Semi-Live Blog of the SOTU

I'm going to attempt a semi-live blog of the State of the Union. It's Tivo'd so I can FF thru clapping. So no timestamps with comments. Warning this is long and boring. Read at your own peril.

• Sergeant at Arms does his bit and Bush starts glad-handing down the aisle.
• Why did Chris Shays (R-Conn) kiss Bush on the cheek?
• Obama is sitting with Teddy. I'm curious how much of a punch Teddy will give Obama. I'm thinking mebbe not so much.
• Shot of the first family. Jenna either is injured or was never taught how to clap like a normal person.
• Pelosi introduces Bush. Everyone hollers. Don't get that.
• He's pleading for compromise and bipartisanship. Little late for that pards.
• He just said he believes the appropriate guide for our country is the "collective wisdom of ordinary citizens." Good line, but I haven't seen much of that in seven years. Haven't we become more oligarchical (sp?) and relied more on the few? I believe we've turned our backs on this collective wisdom and moved closer to monarchy. If I truly believed that, why would he have claimed a mandate in either election with either no majority or a very small one? Both of his elections have been characterized by the alienation of half of the electorate after gulling most of the other half with fear-mongering. Collective wisdom, my ass.
• "Trust in the ability of free people to make wise decisions." This shit infuriates me. I'm five minutes in and ready to turn this bullshitter off. There's about five people in his administration that make all the decisions and to hell with the "free people." None of these decisions have anything to do with "free people making wise decisions" or the "collective wisdom of ordinary citizens." What horseshit.
• Stimulus Plan...borrow and spend...still don't get it. Congress' fault.
• Tax Relief. Also Congress' fault.
• Veto any tax increases. Just keep borrowing.
• Government should balance the budget. No shit sherlock.
• Seven years in, he's ready to take a hardline on spending.
• I like the sound of this. No earmarks can be slipped in through the transom at the last minute. Somehow he's going to only allow earmarks that have had a vote. That sounds like a great idea that should have been done a long time ago. Congressional hypocrites all stand and cheer.
• Mortgage relief, blah, blah.
• Health care, blah, blah.
• Education, blah, blah. Boys and girls with dreams, blah, blah. Reduce dropouts, blah, blah.
• Trade, blah, blah.
• He just said, "embolden the purveyors of false populism in our hemisphere." He said it really slowly, but he got through it. I think what he meant was that if we don't sign a free trade agreement with Columbia, look out for another fucking Hugo Chavez, but I wonder how many of his "ordinary citizens" caught that.
• Euphemism alert: Trade Adjustment Assistance = what the Federal Government will do for you when you get outsourced.
• Energy. Security, prosperity, environment require lessening our dependence on foreign oil. We've made some progress in seven years. No. 1 idea...clean coal. Cop out. He slipped in "renewable power" very quickly before he hit a big applause line with nucular power.
• Now he wants an international agreement to slow, stop, and reverse the effects of what he euphemistically calls "greenhouse gases." Seems like we could have done that about seven years ago if we'd have really tried. Standing O. Cheney claps lacklusterly.
• Says we need to trust our scientists and engineers to go forward and conquer. Now I'm waiting for the stem-cell shoe to drop... Double funding for the "physical sciences" he says as he sashays away from evangelical controversy with this clever code. Go kick some ass all you geologists, we'll get some out of work geneticists to help you.
• Here we go. "Moral boundries." Shoe has dropped. Standing O from all bible-thumpers.
• On to Justice. I just hit pause right after he said, "...trust in the wisdom of our founders." I can't imagine how much what he's about to say is going to piss me off. His AG has a picture of Orwell hanging in his office for chrissakes.
• ...pause again..."empower judges who understand that the constitution means what it says." Or are willing to interpret it with amazing creativity for everything having to do with war powers, justice, habeas corpus, unitary executive, etc. What a hypocrite.
• Now to volunteerism. All about faith-based stuff.
• Katrina and the "Armies of Compassion"??? Some meeting's gonna be held in New Orleans. Hopefully they'll have some breakout meetings in the ninth ward.
• Entitlements, blah, blah. Didn't like my idea, you guys fuckin' fix it then.
• Immigration. He just said that we need to create a lawful way for foreign workers to come here and support our economy. I thought we already had a lawful way? In fact I'm sure of it.
• On to WarTalk. This year's policy: "We trust that people, when given a chance, will choose a future of freedom and peace." I would certainly choose it, but I'm not sure that I trust that everyone else would choose it. Sounds like he's choosing for them. Nothing new here.
• Some stirring moments in the history of liberty in the last seven years: Georgia, Ukraine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq. I'm not so sure all of those have worked out so well buddy. How about what we've seen in Russia over the last seven years, or Venezuela? I'd agree those are stirring moments in the history of liberty.
• "Deliver justice to our enemies" and Cheney springs up like a gymnast.
• There's Jenna clapping like a four-year old again.
• 3200 Marines headed for Afghanistan. About time.
• Here we go. SurgeTalk. I wonder how often he mentions the political benchmarks for which there has been little progress...the justification for the troop increases. Let's see... He just changed the whole justification for the surge...just like that. He said we gave the troops a new mission: protect Iraqi people, pursue the enemy in strongholds, and deny terrorists sanctuary. Of course, the surge didn't have anything to with political progress. And there's some conflation of "terrorists" and "the enemy" but that's old hat.
• "The surge has achieved results none of us could have imagined just one year ago." One year ago, he said the Iraqi government was going to meet all of these benchmarks or we were going to bail. So, logically, he knew that there would be no political progress in a year? I'm very happy for the improved security of the Iraqi people and I'm gratified that our troops, along with the Anbar folks have enabled security improvements, but let's call a spade a spade. You said by doing x, z would happen. Y happened, which is nice, but it's not z.
• He mentioned Osama almost as if he's part of the intelligence community. If Osama says it, it must be true.
• Troops are coming home. Huge applause. But didn't they have to come home because their tours were up in March and we couldn't extend tours again?
• Just hit the benchmark issue and claims that some progress is being made politically. Pretty much danced over there.
• Quoting more Al Queda leaders as though they're part of our intelligence operation. I'm sure they're telling the truth.
• More standard "we will prevail" saber rattling. Blah, blah.
• Another call for two-state solution in Israel/Palestine.
• More Iran axis of evil type stuff. Said nucular twice. Some tough talk to Iranian mullahs.
• Here comes torture/domestic spying talk. More warrantless wiretapping fear-mongering. More protect AT&T from breaking the law talk.
• Just called Sudan a genocide for the first time.
• Good God this is getting tiresome.
• Now we're going to stop famine by buying our crops from poor countries. Bet that'll go over good in Iowa.
• Hey, spend some real money on AIDS. Like that.
• Another great idea, pay for veterans benefits.
• Sounds like this shit's about over. About time. He said the state of our union's strong. I wish he would say that it's not so hot right now.

Olbermann is reading the freaking riot act right now.

Confused about the Stimulus Package

Unwise borrowing and profligate spending have the been the primary causes of today's economic crisis. But, it seems there is bipartisan, unanimous support for more of the same as the solution to the problem. The economic stimulus package basically is to borrow a bunch of money and give it to people so they can go spend it thereby making the economy better. I don't understand this thinking.



Why not, say, build high-speed rail between here and Austin? Wouldn't this have the same "trickle-up" effect? People get employed, they buy stuff from people who then need to hire more people to make up for the increased demand, and so on. And in the end you have something that's good for the economy, the population, and the environment. And every dollar gets spent, whereas with a handout, some fool may decide to save some of it (not many of those types left.)

Maybe I'll be enlightened by George tonight during what is sure to be the lamest-of-duck speeches. Hopefully more on that later.

SC/Florida Political Roundup

I have to say I'm heartened by the results coming out of South Carolina showing Obama with a very large lead. Last week's troubling win-at-all-cost intercession by Bill Clinton on behalf of his wife was at the very least unbecoming a former president and probably very enlightening to many left-leaning independents. While it appears that part of the victory was due to a large African-American turnout, I still want to believe that independents are gravitating towards the uniting Obama and against the divisive political hatchet-job machine of the Clintons. I shudder to think of a Clinton general election and possibly a presidency. Things were incredibly divisive with Bill, become ten times as divisive with Bush, and I fear would be 100 times worse with Hillary. I feel now, more than ever, that it is time to end the Bush-Clinton dynasty.

That said, the Republican primaries seem to have devolved into the predictable dick-measuring, bible-thumping, fear-mongering and flag-waving that it always does. If given the choice between McCain and Robo-Romney, I'd clearly take McCair despite his warmongering consistency. Throughout the Bush administration he hasn't been afraid to ask for accountability. And frankly, while I don't think the Democrats are proposing this, precipitous withdrawal from Iraq would be a mistake. Going into Iraq was a bicentennial calamity, but what's done is done. It's like sunk cost in economics...you can't think about money already spent when evaluating the path forward. What's done is done. Now what do we do from here?

