Tuesday, January 07, 2003
I received an email invite to "To Discuss The Newsom for Mayor Campaign" meeting tomorrow at the Irish Cultural Center on 45th Ave in the Sunset. I'm on the Newsom for Mayor campaign mailing list, since I volunteered for the Care not Cash initiative. I even received a Christmas card from Gavin and his lovely wife Kimberly, a gesture which I thought was smart and classy.
It's almost worth going just to see who shows up. This meeting is very early in the campaign, but it's a smart way to judge public support. Plus, it's got that folksy Jimmy Carter grass roots style campaign style feeling to the event, and it did work for Jerry Brown in Oakland.
On the Pete Wilson's KGO radio program, Susan Leal, the city's current treasurer, announced her candidacy for mayor. Leal calls herself a "social progressive", which is such a bogus label. I listened to her answers about what she would do about San Francisco's budget deficit, social problems like Homelessness, and dot-bomb woes, and I got more of the same ultra left wing progressive BS that is so not grounded in reality, it makes the the mentally ill homeless people who live on upper Market Street sound sane. It was like Leal took a page right of out the Bay Guardian and was reading it verbatim. And I'm like, NO THANKS! San Francisco has the major problems it has because of this impractical, financially dysfunctional and bankrupt, social welfare and engineering left wing drivel that vomits and froths out of the progressives' mouths.
I think the voters in San Francisco are tired of the "progressives". The great social welfare experiment in San Francisco has failed. The Statue of Liberty in San Francisco sob song, "give us your homeless and your poor so they can crap all over the city, bleed the city government's coffers dry, and scare the businesses and tourists dollars away which we're so dependent on". People came here, not to have a better life, but live off our generous city welfare system, where we ask no questions but just hand out cash. I've seen these people interviewed on TV, and I've read pages and pages of how the city's quasi social welfare program works.
Hello! The 60's are over. The flower children have all left, gotten married, had their kids and moved out of the City, and then enacted laws in their safe little burbs to keep the people who they used to be out, because god forbid they don't want their little darling children to be just like formerly hippie mom and dad living a life of free love, sex, drugs and rock-n-roll.
And no, I don't think it's someone's inalienable right to come and crap on on my street or sleep on the steps of my bank. Take it somewhere else.
We need the money for other things here like the burgeoning elderly population, Laguna Honda Hospital where really sick poor elderly people end up, MUNI, fixing the public parks, fixing a crumbling city infrastructure which includes water and the streets, the deterioration of beach at the Great Highway, etc. And guess what? The glory financial days of the 90's are over, and it will probably be another 10 years before they come back. The City is strapped for cash, and will be that way for probably the next 10 years as well.
I'm all for a social safety net for people who really can't take of themselves, but not at the expense of services for city dwellers and the city budget. People came to America to work for a better future, not for a free no questions asked handout.
I'm a tired voter and I live here, and I walk around the City freaking out over how bad it's all gotten. I say, let the Centrists come in and see what they can do, because whatever the Progressives have been doing in San Francisco is so not working; so not working at all. And if the Centrists can't do it, then and it breaks my heart to say this, let the conservatives and republicans have a crack at it. People keep saying we're all in this together, then fine. Let them all try. It can't hurt an already very bad situation.
It's almost worth going just to see who shows up. This meeting is very early in the campaign, but it's a smart way to judge public support. Plus, it's got that folksy Jimmy Carter grass roots style campaign style feeling to the event, and it did work for Jerry Brown in Oakland.
On the Pete Wilson's KGO radio program, Susan Leal, the city's current treasurer, announced her candidacy for mayor. Leal calls herself a "social progressive", which is such a bogus label. I listened to her answers about what she would do about San Francisco's budget deficit, social problems like Homelessness, and dot-bomb woes, and I got more of the same ultra left wing progressive BS that is so not grounded in reality, it makes the the mentally ill homeless people who live on upper Market Street sound sane. It was like Leal took a page right of out the Bay Guardian and was reading it verbatim. And I'm like, NO THANKS! San Francisco has the major problems it has because of this impractical, financially dysfunctional and bankrupt, social welfare and engineering left wing drivel that vomits and froths out of the progressives' mouths.
