Saturday morning sex.
I find myself a frequent reader of Audacia Ray’s Waking Vixen blog.
She often has some very interesting things to say and there’s the added bonus of visual stimuli accessible through the website.
She just updated her modeling portfolio and some of the shots are incredible. Definitely worth a gander if you like looking at naked ladies (nsfw).
There’s something about her in-your-face, no prisoners-no apologies approach towards life I find myself very envious of.
Jan 28, 2006
The museum in Nazareth.
Just an interesting story worth reading that’s a reminder no matter how pessimistic we can be about peace, there is always hope.
Just an interesting story worth reading that’s a reminder no matter how pessimistic we can be about peace, there is always hope.
Many Arabs believe that Israel uses sympathy for Jewish suffering during the Holocaust to gain support from the West, Mr Mahameed says.
Arab leaders, he says, think that by giving credence to the Holocaust they are legitimising Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
“But when Palestinians learn about the Holocaust they will understand the Jewish people better and can begin to develop a shared history,” says Mr Mahameed enthusiastically.
The truth on the ground.
Ironically, today was the first international day commemorating the Holocaust. Yet, it came during a week which saw Hamas gain a majority in the recent Palestinian election.
The question of how to deal with organizations like Hamas is nothing new:
Now that Hamas has won a majority what does this victory portend for the future?
Surprisingly enough, comparisons are being drawn between Hamas and Israel’s Likud party:
Hamas has long been an outsider in the peace process but, now with the election win the question becomes whether or not Hamas will soften it’s rhetoric. If it doesn’t, there will be a high price to pay:
Our world is daily becoming a smaller and smaller place. It is easy to recognize Hamas victory and the resultant events spawned by that victory will have repercussions throughout the region. Let’s hope for the best.
Ironically, today was the first international day commemorating the Holocaust. Yet, it came during a week which saw Hamas gain a majority in the recent Palestinian election.
The question of how to deal with organizations like Hamas is nothing new:
The first is that their stated aims are completely uncompromising. But there have been a number of times in the past when it is clear that there were deep, profound differences between different wings and different leaders and different trends within Hamas over whether to come to terms with the PA, indeed, even whether to comes to terms with Israel, at least in the short-term.
Now that Hamas has won a majority what does this victory portend for the future?
For years, there has been growing discontent among Palestinians with Fatah’s corrupt and ineffective governance. In going to the polls, many voters were expressing their frustration with the ruling party’s failure to deliver peace, implement reforms, improve living conditions or free the Palestinians from their shackles of poverty and unemployment. By casting votes for Hamas, many voters were hitting back at Fatah for its failures, rather than expressing their support for the Islamist party.
Surprisingly enough, comparisons are being drawn between Hamas and Israel’s Likud party:
Ladies and Gentlemen, may we introduce ... Hamas - the new Likud. It’s 1977 all over again, People of Israel. Once again, everything we knew, is wrong.
Hamas has long been an outsider in the peace process but, now with the election win the question becomes whether or not Hamas will soften it’s rhetoric. If it doesn’t, there will be a high price to pay:
Former President Carter said the United States, by law, would have to cut off direct funding to the Palestinian Authority as soon as Hamas takes control, but it should look for other ways to give money to the Palestinians, such as through the United Nations. Hamas has been branded a terrorist group by the U.S. and Europe.
“United States law would require that the money would be cut off if Hamas is in the government, so that’s a foregone conclusion,” Carter told The Associated Press.
Our world is daily becoming a smaller and smaller place. It is easy to recognize Hamas victory and the resultant events spawned by that victory will have repercussions throughout the region. Let’s hope for the best.
There is no doubt that the surprising Hamas victory in the Palestinian Authority elections has created a new reality in the region, which also has international implications. Everyone who has anything to do with the conflict, and every country that is concerned with matters of Islamization, will have to examine what has happened -especially Israel.
Israel will be the crucial factor in determining the international attitude, and even the attitude of the Arab world, with respect to this new development. Everyone will be waiting for Israel's reaction with bated breath. Any mistake it makes in the analysis of the situation and the response it necessitates will determine the nature of the others' reaction.
Another home run.
Erik Larsen manages to hit another one right out of the park in this week’s column:
Erik Larsen manages to hit another one right out of the park in this week’s column:
How many times are you guys going to fall for the whole “Spider-Man’s getting a new costume that sucks and it’s going to replace the old one that rocks” trick? Marvel has been pulling this one off for decades now and every time you guys take the bait—every time.
This is not going to replace the old costume for the long haul. You will not see this costume on Spider-Man in 10, 20, 30 years—by then he’ll be wearing some other shitty costume and you’ll be moaning about that.
Jan 27, 2006
Let’s play RISK.
Let’s see now, I’ve got my armies on your western border and your eastern border. I have alliances with the other country on your eastern border. A short hop across the body of water on your west I have a strategic military base. You are surrounded, should you be afraid?
But, are things really that simple?
In the coming months, Iran will take center stage in a way North Korea has yet to. American troops are on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq, there is implicit military cooperation between the US and the government of Pakistan and then there is the question of oil. Iran hiccups and the world gets nervous. Still, other noises coming from Iran recently have given many cause for concern:
Well, should we even pay attention to statements like this?
The thing is, we are on the outside looking in. There are regional concerns beyond the dynamic between Israel and Iran.
These are serious questions facing American foreign policymakers in the coming months. Issues which will undoubtedly be placed in the forefront as midterm elections grow ever closer. What we are going to have to ask ourselves and what the world community will also have to ponder is basically by standing by and allowing Iran to continue to make progress in their nuclear program are we in essence making the same mistake committed in the Munich Agreement?
How can we avoid making the same mistakes Neville Chamberlain made?
We are at a crossroads. We need to differentiate between the government of Iran and its people.
It will be interesting to see how our current administration handles this conundrum. We cannot simply invade Iran.
Many in our government though, are increasingly speaking about military intervention as an option:
Confusing Iran with Iraq would be a big mistake.
We are also confronting other interests that don’t want to see the US expand their role in the region. I think the challenge we are now facing is simply put whether or not we can show restraint. Will our foreign policy be marked by hamhanded decisions ultimately making matters worse or will we allow the world community to recognize the threat for what it is and find ways to effect change in Iran. How deftly can we handle the coming crisis? This is a watershed moment for George Bush, stay tuned.
Let’s see now, I’ve got my armies on your western border and your eastern border. I have alliances with the other country on your eastern border. A short hop across the body of water on your west I have a strategic military base. You are surrounded, should you be afraid?
The first embassy bombing [in April 1983] I think they were involved in; the Marine [barracks] bombing in October 1983; September 1984, the second embassy bombing. And you know what? The Americans [then] leave. This is a successful policy for them [the bombers]. And what comes in place [after that]? Hezbollah is found in 1985. It’s an alternative to the Lebanese government; it’s an Islamic party. It mirrors the government in Tehran. ... And then you add on to this that Hezbollah drives Israel out of Lebanon, the first victory against the Israelis ever.
So what we have today, if you want to expand this analysis, [is] Hamas, the Islamic Jihad in Palestine and Gaza carrying out war successfully against Sharon. And the Iranians back in Tehran say, “We’re winning. This is the way you fight a war. This is how you defeat F-16s, this is how you defeat aircraft carriers. We beat the United States, we beat the Israelis in Lebanon, and we're going to beat ’em in Palestine.”
