jakit

Final Stretch

It's the final series, the last three days, of the Catos Roto League's 2008 season. This will be the Van Buren Boys only remaining chance to move from third to second place. (There's no hope of winning first. That goes to, of course, my bro, like always.)

It's near impossible for me to advance in any offensive categories. Any movement I make in the standings will have to take place through pitching. I can move up one point in Wins and Strikeouts and two points in Saves. It's possible, as well, to gain ground in both ERA and WHIP.

All of them will require my team to do well and the other teams to fare poorly. Most importantly, I need Doug's team to drop a couple points.

I have three starters coming up: Liriano goes today and Hamels and Billingsley pitch on Sunday. These three starts are, ultimately, what my season hinges upon.

So, if you get the chance sacrifice a goat, or something, for the Van Buren Boys' good luck.

How Art Should Really be Valued

I went to my favorite bookstore yesterday and bought a used copy of Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle. It cost $8.50.

Now, that's a lot for a used book, no matter what. In this case, however, it seems especially exorbitant. I don't know how many of you people out there have read Roddy Doyle, but this cat writes pretty economically. So, you're not getting a lot of words, especially descriptive words, for that price.

Sure, you might be getting a great novel, but I think for over eight bucks one should expect something like Michael Chabon. He puts out a whole mess of adjectives and adverbs and what-not. Or maybe a book with pictures. Or, at the very least, it should be printed on some nice quality paper.

But this Roddy Doyle stuff? He doesn't even have chapters. He doesn't even use quotes! Eight bucks and fifty cents and the guy can't even put some damn quotes around his dialogue?

Look, I'm not saying it's not great stuff, I'm just saying that the artistic proficiency displayed should relate to the price. I mean, these fellas who can really pack a sentence full of fancy words busted their asses to get to that point in their art. They deserve rewards.

It's the same reason why a Rush CD should always be more expensive than one by The Clash. Rush has longer songs, more inventive themes, more abstract lyrics and, of course, they play their instruments better.

Seems reasonable to me. I'll ask Harvey at Spectator Books if he'd be willing to implement this idea.

Obama the Conservative

I see something in common between the three disasters of the last decade. I'm speaking of the dot-com bubble, the Iraq War and the current mortgage crisis. What they all share is an execution of incredible hubris combined with a massive dose of naiveté. Youthful arrogance at its absolute most destructive.

Apparently, the people that have been running all these operations thought that they knew better than the combined wisdom of the previous generations of leaders:

The dot-com bubble: Profit? Who needs to show how to make a profit? That will solve itself later. For now, let's put that investment towards yoga classes.

The Iraq War: Of course the citizens of the country we bombed and invaded will welcome us with open arms. We can even disband the army, there's nothing to worry about there. And heck, so what if they have no history of liberal institutions, I'm quite sure they they will quickly embrace democracy, civil liberties and a free market.

The mortgage crisis: No down-payment? No proof of income? No problem! In fact, we feel so secure in these loans that we'll leverage our entire company against them.

What's next?

I'll say it right here- the next disaster will come from Global Warming. But not, as folks might assume, a disaster brought from the warming of the globe. No, this disaster, I fear, is the one that the people who are attempting to stop global warming will bring. These are the people in a current ideological hysteria. And it's ideological hysteria that I fear most; whether it be liberal or so-called conservative.

And contrary to popular opinion, what we're suffering from over the last ten years, or even the last thirty years, is not conservative control of government. It's, actually, a lack of conservative thinking in our society that's the problem. The right-wing ideologues that have been starting wars and ruining the economy are not conservatives. True conservatism, at its absolute core, means- listen to your elders.

We sure as hell have stopped listening to our elders.

What we need, right now, from Barack Obama is not a revolution but a return to true conservatism, a return to listening to the wisdom of our ancestors. I believe he knows that. Even though he speaks often about change, he comes across as a cautious, deliberate individual. He'll bring change in the form of a return to a more traditional way of doing business.

Eve Ensler on Sarah Palin

I'm no fan of Sarah Palin. I don't support her and I will not vote for her. However, I think the liberal outrage towards her is an example of so much that is wrong with the Left, who hold an ugly prejudice towards those people who think 'differently' and live in rural parts of the country.

Hey, I've been as guilty as anybody. One only needs to go back and look at my previous blog entries to see it. But I'm trying to think differently now. I'm trying to be more balanced like I was before the Iraq War threw me violently to the Left. Especially, now that I can see how awful liberals can be when their self-righteousness takes over.

Here's an example of this ignorance in full effect. Eve Ensler, of Vagina Monologue fame, recently wrote an article that described her strong dislike for Sarah Palin. My critique:

I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks.

What's her point? Theses are her dreams. Nothing more. I could dream that Obama opened a concentration camp killing whiteys and non-muslims. What does that mean? Does it say something about Obama, or something about me? However, by starting her article off with this imagery, Ensler is relying on a fabricated emotional response, instead of her own considered criticism, to attack Palin.

But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.

She said it herself, this is her definition of Feminism. Maybe Palin's definition of Feminism involves worshiping the mother-figure and holding all conceived life as sacred.

Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution.

Would the Left be holding Palin in such contempt if she were a Native American that worshiped the Sun God? No, then she would be seen as wise and connected to the ancient truths.

The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered.

And she bases this extreme statement on what facts? Did Palin actually say this?

She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip.

Does she eat the Caribou? Because if she does, then she is more moral than the people who will eat meat but not kill it.

Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library.

Again, on what fact is this based? From what I've read, this has about as much validity as the idea that Michelle Obama hates America.

If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.

I assume, then, that Mrs. Ensler doesn't drive a car, because if she does, then she supports rape, destruction, etc... If not through drilling, how else does Eve intend us to get the oil to fill her gas tank?

Eve Ensler should, quite clearly, stick to diatribes on her own genitalia and leave the political thinking to those people who can actually think.

McCain's Convention Speech

The Republicans cannot keep touting the success of the surge, and the consequent expected victory in Iraq, as a reason to vote for them this fall.

Why?

Because we were supposed to win!

Nobody that, originally, opposed the war did it on the grounds that they feared we might lose. The opposition was based upon other concerns. Both supporters and opponents of the war, naturally, assumed that we would win.

The greatest power the world has ever seen invades a tiny, little, backward nation. Not hard to figure that one out.

Except that it was.

The administration failed miserably in their planning (underestimating Iraqi support, disbanding the army, unfamiliarity with the violent history of the region.) Therefore, that we were actually losing the war for several years was a evidence of a mistake made by the Republicans. So, by correcting that mistake, they are only fixing their own mess.

Furthermore, if they do, indeed, correct their mistake, they're only correcting the second mistake that they made. The first mistake was the very act of starting the war. Sadly, I have no idea how they're going to correct that error when they can't even acknowledge that they committed it.

Besides, what does "winning" the war mean? That we pacified the country? That's how low our standard has become? The bar has been dropped so close to the ground that the mere cessation of fighting is to be considered a grand achievement?

This, essentially, means that we should consider it a victory if we return a country to a state of peace that was already in a state of peace before we invaded. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's have been killed, the country's infrastructure has been destroyed and the American taxpayers have spent untold billions of dollars... and all to eliminate a threat that never existed.

I do not believe that Iran is a major threat or that it should be a prime concern of ours. However, if it turns out to be, this is the last group of characters that I want to see guiding us through the conflict.

I disagree with Obama's (and most Democrats') view of government as a device for fixing society's natural inequality, but I have to assume that he'll be a far better statesman and that, right now, is much more important.