Plum Crazy

Happy New Years 2004!

I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Years! May 2004 bring you all you could hope for. I also made another snowflake for New Years this year.

Help Me!

I hate these end of the year contract negotiations!!!!!

Dictatorship Retirement Plan Not As Nice As It Once Was

Remember the days when a dictator could retire in comfort and opulence? Sadly, that trend is changing. Sniff, sniff, those poor former dictators. What is the world coming to, when a tyrant and despot can't live out his life with the money he stole from his people?

The Chosen Beers

This is truly excellent - it's He'Brew, The Chosen Beer. From Schmaltz Brewing Company. It comes in two flavors: Genesis Ale and Messiah Bold. If only I liked beer.

Hat tip to reader Jim V.

Pessimism

Elayne points out several bloggers who agree with Atrios' contention that the new Republican "out-to-get-Howard-Dean" meme is to make him out to be pessimistic. Count me in. Over the last couple of months, I have noticed several Bush supporters, who are members of a politics forum I participate in, consistently decry Dean as pessimistic. They talk about how his campaign is negative. That all he can do is attack Bush. That he never offers any positive solutions. And yet, ironically, so many articles posted by these same Bush supporters are attack articles about Howard Dean. I propose they take a literacy test in which they have to construct a sentence using the words "pot", "kettle", and "black".

Incidentally, anyone actually interested in Dean's proposed solutions is invited to visit his website and read his stance on the issues. He, in fact, does have actual proposals, despite claims to the contrary.

Oy Chanukah 8

Tonight is the last night of Chanukah. So tonight we shall have two songs to remind us that there are things more valuable than the pure material. The first song, Kum Aher Du Filozof (Come here, you philosopher), is of someone reminding a young man of just that. The young man is a great inventor who is very proud of himself. But, the young man is reminded, there is wisdom to be learned beyond just your inventions.

The second song is one that is probably familiar to even non-Jews, Dona Dona. I'm sure most of us learned the English words (On a wagon, bound for market, lies a calf with a mournful eye. High above him, there's a swallow, winging swiftly through the sky. How the winds are laughing; they laugh with all their might. Laugh and laugh the whole day through and half the summer's night. Dona, dona...) in school. Symbolically, this song represents the plight of the Russian Jews during the pogroms. But also, to me, this song represents freedom of the mind. Calves are easily bound and slaughtered, but those who treasure freedom, like the swallow have learned to fly.

One last happy Chanukah to all!

Oy Chanukah 7

For tonight's selections, I went with two dances. No songs to these melodies. The first dance is Der Bosfor, which I believe derives from the Bosphorus. The second is entitled Khasidm Tants (Chasidic Dances). Very Klezmeresque.

Merry Christmas

A Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it. Anne has some very nice posts up about Christmas traditions around the world, so check them out.

As a kid, my favorite Christmas special was The Year Without a Santa Claus. I loved Heat Miser and his half-brother Snow Miser. They had the best theme songs. So without further adieu. Click on the pictures to hear their songs.

Oy Chanukah 6

The sixth night of Chanukah. Christmas Eve. Together again. Therefore, for your listening pleasure tonight, a selection of 3 songs about other holidays.

The first song, Mu Asapru (What shall I say), is a song from Passover. Consider it a kind of Jewish version of the 12 days of Christmas, although instead it is only counting up to 7. The question is asked "Who can say, who can tell me what is 1" up to "... what is 7". 1 is G_d, and G_d is 1, and there is no other. 2 are the tablets of the Ten Commandments, 3 are the patriarchs, 4 are the matriarchs, 5 are the Books of Moses, 6 are the books of the Mishnah, and 7 are the days of the week.

The second song, Homentashn (the traditional Purim cookie), is a song about Purim. Homentashn are triangular cookies with fruit filling. The word literally translates into Haman's hat, so a non-Jewish coworker has dubbed them "little hats", and always asks me when it's little hat time again (I bake them every year for Purim). Haman was the villain of the Purim tale (the Book of Esther), and he wore a tri-cornered hat. To celebrate the Purim version of "they tried to kill us; they failed; let's eat", we eat cookies shaped like his hat. We also make a lot of noise whenever his name is said during the annual reading of the Book of Esther.

The last song is a Christmas song. My favorite Christmas song. I love Alvin & The Chipmunks. Be quiet.

Oy Chanukah 5

Tonight I took my team out for a nice holiday dinner. We're a small department, only the four of us including myself. We went to a really nice restaurant in Hoboken (shut up) called The Brass Rail and ate and drank heartily. In honor of eating and drinking heartily, tonight's music will feature two songs about that very subject.

The first song, A Sudenyu (A feast), is about what the Jews will do after the Messiah comes. We're going to have a big feast and eat Leviathan. Moses will read the Torah, King Solomon will speak words of wisdom, King David will play music, and Miriam the prophetess (Moses' sister) will dance. The second song, Der Bekher (The goblet), is about drinking wine. L'chaim!

Right of First Refusal

Kevin Patrick of Blogs for Bush e-mailed me a link to a piece he wrote entitled: Madonna's Choice for President Wants to Give Up US Sovereignty

Andrew Sullivan unearths this absolutely ridiculous quote regarding United States self-determination from Wesley Clark:

And I would say to the Europeans, I pledge to you as the American president that we'll consult with you first. You get the right of first refusal on the security concerns that we have. We'll bring you in.

I have no problem bringing in a coalition of forces when we act internationally (just like the 60 countries we worked with when invading Iraq), but putting the interests of the UN ahead of the interests of the United States is untenable.

In his comments section, I replied as follows:

A right of first refusal does not mean a right of all refusal. For example, if I give someone a right of first refusal to buy my apartment, all that means is that when I go to sell my apartment, I have to offer it to them first. If they turn down the offer, I then am absolutely free to sell it to someone else. It does not mean that if they turn me down, I then cannot sell my apartment at all.

It seems to me that what Clark was saying was that prior to acting unilaterally or even approaching the U.N., we would first approach NATO on our security concerns. If NATO refused assistance, then we would be free to assess our options. This doesn't strike me as being philosophically different than Bush having first approached the U.N. prior to declaring war on Iraq. As things stand, I actually think approaching NATO prior to approaching the useless U.N. is a good idea, and I think that attempting to bring in an international coalition prior to making a decision to act unilaterally is also good (something that Bush himself did). In short, I have no problem with that Clark quote.

Also, he emphatically said nothing about putting the interests of the UN first, unless the UN has suddenly become NATO. What you probably meant to say is that putting the interests of NATO ahead of the interests of the US is untenable. Philosophically the same, granted. I still don't believe that what he said is putting the interests of NATO first. It serves US interests to attempt to work with our allies first.

Where you could have gotten Clark, but did not, is that Bush did give the UN right of first refusal. They refused. He then assessed our options and decided to act without them. France and Germany would only have been happy had we decided not to act at all. Clark's proposal suffers from precisely the same danger. It's very nice to give NATO right of first refusal, but if they refuse and we still choose to act, we might find ourselves in precisely the same position anyway. And that is the problem with Clark's critique. Not that he is giving away our right of self-determination.

Judge for yourselves.

Oy Chanukah 4

Tonight I offer you two related, but ultimately quite different songs about marrying off daughters. The first song, Di Mezinke (the youngest daughter) is a happy song. The father is celebrating the fact that his youngest daughter is getting married.

The second song, Drei Techterlech (three daughters) starts off as a happy song, but becomes quite sad by the end. In this song, the father is initially celebrating the fact that his eldest and middle daughters have gotten married. One line says that "such a joy only G_d knows and those that have daughters." But by the time his youngest daughter gets married, the father is very sad, because now all his children have left home. In one particularly heartbreaking line he says that there are now three empty beds.

The latkes I made last night were a big hit at work today. Hopefully the packages I overnighted off to my parents and brother will arrive intact, so they can enjoy them too. Thankfully I have none left, as I would have eaten them all.

I got a huge tin of cookies from a vendor today, which I was having trouble resisting this morning, until I put it out in the pantry for everyone. The box of Godiva chocolates I got from another vendor, though, will not be shared with everyone. I gave away a couple of pieces, but we're talking chocolate now. Ah well, so much for my diet until the New Year. Fortunately I already lost 10 lbs. I hope I don't put too much back on.

Czech Store Clerks Demand "Combat Pay"

Czech store clerks, fighting a losing battle to retain their sanity after a relentless onslaught of non-stop Christmas carols in Czech stores, are demanding that the stores either stop playing the carols or pay compensation for the emotional trauma. Can it be long before some litigious sort here in the U.S. takes a hint and sues Macy's for damages?

Knicks' Holiday Season Layden with Good News

From the Fire Layden website - Knicks President Scott Layden has been fired. I love it when a plan comes together. He has been replaced by Isiah Thomas.

Dude, You're Getting a Life

I just saw what had to be about the stupidest advertisement for software ever. It was for McAfee's Spam Killer product. It was a picture of a guy with changing text underneath. The text started out saying "The time I used to spend deleting spam..." Okay, so far so good. We all hate having to delete spam. But then it ruins it by saying "...Is the time I now spend doing last-minute holiday shopping. McAfee Spam Killer" Okay, chiefs, anyone who spends time they should be using for doing holiday shopping for family and friends on deleting spam instead has whacked priorities. Let the spam pile up. Do your holiday shopping. Your advertisement, instead of making me want to run right out and buy your software, makes me want to run right out and buy this guy a life for Christmas.

