Nobody 722
Sunday, December 8, 2007
Nobody # 722
Nobody Asked Me But:
As the gun lobby likes to say, if the government doesn’t coddle the Omaha killer, but instead locks him up for the rest of his life, it will set an example for all the bad guys with guns while leaving the good guys alone.<<<
Six years in Guantánamo Bay naval base – tell me why a “land of liberty” doesn’t either put these people on trial or release them?
Also, tell me why I shouldn’t be ashamed of my country for allowing this?<<<
"Pullman also turned out to be no dogmatist. His practice of tossing out provocative statements struck me as a habit acquired during his years as a middle-school teacher, intended not to shut out opposing ideas but to flush them from the u
nderbrush of adolescent inertia.” – Laura Miller is a staff writer for Salon.com and the editor of "The Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors."
Philip Pullman is the British author of “His Dark Materials’” a fantasy trilogy. The first volume, “The Golden Compass,” has been made into a movie that opened Friday.
Recently, Catholics have been receiving e-mails from their church warning that the movie was made solely to persuade children to read the books, which may cause them to become atheists.
The messages, writes Miller, have “the breathless, marginally literate quality of rumors about spider eggs in bubble gum.”
It is a different story on the other side of the pond. In England they recognize that Pullman, although an atheist, does not attack religion in his books. His targets are theocracies, governments invaded and conquered by religion, where all non-believers, whether in God or a particular view of God, suffer some consequence. He has been invited to speak or participate on panels sponsored by the liberal and moderate clergy, many of whom value his books for tackling the great questions of existence: life, death, morality and humanity's role in the universe.
Two notes: No, I have not yet seen the film, but it will be our annual Tucson/Christmas trip movie.
Yes, Ryan has visited the library and is reading the book.<<<
Here are my answers to last week’s questions along with the ones that a few of you sent in.
If like milk or the newspaper, you could have anything you like delivered to your doorstep every morning, what particular item would you want it to be?
I would choose a snapshot album filled with previous day pictures of my children and grandchildren.
Libby: “I would like Coke in a bottle delivered to my door every morning. Nothing tastes better; especially in the 8oz bottle.”
Hugh: “How about a good old fashion cup of Joe! Wonder when SBs will figure this out since their sales appear to be down a bit. I would love to get my cup of Joe around 6 in the morning on school days and 7 on Saturdays and Sundays.”
Elizabeth: "I think I would like a complete breakfast, just like room service, with fresh squeezed OJ, eggs, hash browns, bacon and a bagel w/ cream
cheese. If all that is too much, then just various fresh bakery goods."
Barbara: "A cup of Ghirardelli chocolate mocha cocoa with a homemade mocha marshmallow from Clementine’s."
Jeeesh: Check out these four answers. And I’m the one who is supposed to be obsessed with food and drink. But I have to admit that they all sound great.<<<
In your opinion, what is the most significant event that has occurred in world history over the last thousand years? (Define significant any way you wish.)
I will start by defining it in the most personal term. For me, the most significant event was my birth. Without that there is nothing. This holds true for every other human as well.
In a more general term, I would name a period of interlocking events – the Enlightenment. (The portrait is of John Locke) It was this series of scientific discoveries and philosophical pronouncement that allowed humans to break free from the tyranny of church and state. It was a declaration that experience is to be preferred over authority.<<<
Here is a question posted on CNN: What kind of driver annoys you most?
Tailgater
Slowpoke
Cell phone user
It’s a tough choice, but my vote goes to the tailgater.<<<
JIM’S WISDOM (A name, not a claim.) BOOKS, MOVIES AND TELEVISION.
SIDEWAYS: “Beowulf,” a terrible movie that is worth seeing in IMAX 3D for the special effects.
UP: “No Country For Old Men,” book and movie. Rarely have I seen a film that followed the book so closely. The screenwriter lifted scenes and dialogue directly from the novel – which I read after seeing the movie. But both are worth your time. The story, about a man in the Southwest on the run after finding $3,oo,ooo at a drug deal gone bad, and about the chilling hit man on his trail, becomes a film sure to be nominated for a Best Picture award.
Later: I see the reviewer saw things the same way as I did – only he called it “purest adaptations” – ("No Country for Old Men" was the top choice "because of the direction of the Coen brothers. I think it is one of the purest adaptations of a book.”)
UP: “The Race.” I have mentioned Richard North Patterson’s book before, but I want to remind all of you that this is not only an excellent novel about American politics but about our society today as well.
