Monday, September 11, 2006
Toga Media?
The eminent historian Victor Davis Hanson is now an official Pajamas Media blogger. Welcome aboard Professor Hanson. We hope you don't mind sharing a cubicle with Atomizer until the new expansion is complete. The restrooms are down the hall and there's a refrigerator in the break room. Just be sure to mark your items carefully. Saint Paul seems to think that anything without someone's name on it is fair game.
Schadenball
In years past, I was a dedicated follower of our local NFL franchise. I always made time in my schedule to watch the Vikings on TV, even to the point of driving out of town to catch games during the time when they were subject to blackout in the Twin Cities. I enjoyed the team's successes (such as they were) and agonized over their many failures.
Somewhere along the line something changed. Perhaps it was maturity. Perhaps it was the belated realization that basing my happiness on the result of a sporting event contested by overpaid, over-praised men who often behave as overgrown children was not healthy. Or perhaps it was just the incredibly bitter taste that the 2001 NFC Championship left in my mouth.
Whatever the reason, my passion for the Purple has ebbed to a point slightly about indifference. I'll probably watch some of their opener tonight against the 'Skins and will be cheering for them to win. If they do, good. If they don't, meh.
It's not that as if I don't still enjoying watching football. I do. But I now find that I now get more joy from watching the struggles of other teams than from the success of my own.
Which meant that yesterday was a very good day. If the Vikings win tonight my satisfaction will be nothing compared to being able to watch the Packers and their delusional quarterback get mauled by the Bears in front of the drunken and delusion Green Bay fans yesterday. That was a beautiful thing.
Not quite as delicious, but nevertheless enjoyable, was seeing the Lions fall to Seattle. The defensive roar may have been restored in Detroit, but the offense is as pathetic as usual.
The icing on the cake had to be seeing the score and watching the highlights as the Saints knocked off Cleveland, beginning the Browns downward spiral to yet another losing season. The fact that USC's Reggie Bush led the Saints to the victory made it especially sweet. There's always next year, right Hugh?
By the way, this holds for college 'ball as well. While I also like to watch college football, I have no dog in the hunt. However, there a couple of teams in particular that I find myself wishing the worst for week after week: Notre Dame and Ohio State. Hugh describes a Buckeyes versus Irish national championship game as his "nightmare scenario." It's mine too, because it would mean that one of the teams would be the national champion.
Somewhere along the line something changed. Perhaps it was maturity. Perhaps it was the belated realization that basing my happiness on the result of a sporting event contested by overpaid, over-praised men who often behave as overgrown children was not healthy. Or perhaps it was just the incredibly bitter taste that the 2001 NFC Championship left in my mouth.
Whatever the reason, my passion for the Purple has ebbed to a point slightly about indifference. I'll probably watch some of their opener tonight against the 'Skins and will be cheering for them to win. If they do, good. If they don't, meh.
It's not that as if I don't still enjoying watching football. I do. But I now find that I now get more joy from watching the struggles of other teams than from the success of my own.
Which meant that yesterday was a very good day. If the Vikings win tonight my satisfaction will be nothing compared to being able to watch the Packers and their delusional quarterback get mauled by the Bears in front of the drunken and delusion Green Bay fans yesterday. That was a beautiful thing.
Not quite as delicious, but nevertheless enjoyable, was seeing the Lions fall to Seattle. The defensive roar may have been restored in Detroit, but the offense is as pathetic as usual.
The icing on the cake had to be seeing the score and watching the highlights as the Saints knocked off Cleveland, beginning the Browns downward spiral to yet another losing season. The fact that USC's Reggie Bush led the Saints to the victory made it especially sweet. There's always next year, right Hugh?
By the way, this holds for college 'ball as well. While I also like to watch college football, I have no dog in the hunt. However, there a couple of teams in particular that I find myself wishing the worst for week after week: Notre Dame and Ohio State. Hugh describes a Buckeyes versus Irish national championship game as his "nightmare scenario." It's mine too, because it would mean that one of the teams would be the national champion.