I think the voters in San Francisco are tired of the "progressives". The great social welfare experiment in San Francisco has failed. The Statue of Liberty in San Francisco sob song, "give us your homeless and your poor so they can crap all over the city, bleed the city government's coffers dry, and scare the businesses and tourists dollars away which we're so dependent on". People came here, not to have a better life, but live off our generous city welfare system, where we ask no questions but just hand out cash. I've seen these people interviewed on TV, and I've read pages and pages of how the city's quasi social welfare program works.
Hello! The 60's are over. The flower children have all left, gotten married, had their kids and moved out of the City, and then enacted laws in their safe little burbs to keep the people who they used to be out, because god forbid they don't want their little darling children to be just like formerly hippie mom and dad living a life of free love, sex, drugs and rock-n-roll.
And no, I don't think it's someone's inalienable right to come and crap on on my street or sleep on the steps of my bank. Take it somewhere else.
We need the money for other things here like the burgeoning elderly population, Laguna Honda Hospital where really sick poor elderly people end up, MUNI, fixing the public parks, fixing a crumbling city infrastructure which includes water and the streets, the deterioration of beach at the Great Highway, etc. And guess what? The glory financial days of the 90's are over, and it will probably be another 10 years before they come back. The City is strapped for cash, and will be that way for probably the next 10 years as well.
I'm all for a social safety net for people who really can't take of themselves, but not at the expense of services for city dwellers and the city budget. People came to America to work for a better future, not for a free no questions asked handout.
I'm a tired voter and I live here, and I walk around the City freaking out over how bad it's all gotten. I say, let the Centrists come in and see what they can do, because whatever the Progressives have been doing in San Francisco is so not working; so not working at all. And if the Centrists can't do it, then and it breaks my heart to say this, let the conservatives and republicans have a crack at it. People keep saying we're all in this together, then fine. Let them all try. It can't hurt an already very bad situation.
Check out my new car links on the left side. My current car - a 2000 VW Golf in evergreen; and my dream cars, the BMW Mini (I want a Mini Love car), and a Volvo C70. I fell in love with the Volvo C70 from watching the movie "The Saint" with Val Kilmer.
I love my VW Golf. It's fast, I beat a Toyota 4Runner up the Pacifica hill on the test drive; it's small at 172 inches in length, 6 inches smaller than your average car, although still too big for many SF parking spots; 8 speakers and 6-cd changer; sunroof and automatic windows; and a great car for a small price.
I so love hatchbacks, and totally adore the windshield wiper on the back window. How can you drive at 70 mph and hydroplane on 280, 101 or the Bay Bridge in the pouring rain without it? I don't think I could ever drive a car without that back windshield wiper. The 93 Saab is another choice hatchback car, although I've never driven one. My friends say the Saab handles well, but is it fast? I think BMW used to make a hatchback, but I so love the Mini car.
I love my VW Golf. It's fast, I beat a Toyota 4Runner up the Pacifica hill on the test drive; it's small at 172 inches in length, 6 inches smaller than your average car, although still too big for many SF parking spots; 8 speakers and 6-cd changer; sunroof and automatic windows; and a great car for a small price.
I so love hatchbacks, and totally adore the windshield wiper on the back window. How can you drive at 70 mph and hydroplane on 280, 101 or the Bay Bridge in the pouring rain without it? I don't think I could ever drive a car without that back windshield wiper. The 93 Saab is another choice hatchback car, although I've never driven one. My friends say the Saab handles well, but is it fast? I think BMW used to make a hatchback, but I so love the Mini car.
Monday, January 06, 2003
Am I a football fan or what? "Any Given Sunday" is one of my favourite movies. Oliver Stone's intensity on the game of football. It's the details in the movie that are so fun. The announcers checking out the girls with the binocs, how jocks even third string f-ugly mothers can get girls, the jawing of the defensive and offensive lines, the drugs, the money, owners, plus an understated but funny performance by James Woods. It's brilliant. Simply brilliant!
A fun link, The Top Twenty Cryptozoology Stories of 2002. Cryptozoology is "literally translated as 'the study of hidden life'" or the study of the evidence for hidden animals with input of local, native, explorer, and traveler traditions, sightings, tales, legends and folklore of the as-yet unverified animals. It's got stories like the Mothman in West Virginia, the Loch Ness Monster and of course Big Foot.
Okay, I'm dying to watch Joe Millionaire tonight, but the guy is totally f-ugly. YIKES! SCARY! He looks like the kind of guy that you see on the cover of romance books, and lots of women love that look. I'm like, I don't know if $50 million would be enough for me to even want to date him; he is so not attractive to me. I just want to see the ending when the lucky woman finds out that it was all one big dang sham.
