Thursday, June 30, 2005
OK, so how messed up is this?
Money quote:
"Faced with mounting debt and failing health, a Gwinnett County man shot and seriously wounded a mail carrier Wednesday, hoping the federal prison system would 'take care of him,' a postal service spokeswoman said."
Oh, to be the judge sentencing this man. Lots of cruel and unusual punishment, leading to death. I mean, if the general public gets the idea that you can parlay a vicious assault on your postman into three hots and a cot for life, well, there'll be no keeping them down on the farm.
Money quote:
"Faced with mounting debt and failing health, a Gwinnett County man shot and seriously wounded a mail carrier Wednesday, hoping the federal prison system would 'take care of him,' a postal service spokeswoman said."
Oh, to be the judge sentencing this man. Lots of cruel and unusual punishment, leading to death. I mean, if the general public gets the idea that you can parlay a vicious assault on your postman into three hots and a cot for life, well, there'll be no keeping them down on the farm.
Recently I attended a function sponsored by the Australian Government. Met a lot of nice people, and had an interesting time getting a handle on geostrategy and geopolitics from an Australian perspective.
A recurring theme was the expectation that this would be China's century: that China would finally come into its own, and challenge the US economically and militarily.
More recently, there'e been much talk of China's demand for oil, and last Sunday's Al Jazeera Constitution had a bit on the growth of the Chinese military.
Then, today, I came across this.
How cool! The US is expanding its ties with the world's largest democracy. A democracy that needs lots of oil, has a grudge against China, has a huge expatriate population in Africa, and has been dealing with Islamofascism for a lot longer than the US.
For those of you who don't get it, the new American focus is not the North German Plain, it's the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Expect this agreement to lead to all sorts of things, including a recolonization of Africa to stabilize its failed nations, and keep its natural resources out of Chinese hands.
Paul Theroux wrote long ago about Chinese military and Government people in Africa. More recently, the Chinese and French have convinced the UN to turn a blind eye on Sudan, because they want oil out of that benighted region. With this agreement, and with nary a mention of China, or France, the US has managed to begin the process of denying the Chinese Africa's resources.
A Chinese Century? Dream on. China will be lucky to survive the century as a single country, never mind projecting power abroad. The US is going to strangle China, much as it strangled Russia.
It's going to be an exciting time.
A recurring theme was the expectation that this would be China's century: that China would finally come into its own, and challenge the US economically and militarily.
More recently, there'e been much talk of China's demand for oil, and last Sunday's Al Jazeera Constitution had a bit on the growth of the Chinese military.
Then, today, I came across this.
How cool! The US is expanding its ties with the world's largest democracy. A democracy that needs lots of oil, has a grudge against China, has a huge expatriate population in Africa, and has been dealing with Islamofascism for a lot longer than the US.
For those of you who don't get it, the new American focus is not the North German Plain, it's the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Expect this agreement to lead to all sorts of things, including a recolonization of Africa to stabilize its failed nations, and keep its natural resources out of Chinese hands.
Paul Theroux wrote long ago about Chinese military and Government people in Africa. More recently, the Chinese and French have convinced the UN to turn a blind eye on Sudan, because they want oil out of that benighted region. With this agreement, and with nary a mention of China, or France, the US has managed to begin the process of denying the Chinese Africa's resources.
A Chinese Century? Dream on. China will be lucky to survive the century as a single country, never mind projecting power abroad. The US is going to strangle China, much as it strangled Russia.
It's going to be an exciting time.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Sunday, June 26, 2005
This weekend we're experiencing the 35th Annual Atlanta Pride Celebration.
Well and good, I guess, except that it's actually the 35th Annual Atlanta *Homosexual* Pride Celebration.
First "Homosexual" became "Gay". Then "Gay" became invisible. Were you to come for the "Annual Atlanta Pride" Celebration, you'd think you were arriving for a celebration of Waffle House and traffic jams. Until the first view of a man wearing nothing but leather briefs.
There's an unspoken lie, a sin of omission, that really gets to me. I don't quite know how to express it, but turning the 35th Annual Atlanta *Homosexual* Pride Celebration into the 35th Annual Atlanta Pride Celebration takes an ownership that I just don't like. It's not an Atlanta thing, it's a homosexual thing. But it's called an Atlanta thing by homosexuals.
It's part and parcel of how the homosexual agenda has been advanced. On one hand, homosexuals have portrayed themselves as a put-upon, oppressed minority. On the other hand, you daren't say a thing against homosexuals, lest you be marked a "homophobe" (What the hell does *that* mean?) and hooted out of polite society.
Most of the time I don't even think about homosexuality. It's just not on my radar. Then the "35th Annual Atlanta (Homosexual) Pride Celebration" gets shoved in my face.
My reaction can only be that I'm experiencing The Big Lie.
Well and good, I guess, except that it's actually the 35th Annual Atlanta *Homosexual* Pride Celebration.
First "Homosexual" became "Gay". Then "Gay" became invisible. Were you to come for the "Annual Atlanta Pride" Celebration, you'd think you were arriving for a celebration of Waffle House and traffic jams. Until the first view of a man wearing nothing but leather briefs.
There's an unspoken lie, a sin of omission, that really gets to me. I don't quite know how to express it, but turning the 35th Annual Atlanta *Homosexual* Pride Celebration into the 35th Annual Atlanta Pride Celebration takes an ownership that I just don't like. It's not an Atlanta thing, it's a homosexual thing. But it's called an Atlanta thing by homosexuals.
It's part and parcel of how the homosexual agenda has been advanced. On one hand, homosexuals have portrayed themselves as a put-upon, oppressed minority. On the other hand, you daren't say a thing against homosexuals, lest you be marked a "homophobe" (What the hell does *that* mean?) and hooted out of polite society.
Most of the time I don't even think about homosexuality. It's just not on my radar. Then the "35th Annual Atlanta (Homosexual) Pride Celebration" gets shoved in my face.
My reaction can only be that I'm experiencing The Big Lie.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Lileks nails it.
As time goes on, and more kidnappees are beheaded (on camera), shot in the head (on camera), or simply disappeared (*not* on camera), I am less and less concerned about Muslim sensibilities.
As time goes on, and more kidnappees are beheaded (on camera), shot in the head (on camera), or simply disappeared (*not* on camera), I am less and less concerned about Muslim sensibilities.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
This morning at Starbucks, I asked the young woman behind the bar what it felt like to spend her morning "dealing with tormented souls, gasping for caffeine"?
"You all look like guppies."
"You all look like guppies."