9/11 Tribute
One of the many local events marking the fifth anniversary of 9/11 is the Linden Hills 911 Tribute:
***Lake Harriet Band Shell***
Monday, September 11, 2006 (7:00 p.m.)
Please join us rain or shine for our 5th annual concert. We will recognize our local Fire, Police and EMTs who protect us daily. We will have a moving tribute to the 2,996 people who died 5 years ago. The Zuhrah Shrine Pipes and Drums will perform Amazing Grace. Plus we will have another march for the young people with hundreds of American Flags handed out to the participants.
This is the fifth year for the organizers of this particular tribute and, having attended it previously, I can say that it is very well done.
***Lake Harriet Band Shell***
Monday, September 11, 2006 (7:00 p.m.)
Please join us rain or shine for our 5th annual concert. We will recognize our local Fire, Police and EMTs who protect us daily. We will have a moving tribute to the 2,996 people who died 5 years ago. The Zuhrah Shrine Pipes and Drums will perform Amazing Grace. Plus we will have another march for the young people with hundreds of American Flags handed out to the participants.
This is the fifth year for the organizers of this particular tribute and, having attended it previously, I can say that it is very well done.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Interview With Thomas P.M. Barnett
If you missed our interview with Thomas P.M. Barnett on Saturday, you can listen and/or download it here (you can also catch the Loon Of The Week at the end). Barnett's co-blogger, Sean Meade also live-blogged the interview, which I believe is a first in the history of the NARN.
I notice that Dr. Barnett did not live-blog today's Packers game, which perhaps shows just how visionary he truly is.
I notice that Dr. Barnett did not live-blog today's Packers game, which perhaps shows just how visionary he truly is.
Yes Virginia, There Is A United Nations
I spent this past Tuesday through Thursday at a lake resort in northern Minnesota as part of our company's annual strategic planning off-site session. You'll be glad to know that we do plan to continue to grow the business and increase mindshare among our global sales force (if you have no idea of what I speak consider yourself lucky).
On the way up to the meetings, I took the most direct route. But on the way back, I elected to spend a little time on the back roads and enjoy the scenery, curving one-lane tracks, and small towns that you don't experience on the main bi-ways.
This also provided me a chance to listen to a wide variety of talk radio. One of the more interesting discussions that I can across was a National Public Radio show that focused on the possible successors to Kofi Annan as Secretary General of the United Nations. I found the background of the election process and the political maneuvering going on behind the scenes among the various nations to be quite fascinating. In a purely academic sense for the most part.
While I think it probably would be good to have the the gal from Latvia (a new 'do might be in order) take the reins, the truth of the matter is that I really am not all that concerned with who leads the U.N. I have no expectations of the organization and no hope that it will prove to be any more useful in the future than it has in the past. A little less corruption would be nice I suppose.
I quickly discovered that my cynical attitude towards the U.N. is not widely shared among NPR listeners. I was amazed by the number of callers (all no doubt holding a political philosophy to the left of my own) who apparently have pinned their future hopes for world peace on the next leader of the U.N. Some thought a Muslim would do the trick, others opined that if we only had a women in charge the nations of the world would be holding hands and singing Kumbaya in no time. People who actually believe the UN is relevant? How quaint.
In another radio related matter, there's finally some good news to pass on regarding AM1500's lineup:
In the last segment of their program on Tuesday, September 5, Ron Rosenbaum and Mark O'Connell announced that they have agreed to part ways with AM1500 KSTP.
At long last, the much-deserving pair of oxen have been gored.
On the way up to the meetings, I took the most direct route. But on the way back, I elected to spend a little time on the back roads and enjoy the scenery, curving one-lane tracks, and small towns that you don't experience on the main bi-ways.
