Discontent

I have been reading Gary Wills' Nixon Agonistes, which I cannot recommend to everyone more highly. I can only read a chapter a night because my mind is blown and then I have to put it down.

He has a chapter on "Liberals" which is really a devastating look at the university system in the US circa 1969 and the many failings of the academy. Like so much else in the book, what was Wills was recording in 1969 has not changed much and his perceptions of trend/movements/ideologies is so spot-on that the book in entirely relevant today. Nothing more so than the chapter on academia. He takes the academy to the woodshed and gives it a sound thrashing. Hell, he takes everything I believe in and have been working on and shows that the liberal project of "freedom" in all its facets is not only hollow, but so self-contradictory that it cannot stand. While Wills may have over-estimated the tranformative nature of 1960s student opposition, he still identifies all the same issues about academia we are discussing today. He even takes a swipe at AFT.

I thought I'd share with you a single paragraph in pages of paragraphs just like it that I thought was particularly good:

Despite the aristocratic code of the university, in which professors address an elite, the academy must yield, in any showdown with the mass electorate, to what Schlesinger calls the discipline of consent. There are two reasons for this, one theoretical (majority rule in the political market) and one practical (the universities' economic support comes from the political community, national, state, and local). Two contradictory feelings grow, therefore, in the academy -- the sense of superior knowledge and the sense of ultimate powerlessness, a combination that makes for resentment. And resentment, according to Scheler and Camus, leads to intellectual asphyxiation, the constant breathing of one's own thoughts in a closed room.

As I read this chapter, I couldn't help but agree with Wills. I couldn't but think he was right, that the academy is built upon a fiction and it must be attacked. At the same time, I also couldn't help but realize that these arguments were leading me dangerously close to agreeing with DHo and the like (I'm aware of the DHo-as-student-radical to DHo-as-right-wing-crazy connection, but don't have time to develop it). I kept waiting for the "but, this is the best system we got" or some such saving grace, but it never came. This being the 1960s, "alternatives" were still very much alive and not everyone had settled into comfortable middle-classness (I recognize my resemblance to that remark).

Without going into too much more detail, else I will stray into a book report and I need to re-read this chapter several times, I did want to pose a couple of questions to my friends, especially one in particular. Can we agree that there is something wrong with the academy as it functions today? If so, how do we use the tools at our disposal to make the academy better?

Our union should be such a tool, but it is not. If anything, our union works hard to protect the status quo against attacks from the outside. Maybe this is just another example of the "left" being on the defensive from the far right, so that we have to bunker. But I begin to wonder what we actually win by bunkering. I think we all recognize that there are significant problems with the tenure system in the US, just to pick one example. I don't have time to go into them all...I'm sure you can think of five off the top of your head. But instead of fighting to reform the flawed system, we respond to right-wing critiques of tenure by trying to strengthen and re-expand tenure on the college campus. Moreover, because we are at "war" with the right, we are all supposed to pretend like tenure (and its companion, academic freedom) are unassailable goods and that anyone who critiques them must be either misguided or evil. Worse, we are made to ignore all the inherent contradictions within the academy, which Wills does a great job spotlighting and I am unfairly playing on without explaining. We have stopped improving that which we hold dear, in order to "defend" it from "attack." The right-wing questions and critiques, so we stop questioning and critiquing. Instead of fighting for a future, we are constantly looking back to the past. And that doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere.

Google Wit

I got this when I was searching for images related to bargaining. Apparently the fine folks at Google has sat around one too many bargaining tables as well.

Holy Fucking Shit

From the Washington Times:

It is fitting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chose the U.S. Naval Academy for the venue of today's so-called Mideast peace conference. The reputation of that extraordinary institution in Annapolis has been sullied in recent years by a succession of rapes of young women.

Despite official efforts to low-ball its significance, Miss Rice's conclave is shaping up to be a gang-rape of a nation on a scale not seen since Munich in 1938, when the British and French allowed Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini to have their violent way with Czechoslovakia.

