The Civilized Are Losing

It is possible that the good guys are now so civilized that it is impossible for them to adequately defend themselves against bad guys who don’t recognize any bounds of morality.

On the Lebanon\Israeli border Hezbollah deliberately fire rockets from civilian areas knowing that Israel will respond by attempting to knock out the launcher. The calculation is that while the individual rockets launched will probably have very little impact on Israeli life and limb, the return strike by the IDF will deliver a public relations bonanza when the innocents placed in harms way by Hezbollah are killed and paraded before the video cameras.

The responsibility for events at Qana, where over 60 civilians were killed by an Israeli guided missile, should be laid at the feet of Hezbollah where it belongs. They are using civilians as shields to fire from behind and they should be condemned for it. But Israel is a sovereign state that has a right and an obligation to take out the launchers that threaten their villages and cities. No matter the location.

We in the West and in Israel are civilized and progressive and want nothing to do with the bloodshed of innocents. Unfortunately we are faced with an enemy that knows that about us and is more than willing to draw fire toward their own women and children to shake us up and destroy our morale. It is depressing enough to recognize this reality about the foe, but my mood is made worse by the creeping realization that the enemy may have come up with a winning strategy.

Nearly all of the world’s condemnation has been aimed at Israel during this latest conflict, notwithstanding the fact that Hezbollah isn’t even a state. A crackpot militia has succeeded in getting a platform on the world stage, and if a ceasefire is brokered soon, will be able to claim a victory by standing strong against the vaunted IDF.

Meanwhile a ragtag insurgency in Iraq is holding the best funded and trained army in all of history at bay. In Baghdad we walk on eggshells while the enemy targets innocents.

In Lebanon the Israeli Defense Forces spend no end of futile time trying to eliminate civilian targets and are told they are overreacting against a group that only launches toward Israeli citizens with its own rockets. All this takes place as the world fiddles away while Iran persistently enriches uranium with an eye on the next decade.

If Harry Truman were around he’d wipe out every building in every town that housed the enemy and its firepower. That was back when we not only knew how to start, but also had some idea how to END a war.

It is surrender, not ceasefire that sews the seeds of peace. But the enemy may be right that the good guys don’t have what it takes to force terms of surrender any longer.

Reading Material

I was reading when I should have been writing this afternoon. Perusing my bookmarks I clicked over to The Atlas Society and came across a great in-depth interview with Professor Walter Williams. This dude is the perfect American in my view.

That read inspired me to check out Mr. William’s home page where I found a very well written article by Thomas DiLorenzo that traces the four thousand year tragic history of price controls.

These guys represent my way of thinking more than most. Al Franken and Ann Coulter may do a better job of entertaining while getting across their point of view but they are ultimately equally vapid. It is the objective thinkers that turn me on.

Read them if you like, then read this editorial in today’s Wall Street Journalthat takes the time to point out how good the current economy of the United States truly is.

If you like.

Hezbullshit

I was about to settle into my nightly ritual of sleeping pills, science channel and eventual sleep when I realized that I hadn’t posted here in a few days... and I started to feel bad about it so I figured I could at least take a moment out my perpetual ‘me’ time to point out the only thing that needs to be pointed out about the current Israeli\Hezbollah dust up taking place in that most unholy of places- the Holy Land.

Enough of the debate about who started what in this latest round of all-out war. The media with their bias toward fair play, no matter how heinous the enemy, is hell-bent on bringing us the Hezbollah PR rabble-rousers who supposedly tell their side of the story.

But of course they don’t really tell you their side of the story. They lay out arguments about their dignified purposes and sell the Israeli’s as the wild-eyed crazies. All the while never mentioning the one thing that matters most to them and should matter most to us.

They never bring up the fact that Hezbollah as a military organization was created for and still exists for only one reason: the eradication of the State of Israel. That is all anyone needs to know. There is no negotiating with a militia like this. They have pledged to give their lives in service of their cause and to a man they would rather die than give up the fight.