This is a strong message. I don’t care how secular Iran becomes. They still look at the United States, Britain, and France as colonizing powers, and this is the final war ending colonization in the Middle East, using Islam. So for the Iranians, it’s very, very logical. We as Americans say, “Well, it’s not. We were peacekeepers in Lebanon.” They don't look at it that way. Or as Americans, we say, “You can't kidnap innocent people, journalists, priests, people like that. It’s wrong.” They look at it differently. It’s a war of civilizations for them. And it was very successful, frankly, and cheap.
But, are things really that simple?
First of all, Iran was the only country in the region whose people came out in droves (over 40,000) to light candles in support of the U.S. after Sept. 11, and since then they have had many demonstrations in Tehran, Isfahan, and other cities, staged by students, workers, and teachers. The main slogans have consistently been: “Death to Taliban,” “Death to Terrorism,” “Free all political prisoners,” “Khatami, Khatami, Honesty.” There have been demands for freedom of expression and freedom of press, and even a demand for a referendum on the constitution and the Islamic rule. This is why it is of utmost importance to differentiate between the people and the government.
In the coming months, Iran will take center stage in a way North Korea has yet to. American troops are on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq, there is implicit military cooperation between the US and the government of Pakistan and then there is the question of oil. Iran hiccups and the world gets nervous. Still, other noises coming from Iran recently have given many cause for concern:
“For over half a century, those who seek to prove the Holocaust have used every podium to defend their position. Now they should listen to others,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, was quoted as saying Tuesday by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
Ahmadinejad already had called the Nazis’ World War II slaughter of 6 million European Jews a “myth” and said the Jewish state should be “wiped off the map.”
Well, should we even pay attention to statements like this?
Jane’s Defence Weekly, the Bible of intelligence and defense industry matters, reported last month that Iran had acquired ballistic missiles from North Korea with a range of at least 2,500 kilometers, or about 1,550 miles, which means they could easily reach Israel.
Its sister publication Jane’s Intelligence Digest said as the New Year began, “We predict that the likelihood of pre-emptive military action by either the U.S. or Israel — or both — will be far higher in 2006.”
The thing is, we are on the outside looking in. There are regional concerns beyond the dynamic between Israel and Iran.
The nuclear crisis is focused on Iran. But the truth is that is not how the conflict should necessarily be seen. Strategically, the crisis should be regarded from a regional perspective. It is not enough to ask if extremist Shi'ite Iran will go nuclear but whether the Middle East will be transformed in its wake into a region with a number of nuclear countries. Not a bipolar nuclear region, but multi-polar, including perhaps terror groups which raises doubts whether it would be possible to prevent the use of nuclear weapons in the region.
These are serious questions facing American foreign policymakers in the coming months. Issues which will undoubtedly be placed in the forefront as midterm elections grow ever closer. What we are going to have to ask ourselves and what the world community will also have to ponder is basically by standing by and allowing Iran to continue to make progress in their nuclear program are we in essence making the same mistake committed in the Munich Agreement?
How can we avoid making the same mistakes Neville Chamberlain made?
Iranian leaders are in no small measure responsible for the changing tide of opinion against them. Their handling of the nuclear issue has changed radically since only a little over a year ago. At the end of 2004, in Paris, they agreed to a voluntary halt in their uranium enrichment activities until an agreement over the issue could be struck with the Troika. Contrary to the claim of current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that move was not a “compromise,” but rather a very astute manoeuvre at the appropriate time. As long as Iran was involved in negotiations with Europe, regardless of how wildly they fluctuated between near success and near failure, Tehran enjoyed a form of international cover, which protected it from the escalating onslaught from Washington and beneath which it could strengthen its hand against the US by consolidating its regional influence and, more importantly, securing allies in positions of power in Iraq.
We are at a crossroads. We need to differentiate between the government of Iran and its people.
...some 4,000 Iranian student activists were arrested after protests in Tehran and other cities in June 2003 and at least 500 remain in prison for their democratic beliefs. Amir Fakhravar, a student movement leader and hero, is among the men and women Kokan will attempt to make contact with while in Iran. Punished for writing a book promoting democracy and free speech, Fakhravar is serving an eight-year prison sentence at Qasr Prison in Tehran.
It will be interesting to see how our current administration handles this conundrum. We cannot simply invade Iran.
Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, is ringed by mountains, is roughly four times the size of Iraq and has almost three times its population. Its military numbers almost 900,000 soldiers and reservists and has long-range missiles that can reach Israel or Europe.
Many in our government though, are increasingly speaking about military intervention as an option:
The Bush administration—and, increasingly, leading Democrats—have been speaking out with growing urgency about preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear threat. What is not stressed enough is that Iran is not just a potential menace -- it is a clear and present danger right now. The radical Islamists in Tehran bankroll the world's deadliest terrorists. They foment violence in Iraq. They lied for 18 years about their nuclear activities.
Those concerns were heightened in 2002, when a dissident Iranian group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, helped expose clandestine nuclear facilities at Natanz and Arak.
This exposure forced Iran to declare the facilities to the IAEA, as Tehran is a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It was not just the secrecy that set off alarms in the US, but the nature of the newly revealed sites - and Natanz, in particular.
Confusing Iran with Iraq would be a big mistake.
Islamic fundamentalists believe that the only guarantee to fulfill their so-called Islamic mandate—such as regressive, cruel and inhuman social relations and in particular their well-known misogyny—is the acquisition of unchallenged political power. In their drive for such power they misuse the Muslim masses’ religious sentiments quite skillfully as the Nazis misused the pent-up German desire to make-up for Germany’s defeat in the First World War.
We are also confronting other interests that don’t want to see the US expand their role in the region. I think the challenge we are now facing is simply put whether or not we can show restraint. Will our foreign policy be marked by hamhanded decisions ultimately making matters worse or will we allow the world community to recognize the threat for what it is and find ways to effect change in Iran. How deftly can we handle the coming crisis? This is a watershed moment for George Bush, stay tuned.
Jan 24, 2006
The trade.
Baseball season is closing in now, which makes me very happy. Sorry to see Kris Benson go - same goes for Bredon Looper, Mike Piazza, Jose Offerman, Roberto Hernandez, Jae Seo but, that’s baseball these days.
I hope Omar isn’t finished though. One thing I would like to see if he could pull off would be Victor Zambrano to Boston, David Wells to Oakland, John Maine to Oakland and Barry Zito to New York. Zambrano was known as something of a Yankee killer during his days with the Devil Rays - he’s younger than Wells and Well’s wants out of Boston (to play on the West coast). The A’s get Wells (his West Coast team) and Maine who I have heard they were hungry for and have something to show for Zito before he escapes due to free agency.
Baseball season is closing in now, which makes me very happy. Sorry to see Kris Benson go - same goes for Bredon Looper, Mike Piazza, Jose Offerman, Roberto Hernandez, Jae Seo but, that’s baseball these days.