This time, the intended victim is Israel. As with the effort to appease the Nazis and Fascists nearly 70 years ago, however, the damage will not be confined to the rapee. The interests of the Free World in general and the United States in particular will suffer from what the Saudis and most of the other attendees have in mind for the Jewish State — namely, its dismemberment and ultimate destruction.

There is so much wrong here, I can't even freakin' begin. I do know that it is shit like this that gets me fired up about this culture war were are supposed to be having. I don't want to reach out and make common cause with shitbags like this. I want to destroy him and the paper that published it.

Dorkus Maximus

An e-mail I sent to the customer service desk at levi.com. Is anyone else having this problem?

Dear Ma'am or Sir,

Over the last couple of years my family has purchased several pairs of Levi's jeans, both men's and women's jeans. I have continually encountered a problem with the belt loops pulling away from the denim fabric. This has happened on several pairs of jeans, the latest incident occurring on a pair I purchased less than a month ago. As you can imagine, I cannot afford to spend $35 a month on jeans.

The Levi brand used to denote a quality, durable product, but this obviously no longer the case. Unfortunately, I find myself forced to look else where for my jeans-related purchases.

EW Letter of the Week (Belated Holiday Edition)

I picked this letter because it typifies the Eugene "I'm not driving, so I am better than you" attitude so well. For those of you not from Eugene, Willamette is one of our busier streets. It is a pain in the ass to drive down because it is very narrow and there are no protected left turns across traffic. When you read the letter, also keep in mind that there are several very placid side streets this cocksucker could have biked down, but oh-fucking-no, Christelle (Eugene name) had to ride down the middle of Willamette Street, probably slowly, just to teach us all a righteous fucking lesson about who is holier-than-thou.

I've avoided saying this for the record, but I f---ing hate bicyclists.

GIVE US OUR LANE

On Saturday, Nov. 10, I was innocently biking on Willamette (going south between 24th and 29th) when I was accosted by a woman in a huge black SUV telling me to "get the fuck out of the road." I am so sick of this behavior. Before you verbally attack an innocent cyclist, why don't you educate yourself on the rules that you and your hideous gas-guzzling SUV are breaking.

When there is not a bike lane in Eugene, bikers are allowed a full lane. Not half of a lane. Not a third of a lane. Not a teeny portion all the way to the right of a lane filled with potholes, twigs and rocks. A full lane. So give us our lane.

It's your fault I am stubbornly biking, anyway. I am trying to counteract the detrimental effects your vehicle has on my environment.

So how about you "get the fuck" out of your car and start making a difference.

Christelle Munnelly, Eugene

Feeling the Noize

The great thing about Napster is that when one of your friends start reminiscing about Quiet Riot, you can just dial up the tunes and sing along for free.

Christmas Present for You?

Punctuation = Participation

The exclamation point is the organizer's best friend!

Got a Date With a Bird?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope your day goes as well as it can possibly go.

An Environmental Lesson for the Kids

I just reminded Amber that if her room is warm (she has a habit of overheating), then that means there is a baby polar bear sitting on a tiny little piece of ice in the ocean, just waiting to die.

By "Iraq", We Mean "Oil"

From Solar Power Rocks dot com

The comments will give you some indication that we live in a truly divided America.

In More Ways Than One

I'm 3072.

Where do you rank?

What Do You Mean, Sub-text?

We fans of Rex Morgan, M.D. have long joked that Rex is gay. Sometimes you can stretch the dialog a little, maybe pretend that one word could, theoretically, be a euphemism for gay sex and we'll chuckle our little hearts out.

Lately, however, the fine writers of Rex Morgan M.D. have taken away all the fun by making Rex's homosexuality all but open. Recently (well, for the last year, but that's only like two weeks Rex-time), Rex has been mentoring a troubled youth named Niki. We've giggled. We've winked and nudged and generally had a gay ol' time insinuating that Rex and Niki have been having a gay ol' time.

Today's comic blows the lid off the insinuation and all but puts Rex in a drag show singing I Will Survive. Is there any other way to read this?:

Baseball Chuckles

This made me llol.

