I’ve discovered, since I’ve been palling around with liberals lately, that there is an F-word much more horrible to them than the one referring to a loving expression of dirty, sinful lust. It’s “fascist.” If a liberal calls you a fascist, that’s it. You’re on The List. The big, black list. They hate you.
Just as conservatives are constantly (no, seriously; read pretty much anything by conservative pundits since the 1950s) warning us that the country is becoming more communist or socialist, liberals crying from the wilderness against America’s slide toward fascism. There seem to be innumerable websites dedicated to enumerating the “characteristics of fascism,” where the characteristics are chosen by people who already believe we’re becoming more fascist, but that’s a bit circular, and surely biased. I have become interested in this (most recently because of a nifty Lew Rockwell interview with Naomi Wolf on the topic), so I wanted to find something less ideologically biased, describing the key characteristics of fascism.
Encyclopedia Britannica seemed like a good choice. According to the encyclopedia online (with thousands of clicks to get its “please buy now” banners to go away), here are what it lists as the common characteristics of fascist movements: Continue reading →
I’m not usually one to revel in the public discomfort or stupidity of others, but the following video is completely precious. It’s like watching a Will Ferrell sketch:
item the first:
I found a 3×5 slip of paper on the ground outside, just now, that looked like this:
Trust your DOUBTS
In case that caption didn’t come through, it says “Trust your Doubts.” What? The evidence has failed to convict Obama of having any ties to radical Islam, so you should instead go on a gut reaction engendered by similarity of names? Wait! McCain… Scotland… located near Ireland… OH MY GOODNESS MCCAIN IS AN IRA SUICIDE BOMBER!!! yeah exactly that logical.
I’ve checked out the rather hideous site this pic comes from (identical to the one on the paper I found), and it’s a mishmash of unsupported innuendo, ranting, racism, and fearmongering. Precious little information to be found, except that which has already been thoroughly debunked by nonpartisan groups.
Item the Second:
Consider finding a popular right-wing blog that says this:
Here is a list of contributors to Senator Obama’s campaign. Each contributor is identified as Muslim, Christian, or Other. Please dig up dirt on these people. See if they have contributed to less than honorable causes, or if any one of them has done something otherwise egregious. If so, we can make the Obama campaign return their contributions, or face a bunch of negative publicity. Remember that these people are using “reform” and “hope” as their primary motivation to support Obama. if you find anything that belies that in any way…well, you know what to do.
What would you think? Is this a smear tactic or not? (shocking answer after the cut)
Sadly, I will not be going to church with Alex for… let’s see… about six or seven more weeks. Sigh. To assuage my sadness, please indulge my recounting of three fun things from church today.
A South American man we know told us about how confusing it was, as a child, to spend half his day in a Catholic school and the other half in a school run by communists. I can only imagine.
While the Primary children were on the stand (yes, today was that day), Alex leaned over and whispered, “I am a child of God… and so can you!” Okay, I thought it was funny.
One of the children said, very loudly into the microphone, something about the Holy Goats. Boy does that have implications for my religious worldview ;)
Today's awesome comic is from Sinfest (warning: frequent inappropriate content)
Le sigh. I am le tired of the handbasket thoughts, but the news is not likely to look much brighter (economically) anytime soon. So let’s post some links.
The depression/recession (deepcession?) is gonna happen no matter what, so why not blame it on your opponent’s economic policies? If you win the election, who cares what you said during campaign time? And if you lose, you can blame the inevitable on the winner.
Peter Schiff, a libertarian economist, gives his take on what caused the 1929 crash and the current depression. He predicts this depression will be even worse, and both candidates’ policies will exacerbate the situation.
On to the politics of fear: an Atlantic Monthly columnist and awesome security agitator Bruce Schneier team up to point out how ridiculous, misdirected, and generally useless our post-9/11 airport “security theater” has always been.
Now, for cheering up: a recipe for poutine made with sweet potato fries and mushroom gravy.
Edit: I almost forgot! An interactive timeline of ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-THREE U.S. military interventions since the Republic was founded. Gak! (To be fair, some of them are like “sent a boat somewhere to make sure the marines got out safely” or something).
