In this article Bush responds to the allegations of abuse of the Iraqi prisoners by US military personnel.
While the abuse here was particularly atrocious it does not really surprise me. This is a product of a mentality that treats any people as "others." Abuses are bound to occur when people cannot relate on a human level with a race. Much of the hostility on both sides of the "war" could be avoided if we understood the other side better.
Bush stated that "Their treatment does not reflect the nature of the American people. That's not the way we do things in America." I'm sad to say that this is the very same abuse, probably not as atrocious, that goes on in our prisons here in the US, not to mention the Private Prisons. The same mentality that allows the abuse to occur in the first place the same mentality that allows it to continue. When you label as person as a criminal the general public no longer cares what happens to him, since he is "just getting what he deserves." No person should be treated as something less than human, that is not what are country stands for.
And if you are disturbed by the abuses that are going on in Iraqi, just imagine what is going on in Guantanamo. There haven't been any complaints yet but that is perhaps we are not allowed to speak to them let alone know who they are...
Friday, April 30, 2004
Thursday, April 29, 2004
The Wall of Separation
If anyone ever doubted whether separation of church and state was a good idea, read this taken from an Op-Ed piece
In their new book, "The Bushes," Peter and Rochelle Schweizer, who interviewed many Bushes, including the president's father and his brother Jeb, quote one unnamed relative as saying that W. sees the war on terror "as a religious war": "He doesn't have a P.C. view of this war. His view of this is that they are trying to kill the Christians. And we the Christians will strike back with more force and more ferocity than they will ever know."
In their new book, "The Bushes," Peter and Rochelle Schweizer, who interviewed many Bushes, including the president's father and his brother Jeb, quote one unnamed relative as saying that W. sees the war on terror "as a religious war": "He doesn't have a P.C. view of this war. His view of this is that they are trying to kill the Christians. And we the Christians will strike back with more force and more ferocity than they will ever know."
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
A response from a Wimp a.k.a. Why I think Fight Club is a great movie.
This article about barbarians and wimps raises many interesting points. The severely summed up version of the article is that most men fall into two categories; Barbarians "who treat women roughly and are unreliable, unmannerly, and usually stupid" and wimps "who are whiny, incapable of making decisions, and in general of 'acting like men'." The authors basic point is that something has gone wrong with society because it is not producing "real men" who would be some kind of happy medium between the too. A man who can treat women with respect, can make decisions without being overbearing, and are tough enough to stand up for what they believe in. Now, I disagree with some of the author's conclusions for what caused this (including the obligatory conservative of heavy metal being the root cause of all that is evil in this world) and how we should get back to the "traditional family model", but it did make me think of what could have caused this and what is the best way to go about changing it.
Now I think we can agree that most of the barbarian model can be rejected as having any standards that people would find attractive or appealing in a man. Thus, we are left with trying to save/mold the wimp into something worthwhile, and I think there are things to work with (yeah, I'm biased since I fall into the wimp category, but anyway). A particularly interesting passage is this one:
"The wimp, on the other hand, has more complex reasons for wanting women. Although sex is certainly one of his desires, more than sex he needs affirmation. He desperately needs a girlfriend to boost his self-confidence. Having someone else notice him will somehow show the world that he is not a total loser. The wimp also needs someone to hear his laments, to commiserate with him when he is feeling down, to discover his secret self. Since he has few qualities or achievements to recommend him, he seeks to appear "interesting" or mysterious. Initially, the wimp might seem amusing to an unsuspecting young lady and very different from the insensitive jocks and rowdies she has known. Ultimately, however, the wimp seeks to draw her into his web of melancholy and self-pity. The story always ends unhappily since romance cannot be based upon pity or the thin facade of personality. He might mope and whine his way into a woman's bed but will find excuses to avoid "commitment." The wimp will begin the relationship by saying, "You're the only one who understands me" and end it by saying, "You don't understand me at all." The truth is that there is not much to understand."
I think that is a very accurate description of this type of man's want and needs. Query what the barbarian needs from a relationship with women? In my own "lamentations" about this with my woman, she thought that barbarians would have the same need of affirmation from women. I'm not so sure that if this is true. I think that the affirmation that the barbarian (jock) needs is from other men just like him. If he is pleased that a woman has voiced approval of him it is only so that he can later brag about it to his friends. But I digress...