UP: Samantha Who? This new television comedy stars Christina Applegate as a young woman who has amnesia and has to make up for her past while discovering herself in the present.
DOWN: JT for liking Vince Flynn. Flynn’s hero, Mitch Rapp, who does everything I abhor. He tortures! He kills! But protecting America is a dirty job; especially when weak-assed liberals like me want to take the moral high road. I can hardly wait for his next book.
One problem though for Flynn – in his latest book, “Protect and Defend,” Rapp saves the United States from Iran’s non-existent nuclear threat.
UP: “The Woman’s Murder Club.” I never th
ought I would write anything positive about something with origins in James Patterson’s book-of-the-week club. But this new TV series is very good. The story line follows four San Francisco women, a cop, a medical examiner, an assistant DA and a reporter as they solve murders in America’s favorite city. As in all good television, a deep supporting cast ably assists the four leads, and the show does not take itself too seriously.
UP: “Imperium” – I finished listening to this Robert Harris novel about Cicero and Rome circa 50BC last week. If you are interested in Rome, this is a book worth reading – or listening to.
Note: while in Edinburgh last fall I met Harris and had him sign “Imperium” as a Christmas gift for Jim.
MORE UPS AND DOWNS
UP, DOWN? It depends on the day – The Chinese grandmother whose child-rearing philosophy was summed up by her motto: “Do not smile until the children are in bed.”
UP: The Bruin’s great come-from-behind victory over Davidson at the Wooden Classic yesterday. They should have never allowed themselves to get behind by 18 points, but when they play with passion, as they did starting about 16 minutes into the game, they are among the best teams in basketball.
DOWN: Mitt Romney, for labeling me and mine as outcasts. His “religion” speech was all about the inclusives (religious – of all types, except maybe those leftist Quakers and Unitarians) needing to band and stand against the exclusives (sectarians) who threaten America’s moral fabric. Theocracy anyone?
WAY FAR DOWN – Neocons everywhere. They sold us a bad war with Iraq using faulty intelligence about WMDs, and almost did the same in Iran.
UP AND DOWN: The Bush PR machine for trying to “pretzelize” this information in such a way as to make the President look good. UP, because I am in awe of people who try to do the impossible, and DOWN because I hate liars and their lies.
SO FAR DOWN HE HAS TO LOOK UP TO SEE HELL: Norman Podhoretz, the elder. One of the founders of the neocons, Podhoretz is so disappointed that we have lost our excuse to bomb Iran that he wrote – “But I entertain an even darker suspicion. It is that the intelligence community, which has for some years now been leaking material calculated to undermine George W. Bush, is doing it again. This time the purpose is to head off the possibility that the President may order air strikes on the Iranian nuclear installations.”
A conspiracy nut? No, just a NUT!
UP: This picture from Google – just because I like it.
DOWN: Joe Biden for saying this about Bush’s claim that he was out of the loop on the nuclear/Iran issue - “If that's true, he's one of the most incompetent presidents in modern American history."
It’s the “one of the” that earns Joe the DOWN.
And let me get this straight. All those who pushed for a war in Iran, all those who lied about Iran’s nuclear threat, all those who supported a hard line will now get
a positive popularity bump, becaus
e not they can’t make good on their goal to take us to war?
UP: FIERY CHICKEN SOUP – “Chicken Poached in a Spicy Red Chile Broth with Red Onions, Hominy, Topped with Avocado, Roasted Corn and Red Cabbage.”
Great pazole at a pizza place? Yes! I had a bowl last Sunday when we tried a new restaurant, Pit-Fire Pizza, in Westwood. It was delicious, as was the pizza that Barb and I shared. There are several Fire Pit Pizza places around Los Angeles and many items on their menu that I want to try. We shall return.
Quote of the Week – “I have a T-Mobile cell phone, which uses GSM technology; it works all over the world - and in parts of New Jersey. One of the parts of New Jersey where it doesn't work happens to be my own home. As a result, I've been acutely aware of the price America paid for not doing what Europe did, and settling on a single mobile standard.” Paul Krugman, NY Times.
Here are this week’s questions. My answers and yours (?) next week.
If you could have a grand, beautiful front porch with a relaxing porch swing overlooking any place in the world, what would it overlook?
If you were five years younger but knew everything at that age that you have actually learned over the last five years, what is one thing that you would definitely do differently than you did?