Creation of Eve - Orvieto, Italy (Photo: Georges Jansoone)
I been thinkin’ (a dangerous pastime, I know). There’s a preponderance of male-centered form and content in traditional Judaism and Christianity\, something that can be demonstrated by simply counting words in religious texts. However, in a crucial area — mating — the doctrine seems to clearly emphasize something much more tuned to women’s evolutionary best interests. Continue reading →
Once there were some people who longed for a better lifestyle. Things were not so good for them, back home; so, they left. They didn’t exactly have permission to enter the country they were headed to, but they really wanted to be there, so they just went. These people looked, dressed, acted and smelled different from the people who lived in their new homeland. Some of these locals welcomed them, while others were decidedly hostile. The foreigners showed up a few at a time at first, then more and more, until eventually they started to outnumber the locals.
The newcomers brought strange food and weird customs; and despite claiming they were trying to get away from their native country, they resisted giving up their ties to it. One thing that ended up causing a lot of trouble was that most of them refused to learn the language in the new country. Many problems could have been prevented if they had tried a little harder in this area.
Some of the foreigners were gracious and courteous to their hosts. Others were jerks, taking advantage of every gift or benefit offered, then demanding more. Plenty of them sort of pretended that there were no problems, while they took advantage of the resources and goodwill of the locals. They weren’t all bad people; but they had lives to lead, and they needed what the locals had. The locals shared. Or they complained. Or they resisted. Or they sat back and watched until it was too late.
In the end, the tensions were never really resolved. Instead, the two groups separated themselves, mostly living in communities isolated from each other, clustering together with people more similar to themselves. However, some of the locals began to act more like the foreigners, who now outnumbered them. In fact, the foreigners weren’t really foreigners anymore. In fact, they mostly ran things now. Life was never the same for the people who used to be the locals.
I watched the debate, thought McCain looked a little better, etc., but was struck forcefully and repeatedly (though not in the groin or kidneys) by the thought that none of this provided any new information or changed my understanding of the candidates in any meaningful way. It was just talking points with some soap-style drama. Maybe I’ll stop watching those things.
Anyway, here’s some Stuff I’ve found interesting recently (besides this fun animated gif, obviously):
This interesting discussion of why “energy independence” is not necessarily a good thing for the U.S. (and we all know it may not be feasible, anyway)
Historically, Republicans seem to be pretty bad for U.S. investors (unless you’re a massive corporation), and Democratic administrations are much better for the market. And the economy overall. Or, as Slate.com puts it in reviewing similar research, “Democrats are better at virtually every economic task that is important to Republicans.” (note: I had a link to a scholarly study by a team of economists with roughly the same conclusion, but I can’t find it). This kind of thing is still surprising to me, because I grew up hearing how economically foolish Democrats were. I guess it’s likely that Dems spend more on non-military items when in power, but I have yet to see any numbers suggesting the GOP is actually better for the economic health of the country as a whole.
More evidence that politics (and the press) for most people in this country are governed by a pack mentality over any other consideration. First, William F. Buckley’s son is leaving the National Review after endorsing Obama. The NR is hardcore conservative, and that’s much more important than keeping a talented journalist onboard. Oh yeah, and then there’s that thing about Kathleen Parker receiving 12,000 emails (some of them death threats) after she suggested Sarah Palin wasn’t “ready” to be the VP nominee. How dare she suggest anything that questions the party line. Crazy lady.
Some liberal friends of mine seem flabbergasted that anyone can seriously side with conservative issues. I’m interested in showing some of the thoughts of the people on the other side of the aisle. Now that the GOP may have convinced the Secret Service to prevent journalists from talking to people at Palin events), take a look at a short Al Jazeera piece on a Palin rally. Kinda freaky.
So… Hell. Handbasket. I could go on and on about the quasi-fascist crap that’s been pulled in this election and steadfastly ignored by the mainstream media. Freaking scary.
