rate reduction of one tenth of one percent.

Sometime in their early thirties, each male townsman will receive a chain letter asking him to betray one of his friends, in exchange for a suitcase full of small, unmarked bills and a short length of gold braid rope.

Two of Monaghan's major competitors, Miriam and Michael Ilitch, owners of Little Ceasar's Pizza have announced a plan to start buying property in an adjacent county in Florida where with the help of some high tech Florida pre-fab manufacturers, they are expected to build a town in a day.

It Takes a Village

2006-03-05T07:42:00.000-06:00

So there I was, in a village meeting with the commissioners. We were all discussing how to revitalize a strip of mixed use residential and commercial land in our town. I am new to the commission.

"We have a great plan. There was a rape on this parcel several years ago and no one goes there any more." [It is too close to a black part of town]. "The community wants to revitalize the business district." [It is used by too many poor blacks]. "We want something that reflects the needs and desires of the community." [Where white people and the middle class blacks we like can shop]. "We need to make the area safe again." [Maybe by removing some of the black faces].

I tried to speak up, it was just hard to know what to say. I immediately raised the subtextual issues.

The response:

"I don't think this plan was driven by issues of race, but rather by economic issues."

Too smart by half? The economic issue is the poor black people. I am no master of statistics or the most recent census. I bet you could tell me that most poor people aren't black and be right. After all they make up a small part of the overall population. Did you know that many of the housing projects were originally brimming with poor whites? But I'd bet that a disproportionate number of black people are poor. And I know that a dispropotionate number are in prison. Economics is a wonderful way to discriminate on the basis of race without discriminating on the basis of race.

We aren't against black people, we just want more income diversity. If the diversity leads to less black people, how were we to know? We just don't want any kind of aggregation of poverty. That's different than saying we don't want blacks. (Several of the letters are different). Same thing really, but we said it in a much nicer way.

The plan we had may be the best one, I have no idea.

The lying makes me uncomfortable.

March Forth!

2006-03-04T07:28:00.000-06:00

Today is another day in the war against international terrorism. But it is not just a war against international terrorism, it is a war against all who wish to do evil to us. Or rather it is a war against evil. And it will be a long war. How about forever? Does forever work for you?

War is peace.

I haven't even won the battle against evil in myself. I don't see how we can win a war against it. Actually, I do, but it involves all of us being lobotomized or worse. I have to believe evil is with us to stay folks. On what basis would we have good without evil? How could we recognize it or distinguish it? It's just part of human nature.

While not considering myself a bad person, evil is just alright with me. I can't believe a war against evil is anything more than a poorly disguised attempt to exercise control over our society in a way that I'm not comfortable with. We must be ever vigilant. Evil could be anywhere. In our airports, in Iraq, on our bus, in our town, next door, in our own spouse. Trust no one. Do what you must. When the scope of the war expands from the people who detonated bombs to all who have the wish to do ill in their hearts, then we are the enemy.

Mindaugas

2006-03-03T06:52:00.000-06:00

This is Mindaugas. He was the last pagan king in Europe. He was baptized but later renounced Christianity. That's hot.

Here's something I don't understand. I know that technically Protestantism holds that faith alone guarantees entry into the kingdom of heaven. Then people fall into a few different groups. There are those who perform good deeds who were always predestined to go into heaven. The righteousness of their souls shows through. There are those who perform good deeds who are not predestined to go into heaven. Hard luck stories. And there are those who are evil. I doubt you can find many Protestants who would say that some of the evil people are going to heaven anyway, and are just funning it up in their time on earth. (But the prospect is titillating).

Now Catholics generally hold that some combination of faith and deeds is necessary. It's kind of an improvement but here is what troubles me.

I think that living your life for some treat at the end really reduces people to dogs. I mean its a great technique to write into a book to get people to behave, but isn't it a morally higher position to live live compassionately and promote good deeds without any prospect of reward? Or in fact believing that they are their own reward? If the only reason you do good deeds is because you want to be rewarded in the kingdom of heaven, I would argue that you haven't quite shaken the deadly sins. Now I recognize that some of the best Christians do good deeds for the doing of them alone. This is a wonderful thing. But something about believing in the "happy ending" rubs me the wrong way. It seems to demote your time on earth, which is all we really have empirical evidence for, to second class.