Thankfully, it appears that the Huck-demon has been exorcised. I hope Ron Paul stays in and throws bombs as long as he can, although his version of libertarianism is anathema to me. I'm also thankful that the megalomaniac Giuliani seems to have been neutered, lest we best Orwell.

By the way, I read somewhere that our new Attorney General had put a portrait of Orwell on his office wall. How long until the election? I'm hoping for the following question in a future debate:

MR. RUSSERT: Would each of you support an AG that hung a portrait of Orwell in his/her office?

As if you couldn't tell...

My "Poem" below occured after the last drop of Chivas began to wreak havoc on my questionable liver...

Poem, maybe.

And don't forget, the men and women that we quote, revere, and dogmatize are still men and women.

When they arrive home in the evenings, they are harried by their spouses about their uncut hair, ill-kempt pants, and shabby shirts.

Listening to the daily gossip, they feign interest or ignorance. They still must take their pills, drink their liquor, ingest their tobacco, and do their business.

And after they've eaten their frozen whatnot and watched their reality slop on the TV, they head off to bed. And sleep is not easy. Sleep is the hardest of all.

They've awakened finally yet fitfully, tossing back deathly dreams, and it's time to face another day. Not dispirited, they go.

PED's in Sports

Performance Enhancing Drugs in Professional Sports. I'm going to hit it theoretically first. I'm sure this argument has been made many times, but our professional athletes are our gladiators, with the exception that our athletes choose to enter the arena. In this case, when I am a spectator and the subjects are basically meat...albeit they've chosen to be meat...what do I care what they've done to their bodies? Let 'em get the glory, money and the girls, they'll burn out quickly. They're adults and they should be able to choose. If they choose to burn fast and brightly, who am I to say that's wrong. We live in a chemical society, but is it really so different than societies of our ancestors? Do you think that if the Romans knew of steroids they wouldn't have pumped it into the veins of their warriors?

But there's the rub. What about the kids who want to be warriors? There's lots of non-moneyed kids that see no future in being anything except a warrior. So what do we do? Invest in high-technology, high-cost, and potentially civil-liberty encroaching testing regimes for all children involved in athletics? Decide that as a culture we will have a chemically-enhanced warrior class? Bitch of a question.

Option 1: Allow the chemically-enhanced warrior class. Freedom of choice. But spend bundles of money on testing the 18 and unders that don't have freedom of choice. The cheaters tend to always outwit the testers...the old proactive vs. reactive argument.

Option 2: Test everyone all the time. Massive cost and massive first amendment issues. Still the cheaters will be ahead of the testers.

Option 3: Do Nothing. Leave it up to the parents and local authorities. Some parents and local authorities will be unscrupulous and not protect the well being of children.

Option 4: You tell me....

Not surprisingly, some people over at Reason Online share some of my opinions. Just read this article. I really wish it delved deeper into testing and underage athletes.

WNC Podcast

I've been consume with podcasts for the past couple of years. Every day at work and at night I'd consume all of the best radio and internet audio possible. Basically, podcasts are Tivo for radio and internet audio. True on-demand listening. I've been in a bit of a lull lately...I'm way behind on "Wait, wait don't tell me" from NPR and "Anything you ever wanted to know" from KERA.

I guess KERA was the closest thing I'd ever listened to that approximated local content. I've been reading the local blogs now for several months and have recommended many of them to you. Especially West and Clear, which brings various FW bloggers together. They're the Led Zeppelin of FW bloggers. Well, since a few of them drop by here every now and again and I'd hate for them to get big heads, maybe they're the Asia of FW bloggers. Anyhow, they do a weekly podcast that I just got caught up with. They cover all FW local issues political, recreational, gustatorial, etc. So, podcast veterans and novices should check 'em out here.

Guys, if you need someone to sit in, I'll buy the beer (and it won't be Lone Star.)

7th & Throck - Park Needed

Anybody know the plans for the former Landmark tower site at between 7th and 8th and Throck and Houston? I drive by there everyday and walk around there a lot. I think this would be a fantastic spot for some central downtown greenspace. Wouldn't it be great if there was a big park with a fountain in the middle? The majestic FW Club building to the West makes me think about great inner-city parks in giant cities abutting great old buildings. As a downtown worker, I think this would be a great boon to the area.

Germania

A girl from Germany has been hanging around my gang lately. She's from Cologne (Koln). There will be more to come later, when she sends me some pics from back home. I've been pretty relentless in questioning her about German psychology in the wake of the holocaust. Apparently and appropriately, the feeling is giant communal grief and regret which has manifested itself in a kind of anti-nationalism. Saying "I am German" is completely verboten. Flag flying doesn't happen. She says it's way too early in the healing process. Actually saying that your German doesn't happen, so large is the the communal grief over the actions made sixty-five years ago. She also told me of copper cobblestones laid at the entrance to houses formerly owned by Jews. They list the names of the disappeared. No German steps on these cobblestones.

Coupla Thangs

Here's a list of the retailers planned for the Museum Place development at 7th and University. For former Austin residents, we should be excited about a Z-Tejas in FW...especially the brunch.

And here's a site for a bunch of jingoistic belt buckles that was up on my wife's laptop. Lucy, you've got some 'splainin to do.

Condensed Book Reviews

Recently, I've finished the last two Cormac McCarthy books. I'm really not one for book reviews, but I'll do my best...or something. I decided to knock out The Road, and No Country for Old Men on advice from a friend.

I'm used to the beautiful Faulkner-esque sentence construction, combined with the blood-and-guts brutality of his border trilogy and Blood Meridian. These latest books deviate quite sharply from his former writings.

They are both well worth reading and I highly recommend them both. I'll say that I can't wait to see No Country the movie because it reads like a screenplay. The Road, however, should be read not seen. This is no pulp fiction thrill ride. I've never read anything remotely like it in my life. No character in the book has a name, or needs it. The best books demand that the reader manufacture the scenes, characters, and interactions. This book demands a lot of the reader, and the reader is better off for it.

OK, enough book reviews. I'm reading some crazy shit right now that my mother-in-law gave me. She and I generally enjoy the same books so I'm sticking with it...

No Title

I haven't had much heart to blog lately. My heart hasn't been in it and my brain has been dormant. The dreary, seemingly endless holiday season sapped all of my vacation days while returning very little in the way of fun. Constant managerial shakeups at my employer. Political ennui stemming from the primary season. The turgid end to the Cowboys season. The bitterly cold weather that I will wake up to in the morning. I don't believe there's an English word to describe my state of mind, but there's probably one in German.

I've spent the first part of the week at an "off-site" meeting with my new boss. When I darkened his door at 7:30 AM the other day, I have to admit I was a little shocked to be greeted by life-size cardboard cutouts of Kirk, Spock, and Picard, among thousands of dollars worth of Trekkie memorabilia. I can't express the internal conflict in going from his holodeck-inspired A/V room, to his immaculately garaged Lamborghini, then out onto the yard where horses, dogs, cats, and every manner of fauna frolick unabated.

It takes far less than this to drive me to drink, but drink seemed the only refuge short of a Kerouac inspired road trip. I needed something predictable...reliable to screw my head back on. Luckily the lunchtime mafia was settled in at the speak-easy at about two (I can't give away names or places). After the four-hour lunch, we spent time at the former Pirates' Cove and the unfortunately-name Mule. My head was screwed, but not yet screwed-on.

Now I can't sleep, or see straight, and am accompanied only by a lifeless cat curled up like a breakfast pastry. What's to say? I have no wisdom to impart to you, dear reader. There's a shitpot of gas wells up in the north country, but that will come as no surprise. Also unsurprising, there's an assload of traffic on local highways that makes me glad I usually am able to reach work on major arterials. The cat just left and Dell is notifying me that if I do not find a power cord, I face impending death. As the clock nears three AM, I must look elsewhere for inspiration. The book beside me promises no solace, and I dare not turn on the TV...I'll go get the power cord.

Need Financial Answers

Finance ain't my thang so I'm delegating. This is directed at our CFO, Jim L (who will be bullish) and anyone else that cares to comment...

Admit it, we're heading into a recession?

Oil-profit laden Arab countries are buying the debt of our banks. How is this good?

We're funding the war in Iraq (and everything else) with Chinese investments. How is this good?

If we keep dropping interest rates like we did five years ago, what's to prevent another bubble? Wont it just create another rush to refinance or grab home equity? Thus kicking up home depot stock for a short time until the check comes do?

Roman Empire reference: how do we pay for all of our wars? While cutting taxes? Guns or butter? I'm starting to be serious about this now. Talk of empire was cheap 7 years ago, but we've really got to re-evaluate the situation. Ron Paul has a point, in my opinion, that we just can't afford our colonial impulses.