Oy Chanukah 3

Tonight's musical selection will consist of two songs, mirror images of each other. The first song, sung by Theodore Bikel, is entitled Di Mame Iz Gegangen (Mother is going). It's about a man whose mother went to bring him a maidele fun Polyn (young woman from Poland) for him to marry. He talks about how she is fine and beautiful with black eyes, white teeth, and black hair, and how he loved her for his whole life. This is a song my father used to sing to my mother when they were courting.

The second song, A Yingele Fun Polyn (A young man from Poland), is the flip side of the first. It is about a woman whose mother sends her to buy a basket, to the butcher, to the rabbi, and to market. In the first three places she meets young men who all fall in love with her. At the market, she meets a young man from Poland with burning eyes with whom she falls in love, and she will never love another as long as she lives.

You know what to do.

I'm off to make latkes. A couple of other people have also posted their latkes recipes: Elayne Riggs and Melanie. Enjoy!

Oy Chanukah 2

Tonight is the second night of Chanukah. Continuing with yesterday's musical selections, I have created another playlist. This one is in honor of my grandmother. 3 of the songs are Yiddish, but 2 are not. They are all, however, songs I used to sing with or to my grandmother, whom I miss very much. You can click either on the menorah or the picture of my grandmother as a young woman to bring up the playlist.

Recipes 1

So for the first set of recipes, I'll do pumpkin soup (which can be very easily made with canned pumpkin such that preparation is a snap) and apricot chicken. These are two pretty easy recipes. Trust me on the apricot chicken. I realize that reading the ingredients you may get nauseated, but it tastes great.

Pumpkin soup
3 cups canned pumpkin or 2 lb. cooked fresh pumpkin
3 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste (or, if you prefer slightly sweeter, also add ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg to taste)
3/4 cup light cream (I usually substitute almond milk)

Pour the chicken broth in a large pot. Add the pumpkin.

Knead the flour and butter together and add to the broth/pumpkin mixture. Add the brown sugar and light cream. Add spices to taste. Heat, but do not boil.

Serves 6.

Incidentally, this recipe comes right from The Joy of Cooking, a cookbook I recommend you buy. I left out the 1/2 cup of finely julienned ham that the recipe calls for, and I really love the recipe without it, but you can add it back. Just add it before heating. I used to make this recipe when I used to have dinner parties, and it was always a big smash. And I always used the canned pumpkin. Shhhh.

Apricot chicken
3 lbs of chicken parts (either quarter a 3 lb chicken or just use the store-bought breasts and/or thighs)
3 tbsps apricot preserves
3 tbsps lemon juice
3 tbsps ketchup
3 tbsps mayonnaise
1 envelope onion soup mix

Rinse chicken, remove excess fat, and pat dry

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place chicken, skin side up if you're using the chicken with skin (you don't have to, although the sauce does give the skin a wonderful flavor) in a roasting pan.

In 1 1/2 quart saucepan, place the preserves, lemon juice, ketchup, mayonnaise, and onion soup mix and bring to a slow boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat immediately and pour over chicken.

Bake for 1 1/4 hours, uncovered.

Serves 4.

That recipe comes from what has to be the best kosher cookbook ever - Spice and Spirit, the Lubavitch kosher cookbook. Even for those of us who don't keep kosher, it has great recipes. I'm sure you can find it online. If not, find a local Judaica store. I love the curried chicken recipe in it. Although that one is quite a bit more difficult, so I didn't post it here.

In terms of a vegetable for easy cooking, you can always do a salad or use canned/frozen whatever you like. I'm partial to Israeli salad, which is diced cucumber and tomato tossed with olive oil and lemon juice. Spice it up with a little chopped parsley.

Pay-Rod

There is justice in the world. This is what should happen when you sell your soul for money. A-Rod, who prior to signing with Texas, was making noises about wanting to play for a Series contender, may well have stuck himself in the cellar for life due to his greed. A great player, but what does that mean when you play great for a lousy team? But Dan Wetzel puts it even better (presumably why he's paid to write): "Rodriguez will play out his prime in last place, posting Hall of Fame numbers for a Hall of Shame franchise."

Oh yeah.

Zudik Hayse Latkes Essen Mir

Meryl has posted her latkes recipe. But, without offense to anyone, I fear that a latkes recipe that uses matzoh meal instead of wheat germ is just not quite as good. Still quite tasty, but lacking that little bit more oomph. I realize this sounds weird, but wheat germ is the way to go (I also have a Lubavitch latkes recipe that backs me up on this). So, without further adieu, my grandmother's latkes recipe (which I now make). This recipe serves four.

Ingredients
Six large potatoes
Two large eggs
Three handfuls of wheat germ
Salt, pepper, and grated onion to taste
Olive oil for frying (this is actually my own twist; my grandmother used canola oil)

Grate potatoes into a large bowl. You can use a food processor, but I prefer to do it by hand. I alternate between the fine and medium textures. I find using some medium texture grating gives the latkes a nice substance. Add wheat germ. Beat eggs in a separate bowl and pour into potato/wheat germ mixture. Add salt, pepper, and grated onion to taste (I must use a food processor to grate the onion; otherwise I can't see).

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Drop one tablespoon of latkes mixture into the oil and flatten. Cook until golden brown on one side, then flip and cook until golden brown on the other. Make sure the edges are nice and crisp too.
Remove cooked latkes from pan and place on paper towel to blot the oil.

Serve with sour cream. Sure, you can use apple sauce, but apple sauce on latkes is, IMO, an offense against G_d and man. Your mileage may vary.

I started using olive oil to fry the latkes after a friend of mine, who happens to be Mexican, introduced me to the fine Mexican dish of potatoes sauteed in olive oil. The olive oil lends a very nice flavor to the latkes without being too overpowering.

Friday Cat Blogging

I really don't ever participate in Friday Cat Blogging, but I'm going to do it this week. But I'm doing it with a little spin. I'm not posting a picture of one of my cats. I'm posting a colored pencil painting my father did of an Egyptian mau. BTW, I think the Egyptian word for cat - mau - is easily the most intelligent word for cat in any language. Where does the word "cat" come from? It's obvious where the term "mau" is derived from. But "cat"? Eh?

Oy Chanukah

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah. As is usual for me at this time of year, I started singing Jewish folk songs in my head. This reminded me of a time a few years ago when I was in shul on Rosh Hashanah. I was davening away, when suddenly I saw over to my left my favorite singer of folk songs - Theodore Bikel. I could not believe I was davening with Theodore Bikel. And of course the rabbi, knowing who he was, called him up to lead the congregation in a song. Not only was I davening with Theodore Bikel, but I got to hear him sing a song live. This was like a shul dream come true. Suddenly the long hours of stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down melted away. So in honor of that, I am going to share with you a few Jewish folk songs. The first two are actually performed by the Klezmer Conservatory Band (a fine klezmer band and my personal favorite). The last three are sung by Theodore Bikel. Click on the menorah to bring up the page with the songs, and then choose the song you wish to listen to.

Happy Chanukah to all! And a special thanks to BT for introducing me to this fabby program, Soundnails, which allows you to convert MP3s to flash files. No copyright concerns.

UPDATE: It occurs to me I should probably translate the Yiddish for those who have no idea what the song titles mean. Oy Chanukah, Oy Chanukah is pretty obvious. A Freiliche Nacht in Gan Eden means A Joyous Night in the Garden of Eden. Lomir Zich Iberbeten means Let's Make Peace. A balalayka is a Russian musical instrument. Lomir Alle Zingen means Let's All Sing.

Bwahahaha!

There's nothing like the sales pitch of a real estate broker. A broker from Cushman & Wakefield had the following to say about potential tenants for the new Freedom Tower:

"I think there's a huge desire, not just by leaders of companies but also by individuals, to overcome" fears of terrorism, said Bruce Mosler, president of U.S. operations at Cushman & Wakefield in Manhattan.

I think you're nuts, Mosler. Speaking as someone who worked at the World Trade Center up until the very day that my office was destroyed by a 757, I'm telling you that I feel no need to overcome my fear of terrorism by going back to work in a stupidly tall tower. How Freudian can you get, anyway? "Ooh, look, my tower's bigger than your tower! I'm so mighty!" The very fact that people still live and work in New York City is indicative of having overcome fears of terrorism. Working in a tall, ugly building proves nothing. Although I can imagine the rental ads: "The Freedom Tower. Rent space now, or The Terrorists Will Win^TM."

Besides, the real reason companies will rent space in the Freedom Tower was summed up by a businessman, not a real estate broker:

Some survivors agree. Anthony Schirripa, chief executive of Mancini Duffy, an engineering firm, was in the south tower Sept. 11, 2001, but none of his employees were hurt. Schirripa said he would return to the trade center if the numbers worked.

