Friday, October 31, 2008
Home Stretch
.
As noted much earlier, I gave up on trying to pick at the campaign ads. I'm just glad that they're almost over. I voted a couple of weeks ago, myself, the second day I could do so in Nevada. I didn't think it would work, but the political calls almost stopped after I voted. Apparently the various campaigns get a list of who isn't worth bothering any more. I did get a call from somebody today urging me to vote on Tuesday, but I told her that they wouldn't let me do it again.
So, thanks to some amazingly bad tactics by McCain, the worst of which has to be thinking that Governor Palin would attract Clinton supporters (Hillary not Bill,) and a smooth, glitch-free, genuine sounding two-years and more effort by Obama, I believe that my prediction from last summer is safe. Well, that's okay with me. I did my part. I've never been a party joiner by temperament, but the total volume of personal lies and misinformation coming from the red side of the campaigns in the past couple of decades finally choked me to the point where I couldn't continue. Great Googley Moogley, attacking Kerry's war record? Give me a break, please! Now Obama is a terrorist Muslim extremist bent on destroying America?
And there are people who believe that crap. If you don't like what Obama is saying, by all means don't vote for him, but please be aware that all the negative crap you hear about him is being pulled from the collective, er, ears of the Republican presidential campaign advising staff.
Frankly, the way they've let the party bullhorn be taken over by states rights (!) and religious nuts, the Republican party deserves to disintegrate so that it can be reborn in a more reasonable form.
The other day John Stewart had the Socialist candidate for president on as a guest. Yes, there is a candidate from the Socialist party. That man, the avowed socialist, called Obama just another capitalist, which is of course what he is.
As near as I can tell, since the days of Reagan, the Republican cause has been increasingly hijacked by a rough coalition of religious wackos, greed-head Libertarian wannabes, and left overs from what used to be the Dixicrat contingent of the Democratic party. The only way such a rag-tag collection can appear coherent is to lie. Not just to the public, but to themselves. They've lied so much that they are convinced that they're right.
I've met a few Muslims in America. Oddly, they have jobs, or businesses, they're students in school (most of the girls wear the scarves where I teach,) and they would do just about anything for America, because, like any sane capitalist, they love this country. Not the picture painted by that idiot Palin, I know, but my version has the virtue of being true.
Once more, here's a quick guide to whether somebody is trying to flim-flam you with a bad argument.
If the explanation they offer is simple and easy to understand, and it feels good to believe that it's true, it almost certainly is wrong.
Think of how many times in the past few decades the Republican argument has been simple and easy to understand, and it felt good to believe that it was true. That, in a nutshell, is why I voted for the other guy.
Not that I trust the Democrats. See, I figure they are going to win, and probably win big, and they, just like the Republicans did, will start to think that they own the truth. They will, over the next ten to twenty years, begin to flim-flam themselves with explanations that are simple and easy to understand, and that feel good to believe are true. Happens every time.
But, just now, it's time to clean out the old idiots and install some new ones. It's what we do every so often, and every time the republic survives. It'll survive this. I promise.
Steve
As noted much earlier, I gave up on trying to pick at the campaign ads. I'm just glad that they're almost over. I voted a couple of weeks ago, myself, the second day I could do so in Nevada. I didn't think it would work, but the political calls almost stopped after I voted. Apparently the various campaigns get a list of who isn't worth bothering any more. I did get a call from somebody today urging me to vote on Tuesday, but I told her that they wouldn't let me do it again.
So, thanks to some amazingly bad tactics by McCain, the worst of which has to be thinking that Governor Palin would attract Clinton supporters (Hillary not Bill,) and a smooth, glitch-free, genuine sounding two-years and more effort by Obama, I believe that my prediction from last summer is safe. Well, that's okay with me. I did my part. I've never been a party joiner by temperament, but the total volume of personal lies and misinformation coming from the red side of the campaigns in the past couple of decades finally choked me to the point where I couldn't continue. Great Googley Moogley, attacking Kerry's war record? Give me a break, please! Now Obama is a terrorist Muslim extremist bent on destroying America?
And there are people who believe that crap. If you don't like what Obama is saying, by all means don't vote for him, but please be aware that all the negative crap you hear about him is being pulled from the collective, er, ears of the Republican presidential campaign advising staff.
Frankly, the way they've let the party bullhorn be taken over by states rights (!) and religious nuts, the Republican party deserves to disintegrate so that it can be reborn in a more reasonable form.
