There are many things about which I’ve been wanting to write, but it’s been rather crazy around here. Funny how that happens with an almost-2-year-old.
I also have my sons with me all week for school vacation, so I’ve been filling even Eagle’s nap times with games of Rummikub, shooting archery in the back yard, chess, quarterstaff fights, and that sort of thing.
I also have a large and increasing stack of books that I’m trying to read, so I’m committing more of my time to that.
Still, here are some things:
Torture Memos: I really want to have a post on this, but I don’t think that there’s anything left to say. I’ve read the memos that have been released; I wasn’t really surprised by anything. I think we’ve known all of this for a while now.
I think that the hysteria from the Right is, as is becoming usual, a bit over the top. What we see here is a change in policy that was discussed openly during the election. That anyone is shocked by this is absurd.
As to the question of prosecuting Bush administration officials, I think I said everything I had to say over at Larry’s blog, My Take. I sort of promised him a more-interesting post than this, but that’s about all I have to say, I guess.
Who Cares About Some Beauty Pageant?: This is one reason why I prefer NPR for my news … I don’t have to listen to stories like this when I’m getting my news. However, I was listening to Sean Hannity on the radio on my way to Durham today and heard him talking to the Miss USA contestant who says she didn’t win because of her gay marriage opinion.
My thought? I don’t care. This is the Miss USA pageant. If the worst persecution you endure in your life is coming in second in a beauty pageant, and you get your name and face all over TV and radio whining about it … just how were you hurt? I can’t quite compare that to actual persecution — think China, for example.
Population Control: Speaking of both NPR and China, I was listening to Diane Rehm discussing Earth Day. (By the way, for those who want to call NPR an endless parade of left-wing rhetoric, that program is the example you want to use. I’ll come back with counter-examples, but Diane Rehm today helps your case.)
Paul Ehrich, best known for The Population Bomb and expressing the desperate need to curb human population before we killed ourselves, was on. He was encouraging more countries to be like China, and control the population. To be perfectly honest, I don’t understand why people still listen to Paul Ehrlich. Since all of his predictions are always wrong, it seems like he should be discredited by now.
In any case … He was talking about why we need to sterilize everybody in the US, and only allow certain people to have reversals after they have proven their fitness to have children. When asked how he could miss how unethical this is, he said, “What’s unethical is having more than two children in this environment.”
My three kids were in the room as I listened to this program. My wife was out at a prenatal appointment, since we have another little one on the way in July. I guess I’m an eco-villain, huh?
I wonder something about Ehrlich … Just how miserable a childhood must he have had to hate humanity this much?
I loved this commercial: Listening to the radio, I heard a commercial from Philbrick’s Sports, a privately-owned store in Dover, NH. Not surprisingly, the owner often uses his ads to encourage people to come shop at his store instead of the big box stores. However, what he did in this ad really excited me.
“I’ve had my kids in Little League and things, and never once were they on a team sponsored by Wal-Mart or Target or Dick’s Sporting Goods or any other big box store. They’re always sponsored by Red’s Shoe Barn or Weeksie’s Pizza or Collins Sports Center. The local stores are really part of the community, like Philbrick’s.”
Yes, he spent some of his own advertising dollars to name OTHER local businesses. That is class!
Nerds Get Even: My son said that his class was working on a web site that gave career recommendations after certain questions and such. His results came back as computer engineer, computer programmer, or meteorologist.
He noted that one girl in class who thought that she should be a model came back with a top result that made hre upset — garbage truck driver.
I love it. My theory? Think about who writes these programs. Think about how they were treated by the girls who thought that they should be models.
This is how they get their revenge. I suspect that the algorithms had a little tweaking done for cheerleader and jock-types. Well done, people!
My wife’s birthday: Since it’s after midnight, today is my wife’s birthday. She’s been making the world a better place for some time now … I’m not telling you how long (although, yes, I do know). Her present from the boys is the TV series “Get Smart” on DVD. I’m giving her an apple tree.
Yes, I have the best wife in the world.
