Sunday, January 18, 2004
Sunday Driving
Liberal Coalition blog-a-round
1 - Steve Gillard is back from vacation, I mean, "the hospital!". Some excerpts:
Hospital! Sounds to me like SG spent the week at a motel on the outskirts of Ensenada. But so what, really, when ya think about it, whats the difference? Welcome back SG.
2 - Speedkill has a post up (mirroring Juan Cole's post) regarding the growing lucrative kidnapping service industry in Iraq.
3 - Keith at the Invisible Library comments on New Zealanders impressions of the US. Also, you can read some of Keith's original fiction here --> The Tragic Circus or Here
4 - edwardpig has a good post up with regards to the: Five Things You Won't Hear in the State of the Union Address.
5 - Jesse at Gotham City 13 makes the following observation with respect to national security pre 9/11.
6 - Trish Wilson gives us a heads up on the publication of her article in the women's news journal Off Our Backs
7 - Oh No! ~ Stradiotto, who knows how to ride even with an arrow through his head, has revealed a top secret confidential DoD photo that I missed! Evil Stradiotto!
He also been working on a biographical photo montage celebrating the life and times of Henry Kissinger. Sneak peak here --> Dr. Henry sacrifices the personal little things in life, to better serve his country's diplomacy.
EXTRA! Thank God and Old Glory The General understands me.
8 Chris "Lefty" Brown gets my vote in the "snappy answers to stupid comments" awards category. See for yerself.
9 LISTEN: Alex at Sooner Thought is an actual real journalist. Or was an actual real journalist, but now does something different. And a real political campaign consultant too. Or was. In any case, hes not some yo-yo out here venting so much viscious blather like myself. Although I do have a real journalist in my family (and no, I'm not going to tell who it is) because then some idiots might send them mean stupid email messages. And I think we all know how charming that can be.
Anyway, for a real journalist, who writes like one..... this is what I'm talking about. Read: Heartless Marriage Plans
Ooops Update: Proof that I'm a yo-yo. Alex didn't write "Heartless Marriage Plans". I missed the NYTimes credit at the bottom of the article. But go read "Heartless Marriage Plans" anyway and then browse around and read some more at Sooner Thought.
10 BlogAmy spends two cents wisely and fairly with respect to the gun ownership debate. And as a side-note to this issue, I also grew up with guns; hunting critters, and so forth. I don't hunt any more but I still own a gun and I know how to use it. Likewise, others in my family still hunt and have been doing so for a long time. Venison really is some good eatin'. But, I don't know anyone who takes hunting seriously (from an eat what you kill perspective) who belongs to the NRA. Not one. All of the hunters I know consider the NRA crowd a group of yahoos. Even worse, the GOA! (Gun Owners of America) The crazies who are/were headed up by that Falangist kook Larry Pratt. Urrggh. Don't get me going on Larry Pratt.
Similarly, the "canned hunt" is considered nothing more than shooting fish in a barrel. And more often than not nothing more than some salable outing for some drip who doesn't want to sit in a tree stand for ten hours in ten degree weather waiting for the object of the hunt to appear, or not. "Canned hunts" are for phonies and posers and dandy boys. If you want to hunt game, learn how to do it. If you want some hot man action story to tell the doods at the office learn how to sharpen chainsaws or go jump off a bridge with a bungee cord coiled around your friggin' ankle. In any case, I'm sure that there are responsible hunters out there who are also NRA members. However, the yahoos that drive the NRA chuckwagon have a different ideological and political agenda which they are driving forward at the expense of those who hunt responsibly and take environmental and wildlife management issues seriously.
Owning a 50mm canon, just so you can destroy a small tool shed during your annual Fourth of July backyard ride-on lawnmower race doesn't have anything to do with hunting, or "freedom," or "patriotism," or the Constitution, or hot manly action, or much of anything else for that matter. It just simply means that you are a jerk who is going to have to buy a new tool shed before the next heavy summer rain rolls over the horizon.
Anyway. In my opinion, the whole gun ownership debate has been hijacked by absolutists from both left and right over the years. And unfortunately the absolutist right, by ricochet, has managed to ring more bells in the "public square"; at the expense of those who take responsible gun ownership issues and legislation seriously.
And finally, this weeks NZ Bear Showcase entry endorsement goes to c h a n d r a s u t r a for the following:
I agree completely. Buy a cotton dish towel, and/or a real mop and bucket, and learn how to use it. Otherwise, learn to live with some dirt. It ain't gonna kill ya. As a matter of fact it's good for you. Most of your food grows in it. So knock off the clean freak routine. Take off your muddy shoes, in the living room, and stay a while.
CODA That's it. I apologize to those LC members who I didn't get to list this round. Just too many for one post, all at one time. All visitors take a gander at the blogroll. LC members are indicated by one of these thingies - } - Go read what they have to say. Go. You won't be sorry.
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1 - Steve Gillard is back from vacation, I mean, "the hospital!". Some excerpts:
Saturday, January 17, 2004
I'm back from the hospital, after a week of bad food and having blood drawn daily. [...] A bad drug interaction on top of a viral infection. [...] My face is sunburned, I had to shave off all my facial hair and my lips are now bee-stung. It ain't pretty. [...] ...you will deal with a lot of women. If you like little brunettes, go... [...] It makes my brain hurt to think of the possibilities. Three, be nice. Be nice to the staff because if they hate you, your life there will suck,... [...] Four, the food may suck, but grin and bear it.
Hospital! Sounds to me like SG spent the week at a motel on the outskirts of Ensenada. But so what, really, when ya think about it, whats the difference? Welcome back SG.
2 - Speedkill has a post up (mirroring Juan Cole's post) regarding the growing lucrative kidnapping service industry in Iraq.