ESPN: He [David Eckstein] has been a shortstop and the Cardinals need a shortstop, and Eckstein may end up returning to St. Louis. But Eckstein could also be, for a big-market contending club, a very interesting buy as a super utility player, because he can play second base, and perhaps even third base, along with some shortstop.

Firejoemorgan.com: David Eckstein playing third base would be amazing. I would love to see that. If Jacoby Ellsbury hit a ball down the line to David Eckstein and Eck had to backhand it and throw from foul territory, by the time the ball landed in the first baseman's glove Ellsbury would be sitting on the bench after his inside-the-park little-league HR and Kevin Youkilis would be at the plate with a count of 2-0.

EW Letter of the Week

In terms of sheer I'm-right-and-you're-wrong-ness, which is a staple of civic dialog in Eugene, it's hard to beat Ralph here, even if he is from Corvallis. There is also a nice agree-with-me-or-die element that I also enjoy.

DENIAL = NO EXIT

There is no exit strategy for Iraq and never will be as the real mission continues to be geopolitical presence and domination of gas and oil regions. Iran and the entire Middle East fall into this category as policy since the days of Henry Kissinger and before.

Our gilded age dynasty rulers and their minions are not true leaders and only speak for their narrow interests. Rhetorical manipulations of propaganda, superstition and bold-faced lies hold us and our ecosystems all hostage as one more expendable resource for a massively unstable lifestyle.

Rule by denial and false claims of god, patriotism and freedom (as roughshod exploitation) are cooking the golden goose for us all. As petro-based infrastructure collapses to massive environmental calamity and general socio-economic poverty, privatized neofeudalism and neofascism are steadily filling the tragic gaps.

Leave the competition and wars of short-term domination. Only honest insight and common resolution can create the will and vision of long-term partnership to truly work together for real change.

A rising tide of basic truth will either guide or kill us as a civilization and life form.

Ralph Penunuri, Corvallis

I'm a Little Bit Jealous

http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/

Would you look at that freaking picket line? Inspiring and depressing at the same time.

For Goffa

Aren't we just the trend setters?

It's Official

According to the government, which I trust implicitly, I am no longer obese.

Standing 5' 10" and weighing in at a slim 208, I have cracked the obesity barrier and am now merely overweight.

While my diet will continue, I plan to remain firmly in the overweight category the rest of my life, as I have no intention of striving for the 173 pounds I would need to achieve to be "normal."

(Let's pause briefly for the social scientists in the crowd to ruminate on the idea of "normality," it's creation, function in society, it's racism, sexism, heck all the "isms," and the devastatingly awesome papers we could write about this subject.)

Alright then...30 more days of the diet to go!

Ewwww.

I haven't been this disturbed in awhile.

Lance Armstrong and Ashley Olsen appear to be dating.

I Need My Tart!

Whence has it gone?

Awesomely Emerald

I know you're wondering about the latest doings of our "conservative" columnist for the Daily Emerald. He turned in a doozie yesterday.

Nik takes on the subject of war. He's for it. Let's let him explain.

My intent is not to lobby for war as the foundation of our foreign policy. I do however believe that it is important to recognize that war has been inevitable in U.S. history, and in all cases America has responded with valor and bravery.

Nik used to be a "peace-lover." This was before he took a few history classes and learned some truths.

What happens when peace cannot be attained? It was not difficult to conclude that war has been the preferred and successful response countless times throughout American and world history. In fact, in United States history, war has provided an answer for gaining independence in the 18th century, slavery during the Civil War, imperialism and fascism in the 1940s, communism in the 1950s, and religious fanaticism today.

Yes, as Nik explains, there have been five wars in American history, all of them righteous, all of them successful, three of them "world-saving."

Briefly:
The British left us no choice but to rebel. "There was no alternative to war..."
The Civil War was necessary to end slavery and is "said to be the last gentleman's war."
The "mentally deficient dictator in Germany" and the "Kamikazes" (sic) were "bent on world domination."
"The spread of communism led to fears of foreign takeover, represented by the Korean and later Vietnam war."
And now we have the Islamic-Fascists who are even more frightening than the "Kamikazes."