This also provided me a chance to listen to a wide variety of talk radio. One of the more interesting discussions that I can across was a National Public Radio show that focused on the possible successors to Kofi Annan as Secretary General of the United Nations. I found the background of the election process and the political maneuvering going on behind the scenes among the various nations to be quite fascinating. In a purely academic sense for the most part.
While I think it probably would be good to have the the gal from Latvia (a new 'do might be in order) take the reins, the truth of the matter is that I really am not all that concerned with who leads the U.N. I have no expectations of the organization and no hope that it will prove to be any more useful in the future than it has in the past. A little less corruption would be nice I suppose.
I quickly discovered that my cynical attitude towards the U.N. is not widely shared among NPR listeners. I was amazed by the number of callers (all no doubt holding a political philosophy to the left of my own) who apparently have pinned their future hopes for world peace on the next leader of the U.N. Some thought a Muslim would do the trick, others opined that if we only had a women in charge the nations of the world would be holding hands and singing Kumbaya in no time. People who actually believe the UN is relevant? How quaint.
In another radio related matter, there's finally some good news to pass on regarding AM1500's lineup:
In the last segment of their program on Tuesday, September 5, Ron Rosenbaum and Mark O'Connell announced that they have agreed to part ways with AM1500 KSTP.
At long last, the much-deserving pair of oxen have been gored.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Blueprint For Good Radio
Tomorrow at noon, the elite pathfinders of the Northern Alliance Radio Network Volume I will welcome Thomas P. M. Barnett to the show. Barnett is the author Blueprint for Action: A Future Worth Creating:
Barnett maps out a sweeping new vision for the U.S. military in Blueprint for Action, the sequel to his influential previous book The Pentagon's New Map. He says the U.S. military has a massive doctrinal flaw. It has an unrivalled power to win wars. But it has little ability to win the peace. Witness Iraq, where virtually no thought was given to postwar stabilization and reconstruction. He advocates creating a new Department of Global Security in the U.S. government, tasked with putting countries back on their feet after an armed intervention by U.S. forces. He says the new department would also work to reduce economic and social instability in "disconnected" regions of the developing world. "It all starts with America and yes, it all starts with security," he writes. Barnett's vision is highly U.S.-centric and recalls the "white man's burden" philosophy of British colonial authorities. He advocates "regime change" in North Korea and Venezuela. And his solutions for the problems of the Third World are straight out of a banker's mouth: privatization, deregulation, globalization. But Blueprint for Action is an important account of the current thinking and debates at the highest levels of the Pentagon.
If you ever get a chance to catch his presentation on C-Span (Saint Paul first pointed me to it) be sure not to miss it. He's an engaging speaker and has put together one of the most effective, informative, and entertaining PowerPoint presentations of all time, which is perhaps not all that surprising considering his background:
Thomas P. M. Barnett is a senior adviser to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Central Command, Special Operations Command, the Joint Staff and the Joint Forces Command. He formerly served as a senior strategic researcher and professor at the U.S. Naval War College and as Assistant for Strategic Futures in the OSD's Office of Force Transformation. He is a founding partner of the New Rule Sets Project LLC, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, and Esquire, where he is now a contributing editor.
And he has a blog. Talk about a man of letters.
In the first hour we'll be discussing the upcoming primaries and providing our predictions and endorsements. I understand that Saint Paul is agonizing over who to support on the DFL side in the 5th District. Knowing him, he'll probably end up going with the Favorite.
NARN Volume I kicks off at 11am and is followed by Volume II at 1pm and Volume III: The Last Word at 3pm. Listen to all six hours of the NARN here in the Twin Cities on AM-1280 The Patriot or anywhere in the world on the internet.
