Journal Entries
What is History?
Posted Jan 30, 2003
History is about the past, but the past cannot be changed. So why does History change?
Probably because whether we treat them as chronicles or myths or philosophies, the myriads of events from which we pick and choose are subject to interpretation in light of what we are now. Because history answers the question, "How did we get to be the way we are now?"
The answer is relevant whether you like the status quo or want to change it and that answer often changes depending on whose perspective you choose.
So how did we get to be the way we are now? And why should we care?
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Latest reply: Jan 30, 2003
From ICT.
Posted Jan 30, 2003
A very timely article on the war on Iraq and global warming.
http://indiancountry.com/?1043782669
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Latest reply: Jan 30, 2003
Rome and the Ancient World Seminar
Posted Jan 29, 2003
This just in, sort of a time-bomb-like news flash from the past that hit me today during the seminar. We were discussing one of the more notorious progeny of the original Caesar line or at least the adoptive line represented by Augustus.
Since paulie and me had been discussing people in high places with personal problems earlier, I was really disturbed to read about this guy's career, if you can call it that. He was another spoiled brat with an addictive personality who managed to rise to the most powerful office in the land, the little darling of the troops, who even appointed his horse to high judicial office.
So I hope you'll forgive me if I ponder this awhile by noting that I've probably been spelling Bush's name incorrectly. It's not George W. Bush. It's Gaius W. Bush. And I hope I might be further forgiven for calling him Cowboy Booties now and then just to emphasize how astonishing historical parallels keep popping up here and there, at least in my somewhat gifted although totally insane state of mind.
One more disturbing thing. Apparently there was no way to get rid of this person, at least legally, since the position of Princeps that Augustus created to conceal his violations of the Roman Constitution did not provide for impeachment. Consequently, Little Boots had to be assassinated by his own bodyguards after causing a good deal of havoc in the land.
Now, I don't mean to imply that this is what needs to be done with Cowboy Booties, but unless somebody gets up on their hindlegs and refers articles of impeachment pretty soon, there might not be an option. I think it's pretty strange this hasn't been done already considering they were willing to do it for an indiscrete blowjob. What Cowboy Booties has done already seems a good deal more serious and injurious to the commonwealth, don't you think?
Now, I think I need to go marry my brother so he'll deify me. Can't pass up an opportunity like that, can I?
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Latest reply: Jan 29, 2003
The State of Disunion
Posted Jan 29, 2003
Proving once again what special educators have probably known all along. You can teach a person, however challenged, how to read from someone else's prepared text without noticably stuttering. The acting lessons are paying off, which is about the only good news to report.
When we consider the contents of the prepared text, questions naturally arise. We're told there's unequivocal proof that the Monster of Baghdad is developing weapons of mass destruction even as UN inspectors comb the countryside and of course he really is consorting with terrorists after all. We're told that, but what we're not told is why the proof isn't revealed immediately. I mean if we have it, what are we saving it for?
The whole thing sounds vaguely like the teaser for the late news.
"We have proof! Details at ten."
But surely that's not what's intended? We're not dealing with getting the huge press of stories comprizing the Daily Intelligence Report out by the deadline, all the secrets fit to leak. I mean what else does the National Security Council have to do all day except edit such late breaking stories, or fables maybe?
What else indeed other than swapping ethnic Korean or Arab jokes maybe? It's not like it has to be queued up behind the 237th installment of the unequivocal explanation for why we had to sack Afghanistan.
So I ask, if he's got it, why doesn't he give us the details now? Surely, in this high tech society, creating a credible forgery or editing out incriminating text doesn't require an entire week. Surely that was already done before lunch or at least before the speech was delivered. Or was it?
And for their part, the loyal opposition dutifully launched their luke warm, trial balloon objections, watching carefully for errant breezes in the public consciousness. You might get the distinct impression of a flock of vultures waiting to see if the corpse politic twitches before descending to rend or render the juicy entrails.
And no man on the street interviews. What does he know? The news organizations don't even bother with people they've helped keep in the dark, distracted by the Super Bowl and why a two-page resume might be not a good idea.
Regarding the domestic situation, the headlines morph from "Bold Proposals for Economic Recovery" to "Detailed Domestic Plans" without so much as an insightful eye blink. So what are the bold or detailed plans for the domestic mess?
Why the same plans promised during his election campaign three years ago, the same plans that so impressed the American people that they gave him a mandate in the form of a landslide victory that didn't even exceed the margin of error implicit in the vote gathering process, thus requiring the Supreme Court to soil their incorruptable reputation for the good of the commonwealth. Some union isn't it? And some plan too.
So it's hard not to conclude that Bush, his handlers, and even the Democrats are just putting on a short, corporate dog and pony show to obscure the issues and test the turbulance. The speech and the formal objections are not so much revelations as a trial run to determine if the improvised stress being imposed on the American people is having the desired effect. If not, a few more months of unemployment, uncertainty, unspecified terrorist threats, etc., should ultimately do the trick. You can read about the technique in the CIA Interrogation Manual.
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Latest reply: Jan 29, 2003
I finally did it!
Posted Jan 28, 2003
I added Nelson to my friends list. You may not think much of that accomplishment but I think I mentioned somewhere that I'm usually pretty dense so it matters a lot to me.
I noticed the friends thing awhile ago but when I would go to somebody's personal space, I couldn't find anything that said, "Add to Friends." I even tried all three skins but all that did was confuse me even more. The Brunel even turned everything upsidedown.
I tried checking out the FAQs but they didn't even mention friends and a search of the site gave me a bunch of entries or conversations about internet friends or friends of Michele or how if you not listed in somebody's friends section you're probably a loathsome slimy mollusk.
Then finally, I found it, right under his name, DOH!
Well of course, why didn't I think of that? That would be where we'd put if we'd put it there wouldn't we? Except I was looking in his friends section or his journal section or his grocery list section, his blue book, his check register, his itemized statement from the gambling casino, and even his spiffy collection of dirty pictures.
Now, you might ask, do I feel dumb? No, I feel challenged and special. I also feel a fit coming on in which pink cockroaches crawl all over my body. Satisfied?
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Latest reply: Jan 28, 2003
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