Jim, I'm going to need a better answer than "cut the corporate gains tax". I feel we're in desperate times.

Technological Convergence

As I'm slowly getting back to normal after the holidays, I have to admit that I'm facinated by the technological convergence we've seen this season with smartphones, iPhones, wi-fi enabled iPods, and the like. One of these days we'll have true robust convergence of all of these devices with richer content. But, I have to admit, I didn't see this particular feature as part of my dream device:

You know what a bother it is to carry both your MP3 music player and your Taser gun?
Worry no more.
Today at CES, Taser International introduced the Taser MPH -- the first combination hand-held music player and Taser.
The player, which has a 1-GB capacity that can hold about 150 songs, is embedded in a holster that slips on your belt. Feel the need to zap someone and you can unholster the Taser, use the built-in laser pointer to aim, and blam -- a couple of darts carrying 50,000 volts hits your victim.
And you don't have to miss a beat.

What's next? GPS enabled handgun?

2007 Best Of Fort Worth

First of all I would like to give thanks to the Famous Grouse, who has made this possible. Thanks to the folks that contributed. Unfortunately, this is a monarchy.



Song/Album that you dug the most (doesn't have to be released this year): Tin Soldier by the Small Faces. Forty years ago, but I had to go through hell to find it.

Book: The Road - Cormac McArthy. I read a ton of books this year, but none was as moving as this Pulitzer Prize winner.

Accomplishment: I accomplished nothing other than getting the blog back up. My wife has yet to murder me and the cats are all happy.

Prescription Drug: Xanax

Technology: 500 Gig external hard drive.

Shoe Store: That online shoe store that sells the flip-flops I like. The ones with the silly bottlecap openers on the sole. I can't remember the name.

Place to get a haircut: I like Sundance Hairstylists. Joe is missing a few fingers, which I think helps make the hair wash better.

New Purchase: my second iPod, after I left the first one out in the rain.

Pet: Our Poofus is still the best cat.

Reunion: I guess my 20yr, but it was a catastrophe.

Movie: Ratatouille hands down. Although I just finished "No Country for Old Men" (Cormac McArthy again) last night and I'm anxious to see the movie.

TV Show: The Wire is the best show on TV but I don't think it was on this year. I'll go with the Sopranos. I enjoy Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters as well. The Wire started its final season Sunday and I aim to enjoy every minute. Keep your eye on Snoop.

Spanish Language show that you watch but don't understand: El Rojo Vivo or some such. News show at 4pm with the two hottest Latinas you've ever seen.

Thing you've subbed out: Everything lawn related.

Addiction:Malady/Disease/Infection/Sore that won't go away: Got this thing on my elbow...

Day Bar: Shamrock. I can usually be found there at 3pm on Saturdays.

Nightspot: Oui Lounge

Drink: Chivas Rocks

Patio/Al Fresco Dining: This is an area where I think FW needs improvement. I'll cough up an out of the way joint...The Point. It's by Lake Worth, has good bar food and a great view.

Restaurant: Sapristi. While Del Frisco's rarely disappoints, Sapristi offers such a variety of great options that you don't get at a steak place. I've definitely had my most enjoyable meals this year at Sapristi. Sunday Brunch is awesome.

Lunch: My favorite lunch place, The Parthenon, went the way of the dodo. The best place to have lunch in FW is Bella Italia. It'll cost you, and it's best to know someone. It's damn near a private club, and that's the way Chef Carlo wants it.

Dinner: Steak at Del Frisco's. Plain and Simple.

Entree: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite Mexican food. This year I've become enamored with the Milano de Res at El Asadero. Mexican chicken fried steak that is three kinds of delicious.

Appetizer: Fried Oysters at Del Friscos. I was there the other night and we ordered them as an appetizer. This guy we were with liked them so much he ordered up a humongous plate as an entree.

Burger: Lili's Burger with the gorgonzola dressing is about the best thing I've ate all year.

Soup (the most anticipated category): Caldo de Pollo at El Asadero. If you have a cold or allergies, this will help.

Pool Hall: I think I've played 'em all, and Rusty's has the best tables to lose you money on.

Bar Tables: They all suck. Get the straightest stick you can find and shoot 'em hard...don't let the crooked table f you up.

Note on Pool: If you're really serious about playing pool on a good table with good sticks, email me.

Best Beer: Anywhere, but I like Swithwick's on tap at Shamrock.

OK, I'm done for this year. Let me know if there's something I've omitted.

Polls

I think I'm going to ditch the polls for two reasons:

1) The high-minded resaon...such a low sample size severely weakens any statistical inference.
2) The low traffic makes me look silly.

Judge for yourselves the predominating factor.

Back

Back from holidays. Looking real forward to 2008. Peace be among you....or something.

Immigrants

I believe immigrants should learn English. Most immigrant groups, desiring to be assimilated, have also wished this same thing although it usually takes a generation. But, of course, there are zealots like Sen. Tom Tancredo (R-Co) for which this isn't enough. Tancredo, oblivious to history, says this:

"English is the language of this country, and we should not be ashamed of that. It holds us all together regardless of where we come from, regardless of our backgrounds, our histories. It doesn't matter. We need that thing to hold us together."

Sounds like he would like to sweep cleen any evidence of immigration other than the Mryflower. Sweep clean the Chinese and Irish immigrants that built the railrod. Sweep clean the Africans that, as slaves, reaped our crops. Sweep clean the humongous amount of work Mexican laborers do all over the country.

I think if Tancredo had his way he'd rename all of our cities. If you look at the names of cities, you see how diverse we are:

San Anonio = Tancredo would rename to St. Anthony
Pennsylvania = Penn's Woods
Vermont = Green Mountain

No telling what Tancredo woul do to Indian names like Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, and Arizona.

St. Pat's New Steeples

St. Pat's downtown will finally get steeples after 100 years in the waiting...

Religious Right Backlash Against Santa Claus?

I'm wondering why there isn't a backlash against Santa Claus among the religious right. They rail against Halloween as a pagan holiday. While Easter and Christmas are clearly pagan holidays that were conveniently adapted to Christianity (Feasts for the changes of seasons...I think in Roman times it was Saturnalia and Lupercalia but I lack the wherewhithal to look it up right now.)

If he (Santa) sees you when your sleeping, knows when your awake, and knows when you've been bad or good, he's either a member of the NSA or some sort of omniscient god. Since it's probably not the NSA thing, I'm going with the latter.

If it's the latter, then Santa Claus is either the GOD or "a" god. Doesn't this go against the monotheistic claims of Christianity? The religious right certainly takes a more literal reading of the bible, and I don't think there are any claims about gift-giving, mall-habituating, red-coated elders that fly reindeer from here and yon. Clearly then, Santa Claus screws up the whole monotheistic tenet of Christianity. Why haven't I heard Bill O'Reilly or Mike Huckabee decry Santa Claus? Sure it's fine when there's a specter of witchcraft involved, as with Halloween. But, I would contend that getting reindeer to fly is certainly witchcraft.

Yes, I'm being hyperbolic and cynical, but again all I want is consistency. I wonder how many Christian children ask about the relationship between God and Santa, and I am especially curious about the responses given by the evangelicals. It may be easier with Catholics, because there is a trace of paganism intrinsic to the religion...worshipping of saints and whatnot.

It seems the truth is that Santa Claus is all about marketing, just like Valentine's Day. Some merchant in New York City read some stories from Europe and the U.S. and concocted what we now know as Santa Claus.

In 1863, a caricaturist for Harper's Weekly named Thomas Nast began developing his own image of Santa. Nast gave his figure a "flowing set of whiskers" and dressed him "all in fur, from his head to his foot." Nast's 1866 montage entitled "Santa Claus and His Works" established Santa as a maker of toys; an 1869 book of the same name collected new Nast drawings with a poem by George P. Webster that identified the North Pole as Santa's home.

Not noted was that this was in the middle of the American Civil War (which is the only "war" to outlaw slavery...every other nation seemed to figure out slavery was wrong without a war.)

I have no children, except cats who could give a shit about Santa Claus, but how does an avowed monotheist justify Santa Claus? For those that are not literalist Christians, it seems like a fun thing for kids, but for the hardcore Christians, I wonder how they can justify this? Rudolph's nose is clearly deviltry.

S-T Article on Our Friend in Baghdad

I'm certainly no war-mongering neo-con Cheney zealot, but I admire my friend Steve for making a decision to make some sacrifices to be part of the solution in Iraq rather than sit here and complain. Here's an article on him from yesterday's Star-Telegram.

More Polls

As a feller with quite a bit of statistics under his belt, I'm compelled to keep adding polls now that I figgered it out. However, as a feller with quite a bit of statistics under his belt, I realize I got me a serious issue with sample size and the resulting confidence intervals I can use to infer actual preference (along with some pretty serious demographic issues). Fuck all that. I encourage all readers to vote just for the hell of it. It's anonymous and interesting, and I can do some mild inference based on this blog's demo.