"I don't think anybody would be squeamish about it," said Schirripa, an East Northport resident. "It's an economic decision."

That's right. It won't be about overcoming fears of terrorism. It'll be about the bottom-line. Just like it always is.

Gay Marriage Poll

I received this via an e-mail list I subscribe to from my old college.

Hey, a "pro-family" group is collecting petitions to show that, by
gosh, everyone who visits their webpage (how scientific and unbiased) is against homosexual marriage and/or civil unions. They're presenting the results to Congress. Wouldn't it be neat if a bunch of other people went to their webpage and gave them a bit of a wider sample of the population? I mean, if
the AFA tells Congress that by their own study most people are in
FAVOR of homosexual unions, wouldn't that be kind of neat?

http://www.afa.net/petitions/marriagepoll.asp

The poll bugs me. Okay, not the poll, but that the AFA would present its results to Congress as representative of anything. I would think that most Congress critters understand that such a poll would be incredibly unscientific and representative only of people who would visit the AFA website in the first place. However, now the cat's out of the bag, and people who wouldn't normally visit the website are going and voting in the poll. The results are still incredibly unscientific, but I rather think it serves the AFA right. If they wish to poll their membership or prospective membership for their own knowledge, more power to them. But to present the results of said poll as anything other than skewed is ridiculous.

Given that the results are now running about 50/50, I wonder if the AFA will still present its results to Congress? I'm sure they must have figured out that the poll is being gamed. Well, gamed by the other side. It was gamed to begin with.

Incidentally, an actual poll conducted with a nationwide random sample indicates that 55% of Americans oppose gay marriage. The AFA could just use scientifically valid results to prove their case. But no.

What's Your Elvish Name?

Mine's Nienna Ancalimë. As beautiful as all Elven words.

Find yours at Elvish Name Generator.

You have a Hobbit name too. Mine's Dimple Knotwise of Michel Delving. Hobbit Name Generator.

Short Movie Review

Return of the King: Wow.

Stupid Football Player Tricks

I've heard of a touchdown dance, but a touchdown cell phone call?

Best Guitarist

Now and again, I'll read someone asking the question "Who is the best rock guitarist?" And among the names listed, I'll see the usual suspects: Yngwie Malmsteen, Eddie Van Halen (WTF?), Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Vai, and Jimmy Page. I almost never, however, see the man I would vote for - Carlos Santana. He has a very different style from the others mentioned, but nonetheless, he is an amazing guitarist.

More Breaking News

The UK's Sunday Telegraph is reporting that Saddam Hussein knew Mohammed Atta was being trained in Baghdad for the WTC attacks in July 2001.

Breaking News

Saddam Hussein Captured.

Snow starts to fall in Hoboken.

Lesley goes to supermarket before snow starts to accumulate in Hoboken.

I Don't Get Net

I don't know if anyone else has this problem, but for the last couple of months, my web browser on my laptop was being hijacked by XML Overture's "Almighty Search Engine". Whenever I would type in a URL name and hit "Ctrl - Enter", which used to add the http://www..com to the URL and bring me to the page, I would be hijacked over to the "Almighty Search Engine". I finally got so sick to death of it, I did a little research. This issue is caused by a piece of adware called IGetNet. I found a way to manually deinstall it, and the problem is gone.

I hate spyware and adware. I believe that they violate my property rights. I never agree to have any of the things installed that pop-up on websites when you visit them (e.g., Comet Cursor or Gator). I have never installed, let alone used, programs like KaZaa. As such, I can see no legitimate way this got on my PC. I was given no warning that it would be. I was given no choice. Had I been, I would have opted out. If I visit a store to go shopping, the store-owner has no right to insert on my property something that will allow him/her to track my later movements and/or feed me ads at given moments. I do not believe that people should have the right to do that on PCs either, at least not without providing notice. I have not agreed to allow them to place their software on my property. I do hope that Congress passes a law to make this illegal. By and large, I don't want the government interfering in commerce, but this goes beyond commerce. This involves property rights. The government should be seeking to protect our property rights, not the rights of companies to violate them.

Aaargh!

I hate George Steinbrenner.
I hate George Steinbrenner.
I hate George Steinbrenner.
I hate George Steinbrenner.
I hate George Steinbrenner.
I hate George Steinbrenner.
I hate George Steinbrenner.
I hate George Steinbrenner.
I hate George Steinbrenner.
I hate George Steinbrenner.

We Need a Holiday

Tonight is my office holiday party, so I'll be out late. I'll be a dancing fool queen, belle of the ball, life of the party. I love to dance. I hope the DJ doesn't suck. But still, I'm ready to YMCA, Electric Slide, Macarena, and just plain boogie on down. This will put a crimp in my blogging, though. So for today's viewing pleasure, I leave you with another of my father's painting. This one, 2 Tone Chrysanthemum, is currently hanging in an exhibition in Pennsylvania, and the original has already been sold.

Incidentally, if anyone is interested in buying any of my father's work, just e-mail me at the address in the right column. Originals (where not already sold) generally go for $250 - $350 plus S&H. Standard prints are $10 plus S&H, and giclee prints are $50 plus S&H. For those who don't know what giclee is, it's a higher quality printing process using archival quality inks, which provides better color accuracy than other means of reproduction.

Marmelade

Still suffering from blogger's block. So how about another kitty picture? But to change things up this time, I am not posting a picture of one of my cats, but of my parents' cat, Marmelade.

Best Commentary On Gore Endorsement Ever

From Opinions You Should Have - Gore To Claim He Invented Dean, Says GOP.

You Know You're A Redneck Iffen...

I'm having a bit of blogger's block, so I decided just to translate yesterday's post into "Redneck" courtesy of the Universal Translator. Link to Universal Translator via hnumpah, a member in a politics forum I participate in.

Lack uv Critical Thinkin' Rears Its Ugly Head

Ovuh thar dang last 24 hours, Ah have had two separate discussions thut thar highlight ah lack uv critical thinkin' skills, Leroy! 'n thar dang first one, thar dang felluh 'n quesshun had re-ceived an e-mail about boycottin' Target because thut thar thar wuz against corporate policy tuh support Vietnam veterans’ causes 'n them's wuz French-owned.

Vietnam Veterans Associashun By Dick Forrey
We'all axed our local Target store tuh bay ah sponsor uv thar dang Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall durin' our sprin' re-cognishun event.

We'all re-ceived back ah re-ply ferm Target management thut thar “veterans do not meet our area uv givin', Leroy! We'all only donate tuh thar dang areas uv thar dang arts, social acshuns, gay 'n lesbian causes, 'n educashun.”

My thought: If thar dang Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall 'n veterans 'n general, do not meet they's donashun criteria, somethin' am wrong at Target, pardner. We'all wuz not askin' fuh thousands uv dollars, not even hundreds, but simply sponsorship uv an endorsement fuh ah memorial re-membrance.

As follow-up, Ah E-mailed thar dang corporate headquarters 'n they's re-sponse wuz thar dang same, Leroy! Personally, Ah gots ta NOT bay purchasin' anythin' at Target Stores again, Leroy! If thar dang Vietnam Veteran or Veterans 'n general do not meet they's area uv givin', pardner. then why should I, as ah Vietnam veteran, spend maw hard earned money 'n they's stores?

(TARGET IS FRENCH OWNED - WHAT WOULD YOU EXPECT?)

Please pass this'n on tuh as many cousins as y'all know, Leroy!
Sincerely, “Veterans Helpin' Veterans”
PS: Target gots ta also not allow thar dang Marines tuh collect fuh “Toys For Tots” durin' thar dang holidays, hot damn!
Are y'all surprised?

Now Ah would think thut thar knowin' how many e-mail hoaxes there are out there, one might bay somewhat suspect uv thar dang claims made 'n this'n e-mail, pardner. Maybe do ah little re-search, Leroy! Ah wonduh if thar dang felluh thinks thut thar that thar hella am Mariam Abacha askin' he all fuh his'n assistance n'all thar dang little mattuh uv helpin' huh get huh millions out uv Nigeria, hot damn! Ah wuz suspect uv thar dang claims, so Ah did re-search, Leroy! Lo 'n behold, Ah turned up thar dang following.

Accordin' tuh thar dang Veterans uv Foreign Wars, Target wuz ah corporate sponsor fuh thar dang 2003 tour uv thar dang Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Fund’s “ Thar dang Wall Thut thar Heals.” Apparently they's corporate policy does not prohibit 'em ferm donatin' tuh Vietnam Veterans’ causes.

Thar dang original e-mail ferm Dick Forrey did not include thar dang words “gay 'n lesbian causes”, hot damn! Someone else added those words later, probably tuh play on people’s prejudices, pardner. Thut thar link also provides ah bit lotsa in-depth informashun re-gardin' thar dang actual chain uv events between Forrey 'n Target, which am slightly lotsa involved than thar dang e-mail suggests, Leroy! Although thut thar thar am quite true thut thar Target might not have given Forrey funds fuh his'n particular charity had bubba gone through thar dang process uv formally applyin' fuh ah grant, we’ll nevuh know, hot damn! We'all also know ferm thar dang link 'n point 1 thut thar Target has donated tuh othuh Vietnam Veterans’ causes.

