February 17, 2006
A brief primer: Skeleton is exactly like luge, except that instead of flying down the track on your butt, you fly down the track on your stomach. Skeleton athletes (that's what they call themselves, which is title inflation of the worst kind) say skeleton requires a totally different skill set than luge. Let's just take their word for it. Otherwise, they might explain.Aw, unruffle your fur. He's poking fun at the U.S. team, not the Canadian team, and tells you much more than you want to know about how the "U.S. skeleton team brought sex, drugs and violence to these Winter Olympics, and not even in a good way."I know: It sounds like a ridiculous, inane, stupid, non-sport kind of sport. But that's what people said when luge first became an Olympic sport in 1964, and now, 42 years later, many of those same people are dead. So maybe we shouldn't question it.
Mark and I can't quite figure out how a hair restorative can be considered a performance enhancing drug (in sports, for crying out loud. Sheesh.)
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February 14, 2006
We're all having a good laugh at the Vice-President's hunting mishap. Lord knows we need it - and the icing on the cake has been the indignation by the White House press corps that a local Corpus Christi news reporter scooped them. Only in America!
I'm posting a too true email that Dex sent me and heading back to bed.
25 SIGNS YOU HAVE GROWN UP
1. Your house plants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
5. You hear your favorite song in an elevator.
6. You watch the Weather Channel.
7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of "hook up" and "break up."
8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."
10. You're the one calling the police because those %&@# kids next door won't turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
13. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You take naps.
17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.
18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
19. You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22. "I just can't drink the way I used to" replaces "I'm never going to drink that much again."
23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.
24. You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
25. When you find out your friend is pregnant you congratulate them instead of asking "Oh S*$# what the hell happened?"
Bonus:
26: You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't apply to you and can't find one to save your sorry old butt. Then you forward it to a bunch of old pals & friends 'cause you know they'll enjoy it & do the same.
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07:15 AM
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February 11, 2006
Can you imagine the response if 10 mosques had been burnt down in two weeks? The horror! And I'd be one of those horrified and angered. The fact that it's Christians being targeted doesn't change the fact that this is a hate crime and is not only unlawful but threatens a fundamental value for which our ancestors fought: the right to worship as we choose.
That evidence indicates that at least some of the fires were set by the pulpits may contain an somehwat threatening message. That they started so soon after MLK Day is disquieting (need I remind anyone that Dr. King was a Baptist minister?) even though I realize that these arsons seem aimed more at Baptists generally and are not colour-based. Nevertheless, Dr. King appealed to Christian consciences which was why, in large part, his message could not be disregarded and why he remains to this day an inspirational and visionary American figure as well as a refutation to those who despise religion.
Whatever, the motive, whoever is doing this don't know Southern Baptists. I think it likely the parishioners will still attend services tomorrow whether the location is a neighbouring church, a barn, a tent, or the open air. I also think they will, even as they mourn for the loss of their churches, pray for those who are doing this evil. (Although I also think it might be better for the perpetrators if the feds catch them, if you know what I mean. It's unlikely that anyone will read 'em from the book, but still.)
[No, I'm not a Baptist but I've attended Southern Baptists services and they bowled this sophisticated urbanite over and filled me with humility and joy. But then maybe urbane is just another word for jaded. Or pretentious.]
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10:54 PM
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The bureaucratic mind-set of the people at Children of the World is appalling. Once they learned that, contrary to the mother's initial claim, the father was "known," they must have realized that the case was more complicated than first thought and immediately halted the adoption process. They must have known they needed to initiate a different process which must begin by contacting the child's father. They didn't.
It's easy to speculate that the agency ignored the father because fathers have been more and more deemed expendable these days, but it may well be that the fault lies in a rigid bureaucratic mentality. No matter the cause, the easy manner in which the father and his rights were banished - as well as those of the child, who was entitled to the chance to be with his natural father - is disgraceful.
When, a year later, Mr. Archuletta was finally told the truth by the child's mother he began trying to fight for custody of his son but has no money to pay for attorneys.
Maybe someone will take his case pro bono? It seems a worthy cause.