The other day John Stewart had the Socialist candidate for president on as a guest. Yes, there is a candidate from the Socialist party. That man, the avowed socialist, called Obama just another capitalist, which is of course what he is.
As near as I can tell, since the days of Reagan, the Republican cause has been increasingly hijacked by a rough coalition of religious wackos, greed-head Libertarian wannabes, and left overs from what used to be the Dixicrat contingent of the Democratic party. The only way such a rag-tag collection can appear coherent is to lie. Not just to the public, but to themselves. They've lied so much that they are convinced that they're right.
I've met a few Muslims in America. Oddly, they have jobs, or businesses, they're students in school (most of the girls wear the scarves where I teach,) and they would do just about anything for America, because, like any sane capitalist, they love this country. Not the picture painted by that idiot Palin, I know, but my version has the virtue of being true.
Once more, here's a quick guide to whether somebody is trying to flim-flam you with a bad argument.
If the explanation they offer is simple and easy to understand, and it feels good to believe that it's true, it almost certainly is wrong.
Think of how many times in the past few decades the Republican argument has been simple and easy to understand, and it felt good to believe that it was true. That, in a nutshell, is why I voted for the other guy.
Not that I trust the Democrats. See, I figure they are going to win, and probably win big, and they, just like the Republicans did, will start to think that they own the truth. They will, over the next ten to twenty years, begin to flim-flam themselves with explanations that are simple and easy to understand, and that feel good to believe are true. Happens every time.
But, just now, it's time to clean out the old idiots and install some new ones. It's what we do every so often, and every time the republic survives. It'll survive this. I promise.
Steve
Labels: Politics, Social Commentary
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Et tu, Brute?
Last evening I was at the final performance of the fall season of the Shakespearean festival in Cedar City (Utah.) It was a production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, set in the 1960s. I read Brutus in the eighth grade, so I was anxious to see the play produced, which I never had before.
In the play, as in history, a group of conspirators beguiles Brutus, who is a friend of Caesar, into helping them assassinate Caesar lest he be made king. Brutus did it for Rome, his country, and in the end Shakespeare has Marc Antony refer to Brutus as "The noblest Roman of them all" because his motives were pure. The result of the assassination was, in real history, a bloody civil war and the end of the Roman republic. Brutus's involvement ended up completely reversing what he had set out to do.
Caesar, for his part, had been undoing some of the damage done when rich landowners took over the fields owned by soldiers out fighting for their country. He had been giving the land back to the soldiers. The rich landowners, as you might expect, didn't much like that, and they comprised the core of the conspiracy that murdered Caesar.
In the play there are funerary speeches by Brutus and Marc Antony. Antony's is the more famous, as it is the "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" speech that almost everyone in the English speaking world has heard at least once or twice. The core of Brutus's speech, which Shakespeare wrote in prose instead of his usual poetry, follows (for the whole speech, click on the title of this post.)
Who is here so base that would be a
bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended.
Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If
any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so
vile that will not love his country? If any, speak;
for him have I offended.
Substitute "American" for "Roman" as you read that excerpt and see if it looks familiar. It sounds similar to the recent words of an idiot congresswoman from Minnesota, as echoed by an idiot governor from Alaska. (I would never badmouth another state's officials, but she put herself forth as more than that, so she's fair game.) In the case of "the noble Brutus," those words helped end the republic. In this case, they're just idiocy masquerading as political speech, but they still piss me off something terrible.
Someone is less patriotic because they don't follow our American leaders without complaint? Really? And why, again, did we overthrow His Majesty King George III? It's unpatriotic to live in a blue state? When did that start? Blue states contribute the bulk of the federal budget, including the handouts that go to Alaska, amongst others. It's unpatriotic to give you guys money? Okay, then, let us have it so we can do evil things with it like fund day care and health insurance. Better yet, how about all the red states secede and we let you this time? You have no money, no significant industry, and you depend on handouts from those of us who would be free to ignore you forever more. Sounds like a plan to me.
Or wait, wouldn't secession be unpatriotic? If you're not sure, ask Alaska's "first dude." I'm sure he has some words of wisdom on the subject.
