Old photos on Facebook

Friends of mine keep posting pics from college. I keep thinking one thing….I should have worn more sunscreen. Baz Luhrman was right about that sh*t.

An Ugly Word

“Co-Parent”.  Disgusting word I happened upon the other day.

It’s an ugly word and anyone using it ought to be shamed. It sounds like a family is a freaking airplane and anyone who knows how could step in and fly it. Or like the roles of mother and father are interchangable. They aren’t, and if your family is having to do without one of them – for whatever reason – it’s a hardship.

A man is his children’s father, a woman their mother, and their marital status does not change this. In the screenplay of my kids’ life, I”m not Parent #1 or #2. I’m their Dad.

Then again, that’s just me. I could be wrong. Dex is an oldthinker who unbellyfeels newspeak.

Currently reading:

All the books of  The Black Company by Glen Cook. Best fantasy fiction I’ve read in years. The first six novels are anthologized. I recommend highly if you like sword and sorcery stuff.

I read Stan Nicholls Orcs as well.  Meh. Don’t bother.

Remembering

10 years ago this week, a member of my family was brutally murdered in a mass shooting. I can’t tell you how surreal it is to watch your family’s tragedy on CNN.
A lot of my family made mention of this on Facebook. I couldn’t bring myself to. I guess I have an aversion to bleeding in public. Hard to explain, but there it is.

Random thought

I predict that the ultimate luxury will one day be ludditism.

Meritocracy

All societies are meritocracies, to some extent. The difference between them is the behaviors, accomplishments and attributes that merit the kratia.

Quote of the day

It may be true that you can’t fool all the people all the time, but you can fool enough of them to rule a large country.
Will Durant

What I’ve Been Reading

Read lately:

• Daywatch – Sergei Lukyanenko
• Twilight Watch – Sergei Lukyanenko
• Last Watch – Sergei Lukyanenko
• Children of the Night – Dan Simmons
• Song of Kali – Dan Simmons
• Rise of Christianity – Rodney Stark
• Old Man’s War – John Scalzi
• Ghost Brigades – John Scalzi
• The Last Colony – John Scalzi
• Zoe’s Tale – John Scalzi
• Android’s Dream – John Scalzi
• Dead Until Dark – Charlaine Harris
• Backup – Jim Butcher
• Turn Coat – Jim Butcher
• Mean Streets – short story collection, featuring one by Jim Butcher.

I may write up reviews on these. Any you’re interested in hearing about?  The only one on the list that I wouldn’t HIGHLY recommend is Song of Kali, the author’s first novel, and that only because I found the denouement unsatisfying. Children of the Night, same author, was one of the smartest vampire novels I’ve read.

The whole NightWatch series by Lukyanenko is worth a read. It’s good urban fantasy. Capt. Tuttle refers to them as my Russian vampire novels, but there’s more to them than vampires.

John Scalzi’s sci-fi is probably the most fun I’ve had reading anything in years, and that includes Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden novels. Barely, but still. My wife asked me to read in the other room a few times because I was actually laughing out loud every page or three.

In progress:

• Bowling Alone – Robert Putnam
• Drood – Dan Simmons

Drood is a freakin’  TOME and is taking forever to finish. The fact that the author is imitating Wilkie Collins (a contemporary of Dickens) style of prose (more or less) is not helping.

Considering reading:

• The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins (found out I own a nice hardback, courtesy of my dad.)
• ?????

Any suggestions?

Common Sense?

Little Cog has a great post about this…

I often think this is the best solution. Yeah, it would take a lot of work. Laws would need to be defined. Sure some feelings would be hurt, but in the end government shouldn’t recognize marriage.

A marriage is between my God, my bride, and myself. Everyone else doesn’t matter.

There are a couple of stories I’ve heard on this that have formed my opinion. One had to do with a solider that came back from war only to find out his wife divorced him and took on a partner. He was paying alimony (maybe still is) but since the state doesn’t recognize her partnership, he’s screwed.

The second one was an article I read about a homosexual couple a long while back. One of the partners had AIDS. The other stuck it out with him. The guy’s family had disowned him because of his sexual preference. When the guy died, his family suddenly appeared and took everything. Leaving his partner with nothing. That burned me.

