Friday, January 16, 2004

Reading Comprehension

Colby Cosh has been reading some recent writing of Gregg Easterbrook.  Unfortunately, for Easterbrook that is, Colby has also done additional reading, over the course of his days, and Colby’s comprehension, of what he has read, has been retained, and, recalled with somewhat more accuracy than Easterbrook.

Colby’s piece is entitled “Easterboner of the day."

Posted by John Venlet on 01/16 at 05:52 PM
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Quote for the Day

"What chiefly distinguishes the daily press of the United States from the press of all other countries pretending to culture is not its lack of truthfulness or even its lack of dignity and honor, for these deficiencies are common to newspapers everywhere, but its incurable fear of ideas, its constant effort to evade the discussion of fundamentals by translating all issues into a few elemental fears, its incessant reduction of all reflection to mere emotion."

H.L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy, American Culture, pg. 203.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/16 at 08:29 AM
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Well, at Least Someone Has Retained Their Common Sense

Here’s the headline, “‘Extremely dangerous’ cold grips Northeast," from CNN.com.

"But one woman on a Boston street said area residents know how to deal with that type of weather:

“Dress in layers, keep moving and just try to have that old, good New England character,” she said."

Read the article, it runs like a continuous non sequitur.

Via Drudge.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/16 at 06:02 AM
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Concentration - The Game

This is connected to this.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/16 at 05:54 AM
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Truth in Advertising

“Official: Israel to Kill Hamas Founder."

Refreshing.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/16 at 05:51 AM
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American Socialist Party Candidate Using the Alias Democrat

"Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman yesterday said he would limit insurance company profits to 2 percent a year in order to reduce the cost of health care. He would also focus on reducing medical errors in half, he said.

“I think if you put a reasonable profit limit, which is what this is, a reasonable profit limit, then that will have the effect of lowering costs underneath,” he said.

“It’s not government take-over,” the Connecticut senator said about his plan to control health costs. “It’s a public-private partnership that really can provide insurance for people. And I have no doubt that I could sell this to a number of Republicans (in Congress) to support this."

Should require no further interpretation, if it does, go read Kim’s.

Via Kim du Toit.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/16 at 05:16 AM
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"I Did It My Way"

I highly doubt that when Sinatra sang that song he was thinking of individual sovereignty as an alternative to the nanny state.  Be that as it may, here is an essay, written by Sunni Maravillosa, entitled “Do It Your Way."

Via Claire Wolfe.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/16 at 04:53 AM
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War is the health of the state - An Short Examination

David Carr, posting at Samizdata, looks at validity of the statement which is the title to this post. But it is David’s final analysis that rings true.

"Yet, despite all of that the only true health of the state lies in the lumpen apathy of the citizens and their mystifying readiness to assign great swathes of their individual sovereignty over to those that govern them. Wartime, peacetime, anytime."

Posted by John Venlet on 01/16 at 04:37 AM
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Its Only for the Votes

Glenn Reynolds links to this Professor Bainbridge post by quoting the following portion of said post.

""If Kerry thinks smoking pot is no big deal, he ought to come out for legalization. If Kerry thinks it is a big deal, as his website claims, he shouldn’t be joking about it."

The Bainbridge post was in response to viewing a FOX News item which ran a home video showing Kerry singing along to “Puff the Magic Dragon” while pretending to smoke a joint.  I’m wondering if Kerry also feigned inhaling in the video.  Bainbridge then juxtaposes the preceding image with this statement from Kerry’s website.

"In order to deal with the problem of illegal drugs in this country, efforts must be focused on keeping drugs out of the country and our communities, as well as reducing demand for illegal drugs. John Kerry supports aggressively targeting traffickers and dealers, as well as making a commitment to sufficiently fund drug prevention and treatment programs."

Bainbridge, correctly, states that Kerry should come out for legalization, among other suggestions and comments at the end of his post.

So far, so good, but, at this point it breaks down.  There is not a candidate out there, from either wing of the socialist party in America, who would have the cojones to stand up for a principle he believes in, most especially the drug issue.  It would cost them “votes” and strip the pockets of the “voters” bare.  And if the “voters” pockets are stripped bare, no candidate would be able to rake in the “voters” “votes.”

I don’t mean to be a killjoy, only realistic.  Smoke em if you got em.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/16 at 04:11 AM
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