In the play, as in history, a group of conspirators beguiles Brutus, who is a friend of Caesar, into helping them assassinate Caesar lest he be made king. Brutus did it for Rome, his country, and in the end Shakespeare has Marc Antony refer to Brutus as "The noblest Roman of them all" because his motives were pure. The result of the assassination was, in real history, a bloody civil war and the end of the Roman republic. Brutus's involvement ended up completely reversing what he had set out to do.
Caesar, for his part, had been undoing some of the damage done when rich landowners took over the fields owned by soldiers out fighting for their country. He had been giving the land back to the soldiers. The rich landowners, as you might expect, didn't much like that, and they comprised the core of the conspiracy that murdered Caesar.
In the play there are funerary speeches by Brutus and Marc Antony. Antony's is the more famous, as it is the "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" speech that almost everyone in the English speaking world has heard at least once or twice. The core of Brutus's speech, which Shakespeare wrote in prose instead of his usual poetry, follows (for the whole speech, click on the title of this post.)
Who is here so base that would be a
bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended.
Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If
any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so
vile that will not love his country? If any, speak;
for him have I offended.
Substitute "American" for "Roman" as you read that excerpt and see if it looks familiar. It sounds similar to the recent words of an idiot congresswoman from Minnesota, as echoed by an idiot governor from Alaska. (I would never badmouth another state's officials, but she put herself forth as more than that, so she's fair game.) In the case of "the noble Brutus," those words helped end the republic. In this case, they're just idiocy masquerading as political speech, but they still piss me off something terrible.
Someone is less patriotic because they don't follow our American leaders without complaint? Really? And why, again, did we overthrow His Majesty King George III? It's unpatriotic to live in a blue state? When did that start? Blue states contribute the bulk of the federal budget, including the handouts that go to Alaska, amongst others. It's unpatriotic to give you guys money? Okay, then, let us have it so we can do evil things with it like fund day care and health insurance. Better yet, how about all the red states secede and we let you this time? You have no money, no significant industry, and you depend on handouts from those of us who would be free to ignore you forever more. Sounds like a plan to me.
Or wait, wouldn't secession be unpatriotic? If you're not sure, ask Alaska's "first dude." I'm sure he has some words of wisdom on the subject.
Labels: Politics
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Super Run in Henderson
I wrote two articles on this topic. One is on Living-Las-Vegas and you can go right to it by clicking the title of this post. Do it after you read, of course. This is the other one.
The Super Run is a classic street rod show in Henderson Nevada every September. I waited to post this because Living-Las-Vegas actually pays me, so I thought they should have the first thing posted. I'm not entirely heartless, or entirely stupid, either. Just mostly, huh?
So anyway, what this show is is hundreds and hundreds of shiny cars, some as old as single-digit twentieth century years, some brand new, most of them pretty cool rides, and virtually all of them legal.
For instance, here's one from a famous TV series of yore:
If you'll look at the full-sized version of this picture, you might, if you're classy enough, recognize the license plate. I'd seen this car a lot, of course, but never in person.
Now, here's a car Tami would like to own. Really. It's a 1966 Mustang Convertible, with beautiful paint and an original power plant not unlike, no kidding, one I had in a '64 Mercury Comet I bought from my Dad in 1976. Of course, this car looks a lot better than a Mercury Comet, and sounds better, and, well, nobody is going to pay twenty grand for a '64 Mercury Comet and that's enough said about that.
Now, for something more traditional, is this "blown hot rod." That's what it is, it says so right on the radiator.
They used to do drag racing with this show, but that isn't done any more, which is too bad. I spent a few illicit hours in my youth helping friends prove something with their automotive hardware. (My dad's Rambler never got entered, if you can believe it.) They do, each evening, have a one hour open-header cruise. Open-headers means no exhaust manifold at all, much less anything resembling a muffler. It's illegal, but not for what you might expect. There's no pollution controls on an open header setup, so there's no legal place to use one other than a track or in a show like this one. The noise is, as you might imagine, quite remarkable. Loud, even.
The thing is that a lot of these cars are cars from my high-school days. My friend Russ had a '58 BelAire wagon that he burned the clutch out on more than once. Another friend had a little Plymouth that could out-accelerate almost anything. We were high-school kids, so you can see that cars weren't really expensive in those days, and neither was fuel for them.
Now, cars are better. As cars. I have a little thing from Korea that gets almost thirty miles per gallon and I drive like a maniac. They didn't make 'em like that back in the day. But they sure did make 'em cool, and that's the truth.
Click here to visit the SuperRun web site.
