the delicious wassef ali hassoun
i don't know about this deserter business, but i do know a hottie when i see one.
if they would just embrace their destiny, the gay community could save comics
5,500 desertions since invasion
An estimated 5,500 men and women have deserted since the invasion of Iraq, reflecting Washington's growing problems with troop morale. [...]
The Pentagon says that the level of desertion is no higher than usual and denies that it is having difficulty persuading troops to fight. The flight to Canada is, however, an embarrassment for the military, which is suffering from a recruiting shortfall for the National Guard and the Army Reserves. [...]
The penalty for desertion in wartime can be death. Most deserters, however, serve up to five years in a military prison before receiving a dishonourable discharge. [...]
During the Vietnam war an estimated 55,000 deserters or draft-dodgers fled to Canada. There were amnesties for both groups in the late 1970s under President Jimmy Carter, but many stayed.
- Charles Laurence, "US deserters flee to Canada to avoid service in Iraq," Telegraph january 9, 2005
posted January 14, 2005 in politics, printin a pinch, torture will do
Ridge told BBC News 24's HARDtalk: "By and large, as a matter of policy we need to state over and over again: we do not condone the use of torture to extract information from terrorists."
But he said it was "human nature" that torture might be employed in certain exceptional cases when time was very limited.
- "US 'should not rule out torture'," bbc news january 14, 2005
posted January 14, 2005 in politicssizzler
my usual schtick is to not read reviews of a movie i plan to see until afterwards, so it's not till now that i'm reading the praise of "sideways" and a. o. scott's talk about its overratedness (which i agree with [note before knee-jerking: this means i liked it but was not overwhelmed with its perfection. you know when the "wings" guy fucks cammi, the sizzler waitress? the movies of 2004 were the sizzler restaurant, and "sideways" was cammi. incidentally, how much would it suck to answer the casting call for an overweight sizzler waitress? and be chosen as the person who fits that model? maybe i'd shut my mouth after seeing the paycheck.]):
the reaction to "Sideways" is worth noting, less because it isn't quite as good as everyone seems to be saying it is than because the near-unanimous praise of it reveals something about the psychology of critics, as distinct from our taste. Miles, the movie's hero, has been variously described as a drunk, a wine snob, a sad sack and a loser, but it has seldom been mentioned that he is also, by temperament if not by profession, a critic.i think he's right. and it sorta bothers me that i feel myself changing into this critic type just a little bit, that my tastes are getting all complicated and i can't get to the point when i talk about things the way i used to.The contrast between him and his friend Jack is partly the difference between an uptight, insecure epicurean and a swinging, self-deluding hedonist, but it is more crucially the difference between a sensibility that subjects every experience to judgment and analysis and a personality happy to accept whatever the moment offers. When they taste wine, Jack is apt to say "tastes good to me," and leave it at that, whereas Miles tends not only to be more exacting in his judgment ("quaffable but not transcendent," which is about how I feel about "Sideways"), but also more prone to narrate, to interpret - to find a language for the most subtle and ephemeral sensations of his palate.
This makes him, among other things, an embodiment of the critical disposition, and one of the unusual things about "Sideways" is that, in the end, it defends this attitude rather than dismissing it. Yes, the film pokes fun at Miles's flights of oenophile rhetoric—all that business about asparagus and "nutty Edam cheese"—but it defies the usual Hollywood anti-intellectualism in acknowledging that, rather than diminishing the fun of drinking, approaching wine with a measure of knowledge and sophistication can enhance its pleasures. There is more to true appreciation than just knowing what you like.
- a. o. scott, "The Most Overrated Film of the Year," new york times January 2, 2005
also, movable type is wicked slow as i'm gradually moving old hand-coded posts into the system.
posted January 14, 2005 in delivery, film, printYou win a victory when the discourse turns civil. They win when they get you to shout.
An excerpt from the book Don't Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate.
The following is a letter I received while writing this chapter. It arrived several days after I had appeared on a TV show, NOW with Bill Moyers.
I listened to Dr. Lakoff last Friday night on NOW with great interest. I love the use of words and have been consistently puzzled at how the far right has co-opted so many definitions.- George Lakoff, "How to Respond to Conservatives," Rockridge Institute (via annie reid at maud newton) january 14, 2005 posted January 14, 2005 in politics, printSo I tried an experiment I wanted to tell you about. I took several examples from the interview; particularly trial vs. public protection lawyer and gay marriage and used those examples all week on AOL’s political chat room. Every time someone would scream about [John] Edwards’s being a trial lawyer, I’d respond with public protection lawyer and how they are the last defense against negligent corporations and [are] professional, and that the opposite of a public protection lawyer is a corporate lawyer who typically makes $400-500/per hr., and we pay that in higher prices for good and services.
Every time someone started screaming about “gay marriage” I’d ask if they want the federal government to tell them who they could marry. I’d go on to explain when challenged that once government has crossed the huge barrier into telling one group of people who they could not marry, it is only a small step to telling other groups, and a smaller yet step to telling people who they had to marry.
I also asked for definitions. Every time someone would holler “dirty liberal,” I’d request their definition of “liberal.”
The last was my own hot button. Every time someone would scream “abortion,” “baby-killer,” etc., I’d suggest that if they are anti-abortion, then by all means, they should not have one.
I’ve got to tell you, the results were startling to me. I had some other people (completely unknown to me) join me and take up the same tacks. By last night, the chat room was civil. An amazing (to me) number of posters turned off their capitalization and we were actually having conversations.
I’m going to keep this up, but I really wanted you to know that I heard Dr. Lakoff, appreciate his work, and am trying to put it into practice. And it’s really really fun.
Thanks, Penney Kolb
