Random Notations

2006-10-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

Fictional Men I Love

First and foremost, I love Mr. Darcy. In all his incarnations. (Especially as portrayed by Colin Firth whom I once met and will forever regret not running up and kissing, the jail sentence would have been worth it.)

It is entirely possible that Jane Austin has ruined all men for me. I am constantly comparing the men in my life to Darcy and they always come up short. And it's really not their faults, how could anyone compare to the
best man ever created?

Tall, dark, handsome, elegant, disdainful, wealthy...and an arrogant jerk. Just my type.

As Elizabeth Bennet said: "We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room."

2006-10-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love the following exchange from Sports Night...in fact I'm a bit obsessed with it...I really need to get these DVDs...why do they cancel the witty shows?

Casey McCall: Didn't you used to care about these things?
Dan Rydell: Yes.
Casey McCall: And it wasn't that long ago that you did.
Dan Rydell: No.
Casey McCall: I mean, it was like yesterday.
Dan Rydell: Right.
Casey McCall: Now, when I say "yesterday, " I'm not speaking metaphorically. I mean it was *yesterday*. What happened to your values?
Dan Rydell: I find maintaining them is a lot of work. I take a day off every now and then.
Casey McCall: You take a vacation from doing the right thing?
Dan Rydell: Yeah. I don't loot storefronts or anything, but once in a while, I consider the effort it takes to diligently adhere to a moral compass. I take myself out of the lineup and I rest up for the next game.
Casey McCall: I swear, you could run for Congress and win.

2006-10-07T20:43:00.000-07:00

I want to be like Jared from The Pretender.

Then I could try all the things I am interested in without having to make a commitment.

I could be a spy, a heart surgeon, a fighter pilot, a writer, a professor, a spy, a diplomatic courier, a lawyer, a philosopher, a spy...anything at all...

I miss that show...even though just thinking about it makes me insanely jealous.

That's really the only downside to television, it makes you feel bad about you own little life...

2006-09-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

I am adding a new feature to my blog...

Why I Hate Dating...
(Part I)

I hate awkwardness!!!!

Most of my problems with dating stem from this simple fact; I can't even stand to watch other people in awkward situations. If something happens in a movie or tv show I turn away from the screen with a grimace.

For example, take any romantic movie where one person is in love with someone who is no in love with them...I cannot watch someone confess their undying love to someone...I don't care if it is supposed to be funny, I cringe and look away. And I have no idea why, I'm not a sappy or sensitive person, but awkward situations really get to me.

Lets face it, dating is generally a fairly awkward endeavor, at least in the early stages. You're always wondering what to say or do...and what the other person is going to say or do...and later replaying conversations and thinking, why on earth did I say or do that?? And I worry that spectators are watching the dates and thinking, they look awkward together, must be a new couple.

(I blame Seinfeld for that particular phobia.)

I just want to skip past the awkwardness somehow...you know those village matchmakers that apparently used to set up your whole life for you in advance? Some days that seems like a very good system...

2006-09-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

“Thinking he knows can be a trap. An ex-professor once told him he had a diamond hard intellect and he’d been flattered at the time. Now he considers the nature of diamonds. Although sharp and glittering and useful for cutting glass, they shine with reflected light only. They’re no use at all in the dark.”
(Margaret Atwood-The Blind Assassin)

I worry about that sometimes…that I’m not really as smart as people think I am. For all the test scores and trivia knowledge, have I ever had a truly original thought? I love books of quotations, is this not a sign of mental weakness? I can’t think for myself so I seek the wisdom of others?

So much of my personality is bound up in being, “the smart one”. It was only later in life that I gained enough confidence in myself as a person to ever be called the pretty one. I remember the first time someone treated me like a bimbo and told me not to worry my pretty little head about it. I was flattered.

Am I really intelligent or am I just a good mimic?

2006-09-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

Japan should not renounce the Murayama statement, thereby rescinding their official apology for their actions in WWII.

I realize that it may be a strain on a country to constantly feel guilt over issues of the past, and in some ways its natural to move on...but I don't think they should go so far as "take back" the historic apology.

I feel like Germany handled war guilt and the reconstruction of the national psyche in a healthier manner than the Japanese.