I hope Omar isn’t finished though. One thing I would like to see if he could pull off would be Victor Zambrano to Boston, David Wells to Oakland, John Maine to Oakland and Barry Zito to New York. Zambrano was known as something of a Yankee killer during his days with the Devil Rays - he’s younger than Wells and Well’s wants out of Boston (to play on the West coast). The A’s get Wells (his West Coast team) and Maine who I have heard they were hungry for and have something to show for Zito before he escapes due to free agency.
Jan 23, 2006
Embracing my inner geek.
Would you believe someone has actually gone out and produced new episodes of Star Trek TOS? They’re available for download here - haven’t watched any of it yet so I can’t speak to the quality but apparently there are many membors of the original production involved. Bandwidth is required.
Would you believe someone has actually gone out and produced new episodes of Star Trek TOS? They’re available for download here - haven’t watched any of it yet so I can’t speak to the quality but apparently there are many membors of the original production involved. Bandwidth is required.
Jan 22, 2006
On the heels of the SPAM entry.
Mike forwarded along a link to me that anyone who hates SPAM will find useful. The next time you get some SPAM you might want to point the originator of said SPAM to the Break The Chain site.
Mike forwarded along a link to me that anyone who hates SPAM will find useful. The next time you get some SPAM you might want to point the originator of said SPAM to the Break The Chain site.
Data mining and you.
If you’ve been asleep lately (and we all hibernate during the winter) maybe, you’ll have missed this jewel:
But wait, it gets better!
Just where is the information about all this coming from?
So, the question for today is: if we give up the civil liberties making this nation a becon for the world’s oppressed — if, in an attempt to make our lives ‘safe and secure’ we relinquish all those wonderful checks and balances put into place through the years to prevent the abuse of power by our own government — will the terrorists have won?
If you’ve been asleep lately (and we all hibernate during the winter) maybe, you’ll have missed this jewel:
A year ago, at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Fla., a small group of activists met to plan a protest of military recruiting at local high schools. What they didn’t know was that their meeting had come to the attention of the U.S. military.
But wait, it gets better!
Below are excerpts from search engine's privacy policies regarding the disclosure of information for legal purposes:
Just where is the information about all this coming from?
“I specialized in what’s called special access programs,” Tice said of his job. “We called them ‘black world’ programs and operations.”
But now, Tice tells ABC News that some of those secret “black world” operations run by the NSA were operated in ways that he believes violated the law. He is prepared to tell Congress all he knows about the alleged wrongdoing in these programs run by the Defense Department and the NSA in the post-9/11 efforts to go after terrorists.
So, the question for today is: if we give up the civil liberties making this nation a becon for the world’s oppressed — if, in an attempt to make our lives ‘safe and secure’ we relinquish all those wonderful checks and balances put into place through the years to prevent the abuse of power by our own government — will the terrorists have won?
Jan 20, 2006
Today’s DUMBASS Award.
Drumroll please... Today’s winner is!
CHUCK ZUBAK [mailto:czubak@adelphia.net]
Chuck is our winner today for being enough of an idiot as to forward what we called in the days before the internet - a chain letter! Nowadays we have another name for it: SPAM!
Chuck was the originator of this email that managed to find it’s way to:HAROLD PETERS; ALAN & SUE VAN NESS; Andy Prettyman; Bob (Missy); Frank & Cindy Arico; GREG SCHULTZ; KAREN W.; Kevin & Sherry; Mary Clare Decker; Patrick Mulvoy; RUSS SULLIVAN; SID NIPER; Ted; QUALITY AUTO; John Meyer; JOHN DOTTERWEICH; Jodi C; JIM OWINGS; Jeff Nip; Chris Hull ; Braden Niper; michael; laura weingartner; ccvalentine; TYSMOM4; sid niper; jeanetteg3, parris weingartner; annereck; jaybirdcheryl; christinev; christykota; dpricern36; doug.davis; Lou4Bru; flirtygirty2u2005; mpriori; msptrpan77; mikelang; duets4one; tgalisewski; TDavis; beaverroof; Paul Barnes; Cathy Bomba; Mary & Tommy Damato; Elizabeth Langowsky; John & Eileen Langowsky; Mike Langowsky; Paul Langowsky; aryellowbeetle; yelnif; basketcase1177; tmadamato; jjl5; szymanskik; mckilo5; michelejb; ngarbarino; salena; Andrea Kennedy; Allison Civitella; Kate Plasson; Lisa Yediny; Lynette Capone; Maria Algarra; pudgey; Patsy Matusiak; Melissa Fragale; Vincent Burdelski Burdelski; Bobbe; Justine Brundage; Cathy Contey; Jennie Sama; Kathie Wilson; Anne Mackenzie; shirley Donan; Gerry Kuczynski; Linda Schaefer; Eleanor Hollister; Shari Matusiak; Sarah Redpath; Elizabeth Maykish; Jane Sullivan; Sylvia Watkins; Maureen Esposito; Jean Fryar; shhd; huffmara; rkoeleveld; l.kehn
Speaking for all the aforementioned people, I want to take the time out to thank Chuck who started this by forwarding an email which subsequently was forwarded and forwarded again - each time containing the valid email addresses of the recipients.
Without Chuck’s efforts, poor spammers from around the world would have no livelihood and what a world that would be! Where would we all be without the latest info on the Nigerian money waiting for us, the easy way to buy prescription drugs, the latest developments in the world of porn, or the need to update our security profile with our personal information. What a lonely day it would be to open our email box and find it devoid of all those interesting opportunities and reminders.
Let’s hear it for CHUCK! Yaaaaaayyyyyyyyy Chuck!
Now then, let’s help Chuck receive the second part of his award.
Remember Chuck’s email? Well, if you forgot it, it’s: czubak@adelphia.net
Next time you log onto that porn site, or have to create an account for biz rate or some other phishing site, don’t forget to use Chuck’s email address as the respondent email.
YES! CHUCK LOVES SPAM! and none of us want him to go hungry so be sure to use his email otherwise poor Chuck will be down from the lack of attention and response he got from his efforts!
One more time everyone! Yaaaaaaayyyyyyy CHUCK!
Drumroll please... Today’s winner is!
CHUCK ZUBAK [mailto:czubak@adelphia.net]
Chuck is our winner today for being enough of an idiot as to forward what we called in the days before the internet - a chain letter! Nowadays we have another name for it: SPAM!
Subject: FW:
??
???
Hope the Leprechaun dances his jig for you! I had to forward this, my mom swears it works. The day after she sent it, they got an offer on their land on the Swannee river, they have'nt even seen that land since 1987. It came out of the blue. So you know that I'm going to try it. Love Kim
Not sure if this had anything to do with it but it was shortly after I sent this out - I got a call to say our bond was approved - against all odds.
I don't know if it works but i won a new fridge full of various cool drinks from Beyer And Beyer last week.
I do not know if it works, but I won a microwave yesterday. Seems like it
Hey !! Good luck to everyone! And may all your dreams come true!!
This may sound nuts, but my husband got this the other day and sent it off. About 10 minutes later a really good financial windfall happened for his son Sean who he had sent it too as well. One of the people he sent it to was responsible for the windfall.
AN IRISH FRIENDSHIP WISH
Good Luck!! I hope it works...
