More words

Among our egocentric sad sacks, despair is as addictive as heroin and more popular than sex, for the single reason that when one is unhappy one gets to pay a lot of attention to oneself. Misery becomes a kind of emotional masturbation. Taken out on others, depression becomes a weapon.
--Tom Robbins, in this month's issue of Harper's

Wise words

Andy recently sent me a transcript of a speech given by Scott Ritter, former Chief United Nations Weapons Inspector for UNSCOM in Iraq (1991-1998) and highly-outspoken critique of the current war. I thought this closing excerpt was particularly compelling:

But collectively this country, we have stopped functioning as citizens. We have so few people participating in elections. And this is a representative democracy? We're not citizens, we are consumers. We've wrapped ourselves in the cocoon of comfort. And so long as the powers that be keep us waddling down a path of prosperity, we don't want to do anything to rock the boat. But you know what? The boat we're on has just hit an iceberg and it's sinking. And we've got to do something about it. We're being lulled into a false sense of complacency. This is a nation that is infected with a disease, a disease of complacency, a disease that is destroying citizenship, a disease that is destroying the Constitution that defines who we are as a nation.

TR

My brother just posted his trip report
from our Colchuck trip.

Best internet find ever

The Living Room Candidate, an online archive of all the presidential campaign television ads, dating back to 1952.

I always thought TV spots were mindless and cheerleading nowadays, but I had no idea the extent of such inanity until I saw the campaign ads of Eisenhower/Stevenson (I). Look for:

-catchy but patronizing little ditties, such as "I Like Ike" and "I Love the Gov."
-Nixon (Eisenhower's vice) railing against government corruption, promising to "kick out the crooks and the others that have besmirched their reputation in Washington D.C."
-Stevenson's political rendition of "Old McDonald", in which he appeals to the 3-7 year-old demographic
-and, my favorite, a bizarre mock voiceover between "Ike" (Eisenhower) and "Bob" (Senator Robert Taft), hinting at a homoerotic relationship between the famous general and his big-business colleague.

And I thought the current SBVFT ads were scraping bottom.

Affirmative action, Bush-style

The president, responding to minority journalists as to whether college admissions should get rid of the "legacy" factor, actually said this with a straight face: "Well I think so, yes. I think it ought to be based on merit."

A few bullet points to back up this genuinely-held claim:
-G.W. is a third-generation Yale graduate (his daughter, Barbara, is now the fourth generation)
-his SAT score was 1206, almost 200 points lower than the average Yale freshman circa 1970
-at Yale, he scraped by with a low C average

"Well, in my case, I had to knock on a lot of doors to follow the old man's footsteps," [Bush] said to laughter.

Well, maybe just one door--his grandfather's:
-Prescott Bush sat on Yale's board of trustees when his grandson was admitted

Quoted from Nicholas Kristof in his Op-Ed column in the NYT:

Still, assault weapons, while amounting to only 1 percent of America's 190 million privately owned guns, account for a hugely disproportionate share of gun violence...they accounted for 8.4 percent of the guns traced to crimes between 1988 and 1991, and they are still used in one in five fatal shootings of police officers.

Yet, as the column asserts, the president is allowing a 10-year ban on assault weapons to lapse on September 14 (and thus reneging on his 2000 election-year promise to support an extension on the ban).


Which is a big relief for me, since I was afraid I'd have to cancel my upcoming squirrel-hunting trip using my new Browning M2 .50 caliber (belt-fed, of course).

One could spend hours in the archives.

Weekend climbing trip

to Colchuck Lake and Pearly Gates, in Leavenworth, WA.

Went with Ralph and a climbing buddy of his, Eric.
My hands are shredded and muscles sore, but it was a stupendous excursion. I even managed to flail up three 5.8's!

My brother will post a trip report with photos sometime soon.
A sampling...

restin our dogs in colchuck lake.

Just in case

you haven't caught up on Strongbad lately.

Holy crap!

My brother just sent me a link to this article reporting on the unsuccessful rescue of a 600 lb "woman", who was found literally grafted to her couch for the past 2-5 years.


I'll be sure to swallow a frisbee before I ever get to that point.

Hurricane Charley

Nate blogs the details.

Hold tight! Matt and Stacy, Oma and Pop, Dave and Linda, Debbie and Dennis, Morgan and Christopher, Nate and Katie, Mr. and Mrs. Sulick, and Bonny. and yes, Steve.


woah.

Fact check

For years now, I always thought the Manfred Mann song "Blinded by the Light" went something like this:

"And she was blinded by the light, wrapped up like a douche, and then I rode her in the night"

Apparently, the "correct" lyrics are:

"But she was...blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night"


Whatever, I plead poetic license.

I want to write

like this:

You know how it goes: soon enough, as the process unfolds, the press is quoting John Q. Citizen, a 49-year-old bartender, gun owner and churchgoer from swing state Flohiowa and his wife Susie Q., who owns her own seamstress shop -- both of whom are suddenly as on-message as any campaign spokesperson -- parroting talking points right back at reporters, who dutifully report them as examples of the wisdom of the common man.