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06:52 PM
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February 10, 2006
In short, I'm still waiting for the much-needed post-Christmas slowdown, but at least I am working what passes for normal hours (at least this week -- but don't take any bets that I won't have to work this Saturday although, with luck, next Saturday is reserved for personal time!)
The Canadian elections were interesting and, although the Tories lead a minority government, perhaps the most important thing is that a balance has been restored to Canadian politics in that there are two functional national mainstream parties vying for power. Liberal corruption was enabled in part by the lack of a credible alternative for the electorate -- a lesson both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. should already know but don't.
Andrew Coyne has written brilliantly on some weird appointments by the new government. Just a note to American readers: Cabinet members up here are supposed to be elected Members of Parliament which is why the appointment of Fortier is such a shock. I should also note that Fortier doesn't have to be confirmed by Parliament which is in some ways a mixed blessing given how acrimoniously political such things have been but the appointment is, nonetheless, disconcerting.
Note to Democrats: re-read Sen. McCain's letter to Sen. Obama on developing legislation for lobbying reform and pay special attention to this:
They [the American people] see it as yet another run-of-the-mill Washington scandal, and they expect it will generate just another round of partisan gamesmanship and posturing.Attempts to run campaigns around corruption will fail for precisely the reason cited above: we see it as irritatingly business as usual. As JFK famously said, every mother wants her son to grow up to be President but no mother wants her son to grow up to be a politician.
Back to the point, Americans who have a post-Sept. 11 mentality realize that securing the defense of the nation is not the most important job of the national government but is the only job of the national government. With that understanding, those with a grasp on reality, like Sen. Lieberman and Robert Livingston, lend respectability to a party that has irrationally wedded itself to the mindset of the 1960's without remembering that those days were molded by a generation that rebelled against the kind of mind-controlling authority such as Orwell wrote about in 1984. Those of us who cherish liberty regard "politically correct" speech more as confirmation of Orwell's fears than any supposed enlightenment and if the Democrats really want to look at the future maybe they should start by not forlornly wishing for the past. It's no accident that the intensely irreverent South Park is so popular.
If you've noticed that any attempt at a segue was incomplete then you got my underlying point. Canadians are not Americans, and among other differences, most people up here regard the war on terror as not that much a Canadian thing (despite the presence of and and casualties inflicted on Canadians in Afghanistan.) Nevertheless, as an American I want to say again that the participation of Canada in the WOT is, although often obscured, important and greatly appreciated. It does not, nevertheless, drive Canadian politics.
There isn't much that can be stated about Coretta Scott King's passing that others haven't said. My generation owes much to this woman who symbolized dignity and strength because she held us together when we were torn with grief and fury over Dr. King's murder. (I guess only people of my generation can know what I mean about that time, as with all things some people read about but which others of us lived through. Those were dark days during which many of us lost hope as well as our way, and focusing on the erect figure of Mrs. King restored a point on which to focus.)
Lastly, I'd like to thank President Bush because his revelations about the plot to attack a Los Angeles building gave me the opportunity to drag out one of my favourite photos:
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Isn't he cute? And I would like to note that something that may have been vital to thwarting that and future plots could have been the arrest of a Canadian-based terrorist and no, I'm not referring to any member of the Khadr family, but to Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, who was a prominent member of Jemaah Islamiya (see here for his role in JI) until his capture and incarceration with the assistance of Canada. (His brother was killed in a shoot-out with Saudi police. Sigh.)
P.S. What, I should weigh in on those cartoons? I intensely dislike anything that is racially stereotypical whether it be of Muslims, Jews or Condi Rice, but didn't find the cartoons to be all that terrible (especially compared to those I've seen over at lgf from the Arab media) so although I will pass on re-producing the Danish cartoons I do defend anyone else's right to do so. I just don't see them as advancing the struggle against terrorism. Besides, Calvin and Hobbes they ain't.
Free speech does mean that we will see things that we may find offensive. We handle it. Freedom often means having a thick skin, but hot damn! it's worth it.
On the recent Palestinian elections, is anyone really all that surprised? Yes, I know many say they are, but the difference between Hamas and El Fatah is more one of perception than reality. Neither is interested in peaceful co-existence with Israel and both have deep roots in terrorism. I'd rather deal with the wolf than the fox any day.
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