If we’re to take the time to listen to their side they should at least be bold enough to state their goals clearly. Let’s get their point of view on the table and have the world debate it. Who will stand with those who are looking to eradicate Israel? It would be nice to take a roll call.

Israel is a sovereign state. It is a controversial sovereign state, but it is a state nonetheless. Let the other sovereign state in the world that is willing to allow a deadly and hostile militia to be encamped on its own border be the first to tell Israel that she should do the same. My guess is you won’t find any takers in Europe, or the U.N., or anywhere else.

Israel has a right to exist.

Hezbollah does not.

A Musical Interlude

Let's take a moment to check out some of the music vids on Eric's YouTube high rotation list.

First- a primer on the dude with the acoustic guitar- the great Alex Chilton.

If you know his story, cool. If not, plug his name into a search engine and check out his bio. He's an original.

Then- a couple from Elvis Costello when he had less weight and less all-round baggage.

Enjoy.

big star - intro (come as you are)

This is the great Alex Chilton. The elusive and reclusive leader of Big Star-

After nearly 30 years of ignoring the worlds request for his attention on the subject of his old band. He suddenly re-forms the outfit, records a new record, and embarks on a limited tour that rolled through Atlanta a couple of months back.

This clip shows the idiosyncratic genius as the show begins. I stood at nearly the same angle as this video perspective and loved it as the man sat in that chair for nearly thirty minutes ignoring everyone on and offstage.

As this video begins he just stands up, gets rid of the jacket, tosses his cigarette and rips into a brilliant set.

I love this neurotic bastard.

After the set he simply turned around, picked up his coat and what appeared to be a CVS bag, waved to the crowd and walked away.

All hail!

The Box Tops - The Letter

Here's the man in 1967 as the 16 or 17 year old lead singer of The Box Tops. They were a Boy band put together by a bunch of studio execs. But they had Chilton- so they had great songs like this even though band members were not involved in the songwriting.

The Replacements - Alex Chilton

Here's the song about the man that brought the man to the attention of a new generation.

Which turned out to be yet another generation of Big Star fans for the man to turn his back on.

I'm sure The Replacements asked the man to appear in the video. It's no surprise the man is a no-show.

Big Star - September Gurls - live Stockholm

Here's the reunited and refurbished most important known\unknown band in rock history- Big Star.

Yeah, there's Alex Chilton finally sort of enjoying his old songs.

Elvis Costello - Big Sister's Clothes Live

Great Performance. Unbelievable Sweater.

Elvis Costello - No Dancing

Here's Elvis in his prime. No politics, no bullshit... just raw talent.

The Politics of Computing

When I told the I.T. guy at work that I had purchased a Mac laptop rather than another in a long line of Dell PC products, he could barely manage to hide his contempt. He rolled his eyes and let me know that I had just wasted my money on a product that can’t do a tenth of what a new Dell PC could have done. He then turned away as if to say, “I never knew you, you’re dead to me now.”

Wow. I knew the Windows and Apple people were into bickering about which platform was best, but I had no idea that the blood ran this deep. I’m always amazed at how many people get personally attached to one line of product or another, no matter the category.

When I bought a Subaru WRX I was besieged with invitations to join one of the many WRX enthusiasts clubs in the area. Why in the hell would I do something as silly as joining a club of like-minded car buyers?

I bought the car because I like it but that doesn’t mean I’ll automatically like you because you like it too. Why not choose to socialize with people who happen to wear the same watch I wear. It’s absurd!

Windows partisans aside, I’ve been digging getting to know my new MacBook Pro. It looks great, it has an assload of power, and in general appears more suited to some of the things I’m working on right now.

It’s cool, it’s fun- but it isn’t an entree into a new way of thinking for me. I’ll assess its value solely on what I get out of it in terms of productivity. It’s a product not a lifestyle.