Colonel Feisal Ali, a veteran Baghdad policeman, said: "Criminals who used to steal gold and jewellery now specialise in kidnapping because it is easier and more profitable. Some actually maintain their own private prisons."
3 - Keith at the Invisible Library comments on New Zealanders impressions of the US. Also, you can read some of Keith's original fiction here --> The Tragic Circus or Here
4 - edwardpig has a good post up with regards to the: Five Things You Won't Hear in the State of the Union Address.
The group Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity has given Bush more helpful advice. Specifically, they have some suggestions for topics to include in his upcoming State of the Union Address:
5 - Jesse at Gotham City 13 makes the following observation with respect to national security pre 9/11.
Bill Clinton was well out of office and Bush had plenty of time to implement any new security measures that he needed to. Yet the same people, who can somehow blame Clinton for 9/11, overlook the fact that Bush did nothing to prevent the attack, either. If Clinton's approach was so awful, how come Bush didn't change it? [continue reading Keep Turning That Tide at link above]
6 - Trish Wilson gives us a heads up on the publication of her article in the women's news journal Off Our Backs
I have just received word that "off our backs" will be publishing my article about the use of specious medical syndromes against women in custody cases in the Jan/Feb '04 issue. One "syndrome" I discuss at length is Parental Alienation Syndrome.
7 - Oh No! ~ Stradiotto, who knows how to ride even with an arrow through his head, has revealed a top secret confidential DoD photo that I missed! Evil Stradiotto!
He also been working on a biographical photo montage celebrating the life and times of Henry Kissinger. Sneak peak here --> Dr. Henry sacrifices the personal little things in life, to better serve his country's diplomacy.
EXTRA! Thank God and Old Glory The General understands me.
8 Chris "Lefty" Brown gets my vote in the "snappy answers to stupid comments" awards category. See for yerself.
9 LISTEN: Alex at Sooner Thought is an actual real journalist. Or was an actual real journalist, but now does something different. And a real political campaign consultant too. Or was. In any case, hes not some yo-yo out here venting so much viscious blather like myself. Although I do have a real journalist in my family (and no, I'm not going to tell who it is) because then some idiots might send them mean stupid email messages. And I think we all know how charming that can be.
Anyway, for a real journalist, who writes like one..... this is what I'm talking about. Read: Heartless Marriage Plans
Ooops Update: Proof that I'm a yo-yo. Alex didn't write "Heartless Marriage Plans". I missed the NYTimes credit at the bottom of the article. But go read "Heartless Marriage Plans" anyway and then browse around and read some more at Sooner Thought.
10 BlogAmy spends two cents wisely and fairly with respect to the gun ownership debate. And as a side-note to this issue, I also grew up with guns; hunting critters, and so forth. I don't hunt any more but I still own a gun and I know how to use it. Likewise, others in my family still hunt and have been doing so for a long time. Venison really is some good eatin'. But, I don't know anyone who takes hunting seriously (from an eat what you kill perspective) who belongs to the NRA. Not one. All of the hunters I know consider the NRA crowd a group of yahoos. Even worse, the GOA! (Gun Owners of America) The crazies who are/were headed up by that Falangist kook Larry Pratt. Urrggh. Don't get me going on Larry Pratt.
Similarly, the "canned hunt" is considered nothing more than shooting fish in a barrel. And more often than not nothing more than some salable outing for some drip who doesn't want to sit in a tree stand for ten hours in ten degree weather waiting for the object of the hunt to appear, or not. "Canned hunts" are for phonies and posers and dandy boys. If you want to hunt game, learn how to do it. If you want some hot man action story to tell the doods at the office learn how to sharpen chainsaws or go jump off a bridge with a bungee cord coiled around your friggin' ankle. In any case, I'm sure that there are responsible hunters out there who are also NRA members. However, the yahoos that drive the NRA chuckwagon have a different ideological and political agenda which they are driving forward at the expense of those who hunt responsibly and take environmental and wildlife management issues seriously.
Owning a 50mm canon, just so you can destroy a small tool shed during your annual Fourth of July backyard ride-on lawnmower race doesn't have anything to do with hunting, or "freedom," or "patriotism," or the Constitution, or hot manly action, or much of anything else for that matter. It just simply means that you are a jerk who is going to have to buy a new tool shed before the next heavy summer rain rolls over the horizon.
Anyway. In my opinion, the whole gun ownership debate has been hijacked by absolutists from both left and right over the years. And unfortunately the absolutist right, by ricochet, has managed to ring more bells in the "public square"; at the expense of those who take responsible gun ownership issues and legislation seriously.
And finally, this weeks NZ Bear Showcase entry endorsement goes to c h a n d r a s u t r a for the following:
You're soaking in it - One of the most terrifying things I've seen on television in recent months are those ads for disposable cleaning products. I watch in horror as manic, Khaki-pants wearing housewives rush in a state of housebound frenzy, jamming flimsy plastic faux mops into the nooks and crannies of their gigantic and spotless homes. Aside from the obvious Freudian readings, the commercials feature toxic attidues not only towards women (retro 50s values, etc) but to all aspects of our mental and environmental health.
I agree completely. Buy a cotton dish towel, and/or a real mop and bucket, and learn how to use it. Otherwise, learn to live with some dirt. It ain't gonna kill ya. As a matter of fact it's good for you. Most of your food grows in it. So knock off the clean freak routine. Take off your muddy shoes, in the living room, and stay a while.
CODA That's it. I apologize to those LC members who I didn't get to list this round. Just too many for one post, all at one time. All visitors take a gander at the blogroll. LC members are indicated by one of these thingies - } - Go read what they have to say. Go. You won't be sorry.
*
