Month: January 2005

  • Just a thought on blogs and journalism

    I pulled this from a Reuters piece on international support of the Iraqi vote: Paris, Berlin and Moscow were dubbed the “non-nein-nyet coalition” for opposing the U.S.-led war in the U.N. Security Council. The subsequent diplomatic chill has been described as the worst crisis in transatlantic ties since World War II. And I wondered if…

  • Authentic warpath?

    I’ve been really busy, but Justin directed my attention to this picture: Yeeeaaagh! The above man goes by the “colonial name” of “Ward Churchill” — and he’s recently the subject of a great deal of attention in the blogosphere, reflected in Glenn Reynolds’ large roundup of posts and thoughts. Among other things, Churchill claims that…

  • Justin is no lawyer — and that’s good!

    As fate has it, I happen to be a lawyer by training. This ruined whatever potential I might have had as a writer, for many lawyers are ruined writers. I say “ruined” because when you are forced to think and write like a lawyer, your thought processes end up being captive to a different language…

  • Setting well . . .

    I’ve been so busy that I failed to see until today that Glenn Reynolds linked Justin’s excellent post on aging and life extension. I’m so glad, because his writing is great, and like most writers he needs encouragement. (And a computer.) And I’ll remind my readers of what I’ve said before: that were it not…

  • Bring Me The Cone Of Silence

    Eric has tactfully requested that I remind people of the notorious Kass “Ice Cream Quote”, which was featured here at Classical Values on July 25, 2003. While it had appeared in numerous other venues in its truncated form, we here at Classical Values took rightful pride in presenting the great man’s thoughts, unexpurgated, on July…

  • Corrosion by collusion?

    If you’re thinking of building a deck or repairing outdoor structures, bear in mind that the EPA has recently banned wood treated with chromated copper arsenate — long the industry’s standard — in residential construction. Why? Apparently, the usual concern about children: The EPA conducted risk assessment, and evaluation of public comments and input from…

  • Mortal rendering?

    Speaking of good writing, I found the following essay on an old floppy disk, and I thought it was worth sharing. The author, an ex of mine, died in 1995. So I guess you could call this a guest post from the long dead. It’s Chapter II from an autobiographical essay called “California.” While I…

  • Harbor Lights

    I just watched the International Space Station slide by overhead, like a little amber bead on an invisible abacus wire. If you don’t know what it is, you might mistake it for an airliner. If you do know what it is, it’s too cool for words.

  • I Wish I Was A Better Writer

    As it is, I have a hard time balancing flippancy and venom. The more sincerely I feel about something, the more I’m drawn towards shrill peevishness and bilious ranting. Except, of course, when I talk about Leon Kass… I realize that past a certain point, confident self-assurance sounds like arrogant dogmatism. This is counterproductive, but…

  • Terrorists as Equal Opportunity Martyrs?

    E at the Dave, responding to one of the single most offensive pieces of post-9-11 relativist drivel I’ve seen, gives “cultural studies” darling Terry Eagleton a dose of righteous indignation that’s worth reading. Notice that Eagleton starts right in with “insurgents.” At my favorite blog the Bleat, James Lileks shows us the term “terrorist” in…

  • Bigger Dirigible

    I have long been a chump for the romance and glamour of airships. A credulous rube, a gullible hayseed, a sucker, a mark, a patsy. I wanted to believe. Seeing the Goodyear Blimp can still bring a vacant smile to my childlike face. It always has. Cruel the fate, that denies me a sky darkened…

  • No time for procrastination!

    While it isn’t especially related to this blog, it just so happens that I am an attorney licensed to practice in California. And right now I am faced with an inescapable responsibility called “MCLE” (Mandatory Continuing Legal Education). Because of my last name, I fall in the “N-Z” group, which means I must complete 25…

  • Ecumenical Raving at the Carnival

    This week’s Carnival of the Vanities is hosted by The Raving Atheist, who not only does a great job, but was nice enough to allow my late entry. The posts are grouped according to religion (or lack thereof), and mine is in the Pagan category. (I have issues with religious differences, so I “define” myself…

  • A key issue?

    San Francisco Bay Areans have become much too complacent about a genuine threat to freedom — in the form of RED LIGHT CAMERAS! These detestable, unconstitutional devices have sprung up all over the place, and so far they have survived court challenges. A neighbor was recently cited by one of the damned things, and she…

  • Trenchant Political Analyses

    Friday, October 15, 2004 “Bush talks and thinks like Milosevic. He will lose, but the most disheartening thing is the prospect of his religio-nationalist reality-deniers clinging fiercely to the sacred glory of their Lost Cause for the next hundred years. We live under the Confederacy. We’re a podunk bunch of swaggering pious hicks.” –Bruce Sterling,…

  • Room for more gloom!

    Just the kind of day that makes you feel good to be alive! Gomez Addams’s cartoon precursor used to say that to his family only on the gloomiest of days. The gloomy days here (wet and foggy, with temperatures in the 50s) actually do make me feel good to be alive, especially compared to the…

  • DIALUP SUCKS BAD.

    This may sound crazy, but it’s become clear to me that you simply cannot be a decent blogger without a fast (DSL or cable) connection. At this house in Berkeley I am stuck with dialup, and it is driving me crazy. Obviously, if I moved here I could go back to DSL, but for now…

  • Farewell to Tsunamis

    Well, now I’m really behind the curve. I finally got crosstown and retrieved my copy of “ Tsunami: The Underrated Hazard“. However, at this late date, the Boxing Day Tsunami is all but off the radar. That’s too bad, cause’ I wasn’t FINISHED yet. Please indulge my slight monomania. Submitted for your approval…a few snippets…

  • Is This What They Call Semiotics?

    The romance of airships? Count me in!

  • Portrait of the artist with a hot Berkeley bitch!

    In the last post, I discussed a double standard where it comes to discussing the sex differences between humans and animals. (See Why Gender Matters, discussed by Glenn Reynolds.) Anyway, this has all gotten me thinking about the aging brain, dirty old men, sex, and of course dogs. A consummate con artist with the female…