With the movie "Oppenheimer" opening tomorrow (July 21), I am reminded of his famous (or infamous --- considering the circumstances) quote from the "Bhagavad-Gita," the Hindu sacred text: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." While its actual context and meaning are more complex --- and allowing for a certain amount of license (I am a paid subscriber, afterall) --- it strikes me as a tailor-made description of Trump and the fallout from his criminality and its subsequent reach into nearly every corner of American society.
I dumped the dentist who took over after my beloved original guy retired and sold him the practice, because he fired a long-term hygienist for no other reason than that she stuttered. Her clients loved her, and we all decamped to her new employer. He threatened to sue her, but it never came to anything. I would have dumped the new guy for being a Trumper, too. People like that don't get my money.
There are plenty of examples of prominent “professional” homophobes who have turned out to be in the closet, like Ted Haggard and George Rekers. It’s been suggested that by denouncing homosexuality so publicly and fervently, they’re trying to “cure” their desires for other men or they’re practicing distraction.
So what about the Homophobe Next Door? He might fall into the same category, but more likely his motives are far more simple. He knows or senses that homosexuality undermines gender hierarchy. When gay people live openly with the same rights as straight people, that can give women dangerous ideas about equality.
I’ve been told that as a matter of practicality, a restaurant will slightly undercook the steak and burger compared to what the customer requested. As the story went, if the customer sends the item back, the cook can simply throw the item back onto the grill a little longer, whereas you can’t reverse overcooking. Don’t know if that’s true.
My wife and I were strongly against introducing the DH to the National League. After half a season we have become comfortable with it. We really like the other changes -- restricting defensive shifts, larger bases, the pitch clock -- with one major exception: the runner on second base to start each extra inning, aka, The Manfred Man.
Josh Hawley would like a word about the DH (Designated Hitter.) Not very manly to replace a pitcher ---of all positions --- especially when it comes to attempting to hit something smaller than a plate-crowding shortstop, on purpose.
Re: the designated hitter, as a lifelong NL fan I was hotly against its migration into the senior circuit until I had the epiphany that the arguments against the DH were more or less the same as the arguments against universal health care. Sure, it's commonplace everywhere else, and it works just fine and everyone seems to like it. And sure, our system doesn't seem to work worth a damn. But just imagine how great it would be if it did! And isn't the absence of the DH one of our core values and a part of how we define ourselves vis-a-vis the others?
Gene, likely you will hate me forever, but I have to say this about Vietnam. "LBJ lied about our prospects for winning in Vietnam, so the brutal, futile war would keep public support. Thousands died needlessly because of this." If you mean winning, like WWII, that was not going to happen. Nobody I ever knew expected that. But we did expect better peace terms. And if you want to read more, check out the book series by Mark Moyar. Hanoi was ready for peace, but did not trust the USA after the last peace treaty. Some of what everyone knew in the 60's on both sides was just not true.
The first George Bush claimed that we fought in Vietnam with one hand tied behind our back - the Rambo myth that the politicians kept the military from winning. My understanding of Robert McNamara’s mea culpa was things were the other way around. Apparently the actual military experts were advising that Vietnam was unwinnable, that we were propping up a doomed regime in Saigon whose citizens mostly preferred Hanoi, but the gung-ho politicians didn’t want to look weak in front of the Soviet Union and China. is that was Moyar said?
Which Saigon regime? Diem had support and getting rid of him was a big mistake. He was the true "Nationalist" in the bunch. Later on, with Abrams as our military leader, we did have a chance. But at what cost? Read Mark Moyer for the details and he has much new information from Hanoi. My information is that most Vietnamese in the South wanted to be independent of both the US and Hanoi. It took the NVA to keep them in line. Now we are much better off since our diplomats did a good job after 1975. It just was not a military problem to win or lose. The question is "was it worth the cost to win." And not for us. Peace was a better choice. We are winning the peace.
Since 1993, I have been the program chairman for the Tuesday Book Review & Lecture Series at our library. This requires finding some 28 speakers to present weekly programs from October through April. It isn't always easy to persuade people to speak, and even those who have been willing in the past become unwilling or incapable, or they move away or die, so new blood is always needed. One man who had become a regular attendee indicated that he'd be willing to give a review, and I eagerly collected his email address. I emailed him (twice, I think) and got no reply, and later I asked him about it. He claimed not to have received the emails, though he had written his address himself, and my email hadn't bounced. But he insisted he was still interested, so for this year's series, I contacted him again. No reply. So I googled him, thinking I might at least find a phone number. I found that he has been active in a number of programs at the library. I also learned that he is a Trump supporter. I won't be knocking myself out to reach him again.
