August 31, 2005
Shock Value
So one of the fun things about the University of Iowa is having the Emma Goldman center (look it up if you don't know what it is) across the street from the IMU (student union). This means when we get the protestors, they're right where everybody gets to see them.
Today is the first protestor I've seen since returning to campus, and he had a lovely over-sized banner with a picture of an aborted fetus. As he was holding up his visual aids, he was also preaching to the students as they passed him by (ignoring him, I might add).
I looked closely at the picture, and made eye contact with the man, and went on my way. I have to ask, though: are college-age kids really going to be shocked by that picture today? Aren't they supposed to be desensitized to that sort of thing?
Discuss.
Quote for a Wednesday, By Default
Just because this is Wednesday, you know. What am I explaining myself to you people for?
"The Promised Land is a spiritual land rather than a geographical one."-Prof. Holstein
Well, it may be paraphrased slightly.
Anyway, for someone who is not religious, I am finding this religious stuff fascinating.
August 23, 2005
Quote for Tuesday
"Weird clothing is de rigueur for teenagers, but today's generation of teens is finding it difficult to be sufficiently weird. This is because the previous generation of teens, who went through adolescence in the sixties and seventies, used up practically all the available weirdness. After what went on in that twenty-year period, almost nothing looks strange to anyone.-P.J. O'Rourke
August 22, 2005
Quote for the First Day
"The journey is the reward."-Chinese proverb
No, fool, the degree is the reward.
Let's try another...
"If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed."-Chinese proverb
Better.
August 21, 2005
Patience
On February 26, 1993, Islamic terrorists succeeded in blowing a hole through four levels of the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people were killed and over 1,000 injured.
Patiently, Islamic terrorists waited until they could try again. They formed a plan, and completed the steps necessary to carry out that plan. They patiently waited for over 8 years, and on September 11, 2001, they attacked the World Trade Center once more.
Their patience paid off: they reduced the buildings to rubble. They killed 2,749 people, which unfortunately (for them) was well-below the number they had hoped to accomplish.
Today, somewhere in the world, there are men planning another terrorist attack on American soil. They are patiently waiting for the American public to lower its guard. They are patiently waiting for the American public to tire of regular casualty reports and demand the troops leave Iraq and Afghanistan. They are patiently waiting for America to leave its work half-finished in Iraq and Afghanistan, so that they can take advantage of the turmoil and dissatisfaction we would leave in our wake. There is a precedent for that, you know.
So, to those who think we've been in Iraq and Afghanistan long enough and need to bring our soldiers home, I can only urge patience. We must be as patient as those who right this moment are planning to kill us. Leaving those countries won't make them love us. It won't make them like us. It won't make them think any better of us whatsoever. Exercising patience and helping them get back on their feet--not abandoning them after we throw their country into disarray--is what we must stay there to finish. Support the war in Iraq or not, we HAVE to finish the job.
August 19, 2005
*May As Well Go With It...
Since I seem to be in a Papal slump, ad-wise, I thought I'd take this opportunity to lobby for the next Pope's Papal name.
I say he should honor the third Pope and go by "Cletus". Or, as a second choice, "Hilarus" (46th).
That is all.
*Birthday Wishes
There is one president's birthday I always remember, just because it is the same as someone else I know.
Happy birthday, someone else.
And Bill Clinton, too.
August 18, 2005
*Ask Jen: Reality TV Edition
Shank writes, "What is it about this disgusting programming known as reality TV that draws us in?"
Let me ask you a few questions: When the police show up at the neighbor's house, do you look out the window to see what's going on? Do you either stay at the window or keep going back to the window until after the police leave? When you're watching sports on TV, do you express your outrage over boneheaded plays, and think you could do better?
Reality TV taps into the same basic behaviors, I think. Most of us are nosy and maybe even a little voyeuristic, plus we love to play Monday morning quarterback. "Colby should have voted Tina off! What an idiot!" As for Fear Factor, I think people watch that for the same reason they watch horror movies--the thrill that accompanies vicarious terror. You watch someone with giant spiders on their head and imagine yourself with giant spiders on your head. You don't actually have spiders on your head, but you get the adrenaline rush anyway.
Plus it's nice to have actual proof that there are loonier loonies running around than ourselves.
Do you have a question for me? You can e-mail it. If I know the answer, I'll answer it. If I don't, I might make something up.
August 15, 2005
August 12, 2005
Friday Quote
”One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.”-Madame Curie
August 11, 2005
Thursday Quote
”A man’s women folk, whatever their outward show of respect for his merit and authority, always regard him secretly as an ass.”-H.L. Mencken
August 10, 2005
August 10, 1776
E pluribus unum is suggested as a national motto by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin.
Wednesday Quote
”Women love us for our defects. If we have enough of them, they will forgive us everything, even our gigantic intellects.”-Oscar Wilde
August 09, 2005
The Beauty of the Federal Government
I realize this is from a few decades ago, but I'm pretty confident in my assertion that the government can afford to cut some Fibbies from the payroll.
August 9, 1483
Pope Sixtus IV celebrates the first Mass in the Sistine Chapel, which was named for him.
Tuesday Quote
”Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote. The relative positions to be assumed by man and woman in the working out of our civilization were assigned long ago by a higher intelligence than ours.”-Grover Cleveland
August 08, 2005
I'll Give You a Topic...
If being a fat couch potato was considered sexy by whichever sex you're trying to impress, would you stay in shape for health reasons, or let yourself go?
Discuss.
August 8, 1974
In a televised address to the nation, Richard Nixon became the first American president to resign.
Monday Quote
”Women are one of the Almighty’s enigmas to prove to men that He knows more than they do.”-Ellen Glasgow
August 07, 2005
*Missing Information
I mean, there would have to be, wouldn't there?
More than 300 searchers are still scouring the South Platte River near Kersey, Colo., searching for a 4-year-old boy who disappeared Friday night while driving a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle near the river.(Source.)
A 4-year-old allowed to drive an ATV? And allowed to do it without some serious adult supervision? Like someone following directly behind him at all times?
August 05, 2005
August 5, 1864
“Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” or words to that effect were uttered by Union Admiral David Farragut in the Battle of Mobile Bay. Torpedoes referred to underwater mines, which were largely ineffective at the time (they were made of wood and often became waterlogged). However, one of them is the likely suspect in the blast that sank the USS Tecumseh.
Friday's Quote
”Despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, I have not been able to answer…the great question that has never been answered: ‘What does a woman want?’”-Sigmund Freud
August 04, 2005
August 4, 1735
Freedom of the press was established in the United States by the court system decades before the Bill of Rights, when John Peter Zenger was acquitted against libel charges. The charges were an attempt by Royal Governor William Crosby to censor Zenger’s criticisms of the Crown.
I'll Give You a Topic...
Ever stare at your computer for an hour, trying to think of something to post?
Also, are Irish and Scottish accents as hot when they belong to attractive females as when they belong to attractive males?
Discuss these questions or anything else your heart desires in the comments.
Thursday's Quote
"We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death. But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live."-Joseph Epstein
August 03, 2005
August 3, 1977
Radio Shack introduced the TRS-80.
I seem to remember playing Pong with it, but maybe the Atari and computer were just hooked up to the same monitor.
I played a lot of Pong.
If I had it now, I'd probably be playing it instead of typing this.
August 02, 2005
Tuesday's Quote
"All of us are born with a set of instinctive fears--of falling, of the dark, of lobsters, of falling on lobsters in the dark..."-Dave Barry
August 01, 2005
Jew