Consistency Found!

I'm always prattling on about consistency and hypocrisy. There's finally an organization that I can applaud for "Outstanding Consistency in 2007" award. And the winner is...Blackwater.

Blackwater shot the NY Times' dog after the dog refused to comply with their orders. Outstanding consistency. They treat everyone the same whether Iraqi civilian or canine. I have a feeling they view them both about the same, and both have the same command of the English language. Way to go, Blackwater.

It's five A.M. and I'm obviously idealistic, naive, and delusional

I was speaking with a friend the other day that is a died-in-the-wool advocate of supply-side economics that is knowledgeable enough to correct my misconceptions about the Laffer Curve. He told me that it was necessary that our government reduce the tax rate on corporations lest they would all relocate to Caribbean tax shelters, thus diminishing our revenue.

I haven't really thought about it until just now...a sleepless night, and I'm lying in bed thinking about the relative effect of tax rates on government revenues, what a life a mess can be. Back to the story, he's promised me statistically inviolable evidence that cutting taxes increases revenues, by the way. I hope to share that with you good people. But that's not what's been eating at my craw while I lie awake in bed.

What's eatin' at me is the constant assault on the patriotism of individuals and small groups coming from the likes of Bill O'Reilly and his Fox cohorts. A lack of patriotism for one or two folks while traditional (that's a key word here) American companies dive for the nearest tax shelter or overseas headquarters to avoid paying American taxes to fund the programs that they have lobbied to enact. If patriotism is so damn important to these Fox people, why don't they apply the same standard to the people that really have their hands on the wheel? (Answer: because they know who butters their bread.)

It's no secret that our government is run by corporations that pay huge amounts of money to K-Street firms to write legislation that increases their bottom line or eliminates their liability. But they do this while employing teams of lawyers and accountants to take advantage of every loophole and offshore opportunity to duck paying the taxes that pay for their legislation.

O'Reilly gets his ratings on a kind of traditional populism. He's a classic patriotic flag waving fear monger that is willing to shred the constitution if it means killin' terrorists. He conducts "War on Christmas" campaigns to rally the bigoted elderly Christian majority against the sometimes equally repugnant far left multiculturalists (that he labels Secular Progressives). It's a pretty easy fight considering his major demographic is the seventy plus crowd.

Well I've got a storyline for you Mr. O'Reilly. Stop being a hypocrite and start some true populism. Rage against the machine (that owns you). If O'Reilly were true to his populizm, he should demand that corporations that are profiting from war pay their taxes. Likewise, corporations benefiting from lenient regulations garnered through lobbying should pay their taxes. Corporations based in Nassau should lose their lobbying privileges (in the US, that is. They are welcome to lobby the government of Bermuda for anything they like.)

In conclusion, it's five A.M. and I'm obviously overwhelmed by idealism, naivety, and delusional thinking. I'll return to my normal cynicism sometime tomorrow (today) or the next day (tomorrow).

Speaking of Food...

I darkened the door of Lili's for the first time today at lunch. I've read and heard reports that I was missing out on the best new thing to hit the hospital district. They were doing a land office business so it took us a while to get in, but get in we did. Man, did I throw down on the Lili's Burger. This was a sloppy burger, because of the gorgonzola dressing, bounded by two jalapeno buns (that may have been biscuits.) It was a rare nap-inducing treat. Of the table of four, the CFS was also highly recommended, with the King Ranch Casserole and the Lettuce Wedge/Grilled Chicken garnering only middling reviews. They should have known to go straight for the burger. Soup was good too.

The environment at the joint seems equally suited to hipsters, business types (we saw a lady being interviewed), and your run-of-the-mill Joe...although it'll cost you eight bucks for a burg. High female-male ratio.

I may have illegally parked at Panther City Bikes, so I apologize for any lost sales I may have caused.

On a Lark...Adding Voting to the Page

Just for the hell of it, I decided to try out blog voting. To start out with, I picked the ever-contentious topic of food - namely Italian (or, in some cases, what passes as Italian).

So for the love of everything Stromboli, vote! I just want to see if this sumbitch works.

I guess I could have been more controversial and asked which type of music do you like best...country or western?

Ownership Society

I was reading an article earlier about how Greenspan and Bush were defending themselves against accusations that they enabled the sub-prime crisis because of their Orwellian "Ownership Society".

Then in this article about Iran shutting down Internet Cafes, I realized an entire new level of ownership society. Witness the following quote:

"Our people want their women to be able to go in the streets with respect and want their dignity to be protected," senior Iranian cleric Ahmad Khatami told worshippers in Tehran on Friday. "Our people want the society to be morally clean."

The keyword in the quote above is the first "their". Women are still property over there. I bitch quite a bit about about the erosion of freedom in this country, and I'm shocked that women have only been enfranchised for 87 years, but I really feel sorry for people with no freedom.

Which is reason enough to protect the rights we have. There are plenty of people in America that are willing to shred the constitution to make America "morally clean" in their eyes.

I urge support Chris Dodd's filibuster of the Telecom legislation that pretty much holds them harmless for their illegal collusion with the Bush Administration on wiretapping. I anxiously await what Sens. Clinton and Obama do to support Dodd's actions (I have a feeling I know how Ron Paul would vote).

Speaking of Bush's dint for Orwellian titles, I think the name of the legislation in question is the Protect America Act or some such.

Progress in Iraq?

You can't swing a cat without hitting three or four people trumpeting all of the success we're now experiencing in Iraq and what a great strategy we have in the "surge". I find all of this unsuprisingly short-sighted given that the "surge" was supposed to be about abating violence to foment political reconciliation and progress. No less a surge advocate than Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said this back in September:

"What we do can affect the outcome. But if we don't see progress on two of the three big issues -- oil revenues, de-Baathification, provincial elections -- in the next 90 days, it may not happen. And Iraq could be a failed state."

Last I checked, no political progress along these lines has occurred? Is Sen. Graham (for whom I have some respect for his independent thinking and tough questioning) ready to make a pronouncement? Or do we just keep dragging it along...?

Will on Subprime Crisis

Here's a quote from George Will on the subprime crisis that I find particularly salient:

Perhaps Washington's intervention in the subprime problem reveals the tiny tip of an enormous new entitlement: People who voluntarily run a risk, betting that they will escape unscathed, are entitled to government-organized amelioration when they lose their bets. The costs of this entitlement will include new ambiguities in the concepts of contracts and private property.

I like the analogy of an ARM to a bet, because that's basically what it is.

Scat Lounge Question + Whisky tasting

I have it on pretty good authority that there's no cigar smoking inside the Scat Lounge. Can anyone from the W&C community confirm? I can see both sides, but a few of our readers (and the writer) enjoy a good smoke now and then.

By the way, I attended a very good scotch and cigar tasting at Bar 9 tonight and heard that there will be another one next week on Wednesday about six. Scotch is provided by local distributors and smokes by my good friends at Tobacco Lane downtown (in the Sinclair Building at 5th and Main).

New Oil Maps

I love these new maps that show the relative importance of areas according to criteria. Here's a map that depicts countries by size according to their oil production. Click on the map to take you to where I found this on Andrew Sullivan's site.

Christmas Season - Political Jokesterism

From an email I received:

For my Democrat friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, nonaddictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wisher. By accepting these greetings, you are accepting the aforementioned terms as stated. This greeting is not subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself/himself/others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

For my Republican friends: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Big Fort Worth Doings

Some interesting new developments here in Cowtown. Check out the opening night review of the Scat Jazz Lounge downtown and a comprehensive list of what's about to happen on W. 7th Street. Both on the West and Clear website which is becoming a really first rate local blog with some great photography accompanying the verbiage.

Churchin' Up

Scary.

Government may have dropped the ball in modern American society, but religion dropped it first, Gov. Mike Huckabee told Southern Baptist pastors Sunday night. "The reason we have so much government is because we have so much broken humanity," he said. "And the reason we have so much broken humanity is because sin reigns in the hearts and lives of human beings instead of the Savior."

Stones in FW 1978

Here's a video I ran across that claims to be from the infamous 1978 Rolling Stones show at the Will Rogers Theatre. My brother Bruce attended that show...can Bruce authenticate this vid?

Question to the Grammarians

No, not a book from the old testament...I have a legitimate question for the grammarians in the audience. My Strunk & White is in a box somewhere, so I'll defer to more professional writers. When ending a sentence with a quotation, what is the proper use of a period or a question mark? Should it be inside the quotes or outside the quotes? Example:

Marie said, "Steve is a crack-dealin' no-good sonofabitch." or
Marie said, "Steve is a crack-dealin' no-good sonofabitch".

I've always operated with the former, but I've run into situations where it's not so clear. Is there a definitive answer?

Gift Ideas

I'm channeling Martha now, so stay with me...

