I'M SO SORRY!

        You kinda noticed the lack of updates... Sorry. I have an excuse, or rather a whole slew of them. Most of them are not very good.

        First was the bar. I stopped blogging while cramming my skull full of relevant information. Then came the period of recovery.

        As soon as my brain recovered, my body took a blow as a persistent flu bug knocked me out for a week. Then weekends at the Cape with my family, job hunting and drafting my fantasy football team came into play. Oh and three dates in as many weeks with three different women.

• I rendezvoused with Margaret in NYC while traveling down to State College PA for the draft.
  
• Ashi, a graduate student in Rhode Island; we spent an afternoon in Providence.
  
• Linda whom I took out to 'Blue Man.' (Of course, the next day she sent me a 'You're nice, but not that interesting' email. I guess flying toilet paper and Captain Crunch do not a romantic evening make.)
  
  

        Sadly, a good many of my comments have fallen by the wayside. Some were overtaken by events. Others have been dealt with far better by others, like Howard Bashman's excellent attack on the egregious use of polling data by the majority in ATKINS v. VIRGINIA. The Court is supposed to be isolated from the passions of the populace! That's the way the founders designed it!

        I also was thinking of writing about how many Congressional liberals are exceptionally wealthy and relating it to an article in USA Today regarding a disturbing trend of the children of the wealthy eschewing traditional summer jobs for glamorous internships. These kids will become the next ruling class without having actually known what drudgery for an for a dollar is like. Call it cliched, but they do build character.

        Speaking of character, there was this little bit of horror that appeared in the Boston Globe. (It's at the very bottom and I read the article when it originally appeared, wiseguys!) Folks, I've read too much about my representative and the function of male member, thank you very much.

        One incident I do need to relate. Here in Boston we are extremely fortunate to be a regular port of call for the Navy. When the ships are in port the Navy lets visitors board and see what Uncle Sam uses their tax dollars for. I have toured a frigate, a cruiser and destroyers. (The line for the aircraft carrier John. F. Kennedy was too darn long.)

        This time I went to see the USS Kearsarge, a Wasp class amphibious assault ship. Now I always carry my Swiss Army knife, but I am prepared to ditch it as needed. So I come to the ship and see they have a metal detector and a warning that anything they find that violates security will be confiscated. I asked if I could check my knife. The guard was angrily adamant. Even if I voluntarily gave them the knife with no prompting, they would confiscate it. Now I remember being able to carry the knife around the Capitol dome, with the full knowledge and blessing of the security people therein. But that was long before 9/11 empowered the 'tweezer people.' Now I couldn't leave the knife in my vehicle because I did not take any vehicle down. My bike was in the shop and I didn't want to drive downtown. So I took my knife and hid it in some weeds. The guard did not want to know and I was passed through without comment.

        I could forgive the guard for being curt. Unlike the mental midgets of the airways, they were doing their jobs in a reasonable manner. I had a problem with a specific rule. So I was not going to give him any unpleasantness, even if he were not well armed and backed up by grim faced sailors toting M-16s.

        The tour was well worth the trouble. I climbed aboard an LCAC, looked at guns and other equipment and talked to sailors and marines. I especially want to thank Private Goldman (USMC) for answering my idiotic questions, especially about the grenade launchers. And I did find the discussion about whether a sniper rifle could take out windows of the planes at Logan to be fascinating.

        Oh yeah. It was a guy thing.

        Two more notes before I vanish. Despite my absence, my page has been getting regular hits. But most of them have been about 'Frontier House' or Ben Grimm's recent revelation. Go figure. But I do need to update Jewish Marvels soon.

        Also here's my fantasy team lineup- current as of this writing.

COOL FACTOR NOTED; LET'S PROCEED. (3 point ref)

        Japanese engineers testing a new supersonic jet design encounter a minor setback.

NASTY COMMENTS

• Not with a bang, but a whimper.
  
• Senator McCain is never afraid to be the only Republican standing among Democrats. Witness the Keating five.
  
• Daltrey and Townshend are releasing a new album. Its title is Who’s Left?
  
• When anyone says we can not define terror or that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, I will suggest they're against the law. Literally. 22 U.S.C. 38 §2656F(d)(2)
  
  

TORO! TORO! TORO!

