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Archive for June, 2003

June 27th, 2003 by Timothy

In The Butt….

Den Beste is at it again with an interesting post on legal gay sex and the difference between commercial and noncommercial relations. Check it out…and remember, sodomy laws are different from gay-sex bans.

June 25th, 2003 by Bret

I’m tired of being civil and pretending to care what others think about the Israeli-Palestinian “crisis”. There is no crisis — such a situation requires a definite and short deadline, but this problem will continue for a good while. More to the point, though, is that it is “morally stupid” to say both sides are equally to blame and equally guilty of atrocities. To borrow a line from the linked author,

And to find that an American who thinks herself very smart is unable (or, as is more likely, unwilling) to recognize the vast moral gulf that separates Israel from its enemies is horrifying to me. But then, that’s the country we live in, where moral judgments are based entirely on group membership rather than the actions being judged.

Indeed.

June 23rd, 2003 by Bret

If e’er there were a more disgusting argument, it too would have come from the teachers union. An NEA spokesman said it was time to soak taxpayers again to improve education:

“There’s nothing like cash to make kids smarter,” said the NEA spokesman. “We believe that taxpayers still have some more money in their pockets. And they could use those dollars to fund higher teacher salaries, more administrative positions, and more school computers so kids can learn how to do PowerPoint presentations.”

UPDATE: The above was just a joke, although in my haste it didn’t even cross my mind. Thanks to readers for setting me back on the straight and narrow. Maybe readers can unionize to get living wages for their hard work.

June 22nd, 2003 by Timothy

Beetles, Choices, and Other Things

Sucks to be this guy.

YOU MUST CHOOSE!

And The Flash Fly Guy.

Oh, and an interesting bit of news (Via Sullivan) that the Male and Female genome may differ by as much as 1-2%. That’s as much as the difference between humans and chimps. Very interesting, to say the least.

June 22nd, 2003 by Bret

From Bad To Worse

The Blazers new President is a huge liberal fuck, and reporters seem to love it. ARGGGGGHHHH!!! At least you knew Whitsitt was so self-centered he had to be a Republican.

June 21st, 2003 by Timothy

P’Dizzle

Pete and/or Jim, y’all left a jacket at my house a week or so ago. If either of you guys is looking for a black jacket from The Gap, give me a ring. Otherwise, I’m keeping it.

June 20th, 2003 by Bret

Sincerely Odd

The admirable David Brooks writes on differing perceptions from the left and right. Very good piece, very odd reality.

June 17th, 2003 by olly

On Amen:

The inevitable Professor versus Orrin Hatch.

The senator acknowledged Congress would have to enact an exemption for copyright owners from liability for damaging computers. He endorsed technology that would twice warn a computer user about illegal online behavior, “then destroy their computer.”

Reynolds – in fine form today – adds:

In the spirit of the Framers, I’m tempted to endorse a more traditional remedy: twice warning a politician about threatening people’s rights and property, and then tarring, feathering, and running him out of town on a rail.

That’s one, Orrin.

I know we occasionally have our differences around these parts, but here’s an issue I think we stand shoulder to shoulder on. See also: Blogosphere vs. Bill O’Reilly. As the man said, developing

June 13th, 2003 by Bret

Eugene, Eat This …

My letter made it into the RG today. We’ll see how it is received. My guess is someone will call me a racist and denounce me for small-mindedness, but that’s just par for the course with Eugene.

June 12th, 2003 by Colin

Bush urges Congress action on Medicare

from:cnn.com

President Bush prodded lawmakers Wednesday to approve a prescription drug benefit and choice in health care coverage “for the sake of all our seniors” by the Fourth of July… The GOP-controlled House is at work on a bill of its own, and ready to move quickly on it. Republican sources described the emerging plan as similar to the Senate bill, although it includes the controversial concept of making higher-income seniors pay more of their own prescription expenses than the less well off.