Target am not French-owned, Leroy! Thut thar thar am ah Minneapolis-based company whose primary shareholders are U.S. institushunal investors, pardner. Yes, AXAh Financial, which am owned bar thar dang French AXAh Group, does own ah 1.61% stake 'n them, Leroy! Deutsche Bank owns ah 1.66% stake 'n 'em too.

So now if y'all happen tuh get thut thar e-mail or know anyone who does, y'all gots ta know thut thar that thar am distorted, at best.

Thar dang second instance wuz when someone made thar dang claim thut thar “Ah would about bet maw life lotsa aid goes tuh Israel via thar dang federal treasury than does all but ah few states.” Guv-munt budgets are matters uv publik re-cord, hot damn! Thar dang government has been puttin' thar dang data out on thar dang In-tuh-net fuh several years now, pardner. So why not go check rathuh than makin' some wild-assed guess? Ah did, 'n thut thar thar turns out thut thar it’s ah perty good thin' bubba would only “about” bet his'n life, because otherwise his'n ass would bay grass.

Thar dang FY 2002 appropriashun uv U.S. foreign aid tuh Israel wuz $2.76 million billion (yes, Ah occasionally do make typos).
Numbuh uv states gettin' lotsa than $2.76 million billion 'n federal aid 'n FY 2002 wuz 37 (38 if y'all include thar dang District uv Colombia), Leroy! Go tuh page 14 uv thar dang attached document.

Total amount uv federal foreign aid - $15.4 billion

Total amount uv federal aid tuh thar dang states - $362.4 billion

It am precisely these types uv instances thut thar highlight thar dang problem n'all critical-thinkin' skills 'n this'n country, pardner. These are not underprivileged people, hot damn! Both have access tuh they's own personal computers, Leroy! Both have gone through thar dang U.S. primary 'n secondary school systems, Leroy! One uv 'em does not have ah college degree, true, 'n I’m not sure about thar dang othuh one, hot damn! Nevertheless, hot damn! Both exhibit sufficient interest 'n politics tuh spend they's time 'n political debate clubs.

Yet most uv thar dang claims don’t pass anythin' like ah re-asonability test if y'all stop 'n think about them, hot damn! Thut thar doesn’t necessarily make 'em untrue - unreasonable thin', pardner. do occur - but thut thar thar makes 'em suspect, Leroy! When y'all sez thin', pardner. thut thar sound unreasonable, wut y'all should do am go verify 'em fuh yourself.

But Ah suppose thar dang problem goes beyond just ah lack uv willingness tuh do thar dang work tuh verify thin', Leroy! thut thar sound unreasonable, pardner. Scariuh than thut thar am thut thar thar dang claims probably didn’t sound unreasonable tuh eithuh one uv 'em 'n thar dang first place.

Posted bar Lesley at Decembuh 8, 2003 07:35 AM | TrackBack

Comments
Thar dang whole foreign aid thin' am compleat non-sense, pardner. We'all run near thar dang bottom uv all developed nashuns 'n thar dang givin' uv foreign aid as ah % uv GDP, hot damn! If thar dang US completely eliminated all foreign aid, means tested welfare 'n all NEAh grants we'all would still bay about 350 billion 'n thar dang whole.

It’s ah lot uv hand wringin' ovuh nothin', pardner. Makes fuh perty good stories though.

Posted by: Rick DeMent on Decembuh 8, 2003 08:32 AM

Not tuh menshun thut thar Target has re-asonable prices, so thut thar thar dang individual, aftuh shoppin' at target fuh thar dang latest (insert basik un-needed consumuh good) them's should still have enough money tuh donate tuh whatevuh charity them's prefer.

And thut thar does not depend on thar dang particular coporate policy towards any particular non-profit org.

Posted by: Justin on Decembuh 8, 2003 04:26 PM

As Hnumpha’s piece pointed out, most uv America’s aid tuh Israel am not on paper—not easily deciphered ledgers anyway.

It comes 'n lotsa than just outright grants, Leroy! Thut thar thar comes 'n loan guarantees, forgiven loans, compensashun fuh thin', pardner. thut thar could bay dun 'n America lotsa inexpensively 'n tax breaks fuh donashuns thut thar gots tuh run into thar dang $billions.

Total aid thut thar kin bay re-asonably accounted fuh am between $6-7 annually.

Now Ah haven’t checked re-cently on thar dang exact figure, but last Ah re-call thar dang entire budget fuh thar dang state uv Washington—a socialist utopia n'all 6 million people, lotsa than Israel—was between $13-15 billion annually, Leroy! I’m not sure how Federal grants work, if them's are administrated via thar dang legislature or donated directly tuh agencies such as those re-sponsible fuh transportashun 'n healthcare infrastructure, hot damn! Some are undoubtedly given directly tuh private initiatives.

'n any event Ah have ah tough time believin' thut thar federal fundin' 'n this'n state equals 50% uv our entire expenditures.

Furthermore even if thut thar thar does, we'all do pay taxes 'n get ah lot less back than wut we'all pay in, Leroy! Hell maw sales tax isn’t even deductible! Why should foreign contribushuns be?

Ah don’t necessarly agree n'all all uv thar dang supposed facts 'n unsupposed sentiments expressed here, but it’s seems re-liable enough as ah source (AIPAC 'n thar dang Jewish Virtual Library are used 'n thar dang piece).

From: http://www.alternativenews.org

MIFTAH
A) Thar dang nature uv US foreign aid tuh Israel

A1, Leroy! Constitutes 30% uv thar dang total US foreign aid budget, which re-nders Israel tuh bay thar dang largest re-cipient uv US aid 'n thar dang world

Since 1987, thar dang US congress has annually been approvin' ah foreign aid bill totalin' an average uv $3 billion tuh Israel, $1.2 billion 'n economical aid, 'n $1.8 billion 'n military aid.

Aftuh thar dang gulf war 'n 1991, thar dang US has addishunally been uvferin' Israel $2 billion annually 'n federal loan guarantees, which brin', hot damn! thar dang total US foreign aid tuh Israel tuh about $5 billion, or $13.7 million puh day, pardner. This'n amount excludes thar dang approximate $1.5 billion 'n total tax-deductible private donashuns ferm numerous Jewish charities 'n individual donors.

All 'n all, this'n am thar dang largest amount uv foreign aid given tuh ah country, 'n constitutes 30% uv thar dang total amount uv US foreign aid budget.

A2, Leroy! Started 'n 1948 'n gradually increased ovuh thar dang years

Soon aftuh thar dang Truman decision 'n 1948 tuh re-cognize Israel as ah Jewish State, thar dang US Congress approved an aid package 'n thar dang form uv ah $135 million Export-Import Bank loan 'n orduh tuh take 'n holocaust survivors 'n provide 'em n'all homes.

Until 1973, aid wuz mainly made up uv military, economik 'n export-import bank loans, although annual economik grants rangin' between $0.1 'n $74 million wuz also uvfered between thar dang years 1951 'n 1962.

Aftuh thar dang 1973 war, thar dang US aid tuh Israel constituted largely uv military 'n economik grants tuh help strengthen thar dang Israeli defense forces, hot damn! This'n included $12-80 million, which wuz annually granted towards thar dang establishment uv Jewish re-fugee camps.

This TABLE shows thar dang history uv US financial assistance tuh Israel, as documented bar thar dang Jewish Virtual Library, hot damn! Notice thar dang pattern uv increased assistance ovuh thar dang years fuh economic, military 'n Jewish re-fugee grants, especially aftuh 1973, Leroy! This'n pattern re-flects thar dang US interests (secshun A3) 'n empowerin' Israel as thar dang only democratic, close ally 'n thar dang re-gion, 'n not fuh thar dang pure intent tuh assist ah developin' country.

A3, hot damn! Promotes American interests 'n thar dang Middle East

Thar dang US fundin' tuh Israel acts as thar dang backbone fuh thar dang strategik partnership between both countries, pardner. By advancin' Israel’s technological 'n military powers, thar dang US am able tuh share intelligence informashun re-gardin' Arab militant groups, like Hizbullah, as well as informashun re-gardin' thar dang proliferashun uv weapons uv mass destrucshun 'n countries such as Iran, Iraq 'n Syria.

Three quarters uv thar dang military aid tuh Israel goes fuh importin' US-made military equipment such as F-16 'n Apache attack helicopters, Leroy! This'n creates ah job market fuh US citizens 'n transforms Palestine into ah test ground fuh US made weaponry, used daily against Palestinians.

Israel has cooperated n'all thar dang US arms industry tuh develop lotsa effective military equipment at affordable costs tuh thar dang US, Leroy! About one quartuh uv thar dang military aid tuh Israel am contributed towards military re-search 'n development, where several innovative jet fighters, missiles 'n navigatin' 'n targetin' devices have been manufactured 'n sold back tuh thar dang US, pardner. Examples are thar dang ITALD, Litenin', pardner. Popeye 'n thar dang UAV.