Mahalo,
Steve
The Super Run is a classic street rod show in Henderson Nevada every September. I waited to post this because Living-Las-Vegas actually pays me, so I thought they should have the first thing posted. I'm not entirely heartless, or entirely stupid, either. Just mostly, huh?
So anyway, what this show is is hundreds and hundreds of shiny cars, some as old as single-digit twentieth century years, some brand new, most of them pretty cool rides, and virtually all of them legal.
For instance, here's one from a famous TV series of yore:
If you'll look at the full-sized version of this picture, you might, if you're classy enough, recognize the license plate. I'd seen this car a lot, of course, but never in person.
Now, here's a car Tami would like to own. Really. It's a 1966 Mustang Convertible, with beautiful paint and an original power plant not unlike, no kidding, one I had in a '64 Mercury Comet I bought from my Dad in 1976. Of course, this car looks a lot better than a Mercury Comet, and sounds better, and, well, nobody is going to pay twenty grand for a '64 Mercury Comet and that's enough said about that.
Now, for something more traditional, is this "blown hot rod." That's what it is, it says so right on the radiator.
They used to do drag racing with this show, but that isn't done any more, which is too bad. I spent a few illicit hours in my youth helping friends prove something with their automotive hardware. (My dad's Rambler never got entered, if you can believe it.) They do, each evening, have a one hour open-header cruise. Open-headers means no exhaust manifold at all, much less anything resembling a muffler. It's illegal, but not for what you might expect. There's no pollution controls on an open header setup, so there's no legal place to use one other than a track or in a show like this one. The noise is, as you might imagine, quite remarkable. Loud, even.
The thing is that a lot of these cars are cars from my high-school days. My friend Russ had a '58 BelAire wagon that he burned the clutch out on more than once. Another friend had a little Plymouth that could out-accelerate almost anything. We were high-school kids, so you can see that cars weren't really expensive in those days, and neither was fuel for them.
Now, cars are better. As cars. I have a little thing from Korea that gets almost thirty miles per gallon and I drive like a maniac. They didn't make 'em like that back in the day. But they sure did make 'em cool, and that's the truth.
Click here to visit the SuperRun web site.
Mahalo,
Steve
Labels: Reviews
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Debate on Dehook
My strongest impression of this evening's debate between McCain and Obama was that I was watching Nixon vs Kennedy all over again. (Yes, I did watch the first time, I'm old, get used to it.) What I mean is that the issues and all may have been a tie. Actually, both candidates just kept on saying what they've been saying, which seems odd in McCain's case, except that maybe he really is sincere. The issues may have been a tie, but the debate went to Obama. Why? Because McCain looked like hell, is why.
I've always sort of liked John McCain, so frankly I feel sorry for the man. He looked stiff, unable to sit, almost frozen in his posture, and he didn't walk around very well either. It reminds me of the way TV commercials sometimes project a completely different message when you watch them with the sound off.
But, as an educator, I know something that many do not. We remember a whole lot more of what we see than what we hear. A whole lot, like 50 percent to 14 percent, something like that. (I haven't looked that up in a while, but the ratio is in that neighborhood.) So, since the speech was pretty much forgettable, heck I could have written it for them, the visuals are bound to be what sways people. And visually, Obama looked relaxed, at ease with himself, in control, and McCain looked stiff, pained, and a bit inept. Too bad, but it does make my initial prognostication look better than ever. Thanks, guys!
Steve
I've always sort of liked John McCain, so frankly I feel sorry for the man. He looked stiff, unable to sit, almost frozen in his posture, and he didn't walk around very well either. It reminds me of the way TV commercials sometimes project a completely different message when you watch them with the sound off.
But, as an educator, I know something that many do not. We remember a whole lot more of what we see than what we hear. A whole lot, like 50 percent to 14 percent, something like that. (I haven't looked that up in a while, but the ratio is in that neighborhood.) So, since the speech was pretty much forgettable, heck I could have written it for them, the visuals are bound to be what sways people. And visually, Obama looked relaxed, at ease with himself, in control, and McCain looked stiff, pained, and a bit inept. Too bad, but it does make my initial prognostication look better than ever. Thanks, guys!
Steve
Labels: Politics
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Bill Engvall
Caught Bill at the Silver Legacy in Reno over the weekend. Not only is he side-splittingly funny in person, but it's all suitable for regular TV, too. One fine show.
Labels: Reviews
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