By this point your probably wondering why the hell Fight Club was in the title of this post. Well, I believe one of the main themes of Fight Club (and one of the reasons it is a great movie) is the transformation of a "wimp" to a "barbarian" and ultimately finding a happy medium between the two. Exhibit A: a conversation between the Narrator and Tyler:
"I can't get married, I'm a 30 year-old boy."
"We're a generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer we need..."
The first part of the movie deals with the Narrator's dissatisfaction with life. He doesn't feel comfortable with himself and is eternally unsatisfied. He is a product of the society that he was brought up in.
"I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."
The Narrator begins to alter his lifestyle at first by becoming a barbarian. This is when the character begins the fight club. Now just a quick interlude...many people said they did not like or would not see this movie because of the violence. But I think that it is necessary to understand the violence in the context of the story. These people are not beating the shit out of each other for no reason whatsoever. They have been so desensitizing in society that they are unable to feel anything unless it is taken to the extreme. If you don't believe me, how else is the conversation after the Narrator and Tyler first hit each other?
(Narrator punches Tyler in the ear and Tyler hits Narrator in the gut)
"That really hurts...hit me again."
"No, you hit me."
They don't fight to beat the crap out of someone else, they fight each other in order to feel something themselves, to feel alive. Eventually the Narrator realizes that all the things that he is doing to change his life are being taken to the extreme and go too far. What he learns in the end is that one must find a mid point in order to live a "normal" life and can then make himself available to find a companion in a woman.
Anyway, I'm starting to realize this post is getting about as long as the article. So if you are still with me I thank you. The author goes on to give his theory on how to instill these morals in young people in order to turn them into viable members of society. Most of these ways have to do with returning to the traditional family and corporal punishment at a young age. I'm just not convinced that we need to do away with what I'd like to think of as progress of the sexual revolution and the women's rights movement (not to mention not having to beat your children with a belt). I think the best way of doing this is for children to respect their parents so that if they act up as a child the punishment is for the parents to be disappointed in them. The trick is that in order for that to work the children must respect the parent. Not sure how exactly to do this (I never claimed to have all the answers only most of them) but I expect it would come from the parent raising the child and being active in their lives.
Just something to think about.
Now I think we can agree that most of the barbarian model can be rejected as having any standards that people would find attractive or appealing in a man. Thus, we are left with trying to save/mold the wimp into something worthwhile, and I think there are things to work with (yeah, I'm biased since I fall into the wimp category, but anyway). A particularly interesting passage is this one:
"The wimp, on the other hand, has more complex reasons for wanting women. Although sex is certainly one of his desires, more than sex he needs affirmation. He desperately needs a girlfriend to boost his self-confidence. Having someone else notice him will somehow show the world that he is not a total loser. The wimp also needs someone to hear his laments, to commiserate with him when he is feeling down, to discover his secret self. Since he has few qualities or achievements to recommend him, he seeks to appear "interesting" or mysterious. Initially, the wimp might seem amusing to an unsuspecting young lady and very different from the insensitive jocks and rowdies she has known. Ultimately, however, the wimp seeks to draw her into his web of melancholy and self-pity. The story always ends unhappily since romance cannot be based upon pity or the thin facade of personality. He might mope and whine his way into a woman's bed but will find excuses to avoid "commitment." The wimp will begin the relationship by saying, "You're the only one who understands me" and end it by saying, "You don't understand me at all." The truth is that there is not much to understand."
I think that is a very accurate description of this type of man's want and needs. Query what the barbarian needs from a relationship with women? In my own "lamentations" about this with my woman, she thought that barbarians would have the same need of affirmation from women. I'm not so sure that if this is true. I think that the affirmation that the barbarian (jock) needs is from other men just like him. If he is pleased that a woman has voiced approval of him it is only so that he can later brag about it to his friends. But I digress...
By this point your probably wondering why the hell Fight Club was in the title of this post. Well, I believe one of the main themes of Fight Club (and one of the reasons it is a great movie) is the transformation of a "wimp" to a "barbarian" and ultimately finding a happy medium between the two. Exhibit A: a conversation between the Narrator and Tyler:
"I can't get married, I'm a 30 year-old boy."
"We're a generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer we need..."
The first part of the movie deals with the Narrator's dissatisfaction with life. He doesn't feel comfortable with himself and is eternally unsatisfied. He is a product of the society that he was brought up in.
"I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."