May there always be work for your hands to do; May your purse always hold a coin or two; May the sun always shine on your windowpane; May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain; May the hand of a friend always be near you; May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
OK, this is what you have to do... Send this to all of your friends! But - you HAVE to send this within 1 hour from when you open it!
Now.................Make A wish!!!!!!
I hope you made your wish! Now then, if you send to:
1 person — your wish will be granted in 1 year / 3 people — 6 months / 5 people — 3 months / 6 people — 1 month / 7 people — 2 weeks / 8 people — 1 week / 9 people — 5 days / 10 people — 3 days / 12 people — 2 days / 15 people — 1 day / 20 people — 3 hours
If you delete this after you read it. you will have 1 year of bad luck! But... if you send it 2 of your friends you will automatically have 3 years of good luck!!!
:-)
Chuck was the originator of this email that managed to find it’s way to:
Speaking for all the aforementioned people, I want to take the time out to thank Chuck who started this by forwarding an email which subsequently was forwarded and forwarded again - each time containing the valid email addresses of the recipients.
Without Chuck’s efforts, poor spammers from around the world would have no livelihood and what a world that would be! Where would we all be without the latest info on the Nigerian money waiting for us, the easy way to buy prescription drugs, the latest developments in the world of porn, or the need to update our security profile with our personal information. What a lonely day it would be to open our email box and find it devoid of all those interesting opportunities and reminders.
Let’s hear it for CHUCK! Yaaaaaayyyyyyyyy Chuck!
Now then, let’s help Chuck receive the second part of his award.
Remember Chuck’s email? Well, if you forgot it, it’s: czubak@adelphia.net
Next time you log onto that porn site, or have to create an account for biz rate or some other phishing site, don’t forget to use Chuck’s email address as the respondent email.
YES! CHUCK LOVES SPAM! and none of us want him to go hungry so be sure to use his email otherwise poor Chuck will be down from the lack of attention and response he got from his efforts!
One more time everyone! Yaaaaaaayyyyyyy CHUCK!
Phoning it in.
So, MC OBL has made a reappearance in the news with the release of his new tape:
The vague offer of a truce — coupled with a threat of another attack on the U.S. — was made in an audiotape released by the Arab television network Al-Jazeera. It brought new attention to the al-Qaida leader after a yearlong lull in his public statements.
It’s been awhile now since MC’s last recording and since he’s had any hits. Take the latest for what it’s worth – I discount anything he says.
Funny thing is, I was thinking about this latest tape today and it occured to me there might be some kind of answering machine set up in Egypt or Oman. You know, very low tech just something you plug into a phone jack. One of those answering machines where as long as you keep talking the tape keeps going until the tape runs out. I had this mental picture of OBL at a phone booth somewhere looking for quarters or using a phone card and calling this number somewhere in Egypt or Oman.
At the beginning of the call or a day before, there would be a message like, “Hey guys, it’s Osama here. Been laying low these days but I wanted to call in and make another tape so if you can have the machine set up tomorrow that would be terrific. I’ll call in with a new message and if you guys can send the tape over to Al-Jazerra that would be cool.”
And then, the next day he just calls in and reads this thing off into the answering machine and a day or two later it’s big news. The only other guy I can remember doing something like that recently was Pat O’Brien after he left those messages on a women’s voicemail with all the sex talk (NSFW - unless you have headphones).
It’s just a funny image of this guy, disguised as a woman somewhere, standing around and talking into a phone for an hour (that’s OBL not Pat O’Brien – although I can see why some might get confused if they heard O’Brien’s comments).
So, MC OBL has made a reappearance in the news with the release of his new tape:
The vague offer of a truce — coupled with a threat of another attack on the U.S. — was made in an audiotape released by the Arab television network Al-Jazeera. It brought new attention to the al-Qaida leader after a yearlong lull in his public statements.
It’s been awhile now since MC’s last recording and since he’s had any hits. Take the latest for what it’s worth – I discount anything he says.
Funny thing is, I was thinking about this latest tape today and it occured to me there might be some kind of answering machine set up in Egypt or Oman. You know, very low tech just something you plug into a phone jack. One of those answering machines where as long as you keep talking the tape keeps going until the tape runs out. I had this mental picture of OBL at a phone booth somewhere looking for quarters or using a phone card and calling this number somewhere in Egypt or Oman.
At the beginning of the call or a day before, there would be a message like, “Hey guys, it’s Osama here. Been laying low these days but I wanted to call in and make another tape so if you can have the machine set up tomorrow that would be terrific. I’ll call in with a new message and if you guys can send the tape over to Al-Jazerra that would be cool.”
And then, the next day he just calls in and reads this thing off into the answering machine and a day or two later it’s big news. The only other guy I can remember doing something like that recently was Pat O’Brien after he left those messages on a women’s voicemail with all the sex talk (NSFW - unless you have headphones).
It’s just a funny image of this guy, disguised as a woman somewhere, standing around and talking into a phone for an hour (that’s OBL not Pat O’Brien – although I can see why some might get confused if they heard O’Brien’s comments).
Jan 19, 2006
The gates of damnation await!
I find this incredibly funny, which probably means an eternity in a very warm place:
Mrs. McMillan, you have to admit your son Jody is pretty gullible. I’m pretty sure he still thinks Spider-Man is a real guy.
I find this incredibly funny, which probably means an eternity in a very warm place:
Mrs. McMillan, you have to admit your son Jody is pretty gullible. I’m pretty sure he still thinks Spider-Man is a real guy.
Life’s near misses.
So, I was in the city for various and sundry reasons yesterday. We had a spot of interesting weather, I don’t want to jinx it but, it’s almost the end of January and I am really happy at this point. Yesterday, some kind of freak warm front came sweeping through the area. Of course, it was a dramatic change in temperature and accompanying that were really strong winds and rain. I’ll take strong winds and rain in January over the alternative any day of the week thank you very much.
Maybe though, strong winds isn’t really putting it aptly because these things were gusting up to 70 miles per hour in some spots. Tractor trailers turned over on two bridges in the area causing all sorts of delays, branches were down all over, people lost power.
Me, I drove into the city for an appointment and was walking along 8th Street. It was late afternoon, the rain was gone and the only thing which remained was the occasional gust of wind. As I’m walking up 8th just up from 6th Avenue (and desperately fighting off the compelling aroma wafting from Gray’s Papaya) to my right about a foot or so behind me is a loud crash. Me, I was on the cell at that particular moment so, it was just another thing competing for my attention. I kind of turned around, stared momentarily dumbly not quite registering what had just happened and kept walking as another pedestrian passed me and said, “You’re pretty lucky.”
And, I guess I am.
It wasn’t a big piece of glass but it was a window pane measuring about 12" X 12" which had fallen out of one of the windows of the building I had been walking in front of. I don’t know if it would have done serious damage, it fell from the third or fourth story of the building but, it certainly would have hurt.
Of course, I had nowhere near the kind of day Elayne did because of the storm, she’s lucky too!
So, I was in the city for various and sundry reasons yesterday. We had a spot of interesting weather, I don’t want to jinx it but, it’s almost the end of January and I am really happy at this point. Yesterday, some kind of freak warm front came sweeping through the area. Of course, it was a dramatic change in temperature and accompanying that were really strong winds and rain. I’ll take strong winds and rain in January over the alternative any day of the week thank you very much.