For pet owners that have shedding issues, I highly recommend "The Furminator." This is a serious hair remover that works. If you look at their website, you'll see a Golden Retriever sitting in a mound of hair. I thought it was bullshit, but I bought one and it works. I have not been paid by the Furminator Syndicate, but I believe in their product. They offer them in varying widths, depending on the size of your beast. Since we're overrun with cats, we have the smallest model.

As far as the "Best of 2007," you're getting a sneak peek at the esteemed "Best Pet Hair Removal Device" category.

Blazin Hazen

I don't really know how to describe this. I guess if you are feeling lowdown, check this out and you'll realize that you're not that big of a douche.

If you can hang on long enough, look for the line, "My dancin' will cause the floor to cook."

Austin in Top Ten Drunkest Cities

Let's hear it for Austin (with honorable mention to Lubbock) for making it into the top ten dangerously drunk cities in America. I've certainly been dangerously drunk in Austin, but you can say that about most places I've been.

My Kind of Restaurant Review Site

This post will be of interest to anyone visiting the Nation's Capital anytime soon. To sum up their approach to reviews:

Too often, restaurant reviews focus on the trifling aspects of a meal, such as presentation and ambience, and omit vital facts, like whether the food will cause you to shit yourself.

My View on the Mortgage Bailout

Two words: caveat emptor. If people aren't smart enough to know that an adjustable rate mortgage may "adjust," they should be renting.

Earth Lights

NASA has a great page of images of the earth taken from space. I liked this one the best. Click image for a full-size picture. In the large image, check out the Nile River and see if you can locate the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

Best of 2007 Contributions

It's time we started collecting contributions for the Best and Worst of 2007. I say "contributions" instead of "votes" because this is a monarchy (similar to our presidency) and I'm the decider (plus there ain't that many of us.) I'm open to any categories, but please email me here with your contributions (I'd hate to spoil the surprise for the folks that have been waiting anxiously all year for this moment.) For those of you that care to reminisce, here's my last end of year list from 2005. Here's some category ideas, but, again, I'm open for new ones:

Remember, Best AND Worst:

In memoriam:
Song/Album that you dug the most (doesn't have to be released this year):
Book:
Accomplishment:
Prescription Drug:
Recipe (I'm going all Martha on your ass):
Technology:
Shoe Store:
Clothing Store (Men):
Clothing Store (Women):
Grocery Store:
Place to get a haircut:
Place to get a massage (the societally accepted variety):
New Purchase:
Pet:
Reunion (heh):
Movie:
TV Show:
Infomercial:
Spanish Language show that you watch but don't understand:
Home Improvement Project:
Thing you've subbed out (i.e. lawn mowing, plumbing, etc.):
Game:
Team:
Addiction:
Malady/Disease/Infection:
Sore that won't go away:
Gripe:
Vacation:
Cigar:
Bar - day:
Bar - night:
Nightspot:
Live Music Joint:
Drink:
Regret (kinda goes with drink, eh?):
Hangover Cure:
Patio/Al Fresco Dining:
Restaurant - Lunch:
Restaurant - Dinner:
Entree:
Appetizer:
Soup (the most anticipated category):

I'll also take:
Biggest fuckup:
Most embarassing moment:
Public nudity (could be combined with above):
Crimes that are beyone the statute of limitations:
Feats of cowardice:
Public crying:
Public fighting:
Any trips to jail:

Thanks for your participation!

McDavid Studio

Anybody been the McDavid Studio? I'd be interested in the Brave Combo show on December 21. I haven't seen them since my wedding. Friday night, I believe.

Israel - I'm missing something

JimL mentioned in a reply to a previous post that with respect to Islam I need to "(b)ear in mind, they want ISRAEL dead too." Judging by the caps, it sounds like Israel is another third rail in our political system. I'm very curious about the geopolitical ramifications of Israel. What do I not understand about strategic importance of Israel (compared to say France or China?)

• I think it goes without saying that they are a huge net importer of American goods because we pretty much subsidize their existence, including the arms to occupy the West Bank.
• I don't know what, if any, their strategic exports are? Do they have any natural resources that are important to us?
• How valuable is Israel as a compliant democracy in the midst of tyranny?
• How much influence does AIPAC have in our government?
• Do they have huge investments in our economy compared to China or Japan?
• Is it the presence of the IDF and the Mossad that provide a strategic advantage?
• Is it that if we weren't there to protect Israel, given the large Jewish population of the US, they would be overrun by their neighbors and thus we protect them to prevent another Jewish genocide?
• Why are they not subject to the free market? We fund the IDF. Why can't they pay for their own defense?

(n.b. I'm aware that the British are ultimately behind the creation of Israel and two-facedly granted this land to the Jewish diaspora AND the Palestinians through the Balfour Declaration and other promises during the first half of the last century.)

An Encounter with Christianity

Some background...

As most readers know, I am an atheist. I am not a proselytizing atheist, because I hate being the subject of missionary zeal, and, therefore, do not seek to dish it out. Maybe I'm just a "live and let live" atheist. I'm not afraid to engage in religious discussion, but never do I attempt "conversion."

Now to the story...

I ran into a fellow this evening at the cigar store. I'd shared a smoke with him many times before, but all conversations had been bereft of religious discourse. How we got onto the subject of religion, I do not know. He presented possibly the most compassionate view of Christianity that I've ever encountered. The man spoke of Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit and how they are the agents of love, not hatred. Passionately the man spoke of judgement, especially eternal judgement, and how it was singularly not up to him to decide. That's God's job, he said, and I'm just here to love all people.

I was gobsmacked. Here's a full-bore Southern Christian man preaching against judgement and prejudice. Here's a religious man I can deal with, I thought to myself. He was not bothered by my atheism, but spoke of how he enjoyed my company and sought to treat me as Jesus would have wanted him to treat me.

I guess this was because I was white and straight. As the conversation proceeded, I prompted him on slavery in the bible. "Oh, that's what they did back then, " he said. Slavery in America wasn't stopped until about 150 year ago, I said. "Then the black folks didn't have it that bad, " he retorted. "The Jews were slaves for thousands of years. Blacks in America didn't have it near that bad." Uh, oh. I thought.

And then to gayness. He told me about how the bible explicitly forbade homosexuality and that he, for one, could never have a gay friend. "What happened to not judging and loving all people as Jesus wanted?" I asked. He remarked that it was against God's will. I asked about the condonement of slavery being God's will. That's different. "That's just what was done back then, " he repeated.

This man is, to me, a very nice fellow and, coincidentally, in a business not at all foreign to homosexualism. I've enjoyed his conversation in the past, on more blase subject, and I assume I will in the future. I departed with an "enjoyed talkin' to you about religion without breaking out into a fight" collegial handshake. So goes my latest brush with Christianism.

Consistency, people. That's all I want. I'm an avowed relativist and I'll accept "it depends" as an answer. Please don't tell me that your an absolute literalist and then pick the parts you like.

NIE Stuff

The National Intelligent Estimate on Iran was released yesterday. The NIE represents the combined wisdom (?) of all the U.S. intelligence agencies. It said that Iran had ceased their nucular weapons program like four years ago. Of course, the Bush administration was very aware of this and has been actively sitting on the information while actively rattling sabers about airstrikes on Iran and talking about WWIII.

I'd like to be able to conjure up a cogent syllogism to define why this may have happened but I can't seem to figure it out. Here's all I can figure:

1. It's better for the Republicans to be on a war footing because they feel it helps them politically.
2. Republicans, especially Cheney, hates and distrusts the CIA.
3. There is some precedent for not trusting the CIA, especially as it applies to WMD in the Middle East.
4. Releasing the report could make the Bush administration look silly, given all the saber rattling.

What I don't get is that the administration knew the report would eventually be made public, so why the runup to WWIII which is only likely to stir memories of them charging into Iraq under false pretenses...and all of this in the middle of a presidential election? Has their political acumen been so far reduced by the resignation of Rove? Do they really think that the public will buy the "we don't trust the CIA" rubrik? Why didn't they trumpet this to high-heavens when they found out about it, thereby equating Iran with the likes of Libya as a nation that was cowed into submission by their brilliant invasion of Iraq?

This just doesn't make sense to me.

Am I Biased?

I was hit the other night with a claim that I was biased, despite my claims that I am an independent. I'd love to criticize Democrats, but a pig has to eat and he goes where the food is.

I've been sketching out posts about two notable stories that are out:

1. Karl Rove said the war is the Democrats fault, based on his comments in an interview with Charlie Rose. Bush Chief of Staff Andrew Card completely repudiated this claim. There's also plenty of text and voice that absolutely disputes this claim. I checked right wing blogs and never saw this mentioned.

2. Giuliani charged the taxpayers for his dalliances with his current wife Judith, while he was Mayor and married to Donna Hanover. The evidence seems to be quite conclusive that Giuliani paid cops to cover him while he was diddling sweet Judith. Does America care? I checked right wing blogs and saw this deep down on Drudge's page. Never saw it on the National Review Online.