        “For there is surely nothing more beautiful in this world than the sight
of a lone man facing single-handedly a half a ton of angry pot roast!”

Tom Leher.

        The photographer was never in danger, apparently. But nobody seems to care about the poor schmuck whose shirt the bull has on its horns!

QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY.

       One reason my blogging is minimal (aside from time constraints) is that I want to try to be at least minimally original, instead of citing the same articles the rest of the warblogers do. And I care that I say things well. So that means I do bupkus.

        Here was one overdue issue posting. Prior to the speech where Bush called for Yassir to take the golden handshake, my main worry was not necessarily what he would say, but how the world would interpret his words. Specifically, I was afraid the Palestinians would see it as a vindication of their terror tactics.

        Judging from the snarls, yowls and whines from the Arabs and their chattering class enablers, I need not have worried. The Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post and Saudis all hate the president's declaration. Obviously it's a winner.

        As the cliché goes, "When you're up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember the first objective was to drain the swamp." Well, the Palligators (unique among crocodilians for their venomous nature) are distracting Bush's corps of engineers from draining the Axis of Evil Swamp. Were I a more conspiratorially minded man, I would say the House of Sod financed this upswing to distract from their 79% responsibility for 9/11. They point to their beloved homicide bombers and say to the US 'Solve this first.' (And it helps to distract their souk suckers from the debacle in Afghanistan as well.)

        So, Bush offered a solution. That the solution is unacceptable to anyone in position to negotiate is immaterial. No longer will they sell the same camel for new concessions. No more will their constant bad faith negotiations continue. Even if they do reject Bush's conditions for statehood, it is clear he is washing his hands of the Pals and moving on.

        The Palestinians should take a cue from the ideals of Zionism. Hetzel wanted to make the Jews 'A nation like any other. That dream must become their reality. No more disproportionate attention to the Pals and no more special leeway given to aid their genocidal quests. Let them deal with the consequences of their folly or reap the rewards of their courageous change. Either way it's long past time to move on

THE BEST THING ABOUT THE WORLD CUP....

HECKLER'S VETO OVERRIDE

        Cant Watch needs to learn to enjoy schadenfreude. Noting, and approving of, the suspension of the organization of the kaffeya wearing brownshirts at San Francisco State University, Erin O`Connor decries the removal of their hate filled web site from the server.

My point? We have to defend the expression of groups like GUPS if we want to be sure our own expression is protected. These are tough truths to swallow when one is on the wrong end of bigoted and nasty expression, but they are the truths we have to swallow if we are to preserve the liberty that makes our lives so preciously free.

        Well, the way I see it is…

1. Speech codes are wrong.
   
2. The campus left supports speech codes.
   
3. The speech codes are not applied to the campus left, or anyone who is not white and straight
   
4. We (meaning the non-PC crowd) need to apply the speech codes to the PC gang with the vigor of Vern Schillinger initiating his newest prag. (2 point ref)
   

        This way, you assail their hypocrisy, while forcing them to chose between their causes and censorship. These Hamans built the gallows. Let their sorry hides swing from it.


        The free speech of the General Union of Palestine Students is a modest sacrifice for a world with no speech codes.

INSIDE BASEBALL AND NOT THE BOSOX

        Here in Massachusetts, the Dems control the state, even with a GOPer in the corner office (meaning Governor. There is no governor’s mansion here in Massachusetts). Though we’ve had a run of Republican governors, they’ve been either had one eye on a better job, or a head firmly up their butts. Most of the GOP establishment in the Commonwealth consists of what I call ‘Vichy Republicans’ who try to out Dem the Dems.

        Now with Mitt Romney seeming to revive the Mass GOP, plus dissatisfaction with the two Toms (Birmingham and Finneran) who essentially run this state, the Dems are getting desperate and nasty, trying to beat him in the court house and not the ballot booth (usual Democrat tactics). All I can say is the people who scream about Mitt’s working in Utah have driven many people to New Hampshire.

        At least is has been hurting them in the polls.

UPDATE: The panel has ruled the Romney meets the residency requirements! Now if we can only get democracy into the State House of Representatives and Senate.