2006-09-02T17:39:00.000-07:00

My mood today:

"Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life. Well, not small, but circumscribed. And sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void. "

And yes I know that it is from a really lame movie...so sue me...

2006-09-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

The back story to this post is somewhat lengthy, but basically my former professor (a German Marxist) sent me this response to an article about the Ant Bully that another former student had sent him. And then I replied. I think it makes sense.

Professor: I am not very interested in this film, but I was surprised to see the graphics on Cuba and Castro and Guevara, I always thought, compared to most other Less Developed countries, Cuba was very good, particularly if compared to Columbia: no street chikldren in Cuba, death at birth rate more or less like in Develioped countries, virtual 100% literacy rate, nobody starving, everybody housed, virtually nobiody dying in hurricanes, in Columbia dozens per month die in political violence for decades now, in Cuba maybe around 10 a year(which of course is terrible, just to compare) Would you not agree with me that one should help Cuba, hurt by decades of sanctions by the US and still providing these socio-economic benefits? Or is there somethuing I am missing here? Wolfgang

Me: On the question of Cuba:

The hostility of the American governments has been used as an excuse to suppress the civil liberties of the Cuban people for 40 years. Anytime someone mentions the repression of human rights and political oppression in Cuba, leftists always blame this on "American imperialism" and "US aggression". As though the US is to blame for the fact that the Cuban people lack freedom of the press and freedom of association. But these repressive laws are maintained by nearly every Communist regime, even those who are not threatened by hostile neighbors.

It is not enough to feed and cloth a population...humans are not merely domestic animals, they deserve more. The social achievements brought about by the revolution are meaningless so long as the Cuban people don't have freedom and dignity, which are necessary for the emancipation of humanity.

The people of Cuba deserve freedom. They deserve the right to travel abroad to visit relatives, they deserve a free press, the right to access the internet without external monitoring, and to watch television without foreign broadcasts first being jammed.

Issues of freedom, democracy and human rights should stand on their own, whatever you may think of US imperialism (which I don't believe is a true factor here but thats another argument). I oppose the diversionary tactics of the Western leftists who point at the social achievements and choose to ignore the denial of basic freedoms.

I believe that the achievements of society are nothing without basic freedom... I suppose that is the core difference between libertarians and socialists...

Remember, a government that is big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take it away...

Best of luck with your new semester.

2006-08-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

I love the TV show Bones...it's one of the few shows in which I don't mind the female protagonist. (This was also true of Mac in JAG)

I want to be Bones, a brilliant scientist and a successful novelist in spite of her total lack of social skills. And of course it doesn't hurt that her partner Booth is absolutely gorgeous.

A friend of mine called me on the night the show premiered last year and asked if I had watched, I hadn't, and she said that Bones reminded her of me...I wish that were true. After watching the show I was flattered, although a bit confused by the fact that Bones knows nothing about pop culture and its one of my best subjects.

I spend a lot of time wishing I was someone else...when I know that I should embrace myself for who I am...

but Bones is so awesome...

2006-08-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

So prostitutes in Australia are offering a discount to people who bring in a gas receipt.

I really don't know what to say...free market at its finest??

Inmates in the Philippines are shaving their heads and donating the hair to help clean up the oil spill in Guimaras.

In the year 2006, human hair is still the best way to mop up oil? Why didn't we do this in the Exxon-Valdez spill?

What is wrong with the world?

2006-08-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

I am back... I am in America now so the focus of the blog will shift slightly...but I am still posting random things I like... such as this quotation:

“Just because something bears the aspect of the inevitable one should not, therefore, go along willingly with it.” (Phillip K. Dick)

This is why I don't get it when people suggest that we should do things because sooner or later it's going to happen anyway. You can't know that for sure, and even if that thing does wind up happening, the point of life is not to sail through it smoothly. Sometimes you have to fight. Sometimes you can't keep your mouth shut when it might be prudent to do so. You can't back down from a challenge because you will "probably" fail. You have to take the field and do your best.

2005-05-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in ages but I thought I would say something about the upcoming British elections. Mostly I just don't want to study for tomorrow's International Political Economy exam. Only 4 more exams until I join the ranks of college graduates.