A4, hot damn! Proposed bar Israel 'n 1998 tuh bay re-duced 'n an effort tuh establish an economically independent country

'n 1998, accordin' tuh an agreement n'all thar dang Clinton Administrashun 'n Congress, Israel voluntarily re-quested tuh decrease its financial dependence on US economik aid bar phasin' thut thar thar out ovuh ah period uv 10 years.

Thar dang $1.2 billion 'n economik aid gots ta bay re-duced bar $120 million each year until thut thar thar am down tuh zero 'n thar dang year 2008, Leroy! This'n gots ta help Israel tuh become an economically independent country.

However, 50% uv thar dang savin', pardner. (i.e, pardner. $60 million) each year gots ta bay added tuh an emergency military aid fund tuh Israel, pardner. This'n demonstrates thar dang US’s persistence 'n commitment tuh help Israel gain control uv thar dang re-gion.

B) Thar dang controversy fuh US foreign aid tuh Israel

B1, Leroy! Granted 'n disproporshun tuh Israel’s size 'n needs

Israel am an economically, technologically, 'n militarily advanced country, n'all ah puh capita rate uv $14,000, which am highuh thut thar that uv all neighborin' Arab countries, includin' thar dang oil-rich Saudi Arabia, pardner. Thut thar thar am ranked as thar dang world’s sixteenth wealthiest country, yet thar dang US aid tuh Israel constitutes 30% uv thar dang total US foreign aid budget.

Israeli populashun am 5.8 million, which only constitutes one thousandth uv thar dang world’s total populashun, pardner. Between thar dang years 1949 'n 1998, thar dang US has provided ah total uv $84 billion 'n aid tuh Israel, which exceeds thut thar given tuh all countries uv sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, 'n thar dang Caribbean combined, n'all ah total populashun uv about 1.054 billion people.

B2, pardner. Promotes thar dang illegal occupashun uv Palestinian land 'n orduh tuh establish settlements fuh Jewish re-fugees

Ah porshun uv US foreign aid tuh Israel, which has increased 'n thar dang past decade tuh $80 million annually, goes into buildin' settlements fuh Jewish immigrants, hot damn! This'n occurs bar thar dang illegal confiscashun uv Palestinian land 'n home demolishun tuh allow fuh space, hot damn! Jewish settlements surround every single Palestinian city 'n thar dang West Bank, 'n they's rapid construcshun since 1973 has prevented thar dang creashun uv ah feasible Palestinian State.

Jewish settlements are built on confiscated Palestinian land tuh accommodate Jewish immigrants ferm all ovuh thar dang world, based on thar dang Israeli Law uv Return, hot damn! These immigrants are guaranteed thar dang right tuh Israeli citizenship, free Hebrew learnin', Leroy! 'n immediate employment, pardner. On thar dang othuh hand, Palestinian re-fugees who wuz forced tuh flee they's homes 'n 1948 'n 1967 are forbidden ferm re-turnin' tuh they's towns uv origin.

B3, Leroy! Transforms Palestine into ah military test ground

Seventy five percent uv US military aid tuh Israel goes into purchasin' US-made military equipment, such as tanks, machine guns, bullets, helicoptuh gunships, 'n more, Leroy! Thar dang US depends on Israel tuh test new military technologies 'n war condishuns, pardner. For example, uranium-depleted ammunishun has been fired at civilians 'n Palestine.

B4, Leroy! Violates US Law 'n abuses human rights

Thar dang Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) uv thar dang United States, which provides guidelines fuh thar dang eligibility uv certain countries tuh purchase US-made weapons 'n military equipment, states 'n secshun 116 thut thar “ Naw assistance may bay provided unduh this'n part tuh thar dang government uv any country which engages 'n ah consistent pattern uv gross violashuns uv internashunally re-cognized human rights.” However, Israeli army engages daily 'n degradin' 'n inhumane treatments towards Palestinians, such as prolonged detenshun without charges, strip searches at checkpoints, beatings, torture, 'n home demolishuns, pardner. Accordin' tuh Amnesty Internashunal, Israel am thar dang only country thut thar legalizes torture.

Similarly, secshun 4 uv thar dang Arms Export control Act prevents thar dang US government ferm sellin' defense articles tuh countries thut thar abuse they's use fuh non-self-defense purposes, hot damn! 'n 2001, thar dang US State Department described thar dang acshuns uv Israeli army against Palestinians as an “excessive use uv force,” re-ferrin' tuh thar dang use uv live ammunishun when soldiers wuz not 'n ah pendin' danger, Leroy! This'n clearly shows thut thar thar dang US does not agree n'all thar dang way these weapons are bein' used against Palestinians, yet thar dang US military aid tuh Israel continues consistently as agreed between both countries.

SOURCES:
Al-Awda, http://al-awda.org/
Global Exchange, http://www.globalexchange.org/
Thar dang American Israel Publik Affairs Committee, http://www.aipac.org/
Thar dang Jewish Virtual Library, http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/
Thar dang Palestine monitor, http://www.palestinemonitor.org/
USAID, http://www.usaid.gov/

Posted by: Jim on Decembuh 8, 2003 11:06 PM

Obviously that’s $6-7 billion annually, 'n Ah would bet it’s highuh than that.

Posted by: Jim on Decembuh 8, 2003 11:08 PM

Tax breaks fuh donashuns? Thut thar am ah completely bogus comparison, hot damn! Jews get tuh donate they's money tuh whatevuh charitable causes them's see fit, pardner. We'all even get thar dang same tax breaks afforded tuh any othuh U.S, hot damn! citizen, pardner. Y'all don’t have tuh approve, but thut thar am y'alls problem, hot damn! Ah bet Ah don’t approve uv some uv y'alls charitable causes either, hot damn! Do Ah get tuh whine about thar dang tax breaks y'all get fuh donatin' tuh causes Ah don’t approve uv? Thut thar am not U.S, hot damn! aid tuh Israel, Leroy! Thut thar am individuals givin' they's own money as them's choose.

As fuh y'alls disbelief about thar dang amount uv aid given tuh thar dang state, wasn’t thar dang link Ah provided tuh thar dang U.S, hot damn! government re-port sufficient proof? Y'all think thar dang U.S, Leroy! government am lyin' about it? Like Ah said, thar dang fact thut thar somethin' sounds unreasonable doesn’t necessarily make thut thar thar untrue, pardner. Unreasonable thin', pardner. occur, pardner. If thut thar thar sounds unreasonable, y'all just need tuh validate thut thar thar fuh yourself, Leroy! Ah did that.

Posted by: Lesley on Decembuh 8, 2003 11:14 PM

Shit, Leroy! Ah also meant “entire expenditures on thar dang state level”, Leroy! Technically thut thar thar should bay clear since them's are not “our expenditures” if thar dang Feds are spendin' it…but thar dang clarificashun might have been useful, some gots ta undoubtedly misconstrue thar dang point as me havin' suggested half thar dang state budget am federal money, which Ah don’t think thut thar thar is.

Posted by: Jim on Decembuh 8, 2003 11:14 PM

Y'all would bet? Y'all lost y'alls last one, so eithuh provide some actual proof fuh y'alls beliefs or admit y'all hella don’t know.

Posted by: Lesley on Decembuh 8, 2003 11:14 PM

Yes Ah do think thar dang Federal government lies about things, imagine that.

Posted by: Jim on Decembuh 8, 2003 11:15 PM

Yeah, so do I, just not stuff that’s easily verifiable.

Posted by: Lesley on Decembuh 8, 2003 11:37 PM

Funny Ah seem tuh re-call winnin' our last bet :)

Posted by: Jim on Decembuh 9, 2003 12:29 AM

Lack of Critical Thinking Rears Its Ugly Head

Over the last 24 hours, I have had two separate discussions that highlight a lack of critical thinking skills. In the first one, the man in question had received an e-mail about boycotting Target because it was against corporate policy to support Vietnam veterans' causes and they were French-owned.

Vietnam Veterans Association By Dick Forrey

We asked our local Target store to be a sponsor of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall during our spring recognition event.

We received back a reply from Target management that "veterans do not meet our area of giving. We only donate to the areas of the arts, social actions, gay and lesbian causes, and education."

My thought: If the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and veterans in general, do not meet their donation criteria, something is wrong at Target. We were not asking for thousands of dollars, not even hundreds, but simply sponsorship of an endorsement for a memorial remembrance.

As follow-up, I E-mailed the corporate headquarters and their response was the same. Personally, I will NOT be purchasing anything at Target Stores again. If the Vietnam Veteran or Veterans in general do not meet their area of giving, then why should I, as a Vietnam veteran, spend my hard earned money in their stores?

(TARGET IS FRENCH OWNED - WHAT WOULD YOU EXPECT?)

Please pass this on to as many people as you know.
Sincerely, "Veterans Helping Veterans"
PS: Target will also not allow the Marines to collect for "Toys For Tots" during the holidays.
Are you surprised?

Now I would think that knowing how many e-mail hoaxes there are out there, one might be somewhat suspect of the claims made in this e-mail. Maybe do a little research. I wonder if the man thinks that it really is Mariam Abacha asking him for his assistance with the little matter of helping her get her millions out of Nigeria. I was suspect of the claims, so I did research. Lo and behold, I turned up the following.