I read the Curry Anecdote, and still can’t accept the process. To be edgy, you have to be bold. Sure, maybe tough territory, but please, forgiveness is forgiving others mistakes as you would require that people forgive yours. Otherwise, no one can be bold, to try things, to honestly communicate. Western virtue itself relies on it. A Fighter Pilot Credo is to regret the option you try, rather than the option you didn’t try. In a science where you have to stall, in order to land.
It's all well and good to try and placate us with burgers and song lyrics, but they only go so far. At some point you'll have to address the seminal (cover your ears, dear) role of Barbie in our lives. WaPo (and its media brethren and sistren) says she has one --- over and over again. So it must be true. We can wait no longer. Oracle us !
I thought Gene's response was very witty, but I trust that he didn't really believe that Mr. Staake would see any need to toot his own horn like that (especially since there are plenty of other people who are more than willing to do it for him, like me). See the fourth comment under the article at the Daily Cartoonist, here:
I also get my steak overcooked 90% of the time. I like it medium rare but I’ve started ordering it rare, hoping the cooks will realize I mean business. It rarely (ha!) comes out rare, but it’s more likely to be medium rare than when I ordered it that way.
I had a similar incident while working for the INS. Back in the late 80s, I had a weeknight visitation with my young son, so the best I could come up with was to pick him and take him to Springfield Mall for dinner in the food court. I walked up to a counter, ordered what I wanted and turned to ask my son what he wanted, and when I looked back, there was only one guy left at the counter. I thought that was a little weird until became apparent that a couple of the counters were now vacant. Yep, I still had my INS base showing. And shortly thereafter, I was on a project rollout (the initial rollout of taking fingerprints) at the Miami airport. The only thing that my INS badge did there , was to get me a 10% discount at the food places. I guess they saw enough INS badges and uniforms around there that they didn't even blink an eye.
With the movie "Oppenheimer" opening tomorrow (July 21), I am reminded of his famous (or infamous --- considering the circumstances) quote from the "Bhagavad-Gita," the Hindu sacred text: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." While its actual context and meaning are more complex --- and allowing for a certain amount of license (I am a paid subscriber, afterall) --- it strikes me as a tailor-made description of Trump and the fallout from his criminality and its subsequent reach into nearly every corner of American society.
I dumped the dentist who took over after my beloved original guy retired and sold him the practice, because he fired a long-term hygienist for no other reason than that she stuttered. Her clients loved her, and we all decamped to her new employer. He threatened to sue her, but it never came to anything. I would have dumped the new guy for being a Trumper, too. People like that don't get my money.
There are plenty of examples of prominent “professional” homophobes who have turned out to be in the closet, like Ted Haggard and George Rekers. It’s been suggested that by denouncing homosexuality so publicly and fervently, they’re trying to “cure” their desires for other men or they’re practicing distraction.
So what about the Homophobe Next Door? He might fall into the same category, but more likely his motives are far more simple. He knows or senses that homosexuality undermines gender hierarchy. When gay people live openly with the same rights as straight people, that can give women dangerous ideas about equality.
I’ve been told that as a matter of practicality, a restaurant will slightly undercook the steak and burger compared to what the customer requested. As the story went, if the customer sends the item back, the cook can simply throw the item back onto the grill a little longer, whereas you can’t reverse overcooking. Don’t know if that’s true.
My wife and I were strongly against introducing the DH to the National League. After half a season we have become comfortable with it. We really like the other changes -- restricting defensive shifts, larger bases, the pitch clock -- with one major exception: the runner on second base to start each extra inning, aka, The Manfred Man.
Josh Hawley would like a word about the DH (Designated Hitter.) Not very manly to replace a pitcher ---of all positions --- especially when it comes to attempting to hit something smaller than a plate-crowding shortstop, on purpose.
Josh Hawley is a pusillanimous poltroon.
True. My opinion of him is lesser.
Re: the designated hitter, as a lifelong NL fan I was hotly against its migration into the senior circuit until I had the epiphany that the arguments against the DH were more or less the same as the arguments against universal health care. Sure, it's commonplace everywhere else, and it works just fine and everyone seems to like it. And sure, our system doesn't seem to work worth a damn. But just imagine how great it would be if it did! And isn't the absence of the DH one of our core values and a part of how we define ourselves vis-a-vis the others?