This paragraph deserves to stand without comment, as anything I could say would only distract from the simple beauty that Nik lays out.

This past weekend I was in Santa Barbara attending a conference where I had the opportunity to hear former Attorney General John Ashcroft speak. He made an interesting point when he expressed that 40 million people died in World War II because nobody had the nerve to stop Hitler. History, in its infinite wisdom, shows that European countries were petrified. Some were petrified with fear, others with dismay, while still others recognized the decimation yet acquiesced. This is a clear instance in which war was necessary, a line of thinking that a drugged up Hitler had already subscribed to.

Hardy Har Har

When Republicans forget there are cameras everywhere...



[UPDATE]:

This is how a Fox News website in Colorado reports the story:

HILTON HEAD, S.C. - It was a pointed, and poignant question.
"How do we beat the bitch?" a supporter asked Republican presidential hopeful John McCain during an intimate campaign gathering in Hilton Head, South Carolina Monday.
The "bitch" -of course- being Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner.
The question immediately drew laughter, and a noticeable blush from the Arizona Senator.
"May I give the translation?" McCain jokingly asked.
"I thought she was talking about my ex-wife," someone in the crowd shouted, just as McCain attempted to give a dignified response to the rather undignified question.
McCain responded by telling supporters that a recent poll showed him leading Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head race for president. “I respect Senator Clinton,” McCain said.

Poignant? How the f--- was that poignant?

And you can't search for this quote on the Townhall website because "one or more of these words has been deemed offensive."

Fuck You, Too

An item in today's Register Guard informs us that Arizona considers Oregon their "second rival" behind ASU. They desperately want to beat us this week. It seems we ran up the score on them in 2001, putting up 63 points, apparently hurting their feelings. Also, in the past couple of years we've picked off three of their verbal commitments.

Here's why I don't care and fervently hope that we kick Arizona's collective asses on Thursday.

I hate, hate, and tremendously dislike Mike Stoops. Mike Stoops is the head coach of the "Wildcats." Stoops became Arizona's head coach in 2004. He was previously an assistant under his brother, the also-hated Bob Stoops, at Oklahoma. As you may know, Oklahoma is in the Big-12 conference. The Big-12, in my humble opinion, is the most over-rated conference in the history of the world. I hate every Big-12 team on principle. Recently, Nebraska made it to the 2002 championship game after losing to Colorado, denying the Ducks a shot at the title. We demolished the Big-12 champion Colorado, proving that the conference was way over-rated and that the Ducks should have been in the title game. I'd also like to point out the over-rating of the Big 12 could result in the Ducks being jobbed out of the title game this year as well.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, Mike Stoops. So he comes out of the Big-12 and immediately starts talking smack about the Pac-10 and how we're not ready from the smash-mouth Big-12 style and he's going to show us a thing or two and Arizona is going to become Oklahoma-west, etc., etc. In other words, I hated him from the first day.

I hate Mike Stoops because the fucker gave Oklahoma game film and tips before the Ducks played Oklahoma in the 2005 Holiday Bowl. Yeah, his brother is the coach of Oklahoma, but you do not help beat a fellow conferencee in a bowl game. It is not done. Except by douche bags. Which Mike Stoops is one. A douche bag.

I also hate Mike Stoops because EA Sports' NCAA 2005 (made in 2004) programmers also decided that Mike Stoops was the second coming and they made Arizona impossibly hard to beat in the game. This means that every time you play AZ, you have to be ready for the last-30-second-three-touchdown-comeback. Nothing is more frustrating that spending 45 minutes beating a team only to have the game force your running back to fumble twice and lose the game. Fuck you Mike Stoops and your friends at EA Sports.

For the non-Duck lovers in the crowd, feel free to hate Mike Stoops because he was a scab during the '87 football players strike. That he was obviously not good enough to continue to play real pro ball and had to spend years playing Arena football is small comfort.