According to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Target was a corporate sponsor for the 2003 tour of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Fund’s “The Wall That Heals.” Apparently their corporate policy does not prohibit them from donating to Vietnam Veterans' causes.

The original e-mail from Dick Forrey did not include the words "gay and lesbian causes". Someone else added those words later, probably to play on people's prejudices. That link also provides a bit more in-depth information regarding the actual chain of events between Forrey and Target, which is slightly more involved than the e-mail suggests. Although it is quite true that Target might not have given Forrey funds for his particular charity had he gone through the process of formally applying for a grant, we'll never know. We also know from the link in point 1 that Target has donated to other Vietnam Veterans' causes.

Target is not French-owned. It is a Minneapolis-based company whose primary shareholders are U.S. institutional investors. Yes, AXA Financial, which is owned by the French AXA Group, does own a 1.61% stake in them. Deutsche Bank owns a 1.66% stake in them too.

So now if you happen to get that e-mail or know anyone who does, you will know that it is distorted, at best.

The second instance was when someone made the claim that "I would about bet my life more aid goes to Israel via the federal treasury than does all but a few states." Government budgets are matters of public record. The government has been putting the data out on the Internet for several years now. So why not go check rather than making some wild-assed guess? I did, and it turns out that it's a good thing he would only "about" bet his life, because otherwise his ass would be grass.

The FY 2002 appropriation of U.S. foreign aid to Israel was $2.76 million billion (yes, I occasionally do make typos).

Number of states getting more than $2.76 million billion in federal aid in FY 2002 was 37 (38 if you include the District of Colombia). Go to page 14 of the attached document.

Total amount of federal foreign aid - $15.4 billion

Total amount of federal aid to the states - $362.4 billion

It is precisely these types of instances that highlight the problem with critical-thinking skills in this country. These are not underprivileged people. Both have access to their own personal computers. Both have gone through the U.S. primary and secondary school systems. One of them does not have a college degree, true, and I'm not sure about the other one. Nevertheless. Both exhibit sufficient interest in politics to spend their time in political debate clubs.

Yet most of the claims don't pass anything like a reasonability test if you stop and think about them. That doesn't necessarily make them untrue - unreasonable things do occur - but it makes them suspect. When you read things that sound unreasonable, what you should do is go verify them for yourself.

But I suppose the problem goes beyond just a lack of willingness to do the work to verify things that sound unreasonable. Scarier than that is that the claims probably didn't sound unreasonable to either one of them in the first place.

A Date Which Will Live in Infamy

FDR's Pearl Harbor speech

Hell Freezes Over

Cats and dogs live together. I agree with Newt Gingrich about a non-fiscal issue. From today's appearance on "Meet the Press".

MR. GINGRICH: No, what I said was that after the brilliant military campaign of 23 days, that we went off a cliff after that in the sense that the small military worked and was right if you were going to rapidly convert Iraqis into policing their own country and if you were going to be the reinforcer of an Iraqi system, not the enforcer of an American system. And the mistake we made—if you look at Afghanistan, it took us three weeks from the fall of Kandahar to recognize Karzai, and five weeks after that, he was at the State of the Union sitting next to Mrs. Bush. And from that point on, it was clear that the Americans were helping the Afghans; they weren’t trying to police Afghanistan, which is an impossible challenge.

I think the cliff we have gone off that we need to get back on is to put the Iraqis at the center of this equation, not foreign governments, not the U.N., not more American troops. Put the Iraqis at the center of this equation and recognize that most Iraqis do not want to go back to a brutal, murdering, raping dictatorship. Most Iraqis want to have an organized way of governing themselves, but they want to be in charge of their own country.

What next? Pat Buchanan and I agree on something?

Ain't Got No Class

Jay and Jane, formerly of the Daily Rant, are now co-blogging at their new site Classless Warfare. Go to the new site, not the old one. Fret not, the old material has been moved there.

Great Books

Whew! That last entry wound up being a lot longer than I initially intended. For that reason, I'm splitting out what the eventual goal of that post was into its own entry.

So anyway, I was thinking a lot about that Great Books program recently. I may be invited to be on the board of an excellent private school here in Hoboken, The Hudson School. It's a small school aimed at the gifted and talented students. About 25% of students receive scholarships. I had the opportunity to sit in on some classes last week, and I was immensely impressed. The class sizes are small, which is key to a better learning environment, and the students were highly motivated. I sat in on a Calculus class, and one of the kids was waving his arms around when he got something right. I never saw that in the public school Calculus class I took.

But back to the topic at hand. Great books. I miss reading those kinds of books in the learning environment. There's something better about reading them and then discussing them with groups of people. So I've kind of been thinking of starting a discussion group here in Hoboken dedicated to reading great books. There would be a published list of works and then weekly discussions.

I was thinking of multiple ways this could be structured. One would be to do a whole 9 month school year kind of thing, and read something along the lines of the 12 required books on the Gallatin list. But that might be too much of a commitment for the working adult. So then I started thinking about maybe doing 3 month cycles and limiting the list to clearly related works.

For example, you could do a cycle around E.T.A. Hoffman. Read The Tales of Hoffmann (throwing in Nutcracker for good measure) and Robertson Davies' The Cornish Trilogy, a fair amount of which is about the works of Hoffman. Then cap it off with DVD viewings of The Nutcracker ballet and Offenbach's opera The Tales of Hoffman.

You could read Jung's Man and His Symbols, Robertson Davies' The Manticore, and Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Yes, I do have a thing for the works of Robertson Davies. They're fantastic. You should read them if you haven't already.

What about Aristotle's Poetics and Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose? Cap it off with a viewing of the movie version of The Name of the Rose.

Those are my thoughts to date on related cycles, but I'd welcome any suggestions. Please, suggest away!

Educate Your Mind

I spent a fair amount of my academic career in alternative educational institutions (no, not reform schools). From 2nd to 5th grade, I went to the Rockland Project School, which was modeled on the Summerhill School in England. I don't know if the Project School is still open. If it is, I don't know what type of educational structure it now has. When I went there it was one of the Free Schools that were set up in the 1960s and 1970s. Free as in you were free to take whatever classes you wanted to or none at all. Classes could be designed if you could convince one of the 6 teachers to teach it. That is not the best environment for every student. Some are not self-motivated enough to take advantage of it. It was a great environment for me, though. I was reading Shakespeare with a couple of other students and one of the teachers when I was 8. I didn't understand it all, but that's what teachers are for.

I went back into mainstream education from 6th grade through 12th. My college days were spent at two other alternative educational institutions - New College and the Gallatin School at NYU. New College was a very small liberal arts college. The entire student body in my day numbered around 300. There were no requirements except within your major. There were no grades, only written evaluations. Trust me, that's not as great as it sounds. A grade masks many flaws. Teachers are brutal in written evaluations. By and large I got very good evaluations, but in my freshman year, one of my professors wrote that had it been a graduate school course, I would have flunked. Well yes, okay, but I wasn't at graduate school maturity level in my freshman year.

Gallatin was a university without walls program. You could design your own program. You did have to take certain core courses, although I was exempted since I transferred in with sufficient similar credits. But the key thing about Gallatin to me was that it was also a Great Books program. I am a huge fan of Great Books programs. If it were up to me (and fortunately for most students, it isn't), every school would require one. There is nothing like them for getting you to read on a wide variety of subjects and to think about how all the books you have read interconnect. To me that is one of the things a college is supposed to teach you. Too many Americans these days view college as a form of vocational instruction. You go to college because it will help you get a better job. That's fine, but college should be more. It should teach you to think critically.

What, some of you may be asking, is a Great Books program? I can't answer that for every school that has one (and they're not incredibly uncommon). At Gallatin it meant you had to read 24 "great books" and then pass a 2-hour oral exam with a panel of 3 professors. The first 12 were more or less selected for you (I say more or less because you had some leeway). They were: The Iliad, The Odyssey, Hamlet, King Lear, one of the books from Dante's Divine Comedy, one play from Sophocles' Oedipus cycle, one play from Aeschylus' Oresteiad, Euripides' Medea, Aristotle's Ethics, Plato's Symposium, 3 books of the Old Testament (this counted as one selection), and 2 of the New Testament (also counted as one selection). The remaining 12 you were free to choose on your own. You were provided with an extensive list of recommendations, but if you could convince the panel to add another one, you could use that. I can't remember all of the other 12 I read, but I did in fact convince the panel to let me include Robertson Davies' The Manticore, specifically because of its tie-in with Jungian psychology. (Yes, Jung was in my second list of 12.) Incidentally, I don't know if the list is still the same. It may have changed.

I know that one of the popular critiques of Great Books programs, at least as they existed when I was going to Gallatin, was that they were primarily a cavalcade of DWM - Dead White Men. There is clear truth to that critique, but all I can say is that like it or not, due to the discrimination that existed throughout history, those works had a greater and more long-lasting impact on our culture (and here I speak of American and English culture) as it exists today than the works of other authors. This is not to deny that women and men of other ethnicities had a great impact on history and our culture. They did. Just not as much, generally speaking, through their works of published authorship. You can draw very direct lines from Plato and Aristotle to the Magna Carta and the founding of the American republic. A quite large percentage of English cliches derive from either the Bible or Shakespeare. The Greek tragedians pretty much set the form of Western tragedy for centuries to follow. Unfair to their female and other ethnic contemporaries? You betcha. But you can't go back and change ancient history.