So don’t invite me to your parties Apple geeks. I’ve just been disowned by the Windows Warriors and kinda feel like wandering the desert alone for awhile.

An Open War

Is it too much to ask for one week of relative peace?

Given that I was on vacation this week I made a decision to just forget about the Headline news, let life slow down a bit, enjoy the wife and kids and all that. Surely, just one week free of Anderson Cooper exclusives and Fox News Alerts isn’t asking too much.

Apparently it was because by mid-week of paying only glancing attention to the news it was becoming apparent that the potential seeds of World War III were being sewn in the Middle East.

Ah, The Middle East. What a joyful bunch- so reasonable and reliable. We are all truly blessed that the practitioners of the planets three most popular forms of voodoo all claim one piece of land as their divine home. Aren’t we all so lucky that these forces have the God excuse to remain in perpetual war (sometimes cold, sometimes hot) with one another throughout the millennia? After all, the territorial disputes negotiated by mere mortals in other areas of the world just wouldn’t do for these folks since each of their non-existent Gods are looking down and judging the actions of their faithful.

It’s just wonderful, isn’t it?

That being said:
Israel is doing the right thing by coaxing the proxies of Iran and Syria (Hezbollah and Hamas) into an open war. Let’s face it- the diplomats have failed miserably in this region by continually brokering deals that leave these militant groups intact to continue to cause trouble during the several shaky truces and ceasefires brokered at the bargaining table.

The fact is that the Palestinians could have an enduring peace tomorrow if they wanted it!

Yes- there are plenty of nasty things that have taken pace on both sides over the modern era of this biblical conflict- and Yes- the Israeli side has its fair share of radicals. But unlike the Palestinians, the state of Israel has chosen to be guided by the principles of progress and enlightenment.

Israel holds itself to a world standard not shared by its enemies and has proven that they are good for their word when making agreements and signing multi-party treaties. The Iranian/Syrian contingent and their proxies, on the other hand, were long ago revealed to be a pack of charlatans and liars who negotiate to gain short-term leverage, only to find the first convenient excuse to toss out whatever treaties have been signed when it suits their goals and purposes.

The Israelis can be trusted to abide by an actual negotiated peace- their enemies cannot. Therefore it is right for Israel to make the decision to have an open war with Hezbollah because it allows them to state the complete destruction of that organization as the mission of the war.

They should wipe out Hezbollah, then do the same with Hamas- and challenge Iran and Syria to fight them directly or get out of the business of funding proxy militias to do their bidding visa vie Israel.

Diplomacy has failed.

Let’s hope war does a better job at securing a true and lasting peace.

My fingers are crossed.

French-y Fun

I’m not a fan of soccer. But I am a fan of French misery. It was the prospect of that entire nation of Frogs thrown into a collective state of depression that convinced me to Tivo the race and watch the World Cup final in real time yesterday.

I don’t know much about the rules or ways of the game but I knew who the enemy was and I had a great time rooting for the Italians to whoop up on those arrogant architects of cheese-burps and false pride. I’m not a tribal-ist. I have very few prejudices and ethnic hang-ups, but I revel in a bad day for the French.

To my untrained eye it looked like the Franco-snobs were out hustling the connoisseurs of all things meatball for most of the game. It was touch and go as commentators discussed the bad calls that had led to a French goal.

Perhaps I had delayed the gratification of a good race just to be laughed at by those stinky people at the other end of the Chunnel. But then things began to break in the way of all things holy when some dude who is a legend of French soccer pulled a Bill Romanowski and displayed a level of bad sportsmanship that appeared to have actually shocked some of the inebriated Toadies in attendance.

After Mr. Wonderful was tossed out of the game for head butting a rival in the solar plexus it was a downhill spiral that culminated in Italy beating the French on penalty kicks. I don’t care about soccer, but I leapt from the couch and howled with joy as the pride of the French peoples fell in defeat. It was a cheap thrill, but a thrill none the less.

A bad day for the French is always a good day for me.

