Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Couldn't They Ward Off the Power of the Symbol by Wearing Garlic?

Certain groups of individuals get their tails in quite a knot when they spot a cross, or a replica of the ten commandments, or some such quasi religious symbol, innocuously displayed on some state controlled edifice.  I’m not quite certain why, though I know the separation arguments.  But when I think about this, I often wonder if the innocuous symbol is somehow subliminally sending a convert to Christianity or die message, that I cannot hear.

"The American Civil Liberties Union wants to take religion out of the Los Angeles County seal. . . .

At issue is the seal designed by the late Supervisor Kenneth Hahn that contains a tiny cross symbolic of the Catholic missions that are so much a part of the county’s history."

The above quote is from an LA Times story which you can access from The Volokh Conspiracy, and which will also provide you with a replica of the offending seal.

Via Hit & Run.

Posted by John Venlet on 05/26 at 04:09 AM
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Outrage? It Depends on if There is a N or a S Behind the U

“UN troops buy sex from teenage refugees in Congo camp."

Or, maybe it depends on if they’re getting paid, rather than compensated after the fact.

Via Kim du Toit.

Posted by John Venlet on 05/26 at 04:02 AM
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Action Report

Action reports, from various conflicts, can make for very interesting reading.  Claire Wolfe posts an action report from Ian McCollum’s not so clandestine “Operation Capitalism Heals," which provides some details of McCollum’s recent sortie against WHO in Geneva, Switzerland.  A short excerpt.

"Our goal there was to Crash a couple of WHO meetings, but we didn’t quite get that far. Upon entering, we were told by security that we couldn’t bring in the flyers we had planned to distribute. While we were talking to the guards, a couple of us headed downstairs to the building’s cafeteria. The entranceway leading into it was lined with displays and tables of propaganda about the terrible global epidemic of tasty - I mean fattening - foods. You can imagine our surprise upon finding things like butter-and-cream sauces on the menus inside. Bureaucrats as hypocrites? Never!"

Posted by John Venlet on 05/26 at 03:47 AM
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It's Not a Tragedy, It's Performance Art

Brian Micklethwait, in a post at Samizdata, notes a fire destroyed a warehouse where art pieces are temporarily stored as they move from art house to art house, or fall out of veiwing favor.  Reading the article linked above, it sounds as if many of the pieces may be modern.  I think that means they would be easy to replicate.  I enjoyed this comment from Brian’s post, where, in a true art critic’s voice, he expresses, no, not dismay, but vision.

"No no no. This was not “devastating”. This was an art happening. These people need to dispense with their outdated ways of seeing so-called “reality” and instead look at the world in a new way. This fire did not destroy, it merely moved some objects from one state of being to another … We need to think beyond “specific pieces” to the totality of life ..."

Posted by John Venlet on 05/26 at 03:30 AM
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Can I Borrow a Few Books?

Billy Beck is going through his library and listing some tomes that, if his house were burning down, or he needed to hurry away to parts unknown, he would attempt to gather up and take with him.  As I went through the list this morning, I noted a half-a-dozen, or so, that I had read, and own, myself.

The list.

Thanks, Billy.

Posted by John Venlet on 05/26 at 03:21 AM
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A Book I Look Forward to Reading

The Mises Economics Blog reposts a review of Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s book Democracy: The God That Failed. The review is written by Walter Block and is titled “The State Was a Mistake."

Posted by John Venlet on 05/26 at 03:11 AM
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Basically Meaningless Phrase, Now

A Drudge headline this morning, "Damage to Holy Shrine May Ignite Anti-U.S. Passions in Iraq."

Isn’t this par for the course?

“Anti-U.S. feelings rise in South Korea."
“Anti-US feelings rise in West Asia."
“Anti-U.S. Feelings Bubble Up in Egypt"
“Idolizing Arnold: Anti-U.S. feelings rise in Austria, but he’s still the favorite son."
“Visa rules aggravate ‘anti-U.S.’ feelings."
“World’s Anti-U.S. Sentiment Helps Sell Anti-Radiation Pills."

Jeez, it must be an epidemic.

Posted by John Venlet on 05/26 at 02:52 AM
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Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Poppy(cock)

Poppies are beautiful flowers, take this purple poppy for example.  Alas, for many individuals, the poppy is simply considered an insidious source of opium, or, a garnish for bagels.  While tooling around yesterday, I stumbled on an article by Michael Pollan, titled “Opium, Made Easy," and subtitled "One gardener’s encounter with the war on drugs."

The article is an interesting, albeit long, read with DEA agents, dried flower sellers, a snitch posing as an anarchist, the snitche’s victim on the run from the law, recipes, fevered dreams, and government foolishness.  Enjoy. 

Posted by John Venlet on 05/25 at 08:21 AM
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Smoking Therapy Paradox

Smoking is, of course, associated with all manner of ills.  Cancer and heart disease being the two major effects of the cause of smoking.  Well, heart patients, who have been smokers, may want to think twice before they give up the habit for good.