I will also say that you could, in your second list of 12, include as many works by women and men of other ethnicities as you liked. Sappho? No problem. Langston Hughes? Step right up. Frederick Douglass? Absolutely. Alice Walker? Put her on the list. Salman Rushdie? I'm sure you could make the case. Omar Khayyam? Jane Austen? Charlotte Bronte? Willa Cather? Ralph Ellison? Toni Morrison? Maya Angelou? Right there, a list of 12 authors whose works you could have had as your second list of 12. Not one of them a DWM.

Neither would I insist that all Great Books programs make you read the selected 12 that Gallatin made us read. I see nothing wrong with that list for the reasons described above, but I also see nothing wrong with changing the list and broadening it. The most important thing about a Great Books program is that it gets you to read excellent and seminal literary works. Which of the magnitude of excellent and seminal literary works that exist can and should be discretionary. Throw out all the DWM if you desire. I wouldn't make that choice, because you'd be missing out on works that really did have a huge impact on shaping the world you live in, but the main thing is to read.

Disturbing

Dietz, who got the tip from Kathy, points out that this story about arrests of domestic terrorists hasn't made the national news. I certainly couldn't find any reference to this story in the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, or the Wall Street Journal. What the hell? This is a big story, one that would be worthy of mention in the national news media. Weapon of mass destruction? Advanced terrorist plot? In what world, where the national news media is regularly reporting on the arrests of foreign terrorists in similar situations, is this not newsworthy? Have they been asked to suppress it? It was on local affiliates of at least two of the major networks (CBS and NBC). It was in local papers. It's on the FBI website. It was on the AP Wire. Given all that, it's inconceivable that they are unaware of it. This is very disturbing.

CBS 11 Investigates Poison Gas Plot

Nov 26, 2003 3:30 pm US/Central
By Robert Riggs
With Investigative Producer Todd Bensman

Federal authorities this year mounted one of the most extensive investigations of domestic terrorism since the Oklahoma City bombing, CBS 11 has learned.

Three people linked to white supremacist and anti-government groups are in custody. At least one weapon of mass destruction - a sodium cyanide bomb capable of delivering a deadly gas cloud - has been seized in the Tyler area.

Investigators have seized at least 100 other bombs, bomb components, machine guns, 500,000 rounds of ammunition and chemical agents. But the government also found some chilling personal documents indicating that unknown co-conspirators may still be free to carry out what appeared to be an advanced plot. And, authorities familiar with the case say more potentially deadly cyanide bombs may be in circulation.

Since arresting the three people in May, federal agents have served hundreds of subpoenas across the country in a domestic terror investigation that made it onto President Bush’s daily intelligence briefings and set off national security alarms among the country’s most senior counter-terror officials.

William J. Krar, originally from New Hampshire, last week pleaded guilty in Tyler federal court to possession of a chemical weapon near the East Texas town of Noonday. He faces up to ten years in prison. His common-law wife, Judith Bruey, pleaded guilty to lesser weapons charges and faces up to five years in prison.

Also arrested this past Spring was Newark, New Jersey resident Edward Feltus. The New Jersey Militia member has pleaded guilty to attempting to purchase fake United Nations and Department of Defense identity cards from Krar.

All three have steadfastly maintained their silence, even though talking could reduce their prison sentences, and the investigation has stalled for now. Evidence seized and the fact that none of the defendants will talk has given rise to speculation that unknown conspirators may be still be involved in a broader plot to use Krar’s home-built chemical weapons, government officials say.

“One would certainly have to question why an individual would feel compelled to stockpile sodium cyanide, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, acetic acid, unless they had some bad intent,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Wes Rivers, who is prosecuting the case. “They certainly had the capacity to be extremely dangerous.”

Terrorism investigators suspect that Krar, who has paid no federal income taxes since 1988, made his living as a traveling arms salesman who pedaled illicit bomb components and other weapons to violent underground anti-government groups across the country.

Sources familiar with the investigation say authorities especially fear that Krar may have manufactured more than one sodium cyanide bomb and sold them. After a traffic stop earlier this year while Krar was traveling through Tennessee, state troopers seized sodium cyanide among other weapons, one government source confirmed.

During the same stop, troopers found notes in Krar’s car.

One of the notes titled “Trip” recommends, “You will need cash, pre-charged phone card, spare gas can and all planning in place.”

Another note titled “Procedure” appears to represent instructions for carrying out some kind of covert operation. It lists code words for cities where meetings can take place at motels. Other codes appear to be warnings about how close police might be to catching the plotters. “Lots of light storms are predicted,” for instance, means “Move fast before they look any harder. We have a limited window remaining.”

The same note goes on to recommend ways to divert pursuers and suggests, “We want all looking in the wrong direction.”

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, counter-terrorism agencies have been consumed by national efforts to ferret out U.S.-based foreign terrorist cells whose members hail from the Middle East. Federal investigators were not looking for white supremacist groups when they stumbled across Krar by accident.

He drew the FBI’s attention when he sent a package of counterfeit ID’s for the United Nations and Defense Intelligence Agency to Feltus’ New Jersey home earlier this year. The package was mistakenly delivered to a Staten Island man, who opened it and called police.

A note found inside and signed by Krar stated, “Hope this package gets to you O.K. We would hate to have this fall into the wrong hands.”

The discovery led to surveillance operations in and around Tyler, and then search warrants that turned up the Sodium cyanide bomb and other illegal weapons at locations controlled by Krar.

Little is known about Krar and Bruey.

Two years ago, the couple quietly set up business as a gun parts manufacturer at a remote storage locker in Noonday, Texas. Krar apparently has similarly operated his businesses under the radar for years in other states before coming to Texas. As he did in Tyler, Krar rented local post office boxes and storage units.

In one affidavit for a search warrant, an FBI agent noted that Krar was “actively involved in the militia movement…a good source of covert weaponry for white supremacist and anti-government militia groups in New Hampshire.”

Until now, the little town just south of Tyler was best known locally for the sweet onions grown there.

Teresa Staples, who owns the storage facility, said Krar pretended to buy and sell army surplus goods at flea markets. Only later, when FBI agents swarmed the place, did she learn that the surplus goods hid dangerous chemicals and weapons.

“Why did they pick such a small storage facility? Why did they pick this town, because I know they’re from up north,” she said. “How did they find us?”

This was not the first time that Krar has drawn the attention of federal investigators. In 1995, the ATF investigated Krar and another man on weapons charges. The other suspect told authorities at the time that he and Krar shared an abiding hatred of the federal government and had been planning to bomb government facilities, court records show. But the suspect later recanted the story about plotting terror attacks with Krar. Krar denied the allegation and was not arrested, according to records.

According to a more recent FBI affidavit, on the day of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, Krar raised suspicion at a New Hampshire storage unit he was renting. An employee called the FBI that day and reported that Krar was “wicked anti-American.”

While authorities work for a new break in the case, some counter-terrorism experts question whether the government might be overlooking dangers closer to home while fighting the War on Terror in the Middle East.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors domestic hate groups, says the number of openly violent groups dropped from more than 1,000 to about 100 after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing because of negative public sentiment. Groups that call East Texas home include the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nations and Christian Identity.

In 1997, the Dallas FBI broke up a terror plot by members of the Ku Klux Klan to blow up a Wise County power plant.

Former Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge Danny Coulson was involved in the nation’s first stand-offs with domestic anti-government groups and mounted some of the first intensive domestic terror investigations. He cautioned that authorities should take care not to forget about domestic groups while concentrating on foreign ones.

“It’s scary when you look at their capabilities,” he said. “Look at the vulnerabilities of our society. We don’t have to concern ourselves only with foreign terrorists, but we need to concern ourselves with domestic terrorists too. And these guys are very dangerous.”

Another Time-Waster

The Bush Backdrop Generator. I generated Bushurama and The Bush in the Hall.

UPDATE: I realized that some of my regular readers won't get the references, so I'm posting them. Bender from Futurama and the Headcrusher from The Kids in the Hall.

The Great Canoe Race

My father sent me this via e-mail. It would be funnier, if it weren't so true.

A Japanese company and an American company decided to have a canoe race.

Both the teams practiced hard and long to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day the Japanese won by a mile.

Afterward, the American team became very discouraged and morally depressed. The American management decided the reason for the crushing defeat had to be found. A Management Team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 persons steering and one person rowing. So American management hired a consulting company and paid them an incredible amount of money. They advised that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

To prevent losing to the Japanese again next year, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager. They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the "Rowing Team Quality First Program," with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rower.

"We must give the rower the empowerment and enrichments through this quality program.".

The next year the Japanese won by two miles. Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. Then they distributed the money saved as bonuses to the senior executives.

Thank goodness this is just a story and this sort of thing doesn't happen in real life, eh?

Oh the Weather Outside Is Frightful

But the slipcover and laptop are so delightful.

