Blah, Blah, Blah
Now that the Iraq war is over we can appreciate what a funny write Mark Steyn can be:
And Chapter Two begins: ''What you don't learn from your mother, you learn from the world' is a saying I once heard from the Masai tribe in Kenya.''
And you think, well, isn't that just wonderfully diverse, and she heard it from an actual tribe in Kenya! Any tribesman in particular? Or did they all yell it out in unison as her motorcade passed by? Either way, it's the sort of soothing multicultural sentiment that separates an enlightened progressive from rabid knuckle-dragging redneck Clinton-haters, and that's all you need to know. So you put the book up on the shelf and never open it ever again.
Go read the whole thing right now. That's not even the best part
Monday, June 16, 2003 01:09 p.m.
Boss Hogtie Again
Here's a copy of Adam Eidinger's letter to Jim Graham, Councilmember, Ward One:
Dear Jim,
Thanks for the quick response. Patterson's investigation already leads
to the reasonable conclusion that Chief Ramsey should be fired. It's
that simple and DC residents want it to happen. Residents like myself
want a police chief that is from this town and will respect local
citizen's rights. If you don't support this position, voters in Ward 1
should hold you accountable for everything Chief Ramsey has done in
violation of the law and will do in the future.
Since it's clear Ramsey's civil rights violations won't move you to
support firing him, I want to offer a decent a half measure. How about
hog tying him as I was along with over 600 of my friends for opposing
war in Iraq last September in Pershing Park.
We could put him and his riot cop cronies in Freedom Plaza and make them
hobble over to portable toilets set up for their use. They should be
tied up for about 24 hours, the average time people were tied up. This
would be a small step towards getting justice and wouldn't cost tax
payers as much money as the various civil rights suits the city will
ultimately lose thanks to Ramsey's actions.
Disappointed,
Adam Eidinger.
Monday, June 16, 2003 11:45 a.m.
Comments in the Commons? Declan McCullagh's new column is on the Council of Europe's blogging regulations that demand a "right of reply" for opposing views. Because, you know, google is not enough
Monday, June 16, 2003 11:07 a.m.
Write What You Know Funny that Maureen Dowd should comment on the Stepford Wives remake
D.C. government employees have frequently misused their city-issued Visa cards over the past two years, circumventing a limit of $2,500 per purchase, running up interest fees and charging questionable expenses such as restaurant meals, hotel stays, eBay items, balloons and candy.
More than $40 million was spent from May 2001 through April 2003, according to a review of bank records for the 790 Visa cards. The review found more than 1,200 incidents -- totaling $5.5 million -- in which employees evaded the limit of $2,500 per transaction by making multiple charges at the same business on the same day.
Monday, June 16, 2003 10:13 a.m.
Cool 2 B Democracy The US Govt will develop a Farsi-language website to promote "democratic change" in Iran. Why do I fear the PR will be about as successful as Cool 2 B Real?
Monday, June 16, 2003 09:27 a.m.
For Your Bookmarks
I have a large folder of interesting websites I briefly glanced at, but didn't have the time then to look at more in depth. Human Nature has now left "misc_unsorted" for folder "daily_stops." It's a link page a la Political Theory or Arts and Letters with an emphasis on behavior economics, neuroscience, and genetics that finds some good stuff like this piece from the Chronicle of Higher Education, "Why Gods Should Matter in Social Science"
Also, New Scientist's Human Nature May issue is up online containing dozens of thought-provoking articles
Monday, June 16, 2003 09:11 a.m.
Spam is Good as Soma?
Here's Nick Gillespe for TCS, "Why I Love Spam"
Who knew, for instance, that barnyard animals enjoyed such interesting, if libertine, lifestyles? Charlotte's Web and even Animal Farm never prepared us for the inter-species hijinks going down at cyberspace's take on the Farmer in the Dell.
But what I really love about spam comes down to two large points quite unrelated to bestiality, online gambling, and dozens of messages with unreadable phrases such as "Ôµµ º¸°í »Íµµ µû°í..." in the subject line.
For the thousandth time, I'll remind you all why spam is not an issue: just secure an obscure-sounding email address, ( ie joanne_icon-at-yahoo-dot-com) and expect nil.
Monday, June 16, 2003 05:05 p.m.
Tepito: Pirate City
Mexican music piracy may bring the RIAA to its knees
Monday, June 16, 2003 04:06 p.m.
White-Collar Recession Fortune magazine explains why this reccession feels much worse than statistics show -- it's not hurting the blue collars workes as badly as it has executives.
More on I-Taxes
Remember the internet tax moritorium? Several states (including MD and VA) are circumventing it by taxing "bundled" services or classifying DSL as a telcom service rather than an internet provider
Friday, June 13, 2003 10:57 p.m.
He's a Poet And He Definatly Knows It "Denny Lee" starts his NYT Metro piece like this
POETS have compared the cigarette to a lover. They say it fires up the senses and unleashes a forbidden pleasure, like an alluring but dangerous mistress.
I tend to think of cigarettes more as a trusty friend. It is the first thing that touches my lips in the morning and, very often, the last thing at night. In between, smoking keeps me jolted throughout the day, and enables me to indulge in moments for reflection. My cigarettes are always there, next to the computer and phone, whether I'm distracted or focused like a laser.
And it gets worse. It's the trite musings of a solipsistic metrosexual, and what has he got better to write about than a Ban on Smoking! In New York City! But just who is this cawk? It's got to be a nom de plume. a google search picks up no hints. Bret Easton Ellis, maybe?
Glad He Wasn't In My Class
14 year old "pundit." I bet you $50 he comes "out" before graduation
Wednesday, June 11, 2003 05:56 p.m.
It Comes in Bundles
Extinction isn't forever? As per the example of the "dog-headed pouched-dog," Tasmanian tiger
Wednesday, June 11, 2003 02:59 p.m.
Politics as Unusual Hooray for Zoe the new Ward One representative to the DC Statehood Green Party [DCSGP] Steering Committee. Is the Hill next, heh?
Wednesday, June 11, 2003 08:50 a.m.
Will U B Mine? A US Army officer stationed in Afghanistan seduced 50 women over the internet, and even asked a dozen to marry him. Adding to weirdness is they met via a site called tallpersonals.com, giving me the opportunity to recycle my favorite Mencken quote: "The love agonies of a woman six feet in height are always extra poigniant."
"What proceeded were the most intoxicating love letters," she said. "He wrote better than Yeats. He wrote better than Shakespeare. He totally intoxicated you with his feelings: `Oh, baby, I want to tell you how much I miss you.' `I can't wait to get home to you.' "
In one e-mail message that she provided, he wrote: "You are my world, my life, my love and my universe. It's like my mother used to say to me in Arabic when I was a little boy. Yi Yunni (my eyes), Ya hyyetti (my love), Ya elbee (my heart), and Ya umree (my life). She used to sing it to me so I would fall asleep in our one-bedroom apartment in the slums of Brooklyn."
My! You never can tell. It's always the one you expect to be shy and aloof that shows up with a lampshade on his head and vice versa.
Wednesday, June 11, 2003 05:18 p.m.
Insert Your Own Obvious Joke Texas Sodomy case oral arguments
Tuesday, June 10, 2003 08:28 a.m.
Afghan Drug Boom
Afganistan is back in business -- uhh, Opium business