Somehow I horribly mismanaged my schedule today. I hustled Alex out the door, and dropped her off at the airport two freaking hours early (instead of spending those hours together, um, at home). I zoomed to school, ran to the lecture & workshop I was late for, and… nobody was there. It took me the next half hour to figure out that somehow I had put this lecture & workshop in my planner for today, when actually it will be Friday (and that will cause other problems). By the time I realized this, it was too late to go back to the airport and spend time with Alex (except maybe another 20 minutes or so, for an hour of driving). I really want t0 cry. Or vomit.
Today, T-Rex said the same thing I’ve been telling relationship-depressed single people for years. Check it out:
See? He’s preachin’ my sermon! And in honor of this momentous occasion, I’ve developed a chart to visually illustrate the point that the big green killing machine and I clearly agree on. Here it is (click for a bigger version):
Note how quickly the curve climbs. Even if you’ve only dated 3 other people in your life, you’ll have a 75% failure rate. Of course, this assumes you ever get married or otherwise enter a permanent relationship. Don’t fret. I’m sure you will. And now you know why you feel like a relationship failure, even though you’re not! (any more than anyone else)
NBC quickly and without comment yanked this SNL skit from its site, and sends repeated takedown notices to any service hosting it (e.g., YouTube). It’s pretty funny, and it even has some good points to be made. Oh yeah, some are about the Democratic Party, so… let’s see… Al Franken is a Democratic candidate… he continues to write for the show… the show’s viewer base is largely made up of Obama supporters… nah. That’s just crazy conspiracy talk.
Anyway, watch quick or this site might get perma-yanked, too. Don’t pass up this chance to see Bush, Pelosi, and even George Soros simultaneously roasted. :)
I decided to make something nummy. I have recipe book. I have ingredients. Let’s go! Somehow, the “cake brownie batter” looks like chocolate milk with flecks of pepper in it or something. I really don’t know what went wrong, except maybe the butter/margarine was too watery & runny? I should use real butter. So, to make the unholy concoction more cake-batter-like, I… well… I did things to it. Things I’m not proud of. It’s in the oven right now. I expect horrible results in 18 to 20 minutes.
In other news, you know how google’s newsfeed pairs hopefully-related photos with the summaries of news stories, sometimes with cute results? Well, here’s my giggle from yesterday. I suspect Alex may enjoy it.
Hey! Is that me, as a missionary in Mexico? No, wait. I wore white shirts.
I was hurriedly preparing my morning: getting my work keys to let my students into the clinic for some Saturday appointments, cleaning a couple of things, fiddling with the solar still (water still tastes awful; it’s been a week), and then I went to get my kayak. After letting the students in, I figured I’d get a little paddling time at the reservoir. I haven’t been since I got back from Canada for the summer.
And therein lay the problem. In a moment, you will understand that the last sentence I wrote is a horrible, sick pun. I pulled back the tarp that covers my kayaks where they hang from hooks and straps on my back fence, in my liliputian “backyard”, and as I did so I smelled something. It reminded me of a nasty townhouse I spent a month or two cleaning up, after decades of filth and neglect. The kayak had been hanging on its side all summer, and the source of the stench was right about where my right thigh would go, if I were paddling. It looked, at first, like a bird’s nest, but messier. Rat’s nest? Pile of leaves somehow blown under the tarp and accumulated in the boat? Mud and twigs? Few seconds I did not realize how unlikely all of these ideas were. As I tilted the kayak to pull it out of its straps, a rounded, triangular object like a large, thick, wooden gingko leaf clattered down from where it had been stuck to the deck of the boat.
As it turns out, this was a scapula (I think, maybe; you can see it in the photos). The nest was fur and bones. It was a cat, or had been, quite some time ago. It must have been dead a good portion of the summer, because there was no rotting smell, just a strong musky reek, like a dried, carmelized pool of urine (which was, I think, the reason for a similar reek in the upstairs bedroom and closet of the townhouse, back in Ohio). The ex-cat was pretty much fur and bones; nothing squishy, nothing remotely moist. It was dry, but partially stuck together, as if with crackling glue. And there were dead, black, crunchy tubular insect bodies everywhere.