Give me a break folks. Why should I have to pay for your grandmother? And how is it controversial to make rich people pay for their own medication?

June 11th, 2003 by Bret

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Rick Neuheisel’s gone, and I’m loving it! Although one ESPN douchebag says New-Weasel got a bum rap:

College football needs more Rick Neuheisels. …If Bill Clinton had been a football coach, he would have blond hair, play the guitar and work in Seattle. … Unlike Clinton, however, Neuheisel can get another coaching job. If Washington succumbs to the heat and lets Neuheisel go, college football ought to count the days until he returns.

Well, he sold me. The counterpoint is what you’d expect. Clinton has also popped up in the Sosa debacle … isn’t it funny how he never turns up in a nice All-American Cal Ripken-style story? Gotta love it.

June 10th, 2003 by Bret

If you like sports, you’ll like this. I consider my lack of cash to be ENTIRELY blamed on my parents’ lack of marketing acumen.

June 10th, 2003 by pete

Gregg Easterbrook’s new column is really good, if slightly too long. He has venom for both the NBA and Hillary Clinton.

Best quotes, respectively…

If the NFL turned into the NBA, there would be no plays on offense; 11 guys would just run around doing whatever they felt like, calling for the ball. Each person who actually got the ball would immediately throw a 60-yard pass, then turn to the officials to scream for a foul.

and

TMQ wonders how Sen. Clinton found the time to write a 562-page book.Consider that John McCain’s autobiographical work, “Faith of My Fathers,” proclaims on its cover “by Mark Salter, with John McCain.” The true author’s name is there for everyone to see, and this neither detracts from sales (“Faith of My Fathers” was a commercial success) nor causes anyone to think any less of McCain. Famous people who care about their honor, like McCain, freely acknowledge using ghostwriters — this is called “honesty.” Famous people with serious ego problems, or who don’t care about their honor, lie about being authors.

Good Stuff.

June 10th, 2003 by pete

Why not rename High Street?

Professor Emeritus and OC Publisher foil Ed Coleman is “demoralized” after the Eugene City Council voted against renaming Centennial Blvd in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Here’s the most outrageous part:

Led by Coleman on a bullhorn, demonstrators sang the civil rights-era staple, “Which side are you on?” for more than a half hour, their voices raising and lowering as they gathered outside a council work session in the McNutt Room before the main session in the Council Chambers.

Throughout the article, the defeat is blamed upon the “conservative” voters who didn’t understand why we needed to rename the blvd. in the first place. Whitey so crazy.

You’ve got to read this article. Ed Coleman is loopy. George Beres loopy.

The RIAA… like the OLCC but with bigger teeth

So some cagey college kid develops a google style search engine for finding downloadable files, and the RIAA sues him for his life savings… a paltry $12,000. (Thanks for the link Dr. Dewey!)

This Week’s Sign that the Apocalypse is Upon Us

This should be good. Sylvester Stallone is slated to write, direct and star in a film about the deaths of Biggie and Tupac. The story will focus on the LAPD a la Nick Broomfield’s Biggie and Tupac. And according to Variety, the film will be shot from several different perspectives like the Japanese film classic “Rashomon.” I’m simultaneously appalled and excited.

June 9th, 2003 by Timothy

More From The ODE

This is Kleckner’s farewell piece. The headline is “Good evening, my name’s Mike — I’ll be your waiter tonight.” I’m pretty sure that’s the only true thing Kleckner’s said all year, and he’ll be somebody else’s waiter tomorrow night, and somebody else’s the night after that… Six years to graduate from the J-school and this: I’ve learned that even if you’re cocky and obnoxious because you think you know everything, the older, wiser people will generally put up with you and even help you to turn that conceit into skills and knowledge. The University is really good at this, actually. is all he “learned”? Not how to edit news, obviously. Not how to, say, think. No, he’s learned that he can find a sufficient group of like-minded sycophants to make sure his self-esteem isn’t hurt. Great. Excuse me while I gag myself.