And in the ‘Let’s Go To War’ Corner…
It’s hard to believe that there is anyone on the planet cruel and sadistic enough to condone actions like this. I may not be whole-heartedly for the war with Iraq, but I since I know we’re going to go to war anyway, I hope the Iraqi soldier’s know we’ll be there soon. With a vengeance.
More evidence that our civil liberties are under assault?
I don’t know if the above is true or not, but it certainly fits the recent pattern of dissolving civil liberties. And if that’s not enough, several Afghan detainees appear to have been killed during interrogation. I know that some will say that torture of terrorists is necessary to protect our country. I know it is tempting to think that torture isn’t good enough for members of Al Qaeda, but you have to question any information you receive while you’ve got a detainee under the knife. I think it’s been proven through the centuries that even the innocent will admit guilt under torture. But what about due process? What about innocent until proven guilty? What about the Geneva Convention? Hell, what if some of these guys that were captured were innocent, of plotting terror at least? I know that torture of captives doesn’t represent the America of which I want to be a part, no matter how despicable the act that inspired it. Maybe the terrorists really have destroyed the America we knew.
Update: Jim Henly at “Unqualified Offerings” says it better than I.
Another Utopia Founders
At the inlaws this weekend. Sainted Wife and Aspiring Actress are in the den, watching Sweet Home Alabama. I thought about watching it with them, but the packets were singing their siren call, so here I am. That, and Murphy Brown has a big role in the movie. I don’t mind Candace, at least not in the way I mind Richard Gere, but the characters she portrays always annoy me.
Richard Gere is just instant boycott, no questions asked. He could star in the Star Wars/Star Trek/Babylon 5/Battlestar Galactica crossover, and I would be like “Sorry, not interested.” Everything he touches turns into chick flick bathos, and I just don’t need to see an emotionally open Jedi captain of the Enterprise. I don’t care if is he is being chased by Cylons.
So, they’re occupied, and Nana and G-daddy have taken Ngnat to the playground swings, leaving me free to indulge in whatever geek thing I set my mind to. Which, at least for a little while, is not surfing the Internet looking for blog material. Got some of that already, in the form of a 1940 Philco Console Radio, model 40-180, that the Aspiring Actress retrieved from a defunct downtown Charlotte company somehow, to put in her new loft. Here’s a pic of one;
I’m jealous, needless to say. I might have been slightly less jealous if she hadn’t gotten it for free, or if the original radio wasn’t still in there, or it it didn’t happen to be an american art-deco standard. Not that it would match anything in the house, or that we even have room for it. I figure getting it to run again is the next best thing.
The only things obviously wrong with it, aside from the vacuum tubes, which I assume have got to be shot by now, even if they are all present, are the electrical cord and the eight Bakelite station buttons on the front, which looked like they’ve been chewed by something. They’re also missing six of the little stick-on labels that specifed which pre-war station they tuned into. The remaining labels are all for stations in Bluefield, West Virginia, so it’s even conceivable that this radio was once owned some relative or other of the Sainted Wife and Aspiring Actress, both sides of their family having originated in that locale.
At this point ten years ago, I would have been S.O.L. I don’t know nuthin’ about repairing no radios, Miss Scarlett. How in god’s name would you go about finding Bakelite buttons for a particular Philco radio model in 1993? Unless I had been living the antique radio restorer’s life for at last a few years prior to that, I wouldn’t have had a clue of even where to start to look. And, as tempting as the antique radio restorer’s life was for a single lad in his twenties then, I had not been living it.
Now though, there’s not only the The Philco Repair Bench, but PhilcoRadio.com, with its hundreds of links to restorers and replicators, not to mention the Philco Gallery. I could probably have the radio restored and running in a matter of days now, and be free to pursue the next geek fancy to catch my eye.
That feels so…..wrong, somehow. Once upon a time, in order to be a geek, just like with any other calling, one had to commit a certain amount of time to it just to be able to function in the geek environment. Think how long it took just for you to know what “42″ meant. Now, along with everything else, that has sped up, too. Instead of months spent in the company of like minded antique radio enthusiasts, not to mention the months it would probably take just to find those people in the old days, I spent an hour with Google. Now I know more about antique Philco radios that 98% of the people on the planet. If that’s not geeky, then there’s no such thing anymore.
Of course, according to Sainted Wife and Aspring Actress, it is geeky, so perhaps I should abandon my dream of Google turning everyone into compulsive obsessives.
Taking Viagra to Fight Crime
I thought this was a joke, but apparently it isn’t. Nothing like watching old men in tights to win the sweeps ratings.
MC Hammer Sighting
Contrary to popular opinion, MC Hammer is still touring as proven by this photo taken of him as he toured Selangor. He must still be big overseas.
The Most Likely Case for War with Iraq
Well, that and oil.
Our President too cowardly to face the press?
I guess you get to ask questions at a White House press conference only if you are willing to support the President and toss feel good softballs his way.
(Editor’s note: I will admit that “cowardly” is not a good choice of words for the title above. It was what came to my mind at first, but I actually don’t think that Bush is a coward. Narrow-minded might be better. I’ll leave the headline up as originally written to spur debate. Thank for visiting! Keehar.)
First Iraq…
Get your bumper sticker while they’re hot.
(Editor’s note: use of the term “First Iraq, Then France” in no way implies support for war either against Iraq or against France at this point in time. It’s just a link and a shameless act of capitalism. God Bless America. 
)
Iraqi Nukes?
The Washington Post is reporting that at least some documents provided by the U.S. and Britian to the U.N. regarding Iraqi nuclear ambitions appear to be fake.
Dumb Way to Die
I first saw this story in a copy of Sports Illustrated which came out a few weeks ago. I’ve been meaning to blog it since then, but have forgotten for whatever reason.
Apparently, 23 year old snowboarder, Jeffrey Lin Anderson, decided he would try to slide down 5 flights of stairs on the handrail. It didn’t go as planned, as he only slid successfully down 1 flight and fell the rest of the way. The guy fell off of the handrail and plummetted 4 floors, landing on his head. He was taken to the hospital, but was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. What a dumb way to die. It reminded me of all the times I escaped near death in my 20′s. Not surprisingly, Bigwig was around for most of those experiences.