The Narrator begins to alter his lifestyle at first by becoming a barbarian. This is when the character begins the fight club. Now just a quick interlude...many people said they did not like or would not see this movie because of the violence. But I think that it is necessary to understand the violence in the context of the story. These people are not beating the shit out of each other for no reason whatsoever. They have been so desensitizing in society that they are unable to feel anything unless it is taken to the extreme. If you don't believe me, how else is the conversation after the Narrator and Tyler first hit each other?
(Narrator punches Tyler in the ear and Tyler hits Narrator in the gut)
"That really hurts...hit me again."
"No, you hit me."
They don't fight to beat the crap out of someone else, they fight each other in order to feel something themselves, to feel alive. Eventually the Narrator realizes that all the things that he is doing to change his life are being taken to the extreme and go too far. What he learns in the end is that one must find a mid point in order to live a "normal" life and can then make himself available to find a companion in a woman.
Anyway, I'm starting to realize this post is getting about as long as the article. So if you are still with me I thank you. The author goes on to give his theory on how to instill these morals in young people in order to turn them into viable members of society. Most of these ways have to do with returning to the traditional family and corporal punishment at a young age. I'm just not convinced that we need to do away with what I'd like to think of as progress of the sexual revolution and the women's rights movement (not to mention not having to beat your children with a belt). I think the best way of doing this is for children to respect their parents so that if they act up as a child the punishment is for the parents to be disappointed in them. The trick is that in order for that to work the children must respect the parent. Not sure how exactly to do this (I never claimed to have all the answers only most of them) but I expect it would come from the parent raising the child and being active in their lives.
Just something to think about.
Take One for the Country
Operation: Take one for the country
"About US: 'Operation Take One For The Country' (abbreviated OTOFTC) is a movement of like-minded women (women predominantly as of right now) who have covertly organized into groups to frequent eating and drinking establishments near armed service bases where troops are preparing to ship out overseas, and take one for the country, so to speak. We are a virtual organization and have no official headquarters or charter. We believe US service men and women deserve our support and we are willing to make caring choices about making them happy."
So...like...wha-...Um...yeah...but...right...
I don't know what to say so I'll just steal from someone else (and that way you can't blame me for saying it.)
"gotta love covert slut operations...closet whores unite!"
"About US: 'Operation Take One For The Country' (abbreviated OTOFTC) is a movement of like-minded women (women predominantly as of right now) who have covertly organized into groups to frequent eating and drinking establishments near armed service bases where troops are preparing to ship out overseas, and take one for the country, so to speak. We are a virtual organization and have no official headquarters or charter. We believe US service men and women deserve our support and we are willing to make caring choices about making them happy."
So...like...wha-...Um...yeah...but...right...
I don't know what to say so I'll just steal from someone else (and that way you can't blame me for saying it.)
"gotta love covert slut operations...closet whores unite!"
Tom Smith
Please read the Close encounter with a democrat article by Tom Smith...Thank you, now that we are all on the same page...After I read this article I realized that this exactly mirrored how he taught as a professor. The article starts off nicely, goes into a good story he has from his life, and then sums everything in a very easy to understand way. OH WAIT! I'm sorry it just fucking ends! He tells you a story and your are thinking "oh this is going to be really good and relevent to some idea that he is trying to get across", and then he stops and moves on. And he used to teach case law the same way. There would be an intro into the case what it is about, oh here's a nice life story, and what do we learn when the day is done..."I'm not sure what it is." *sigh*
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
The Picture Here
<------------------------Explained
OK, too many people have been confused as to what this sticker means so I feel compelled to explain it. Alright kids time to sit down, class is about to begin:
This is a satirical bumper sticker that is meant to parody the Bush/Cheney 2004 reelection sticker. As many have notice this sticker says "1984". I thought it was obvious, but apparently it was not, that this is a reference to the book by Mr. George Orwell about a dis-utopia, totalitarian society, Oceania, where Big Brother is always watching. The "campaign" slogan also makes an allusion to the motto of the society is
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
The sticker is trying to make an analogy between the fictional society in the novel and the society that will live in today, and it suggests that many of the aspects of Oceania are a part of the government regime in the US (which I think is a very good analogy). I hope this has cleared up any confusion you may have had.
Class is dismissed.
Ed note: Yes, "I" am Jack
This is a satirical bumper sticker that is meant to parody the Bush/Cheney 2004 reelection sticker. As many have notice this sticker says "1984". I thought it was obvious, but apparently it was not, that this is a reference to the book by Mr. George Orwell about a dis-utopia, totalitarian society, Oceania, where Big Brother is always watching. The "campaign" slogan also makes an allusion to the motto of the society is
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
The sticker is trying to make an analogy between the fictional society in the novel and the society that will live in today, and it suggests that many of the aspects of Oceania are a part of the government regime in the US (which I think is a very good analogy). I hope this has cleared up any confusion you may have had.