ARRRRGGGGHHH!

        Bush tries to appease the jackals again. How many times will we fall for their bait-and switch before saying 'screw `em.' and leaving them to rot in their cesspool.

        One in his speech I found particularly risible.

The Palestinian people are gifted and capable...

        Yeah, but only when it comes to murdering children.

        Update: The Pals and their Arab bretheren are not happy with the speech, which, on second reading and more careful consideration was much better.then I had believed. More later. (Hopefully)

OVERDUE UPDATE

        Sorry, but between work and the bar review class, I've not been able to do squat. Sunday is my one free day and last Sunday I was comatose and this one I had a wedding (and the less said about that, the better...). Gomen, Gomen!

AN APOLOGY IN ADAVNCE

        Folks, blogging is going to be erratic at best, non-existent at worst for the next month or so. See, I'm studying for the bar. That means four hours of classes Monday through Friday 6-10 PM. Plus I work Tuesday through Saturday on the night shift 11 PM -7 AM. Sunday I sleep.

        One incident I should mention. The lecturer on Contracts is a blond guy from the University of Alabama who speaks with a broad southern accent. His name is David Epstein. I am not joking. Professor Epstein used some quintessentially Dixie illustrations as examples. Any time Uniform Commercial Code Section 2, which as we all know deals with the sale of goods, was discussed, the sale of grits would be involved.

        The problem was when he had to use an example for consideration with a preexisting statutory or contractual duty rule. He used a Kinky Friedman concert for his example. Now I'm not a huge fan of 'The Kinkster,' but I have heard of him. However, during a break, apparently (I saw the taped lecture), several people went up to complain about the example, convinced that he was using an anti-Semitic slur. The professor assured the listeners that the Kinkster was a real person. He also added that he was glad he did not mention the singer's backup band 'The Texas Jewboys.'

        Some people.

SKAKEL THOUGHTS

Even a Kennedy is not immune to justice, unless his last name is Kennedy. Then he’s scot free!

SINCE I CAN'T DO A REAL UPDATE...

Someone needs a leave desperately!

JEWS OUT IN SPACE! [2 point ref]

        A Jewish Astronaut is asking about Shabbos in orbit. Reminds me of the panel I attended at the Arisia S.F. convention whose topic was Judaism in SF. We soon digressed into questions of observance in space and SF settings. The only issue we discussed that I can recall in any detail was the Centauri brit. Let's not go there.

        Speaking of which, spoliers for Fantastic Four #56. (The current relaunch.)


SPOILERS….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        So, the ever loving, blue-eyed Thing is Jewish. Heh. I once listed all the last names of the founding Marvel characters. (Founding Avengers, X-Men, and major independent heroes) at it read like a county club roster. Only Daredevil (Matt Murdock) had a remotely ethnic name. Of course, despite the names, Stan Lee imbued many of his characters with a New York Jewish sensibility- especially the neurotic Spider Man.


        Time for two lists. First the surnames of the original Marvels, including the major Golden age characters. The other list is of Jewish or half-Jewish superheroes and villians.

Founding Marvels Dr. David Banner- The Hulk Dr. Donald Blake- Thor Robert Drake- Iceman Colonel Nick Fury James Hammond- Human Torch (I) Jean Grey- Marvel Girl Benjamin Jacob Grimm- The Thing Henry McCoy- Beast Namor McKenzie- Sub-Mariner Matt Murdock- Daredevil Peter Parker- SpiderMan Dr. Henry Pym- AntMan/Goliath Reed Richards- Mr. Fantasitc Susan Richards (neè Storm)- Invisible Woman Steve Rogers- Captain America Anthony Stark- Iron Man Johnny Storm- The Human Torch (II) Dr. Stephen Strange Scott Summers- Cyclops Janet Van Dyne- The Wasp Warren Worthington III- Angel Professor Charles Xavier- Professor X

Marvel's Jewish Supers Justice Legion Magneto Quicksilver Sabra Doc Samson Scarlet Witch Shadowcat Songbird The Thing UPDATE! Achillies of the Pantheon Bermuda Schwarz Brightsword The Golem Iceman Moon Knight Sasquatch

ANOTHER HOMER FOR PIPES

        Daniel Pipes vivisects Foggy Bottom, accusing the sleazy Arabists of malfeasance by understating the breadth and depth of Islamofasict terror in general and Palestinian terror in particular.