I also hate Mike Stoops because he has a 16-28 record at Arizona, but has already received a contract extension for next year. It's not so much that he gets to keep his job, despite the obvious fact that he is a failure as a head football coach, it is that every fuking year I have to read some dumb-ass quote from Stoops about how this is the year AZ turns it around. Oh they're going to be tough this year. The offense is coming around. Best defense in the Pac-10 this year. There is a fine line between swagger and arrogance and idiocy. Stoops straddles the line between arrogance and idiocy while thinking that he is swaggering himself all over the place.

I hope we put up the triple digits on 'em. I know that's practically impossible, but that was always my goal when I played Arizona on the computer. If the game didn't randomly decide that my quarterback was going to throw an interception on every pass, I went for 100 just to do something about my impotent fury.

Can You Handle It, Son?

Face on the Bellman.

Condi Rice Thinks You're Stupid

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday she does not believe a Senate resolution authorizes President Bush to take military action against Iran. "There is nothing in this particular resolution that would suggest that from our point of view. And, clearly, the president has also made very clear that he's on a diplomatic path where Iran comes into focus," Rice said.

Now, If It Was a Girl...Meh

I don't know if your already hepped to this bit of wingnuttery, but if you're not, lay your peeps on it, as it contains all the craziness you want in a short package.

Italian abortion mafia

Yes, I think that all real men would smack a woman who aborted our son. What the fuck else are we supposed to do?

Numbers Update

978/1275 = 76.71%

Polite Applause Always Appreciated

You all know that I am a big fan of the letters to the editor. A particular favorite subgenre is the letter to the sports editor that complains of home fans booing the opponent. There is no letter that so sublimely misses the whole freaking point. Today's R-G carries a prime example I thought I'd share. It is so grumpy old man, it almost demands to be printed on faded newsprint. It made me smile, I hope it does the same for you.

Accentuate the positive

Noise! It isn’t the amount. It’s when.

When the Ducks come out of the tunnel, the rush everyone gets is an amazing phenomenon. Players, coaches and fans are uplifted by the roar of the crowd. It’s a very massive upwelling of positive spirits.

By contrast, the negative noise and booing that occurs when the visiting team is trying to run a play? It’s ugly. Check out the faces of the people doing that. Not a pretty sight. Compare it to the look when the Ducks make a great defensive play, a score or a field goal.

And besides, it’s cheating. Anytime a visiting team can’t hear its signals, that’s interference with the field of play. And when some of the Duck players are waving their arms for more noise, that tells me they can’t win on their own talents. It’s like their insecure, scared.

I get a mild rush just recalling the Ducks coming out of the tunnel, our mascot on the Harley. It’s just plain grand! Why not accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative?

Bob Pickard

Why the Office is the Best Show on Television

In addition to the video, know that Jenna Fischer has a blog where she writes about her support of the writers, Steve Carrell reportedly refused to report to work because he had "enlarged balls," and Rainn Wilson called in sick.

Solidarity indeed.

Say La Vee

I got home from poker at 1:30 am last night to find that my dog has diarrhea and "pooped" all over the living room floor.

Advice

Go home to that lovely wife and kid of yours.

Is This How It's Done?

That's what she said. No! No time.

Ash passed this "meme" on to me. A little game the kids are playing, I guess.

First, the rules:
There are a set of questions below that are all of the form, "The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is..." Copy the questions, and before answering them, you may modify them in a limited way, carrying out no more than two of these operations:

You can leave them exactly as is.
You can delete any one question.
You can mutate either the genre, medium, or subgenre of any one question.
For instance, you could change "The best time travel novel in SF/Fantasy is..." to "The best time travel novel in Westerns is...", or "The best time travel movie in SF/Fantasy is...", or "The best romance novel in SF/Fantasy is...".
You can add a completely new question of your choice to the end of the list, as long as it is still in the form "The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is...".
You must have at least one question in your set, or you've gone extinct, and you must be able to answer it yourself, or you're not viable.
Then answer your possibly mutant set of questions. Please do include a link back to the blog you got them from, to simplify tracing the ancestry, and include these instructions. Finally, pass it along to any number of your fellow bloggers. Remember, though, your success as a Darwinian replicator is going to be measured by the propagation of your variants, which is going to be a function of both the interest your well-honed questions generate and the number of successful attempts at reproducing them.