Back to the election. I really want the Tories to win. I wouldn't want them governing my country but I think they are the best option these people have right now. And of course I think they have the best advertising campaign. For the most part, it has a cohesive theme and a cathy slogan: Are you thinking what we're thinking?

By contrast the Labour billboards have only one unifying characteristic, they are mean. And not in an entertaining manner either. You can see a range of the billboards from all the parties here.

Also, I think its wierd that paid tv adverts are illegal. Instead, they have to put up entirely too many billboards on every high street in London and force everyone on the godforsaken island to watch their election broadcasts every night thus delaying other more important but still dreadful tv programming on the five basic channels. Isn't enough that they own the BBC?

2005-03-20T11:52:00.000-08:00

Conservative's Book on Supreme Court Is a Bestseller

That's the Washington Post headline about Mark Levin's new book, Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America, which unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to read because I'm still in England and its not available here but I plan to read it as soon as possible. So I can't speak as to the exact content or style of the book but I like the concept and was happy to see the Post giving the book some attention, until I read the article. Here are some of the highlights:

Yet this publishing phenomenon has gone almost completely unnoticed outside conservative circles.

"The fascinating thing is that it's a bestseller on a subject where 100 percent of us who present ourselves as experts haven't read it," said David Garrow, a law professor at Emory University who has written widely on Supreme Court history.

Mark Tushnet, a liberal law professor at Georgetown University who clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, said he has watched the rise of Levin's book with some bemusement.

Tushnet said he has not read "Men in Black" and does not know anyone who has.

Does that last line remind anyone else of what liberals said after the 2000 election? That they didn't know anyone who had voted for GW? Haven't they learned anything in the past five years?

2005-03-15T01:32:00.000-08:00

With the upcoming general election here in the UK, abortion is apparently entering into the rhetoric for the first time in anyone's memory. I've addressed this topic before but the Times has a new article on their homepage about the Catholic Church withdrawing its traditional support for the Labour party.

I don't like the title of the article:

Cardinal tells Catholics to reject Labour over abortion.

Mostly because it shows the newspaper's feelings about the Church getting involved. Let me be clear, the Church should not "tell" people who to vote for and I don't think it really is in this instance. They are just reinforcing the Church's position on the issue of abortion and reminding Britons that just becauses its legal and uncontroversial here, it is not moral.

The gist of the article can be summed up in the following excerpts:

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said that the renewed emphasis on anti-abortion could mean a break from the Church’s traditionally perceived backing for the Labour Party. “As bishops, we are not going to suggest people support one particular party,” he said. Ultimately, the Catholic bishops are not being party political. A Catholic would not be expected to vote for a Conservative with liberal views on abortion.

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said: “Sometimes people say religion and politics do not mix and they should not mix. Religion is about the love of God and the love of our neighbour. It is clearly the second of those where religion and politics do mix.”

I'm just saying it would be nice to see a little debate in the country. And I like it that the Catholic Church is breaking with the socialist roots it had laid down in the UK.

2005-03-12T07:10:00.000-08:00

The Seven Deadly Sins of the Press:       
- Concentrated Power of the Big Press.       
- Passing of competition and the coming of monopoly.
 - Governmental control of the press.
 - Timidity, especially in the face of group and corporate pressures.       
- Big Business mentality.
 - Clannishness among the newspaper publishers that has prevented them from criticizing each other.       
- Social blindness.
     
      (According to Max Lerner)
      

2005-03-06T07:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Robert Novak for bringing this to my attention.

DEAN'S CANDOR

Howard Dean, who has minimized media exposure since his election as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, departed from the party line in telling a college audience that there are problems with the Social Security program.

Speaking at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., on Feb. 23, Dean totally opposed President Bush's advocacy of personal accounts as part of Social Security. However, he did not follow Democratic insistence that nothing need be done about the program. If Social Security is left alone, he said, benefits after 30 years would be 80 percent of what they are now.

Dean's divergence from the party line was reported only in the Cornell Daily Sun, the student newspaper.

Howard Dean has become a voice of reason in the Democratic Party. There is something so wrong about that statement.