3. Hillary planted a gay General at the YouTube debate. This is currently addressed, as far as my research shows, on all left wing blogs. Front page top story at talkingpointsmemo.com.

Answer...yeah I'm biased because I hate these fucking idiots that are running my country. And so does everyone else....

Giuliani Troubles

We need to address what the right-wing cares about most...did Giuliani ever get a blowjob from his mistress in Gracie Mansion?

Tivo Alert

O'Reilly to Debate Alf. Tonight! I guess we'll see who the real puppet is.

Teddy Bear Imbroglio

I thought I'd seen everything. There are riots in the streets of Khartoum calling for the head of the fifty-something British teacher who had the temerity to name a Teddy Bear "Mohammed." The fifteen-day jail sentence was just far too lenient.

TEN THOUSAND people, some carrying knives and sticks, have marched on the capital of Sudan calling for the teacher jailed for naming a teddy bear Mohammed to be shot.

To be shot. I've long held that the arrogance of the Bush administration and their hubristic myopia with respect to other cultures has done the United States a great disservice (to put it very, very mildly.) But this, to me, is just too fucked up. Is this eighth-century bloodlust just a manifestation of poverty and hopelessness brought about by repressive theocratic regimes?

I doubt there's a very rich stand-up comedy scene in Sudan. Headline: 12 Killed by Angry Audience at Khartoum's Laugh Factory Open-Mic Night

Gumbel Bumble

For those of you who watched the Cowboys defeat the hated Packers last night, I think there's something we can all agree on: Bryant Gumbel is a shitty play-by-play guy. With four minutes left in the first-quarter, he had already mistakenly referred to the Cowboys as the Packers four times. At the conclusion of the game, he called Tony Romo "Rick Romo." My wife heard him refer to Brett Favre as "Frank." One time when Kevin Burnett came out of the game with an injury, Gumbel first said the injured player was Akin Ayodele, then said it was Bradie James, before finally settling on Burnett.

I'm sure play-by-play is much harder than it looks, but there's plenty of B and C-team guys out there that wouldn't make these fundamental errors that smack of a general lack of preparation.

Plenty more agreed. I googled "Bryant Gumbel play by play Cowboys Packers" and got a ton of results including flubs not mentioned above.

Thought Crimes

Let's go Orwellian...in a country that cherishes free speech, are ideas ever illegal?

I just read this piece in Slate about a new bill sponsored by Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) that is cruising through Congress. The overt parts of the bill, which some have dubbed the "Thought Crimes" bill, don't seem too nasty. It basically forms a study group to look into homegrown terrorism. Luckily homegrown terrorism hasn't happened much in the US, except for Pro-Life abortion clinic bombers, Timothy McVeigh, high-school shooter-uppers, and some radical lefty enviro-terrorists.

However the undercurrents of the bill seem to swirl around the use of the internet as a means of dispensing some pretty nasty material (and I'm not talking about Britney Spears beaver). In a hearing about the bill, Harman said that Americans:

"no longer need to travel to foreign countries or isolated backwoods compounds to become indoctrinated by extremists or learn how to kill their neighbor. On the contrary, the Internet allows them to share violent goals and plot from the comfort of their own living rooms."

The author of the article, Dahlia Lithwick, concludes:

The point of this new legislation isn't just to interrupt existing homegrown terror plots but to do something about the radical ideas that inspire them. That may be a worthy goal, but it's assuredly a goal that implicates protected speech.

So here's the rub, as I see it. Ideas are OK, plots are not so OK. Free-speechers like me are faced with distinguishing between and idea and a plot...lots of slippery slopes here into murky waters. What about revolutionary talk about overthrowing the government? As I've heard, sometimes in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another. Ain't that why we still have guns?

But, is it okay to post instructions for making a pipe-bomb, or an IED, what about a nucular weapon or biological weapon? My answer is a reluctant yes, because I think free speech is that important, and that we have the FBI, Homeland Security, Police for something other than doughnuts.

Would we prefer the antithesis, China, where they have hundreds of thousands of people whose sole job is to censor the internet, including censoring anything smacking of political criticism or democracy.

Of course it all comes back to the see-saw between freedom and security, with 9/11 being the current fulcrum. I'll always err on the side of freedom, but, in fairness, I don't want to dismiss those that are willing to trade a little freedom for security. My problem is that those are the same people that generally want to apply the manacles of "Traditional values" and "culture wars" with charactheristic missionary zeal. At some point in that murky swamp down from the slippery slope, my non-traditional values and countercultural thinking might be the next Thought Crime.

Steve L's Turkey Trot

I wanted to give props to our good friend Steve for holding his own Turkey Trot in Baghdad. Steve's been running in the Cowtown Turkey Trot for the last several years (if not the last decade...I haven't made one yet.) The problem was, he couldn't make it this year because he decided to stop complaining about Iraq and, instead, try to do something about it. So he loaded up the truck and moved to...Baghdad...with the State Department working on reconstruction projects. But Steve's a doer*, and it will come as no surprise to any that he organized his own Thanksgiving Run in the Green Zone. He emailed me that it came off quite well.

*Except for that one August day when he left us with a moving van full of boxes, a new house, and a tepid water hose (in a dry city), then went to see his son's soccer game.

Sweet ROCK N ROLL

OK, I've been deep into youtube tonight, so here's my last salvo:

YouTube Music Continued - Uncle Tupelo

One of my all time favorite bands that inspired a movement. Here's Uncle T in their formative years...

Townes

"Townes Van Zandt's the best songwriter in the world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." Said Steve Earle. This man was the line between brilliance and insanity.

Witness his issues, as evidenced in the brilliant biopic Be Here To Love Me which I encourage everyone to watch, but his brilliance as songwriter can not be challenged. As I've said in posts several years past (which I would link if I weren't so fucking lazy), I don't buy complaints about his voice. He's no Pavoracci, or some such, but his voice is incredibly evocative with respect to the songs he sings.

I love YouTube because I can see things like this:

Brilliant Music

Steve Earle has always been one of my favorite songwriters. He learned from the best, Ft. Worth born Townes Van Zandt. Here's Steve's tribute to Townes from Austin City Limits...singing about Townes iffy relationship with his hometown:

More Moving the Goalposts...

Since the days of "shock and awe" how many times have we read articles like this:

With American military successes outpacing political gains in Iraq, the Bush administration has lowered its expectation of quickly achieving major steps toward unifying the country, including passage of a long-stymied plan to share oil revenues and holding regional elections.

How long until we declare complete victory and leave?

Liars - Plamegate

I thought this was worth mentioning because I beat it to death back when it was breaking, but it's nice to see that Scotty McClellan doesn't like being lied to and is willing to name a few names. It's no surprise that all the top dogs were involved, I think we knew it all along. It just makes Bush look like more of a sap than we already thought. They duped him too. "I'll fire anyone involved." Indeed.

Scare Tactics - Common in Monarchies and Totalitarian Regimes

What an asshole:

President Hugo Chavez warned his supporters on Friday that anyone voting against his proposed constitutional changes would be a "traitor".

But it sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it? I tried to include one of Bush or Cheney's comments about opposition to the war being traitorious, but when I googled "Bush Cheney traitor" I got about a million hits and none of them had to do with their rhetoric.

Crosswords

In case there are other readers that enjoy the occasional crossword puzzle, I thought I'd provide a useful link.

I'm a crossword fiend, and I might do six or seven crosswords a day. Crosswords typically get more difficult during the week with Monday the easiest and Saturday the hardest. The big Sunday puzzle is generally about a Thursday level of difficulty. The New York Times is the gold standard for crosswords, but there are many other good ones out there (that you don't have to pay for to get online). Other than the NYT, my favorite weekly puzzle is the NY Sun, followed closely by Newsday. The USA today is somewhat challenging. The Washington Post is pretty easy except for their Sunday Stumper. I really enjoy Newsday's Saturday stumper, which I just spent an hour solving.

Of course, you have to be a regular puzzler to be able to solve them as many of the answers are quite unique. To start you off, a sea eagle is an erne, and a high nest is an aerie.

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, the unique American holiday. I spent mine with members of the Mineola tribe that had been run out of their land by smallpox and musket. Just kidding.

I watched the Cowboys pants the Jets on an outside patio in the midst of large snowflakes and even larger flagons of wine. I've spent the day after by not shopping (except for a brief foray into the local liquor store), napping, feasting on leftovers, and watching my energized Aggies kick a little longhorn butt for the second year in a row.

How do we know what we want?

Reading the comments from the "Am I Pawn Shop Material" posts, I thougt I'd put out a question. When did you you figure out what you wanted to spend your life doing?

I haven't figured it out yet, but many of my readers have...some early, some late. I'd like to hear how you came to know your calling.

