Wednesday, July 18, 2007

anthropomorphization much?

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20046895,00.html

I would be heartbroken too but this is a totally ludicrous story. It's ludicrous that the death of Oprah Winfrey's dog is news. Oprah's description of the incident is over the top and overly detailed. What's with the finger pointing - "(who wasn't supposed to play with the ball)"? I'm sorry - do we think the dog knew she wasn't supposed to be playing with Sophie's ball? My parents dogs presumably know they aren't supposed to eat the iron but they did it anyway.

Finally and most importantly, let's focus on this tidbit of ridiculousness. "Despite her sadness, Winfrey takes comfort in knowing that Gracie "did more living in two years than most dogs do in 12" – and that is the lesson to be gained from her beloved young golden. "This dog lived every moment as though it were her last."

Yeah, the dog did the equivalent of 14 years of living to be exactly. Ludicrous.

Moral Clarity

http://www.cbc.ca/onthemap/fullpage.php?id=87

Now I have to read Hirsi Ali's book.

I love this quote too. She reminds me of Natan Sharansky in this regard. "You grew up in freedom. You can spit on freedom because you don't know what it is not to have freedom."

gender bias much?

Clue in this morning's crossword: 8 letter word for "Bachelor's counterpart". Ready for this? The answer is "Spinster"

Good for this dad.

"The father said he wants Couey to die for his crime. King asked him if he would attend the execution by lethal injection. "I'd hold the syringe if they'd let me," he answered."

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

7th

Don't congratulate your friend, the bride, on her first marriage. She won't find it as funny as you do.

Does anyone else want a check from me?

So I went to 2 weddings 24 hours apart on 2 different coasts last weekend thanks to red eye flights. I learned a number of things. First, if you go to an airport while still super dressed up (as if for a wedding) people are much nicer to you...and by people I mean dirty old men who work at the security checkpoint. Did that guy seriously tell me I'd done a great job going through line? Yes, yes, he did.


Second, videographers are evil and they really shouldn't take still photos of people dancing. We all just look stupid.


Third, any wedding where people dance in a circle is good fun even if a substantial percentage of the male guests are wearing tuxedos. Perhaps this is directly related to having a completely open bar.


Fourth, I really love a Cape Cod. This isn't so much a lesson as something good to remember.


Fifth, just giving people money as a gift is definitely the way to go. It's what everyone wants anyway.

Oh and sixth, don't do the electric slide at a New York wedding. People will find it bizarre and quaint.


Unfortunately, the second wedding went off without a hitch. (A bridesmaid did set her bouquet on fire but it was after the ceremony and quickly doused. very disappointing) They flubbed their vows in the wedding on Saturday so that was good.




Why I don't watch the news

Um yeah. So two important things happened on Saturday. First, U.S. forces rescued 41 Iraqi civilians Sunday from an al-Qaida hide-out northeast of Baghdad, including some who showed signs of torture and broken bones . Second, Lindsey Lohan crashed her car while drunk and high on cocaine. Guess which got more coverage? There's a place for entertainment news (I mean, I care who Anna Nicole's baby daddy is as much as the next girl) but seriously?

Rah Rah Feminism rears its ugly head

Overheard in the office:

Pregnant neighbor, asks about Partner leaving the firm and if it's a child care issue.
Woman Partner: "No, my kids are big now so they don't need me anymore. At this point, it's not so much "child care" as "child management." In fact, they don't even really want me there."

Yah, I bet they don't.

Her kids are like 11 and 8 and they don't need her??

Remember all the grief people got for reporting these guys?

"A newly released inspector general report backs eyewitness accounts of suspicious behavior by 13 Middle Eastern men on a Northwest Airlines flight in 2004 and reveals several missteps by government officials, including failure to file an incident report until a month after the matter became public.

"Agency management was not only covering up numerous probes and dry-run encounters from Congress and other federal law-enforcement agencies, it was also hiding these incidents from their own flying air marshals," said P. Jeffrey Black, an air marshal stationed in Las Vegas.

"What is disturbing to us as pilots is that there are now a number of incidents like this taking place across our industry and the vast majority of our flights are still defenseless," said Captain David Mackett, president of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance. "

Good news for everyone everywhere

According to the elevator at work, the percentage of men who follow trends in fashion has fallen by 9% in just 3 years, signalling an end to the metrosexual phase. Thank God.

Monday, March 26, 2007

I like this

Statement from Mariane Pearl, March 16, 2007, 3:10 p.m. ET:
I clearly see Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s motives when he proudly volunteers a graphic description of the murder of my husband Daniel Pearl, whether he actually carried it out or not. Because I understand his intentions I can also deny their effect on me.
As Danny’s wife, the mother of our son and as a dedicated journalist and humanist, I have come to the conclusion that the only way to fight terrorism is to exercise self-control over the natural feelings of disgust and horror that his declarations provoke.
The more people like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed spread fear, the more determined I am to resist by celebrating values of humanism and dignity. This requires at least as much willpower as a terrorist’s determination to promote hatred. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will not change my heart and he won’t change what Danny did or left behind, which is a beautiful and inspiring example of what it means to be a man. I offer my heartfelt condolences to all the families involved.
— Mariane Pearl

Monday, March 19, 2007

I would like to marry this man.

Global Warming: Moving Towards Metrosexuals
By Daniel ClarkMar 17, 2007

The latest point of emphasis in the global warming movement is that cattle farming endangers the planet by producing too much methane. So now, steaks and hamburgers are classified as instruments of destruction, along with large vehicles, lawn mowers, and charcoal grills. It can't be much longer before cowboy movies, cigars and hockey are held to be enemies of the earth as well.