Anyway, I'm not going to worry about it because I am off to Italy for a few days. Unfortunately this means I will fall behind in my knowledge of current events as watching the news in Italian won't mean anything to me and being online during my holiday seems kind of sad.

2005-03-05T13:18:00.000-08:00

I'm sure everyone has heard this by now:

President Bashar Assad, responding to weeks of intense pressure, announced Saturday that Syria would move its troops to the Lebanese-Syrian border in a two-step pullback that he said should satisfy international demands for a complete pullout.

And the US is saying this isn't enough, mostly because its not enough. But that's not my point right now. My point is that I kind of feel sorry for Bashar. I mean, obviously he's not a complete innocent in this mess but he's only not Saddam Hussein, if you know what I mean. He wasn't supposed to be a dictator. He was actually in England studying to be an eye doctor when his older brother, the heir apparent, was killed unexpectedly in a car crash. Bashar was called home and sent to military school for a crash course in how to be a despot.

He apparently learned a little to well. His father's cronies are still hanging around the palace, pulling strings and applying pressure. Bashar is way out of his league. He should withdraw all troops and intelligence operatives out of Lebanon immediately and look conciliatory towards the West. He might still be able to salvage his humanity and his country.

Take a stand Bashar, at one point in your life you wanted to help people by being a doctor. You are now in a position to take a stand and change things. You might find you can gain enough support in the outside world to overcome internal opposition. However, if everything goes awry back home in Damascus, I think Bashar should be exiled and granted asylum rather than tried or worse. We've given shelter to worse people, and who knows maybe he can get back on the road to the exciting world of opthamology.

2005-03-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

Putin sets up youth brigade to tighten grip

In the eyes of many, the tactics are more reminiscent of the Hitler Youth of pre-war Germany than of the supposed democracy in Russia whose health Mr Putin indignantly defended when he met President George W Bush last week.

Scary.

2005-03-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, I can't let this story go by unnoticed. The BBC has abolished its board of directors, replacing it with two governing bodies. How is two better than one in situations like this? Won't this make a bigger mess out of an already bloated organization? And as someone who has to pay for a TV license to fund the crap the BBC puts on the air, I am very upset they decided to keep the fee in place. At least 10 more years of paying for an unecessary service which benefits no one.

that's all until after I get some work done.

2005-03-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

I'm too busy to really post right now so this will have to suffice. Its really funny, as long as you don't take politics too seriously.

2005-02-26T02:38:00.000-08:00

First of all, let me unequivocally state that I am opposed to abortion activists using violence in any way to further their cause. For a variety of reasons, including the following:

a) It is morally wrong
b) It is illegal.
c) It doesn't work; its actually counter productive as it turns people against the cause and makes it easier for pro-abortionists to dismiss pro-lifers as crazy, irrational zealots.

Now that the disclaimers have been issued, I was pretty happy to see this as the lead article in the London Times this morning.

"Abortion clinics said last night that they feared a rise in US-style anti-abortion tactics and are being especially vigilant. Marie Stopes said that small groups of protesters already picket some of its clinics, blocking pregnant women as they attempt to enter and thrusting leaflets into their hands."

It goes on to talk about Christian Voice which it calls a fundamentalist group who is going to "target" abortion clinics. I said it before, but it bears repeating because I don't want anything to be misconstrued here, I don't think pro-life activists should kill people to make their point. And I don't even think I like Christian Voice, though I can't say definitively because I haven't had any real contact with them and I only know what I read in the press, which obviously doesn't like the organization.

But back to my point, it is good to see that there might be some sort of a debate emerging on the subject of abortion. Its something that seems to be completely accepted in the UK, there is no public discourse on the matter, despite the rising abortion rates. (There were 181,600 abortions in 2003, over 1,000 of which were girls under the age of 14.) I don't call this place the God-forsaken island for purely trivial reasons (although some of the reasons are not all that high minded, like the bad weather and lack of good gummy candy).

Britain has the lowest church attendance rate of any developed country in the world. Only 3% of its population is Muslim and yet more people attend Friday prayers than Sunday services. This in a country which once felt so strongly about its religion (or was it the divorce of its monarch) that it started its own religion and went to war over the whole thing. Even the presumed future head of the Anglican church is set to be married in a civil ceremony this spring.