Check out this interesting website, Noindoctrination.org - A Non Profit Organization Promoting Open Inquiry in Academia. I heard the woman who started this website interviewed on Pete Wilson's radio show on KGO.
I'm glad I went to a small private college, because most of the university controversies seems to go on at public schools. My college didn't even have a "D" grade for most of the time while I was there, which meant if you received a grade below a C in a class, the class was dropped off your transcript. How cool was that. There was also, as I remember, a balance of liberal and conservative professors and we were taught to think for ourselves. If there was indoctrination, I wasn't aware of it. In my high school though, there was major indoctrination in the political liberal viewpoint. But I grew up to be somewhat a political conservative. so maybe indoctrination doesn't really work in the long run but is just the issue du jour.
I'm glad I went to a small private college, because most of the university controversies seems to go on at public schools. My college didn't even have a "D" grade for most of the time while I was there, which meant if you received a grade below a C in a class, the class was dropped off your transcript. How cool was that. There was also, as I remember, a balance of liberal and conservative professors and we were taught to think for ourselves. If there was indoctrination, I wasn't aware of it. In my high school though, there was major indoctrination in the political liberal viewpoint. But I grew up to be somewhat a political conservative. so maybe indoctrination doesn't really work in the long run but is just the issue du jour.
Talk about a weird ending to one damned good football game yesterday, the 49ers unbelievable and miraculous comeback in the 49er/NY Giants playoff game. The NFL is saying that the 49ers should have been called for pass interference; NFL: Officials missed pass interference call in Giants-49ers. I'm with Mariucci when he said "Bummer".
But you know what' s going to happen. The NY Giants and their fans will jaw this issue for years on end. Well, the Oakland Raiders got robbed last year. Maybe it's an NFL playoff tradition; questionable officiating.
But you know what' s going to happen. The NY Giants and their fans will jaw this issue for years on end. Well, the Oakland Raiders got robbed last year. Maybe it's an NFL playoff tradition; questionable officiating.
Saturday, January 04, 2003
I decided I need to start going to the gym again, because that monthly membership gets taken out of my checking account every month whether I go or not and I hate to waste money. I haven't been to the gym in months! I'm bad.
I got on the exercise bike, and did the five minute fit test and my result was "excellent". Then I did the bike cardio program for 30 minutes, and lifted weights for an hour, and now I'm sore as heck. I like lifting weights. I'm a product of Title IX in public schools and I played sports in my youth, so I've been weightlifting since I was 13 years old. That's a long time. And when you build muscles you've got to keep doing it for the rest of your life, otherwise you get all saggy. It's kind of a nasty cycle I think, so it's good thing I enjoy it.
I like how when you want to build up your arms, it's so easy to get definition. Legs are the hardest to train, because you're on on your feet all day so you've really got to do a lot of repetition just to work them. But I must have worked them this afternoon, because my legs are really sore. I did all the machines, and there's two for every leg part, and did 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
Then I came home in time to watch the ending of the Colts/Jets game, and highlights of the Jets whacking the Colts. What a blowout! The NY Jets are hot! Watch out! The NY Jets might be superbowl bound. Then I watched Atlanta beat the Packers, and got chilled from looking at the snow flurries.
I'm not getting a good feeling about the 49er/NY Giants game tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the home team wins, but NY Giants look hot as well. I'm hoping that Cleveland beats the Steelers, so the NY Jets will have come to Oakland to play the Raiders. That will be a fun game, and it would worth it to get tix to see that matchup.
Skip Bayless from the Mercury News said on the Jim Rome radio show "The Jungle", he was the guest host on Thursday and Friday, that if 49ers win then Mariucci is out. SFGate had a similar article. To tell you the truth, I've never been a big Mariucci fan. I don't know, but he's like too touchy feely for my taste. During a 49er/Raider game a few years ago, Mariucci was on the sidelines holding hands with the players and watching a field goal attempt. What's up with the hand holding? I don't know. I watched the scene thinking "that is so not football".
Bayless also said Mariucci has no killer instinct, and that if Mariucci is out Mike Holmgren is in, because he'll be able to get out of his Seattle contract. Holmgren still owns that bar in the Marina, which I've been to a few times. It's a nice place, but the crowd when I was there was older with everyone in their 50's and 60's and country club types. I was told the guy who owns Morton & Basset Spices hangs out in the bar, and was even there during one of my visits.
