Archive for June, 2006
Hamdan & Terrorist Trials & Torture, Oh My!
Thursday, June 29th, 2006I’m no legal scholar and can’t begin to tell you what the Supreme Court’s ruling means–especially for the future of waging war and the Executive Branch’s power. So, for cogent analysis I’m linking to the following:
Lefty blogs say that “the rule of law” won today.
From what I can tell, whatever the Supreme Court touches turns to shit. Well, that might be a bit of an overstatement. Polemical, even. Let me put it this way: When it takes 185 pages to “clarify” a ruling, it seems that more problems will be caused than solved.
Angel Ramirez
Thursday, June 29th, 2006Admits guilt. Takes responsibility for letting “the devil rule my life.” Doesn’t sound like he’s crazy, does it? Asks forgiveness from victim’s families. Executed.
Britney Spears Reveals More Than Her Body
Thursday, June 29th, 2006Dr. Melissa pop culture maven extraordinaire feels compelled to comment about Ms. Spear’s latest visual revelation. Back in black, the 20-something hot mama generates even more press about her pregnancy than the rest of her messy life–if that were possible. Married to K-Fed, the honky-tonk lookin’, rap spewin’, fancy dancin’, one-man-penny-lovin’ marvel leech, the pregnancy upstages her train-wreck of a union to said marvel, her parenting antics and most importantly, her breasts. Are they enhanced or not? (As a side note, I don’t think so. I think that her hormones go up and down, she is well-versed with taping said appendages and her weight goes up and down, too. She is one of the lucky girls who gets bigger boobs when she gains weight.) Voyeurs everywhere must know.
A few things about this one-woman industry fascinate me.
- In a world absolutely saturated with everything sex, and with Ms. Spears being one of the canniest explioters of this era, even her bumping, grinding, Dominatrix wearing, Madonna-kissing antics get less press than when she is photographed pregnant and in all her God-given fertile glory. I don’t think that people recoil at the unborn child being exploited. Tom Cruise could have hardly done more of that had he posed naked. I think most people recoil at the image of a woman embodying the dichotomy–pregnancy is overtly sexual isn’t it? It reveals that the little kumquat isn’t just a tease, afterall. And, she’s a mother.
- Britney’s damning press about her mothering stikes me as hypocritical and mean. Every first time mother screws up over and over. Every third time mother screws up. A lot. Okay, I’m projecting. Every mother knows this and is grateful her myriad foibles aren’t plastered on Page One. Why must Britney be a bad mother? Could it be because you can’t possibly be sexy and a good (okay average) mother, too? And add to this, Britney has taken some time out of her career and yet she is written off like a has-been who has thrown it all away for marriage (blech!) and children (double blech!!). I find the glee over her mommy troubles disturbing and overreaching and not-so-subtly misogynist.
- Marriage: The most difficult contract one ever enters even with Mr. or Ms. Perfection. Kevin Federline is no one’s idea of perfection. Even, it seems, for his overwrought wife Britney. This aspect of Ms. Spear’s personal life is so compelling because it’s so common. Bad-news husbands are as old as the world’s second oldest profession and hardly unique. What has changed even more in this era is the role that dirt-bag hubby fills. At one time, he usually at least worked while schtupping Sally the Secretary. No longer. The low-down, no-good leaves the working to his wife and generously let’s her bring home the bacon, fry it up in the pan, give birth, care for children and wait on him hand and foot in all his lazy glory. Now, some guys will say, “‘Bout damn time! Women have been sitting around on their every growing arses, eating bon-bons, while the kids wreck the house ah paid for and then, when I finally get sick of it and find me a more lovin’ touch, divorces me and steals all mah dough!” Not only is this woman-hating bile, it also displays a serious lack of self-respect. Dude, get a job or at least be a respectable House Husband. Side note: Crappy rapping doesn’t count.
Britney Spears is a modern woman in all senses. She hooked up with a still-taken guy with a pregnant wife. She has worked hard her whole life to attain her wealth, fame and status (such as it is these days). She suffers the humiliation of being married to a bum. Britney tries to balance work and family and ends up nearly dropping her kid on his round head (how metaphorical is that?). And to top it all off, she’s pregnant again with the doofus she knows she should never have married to begin with. And to predict the future: This woman will divorce her husband, be a single mom to two children and have to pay alimony.
Her life reveals far more than the new Harper’s Bazaar cover. Britney Spear’s life reveals “equality” in all its glory. Ain’t it great?
NYT Vs. The Flag
Thursday, June 29th, 2006You know, I’m still exercised about the whole revealing war secrets thing. But there are people angrier than me and more eloquent too. Via Glenn Reynolds, he quotes Robert Cox:
We will never know the full extent of the damage caused by The New York Times in disclosing the SWIFT monitoring program but have no doubt it was not a benign act. Whatever agony Keller may have gone through in deciding to publish the story will pale in comparison to the agony of the victims of the next terror attack, an attack that might have been prevented save for Keller’s choice.
Playwright David Mamet once wrote of elites “you’re all the same … It’s always ‘What I’m going to do for you.’ Then you screw up and then its ‘we did the best we could. I’m dreadfully sorry’ and people like us live with your mistakes the rest of our lives.”
We may be living with Keller’s mistake for a long time to come.