What say you Mindaugas?

Godless Liberal

2006-03-02T06:30:00.000-06:00

Sure you read about me in the media. But I'm not sure you really know me.

Quoth Pete Seeger "I like to say I'm more conservative than Goldwater. He just wanted to turn the clock back to when there was no income tax. I want to turn the clock back to when people lived in small villages and took care of each other." So maybe I'm not really liberal after all.

Got an email the other day from the boss. A little parable about the liberal girl who studied hard and got a 4.0. Her friend partied and got a 2.0. When she started lecturing daddy that the division of wealth should be more equitable, he said, "why don't you give her a point off your GPA so the distribution is more equitable?" Aghast (apparently), she said "I worked hard for those grades and my friend goofed around, we both deserve our grades and that's not fair." Her daddy said, congratulations you are now a Republican.

Imagine another scenario. This time daughter says "I have been drunk most of the semester but some of it has been while partying with my English teacher. I have managed to get straight A's. My friend on the other hand has been studying 24/7, but hasn't managed to get anything better than a C. She's bright and knows the material, but a lot of her questioning of the professors during class has soured them." This time daddy says, "That's fair enough honey, you're a beautiful girl and deserve good things. And I'm leaving your mother to be with your friend, so she will be provided for nonetheless."

The story is flawed. It is premised on a notion of fairness which does not exist either in capitalism or in communism. The premise that effort is rewarded equitably is flawed. The "market" does not operate perfectly, mostly because human beings are one of the variables. Maybe her friend has a job lined up with a relative's Fortune 500 corporation and doesn't need a degree. Maybe she is going to make more money as an artist. Maybe she is going to start her own company and make millions. No matter your preference for how wealth is distributed, it is not distributed fairly. I can't see how people who revere the wealthy for their enterprise are any different than people who condemn the poor for their sloth.

Now the no income taxes thing does present some interesting possibilities. Without income tax, or without any tax for that matter, presumably there would be fewer or no prisons. At least this would allow for the more direct and facile redistribution of wealth. I just am not up for the mass death aspect, which gets me to my next point.

I'm not sure I'm really godless either. I am just philosophically opposed to monotheism. Why? Monotheists are binary. They view the world in black and white. God and salvation or reject god and damnation. Such thinking justifies forcible conversion to "save" the non-believer or even death to the non-believer. The two major religions of the world are starting to polarize today. If history is cyclical, to jump off Seeger's quote, it appears that we are turning the clock back to the crusades. Can't the Christian desire to kill heathens be exhausted? Can't the Muslim trend of killing infidels end? Will Christians and Muslims ever stop killing the Jews on the way to kill Muslims and Christians? Somehow I have memories of halcyon days when the order of the day was helping the poor and downtrodden. And without converting them. What happened to those people? Now it seems like we are more interested in dividing into armed camps. Then we can make kids pray in schools, make women vessels for god's will, and force those who deny god into the shadow of the valley of death.

I think after Tony Dungy's son died someone said he had his priorities in order. Faith, family football. My first thought was that that order has to be wrong. Would you kill your firstborn son or stop associating with your family if they didn't hold your faith? To me that seems wrong. Now as much as I love football, If the lord Jesus asked me to stop watching, I'd at least kick it around. Jesus is afterall Lord over my hometown. At least according to the billboards.

A, B, C. Abstinence, be faithful and condoms. Good Christians leave off the C, but hold that the first two will prevent the spread of STDs. True, but so will a group of 10 sober virgins promising and upholding just to have orgies together forever. Since the church has historically been against sex for anything but procreation (Song of Solomon notwithstanding) and holds celibacy in the highest regard I suggest that Christians remain celibate both before and after marriage. This would bring them closer to god, and perhaps have the beneficial effect of reducing the overall population.