This has got to be the most blatant assault on guyhood since ABC moved Coach to the same night as Roseanne, and turned Hayden Fox into Phil Donahue. It's a wonder that liberals don't cut to the chase, by simply claiming that global warming is caused by testosterone. Then, they could make public school nurses siphon the offending fluid from the boys during health class.

Many environmentalists believe that the earth is a living organism, personified by the Greek goddess Gaia. Conveniently, it turns out that Gaia is a shrew, who demands that her men be reduced to henpecked, metrosexual noodles. Manliness makes Gaia angry, and we wouldn't like her when she's angry, because she'll turn into a green monster and start smashing everything to bits. Hell hath no fury like an earth goddess exposed to excessive cattle-produced methane emissions.

Wouldn't it be more plausible if a few items like styling gel, latte makers and tofu were said to destroy the planet as well? Perhaps, but that would not serve the purpose of expanding the base of the global warming movement. Since no liberal cause can produce much support on its own, any one of them must ally itself with all other liberal causes, so that they can pool their resources.

That's why it's almost impossible to distinguish the original purpose of a left-wing political rally. What starts out being an 'anti-war' demonstration will invariably become an convention of environmentalists, gun control advocates, pro-abortionists, animal rights activists, racial Balkanists, and outright Communists, because that's the only way to prevent the size of the crowd from being laughably small. Therefore, environmental alarmists must incorporate other causes within their own, in order to keep their core of support relatively large and energized. Clearly, they've determined their alliance with the feminists to be vital to these ends.

It's not coincidental that the icon of the global warming movement is former vice president Al Gore, who, during the 2000 presidential campaign, sought advice from feminist author Naomi Wolf on how to become an "alpha male." Needless to say, she did not suggest that he scarf down a steak sandwich while sitting behind the wheel of a riding mower. Instead, her solution was to dress him in earth tones, as if obsessing over his wardrobe was any way to attain guydom. Never is it manly to ask, "does this make my butt look big," even if you want the answer to be yes.

For Wolf to tell Gore that he'd become an "alpha male" just by wearing the right clothing is a little like a mother patronizing her young child. She probably got the idea when Gore put a bucket over his head and said, "Look, Ms. Wolf, I'm an astronaut," and she replied, "Yes, of course you are, dear."

Images of global destruction being more powerful than images of normalcy and stability, Gore and friends are bound to win the competition for people's emotions. Hence, they are now deterring any analysis of the issue, by calling skeptics "global warming deniers," a not very subtle comparison to neo-Nazis. If we succumb to this intimidation like a bunch of namby-pamby rice cake eaters, the debate will be lost for good.

Thus, the global warming movement seeks to repress guyhood in order to perpetuate itself. If a guy is shown a picture of a sad-looking polar bear adrift on an ice floe, his first thought will be something like, "I've heard that bear steaks are tough, but maybe if you marinated them in beer, they'd turn out all right." At that point, the alarmists' emotional ploy is foiled. In a world without guy stuff, however, his vacant mind may be invaded by irrationalities like, "Who will take care of thepolar bears' children?"

In this chicken-and-the-egg scenario, the success of the global warming movement is both the cause and effect of our society's emasculation. It would have never gotten this far if the "Nineties Man" hadn't paved the way. When "I feel your pain" became a successful presidential campaign slogan, we should have known that charcoal-grilled steaks would soon be on the endangered list.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

we should use the death penalty more

Okay, so this story is a kind of a roundabout argument for the death penalty - okay, VERY roundabout - but I would use the opportunity to point out that some people are violent criminals and always will be. There are only so many times a man can be sentenced to life in prison.

"A man who spent 18 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit was convicted Sunday of murdering a female photographer two years after he was released from prison. Steven Avery could face up to life in prison for killing Teresa Halbach. She disappeared after going to his family's salvage yard in October 2005. Her charred remains were found outside Avery's Wisconsin home."

PS The pervert who killed Jessica Lunsford in Florida a while back - you remember the story, cute cute kid, about 7, they always showed a photo of her in a pink hat, and the scariest guy you can imagine - was sentenced to death last week. some measure of justice in that. I hope they put him in the general population.

safe to live in DC again

As many of you know, as a DC-metro area resident and a strong gun rights advocate, I could not be more thrilled by the recent overturning of the DC gun ban. It might actually make it safe to go to work there and maybe even someday to live in the city.

I will continue to refrain from commenting on it until I have a chance to read the decision though. There are grounds for the decision that, if relied upon, would actually make it much harder to ensure our right to bear arms is protected in the future. I don't think the court took that tact but it worries me.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Jetstream environmentalists

So I find a little bit funny that this article trumpets Vanity Fair's social awareness by citing the publication of 2 "green" issues and also notes that VF just published a 500 pg "hollywood" issue.

Friday, March 02, 2007

My children are being home schooled

Thanks to RFTR for this one.

".. [T]he students [Seattle school children] had been building an elaborate "Legotown," but it was accidentally demolished. The teachers decided its destruction was an opportunity to explore "the inequities of private ownership." According to the teachers, "Our intention was to promote a contrasting set of values: collectivity, collaboration, resource-sharing, and full democratic participation."

The teachers then explored with the students concepts of fairness, equity, power, and other issues over a period of several months.

At the end of that time, Legos returned to the classroom after the children agreed to several guiding principles framed by the teachers, including that "All structures are public structures" and "All structures will be standard sizes."