So I finally came to the conclusion: Marriage is a sacred pack between a man and a women made before God. It’s in every “sermon” / homily I’ve heard. Government needs to butt out.

Dex’s thought on the election

First, I told you so.

Second, what really chaps my hide is that I did what I said I wouldn’t. I voted for the old bastard. I wasn’t going to, but decided at the last minute. I needn’t have bothered.

Conger believes that Bush was the reason McCain failed. I disagree. McCain is the reason McCain failed. 25 years in the Senate and the best he’s got is “Barack is too liberal” and “I supported the surge.”  Cracker, please. If in 25 years, that’s the leadership you can show, stay in the Senate. 

There will be a lot of speculation that Palin hurt his chances. I’m afraid that she got Quayled. She gave them the opportunity to paint her as stupid and unqualified and that stuck. If she wants to continue, she’ll have to overcome that in the mainstream media. And to be honest, if she can’t handle Charlie and Katie, even I don’t want her trying to handle Ahmedinijad or Putin or whoever. Yes, she rolled out too late and poorly. Maybe that was her and maybe that was her handlers, but if she wants to go on, she’s going to have to do better and often.

It’s time for the Republicans and the right side of the blogosphere to do the “Wednesday Morning Quarterbacking” as Conger put it. It’s time for the knives to come out.  Our current “compassionate conservative” president is leaving office with 2 out 3 Americans thinking he did a lousy job and our former candidate just got whooped by a noob with decidedly marxist tendencies. Running to the middle doesn’t work. We need to discuss what will and cut loose who and what won’t.

America was ready for a change, but I don’t think it really wanted to go left. I think a candidate running to the right of George W. Bush would have actually done a lot better than McCain did. This country is much more conservative than tonight’s vote would lead you to believe. Too bad a conservative wasn’t running. Oh, there were some in the primaries, but they didn’t have the fire (Fred) or the charisma (Romney, Hunter, Tancredo), the strategy (Guiliani) or the bona fides (Huckabee). Or the judgement (P@ul). So we got stuck with the Old Fart Whose Turn It Was. A guy who voted against tax cuts that worked. A guy who wanted to punish the “greedy”, whoever they are. A guy who wanted to run on his reputation as a “maverick who gets things done”, but who came across as a crusty old-timer who wanted to tell you again and again about his time in the war and hoped that you wouldn’t notice that all he’d done since is cut deals to get himself ahead.

There will be plenty of time for constructive criticism later. For now, I’m just gonna rant a little below the fold.

Congrats to B. Obama – 44th POTUS

In my voting, I had never lost an election – well that changed tonight.

Congrats to the 44th President of the United States Barrack Obama and his supporters. They ran a hell of campaign and won. Kudos.

It doesn’t end here.

Some thoughts on this election:

Paul Newman has died

Raindrops…

Do you like Kipling?

Found an allusion to this poem over at another website today and thought it bore repeating here, especially given our recent focus on the financial crisis. By way of explanation, a copybook was a notebook that students used to practice handwriting. At the top of each page was a moral or aphorism which the students would copy on each blank line of the page, endeavoring to print or write it perfectly. Kipling refers to these aphorisms, indicating things that are always true, regardless of what any advertiser or politician promises. Enjoy. Or, you know, weep:  

The Gods of the Copybook Headings

As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “Stick to the Devil you know.”

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “The Wages of Sin is Death.”

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “If you don’t work you die.”

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will bum,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return.

Rudyard Kipling, 1919

Just a funny post…

They never get old.

Roller Coaster Wednesday…

JMac suspends campaign…I voted on Michelle Malkin that this was a good idea. Country First. It keeps with his narrative. My only question is he going to try to save this bill, if he is, please keep beating the pavement for votes and getting ready for this Friday’s debate – the other guy is ahead.

John McCain has made several gambles in this campaign and thus far they’re paying off. Remember this guy wasn’t supposed to be here a year ago. So, I’ll defer to his judgement on this one.

Mr. President a you can put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig. Sorry. 

On a Palin vs. Obama debate, that would be interesting. I don’t think it’ll happen. If it were…holy cow.

The good news: REPUBLICANS are fighting this…

Numerous Democrats have said privately in recent days they are wary of voting for the administration’s proposed legislation without significant Republican support. “

 

Wow. There’s still a beat, however faint, of fiscally conscious Republicans.

Who knew?