Gene, likely you will hate me forever, but I have to say this about Vietnam. "LBJ lied about our prospects for winning in Vietnam, so the brutal, futile war would keep public support. Thousands died needlessly because of this." If you mean winning, like WWII, that was not going to happen. Nobody I ever knew expected that. But we did expect better peace terms. And if you want to read more, check out the book series by Mark Moyar. Hanoi was ready for peace, but did not trust the USA after the last peace treaty. Some of what everyone knew in the 60's on both sides was just not true.
The first George Bush claimed that we fought in Vietnam with one hand tied behind our back - the Rambo myth that the politicians kept the military from winning. My understanding of Robert McNamara’s mea culpa was things were the other way around. Apparently the actual military experts were advising that Vietnam was unwinnable, that we were propping up a doomed regime in Saigon whose citizens mostly preferred Hanoi, but the gung-ho politicians didn’t want to look weak in front of the Soviet Union and China. is that was Moyar said?
What did Moyar say? https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/could-america-really-have-won-the-vietnam-war-21204
Which Saigon regime? Diem had support and getting rid of him was a big mistake. He was the true "Nationalist" in the bunch. Later on, with Abrams as our military leader, we did have a chance. But at what cost? Read Mark Moyer for the details and he has much new information from Hanoi. My information is that most Vietnamese in the South wanted to be independent of both the US and Hanoi. It took the NVA to keep them in line. Now we are much better off since our diplomats did a good job after 1975. It just was not a military problem to win or lose. The question is "was it worth the cost to win." And not for us. Peace was a better choice. We are winning the peace.
Since 1993, I have been the program chairman for the Tuesday Book Review & Lecture Series at our library. This requires finding some 28 speakers to present weekly programs from October through April. It isn't always easy to persuade people to speak, and even those who have been willing in the past become unwilling or incapable, or they move away or die, so new blood is always needed. One man who had become a regular attendee indicated that he'd be willing to give a review, and I eagerly collected his email address. I emailed him (twice, I think) and got no reply, and later I asked him about it. He claimed not to have received the emails, though he had written his address himself, and my email hadn't bounced. But he insisted he was still interested, so for this year's series, I contacted him again. No reply. So I googled him, thinking I might at least find a phone number. I found that he has been active in a number of programs at the library. I also learned that he is a Trump supporter. I won't be knocking myself out to reach him again.
I read the Curry Anecdote, and still can’t accept the process. To be edgy, you have to be bold. Sure, maybe tough territory, but please, forgiveness is forgiving others mistakes as you would require that people forgive yours. Otherwise, no one can be bold, to try things, to honestly communicate. Western virtue itself relies on it. A Fighter Pilot Credo is to regret the option you try, rather than the option you didn’t try. In a science where you have to stall, in order to land.
It's all well and good to try and placate us with burgers and song lyrics, but they only go so far. At some point you'll have to address the seminal (cover your ears, dear) role of Barbie in our lives. WaPo (and its media brethren and sistren) says she has one --- over and over again. So it must be true. We can wait no longer. Oracle us !
You're busted, Bob!
I thought Gene's response was very witty, but I trust that he didn't really believe that Mr. Staake would see any need to toot his own horn like that (especially since there are plenty of other people who are more than willing to do it for him, like me). See the fourth comment under the article at the Daily Cartoonist, here:
https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2023/07/14/show-endless-imagination-of-bob-staake/
I also get my steak overcooked 90% of the time. I like it medium rare but I’ve started ordering it rare, hoping the cooks will realize I mean business. It rarely (ha!) comes out rare, but it’s more likely to be medium rare than when I ordered it that way.
I had a similar incident while working for the INS. Back in the late 80s, I had a weeknight visitation with my young son, so the best I could come up with was to pick him and take him to Springfield Mall for dinner in the food court. I walked up to a counter, ordered what I wanted and turned to ask my son what he wanted, and when I looked back, there was only one guy left at the counter. I thought that was a little weird until became apparent that a couple of the counters were now vacant. Yep, I still had my INS base showing. And shortly thereafter, I was on a project rollout (the initial rollout of taking fingerprints) at the Miami airport. The only thing that my INS badge did there , was to get me a 10% discount at the food places. I guess they saw enough INS badges and uniforms around there that they didn't even blink an eye.
One of the funniest sets of contest results since the Invite moved to Substack. Kudos to all involved!