Category: Uncategorized

Nate has a little Pan-Galactic book club aborning at his site, which made me wonder if it might be interesting to put together a community book review collection over at voxday.net. I have a distinct review form in mind, and I’m thinking that if Digital Cowboy and I designed the forms for automated entry, the reasonably well-read collection of people here would be able to put together a fairly solid selection of book reviews that might be of use to people in short order.

Is anyone amenable to the suggestion? Let me know if you:

a) like the idea and would like to contribute reviews;

b) like the idea and would like to read reviews;

c) think it’s a dumb idea as one can find plenty of reviews at Amazon.

Basically, I like to see reviews hitting the four distinct aspects of a novel: Story, Style, Characters and Creativity. For example, I would rate Tanith Lee very high on style, somewhat high on creativity, and much lower on story and characters, whereas Rowlins would tend to score much higher on characters and story than on style.

We spend a lot of time discussing the merits of third party voting here, but as I’ve now run across a fourth distinct source that believes that the election will be canceled in between now and November, I thought that I’d at least bring one of the more interestingly paranoid theories to your attention. Is any of this real? I couldn’t possibly say. The only thing of which I am sure is that there are real unanswered questions about the events of 9/11, that there a number of what appear to be logical holes in the official story, and that history suggests that there is more of a power struggle going on beneath the surface than the average person following the national media would be likely to understand.

As a tangential example, I happen to know from a direct source that the story about smart missiles hitting Baghdad was false. The missiles weren’t that smart, instead, there were spotters who had infiltrated into Baghdad who were using lasers to guide the missiles into their targets. A minor inaccuracy, sure, but a blatant misrepresentation of the facts by the government nonetheless. As to the assertion that Israel tested out some of its tactical – if tactical is the word for something that can strike from 600 miles away – nukes in Iraq, I can’t say except that the radiation reported does seem far too high for it to be nothing but expended rounds of depleted uranium.

Conspiracy theory is the most accurate theory of history, the problem with using it to understand what is happening is that one seldom has any idea of which conspiracy is real and likely to be successful until it is all over. Lenin’s takeover of Russia was a conspiracy after all; how many attempts to take over the USA have been made, attempts of which we have never heard? Given Roman history, it stands to reason that more than one individual would very much like to take control of the most powerful military and wealthiest economy in the world.

AJ: Do you think the globalists are going to have the will to carry out another massive attack here in the U.S. to try to get control back over the population and get their agenda back on track? Or do you think they’ve calculated, computed as you said, that that will blow up in their face because so many people now know who the real terrorists are?

DGP: That’s a two-prong question, Alex. I think it deserves a studied answer. The only thing I can say is I’m not sure how it will turn out. But it is very dangerous.

AJ: From watching the globalists, I think they had a plan, they are still following a plan but I think they are shook-up. I think, from the evidence, in fact I know from the evidence, that a lot of things they planned haven’t gone according to schedule and so they don’t know what to do right now.

DGP: This is correct. I think it’s personified in the persona of the Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. They almost got him in Baghdad when they fired the salvo, one night, of weaponry and they scared Paul Wolfowitz off. He’s ready to resign or get the hell out.

AJ: You think that was U.S. forces doing that?

DGP: I believe it. It was very well planned again and ..

AJ: Yeah, only U.S. forces would know that he would be there. Yeah.

DGP: That is correct. And the precision of those weapons that came into the hotel. There were eleven rounds in all and I can speak from authenticity that they scared the hell out of Paul Wolfowitz.

I have to admit, I did wonder about that mysterious attempted hit on Wolfowitz, as the modus operandi was very distinct from the usual suicide vehicle, RPG ambush or gang of gunmen. It may a priori be a frightening thing to think that there may be elements in the military now in the midst of planning a coupe-de-etat, but then, it’s not necessarily the case that they are the bad guys either. Perhaps, if they are serious about their oaths to the Constitution, we might even see a return to Constitutional government. In these profoundly interesting times, the only thing of which we can be certain is that we do not have it now.

Could this simply be Y2K-style fearmongering writ large? Definitely. But as with Y2K, we’ll find out soon enough.

From the Borowitz Report:

EDWARDS ASKS KERRY TO STOP GRABBING HIS ASS

Public Displays of Affection ‘Distracting,’ Says Kerry’s No. 2

After a mere two days on the campaign trail, the first signs of tension between John Kerry and running mate John Edwards emerged today as Sen. Edwards requested, firmly and unequivocally, that Mr. Kerry stop grabbing his ass. “I think Sen. Kerry has made it very clear in our joint appearances that he is happy to have me on the ticket,” Mr. Edwards told reporters. “He really doesn’t have to prove it by repeatedly grabbing my ass.”