Now you know why the last two hours have been spent peeling, scooping, scrubbing, soaking, scrubbing, soaking, and scrubbing the kayak. Instead of paddling it. I have used half a gallon of concentrated Simple Green and a quart of Lysol. The gloves I was wearing will be thrown away. The clothing may be burned. If so, I expect a face-melting manifestation much like that opening-the-ark scene in the first Indiana Jones movie.
I assume the cat died from something other than being trapped in my boat. (1) There were no signs of struggle, and there was lots of foam he/she might have scratched and probably destroyed. For that matter, any cat worth its salt could have clawed through the tarp covering the opening. (2) It would have taken about zero calories’ worth of effort to escape. The tarp was not tight; it was like a semi-taut sheet draped over a window. I guess the cat was just dying for other reasons, and chose my cockpit as its blue plastic mausoleum.
DEAR SMALL ANIMALS: I KNOW YOU NEED A NICE, QUIET PLACE TO DIE, BUT I OBJECT TO YOUR USE OF MY KAYAK FOR THIS PURPOSE. MAY I RECOMMEND INSTEAD THE CULVERT BEHIND MY APARTMENT COMPLEX. THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING. SINCERELY, THE MANAGEMENT.
If you want to see the photos (of course I took photos), they’re kind of freakishly fascinating (to me). They’re under the cut. Continue reading →
Did I already post this? Maybe. But here it is again. With enough cool pictures, I can temporarily forget about what is happening to my fair nation. :/
This bailout blows. I was on the fence about it for a while, listening to the politicians making me terrified. Then I found out some interesting things:
Only the politicians are spreading the fear, not the economists. Economists are generally saying “no bailout!” When politicians disagree with experts, I get nervous.
For $700,000,000,000, we could probably buy every house in foreclosure in the U.S.!
And then there’s the standard stuff about how many billions have been spent by financial firms’ lobbyists, how the responsible people are going to get screwed into taking on the bad debt of those who were less responsible (both gullible homeowners and slimy lenders), and how it’s entirely likely that this bailout, by itself, could damage the value of the U.S. dollar even more than the Bush Presidency has, all wars included.
More annoyances:
There is more pork in this bill than in a Carolina barbecue.
After failure in the House, the Senate has cleverly bypassed the constitution (which requires all spending bills to pass the House first), in order to pitch the same bill.
This is more money than ANYTHING ELSE in the American budget. This amount could have fixed social security. It could revamp our education system into something phenomenal and progressive. It could provide healthcare, possibly for everyone currently without it (Bush famously repealed a bill 1/2oth the size of this, that would have extended health benefits to low-income children; apparently that was too big, and too much government).
This thing will just perpetuate our belief in eternal bubbles. If we keep (temporarily) getting away with s%#*, then we’ll never learn our lesson. Our kids will learn our lessons, though, and our grandkids. Boy howdy will they ever.
It’s pretty obvious that politicians’ reasons for wanting this thing are only minimally (if at all) related to what is good for the country in the long run.
What’s the answer, then? I don’t know. And I realize I could be dead wrong. Maybe if we don’t bail out the weasels, then we will hit a tipping point and descend into eating our neighbors’ brains by next week. But me, I’m in favor of letting the institutions go bankrupt. It works for me on several levels. It’s the way our system is supposed to work. It’s good behavior management. It will probably lead to increased responsibility in the future. It scratches my itch to feel vindictive and self-righteous. See? So many levels. Of course, it might kill us all, especially if you listen to everyone except the non-Presidential-candidate GOP right now. Mr. Obama, what the hell is wrong with you? Your populist demagogue undawears is showing on this one. Mr. McCain… nevermind. We saw your transformation into McCain 2.0. Nobody is surprised anymore. And Mr. Bush? Sheesh. There was a time when I bought your sweet lies about fiscal responsibility.
I guess I’m with the House Republicans for now (the ones who stopped this bill, not the sissies in the Senate), even though I am most certainly not with them in trying to use this as an excuse to repeal taxes to please their faceless corporate masters.
BTW, this issue is not academic for me. Killing the bailout will make it harder to buy a house, and it will probably murder my already-sickly retirement account. :(