Nobody # 722
Nobody Asked Me But:
As the gun lobby likes to say, if the government doesn’t coddle the Omaha killer, but instead locks him up for the rest of his life, it will set an example for all the bad guys with guns while leaving the good guys alone.<<<
Six years in Guantánamo Bay naval base – tell me why a “land of liberty” doesn’t either put these people on trial or release them?
Also, tell me why I shouldn’t be ashamed of my country for allowing this?<<<
"Pullman also turned out to be no dogmatist. His practice of tossing out provocative statements struck me as a habit acquired during his years as a middle-school teacher, intended not to shut out opposing ideas but to flush them from the u
nderbrush of adolescent inertia.” – Laura Miller is a staff writer for Salon.com and the editor of "The Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors." Philip Pullman is the British author of “His Dark Materials’” a fantasy trilogy. The first volume, “The Golden Compass,” has been made into a movie that opened Friday.
Recently, Catholics have been receiving e-mails from their church warning that the movie was made solely to persuade children to read the books, which may cause them to become atheists.
The messages, writes Miller, have “the breathless, marginally literate quality of rumors about spider eggs in bubble gum.”
It is a different story on the other side of the pond. In England they recognize that Pullman, although an atheist, does not attack religion in his books. His targets are theocracies, governments invaded and conquered by religion, where all non-believers, whether in God or a particular view of God, suffer some consequence. He has been invited to speak or participate on panels sponsored by the liberal and moderate clergy, many of whom value his books for tackling the great questions of existence: life, death, morality and humanity's role in the universe.
Two notes: No, I have not yet seen the film, but it will be our annual Tucson/Christmas trip movie.
Yes, Ryan has visited the library and is reading the book.<<<
Here are my answers to last week’s questions along with the ones that a few of you sent in.
If like milk or the newspaper, you could have anything you like delivered to your doorstep every morning, what particular item would you want it to be?
I would choose a snapshot album filled with previous day pictures of my children and grandchildren.
Libby: “I would like Coke in a bottle delivered to my door every morning. Nothing tastes better; especially in the 8oz bottle.”
Hugh: “How about a good old fashion cup of Joe! Wonder when SBs will figure this out since their sales appear to be down a bit. I would love to get my cup of Joe around 6 in the morning on school days and 7 on Saturdays and Sundays.”
Elizabeth: "I think I would like a complete breakfast, just like room service, with fresh squeezed OJ, eggs, hash browns, bacon and a bagel w/ cream
cheese. If all that is too much, then just various fresh bakery goods." Barbara: "A cup of Ghirardelli chocolate mocha cocoa with a homemade mocha marshmallow from Clementine’s."
Jeeesh: Check out these four answers. And I’m the one who is supposed to be obsessed with food and drink. But I have to admit that they all sound great.<<<
In your opinion, what is the most significant event that has occurred in world history over the last thousand years? (Define significant any way you wish.)
I will start by defining it in the most personal term. For me, the most significant event was my birth. Without that there is nothing. This holds true for every other human as well.
In a more general term, I would name a period of interlocking events – the Enlightenment. (The portrait is of John Locke) It was this series of scientific discoveries and philosophical pronouncement that allowed humans to break free from the tyranny of church and state. It was a declaration that experience is to be preferred over authority.<<<
Here is a question posted on CNN: What kind of driver annoys you most?
Tailgater
Slowpoke
Cell phone user
It’s a tough choice, but my vote goes to the tailgater.<<<
JIM’S WISDOM (A name, not a claim.) BOOKS, MOVIES AND TELEVISION.
SIDEWAYS: “Beowulf,” a terrible movie that is worth seeing in IMAX 3D for the special effects.
UP: “No Country For Old Men,” book and movie. Rarely have I seen a film that followed the book so closely. The screenwriter lifted scenes and dialogue directly from the novel – which I read after seeing the movie. But both are worth your time. The story, about a man in the Southwest on the run after finding $3,oo,ooo at a drug deal gone bad, and about the chilling hit man on his trail, becomes a film sure to be nominated for a Best Picture award.
Later: I see the reviewer saw things the same way as I did – only he called it “purest adaptations” – ("No Country for Old Men" was the top choice "because of the direction of the Coen brothers. I think it is one of the purest adaptations of a book.”)
UP: “The Race.” I have mentioned Richard North Patterson’s book before, but I want to remind all of you that this is not only an excellent novel about American politics but about our society today as well.