No kidding. Meanwhile, a lot of other people are exercised about Flag Burning. I’ll say it up front: I”m not. Frankly, I don’t give a termite turd. Yes, yes, burning the flag is offensive and ignorant and annoying and disrespectful. Everyone knows this. But in a free country, I think people should be free to reveal that they are complete asses. Flag burning is one activity that reveals this.
You see, I want to be free to burn what I want. It doesn’t bother me if someone wants to burn a flag, a Bible or a Koran, for that matter. It’s a free country homeslice. If you want to piss-off God, you have to answer to Him on the other side. Why should us mere mortals have more fragile sensibilities? Are any of these activities nice or polite or politically correct? Well, burning the Bible and Flag, that’s okay with a big minority. And yes, it bugs me that such “counter culture” intellect-wanna-bes think they demonstrate profound truths by peeing and defecating and burning Christian symbols. Mostly, it bugs me if my tax dollars go for their stupid “art”.
If, on the other hand, some arteeeste wants to make a “bold statement” with his own two pence and piles of poop, may the force be with him. It’s America. It reveals our strength as a nation that even unimagininative 40 year old basement dwellars are allowed to live in peace and pursue their happiness, warped as it is.
So while Flag Burning is like red ant bite, painful and irritating, the New York Times revealing national security secrets with less circumspection than the neighborhood gossip is like a bullet wound to the guts. America is bleeding right now, maybe to death, and we don’t even know it. During the next big attack, when fellow Americans take their last ragged breath at the hand of demented but well-informed terrorists, the New York Times can at least have the satisfaction of knowing their treacherous paper will be the last thing people think about. At least they are notorious.
Pushing During Labor
Wednesday, June 28th, 2006Women don’t need coaching. This is one case where “if it feels good, do it” holds. Pushing during labor when the body isn’t ready wastes energy and worse, often leaves the mother torn, and eventually torn emotionally, too.
Putin’s Pushing Back Against Terrorists
Wednesday, June 28th, 2006Wouldn’t you love a headline like that saying, “President Bush says to hunt down the killers responsible for the brutalizing and murdering of the U.S. servicement and hang them publically”?
I know I would.
How to Get Rich
Wednesday, June 28th, 2006And retire by age 30. To summarize:
- Give up marriage
- Give up children
- Enter professions where your performance is directly related to $ like sales, finance
- Once you retire, spend only 3-4% of your residual income per year to last for the rest of your life
- All these estimates are based on the Stock Market continuing to increase at current rates which may not happen
- Don’t expect to be happy necessarily. Rich does not equal happy.
Maxed Out Mama: Journalistic Malpractice
Tuesday, June 27th, 2006You know how I was miffed by the recent research about homosexuality being due to the environment of the womb? Well, Maxed Out Mama decries the stupidity generally in scientific reporting. Amen Mama! Reporters trying to simplify research for the stooge masses often miss the point entirely. Whenever I find evidence of reporting malfeasance I try to point it out and will continue to do so. It is one of my pet peeves.
A Few of My Favorite Things
Tuesday, June 27th, 2006
Pepperidge Farm’s Rialtos. Heaven in a cookie: chocolate cookies with raspberry filling and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Mmmmmm…..
Mini Coopers. I’m sorry. This obsession of mine has not dimmed in the years after it has been released. In fact, my ardor has only grown with time. I would like a snazzy, custom-painted convertable please–and before I get too old.
My Video I-Pod. Still love it. The Klipsch I-Groove is fantastic, too. I know. It’s been mentioned before. A lot.
Orlando Bloom. My strange fixation persists. Please don’t lecture me about the fact that he is “few” years younger than me. (That seems to be happening more and more, sheesh!) See what happens when overbearing parents prevent Duran-Duran posters in the teenage years? I get my fix soon. Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest comes out in a few weeks. And, guess what? For my added viewing pleasure there’s a little Johnny Depp thrown in for spice. (Oh, by the way, rent Depp’s movie Finding Neverland. It’s awesome.)
Instapundit. I simply can’t help myself. Glenn Reynolds has surpassed Drudge for my Obsessive-Compulsive Internet-news check. I agree with him a lot and even though he’s a lawyer, he seems like a nice, even-tempered dude who has smart takes on lots of issues. Plus, he got me hooked on more Sci-Fi/Fantasy stuff–as if I need more hooks. Firefly is the best. Thank you, Glenn.
Lord of the Rings. The more I read, the more I love, love, love Tolkien. He da’ man. The movies are fantastic–extended versions only, please. The shorter ones simply leave too much out. I have few quibbles with Peter Jackson’s directorial decisions. My only huge beef is how he wrote Faramir’s character. Heap o’ crap. Beyond that, they are the only movies I can watch over and over and over again. Oh, and someone please buy me the 50th Anniversary Leather edition. Someone, anyone?
Games. Mostly Bridge, Texas Hold ‘Em Poker (only with other people) and Sodukus. Sodukus are generally for mind-numbing entertainment. Along those lines, Yahoo Games has this word play game called Text Twist that is a great time waster. The other stuff is for when strategy and teamwork sound fun.
Mammograms Increase Breast Cancer Risk
Tuesday, June 27th, 2006For women genetically inclined, mammograms do more harm than good. Get thermographs or MRIs with differentials. They can be more accurate anyway.