80's Videos

There's a contest for the best and worst video of the 80's going on over on Andrew Sullivan's site. I don't remember the video below from my adolescence, and that's probably a good thing. Check out the Dog Police...

Perspective - National Review

The National Review. Yeah, that's right....The bastion of the right. Get ready people. Check this shit out from John Derbyshire.

He says that liberals "want to transform people", and conservatives "want to leave people alone."

Given this definition, consider me a straight ticket man...on Elephant side.

Of course this is a magnificent lie. We all know the transformational inertia is on the right side, not the least of which are the Christianists who have missionary zeal behind their efforts. Just check out the greatest horror movie ever...Jesus Camp. The Christianists seek to impose their version of morality on the entire population.

Unfortunately, their version of morality keeps getting undermined by their leaders who do not act according to their votes and/or rhetoric; there seems to be a documentable trend highlighting more than a few Republicans hypocritically versifying while maintaining lifestyles that include hedonism and gay lechery. This seems to fit well with the recent scandals involving Catholic priests. We'll leave correlations between extreme piety and extreme lechery for another day. However, I don't believe it is coincidental that all of the exposed lechers are also people that spoke highly against lechery.

As for the claim that conservatives will "leave me alone" let's consider all of the activities the CIA, FBI, and NSA are now conducting against citizens. The Republicans (no longer conservatives) would have you believe that anything they do is in the interest of "National Security." Frankly this has become a party of "we know better, trust us." This theory is completely divergent with Goldwater-era conservatism and really turn a so-called government into a nanny-state.

This makes my election decision decidedly difficult becaust there's no real candidate that wants to let me be free. ( Ron Paul is a social conservative....he wants to tell you what to with you womb.)

In fairness, let me addres the "want to transform" liberals. Well, they've been out of power since 1994 for the most part so it's hard to evaluate their work. I guess Kennedy kind of agreed with Bush on the No Child bill, but that's been a disastrous failure. I'll be happy to criticize liberals once they've done something, but, right now, it seems like I can count on a liberal to leave me alone a lot better than a conservative.

And if you want to know who you should vote for, go here. As a statistical acolyte, this site has some cred. Let us know if who you like is who is chosen for you.

Moving the Goalposts

Brief post: I know I'm dollar short on this but I thought it was worth documenting for posterity:

The "end" of the "surge" was political reconciliation. The "means" was some additional forces and some new strategy. Well, the "means," by all notices, has been mildly effective. Yet when the critical September deadline occurred (which was, to most Americans, advertised to be a Go/No Go decision) we ended up with groveling equivocation by everyone. More of the same, we somehow agree to keep doing the same in the absence of any Iraqi political movement.

Streetlamp in Telluride

Click the pic to get a larger image...and see the great detail in the lamp.

Old Website

I had forgotten that I used to have a website. I did a little searching and was able to find it. It appears that this was about six or seven years ago, back when our only cat was the Sheep and when my digital photo library was pretty limited. I need to update this with the two newest cats (which are both old news and I have about a thousand pics of each) and new pics.

Am I Pawn Shop Material?

Here's an area where I need some feedback. I was solicited by a headhunter for an IT job locally. The thing is, it's a pawn shop. Worse thing is, it's a purveyor of usurious payday loans. Most people think us atheists are hedonistic, amoral bloodsuckers. But that, of course, is not true with me (as most readers know from personal experience.) Sure I like to drink scotch and smoke cigars but so do a lot of so called religious folk. As we've seen from the news over the last twenty years or so (and from personal experience), there's a lot of hypocrisy in those that would urge you to live as Jesus suggested. But that's a tangent....

So tell me, dear reader, do I have any business working in the pawn and usury trade? My initial thinking is no, but I might be persuaded by a good argument. Thoughts?

While I need answers on the above, let's ask a deeper question. Do you believe in the product that your employers produce, or do you just do it for the money? I had a tough time at RadioShack because I thought it was a tired concept with a (literally) dying market, even though I was quite happy working IT projects that had little direct relevance to the end-product. To what degree does support of your product matter to you? If I can make a good living making IED's or nucular weapons or toxic foreign policy memos, does it matter? Is our conscience today as connected as it should be or are we just looking to make a buck? I'd love to hear from someone who has turned down a lucrative offer on moral/philosophical grounds.

If you got a 100% raise, would you work for McDonald's? Halliburton? Moveon.org? (pick your demon.)

Anonymous Posting

As info, if you don't want to give your name when posting comments, you can post anonymously. This might be of value if you're going to throw your employer under the bus. I would, of course, prefer names so I know what kind of beast I'm dealing with....but I understand that there are people out there that actually care about their careers. Which should be a decent segue (if you're reading bottom up) into the next post.

Rabbit Run and other things literature

I've replaced a few Scotch benders with a reading bender. I just finished Rabbit Run, John Updike's first book published in 1960, I believe. I'm sure it was rather scandalous at the time, but now is pretty tame. It very well may have paved the way for Philip Roth and other major 60's writers who dealt with coarser subject matter. Just wondering if anyone else has read this and would like to discuss further. I've never read a book before where there was not one likable or remotely sympathetic character.

I think this is one of the things that makes the book grittily realistic...there is no such thing as pure good. I've read books with less sympathetic protagonists...the main character in Irvine Welsh's "Filth" comes to mind, and some might argue that Ignatius from A Confederacy of Dunces is irredeemably bad.

On another literary note, rumors abound from the Christianist-nanny goat right that they will be putting the full-court press on the upcoming movie, "The Golden Compass." This is because the writer, Philip Pullman, is one of the most outspoken atheists in England, and they believe the book/movie is a sinister plot to cleanse their children from religion. I read the book, and while there are definitely anti-religious overtones...the church is portrayed as a "magisterium," I don't think there is too much atheism that a child will be able to glean. The Catholic church and the current religious right only wish that they were a "magisterium." Kids'll like the big armored polar bears and will be oblivious to any message.

I read Richard Ford's "Lay of the Land" which finishes off his trilogy that began with "The Sportwriter." It was excellent despite a strange twist at the end that was probably unnecessary.

Other recent readings: The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald, reread), Shakespeare (bio, Bill Bryson), Thunderbolt Kid (memoir, Bill Bryson), Freakonomics (Dubner, Levitt)

Cowboy Quarterbacks

It's very timely that I ran across this over on the Observer's blog. Bruce and I spent quite a bit of time trying to remember all of the Dallas Cowboys starting quarterbacks last Saturday. Here's a vid that goes through all of them...

Christmas Season

I don't think I'm quite the holiday sourpuss in 2007 as I was back in 2005. This, of course, is always subject to change as events unfold. It is with this sentiment that I provide the loyal readership with advance warning of your holiday favorite TV shows, so get your Tivo ready:

Nov. 27 -- A Charlie Brown Christmas, 7 p.m. on ABC. Repeated at the same time on Dec. 3rd.

Nov. 28 -- Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas at 7:30 p.m. on ABC

Dec. 4 -- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 7 p.m. on CBS. Also appearing: Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, 7 p.m. on ABC.

Dec. 7 -- Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns, 7 p.m. on CBS.

Dec. 14 -- It's A Wonderful Life, 7 p.m. on NBC. Repeated at the same time on Christmas Eve.

See the whole list here.

The Future Energy Source?

The new Corporate Overlords of the Carter & Burgess, Jacobs Engineering, continue to amaze me with the breadth of their reach into really interesting fields. I may ultimately be made redundant, but this company is into some cool shit.

Yesterday as I'm making my way to the parking garage, I met a C&B employee on the elevator who went straight into a discussion of Helium 3 and how Jacobs is heavily involved with the research to make Helium 3 a future energy source. Helium 3 is very clean and can put out a tremendous amount of energy using very little of the product. There's one small problem with Helium 3, it's really only available on the moon.

Here's the lowdown from the article linked above:

Scientists estimate there are about1 million tons of helium 3 on the moon, enough to power the world for thousandsof years. The equivalent of a single space shuttle load or roughly 25 ton scould supply the entire United States' energy needs for a year

The scientists say getting a Helium 3 manufacturing facility up would cost around six billion bucks, which is a War in Iraq rounding error.

While we're on the topic, I don't understand why West Texas isn't covered with giant windmills. This is bleak countryside that could easily be used to generate mega-megawatts. I'm sure there are cost of production issues that make it less favorable in the short-run than petroleum, but the wind is not going to stop, which should lead to favorable payback period calculations.

Job Opportunities

For those of you that are not satisfied with your current station in life and may be looking for an exciting career change, I've found something that you might want to see. It will provide you the opportunity to interact with different cultures and appears to offer very stable work.

"We're trying to catch them but the difficulties are a shortage of monkey catchers."