"In an unusual paradox, smoking cigarettes-a deadly habit that contributes to the development of peripheral artery disease-actually helps arteries stay open following a procedure to repair clogged blood vessels in the legs, according to a study in the June issue of Radiology. The study found that habitual to heavy smokers who continued to smoke after angioplasty had a lower rate of restenosis, or re-narrowing of the arteries, than nonsmokers."

“Carbon monoxide from smoking helps keep arteries open following angioplasty."

Nurse, give the patient his beta blockers, an ashtray, and a pack of Old Golds, stat.

Via Fred Lapides.

Posted by John Venlet on 05/25 at 06:32 AM
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Dry Heaves or Water?

Was, and is, there water on Mars?  Tantalizing clues lead to broad conjectures that there was, or is, water on Mars.  Personally, I think the jury is still out.  In fact, one jury has this to say about water on Mars.

"Gullies on Mars that appear to have been carved by flowing water could instead have been created by landslides of dry powdery material, scientists have found."

The scientists have termed this “slumping sand,” though I think dry heaves is a more colorful terminology.

“Dust rocks martian river theory."

Via Gary Cruse at The Owner’s Manual.

Posted by John Venlet on 05/25 at 04:15 AM
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Third Party Responsibility

America’s Outback notes a bill under consideration in New Mexico which could make bands, concert promoters, and organizers liable for criminal penalities if attendees smoke the evil weed.  Sheesh.  The conclusion of the post is the reason for my link.

"It is amazing to me that people can believe that laws should not be challenged via willful disobedience: i.e. that laws should never be broken and merely challenged via the legislature. Consider the civil rights movement, or challenges to bans on certain literature or art. Think about ridiculous sodomy laws, or even prohibition of alcohol. Had Rosa Parks never sat in the front of the bus, had people never pressed for (and gone ahead with) publication of books considered obscene, had people in those dozens of states where everything from a blowjob to anal sex was (until very recently) a crime simply said, “well, golly, it’s against the law, so I better not” then it is likely that no progress on these fronts would never have been made.

Had mixed-race couples never challenged the law by seeking marriage, had homosexuals stayed in the closet and never said “What you are doing to us is unfair” …..

My blood boils over when people make the case that no one should challenge the government and its laws. Dissent is one of the highest forms of patriotism. Sometimes that means breaking unjust laws."

Dissent is not only good, it is essential.

Posted by John Venlet on 05/25 at 04:06 AM
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Just Viewed in the Backyard

I keep a few birdfeeders in my backyard, which draw about 14 different species of birds, and they are a source of viewing pleasure with an early morning cigar and coffee.  Just a moment ago, I noticed something I had not seen before.  There were a half-a-dozen English sparrows, all a twitter, chasing a Blue Jay in the brush at the back of the yard.  Not necessarily unusual, except for the fact that, typically, when a Blue Jay comes to the feeders, the other birds usually all give way.  So why were the sparrows chasing the Blue Jay?  Because the Blue Jay, in search of protein, had evidently raided the sparrow nest.  The evidence was a freshly hatched bird, which I am assuming was a sparrow, dangling the Blue Jay’s beak.  The sparrows were not happy, I guess.

Posted by John Venlet on 05/25 at 03:43 AM
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It's All in the Hands

Handpainting.  I don’t know much about it, but I found these two handpaintings via Fred Lapides and I thought they were pretty good.

A leopard.

A German Shorthaired Pointer. (I think.)

Posted by John Venlet on 05/25 at 03:04 AM
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Colby Cosh Goes to the Movies

Colby has a few words on Victoria Day and Canadian weather, which seques into a review of Kill Bill I, which he saw in the French language.  An excerpt, with no spoilers.

"Granted, the movie is nihilistic and self-consciously allusive to the point of being trite. Like they all say, it’s a network of popcult references and low-nutrition narrative tricks--adding up to too much to be anything at all--pinned to a spectacle that overwhelms the eye and ear. But the sum is beautiful, on the terms of its pathological purity, like a banquet from the Satyricon. It’s so demented, frivolous, and intricate that only God or Tarantino could have made it. Or perhaps the Devil, who, like Tarantino, is reliably said to have all the best tunes."

I enjoyed the movie, also.

Posted by John Venlet on 05/25 at 02:55 AM
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Monday, May 24, 2004

I Thought the President's Address was Later Tonight

The article says, “Filed 17 minutes ago," and begins this way.

"President Bush (news - web sites) sought to reassure Americans Monday night that he had a plan to pull Iraq (news - web sites) out of the violence and chaos that have marked the year since he declared an end to major combat."

Isnt’t the word “sought” past tense?  The news, before it’s news.  Isn’t that called prognostication? Be the first on your block to report the news, before it happens.

An AP story via Yahoo News.

Update - Time:  7:55 P.M. EST: Does anyone know how to get a link to a cached page?  The link to the story I mention, above, written by Scott Laidlaw, for AP, is still written by Scott Laidlaw, filed 34 minutes ago, but has been edited to present tense.

Posted by John Venlet on 05/24 at 12:41 PM
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