State pretends the vast majority of Palestinian terrorist incidents simply did not happen. It defines "significant international terrorist incidents" as ones involving major property damage, abduction or kidnapping, loss of life or serious injury, or the foiled attempt at any of these, and in 2001 it found 123 incidents worldwide that meet this criteria. Of those, a mere 11 concerned violence against Israelis. But when the Independent Media Review and Analysis applied State's criteria to anti-Israel violence, its scrupulous research found 97 attacks on Israel that fit this definition. The U.S. government asserts that Palestinian atrocities against Israel made up just 9 percent of the world's serious terrorist incidents in 2001, but in fact they constituted 46 percent of them.

        Seems as though our Arabists want to place a disproportionate emphasis on non-Arab terror. Yes, we need to extirpate FARC. But they are not the true threat. Except for Sri Lanka, all cross-cultural conflicts involve an Islamic society as at least one of the protagonists. India vrs Pakistan, Israel vrs the Palestinians, Indonesia in the South Moluccans and East Timor, Abu Sayeef in the Philippines, Egypt against its Copts, the Sudanese regime against the Nubians and the Albanians against the Serbs in the Balkans.

        I know that Islam per se is not the enemy and all that PC garbage. Yes, the Turks are on our side, as is the Northern Alliance. Plus the Jordanian leadership does not seem to have its head up its ass.

        Meanwhile the State Department is busy sucking up the Saudi princelings. Colin Powell may know there is a war on. I'm not sure he knows precisely who our enemies are.

        Chris Hitchens does, however. He takes time off assailing American bureaucrats to slam Pakistan and the Saudi royals. He says a lot of unpleasant things about the State Department, but no one has ever accused them of patriotism! [4 point ref]

LOST PARIDISES

        A recent note in the Wall Street Journal's Tony & Tacky caught my eye.

NO GUNS, NO GLORY: The Clunes of "Frontier House"--the PBS "reality" miniseries chronicling three families attempting to live the life of 1883 Montana homesteaders--may not win any popularity contests. But patriarch Gordon Clune said things would have been better if public television had been more realistic about one of the biggest realities of pioneer life: guns. Not only did the producers turn down Mr. Clune's request to be allowed to hunt for meat to feed his family, they imposed strict limits on using guns to ward off hostile varmints. "We were supposed to give a predator two warnings," Mr. Clune told the Los Angeles Times. "'Excuse me, Mr. Coyote, please don't eat my chicken. Excuse me, Mr. Coyote, please don't eat my chicken.' Then, you were supposed to fire a warning shot."

        So, what does it mean beyond the chattering classes' prejudice against the 2nd amendment? In a sense it is the equivalent of a Freudian slip, revealing the underpinnings of intellectual thought. As far back as Roseau dreaming of the noble savage, liberalism has pined for an Eden before the corruption of modernity. Ever since there has been an effort to fabricate such paradises either by forging new societies like communes and kibbutzes or by false interpretation of history. Indeed Marx and Engels seemed to be harkening back to the earlier societies before the Middle Ages- supposedly before classes were formed. Using Native Americans as an example, Engels wrote…

The division of labor is purely primitive, between the sexes only. The man fights in the wars, goes hunting and fishing, procures the raw materials of food and the tools necessary for doing so. The woman looks after the house and the preparation of food and clothing, cooks, weaves, sews. They are each master in their own sphere: the man in the forest, the woman in the house. Each is owner of the instruments which he or she makes and uses: the man of the weapons, the hunting and fishing implements, the woman of the household gear. The housekeeping is communal among several and often many families. What is made and used in common is common property - the house, the garden, the long-boat. Here therefore, and here alone, there still exists in actual fact that "property created by the owner's labor" which in civilized society is an ideal fiction of the jurists and economists, the last lying legal pretense by which modern capitalist property still bolsters itself up.