Maybe though, strong winds isn’t really putting it aptly because these things were gusting up to 70 miles per hour in some spots. Tractor trailers turned over on two bridges in the area causing all sorts of delays, branches were down all over, people lost power.
Me, I drove into the city for an appointment and was walking along 8th Street. It was late afternoon, the rain was gone and the only thing which remained was the occasional gust of wind. As I’m walking up 8th just up from 6th Avenue (and desperately fighting off the compelling aroma wafting from Gray’s Papaya) to my right about a foot or so behind me is a loud crash. Me, I was on the cell at that particular moment so, it was just another thing competing for my attention. I kind of turned around, stared momentarily dumbly not quite registering what had just happened and kept walking as another pedestrian passed me and said, “You’re pretty lucky.”
And, I guess I am.
It wasn’t a big piece of glass but it was a window pane measuring about 12" X 12" which had fallen out of one of the windows of the building I had been walking in front of. I don’t know if it would have done serious damage, it fell from the third or fourth story of the building but, it certainly would have hurt.
Of course, I had nowhere near the kind of day Elayne did because of the storm, she’s lucky too!
Be afraid, be very afraid.
How much of our lives are spent in fear? It’s something I’ve thought a lot about over the past few months.
Fear is a horrible thing. It’s used as justification in really bad decision making, whether on the personal level, a societal level, a species level. The self preservation instinct is based somewhat upon fear and that’s something you’d have a lot of trouble casting aspersions on but, when you get right down to it more often than not being afraid seldom is helpful.
The reason I bring the subject up is because I’ve come to realize I’ve spent a majority of my life being afraid of one thing or another.
I remember there was a friend I use to house sit for two decades back. I loved being able to house sit if only to get out of the crappy space I was living in at the time. The only thing I found very disarming was this painting he had done which hung prominently in the living room. It was a birds’ eye view of a small boy walking alone through an alley. It had very dramatic perspective but, the unsettling thing I found looking at it was the expression on the boy’s face.
It was a combination of sadness and fear.
The funny thing was, the painting always felt to be more an accident than anything else, I never attributed the ability or skill to my friend to capture the particular emotion so vividly. No, it was more a matter about what I brought to the table, emotional baggage. The results of a hard journey through life so, when I looked at the painting, saw the expression upon the boy’s face, it made me uncomfortable because I knew the feelings behind it all too well. The isolation etched in those features, the horror felt so deeply it seemed to ooze from his pores.
Anyway, being in a bit of an introspective phase and having to deal with quite a few crises over the last few months have made me focus on the direction I would like life to take. At least that is part of what goes in in my quieter moments. The thing I realize I want more than anything as I move forward through life is to stop being afraid, to stop allowing fear to consume or paralyze me. To vanquish the fear within me and really enjoy each day to its fullest.
Everybody’s life would be a bit better with a little less fear, case in point:
acarophobia fear of itching or of insects causing itching
acrophobia fear of heights
aerophobia fear of flying or draughts
agoraphobia fear of open spaces
agyiophobia fear of crossing busy streets
aichmophobia fear of sharp or pointed objects
ailurophobia fear of cats
algophobia fear of pain
amathophobia fear of dust
amaxophobia fear of riding in a car
ambulophobia fear of walking
anglophobia fear of England or the English
anthrophobia fear of humans
anuptaphobia fear of staying single
aquaphobia fear of water
arachibutyrophobia fear of peanut butter sticking to roof of mouth
arachnophobia fear of spiders
astraphobia fear of being struck by lightning
astrapophobia fear of thunder and lightning
automysophobia fear of being dirty
autophobia fear of solitude
ballistophobia fear of missiles
bathophobia fear of falling from a high place
batophobia fear of heights or being close to tall buildings
batrachophobia fear of frogs and toads
belonephobia fear of pins and needles
bibliophobia fear of books
blennophobia fear of slime
brontophobia fear of thunder and lightning
cancerophobia fear of cancer
cathisophobia fear of sitting
cenophobia fear of empty spaces
chrematophobia fear of money
cibophobia fear of or distaste for food
claustrophobia fear of closed spaces
climacophobia fear of falling down stairs
clinophobia fear of staying in bed
cremnophobia fear of cliffs and precipices
cyberphobia fear of computers
cynophobia fear of dogs
dromophobia fear of crossing streets
dysmorphophobia fear of physical deformities
ecophobia fear of home
eleutherophobia fear of freedom
eosophobia fear of dawn
ergasiophobia fear of work
ergophobia fear of work
erotophobia fear of sex
erythrophobia fear of red lights or of blushing
euphobia fear of good news
Francophobia fear of France or the French
gallophobia fear of France or the French
gamophobia fear of marriage
geniophobia fear of chins
genophobia fear of sex
gerascophobia fear of growing old
graphophobia fear of writing
gymnophobia fear of nudity
heliophobia fear of sunlight
herpetophobia fear of snakes
hierophobia fear of sacred things
homichlophobia fear of fog
homophobia fear of homosexuals
hydrophobia fear of water
hypsophobia fear of high places
iatrophobia fear of going to the doctor
iconophobia fear or hatred of images
kainotophobia fear of change
kakorrhaphiophobia fear of failure
kenophobia fear of empty spaces
ligyrophobia fear of loud noises
linonophobia fear of string
lygophobia fear of darkness
lyssophobia fear of hydrophobia
macrophobia fear of prolonged waiting
metrophobia fear of poetry
monophobia fear of being alone
muriphobia fear of mice
myophobia fear of mice
mysophobia fear of contamination or dirt
nebulaphobia fear of fog
necrophobia fear of corpses
negrophobia fear of blacks
neophobia fear of novelty
nosophobia fear of disease
novercaphobia fear of one's stepmother
nyctophobia fear of the night or darkness
ochlophobia fear of crowds
oenophobia fear or hatred of wine
ombrophobia fear of rain
onomatophobia fear of hearing a certain word
ophidiophobia fear of snakes
ophthalmophobia fear of being stared at
optophobia fear of opening one’s eyes
ornithophobia fear of birds
paedophobia fear of children; fear of dolls
panophobia melancholia marked by groundless fears
pantophobia fear of everything
parthophobia fear of virgins
pathophobia fear of disease
pediculophobia fear of lice
pentheraphobia fear or hatred of one’s mother-in-law
phagophobia fear of eating
phengophobia fear of daylight
phonophobia fear of noise or of speaking aloud
photophobia fear of light
pogonophobia fear of beards
psychrophobia fear of the cold
pteronophobia fear of being tickled by feathers
pyrophobia fear of fire
Russophobia fear of Russia or Russians
satanophobia fear of the devil
sciaphobia fear of shadows
scopophobia fear of being looked at
scoptophobia fear of being looked at
scotophobia fear of the dark
sitiophobia fear of food
sitophobia fear of food or eating
spectrophobia fear of looking in a mirror
symmetrophobia fear of symmetry
syphilophobia fear of syphilis
taphephobia fear of being buried alive
technophobia fear of technology
thalassophobia fear of the sea
thanatophobia fear of death
theophobia fear of God
tocophobia fear of pregnancy or childbirth
tonitrophobia fear of thunder
topophobia fear of performing; fear of certain places
toxicophobia fear of poisoning
toxiphobia fear of poison or being poisoned
triskaidekaphobia fear of the number thirteen
uranophobia fear of heaven
xenophobia fear of foreigners
zelophobia fear of jealousy
zoophobia fear of animals
How much of our lives are spent in fear? It’s something I’ve thought a lot about over the past few months.