Mike Holmgren and the 49ers. Interesting combo. What about Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells? Bayless predicts that with Parcells, the Cowboys will be superbowl contenders in 3-4 years. I remember being at a 49er game and the crowd cheering when it was announced Dallas had lost a game. Someone on the show even predicted Troy Aikman coming back out of retirement to play with Parcells for one year. Gotta love your NFL football, so much drama!
I got on the exercise bike, and did the five minute fit test and my result was "excellent". Then I did the bike cardio program for 30 minutes, and lifted weights for an hour, and now I'm sore as heck. I like lifting weights. I'm a product of Title IX in public schools and I played sports in my youth, so I've been weightlifting since I was 13 years old. That's a long time. And when you build muscles you've got to keep doing it for the rest of your life, otherwise you get all saggy. It's kind of a nasty cycle I think, so it's good thing I enjoy it.
I like how when you want to build up your arms, it's so easy to get definition. Legs are the hardest to train, because you're on on your feet all day so you've really got to do a lot of repetition just to work them. But I must have worked them this afternoon, because my legs are really sore. I did all the machines, and there's two for every leg part, and did 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
Then I came home in time to watch the ending of the Colts/Jets game, and highlights of the Jets whacking the Colts. What a blowout! The NY Jets are hot! Watch out! The NY Jets might be superbowl bound. Then I watched Atlanta beat the Packers, and got chilled from looking at the snow flurries.
I'm not getting a good feeling about the 49er/NY Giants game tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the home team wins, but NY Giants look hot as well. I'm hoping that Cleveland beats the Steelers, so the NY Jets will have come to Oakland to play the Raiders. That will be a fun game, and it would worth it to get tix to see that matchup.
Skip Bayless from the Mercury News said on the Jim Rome radio show "The Jungle", he was the guest host on Thursday and Friday, that if 49ers win then Mariucci is out. SFGate had a similar article. To tell you the truth, I've never been a big Mariucci fan. I don't know, but he's like too touchy feely for my taste. During a 49er/Raider game a few years ago, Mariucci was on the sidelines holding hands with the players and watching a field goal attempt. What's up with the hand holding? I don't know. I watched the scene thinking "that is so not football".
Bayless also said Mariucci has no killer instinct, and that if Mariucci is out Mike Holmgren is in, because he'll be able to get out of his Seattle contract. Holmgren still owns that bar in the Marina, which I've been to a few times. It's a nice place, but the crowd when I was there was older with everyone in their 50's and 60's and country club types. I was told the guy who owns Morton & Basset Spices hangs out in the bar, and was even there during one of my visits.
Mike Holmgren and the 49ers. Interesting combo. What about Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells? Bayless predicts that with Parcells, the Cowboys will be superbowl contenders in 3-4 years. I remember being at a 49er game and the crowd cheering when it was announced Dallas had lost a game. Someone on the show even predicted Troy Aikman coming back out of retirement to play with Parcells for one year. Gotta love your NFL football, so much drama!
Friday, January 03, 2003
I came across this factoid in the comment section of a financial website that I have bookmarked; one to two hundred thousand dollars lost by fifty million households since January 14, 2000.
Is this true? If it is, it's unbelievable because that's a ton of people. The commentator also mentioned that many retired people who were heavily invested in the stock market suffered serious losses, as well as those retirees from companies whose stocks have gone to nothing like Lucent, ATT, and Bethlehem Steel.
I was lucky. I got out of market before 2000, while the market was still high, and transferred everything to money market accounts. I knew the markets were going to correct, and it was just a matter of time. Some of my best friends thought I was totally crazy to get out of the market, and blamed my fascination with conspiracy theories on looniness. My critics have lost a ton of money, some are bitter, some are worried, and some are scared. This was their retirement money, after all.
And looney me? I didn't lose money, I made money actually. Not a lot, but at least I have no losses. I take no pleasure in being right. I don't want to tell people I told you so, and why the heck didn't you listen to me, although I'm tempted. It's cruel to be sanctimonious with people who have suffered financial losses. I feel for my friends.
What scares me is the effect these financial losses will mean for the country. If people have lost money, this means corporations which are also heavily invested in the stock market, have lost money too. This means pension funds and mutual funds have taken deep losses as well.
