Slim Thoughts |
|
|
My thoughts on whatever
Contact address cm44134 at gmail dot com blogs I read on a far too regular basis
Archives
|
Sunday, December 22, 2002
I can't imagine that I am the only person who believes Trent Lott is really in denial. Apparantly, his enemies trapped him by tricking him into being a complete moron. If they had allowed him to be born as an intelligent, thoughtful person none of this would have happened. Wednesday, December 18, 2002
There is much about this Trent Lott fiasco that bothers me, but for me, the most disturbing thing is the apologies for Strom Thurmond. Is pretending to be a racist to get votes better than acutally believing in racism? I think it is worse. Honestly believing in something immoral is still wrong, but pandering to a believer when you know they are wrong is unforgivable. Saturday, November 23, 2002
I live in Eastern Idaho, the state I lovingly refer to as Republicanland, and so I am constantly asked, "What are you, as a pinko Democrat, going to do for the next two years?" I should mention pinko is the Idaho honorific for anyone who is to the left of Tom DeLay. Since the election I have been trying to keep a stiff upper lip and point out that as a middle class professional in an industry well-supported by a Republican administration, I could survive. The judiciary problem is horrible, but I will grin and bear it. However, the Bush administration couldn't leave me in my dream world. They had to hit me where it really hurts, in the LUNGS. Apparantly my need for clean air is interfering with the profit margin of some old coal-burning power plants. Silly me, I'm sure a little acid rain will etch my car's clear coat and keep it looking fresh and new. I don't necessarily want to keep hyping mfinley, but I just can't help it when his posts are this strong. He has a very good piece on the re-inventions of Dubya. My personal favorite is "from 'privileged son' to 'self-made man'". His point: "Bush transforms like a chameleon, and that's OK. Gore gets a haircut, and it's a character flaw". Strong piece from CalPundit about Keynesian economics in the current world. Thanks to Atrios for the link who expands on this with his own view of how supply-siders twist Keynsian economics for their own use. Will Gore be tagged as a reinventer?... Big weekend bonus from the always great Daily Howler. I hope this demonstrates a move to cover Gore in a fair manner, but I will not be holding my breath in anticipation. Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Interesting bit from mfinley on the recurring topic of an overabundance of liberals in our universities. I find this whole discussion to be dishonest on its face. Conservatives like to imply that somehow this is insidious. They ignore the convenient, simple explanation. Highly educated people in the academic world trend liberal. This should not be a surprise to anyone who has spent time at a university or national lab. Certainly, conservatives exist in the academic world. They are just in the minority. There are many possible explanations for this. All the simple explanations are relatively innocent. A plot to prevent conservatives from being represented at a university would surely be exposed. Friday, November 08, 2002
For those of you who are wondering which which lesser-known Simpsons character I am  What lesser-known Simpsons character are you? Brought to you by the good folks at sacwriters.com. Wednesday, October 30, 2002
Yahoo! News - Ventura Upset Over Wellstone Service I don't normally like to engage in cheap psychobabble, but it certainly seems like something is wrong with a woman who cries at a memorial service, not because someone died, but because someone suggests a political point of view. Her husband used to prance around in a feather boa. I think she can stand to hear for a few minutes that Liberals are not evil. Salon.com News | Idiocy of the week I hope this is the regular title of Andrew Sullivan's column on Salon. Rapper Jam Master Jay, part of Run DMC, killed in shooting Condolences to the family of Jam Master Jay. Run DMC may not have had the staying power of a huge rock act, but they did a lot to introduce suburban kids to the world of rap and hip hop music. For that they will always be remembered. Thanks to Atrios for the link. I never expect to agree with Instapundit, but this is a outrage. Slamming Paul Wellstone's family and friends for the way they choose to memorialize him is outrageous. The memorial service was a celebration of the life of Paul Wellstone, and few have lived more fully or joyously. Right-wingers are up in arms because it seemed more like a political rally than a funeral. What better tribute could there be to Paul Wellstone than to spend a liitle less time eulogizing and a little more time organizing? To Instapundit I can only say what my mother says. This is a blot in your copy book. Tuesday, October 29, 2002