All I'm saying is it would be nice for the Brits to at least question the abortion practices, debate is healthy and things don't have to be this way.

Also, Europeans in general might want to revisit the issue of abortion if for no other reason than they can't afford to lose this many people a year given their already declining birth rates. They are further crippling their nice welfare states one immoral act at a time.

2005-02-25T16:02:00.000-08:00

I have always said that British children were ill behaved, even more so than kids in other countries particularly in the US. The ADD craze has now spread to this side of the Atlantic and kids are getting away with more than ever.

First of all, I'm not even sure that I believe its a real thing. And even if it is, it can't be as pervasive as recent trends suggest. But that is not the issue here, what strikes me as particularly wrong is the fact that British families can apparently claim money from the government if a child has ADD or its hyper-active cousin ADHD because its a disability. Tell me welfare isn't out of control; there have to be limits somewhere. Right?

2005-02-25T15:55:00.000-08:00

More on religion, this bears repeating and I can't think of a better way to say it right now:

WHAT IS THE POPE TRYING TO TEACH? WHAT CAN A SICK POPE DO? [Michael Novak]Here's what I've been thinking on the topic: A Pope is not actually like the Commandant of the Marine Corps, there is really nothing he has to do except be. The church normally runs itself, its departments hum on. Only a few decisions await him, really. The church could go months without appointing new replacements for bishops. What a Pope does is be another Christ. What does Christ have to do, except be? And the comparative advantage of Christianity is that it roots itself in suffering, the suffering of age that each of us will undergo, of cancers and disabilities and mental illness in the family, the inescapable of every life. Secular humanism ignores these. Professor Rawls thinks Christian emphasis on suffering is life-denying. Not so. I think that's why so many people are touched by JPII. They know all about suffering, but nobody ever says how ennobling and transformative it can be. That it's quite all right to be ill and suffering. That it's a great and valuable gift. That it means a lot. That it's at the heart of things. In a way, the Pope is teaching more powerfully about Christianity and its comparative advantage than he ever has. The most important work of his life.

John Paul II is the public incarnation of the Roman Catholic Church, he should not resign from this most sacred of duties because of an illness. He is doing the work of God and he must do it the way God intended. He should not retreat from public life and hide in the shadows simply because his body has become weak, his heart is still strong. He is, and will remain, an inspirational figure in the world. He still has more to offer us.

May God bless him and keep him safe.

2005-02-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

Msgr. Luigi Giussani, the founder of the Communion and Liberation movement, died early Tuesday morning, February 22, at the age of 82.

He will be greatly missed by the many people whose lives he has touched, especially those who have been transformed by the message he carried.

His works are inciteful and full of rich meaning. The Religious Sense is particularly moving.

And you can find out more about CL here.

R.I.P. and God bless you Don Giuss...

2005-02-22T07:07:00.000-08:00

Word of the Day:

BLOGOTRY

Its a new word meaning blog bigotry and was reportedly coined by dangerousmeta by way of word association in the summer of 2002 (sooo long ago).

According to one of Jonah Goldberg's readers (Bud from Texas) it "refers to the New York Times' attitude toward blogs".

It should go without saying that I am opposed to blogotry in all its forms as I am quite fond of blogs. I even wrote a university term paper on the topic last year (A-). But to be honest the real reason I am posting about the matter is that there are now only two sites which come up when googling blogotry, Jonah predicts there will be thousands in a year, and I figured I would get in on the ground floor on this one.

Thank you to the Corner and the good people at National Review for keeping me up to date as usual. I love that magazine.

In fact, I am trying to become an intern there this summer. Here's hoping.

And speaking of this summer, I bought a one way ticket back to the good old US of A about two hours ago. So come May, I am getting off this godforsaken island.

2005-02-19T11:48:00.000-08:00

I hate the UN. For a lot of reasons, and as usual someone else has expressed part of my disdane in an entertaining and inciteful manner. Mark Steyn has a new piece in the Telegraph that does a good job of explaining at least part of why it is a bad organization. He begins:

It's a good basic axiom that if you take a quart of ice-cream and a quart of dog faeces and mix 'em together the result will taste more like the latter than the former. That's the problem with the UN. If you make the free nations and the thug states members of the same club, the danger isn't that they'll meet each other half-way but that the free world winds up going three-quarters, seven-eighths of the way.

