Political Agenda Gone Awry

You know, I don't really care what you say or how you say it. What I care about is that you come across coherently and intelligently. Today, the Democrats failed on both counts.

Take for instance today's blunder by Signeur Kerry, "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." Hmmm, not really something that anybody wants to say on purpose.

Here's the part that makes me think:
John Kerry goofs up on a statement like that, refuses to apologize and accuses the Republicans of twisting his words for political gain. I'm not really sure how you would twist them to sound any worse for Kerry. I think you would take the words verbatim, put them in bold, underline, italicize and all caps. Not a lot of "twisting" required.

It seems like Kerry just can't take responsibility for the words that came out of his mouth. I'm not sure what his excuse is this time but I'm pretty sure that he was in full control of his faculties when he said it. I know that somebody wrote the words for him, but it seems like if you open your mouth, you'd better know what's coming out.

The part that really makes me think is that if our politicians weren't focused on portraying their esteemed opponents as the devil, they'd be able to spend more time focusing on their own qualifications. Not that this idea is original or makes any sense to Congress, but I thought I'd throw it out there all the same.

Not a long post, but I figured that people should really spend more time working and less time reading blogs.

Tickling

What kind of person thinks of this?

I had a thought recently about Hummers. They're built by GM which I think means Gaia Morte. But without getting into that, the original machine was built for the military. The military, in typical military fashion, gave the Hummer an acronym instead of a name. The acronym was HMMWV. It means High (or "Hi" if you're in marketing) Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle. This spawned the following thought, "I'm sure glad they got the Hummer cuz riding a unicycle must have made shooting very difficult."

I can only imagine our soldiers in Afganistan riding a unicycle in some of the villages there. I mean, Iraq is doable because it's fairly level, but Afganistan would be brutal.

Comments and reaction: Gaia is the Greek goddess for Earth, and of course, Morte means death. It's probably inappropriate to single out GM as a cause for the destruction of the environment, but they're the ones with the gall to build a civilian Hummer so I'm not too worried about that. Just so nobody is confused, I am a practical environmentalist. I recycle if there's a recycling bin convenient, but I don't sort my trash. I drive a scooter and don't approve of buying more car than is necessary, but if I have enough family to fill it, I'll buy a Tahoe to keep everyone together on road trips, screw the gas mileage. I practice no trace camping, but I don't care about preservation of any particular species of moth. And last but not least, I buy Patagonia stuff if I need it, not because of what they represent (that said, I don't actually have Patagonia stuff, I prefer Jack Wolfskin (a shameless plug for my favorite outfitter)).

Two Roads

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I chose to trudge through the brush. This article is about people who think they need special treatment because they can't make a decision. These people drive Subarus. I know this because Subaru is Japanese or Korean, or whatever language it is for "I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW!" I know that's what it means because if you look at their vehicles, you can tell the engineers were making decisions by compromise and back-room deals. Consider the Baja. Incidentally, it's also U R A BUS backwards.

I'm on the SBA Senate here at the law school. It's not really an honor because I was appointed to take care of the bookstore. I wasn't even elected. But, being on the senate provides some interesting opportunities to watch people give themselves a verbal massage. I'm talking about people who feel better because they can hear themselves talking. This meeting runs for about an hour and a half. If I had 3 muzzles, I could cut the meeting down to about 10 minutes. Three people keep the meeting running for 10 times as long as it should. Grrrr!

What I'm writing about today is not that people talk too much. I'm about to launch into something that people with highly sensitive feelings will be offended by. So, if you're easily offended, HA! GO JUMP IN A LAKE!!!! The issue that came up yesterday was whether we should include a box to check on the law school application for (moment to wipe the eyes from laughing) transgendered people. Oh, I know it's a highly volatile subject, but for today, I want to set aside "Right" and "Wrong". (Except I'm going to say it's wrong and these people shouldn't be entitled to any special rights or marriage.) Moving on however, should we include a special box for these people? OF COURSE NOT!!! The arguments for the box included: (1) These people feel discriminated against and we should make them feel welcome, (2) They would feel disloyal to themselves to check "Male" when Man! they feel like a woman, and (3) Although you're set up to be a man or woman, being transgender actually takes you out of either category.

This may have been the LAMEST argument I've ever heard. The argumenters completely missed the point. This isn't a question of how a brain is wired, it's a question of how a body is plumbed. Very simple now boys and girls, if you go to the boy bathroom, check male; if you go to the girl bathroom, check female. Got it? It seems to me that if you can take a shower, you can figure out what bathroom you should go to. If a person can correctly identify the plumbing, you can check the box. If you can't identify the plumbing, either, you need to go back to Sex ed, or you're under the knife and should not be filling out law school applications. First, it makes doctors jumpy to operate on lawyers and you don't want a jumpy doctor in this kind of operation. Second, I hope you're not awake for the surgery, cuz that would just suck.

You know, as another totally viable option, you could check one box, both, or neither. It's not a hard problem to solve.

Well, the arguments continued and we explored the area of whether a new bathroom should be installed for these people. We also came up with the policy of making these people feel accepted and welcome. "UC Boulder did it, maybe we could use their model!" That's Boulder for you. We also discussed including language about non-discrimination against weirdos. I voted against the motion, but it passed 20 - 3. Basically, DU will never see a penny of my donations if they decide to become a mistaken-lifestyle-welcoming school.