At a campaign stop in Pennsylvania today, Mr. Edwards was in the middle of a speech when he emitted a high-pitched yelp, apparently in response to yet another unexpected display of affection from Sen. Kerry. “Jesus, John,” a visibly annoyed Mr. Edwards said to Mr. Kerry, who merely stood behind him smiling mischievously.

In a sign that Mr. Kerry’s unwanted embraces may be taking their toll on the newly-minted vice-presidential candidate, Mr. Edwards departed from his prepared remarks, telling hs audience, “There are two Americas – one that gets to grab ass, and one that gets its ass grabbed.”

Intriguingly, a source confirmed that Mr. Kerry’s penchant for ass-grabbing was the principal reason Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Missouri) did not make the Democratic ticket: “The whole idea of it grossed Dick out.”

Elsewhere, indicted former Enron CEO Ken Lay today announced that he would seek amnesty by applying for a position as an Iraqi insurgent.

And in Washington, Attorney General John Ashcroft told all Americans to be on the lookout for a terror suspect disguised as an obese man wearing glasses and a baseball cap, accompanied by a documentary film crew.

If they have the Comunards play the convention, we’ll know it’s a serious relationship.

I remember shooting some hoops with my neighbor back in eighth grade. He was a junior, and a star shooting guard on one of the best basketball teams in the state. One afternoon in his driveway, he rapidly fired five shots from distance, in each case hitting nothing but net. He looked at me and said: “Damn, I’m good!”

I was feeling that after turning in next week’s column today. It’s not everyone who can draw a direct analogy between the Dalai Lama and the state of the nation. Ten points for anyone who can correctly ascertain the fundamental point of the column from that hint.

“I’ve been covering Washington and politics for 30 years [said one wire-service photographer]. I can say I’ve never seen this much touching between two men, publicly.” Indeed, editors determined to preserve the appearance of a little presidential dignity and campaign decorum on “the trail” are frustrated in their search for photographs suitable for a respectable mainstream newspaper. The photographers, keen competitors for the most startling shot of the day, naturally love it.

Karl Rove was a fool not to take my advice to pin John Kerry’s ears to the wall over homogamy a few months ago. Now that the sweet-lovin’ hugbuddies are getting so very personal in public, he’d have to be a complete idiot should he fail to take that ball, run with it up the field and spike the hootenanny out of that sucker under the goalposts.

I hope someone has the foresight to play “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” at their next joint press event, should they decide to get a little less frisky.

Candie believes she can get what she wants:

I think it’s time you jump into the time machine and return to 2004. I don’t think that just because I’m a woman I have to choose between a nice job or a nice husband. I’m not going to just lay down and play the ‘I’m a woman so I’m going to be submissive and silent’ game. If I want a college education and a doctorate, I’ll get it. If I want a husband and a family, I’ll get that too. But I’m not going to sacrifice one or the other just because I don’t have the same equipment you do.

Candie’s comment immediately brought to mind War and Peace, in which Tolstoy mocked those who believe that basic human realities change over time: “- mentioning “our days” as people of limited intelligence are fond of doing, imagining that they have discovered and appraised the peculiarities of “our days” and that human characteristics change with the times -”

There’s a huge gap between “submissive and silent” and “tyrannical bitch that never shuts up and brooks no disagreement”; what is frightening about these so-called “strong” women who are so emotionally fragile that they can neither bear nor defend themselves against criticism is that they can’t see it. They are so terrified of being viewed as outdated by those they’ve chosen as their peers – the Sisterhood – that they don’t even dare look at the situation with their eyes open and judge the facts for themselves.

It sounds to me as if Candie will likely not only get what she wants, she’ll get even more. A degree, a career, a husband, a divorce. Perhaps it she’ll marry a man who will one day realize that he doesn’t want to be married to a woman who is a bad wife and a worse mother, more likely, she’ll grow bored and discontent with the spineless jellyfish that is the sort of man these women tend to marry.

If you want to have it all, you’ll likely end up with far less than you could have had.

Here’s why I believe that there’s no reason to despair when America is again presented with a choice between Tweedle-corporatist and Tweedle-socialist this November. Consider the following facts:

1. John Kerry feels the need to lie about when life begins.

2. John Kerry feels the need to disguise his arch-liberal voting record.

3. John Kerry feels the need to pose for pictures killing birds with guns.

4. George Bush is unwilling to openly support the assault weapons ban.

5. George Bush is afraid to openly declare his support for LOST.

There is still some chance that the American vision can be reborn without a journey into chaos as long as those most dedicated to destroying it feel the need to conceal their true intentions. Sure, the masses are stupid and easily fooled, and the chances are very high that things will have to fall apart under the weight of the central State before the vision can be renewed. But there is hope.