Fear is a horrible thing. It’s used as justification in really bad decision making, whether on the personal level, a societal level, a species level. The self preservation instinct is based somewhat upon fear and that’s something you’d have a lot of trouble casting aspersions on but, when you get right down to it more often than not being afraid seldom is helpful.
The reason I bring the subject up is because I’ve come to realize I’ve spent a majority of my life being afraid of one thing or another.
I remember there was a friend I use to house sit for two decades back. I loved being able to house sit if only to get out of the crappy space I was living in at the time. The only thing I found very disarming was this painting he had done which hung prominently in the living room. It was a birds’ eye view of a small boy walking alone through an alley. It had very dramatic perspective but, the unsettling thing I found looking at it was the expression on the boy’s face.
It was a combination of sadness and fear.
The funny thing was, the painting always felt to be more an accident than anything else, I never attributed the ability or skill to my friend to capture the particular emotion so vividly. No, it was more a matter about what I brought to the table, emotional baggage. The results of a hard journey through life so, when I looked at the painting, saw the expression upon the boy’s face, it made me uncomfortable because I knew the feelings behind it all too well. The isolation etched in those features, the horror felt so deeply it seemed to ooze from his pores.
Anyway, being in a bit of an introspective phase and having to deal with quite a few crises over the last few months have made me focus on the direction I would like life to take. At least that is part of what goes in in my quieter moments. The thing I realize I want more than anything as I move forward through life is to stop being afraid, to stop allowing fear to consume or paralyze me. To vanquish the fear within me and really enjoy each day to its fullest.
Everybody’s life would be a bit better with a little less fear, case in point:
acarophobia fear of itching or of insects causing itching
acrophobia fear of heights
aerophobia fear of flying or draughts
agoraphobia fear of open spaces
agyiophobia fear of crossing busy streets
aichmophobia fear of sharp or pointed objects
ailurophobia fear of cats
algophobia fear of pain
amathophobia fear of dust
amaxophobia fear of riding in a car
ambulophobia fear of walking
anglophobia fear of England or the English
anthrophobia fear of humans
anuptaphobia fear of staying single
aquaphobia fear of water
arachibutyrophobia fear of peanut butter sticking to roof of mouth
arachnophobia fear of spiders
astraphobia fear of being struck by lightning
astrapophobia fear of thunder and lightning
automysophobia fear of being dirty
autophobia fear of solitude
ballistophobia fear of missiles
bathophobia fear of falling from a high place
batophobia fear of heights or being close to tall buildings
batrachophobia fear of frogs and toads
belonephobia fear of pins and needles
bibliophobia fear of books
blennophobia fear of slime
brontophobia fear of thunder and lightning
cancerophobia fear of cancer
cathisophobia fear of sitting
cenophobia fear of empty spaces
chrematophobia fear of money
cibophobia fear of or distaste for food
claustrophobia fear of closed spaces
climacophobia fear of falling down stairs
clinophobia fear of staying in bed
cremnophobia fear of cliffs and precipices
cyberphobia fear of computers
cynophobia fear of dogs
dromophobia fear of crossing streets
dysmorphophobia fear of physical deformities
ecophobia fear of home
eleutherophobia fear of freedom
eosophobia fear of dawn
ergasiophobia fear of work
ergophobia fear of work
erotophobia fear of sex
erythrophobia fear of red lights or of blushing
euphobia fear of good news
Francophobia fear of France or the French
gallophobia fear of France or the French
gamophobia fear of marriage
geniophobia fear of chins
genophobia fear of sex
gerascophobia fear of growing old
graphophobia fear of writing
gymnophobia fear of nudity
heliophobia fear of sunlight
herpetophobia fear of snakes
hierophobia fear of sacred things
homichlophobia fear of fog
homophobia fear of homosexuals
hydrophobia fear of water
hypsophobia fear of high places
iatrophobia fear of going to the doctor
iconophobia fear or hatred of images
kainotophobia fear of change
kakorrhaphiophobia fear of failure
kenophobia fear of empty spaces
ligyrophobia fear of loud noises
linonophobia fear of string
lygophobia fear of darkness
lyssophobia fear of hydrophobia
macrophobia fear of prolonged waiting
metrophobia fear of poetry
monophobia fear of being alone
muriphobia fear of mice
myophobia fear of mice
mysophobia fear of contamination or dirt
nebulaphobia fear of fog
necrophobia fear of corpses
negrophobia fear of blacks
neophobia fear of novelty
nosophobia fear of disease
novercaphobia fear of one's stepmother
nyctophobia fear of the night or darkness
ochlophobia fear of crowds
oenophobia fear or hatred of wine
ombrophobia fear of rain
onomatophobia fear of hearing a certain word
ophidiophobia fear of snakes
ophthalmophobia fear of being stared at
optophobia fear of opening one’s eyes
ornithophobia fear of birds
paedophobia fear of children; fear of dolls
panophobia melancholia marked by groundless fears
pantophobia fear of everything
parthophobia fear of virgins
pathophobia fear of disease
pediculophobia fear of lice
pentheraphobia fear or hatred of one’s mother-in-law
phagophobia fear of eating
phengophobia fear of daylight
phonophobia fear of noise or of speaking aloud
photophobia fear of light
pogonophobia fear of beards
psychrophobia fear of the cold
pteronophobia fear of being tickled by feathers
pyrophobia fear of fire
Russophobia fear of Russia or Russians
satanophobia fear of the devil
sciaphobia fear of shadows
scopophobia fear of being looked at
scoptophobia fear of being looked at
scotophobia fear of the dark
sitiophobia fear of food
sitophobia fear of food or eating
spectrophobia fear of looking in a mirror
symmetrophobia fear of symmetry
syphilophobia fear of syphilis
taphephobia fear of being buried alive
technophobia fear of technology
thalassophobia fear of the sea
thanatophobia fear of death
theophobia fear of God
tocophobia fear of pregnancy or childbirth
tonitrophobia fear of thunder
topophobia fear of performing; fear of certain places
toxicophobia fear of poisoning
toxiphobia fear of poison or being poisoned
triskaidekaphobia fear of the number thirteen
uranophobia fear of heaven
xenophobia fear of foreigners
zelophobia fear of jealousy
zoophobia fear of animals
Did somone step on a duck?
And speaking of flatuence (as opposed to smelling it), there’s this jewel from this week’s Savage Love advice column by Dan Savage:
I have a sexual interest in the sounds of men using the toilet. I hide a wireless telephone headset in an inconspicuous place in the bathroom of several restaurants close to my home. I can then record, from my home, the sounds of men farting and defecating. My husband is aware of this and tolerates it...
Just proving yet again one person’s nasty business is another’s guilty pleasure.