I have a question for people who claim that homosexuality is an inherent part of their nature. How do they explain how people who feel gay can go to a therapist and with time and counsel begin to not feel gay? Were they not really gay? Or maybe, here we go, gayness is not a part of their natures, it's just something they've accepted as normal and don't want to change. Things to consider. Enough of this post, I'm pretty sure I'll be getting death threats from the rainbow community soon. Just wait until I light into PETA.

There, I hope you've enjoyed our time together today, you know it gets harder and harder to just sit back and enjoy the finer things in life. Well, until next time; ta, ta.

Totally random

OK, so I was wrong about Dan Brown writing about the Mormons next. Apparently he's writing about the Masons. Fox News has a story about the next book if you care enough to slog through it.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,222278,00.html

This new announcement reminds me of a line I heard about Eddy Murphy. There was a radio show that made a spoof announcement of movies airing that weekend. One of the shows was Beverly Hills Cop IV. The tag line was "Because Eddy needs to make a house payment." I think the same thing could be said for Mr. Brown. He's writing another book because now that he's written books that have turned a profit, he's become accustomed to a lifestyle that includes three square meals a day and he wants it to continue. I wonder when somebody's gonna get him the hint that he's really not a very good writer...

My guess is that this book involves some mystery that can only be resolved through the use of symbology. I also think that to make it more interesting, he's going to have a heroine who is a space alien with mind powers can make things levitate. Maybe she can take Langdon back to her home planet. I wonder if there are mysteries on her home planet that can only be resolved through the use of symbology. Do you think Langdon's symbology would be applicable to an alien culture?

Next topic:
Something I said to Camille while we were eating dinner a couple of days ago. She made some potatoes and fried ham. The ham had cheese melted on it as an experiment to see if it would be better. She asked me if I liked it. I replied, "I don't like it like I like a ham sandwich." That's actually what I tried to say. In reality, I had to stop myself midsentence to figure out if I had used the word "like" correctly. Anyway, the reason I wrote this paragraph is because I believe that the sentence could be used as a tongue twister. Just for fun, I urge my reader(s) to say it five times fast out loud.

Mortality

Last Thursday I tweaked my knee playing soccer. It still hurts a little, I just have to be careful about running up and down things right now e.g. stairs, etc. I'm 28, I don't think that's too old, but the last time I bumped my knee like this, I was ready to go again a few days later. I guess my healing time is taking a little longer than it used to. So, I just have to be nice to myself.

My health habits have been pretty good, but I'm a little nervous about the next few years when my metabolism and activity level both drop. My genetics are such that I can be pretty darn fat. I've decided to continue jogging with my wife, doing push-ups every day and playing soccer with the little leaguers. Maybe I'll even be able to play in an over-30 league. I'll also continue playing squash and racquetball.

This is all in theory, stay posted to see how it pans out.

Final word on STUPIDity

To be perfectly honest, this article was actually written during the meeting. So what was it that made me so angry? The simple fact that there were four speakers chosen, and not a one was representing an opposing point of view. This was a lopsided, pulpit-pounding rant on how bad the gub-mint (nod to Mark Twain) is. It seems that there is always two sides to every story, but at this meeting, it was a bunch of one-sided fringe opinions. Even the tree-hugging, Patagonia-type wearing teacher said as much. I asked him later about that and he said that however he personally felt about the issue, there was a side that was completely unrepresented. So, in response to the comments, I still hate terrorism.

Here's a thought that I had. How do we try to fight a war for which there is no precedent in our country's experience? We are trying to fight people who are less than honest about their true intentions. Osama says America is evil and therefore should be destroyed (or converted to Islam). Hitler was at least honest enough to and say, "I think I am stronger than my combined enemies and will therefore try and take control." Osama is a little more oblique. Osama says, "America is evil because it supports Israel, and therefore we have a right to kill as many Americans as we can." What he's thinking is that he can influence the politics of the U.S. and maybe gain a measure of control either actual or tacit. I guess the question is how do we fight an idea when the cycle is: Americans are evil therefore kill them, and if they fight back, they're evil and should be killed.

Do I know what Osama's actual thoughts are? No, but isn't this a cycle that repeats itself all over the world?

Stupid, STupid, STUpid, STUPid, STUPId, STUPID!!!

Here's a very stupid thing. I have to go to this really stupid panel because my D@*& Constitutional liberal, tree-hugging, Patagonia-wearing type teacher has decided that he might include on the final a question about this panel. I hate this discussion, I hate the vitriol that's pours from the kind of people that decide to speak at this kind of meeting.
AND I HAVE TO ATTEND OR I'M GONNA GET HAMMMERED ON THE FINAL! I came to law school so I could get a law degree and work as a tax attoney. I didn't come here to get brain washed into thinking that terrorists are eligible for the same protections by the Constitution as I am. How is it that people who hate and fight against the ideas that are the U.S. are protected by the laws that it embodies?
Dunno, I don't care, I want my dang degree, I'll never set foot again at DU (except for some very limited circumstances). I'll never sit through another thing like this if I can help it.
"Nobody here wants to see the terrorists go unpunished!!!" Yeah, that's a real statement, unfortunately, everything they've said is paraphrased as "THEY HAVE RIGHTS! WE SHOULD LET THEM GO!" Wait, how does that work?

I'm sick and tired of this crap.