Dian flexes her muscles and writes:

Actually the friends in my circle are all highly intelligent college graduates and/or self-made women (read: VPs, Tech Writers in Silicon Valley, Managers, etc.). This happens to scare the bejesus out of most men.

As a result, my circle of friends have married men who are either weaker in intelligence, education, or accomplishments than the males whom Vox proposes that most women marry “up” to. That is not to say we do not adore our husbands, who are construction workers, drivers, and techs.

Now, first, there’s absolutely nothing wrong in marrying “down”. But for a “highly intelligent college graduate” to say that female intelligence can “scare the bejesus out of most men” is absolutely risible. First, such females’ peers aren’t the least bit intimidated, as they’ve been using such females for at least four solid years before graduating from college, and another two to three years before grad school is done. That cures most of the intelligent males of any desire to waste any more time on what is surely the most conflict-prone, high maintenance group of people on the planet.

It’s entirely possible that smart women scare less intelligent men – I wouldn’t know – but it’s interesting to see how even smart, successful women attempt to evade responsibility for their failures. “It’s not that I’m an unpleasant bitch that no one wants to be around, it’s just that I’m so smart and strong and pretty that everyone is afraid. And in the place of the Dark Lord, there will be a Dark Queen! All shall love me and despair!”

I have news for Dian and everyone else prone to swallowing the Myth of the Strong Woman. Most men don’t fear women. Not at all. While some men may be appear to be afraid of their wives or girlfriends, their actual fear is that if they behave the “wrong” way, their wives won’t have sex with them. Those are two entirely different concepts. Fear of the strong woman” is nothing more than projection that reveals the inherent fear that the physically weaker sex naturally has of the stronger.

Now, Camille Paglia would argue that all men have an instinctive psycho-sexual fear of the cthonic Dionysian Great Mother, thus accounting for the rival Apollonian neuroses of homosexuality and the Church, but this is far outside the scope of Dian’s assertion as it applies to all women, not merely the educated, intelligent and financially successful.

I just thought that the following exchange from the Gargler’s blog deserved a re-airing:

NATE: Acceptable Man Behavior…

3) If your daddy, or grand-daddy dies, you get to cry.

4) Crying at any other time for any other reason is unacceptable….

BANE: I’ll cry any damn time I want to. I am very sensitive. I will probably cry while I am whipping your invincible ass. I cry where appropriate in movies. And then I blow my nose in the hair of the girl in front of me, and cry while I whip her boyfriend’s un-understanding ass. Your post makes me sniffle a little. God gave yuh tear ducts for more than clearing gunsmoke from your bloodshot eyes. Dammit.

NATE: Great. This is what I have to look forward to. When the shit hits the fan.. No doubt I’ll end up stuck in a foxhole with Bane… I’ll be cold… tired… and sittin’ there listenin’ to him cry. ***NOTE TO SELF*** Add suicide pill to Bug-out-bag.

Ah, yes, if Shakespeare had only been a crotchety, paranoid Southron, he would have dreamed of writing dialogue like this.

Everyone knows men who refuse to grow up. Most of them have the good sense to avoid marriage and children like the plague, knowing full well that they are unsuited for it. But this Newsweek article appears to demonstrate that some women, too, are developmentally challenged, and what is pehaps worse, are capable of becoming wives and mothers without either state propelling them beyond a child’s self-centered and superficial grasp of the world and how it operates.

In retrospect, Nadine understands what pushed her mother to be unfaithful. Beautiful and intelligent, her mother was stifled by her life’s low horizons, and her father, a stand-up guy, was probably a little bit boring. The new man promised travel, wealth and adventure; her father was the kind of guy who’d say, “Why go around the world? You’ll get plane-sick.”

I find the notion that boredom is an understandable reason to be unfaithful to be somewhat strange, especially in light of the fact that women tend to marry “up” in terms of intelligence. Who do you think is more likely to be bored with the other? Furthermore, I know far more married couples wherein it is the woman, with her nesting instinct, who refuses to contemplate gallivanting around the world, and yet I’ve never heard any of these men consider it a reasonable rationalization for unfaithfulness.

Strangest of all is the idea that “Sex in the City” should have any influence on one’s behavior. If a man began acting like James Bond because he was a fan of the films, one would think he was insane. Morality aside, any woman whose behavior and life philosophy is seriously affected by a television show should probably be committed to a mental institution on grounds of terminal shallowness.