Excellent point and I am glad Mr Steyn is writing once again.

2005-02-16T11:24:00.000-08:00

NO! NO! NO!

He cannot do this. He just can't.

What the hell is this administration thinking?

Maybe someone should send President Bush a memo about limited government and low taxes as part of the traditional Republican agenda.

2005-02-13T08:26:00.000-08:00

There is a story in the London Times today about a boy who survived three attempts at abortion and is now a healthy two year old. Odd story in general but the really bizzarre part comes farther along in the text, when a British doctor states:

“This mother went through extreme hardship waiting to see if her baby was going to make it. She was told to expect him to die so many times. I am full of admiration for her.”

Are you kidding me? Admiration isn't the emotion I had in mind. Are people supposed to admire individuals who fail in their attempt to end an innocent life and have to wait to see if the prospective victim lives?

The abortion debate in the US gets pretty heated but at least there is a debate. Here, no one seems to think that there might be something wrong with 3 attempts.

Seems kind of sad and maybe a little deranged to think of it this way but, as a continuation of yesterday's post, the NHS can't even do something like this competently.

2005-02-12T12:54:00.000-08:00

The British magazine the Spectator has an interesting cover story this week entitled:

Die in Britain, survive in the US

It asks the question, "Which is better — American or British medical care?" Personally I think the answer is rather obvious...

America of course for the slow witted among you. I have lived in both countries and I have been ill in both countries and the US has an overwhelmingly better system. Full stop. Sure you might have to pay more but on the up side you actually get better.

In the UK (or the god-forsaken island, as I like to call it) if you go to a GP they don't actually examine you. Basically you walk in and the doctor asks you what is wrong (not what your syptoms are, no they want you to tell them what is wrong with you) and then they either give you ridiculous advice and/or write you out a prescription. One of my friends was told to take apirin for toncilitis. She had to fly to the states to have them removed after a prolonged ordeal with doctors here. This is a country that doesn't even have Tylenol and none of their over the counter cold medicines work.

And now the EU has gotten involved and is outlawing certain vitamin and mineral supplements. But that is a rant best saved for another day.

Anyway, the point is that US free market healthcare is better than the socialized mess here in Britain. Sure its not perfect in America, but its definitely the least worst form of healthcare. And I know its an old argument but it is still very valid, without the "high" cost of drugs in the US the pharmacutical companies wouldn't make a return on their investment and thus they would stop innovating new drugs and ultimately people would suffer.

Viva la markets!!

I can't wait to come home.

2004-12-13T12:52:00.000-08:00

Latest British outrage:

BRITAIN'S leading medical ethics expert has suggested that the frail and elderly should consider suicide to stop them becoming a financial burden on their families and society.

Help.

Anyone?

2004-12-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

Now I knew when I moved to England that there were no gun rights here. And while I may think it is morally irresponsible, not to mention a gross violation of civil rights, that most police officers carry no weapons save for their torches, I accept this aspect of life in the UK. But now there are groups pushing to outlaw knives. KNIVES!!

I don't even know how that would work, couldn't people just stab one another with kitchen knives? Or maybe the ultra nanny state will step in and make all food pre-cut?

The so-called logic behind this move is that the number of murders committed using guns has gone down while deaths resulting from knife wounds has risen. Apparently no one sees that if people want to kill other people they will do so. Even if the government somehow manages to take away all the knives (which they can't) murderers will just find another weapon. Like cars or poison. Everything is a potential weapon and human are resourceful creatures so they will always find new and inventive ways to kill each other. No government can stop this from happening, the best they can do is try to limit it and punish people who still break reasonable laws (they might be aided in this endeavor if they themselves were allowed to carry weapons themselves). Surely this madness cannot actually be extended?

I really need to get off this godforsaken island. Now.

Actually I will get a temporary respite in 85 and a half hours when I board a plane to return to the USA. Not that I'm watching the clock or anything.

2004-12-05T11:32:00.000-08:00

I think I just may have a new favourite member of the Senate.