Class is dismissed.
Ed note: Yes, "I" am Jack
BYOB
NY Times Article
This seems like a really good idea and something that I would most likely use in the far distant future. My only problem is this, I have no problem with a baby crying through the entire movie as long as it is MY kid. I think I would still resent other people for bringing their children. I can just see it now..."What the hell are they thinking by bringing their kid to the movie!", I mumble to myself as my kid is screaming his bloody head off.
This seems like a really good idea and something that I would most likely use in the far distant future. My only problem is this, I have no problem with a baby crying through the entire movie as long as it is MY kid. I think I would still resent other people for bringing their children. I can just see it now..."What the hell are they thinking by bringing their kid to the movie!", I mumble to myself as my kid is screaming his bloody head off.
Monday, April 26, 2004
Da Vinci Code Controversy
NYTimes article
Seriously, why is it that Christians are trying to defend against a work of fiction.
"Churches are offering pamphlets and study guides for readers who may have been prompted by the novel to question their faith."
Come on now! You've got to be kidding me. Are people's faith that low these days that reading a work of fiction (besides the bible) will cause them to question their faith? I'm all for questioning your faith, but try to do it rationally and not because the latest popular book told you to. Does the Church really have nothing better to do then to defend God from an attack by Harry Potter?
Seriously, why is it that Christians are trying to defend against a work of fiction.
"Churches are offering pamphlets and study guides for readers who may have been prompted by the novel to question their faith."
Come on now! You've got to be kidding me. Are people's faith that low these days that reading a work of fiction (besides the bible) will cause them to question their faith? I'm all for questioning your faith, but try to do it rationally and not because the latest popular book told you to. Does the Church really have nothing better to do then to defend God from an attack by Harry Potter?
Templates
Alright Blair, this is just for you. How did I get this sweet looking page. Well I went up to the "help" button where you post on your blog. Then to a topic called "templates" then "how to change your templates". The page provides links to various sites I found mine at BlogSkins.com after I registered. Look around and then follow directions, but try not to hurt yourself.
The First Post
Well, I have finally joined the rest of the world and now have a blog of my own. The final straw was when a friend of mine said he just started one over the weekend, I went perusing around the site and found it pretty easy to get started. The hardest thing was trying to find an address that had not already been taken. I have to say I'm satisfied with mine and everything worked out in the end.
In my screwing around with various aspects of the site I found the perfect place to post <---------------------this
My Northern Sun catalog came today and I saw this sticker. I even almost ordered it but $5 S&H was a little steep for a $1.00 sticker. However if anyone reading this wants to go in on a couple of things then perhaps it might even be worth it. Anyway, I found the perfect use for it here (once I figured out how to post a picture).
So here it is my place to speak to the rest of the world or whoever reads this page (Ed: read as "nobody").
EDIT: Does anyone else find it ironic that the word "blog" is not found in the spell check dictionary. You would think that with all this high tech software and things in the world that the spell check feature on a weblog would have the word in there, but sadly no. This shortcoming is especially noticeable for all you people in law school. The terms that we use everyday are not in the friggin' dictionary. "lessee" and "lessor" and many others that are very basic...not in there. But I'll tell you this, hardest word to type ever is "decedent". Go ahead try it. I dare you.
In my screwing around with various aspects of the site I found the perfect place to post <---------------------this
My Northern Sun catalog came today and I saw this sticker. I even almost ordered it but $5 S&H was a little steep for a $1.00 sticker. However if anyone reading this wants to go in on a couple of things then perhaps it might even be worth it. Anyway, I found the perfect use for it here (once I figured out how to post a picture).
So here it is my place to speak to the rest of the world or whoever reads this page (Ed: read as "nobody").
EDIT: Does anyone else find it ironic that the word "blog" is not found in the spell check dictionary. You would think that with all this high tech software and things in the world that the spell check feature on a weblog would have the word in there, but sadly no. This shortcoming is especially noticeable for all you people in law school. The terms that we use everyday are not in the friggin' dictionary. "lessee" and "lessor" and many others that are very basic...not in there. But I'll tell you this, hardest word to type ever is "decedent". Go ahead try it. I dare you.
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