So, without further ado:
My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent is Pharyngula.
My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent is Metamagician and the Hellfire Club.
My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent is Flying Trilobite.
My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent is A Blog Around the Clock.
My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent is Primate Diaries.
My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent is Thus Spake Zuska.
My great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent is a k8, a cat, a mission.
My great-great-great-great-great-grandparent is Monkeygirl.
My great-great-great-great-grandparent is DancingFish.
My great-great-great-grandparent is Dr. Brazen Hussy.
My great-great-grandparent is Addy
My great-grandparent is MommyProf
My grandparent is Dr. Curmudgeon
My parent is pop tart


The best television series in SciFi is: Lost
The best cult movie in comedy is: This Is Spinal Tap
The best children's book in detective fiction is: Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective
The best comfort food in Italian cooking is: Sausage-stuffed Manicotti
The best television series in comedy is: The Office

Oh, yes: DR, Mike3550, and nephew, it is your turn.

Whaa...?

From an AP article about a water boarding demonstration outside of the Justice Department:

Protesters staged a waterboarding Monday outside the Justice Department, calling for a Senate committee to reject attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey because of his reluctance to define the interrogation tactic as torture.

The process was supposed to resemble the process that CIA interrogators are believed to have used on terror detainees until a few years ago.

Did I miss something? Is there any reason but naiveté to believe that the CIA (and the military) does not currently practice waterboarding?

Awesomely Emerald

Nik "No C" Antovich sums up the Giuliani voter pretty well.

People don't expect much of anything from our government these days. At this point I am satisfied as long as we don't get attacked by the Islamic terrorists that we hear so much about.

This is said with no trace of irony/awareness.

On Your Deathbed, You Will Receive Total Consciousness

So I think I am back off the job market and here I still sit at the GTFF. My record was not a distinguished one. For my four interviews, I got one job offer for a 4 month gig, one sort of offer where SEIU wanted me to ask for the job before they offered, and two flat-out rejections. I could argue that I went .500, but given that I never left home plate, the better argument is that I struck out.

Without going into too much detail, because you never know who reads this thing, I debated for a few weeks whether I would take a job with SEIU here in Eugene. There were pros (money, springboard to other jobs) and cons ("Big Purple," CAPE). I hemmed. I hawed. In the end I couldn't get past the fact that all throughout my second interview my brain was screaming "No!" and "Run!"

Still, I was going to let my need to advance in the union world override my instincts, but then I interviewed with the Portland nurses, AFT Local 5017. I really enjoyed the interview. I liked the people, the atmosphere, and people seemed to really respond when I was talking organizing, bargaining and about myself. It made me realize that there I jobs out there I really want to work and I wouldn't have to force myself to go into the office to meet my political donations quota.

It is not soul crushing that I cannot, apparently, get any of these jobs. It is not.

Of course, the job that I have long-coveted is about to come open again. I am not at all sure that I will apply for it. I've already not gotten it once, so it is already a little bit sad for me to apply for it again. Plus, I think that the organization realizes that adding another man to the staff would throw the "gender" balance of the staff way the hell out of whack, so I already have a good chance of not getting the job.

I'll try to pretend that I am bidding my time.

In the meantime...

I have lost 12 pounds and my recent tax assessment tells me my house is worth $286K on the open market. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

EW Letter of the Week

When you have a non-reality based non-solution for "fixing" a corrupt political system, where do you turn to get your ideas out there? The Eugene Weekly, of course:

ENDING CORRUPTION

Alisa McLaughlin almost got it right in her Oct. 4 letter to the editor. She wrote, "Our votes are too valuable to give away, so I suggest, like the people we elected, you sell your vote to the highest bidder."

McLaughlin should advocate democracy instead. Under a democracy, special interests would have no influence because their bribes would be spread too thin to make a difference.

We need a statewide initiative that allows voters to vote directly on a bill or lend their votes to a fulltime representative in Salem. This initiative will give power to voters who refuse to vote for corrupt politicians.

T. Poulsen, Eugene