And it all trickles down, trickles up, trickles everywhere. All the states are experiencing budgetary woes, which means a cutback in social services at the state level. The government cut taxes, but now they could sure use that tax money for the war on terrorism and upcoming war with Iraq. If they have to make cuts, the government will cut social services.
Where is the safety net that many people might be needing soon? I had images of blood on the streets in January 2000 right before the markets started diving. Those images have come back, but this time I don't think it's financial bleeding I'm seeing.
Is this true? If it is, it's unbelievable because that's a ton of people. The commentator also mentioned that many retired people who were heavily invested in the stock market suffered serious losses, as well as those retirees from companies whose stocks have gone to nothing like Lucent, ATT, and Bethlehem Steel.
I was lucky. I got out of market before 2000, while the market was still high, and transferred everything to money market accounts. I knew the markets were going to correct, and it was just a matter of time. Some of my best friends thought I was totally crazy to get out of the market, and blamed my fascination with conspiracy theories on looniness. My critics have lost a ton of money, some are bitter, some are worried, and some are scared. This was their retirement money, after all.
And looney me? I didn't lose money, I made money actually. Not a lot, but at least I have no losses. I take no pleasure in being right. I don't want to tell people I told you so, and why the heck didn't you listen to me, although I'm tempted. It's cruel to be sanctimonious with people who have suffered financial losses. I feel for my friends.
What scares me is the effect these financial losses will mean for the country. If people have lost money, this means corporations which are also heavily invested in the stock market, have lost money too. This means pension funds and mutual funds have taken deep losses as well.
And it all trickles down, trickles up, trickles everywhere. All the states are experiencing budgetary woes, which means a cutback in social services at the state level. The government cut taxes, but now they could sure use that tax money for the war on terrorism and upcoming war with Iraq. If they have to make cuts, the government will cut social services.
Where is the safety net that many people might be needing soon? I had images of blood on the streets in January 2000 right before the markets started diving. Those images have come back, but this time I don't think it's financial bleeding I'm seeing.
A fun link, The Top 10 Conspiracy Theories of 2002. God, I love this stuff. People have such great imaginations! I'm an analyst, so I'm sort of trained to look for trends and connections in massive amounts of data. But these conspiracy people put my skills to shame.
Wednesday, January 01, 2003
Some New Years's Resolutions.
1. Finish my two novels. Following in the Dark - a story about religion and s&m sex and finding yourself, and The Crow Priestess - a scifi fantasy story of power games by women.
2. Finish my screenplay - Going Home Again, and send to Richard Walter at the UCLA Screenwriting program for review.
3. Start and finish - Missy Dreams of Ducks - the story of a 12-year old who dreams she's become a duck.
4. Finish my very long short story Crazy Eddie - the story of a woman who goes to the desert after she discovers her boyfriend lying in a pool of blood in her hallway.
5. Get my weight down to 130 pounds and maintain.
6. Read my bible every day, and study Luke/Acts and the Pauline letters.
7. Write a gratitude list every day, only because I know I'm not very grateful for how great my life really is.
1. Finish my two novels. Following in the Dark - a story about religion and s&m sex and finding yourself, and The Crow Priestess - a scifi fantasy story of power games by women.
2. Finish my screenplay - Going Home Again, and send to Richard Walter at the UCLA Screenwriting program for review.
3. Start and finish - Missy Dreams of Ducks - the story of a 12-year old who dreams she's become a duck.
4. Finish my very long short story Crazy Eddie - the story of a woman who goes to the desert after she discovers her boyfriend lying in a pool of blood in her hallway.
5. Get my weight down to 130 pounds and maintain.
6. Read my bible every day, and study Luke/Acts and the Pauline letters.
7. Write a gratitude list every day, only because I know I'm not very grateful for how great my life really is.
So it's New Year's Day and I'm playing with my dowsers, which I got in the Sean David Morton seminar I went to in November. I'm asking my pendulum and copper rods all these questions about 2003, and it's fun and mindless and who knows if what they're saying is true, but it's like an entertainment thing, so who cares right?
This morning I dreamt of my first love from college, MN (a nickname only he and I know the origins of). I haven't dreamt of him in years, but I did this morning. I dreamt we were getting together, like dating and getting married, which is so weird since I haven't heard from since I left college.
