Saturday, January 17, 2004

Black Sabbath or Chopin?

Aaron Haspell points to a post by Michael at 2 blowhards, which discusses the aesthetic merits of Black Sabbath and Chopin with the added twist that the experience of hearing one or the other perform, is heard by two separate individuals.  Who had the better experience?  Interesting discussion, comments and additional links at both links in this post.  I have no argument with Aaron’s responses to the total of five questions posited.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/17 at 05:28 PM
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Get Out While You Still Can

Greg Swann points to a Casa Grande Valley Newspaper article which provides the details in regards to an unincorporated county area outside of Phoenix clamoring for a nanny.  Greg correctly points out the irrational thinking behind this “sheep barking.” The concluding paragraph from Greg’s post.

"These wannabe dogooders/will be dobadders live in a partial paradise, with one less layer of government than is inflicted upon nearly everyone else. This they must destroy. The home builders who gave them the wonderful homes they could not build for themselves (and Johnson Ranch is very nicely done for a low-budget master-planned community) won’t care; they will have moved on to the next project. The retailers won’t care; they will either build or not build (where permitted) based on their own business plans and profit projections. But the residents, willing or not, will be forevermore encysted with yet another criminal enterprise disguised as a “public servant”. How sad..."

Posted by John Venlet on 01/17 at 11:05 AM
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Did Not, Did Too, Did Not, Did Too

The political discourse in this country is akin to a bunch of grade school kids arguing in a manner similar to the title to this post.  Of course, at times, the discourse somewhat takes intellectual flight, but alas it carries not quite as far as the Wright brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk.

Stopping by Drudge this morning I find posted an “exclusive” which follows.  No links to these quotations, they are simply posted to Drudge’s page.

” 1/16/04 3:15 PM ET **Exclusive** In 1996 Senator John Kerry proposed to “get rid of the Agriculture Department,” the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal. A move—that if successful—would have likely resulted in subsidies cuts and programs for Iowa growers. “I think we can reduce the size of Washington,” Kerry said on January 6, 1996. “Get rid of the Energy Department. Get rid of the Agriculture Department, or at least render it three-quarters the size it is today; there are more agriculture bureaucrats than there are farmers in this country”... “

The briefest of intellectual flights.

Drudge, obligingly, provides us with a comment from Dean’s spokeswoman Tricia Enright, which, I assume, is meant as a rebuttal to this almost seven year old Kerry musing.

"Dean spokeswoman Tricia Enright said the Kerry quotes should alarm Iowans. “Teachers and farmers in Iowa will be disappointed to hear that Senator Kerry wanted to dismantle the Department of Agriculture and gut the Department of Education,” Enright said. “That’s not the kind of change that Iowans are looking for”... “

Enright, woefully, is correct.  Iowans don’t desire “change,” they desire fistfulls of dollars from everyone elses pockets, and appealling to them intellectually on the issue, is similar to discoursing with hogs or feed corn already shucked.

A quote.

"The penalty of intelligence is oblivion."

H.L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy, Forgotten Men, pg. 226

Posted by John Venlet on 01/17 at 04:59 AM
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