And speaking of flatuence (as opposed to smelling it), there’s this jewel from this week’s Savage Love advice column by Dan Savage:
I have a sexual interest in the sounds of men using the toilet. I hide a wireless telephone headset in an inconspicuous place in the bathroom of several restaurants close to my home. I can then record, from my home, the sounds of men farting and defecating. My husband is aware of this and tolerates it...
Just proving yet again one person’s nasty business is another’s guilty pleasure.
Howard Stern is a dirty, rotten crook.
Or, the truth behind Fartman.
I always thought the Fartman thing sounded a bit familar. I’ve been going through a lot of old stuff laying around here and I happened to have a couple of stacks of old National Lampoons when I came across the above photo funny. I can swear I’ve heard Stern speak the very words in all three speech ballons during the dream sequence.
Of course, this saw print in 1979! It’s ironic if only because part of the Stern schtick is him purporting to have reinvented the wheel. I like Stern and watched or listened to him through the years but, I do find it troubling he made such a blatant swipe. Especially since he went as far as to trademark the Fartman name! Got to love someone who swipes a concept and brands it as their own.
Or, the truth behind Fartman.
I always thought the Fartman thing sounded a bit familar. I’ve been going through a lot of old stuff laying around here and I happened to have a couple of stacks of old National Lampoons when I came across the above photo funny. I can swear I’ve heard Stern speak the very words in all three speech ballons during the dream sequence.
Of course, this saw print in 1979! It’s ironic if only because part of the Stern schtick is him purporting to have reinvented the wheel. I like Stern and watched or listened to him through the years but, I do find it troubling he made such a blatant swipe. Especially since he went as far as to trademark the Fartman name! Got to love someone who swipes a concept and brands it as their own.
Not with a roar but with a whimper. (from 12/30)
Today was an eventful day of sorts. It was the last Howard Stern show broadcast on K-ROCK. After all the years of entertainment, Stern escaped to the haven of pay radio. The last moments of his show were taken up by a loud shouting match between Hank, the angry, drunken dwarf and BeetleJuice.
I’m not one of those people that will follow Stern to the world of satellite radio, I actually don’t think it’s worth the money.
It’s not that I don’t love radio - I really do. Between some things broadcast on NPR and other shows broadcast on regular radio - I have a great love for the medium. This American Life is a huge favorite of mine, I catch Prarie Home Companion when I remember to, Car Talk, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, The Pet Show with Dr. Warren Eckstein, the Joey Reynolds show, Dr. Joy Brown, Mike and the Mad Dog, Bob Grant, Paul Harvey well, you get the idea. Those shows are just the ones still being broadcast! I can go back into the vaults and pull out a great number of radio shows I miss that are no longer on the air - even some stations that have undergone format changes (WCBS FM being the latest loss).
Radio is great because it can provide you with a background and distraction in a way TV never can - TV being a visual medium demands all of your attention, radio is somewhat less demanding in that regard. You can still work, or just putter around and get things done while radio provides you with a soundtrack to your day.
So, while I’ll miss Stern, I won’t be following him.
Stern was part of what I considered to be one of the best station eras in history. WNBC AM in the 80’s had IMUS on from 6-10 am, then the Soupy Sales show from 10 to 2 followed by Stern. I always thought Stern was a better listen in the afternoon than in the morning, you could catch the whole show and somehow the edginess of his show was better placed in the afternoon.
When NBC fired him unceremoniously during a hurricane of all things, I was very disappointed. The Boy Gary and Fred show that followed for a few weeks after Stern left NBC was a dismal failure (although you rarely hear mention of the ill-fated show today) and was a brief comma in the airwaves until Joey Reynolds took over the timeslot before NBC ultimately went out of business and sold it’s spot on the dial to SportsRadio 1050 WFAN.
Yeah, that was a long, long time ago.
Through the years, I would listen to Stern and then sometimes I would find myself going months without listening to the show having had my fill of all the vitriol and bile which seems part and parcel of his world. Choosing to start my days in a queiter and less angry fashion, I would just wander down the dial for a brief time. I just needed a break from all the rawness Stern brings to the table.
Well, he‘s gone for now - even though there was an incredible media barrage in conjunction with his departure. I’ll miss him but I have to say, as much as I liked listening to him, Howard was never as good as his own press.
Today was an eventful day of sorts. It was the last Howard Stern show broadcast on K-ROCK. After all the years of entertainment, Stern escaped to the haven of pay radio. The last moments of his show were taken up by a loud shouting match between Hank, the angry, drunken dwarf and BeetleJuice.
I’m not one of those people that will follow Stern to the world of satellite radio, I actually don’t think it’s worth the money.
It’s not that I don’t love radio - I really do. Between some things broadcast on NPR and other shows broadcast on regular radio - I have a great love for the medium. This American Life is a huge favorite of mine, I catch Prarie Home Companion when I remember to, Car Talk, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, The Pet Show with Dr. Warren Eckstein, the Joey Reynolds show, Dr. Joy Brown, Mike and the Mad Dog, Bob Grant, Paul Harvey well, you get the idea. Those shows are just the ones still being broadcast! I can go back into the vaults and pull out a great number of radio shows I miss that are no longer on the air - even some stations that have undergone format changes (WCBS FM being the latest loss).
Radio is great because it can provide you with a background and distraction in a way TV never can - TV being a visual medium demands all of your attention, radio is somewhat less demanding in that regard. You can still work, or just putter around and get things done while radio provides you with a soundtrack to your day.
So, while I’ll miss Stern, I won’t be following him.
Stern was part of what I considered to be one of the best station eras in history. WNBC AM in the 80’s had IMUS on from 6-10 am, then the Soupy Sales show from 10 to 2 followed by Stern. I always thought Stern was a better listen in the afternoon than in the morning, you could catch the whole show and somehow the edginess of his show was better placed in the afternoon.
When NBC fired him unceremoniously during a hurricane of all things, I was very disappointed. The Boy Gary and Fred show that followed for a few weeks after Stern left NBC was a dismal failure (although you rarely hear mention of the ill-fated show today) and was a brief comma in the airwaves until Joey Reynolds took over the timeslot before NBC ultimately went out of business and sold it’s spot on the dial to SportsRadio 1050 WFAN.
Yeah, that was a long, long time ago.
Through the years, I would listen to Stern and then sometimes I would find myself going months without listening to the show having had my fill of all the vitriol and bile which seems part and parcel of his world. Choosing to start my days in a queiter and less angry fashion, I would just wander down the dial for a brief time. I just needed a break from all the rawness Stern brings to the table.
Well, he‘s gone for now - even though there was an incredible media barrage in conjunction with his departure. I’ll miss him but I have to say, as much as I liked listening to him, Howard was never as good as his own press.
Jan 16, 2006
Lest we forget.
I have a surname that ends in a vowel but, I can always change my name. I can go and anglicize it, shorten it, or take another name entirely.
Why?
Mainly, because people can (and do) make assumptions about me based around my surname.
It does make a difference.
I know it. But, whatever difference it has made, it hasn’t impacted me much. It’s not like I carry around a big sign or wear a t-shirt with my name prominently displayed on it. I can escape the prejudice inherent in my surname, I am fortunate in I don’t have features clearly putting me into any specific ethnic group or excluding me from the dominant one in this country.
What prompts me to speak about this topic?