I mean, it would be my ultimate romantic fantasy to end up being married to first love, but the chances of that happening is like so zero. I think he probably lives somewhere in DC or Maryland, because he always said he was going to live on the banks of the Potomac, and he's the kind of guy who always does what he says. And I'm here in the city and county of San Francisco.
So I'm asking the pendulum and the dowsers about my first love MN, and they're like confirming my dream and I'm like, yeah right, in a million years, I'll believe when I see it. I mean, it would have to take a phone call from my first love telling me he's living here in the Gemini city of San Francisco, and like wouldn't it be nice if we got together. Still, it's kind of fun in a sad way to think of us getting together again. Sad only because I know it's just a fantasy. But I'm an Aquarian, and every Aquarian girl has a thing for their first love guys, so maybe it's not that surprising that I still cling to the fantasy of marrying my first love.
It's so weird to think of my first love on this first day of the New Year. I mean what was my subconscious mind up to when it made me have that dream? I suppose I should sit around and try to analyze my dream, but I'm not going to. What's the point? I think I should just look at my first love dream as a reminder that I'll find someone to fall in love with this year, and it will be as cool, as hot, and as special as that first time. Now that's my ultimate love fantasy!
This morning I dreamt of my first love from college, MN (a nickname only he and I know the origins of). I haven't dreamt of him in years, but I did this morning. I dreamt we were getting together, like dating and getting married, which is so weird since I haven't heard from since I left college.
I mean, it would be my ultimate romantic fantasy to end up being married to first love, but the chances of that happening is like so zero. I think he probably lives somewhere in DC or Maryland, because he always said he was going to live on the banks of the Potomac, and he's the kind of guy who always does what he says. And I'm here in the city and county of San Francisco.
So I'm asking the pendulum and the dowsers about my first love MN, and they're like confirming my dream and I'm like, yeah right, in a million years, I'll believe when I see it. I mean, it would have to take a phone call from my first love telling me he's living here in the Gemini city of San Francisco, and like wouldn't it be nice if we got together. Still, it's kind of fun in a sad way to think of us getting together again. Sad only because I know it's just a fantasy. But I'm an Aquarian, and every Aquarian girl has a thing for their first love guys, so maybe it's not that surprising that I still cling to the fantasy of marrying my first love.
It's so weird to think of my first love on this first day of the New Year. I mean what was my subconscious mind up to when it made me have that dream? I suppose I should sit around and try to analyze my dream, but I'm not going to. What's the point? I think I should just look at my first love dream as a reminder that I'll find someone to fall in love with this year, and it will be as cool, as hot, and as special as that first time. Now that's my ultimate love fantasy!
Tuesday, December 31, 2002
Monday, December 30, 2002
All this talk of cloning reminds me of this BBC show I saw years ago called, "The Cloning of Joanna May", written by Fay Weldon. Weldon is a brilliant storyteller and writes the most amazing stories. The book as well as the show were very good.
In Joanna May, her ex-husband had her cloned three times and each woman had a part of her Joanna's personality but not the whole thing. It was a very, very interesting story about the consequences of cloning done in Weldon' smart and very cheeky style. Great ending as well, and quite unexpected really.
In Joanna May, her ex-husband had her cloned three times and each woman had a part of her Joanna's personality but not the whole thing. It was a very, very interesting story about the consequences of cloning done in Weldon' smart and very cheeky style. Great ending as well, and quite unexpected really.
What is Evil?
My church yahoo group discussion board is having a spirited discussion on evil based on this excerpt from the NY Times.
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Evil is a dangerous word, if you fling it about irresponsibly. But it is an important word to keep in our moral vocabulary, because it sharpens our moral reactions and stiffens our moral resolve. The idea of ruthless malice, the love of death and destruction for its sake, constitutes a real category of human agency, and this is what the word evil is designed to connote.
It is a strong word for an extreme phenomenon. The English language can sometimes seem weak in its resources for the description of extreme wrongdoing, so we find ourselves reaching for alien words: pogrom, holocaust, ethnic cleansing, fascist, sadist, gulag, intifada. The word tragedy is often made to perform duties beyond its scope, with its suggestion of inevitability. (Atrocity is better, implying that someone committed an evil act.) The word terrorism is actually far too weak for what it denotes: not merely creating terror, but doing so by the calculated murder and maiming of innocents because they are innocents. So let's keep the old-fashioned word evil, and let's use it with all the seriousness and caution it requires.