South Carolina Politics Rule! From Tapped: I really like a politician who can fight back, but I wish Sanders could do it without sinking to Graham's level. Ok, I have decided to restart my blogging activities. I crashed my whole archive so I retrieved what I could and attached it below so that you could see what some of my earlier thoughts were. I will try to be more attentive in the future. U.S. Court Votes to Bar Pledge of Allegiance (washingtonpost.com) I just can't get worked up over this. If the phrase "under God" hadn't been added in 1954, it might be different. This has always been one of the things about our society that I didn't necessarily approve of, but couldn't bring myself to care about. Maybe now we can start wondering why our money says "In God We Trust" on it. After that we can tackle the question that has bothered me since early childhood. In a free society where all men are created equal, why are we legally required to stand in court to honor judges? As an extension, we can wonder why the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a man who is supposed to be the chief arbiter of what is fair and just, gets so worked up over females who wear pants. Nothing like a little capricious and arbitrary sexism to open your eyes. I feel bad for all the people who have lost their jobs or their savings in the recent market debacles, but at least we can hope that this convinces the average voter that government assured Social Security benefits are just fine, thank you. People will probably be a lot less eager to invest that money themselves. At least until the accounting industry stops running the SEC. Saturday, June 15, 2002
href="http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/06/15/barr.defamation.ap/index.html">CNN.com - GOP congressman sues Clinton, Carville, Flynt Two stories in a row out of Atlanta, this can't be good. Anyway, when this story first broke I didn't catch that Larry Flynt was included. That just makes it so much more ridiculous. Having seen Bob Barr on television many times, I am perfectly willing to testify in court that Larry Flynt would have absolutely no need for confidential FBI files to embarass him. All that is required is to shine a light on his hypocritical, small-minded ideas. One last thought, won't this lawsuit take important time away from Barr's quest to have everything in the country named after Ronald Reagan, no matter the cost? Friday, June 14, 2002
I was watching the href="http://www.atlantabraves.com/">Atlanta Braves game tonight and href="http://alt.superstation.com/Sports/Story/0,9001,25|89|92|2162,00.html">Pete van Wieren of TBS had the gall to say that the reason players are not arrested for illegal steroid use is that the players are legally prescribed the steroids to help them heal from injuries. Now, I know there are quite a few celebrity-enabling doctors out there, but I am reasonably sure most, if not all, would balk at prescribing the amount of steroids Ken Caminiti admitted to taking. I guess I am a purist, but it pains me to see the integrity of the game diminished by the talk of steroids and amphetamines in baseball. Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Homeland Security I am reserving final judgment on the idea of a homeland security department in the federal government, but my initial impression is not good. A massive reorganization of government would be difficult with a huge budget, but doing it on a shoestring, as has been suggested by the Bush administration, is going to be impossible. Saying a > $30 billion dollar budget is a shoestring may seem ridiculous, but the proposed budget is not all it is cracked up to be. Most of that money is already allocated to the shifting organizations and what little extra there is was “stolen” from other areas. For example, $1.2 billion is taken from the $1.5 billion Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory budget, with only 324 people being moved . Now, I have worked at LLNL and I can tell you that of the >8000 people working there, a significant fraction have no place in homeland security. In addition, a large fraction of the employees currently work at supporting our nuclear arsenal. It will be difficult to do this with very little budget. Obviously, Congress will have to appropriate new money and then the Bush administration will be able to blame them for increasing the deficit. I guess we already knew this was all about politics anyway. href="http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2002/06/tapped-s-06-10.html">Tapped does a pretty good job debunking the White House Trashing story. To make a long story short, there was damage, but not more than expected. I think the real controversy here is the GAO report that probably cost 10 times the amount of the damage to prepare. Also interesting that Bush White House staffers have keyboards that cost $75. Even fancy keyboards can be had for $40. Maybe they could hire Al Gore to teach them to eliminate waste. Rampant Illegal Drug Use I don't really understand how the story of the widespread use of illegal drugs in baseball has not created a huge furor. Forgetting for second steroids, what about amphetamines? Aren't they beyond the pale, as it were? It is one thing to rationalize steroid use as "just a way to put on muscle". It is another thing entirely to suggest that third baseman John Doe is walking out on the field all cranked up on speed. The players union suggests that drug testing would be a violation of the players' privacy. That's a weak argument against testing for steroids, but when the average locker room apparently contains more speed than a convention of long-haul truckers, it seems ridiculous to suggest that it is a privacy issue. This just may be the lever that allows the owners to demand drug testing as part of the new collective-bargaining agreement. I hope that some industrious prosecutor looks into this a little further. |