        Liberalism's fantasies of the past are not harmless, despite, or perhaps even because of, their Utopian nature. The Golden age never existed and can never exist. Well, outside of comic books. Anyhow, attempts to forcibly create Utopia have been an engine for misery and destruction throughout the 20th century, with Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and Lenin. And it continues with Islamofasicsts trying to make the kingdom of Allah on Earth.

SPORTS NEWS OF THE DAY

        When I head the Germans were playing the Saudis, after the Kissinger ‘can’t they both lose’ moment of thought, I decided I wanted the Jerries to win over the Jihad screamers. I got my wish. Big time. In American football that’s danm near the 1940 NFL championship.

        Looks like the Arab sports highlight remains the 1972 Summer games.

NASTY THOUGHT DU JOUR.

        If I were not afraid of the fallout (literally!) I’d want an all-out war in the Kashmir so India could pound Pakistan’s jihad supporters flat.


        BTW, first was the massive upswing in terror against Israel. Then comes the increased tension in the sub-continent. If I were conspiratorially minded, I’d say the House of Sod is using its Al Qeada catspaws to distract everyone from their complicity in 9/11.

WILLOW THE VAMPY FLAYER

        A quick note on the 'Buffy' season finale. It redeemed this uneven season. Buffy has always been a show about ethics, choices and morality. There have been clunkers this season (aside from the musical episode) but the last 3 episodes gave it a meaning and set things up well for next year. Even Spike.

        BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!


        Let the implications hang menacingly.

DINNER AND MOVIE, PART DUEX

        Actually, it was movie and dinner. AA (a blind date I met via the Net) and I went to see Episode II. My opinion is... mixed. (Spoilers below)

 

 

 

        The Good: Ewan McGregor pulls off the complex task of portraying Sir Alec's youthful precursor. Christopher Lee rocks. Period. End of discussion. as Temuera Morrison Jango Fett was also fun.

        Then there was Yoda and the rest of the special effects. Yes, I cheered at his kung-fu pose before using the Force and his lightsaber to go upside Count Dooku's head. And of course there were the jaw dropping tableaus of massive armies, amazing planetscapes and fantastic cities come to life as never before possible.

        Just as important as the sweeping vistas are the slices of Star Wars Universe life the FX helped to create, from the BladeRunner like traffic jams of Couriscant. Remember the 'Creature Cantina?' Never mind what happened there… it was an alien bar… with a band!

        The Bad: Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen are the acting equivalent of the Sphere of Annihilation. And neither the spirit or soul can be resurrected, even with a wish spell. (1 point ref) Their screen time positively sucks the life out of the movie. Yes, they positively suck. Never mind the implausibility of a princess falling in love with a whiny killer, I can't see his past passion surviving three minutes with her! Portman was wooden in EP1. As for Hayden, I know the surfer dude worked in 1977, but Luke was meant to be a tabula rasa. Anakin is supposed to have hidden depths- the darkness within seeping out. Chirstansen only manages petulance. Lucas should have cast Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the role instead. Witness his work in Gormenghast. Of course I still say they should have cast an older actor in Episode 1, but that's water under the bridge.

        Of course the emotional high points were all mishandled. The revelation that he killed the Sand People left me thinking how a better director would handle both the confession and the massacre themselves. Lucas is too enamored with the 'gee whiz' and forgets basic storytelling. I would have cut after showing Anakin activating the light saber and turning menacingly to the tent opening.

        Lastly, Threepio's presence on the farm raises the question WHY DIDN'T OWEN OR BERU recognize him in Episode IV?

        What Lucas needs is someone to tell him when the ideas are stupid. As glad as I am that he's independent from Hollywood, I wish he paid a bit more attention to other views

        The Ugly: I was one who missed the alleged racism in Episode 1. The whiners attacked Ep II. One idiot complained that Jango was Latino because he has a dark complexion. Never mind the actor is Maori. Delicate PC folks get the vapors at the thought of swarthy villains. Aren't all bad guys blonde haired and blue eyed?

        That having been said, I was bugged by Watto. The blue creature returns. But now he wears a Tommy style helmet and has what seems to be a two-day's growth of a beard. Unfortunately it all makes him look like a caricature from Der Strumer or WAFA.

        I doubt that intended deliberate offense. He is merely oblivious. Still, it points to the need for him to have other voices, even if it is his baby.