Today is a federal holiday - some people taking more notice of it than others. and admittedly, I never placed much import on MLK day but, I was reading something Christopher Priest wrote and it gave me a reason to rethink the significance of the day:
If white people overcame centuries of violent repression, I guarantee you there'd not only BE a day to commemorate that struggle, but that the entire country would shut down to observe it.
And while Priest’s observations on the holiday provided me with some food for thought, reading of his own experiences was a reminder of just how different life can be based solely on skin color:
I was the office mascot. The little black kid. The co-key operator for the Xerox machine (with John Romita, Jr., who enthusiastically relinquished the top slot to me). My how liberal we are. Jim, go grab this, “In a jig.” Staffers, some still in the biz, used to come by and rub my head “for good luck.” One staffer kept little jigaboo figurines on his desk: warped, offensive little gnomes in white face eating watermelon. Denys Cowan stole one off of this guy’s desk and gave it to me as a Christmas present. I keep it on my desk here to remind me some of these people still work there.
Oh sure, our country today is a politically correct society but bigotry and prejudice are still very much a part of some people’s daily lives. I can’t begin to fathom what it is like to be black in America and I have to remind myself there are still serious problems where the issue of race is concerned. When I wrote about my friend Kevin three years ago, it was perhaps the closest I could come to identifying with the issue because it affected somebody who was very important to me, a good friend, a nice person, who felt this weight burdening them, this inescapable reminder which would confront them when they least expected it.
As Kevin described it he had a goal (which he did in fact achieve) which was to make it to the age of 35 without winding up dead or in jail. When I think about it now it makes me really, really sad. Not that Kevin made his goal for which I am infinitely happy but, that our society is such, it made it really clear to him there was only so much he could expect.
Sometimes, I think a lot of what happens in our society today is based around the class of economics. Capitalism in it’s purest form as a way of perpetuating discrimination. If capitalism works, there have to be winners and losers, no? This past year was a reminder of just what is going on in our country - when Americans could be abandoned the way they were in New Orleans after Katrina.
It wasn’t just the abandonment, which was horrible in and of itself, it was more that it was an indictment of our country. Yes, pull back the curtain behind all the go-go economic success, the booming stock market and you come to realize there is some real poverty still out there in this nation. If we were back in the seventies, now is the time I would loudly proclaim, “WE CAN PUT AN AMERICAN ON THE MOON SO WHY CAN’T WE END POVERTY IN THIS COUNTRY?!?!”
Somehow those goals have been left behind us. We, as a nation are prepared to get wrapped up in the sloganeering of a media driven society. A society where, “No child is left behind” or where we conduct a “War on Evildoers” but, all these slogans lack true substance.
Anyway, I digress.
Priest was right on the money about the holiday, it should be more important to everyone than it is. How can a nation which is supposed to have its precepts based upon the concepts of freedom and liberty treat any such holiday in a diminutive fashion? In doing so, doesn’t it diminish us all?
I think things are better for people in the country today than they were when I was young (in terms of race relations and prejudice) but, they still have a very, very long way to go. I don’t know if a day will come in my lifetime where people stop defining themselves according to the color of their skin - hell, over the last decade and a half there has been more proof to me that people want to focus more on what differentiates them than what brings them together. I imagine though that was the intent behind the holiday to begin with, simply put honoring the birth of a man who embodied hope, hope for a better world. That’s something we all should take note of and respect.
I have a surname that ends in a vowel but, I can always change my name. I can go and anglicize it, shorten it, or take another name entirely.
Why?
Mainly, because people can (and do) make assumptions about me based around my surname.
It does make a difference.
I know it. But, whatever difference it has made, it hasn’t impacted me much. It’s not like I carry around a big sign or wear a t-shirt with my name prominently displayed on it. I can escape the prejudice inherent in my surname, I am fortunate in I don’t have features clearly putting me into any specific ethnic group or excluding me from the dominant one in this country.
What prompts me to speak about this topic?
Today is a federal holiday - some people taking more notice of it than others. and admittedly, I never placed much import on MLK day but, I was reading something Christopher Priest wrote and it gave me a reason to rethink the significance of the day:
If white people overcame centuries of violent repression, I guarantee you there'd not only BE a day to commemorate that struggle, but that the entire country would shut down to observe it.
And while Priest’s observations on the holiday provided me with some food for thought, reading of his own experiences was a reminder of just how different life can be based solely on skin color:
I was the office mascot. The little black kid. The co-key operator for the Xerox machine (with John Romita, Jr., who enthusiastically relinquished the top slot to me). My how liberal we are. Jim, go grab this, “In a jig.” Staffers, some still in the biz, used to come by and rub my head “for good luck.” One staffer kept little jigaboo figurines on his desk: warped, offensive little gnomes in white face eating watermelon. Denys Cowan stole one off of this guy’s desk and gave it to me as a Christmas present. I keep it on my desk here to remind me some of these people still work there.
Oh sure, our country today is a politically correct society but bigotry and prejudice are still very much a part of some people’s daily lives. I can’t begin to fathom what it is like to be black in America and I have to remind myself there are still serious problems where the issue of race is concerned. When I wrote about my friend Kevin three years ago, it was perhaps the closest I could come to identifying with the issue because it affected somebody who was very important to me, a good friend, a nice person, who felt this weight burdening them, this inescapable reminder which would confront them when they least expected it.
As Kevin described it he had a goal (which he did in fact achieve) which was to make it to the age of 35 without winding up dead or in jail. When I think about it now it makes me really, really sad. Not that Kevin made his goal for which I am infinitely happy but, that our society is such, it made it really clear to him there was only so much he could expect.
Sometimes, I think a lot of what happens in our society today is based around the class of economics. Capitalism in it’s purest form as a way of perpetuating discrimination. If capitalism works, there have to be winners and losers, no? This past year was a reminder of just what is going on in our country - when Americans could be abandoned the way they were in New Orleans after Katrina.
It wasn’t just the abandonment, which was horrible in and of itself, it was more that it was an indictment of our country. Yes, pull back the curtain behind all the go-go economic success, the booming stock market and you come to realize there is some real poverty still out there in this nation. If we were back in the seventies, now is the time I would loudly proclaim, “WE CAN PUT AN AMERICAN ON THE MOON SO WHY CAN’T WE END POVERTY IN THIS COUNTRY?!?!”
Somehow those goals have been left behind us. We, as a nation are prepared to get wrapped up in the sloganeering of a media driven society. A society where, “No child is left behind” or where we conduct a “War on Evildoers” but, all these slogans lack true substance.
Anyway, I digress.
Priest was right on the money about the holiday, it should be more important to everyone than it is. How can a nation which is supposed to have its precepts based upon the concepts of freedom and liberty treat any such holiday in a diminutive fashion? In doing so, doesn’t it diminish us all?
I think things are better for people in the country today than they were when I was young (in terms of race relations and prejudice) but, they still have a very, very long way to go. I don’t know if a day will come in my lifetime where people stop defining themselves according to the color of their skin - hell, over the last decade and a half there has been more proof to me that people want to focus more on what differentiates them than what brings them together. I imagine though that was the intent behind the holiday to begin with, simply put honoring the birth of a man who embodied hope, hope for a better world. That’s something we all should take note of and respect.
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