A View from the Window

The lump in the middle of the couch is Emma sleeping under the slipcover

Jane considers getting her own blog

All We Are Saying Is...

...that the international community (read Europe) is going to have to get over itself and start putting some actual pressure on the Palestinians if there is ever going to be a successful peace plan. Ultimately I believe that something similar to the Geneva plan will be the basis of peace. However if members of the Palestinian delegation that came up with the plan can't even stick to it during the document signing ceremony, then there will never be a successful peace plan.

It also reported that participants were disappointed to learn that a member of the Palestinian delegation published an editorial that said, "Nowhere in this document have we given up on the right of return, and anyone who believes we have has fallen into the Israeli trap."

Yes, the words of someone who actually wants peace with the Israelis. I know that when I really want to settle a problem with someone, I refer to his/her compromises as a "trap" and deny that I even made a key concession.

A lot of pressure is placed by the rest of the world on the Israelis to "show restraint." Pressure also needs to be placed on the Palestinians to do the same thing and to be realistic about a peace plan (as in one that doesn't basically decimate Israel). The Israelis can't do it; the Palestinians won't listen to them. The other Arab nations won't do it; they benefit too much from the violence, as it keeps their populations' eyes turned on the common enemy and off the domestic governmental ones. The U.S. can't do it by itself; no one trusts us enough to be objective.

The European governments need to get a grip and realize that Israelis can't make peace by themselves; they need a willing partner. What happened at the document signing ceremony certainly indicates that there is no truly willing partner; at least not one currently involved in any process. Only sufficient Western pressure (even-handed pressure) will drag one to the table, even if it is kicking and screaming. After that, the (even-handed) pressure to abide by the settlement will need to be kept in place until such time it is no longer necessary. And that might take many years and even the threat of troops.

Some Things Are Just Not Funny

When I first read this headline - Yahoo! News - Garage Full of Dead Cats Found in Indiana - I really wanted to make a joke about it. We had a saying in a Yahoo! Club I used to participate in (before the switch to the ad-driven Groups format drove us away) - All Republicans Hate Cats. I wanted to do a post entitled "Republicans Strike in Indiana" or something. But then I read the story and, damn it, it's so awful I just can't really joke about it. If you are squeamish, don't read it.

I'd Like to Thank the Academy and David Merrick...

Apparently a faithful reader has nominated me for Best Female Authored Blog. I know I don't have a shot in hell at winning, but it's flattering all the same. Is it outre to vote for oneself?

Dream Weaver?

From my brother, who appears very fond of the word vast. I was previously unaware of this particular quirk of his, but I suppose there are worse ones.

According to today's Newsday, the Yankees have offered Jeff Weaver to the Dodgers for Kevin Brown.

The hope is that the Dodgers would be willing to gamble that the younger and cheaper Weaver realizes his vast - I say VAST, got that? VAST - potential. The Dodgers would save about $9 million this year and $6 million next year, enough to ink some help for their offense.

The Yankees would be free of the headache that is Weaver and convert what's now a lost spot into the rotation into a productive spot without having to give up someone like Nick Johnson.

BTW, did I say that Weaver has VAST potential? That's VAST with a capital "V", which rhymes with "P", which stands for potential.

VAST!!!!!!!!!

It's hardly a secret that I would be more than happy to see Weaver off the Yankees, so I consider this a good short-term move. But I'm sorry, everybody knows that "P" stands for "pool". Robert Preston is rolling over in his grave.

The Current State of Most Political Debate

One of the reasons I have become less and less inclined to discuss politics nowadays is that the majority of political debate has come to resemble an unfunny version of a Monty Python sketch. So, I'd rather just listen to the funny original Monty Python sketch, namely The Argument Clinic. Read it and tell me I'm not right. Doesn't it just make you think about all the "Well, what about [fill in name of hated politician here]! If you say one bad thing about [fill in name of not-hated politician here], it must mean that you therefore support everything that [fill in name of hated politician here] does!"

The Cast (in order of appearance)

M= Man looking for an argument
R= Receptionist
Q= Abuser
A= Arguer
C= Complainer
H= Head Hitter

M: Ah. I'd like to have an argument, please.
R: Certainly sir. Have you been here before?
M: No, I haven't, this is my first time.
R: I see. Well, do you want to have just one argument, or were you thinking of taking a course?
M: Well, what is the cost?
R: Well, It's one pound for a five minute argument, but only eight pounds for a course of ten.
M: Well, I think it would be best if I perhaps started off with just the one and then see how it goes.
R: Fine. Well, I'll see who's free at the moment.

Pause

R: Mr. DeBakey's free, but he's a little bit conciliatory.
Ahh yes, Try Mr. Barnard; room 12.
M: Thank you.

(Walks down the hall. Opens door.)

Q: WHAT DO YOU WANT?
M: Well, I was told outside that...
Q: Don't give me that, you snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings!
M: What?
Q: Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type really makes me puke, you vacuous, coffee-nosed, maloderous, pervert!!!
M: Look, I CAME HERE FOR AN ARGUMENT, I'm not going to just stand...!!
Q: OH, oh I'm sorry, but this is abuse.
M: Oh, I see, well, that explains it.
Q: Ah yes, you want room 12A, Just along the corridor.
M: Oh, Thank you very much. Sorry.
Q: Not at all.
M: Thank You. (Under his breath) Stupid git!!

(Walk down the corridor)

M: (Knock)
A: Come in.
M: Ah, Is this the right room for an argument?
A: I told you once.
M: No you haven't.
A: Yes I have.
M: When?
A: Just now.
M: No you didn't.
A: Yes I did.
M: You didn't
A: I did!
M: You didn't!
A: I'm telling you I did!
M: You did not!!
A: Oh, I'm sorry, just one moment. Is this a five minute argument or the full half hour?
M: Oh, just the five minutes.
A: Ah, thank you. Anyway, I did.
M: You most certainly did not.
A: Look, let's get this thing clear; I quite definitely told you.
M: No you did not.
A: Yes I did.
M: No you didn't.
A: Yes I did.
M: No you didn't.
A: Yes I did.
M: No you didn't.
A: Yes I did.
M: You didn't.
A: Did.
M: Oh look, this isn't an argument.
A: Yes it is.
M: No it isn't. It's just contradiction.
A: No it isn't.
M: It is!
A: It is not.
M: Look, you just contradicted me.
A: I did not.
M: Oh you did!!
A: No, no, no.
M: You did just then.
A: Nonsense!
M: Oh, this is futile!
A: No it isn't.
M: I came here for a good argument.
A: No you didn't; no, you came here for an argument.
M: An argument isn't just contradiction.
A: It can be.
M: No it can't. An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition.
A: No it isn't.
M: Yes it is! It's not just contradiction.
A: Look, if I argue with you, I must take up a contrary position.
M: Yes, but that's not just saying 'No it isn't.'
A: Yes it is!
M: No it isn't!
M: Argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes.

(short pause)

A: No it isn't.
M: It is.
A: Not at all.
M: Now look.
A: (Rings bell) Good Morning.
M: What?
A: That's it. Good morning.
M: I was just getting interested.
A: Sorry, the five minutes is up.
M: That was never five minutes!
A: I'm afraid it was.
M: It wasn't.

Pause

A: I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to argue anymore.
M: What?!
A: If you want me to go on arguing, you'll have to pay for another five minutes.
M: Yes, but that was never five minutes, just now. Oh come on!
A: (Hums)
M: Look, this is ridiculous.
A: I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to argue unless you've paid!
M: Oh, all right. (pays money)
A: Thank you.

short pause

M: Well?
A: Well what?
M: That wasn't really five minutes, just now.
A: I told you, I'm not allowed to argue unless you've paid.
M: I just paid!
A: No you didn't.
M: I DID!
A: No you didn't.
M: Look, I don't want to argue about that.
A: Well, you didn't pay.
M: Aha. If I didn't pay, why are you arguing? I Got you!
A: No you haven't.
M: Yes I have. If you're arguing, I must have paid.
A: Not necessarily. I could be arguing in my spare time.
M: Oh I've had enough of this.
A: No you haven't.
M: Oh Shut up. (Walks down the stairs. Opens door.)

M: I want to complain.
C: You want to complain! Look at these shoes. I've only had them three weeks and the heels are worn right through.
M: No, I want to complain about...
C: If you complain nothing happens, you might as well not bother.
M: Oh!
C: Oh my back hurts, it's not a very fine day and I'm sick and tired of this office.
M: (Slams door. walks down corridor, opens next door.)
M: Hello, I want to... Ooooh!
H: No, no, no. Hold your head like this, then go Waaah. Try it again.
M: uuuwwhh!!
H: Better, Better, but Waah, Waah! Put your hand there.
M: No.
H: Now..
M: Waaaaah!!!
H: Good, Good! That's it.
M: Stop hitting me!!
H: What?
M: Stop hitting me!!
H: Stop hitting you?
M: Yes!
H: Why did you come in here then?
M: I wanted to complain.
H: Oh no, that's next door. It's being-hit-on-the-head lessons in here.
M: What a stupid concept.