UP: Samantha Who? This new television comedy stars Christina Applegate as a young woman who has amnesia and has to make up for her past while discovering herself in the present.
DOWN: JT for liking Vince Flynn. Flynn’s hero, Mitch Rapp, who does everything I abhor. He tortures! He kills! But protecting America is a dirty job; especially when weak-assed liberals like me want to take the moral high road. I can hardly wait for his next book.
One problem though for Flynn – in his latest book, “Protect and Defend,” Rapp saves the United States from Iran’s non-existent nuclear threat.
UP: “The Woman’s Murder Club.” I never th
ought I would write anything positive about something with origins in James Patterson’s book-of-the-week club. But this new TV series is very good. The story line follows four San Francisco women, a cop, a medical examiner, an assistant DA and a reporter as they solve murders in America’s favorite city. As in all good television, a deep supporting cast ably assists the four leads, and the show does not take itself too seriously. UP: “Imperium” – I finished listening to this Robert Harris novel about Cicero and Rome circa 50BC last week. If you are interested in Rome, this is a book worth reading – or listening to.
Note: while in Edinburgh last fall I met Harris and had him sign “Imperium” as a Christmas gift for Jim.
MORE UPS AND DOWNS
UP, DOWN? It depends on the day – The Chinese grandmother whose child-rearing philosophy was summed up by her motto: “Do not smile until the children are in bed.”
UP: The Bruin’s great come-from-behind victory over Davidson at the Wooden Classic yesterday. They should have never allowed themselves to get behind by 18 points, but when they play with passion, as they did starting about 16 minutes into the game, they are among the best teams in basketball.
DOWN: Mitt Romney, for labeling me and mine as outcasts. His “religion” speech was all about the inclusives (religious – of all types, except maybe those leftist Quakers and Unitarians) needing to band and stand against the exclusives (sectarians) who threaten America’s moral fabric. Theocracy anyone?
WAY FAR DOWN – Neocons everywhere. They sold us a bad war with Iraq using faulty intelligence about WMDs, and almost did the same in Iran.
UP AND DOWN: The Bush PR machine for trying to “pretzelize” this information in such a way as to make the President look good. UP, because I am in awe of people who try to do the impossible, and DOWN because I hate liars and their lies.
SO FAR DOWN HE HAS TO LOOK UP TO SEE HELL: Norman Podhoretz, the elder. One of the founders of the neocons, Podhoretz is so disappointed that we have lost our excuse to bomb Iran that he wrote – “But I entertain an even darker suspicion. It is that the intelligence community, which has for some years now been leaking material calculated to undermine George W. Bush, is doing it again. This time the purpose is to head off the possibility that the President may order air strikes on the Iranian nuclear installations.”
A conspiracy nut? No, just a NUT!
UP: This picture from Google – just because I like it.
DOWN: Joe Biden for saying this about Bush’s claim that he was out of the loop on the nuclear/Iran issue - “If that's true, he's one of the most incompetent presidents in modern American history."
It’s the “one of the” that earns Joe the DOWN.
And let me get this straight. All those who pushed for a war in Iran, all those who lied about Iran’s nuclear threat, all those who supported a hard line will now get
a positive popularity bump, becaus
e not they can’t make good on their goal to take us to war?UP: FIERY CHICKEN SOUP – “Chicken Poached in a Spicy Red Chile Broth with Red Onions, Hominy, Topped with Avocado, Roasted Corn and Red Cabbage.”
Great pazole at a pizza place? Yes! I had a bowl last Sunday when we tried a new restaurant, Pit-Fire Pizza, in Westwood. It was delicious, as was the pizza that Barb and I shared. There are several Fire Pit Pizza places around Los Angeles and many items on their menu that I want to try. We shall return.
Quote of the Week – “I have a T-Mobile cell phone, which uses GSM technology; it works all over the world - and in parts of New Jersey. One of the parts of New Jersey where it doesn't work happens to be my own home. As a result, I've been acutely aware of the price America paid for not doing what Europe did, and settling on a single mobile standard.” Paul Krugman, NY Times.
Here are this week’s questions. My answers and yours (?) next week.
If you could have a grand, beautiful front porch with a relaxing porch swing overlooking any place in the world, what would it overlook?
If you were five years younger but knew everything at that age that you have actually learned over the last five years, what is one thing that you would definitely do differently than you did?
posted by jmt | 8:49 AM
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