Of course I'm referring to the ongoing monkey crisis in New Delhi, India. An Indian police official said:

"Wildlife officials are trying to find them. As police we're not experts in dealing with monkeys. We can deal with mad bulls but monkeys are more difficult,"

The monkeys are sacred animals, just like cows, in the Hindu culture that sees monkeys as reincarnations of one of the polytheistic religion's gods.

"I was talking to someone at my door at around 11 pm when a monkey appeared," Naseema, who goes by one name, told the Times of India. "As I moved inside, the monkey followed and sank its teeth in my baby's leg."

Six more bites were reported Monday in Shastri Park, while in an upscale neighbourhood in central Delhi, a rogue monkey bounded into the residence of Priyanka Gandhi, daughter of ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, The Indian Express said.

You've probably heard about the muckety-muck that met an untimely end a month or so ago while trying to fight off the marauding simians with a stick. He was on his balcony and was forced over the edge, falling to his death.

India is the next big up-and-coming superpower and largest democracy in the world. With its grip tightening around the global IT development and helpdesk world and other industries, will this calamity derail the flattening of the world? Will the offshore workers be able to fight their way through the crazed beasts to get to work and answer our help desk calls? It's time we answer their call.

Political Tip-Off

As past readers will know, this blog likes to dabble in politics. So a little about me, for new folks:

I hate Republicans.

I hate Democrats.

I think Bush is a monarchist who prides loyalty over competence to a catastrophic fault; he is a Christianist and a dumbass and he probably smells like a soiled diaper. Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and their ilk are dung beetles. Colin Powell was a good man who should have quit. Actually, anyone associated with the administration are now covered with the fetid stank of a cronyist militaristic constitution-hating compost-heap.

I detest the shrill wing of the liberal left. The left is a castrated cadre that is incapable of coalescing. While I wish more people would stand up in protest like crazy Cindy Sheehan, I wish they'd stand up with a more convincing message. Sheehan is the color-guard for the extreme left and will only serve to alienate. I'm not fond of Nancy Pelosi and I think the Democratic-led congress has been atrocious...notwithstanding the lack of a filubuster-proof majority in the Senate.

I consider myself a "Radical Centrist." I typically vote third party because I hate the other two, and. frankly my vote does not matter in Texas. I'd say radical because all parties these days are ruled by radicals who are funded by extreme interests. There doesn't seem to be anybody with money willing to contribute to a coalition style government like there is in European parliamentary democracies. I don't see why every other democracy in the world can support multiple parties, but we're subjected to worse and worser.

The GOP and Donkeys have plenty of internal divisions. The GOP has the schism between the awful social conservatives and the tolerable economic conservatives (at least their shit is based on data.) The Donkeys have separation based on war ideology as well as the division between "yellow-dog" and "blue-dog" persuasions and they are incapable of finding a coherent message.

Yes, I like third parties but I'm not falling for the Ron Paul bullshit because he's aligned with the Christianists and maybe worse.

I am a strong proponent of pragmatism and moral relativism (which our current prez eschews.) I don't believe the world is black-and-white. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, this is apparently becoming relevant to the Shrub administration with regard to Pakistan (and everywhere else). They bleat Wilsonian about bringing democracy to the world, yet support a corrupt dictator whose country is harboring Public Enemy Numero Uno. Said country happens to be nucular, so all bets are off on the democracy thang.

As for Rudy, he's another aspiring cronyist dictator. Witness Kerik. He scares me more than anything else, regardless of his lefty positions on abortion and gays.

I believe I've stopped making sense. With the lack of a good third-party alternative, I'm leaning Obama. I don't like Hillary-robot and I think she's the only thing that can energize the elephants to enough turnout for another victory. I read about her feeding questions to an audience and it sounds all too much like Bush's hand-picked audiences of his prior campaigns. We do not need another autocrat, which is surely what we'd get with Giuliani the megalomaniac, and I fear Hillary also.

Thoughts?

I've always had a feeling oenaphiles were a fraud...

Wine experts beware. Read the whole story here.

"So much for objectivity. But results like this shouldn't be surprising.
I've blogged about this before, but it's such a cool experiment that it's worth
repeating. In 2001, Frederic Brochet, of the University of Bordeaux, conducted
two separate and very mischievous experiments. In the first test, Brochet
invited 57 wine experts and asked them to give their impressions of what looked
like two glasses of red and white wine. The wines were actually the same white
wine, one of which had been tinted red with food coloring. But that didn't stop
the experts from describing the "red" wine in language typically used to
describe red wines. One expert praised its "jamminess," while another enjoyed
its "crushed red fruit." Not a single one noticed it was actually a white
wine.

The second test Brochet conducted was even more damning. He took a
middling Bordeaux and served it in two different bottles. One bottle was a fancy
grand-cru. The other bottle was an ordinary vin du table. Despite the fact that
they were actually being served the exact same wine, the experts gave the
differently labeled bottles nearly opposite ratings. The grand cru was
"agreeable, woody, complex, balanced and rounded," while the vin du table was
"weak, short, light, flat and faulty". Forty experts said the wine with the
fancy label was worth drinking, while only 12 said the cheap wine was."

While I know many folks that consider themselves fine arbiters of the grape, I'm tempted to call bullshit. I would love to hold a blind taste-test to see if anyone can separate the wheat from the chaff. We'll go screw-top to grand cru, white to red, Loire to Napa...any takers?

It's much easier with scotch...I generally like the one that's in front of me.

Whither Gas?

I'll try and stir up some controversy now that I'm back up and posting. I read on another blog that one of the jillion gas outfits in FW is planning on drilling practically in downtown. Maybe it's Chesapeake, I forget and I don't want to go seek out the reference, but the plans are to drill right behind (like 100 feet) the old T&P Warehouse on Lancaster. While I'm aware of all the benefits gas drilling and its associated revenue will do for the city, isn't this a bit risky? If we've mastered the art of horizontal drilling, why so close to downtown? I jes don wan no splosions. Pro/Con? What about all the schoolyard drillin'? Just primin' the pump.

A Year Later...

I sit in my favored spot on the patio, enjoying a cigar and a scotch (which my wife had hidden, but I found), whilst reddened leaves from my crape myrtle are unhooked by infrequent breezes and flutter onto my keyboard. At odd intervals, pecans are jarred loose from their branches and fall like lugnuts onto the roof. Our friendly cat, Poofus, sits idly on top of an outdoor ottoman across from me. She is safe, and ignores all of the menacing sounds. It is always unclear on the patio whether she is protecting me or I am protecting her.

It is November 12, 2007 and I am clothed in summer-wear...athletic shorts that have never seen an athletic endeavor, bare feet, and my favorite shirt which was purchased in the summer of 2001 (or thereabouts) for one American dollar at the annual charity sale held at the Possum Kingdom Volunteer firehouse. The shirt advertises the 1996 4-H Horse Show in Abilene, with a horsehead emblazoned over the 4H cloverleaf. The shirt is very large, as is necessary to gird my supra-Rubenesque torso. It is spattered with random food, blood, tobacco, and other detritus of my loafing existence. It has holes. Many holes, caused by overzealous cats and drunken collisions with sharp edges between the drinking zone and the sleeping zone. This shirt is a winner.

I noticed my last post was about a year ago, just short of Armistice Day 2006. What's changed?

I came in second at the club billiard tournament for the fourth year in a row. I'm going to have to get my bridesmaid dress altered. But I did get to shoot a few games with women's champ Vivian Villarreal.


Our frequent contributor and conservative voice from times past Jim is now a talking head on CNBC.

Seems like I've had about four jobs since my last post. I'd say that I'm now a project manager with Carter & Burgess, except Carter & Burgess just got acquired. Who knows what the future holds?

It appears the local FW blog scene is maturing. I've recently caught on to some of the following sites...some focusing on local politics (gas drilling), some on architcture, a few on food, some on culture, and some photography (with some live music photography included.)

Our twenty-year reunion was held. I was involved with the initial planning, but was frankly too busy drinking and regretting to follow through to the execution. These were all mistakes.

My wife and I went to Telluride in May with a buddy of ours which was a great getaway in a truly idyllic setting. The dog:human ratio in Telluride is rapidly approaching 1:1, which is not a bad thing, and I never saw dogshit anywhere. The girls there tend to the granola side, which allowed me to spend more time looking at dogs. Here's a few pics that I'm working on:

and...

and....

As was the old routine, I hope to post frequent topical posts that generate comments and conversation. We had a good thing going there for a while until I volunteered for separation from RadioShack and too much time on my hands for anything but waking up late and drinking late. Cogent thinking wasn't really in the mental portfolio back then.

I don't know that I'll be able to keep up the posting rate that I maintained while I was waiting to be laid off, but I hope to be able to chime in a few times a week. As always, anyone that wants a forum is welcome to become a poster and all readers should feel free to comment at will, but be aware that the comment forum is a lion's den...so if you're posting on issues, be prepared.

I'll be following this up with an email with link to all of our former contributors. Forward as you please.