Colin McGinn, professor of philosophy, Rutgers University
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I am guilty. I use the word evil quite a bit, and probably sometimes not for very "evil" things. The upcoming war with Iraq is fueling this discussion, and we are now all pondering "the just war" theory. "Are acts, themselves, good or evil, or do the consequences matter?", asks a member of my church. I think heinous acts have sometimes been committed in the name of good, and I'm sure the "good" people had the best of intentions at the time.
---------------------
Evil is a dangerous word, if you fling it about irresponsibly. But it is an important word to keep in our moral vocabulary, because it sharpens our moral reactions and stiffens our moral resolve. The idea of ruthless malice, the love of death and destruction for its sake, constitutes a real category of human agency, and this is what the word evil is designed to connote.
It is a strong word for an extreme phenomenon. The English language can sometimes seem weak in its resources for the description of extreme wrongdoing, so we find ourselves reaching for alien words: pogrom, holocaust, ethnic cleansing, fascist, sadist, gulag, intifada. The word tragedy is often made to perform duties beyond its scope, with its suggestion of inevitability. (Atrocity is better, implying that someone committed an evil act.) The word terrorism is actually far too weak for what it denotes: not merely creating terror, but doing so by the calculated murder and maiming of innocents because they are innocents. So let's keep the old-fashioned word evil, and let's use it with all the seriousness and caution it requires.
Colin McGinn, professor of philosophy, Rutgers University
-------------------------------
I am guilty. I use the word evil quite a bit, and probably sometimes not for very "evil" things. The upcoming war with Iraq is fueling this discussion, and we are now all pondering "the just war" theory. "Are acts, themselves, good or evil, or do the consequences matter?", asks a member of my church. I think heinous acts have sometimes been committed in the name of good, and I'm sure the "good" people had the best of intentions at the time.
I went to Sears tonight and bought a pair of size 10 Lands' End black corduroy pants. The waist wasn't snug at all tonight, so I think that' s a good sign. I'm sick of my pants with their baggy butts. I tried on a pair of size 10 jeans as well that fit, but decided to wait on buying those.
Then I tried on some Lands' End knit pants in a medium petite, and they were so loose on me. It was shocking to think I coud actually wear a small, but Lands' End clothes must run very large. I want to buy more pants, but I'm afraid in a couple of months I'll have baggy bum syndrome again.
I may buy one more pair of khakis for work. I'm also thinking I should go and try on some Ralph Lauren jeans, since I may find a pair that actually fits now. I just bought a couple of pairs of jeans in the spring, so I'm bummed that they're now too big, even though I'm excited to be buying smaller clothes.
I also tried on some sweaters at Target, but I still need to lose more weight for my tops to look okay. Extra large is too big, but large is still snug. The best thing about being thinner is I can buy cheaper clothes, which still fit. The cheaper stuff isn't generously cut so you really have to be size it says. Actually, it's better if you're even smaller than the size since those cheaper clothes are cut so tiny. My own personal test for weight loss is when I'll be able to wear a medium Target sweater, and it will look great on me.
Then I tried on some Lands' End knit pants in a medium petite, and they were so loose on me. It was shocking to think I coud actually wear a small, but Lands' End clothes must run very large. I want to buy more pants, but I'm afraid in a couple of months I'll have baggy bum syndrome again.
I may buy one more pair of khakis for work. I'm also thinking I should go and try on some Ralph Lauren jeans, since I may find a pair that actually fits now. I just bought a couple of pairs of jeans in the spring, so I'm bummed that they're now too big, even though I'm excited to be buying smaller clothes.
I also tried on some sweaters at Target, but I still need to lose more weight for my tops to look okay. Extra large is too big, but large is still snug. The best thing about being thinner is I can buy cheaper clothes, which still fit. The cheaper stuff isn't generously cut so you really have to be size it says. Actually, it's better if you're even smaller than the size since those cheaper clothes are cut so tiny. My own personal test for weight loss is when I'll be able to wear a medium Target sweater, and it will look great on me.
On a Monday Night football game that ultimately doesn't mean anything, it's still painful to watch the 49ers fall apart in the fourth quarter and to see St. Louis stage one of their usual comebacks.
This is not a good sign for the upcoming Giants game. You want to go into the playoffs with a win, and not a loss, don't you?
This is not a good sign for the upcoming Giants game. You want to go into the playoffs with a win, and not a loss, don't you?
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