President Bush reached out to the famously contentious Republican Sen.-elect Tom Coburn of Oklahoma to congratulate him on being elected and to seek his support. The response was somewhat barbed. "Tom," said the president, "I'd appreciate your help." Coburn, a conservative who often clashed with the party leadership during his six years in the House (1995-2000), replied: "Mr. President, I'll be glad to help you cut spending." Like other conservatives, Coburn is unhappy with the increase in federal outlays during Republican control of both the presidency and Congress.

(Story courtesy of Robert Novak)

2004-12-05T11:21:00.000-08:00

More on the Ukraine.

Charles Krauthammer has written a really good piece on Europe's reaction to the situation. He points out the inconsistencies in Europe's position on a democratic Ukraine versus their disdain for the notion of spreading democracy to the Middle East.

That is why this comity between America and Europe is only temporary. The Europeans essentially believe, to paraphrase Stalin, in democracy on one continent. As for democracy elsewhere, they really could not care less... Thus Zbigniew Brzezinski, a fierce opponent of the Bush administration's democracy project in Iraq, writes passionately about the importance of democracy in Ukraine and how, by example, it might have a domino effect, spreading democracy to neighboring Russia. Yet when Bush and Blair make a similar argument about the salutary effect of establishing a democracy in the Middle East -- and we might indeed have the first truly free election in the Middle East within two months if we persevere -- ``realist'' critics dismiss it as terminally naive.

But the double standard for behaviour on their own continent versus what is acceptable in the rest of the world is as old as time. After all, how many times has genocide been committed right under our noses since the West declared "never again"?

Go forth and read.

2004-11-30T12:37:00.000-08:00

The situation is the Ukraine is intense and I hope that it will be resolved peacefully with Viktor Yushchenko as the winner. I do not wish for such an outcome merely because it would enhance the West's strategic interests, I also believe that a democratically elected government would be best for Ukrainians. Apparently so do a fair number of the protestors who have been camped out in Kiev. Situations like this always bring out some dissident leaders (this is one reason that I occassionally regret living in such a stable country, no chances for a grand, sweeping revolution, change moves so slowly, even with the "conservative" party in complete control of the federal government. Just my youthful romanticism of revolutions, I really am grateful to live in a stable democracy). Anyway, I am sure I had a point when I started this...

Right dissident leaders. I am very impressed with the number of journalists who has decided to stand up to the government owned broadcasting company and refuse to tell their lies, joining in the protests. One of the most poignant stories is that of NATALYA DMITRUK’s silent protest. She is a sign language interpreter for the media and during a broadcast of the evening news in which the anchor announced that Prime Minister Yanukovych had won the election, she diverged from the script without her colleagues becoming aware of what she was doing and, while wearing a ribbon of opposition orange tied around her wrist, she signed:

“I am addressing all the deaf citizens of Ukraine...Our President is Yushchenko. Don’t believe what they say. They are lying...My soul is heavy that I had to repeat these lies...I will not do it again. I don’t know if we’ll see each other again.”

She then walked out of the studio and joined the protests.

I wonder where I can get an orange ribbon...

2004-03-28T04:19:00.000-08:00

ok, here i go on my very first post...

it has been an interesting few weeks in the world. terrorist attacks in madrid being an obvious case in point but its the other stories that disturb me the most, the little things that no one ever seems to notice. like the 500 rebels killed in Nepal...the shooting of the Tawainese politicians on the very eve of elections...bombs found buried under the train tracks in France... and i am sure that there is a whole host of other noteworthy incidents that i have nonetheless managed not to take note of and i go out of my way to read at least 3 news sources a day. i guess things just move a bit too quickly to keep up with everything.

but i digress, this is primarily a personal blog, actually its more of a forum for me to rant to my hearts content with no outside interference...so in an effort to link the preceding paragraph i will tell you about an incident that occurred this thursday on the tube here in sunny london. i was on my way to class in kensington when my train stopped in a tunnell...trains do this a lot so i didn't think much about it until the driver announced exactly why we had stopped..."there is a signal delay at the south kensington station, a train is stopped at the platform and police have board to search the train"...exactly what everyone wishes to hear in the midst of renewed concern over hte safety of commuting via public transport in major european cities.