Thought From The Bathtub

I’ve never cared much for nostalgia. It seems fun to sit back and remember- remember when we were young, and hip, and relevant and all of that. And then there’s the siren song of memories from a carefree childhood. But I’ve always found it to be a trap that ultimately leads to depression.

After the initial rush of better days now gone, one is left with the depressing reality that those days are in fact long gone, never to return. Nostalgia has always left a bitter taste that’s kept me on guard against its lure for years now. I thought for awhile that it held no benefit at all.

Then- while relaxing in the tub it occurred to me that our identity, our sense of self is wrapped up in the memory of things experienced up to this point in time. Without memory to provide context, we would simply become unhinged and lost. Just hang out with an Alzheimer’s patient for awhile to see what I mean.

I’ve read that it becomes more and more difficult to hang on to memory as we age. So it occurred to me while soaking in the hot bath that nostalgia may well be an evolutionary device that creates a longing for days gone by- in order to keep us mulling the past- in an effort to continually refresh the old memory stick.

I used to tell people that I was nostalgic for the future. I never really knew what that meant, but it sounded somewhat profound so I kept it in the wit arsenal. But now I’ve seen the light.

Nostalgia is my friend.

It’s there to keep reminding me who I am.

Then again-
I’m no scientist.
I’m just a guy who likes to lie in the bathtub.


Mad Pundit Radio will be filling in for the vacationing Kimmer on 640 WGST tomorrow (7-7-06).

We’ll have issues, street theater, contests, the rednecks and the erudite types- so join us from 3-6:30p.

We’ll take calls and all that-
plus you can shoot us an e-mail anytime during the show at madpundit@yahoo.com

Join us.

PastryAtism!

Lest anyone say my wife isn't a patriot...

Quick Hits

A federal judge Thursday temporarily blocked the state of Georgia from preventing registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of school bus stops.
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I’ve labored in ambivalence on this topic for a long time. On one hand, re-socialized child molesters have done whatever jail time was handed down by the justice system. My default position is that if you’ve paid your debt to society you should be allowed to blend back into society. But the other hand is weighted in this case. The recidivism rate attached to these characters is outrageous.

So I’ve decided to jump off the fence and suggest a solution:

It is time to afford child molestation a special classification that demands jail time as only part of the mandated judicial response. The initial incarceration should be followed with a lifetime probation that amounts to a mandatory sentence of life tracking.

We have GPS technology and it’s time we used it. Before leaving jail each child molester should have a chip implanted under the skin that allows them to be tracked by a national system that stores a large cache of memory. At the first report of random child molestation authorities should be able to log into a databank of ‘where-were-they’s’ on a local, statewide, and national basis that would show the exact locations of all known past violators during the moments surrounding the crime.

Tag ‘em and track ‘em.
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Israel is pushing into Gaza in hopes of reclaiming
their soldier.
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I think it might be the right time for
Israel to declare all-out war and clean up Hamas...
meaning kill them all.

This ‘government’ in the Palestinian area wants perpetual conflict and Israel would be smart to take it to them. Better a showdown while they are easily defeated and in a weak geo-political position. Their provocation of Israel with a sanctioned abduction of an Israeli soldier is a loser on the world stage.

The act of military abduction was a clear act of war.

So crush ‘em.
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Breathing any amount of someone else's tobacco smoke harms nonsmokers, the surgeon general has declared - a strong condemnation of secondhand smoke that is sure to fuel nationwide efforts to ban smoking in public.
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I offer no science.

I will just tell you what I know.

This Surgeon General is completely full of crap.

There is no such thing as a harm caused to non-smokers by contact, especially casual contact, with the cigarette smoke being ingested by others. There is no death certificate listing secondhand smoke as the cause of death for a reason. Because it has never happened!

Well, are you going to believe me or a middle-aged man dressed up like the most un-hip member of Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band?


Relax- don’t smoke ‘em if you don’t got ‘em.