The Man as Common Parrot

Volvo 4 Sale

...my big brother's.

Click here if you are one of the dozen people who actually reads this blog and wants to purchase this trusty steed.


Swede ride

Black people love us!

.com



Johnny "raising the roof"

Power Couple

Caught up with KD Katie this afternoon. She's starting classes tomorrow at the UFL College of Medicine in Gainesville.
Nate just finished up his real estate exams, and will soon be amassing a small fortune. He'll be helping support Katie through school, until she becomes the breadwinner in 6-10 years.

Congrats to both!



T-Shirt Party, 2003

Zach, I found your man!

Libertarian candidate for president, Michael Badnarik.

-grew up in Hammond, Indiana
-fellow Eagle Scout
-Indiana University graduate
-fellow computer nerd
-"hobbies include photography (including darkroom developing), camping, sailing", etc.

And the best part is, he's for the legalization of medical marijuana! (in reference to your dear grandmother's struggle with glaucoma).




Zach's grandmother, Beatrice.

Speedy recovery

Megan is going under the knife tomorrow, finally getting her tonsils removed after many years of annoyance.

Enjoy the drugs, Meg.



Meg's surgeon, Hank.

3 more degrees

me -- Betsy's mom -- her co-worker and friend, Jeff Thompson.

Mr. Thompson, a kindergarten teacher at Fort Lewis, recently won the 2004 Teacher of the Year Award sponsored by Disney. What the article won't tell you (and rightly so, since it is largely irrelevant) is that this incredible teacher is gay.

The lesson learned from these two stories: we need less WASP suburbanites and more homosexuals teaching our kids.


P.S. National awards celebrating selfless and outstanding service to the community is one thing, but marriage licences? What's that nonsense all about?

Six degrees of child rapin'

Well, actually only five: me -- Betsy's parents -- their close friends -- their daughter, Anne Bremner -- her client, Mary Kay Letourneau.

The latter just got out of jail here in Seattle. As you likely recall, Ms. Letourneau served 7 1/2 years for engaging in an ongoing sexual relationship with her sixth-grade! student (and eventually having two of his children).

yuck e

Tax talk

If you have the patience for economic jargon and statistics, this is a superb article in the Wall Street Journal about the different takes of Bush and Kerry on taxing the 200Ker's.

Via campaigndesk.org

Congraduations Nick!

Just saw the great news from Zach.

On with the roast...



We heart Nick.

Closer look

Friendly plug...BuddyGopher.com

Nick has been harassing me lately about the whereabouts of the vacuum cleaner I borrowed from him the day we moved out of our dorm. We agreed that I was to return the said vacuum to his IT office in Reynolda Hall after I finished using it. Apparently, the vacuum has gone missing, supposedly dropping the responsibility on my lap.
But Nick, as the following photo reveals, I did indeed follow your exact instructions, thus absolving me from all such responsibility.

Like a true friend, I will forgive your insidious accusations.


Exhibit A

Atheists hate babies

http://objective.jesussave.us/babyj.html

omg

I'm still trying to decided whether this site is real, or something cut from the Onion; an actual religious online mission, or the most elaborate satire I've ever seen. I wish I could believe the latter.

There is so much material on this site, I could have an entire blog devoted to it, but here's a good start:

Middle School Level
1st Place: "Life Doesn't Come From Non-Life"

Patricia Lewis (grade 8) did an experiment to see if life can evolve from non-life. Patricia placed all the non-living ingredients of life - carbon (a charcoal briquet), purified water, and assorted minerals (a multi-vitamin) - into a sealed glass jar. The jar was left undisturbed, being exposed only to sunlight, for three weeks. (Patricia also prayed to God not to do anything miraculous during the course of the experiment, so as not to disqualify the findings.) No life evolved. This shows that life cannot come from non-life through natural processes.

Awakened this morning

...by the screaming of jet engines.

The Blue Angels are back in town for SEAFAIR 2004.

Betsy and I have been jumping up every 5 minutes or so, running to the window like little kids to catch a glimpse of them flying by.

Since I can't post photos yet, this while have to suffice.

CJR in the NYT

My brother forwarded me this article the other day, right after I posted my last blog. It's an encouraging coincidence.

Since then I've been frequenting campaigndesk.com, my new favorite blog. This morning's posting pointed out yet another Bush verbal--or Freudian?--stumbling (I think it's cliché to gawk at every little faux pas, but this one is too good):

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.

Got a job

...at the Columbia Journalism Review. The CJR is a national media monitor, published bimonthly by the Journalism School of Columbia University. I've been wanting to try out journalism for a while now, so I'm really psyched--particularly since I'll be working through the upcoming election. I'm an Editorial Intern, so I won't make much (and I'll definitely have to get a second job), but the CJR will be a perfect opportunity to find out if journalism is something I really want to pursue.

I start the week after Labor Day, but I want to get there early enough to scout out the Republican National Convention, with camera and notepad in tow. Orange alerts be damned.