Barnett maps out a sweeping new vision for the U.S. military in Blueprint for Action, the sequel to his influential previous book The Pentagon's New Map. He says the U.S. military has a massive doctrinal flaw. It has an unrivalled power to win wars. But it has little ability to win the peace. Witness Iraq, where virtually no thought was given to postwar stabilization and reconstruction. He advocates creating a new Department of Global Security in the U.S. government, tasked with putting countries back on their feet after an armed intervention by U.S. forces. He says the new department would also work to reduce economic and social instability in "disconnected" regions of the developing world. "It all starts with America and yes, it all starts with security," he writes. Barnett's vision is highly U.S.-centric and recalls the "white man's burden" philosophy of British colonial authorities. He advocates "regime change" in North Korea and Venezuela. And his solutions for the problems of the Third World are straight out of a banker's mouth: privatization, deregulation, globalization. But Blueprint for Action is an important account of the current thinking and debates at the highest levels of the Pentagon.
If you ever get a chance to catch his presentation on C-Span (Saint Paul first pointed me to it) be sure not to miss it. He's an engaging speaker and has put together one of the most effective, informative, and entertaining PowerPoint presentations of all time, which is perhaps not all that surprising considering his background:
Thomas P. M. Barnett is a senior adviser to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Central Command, Special Operations Command, the Joint Staff and the Joint Forces Command. He formerly served as a senior strategic researcher and professor at the U.S. Naval War College and as Assistant for Strategic Futures in the OSD's Office of Force Transformation. He is a founding partner of the New Rule Sets Project LLC, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, and Esquire, where he is now a contributing editor.
And he has a blog. Talk about a man of letters.
In the first hour we'll be discussing the upcoming primaries and providing our predictions and endorsements. I understand that Saint Paul is agonizing over who to support on the DFL side in the 5th District. Knowing him, he'll probably end up going with the Favorite.
NARN Volume I kicks off at 11am and is followed by Volume II at 1pm and Volume III: The Last Word at 3pm. Listen to all six hours of the NARN here in the Twin Cities on AM-1280 The Patriot or anywhere in the world on the internet.
Happy Days Are Here Again
Rochelle Olsen follows up her upbeat ode to Keith Ellison with a more somber, but equally vapid soft serving of Ember Reichgott Junge that carries the inspiring title, Reichgott Junge: Disappointment shaped her:
In the piano bar at Nye's Polonaise Room five days after Sept. 11, former state Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge watched her 83-year-old father, Norbert Reichgott, lead a packed room in "God Bless America."
Then she joined her father, who was in a wheelchair and needed an oxygen tank, in a duet of "I Wish You Love."
He died early the next morning, the third of what would be four deaths in the small family over a short period. Her mother, Diane Reichgott, had died months before. Her brother-in-law committed suicide in 1999. A beloved cousin's death followed them all.
And they all took place shortly after Reichgott Junge lost the DFL primary for attorney general.
The losses -- personal and professional -- taught the high-achieving Reichgott Junge a lesson and led to the centerpiece issue in her campaign for Congress: universal health care.
Who says the Democrats don't have a positive vision for America? Not exactly what one would call Reaganesque.
Later, we learn about a period in Junge's past that may be even more troubling than Keith Ellison's flirtation with the Nation of Islam.
As might be expected of someone who traveled in 1971-72 with the singing group "Up With People," she does 7 a.m. elliptical machine workouts at Lifetime Fitness near her home to gear her up for long days.
In the piano bar at Nye's Polonaise Room five days after Sept. 11, former state Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge watched her 83-year-old father, Norbert Reichgott, lead a packed room in "God Bless America."
Then she joined her father, who was in a wheelchair and needed an oxygen tank, in a duet of "I Wish You Love."
He died early the next morning, the third of what would be four deaths in the small family over a short period. Her mother, Diane Reichgott, had died months before. Her brother-in-law committed suicide in 1999. A beloved cousin's death followed them all.
And they all took place shortly after Reichgott Junge lost the DFL primary for attorney general.
The losses -- personal and professional -- taught the high-achieving Reichgott Junge a lesson and led to the centerpiece issue in her campaign for Congress: universal health care.
Who says the Democrats don't have a positive vision for America? Not exactly what one would call Reaganesque.
Later, we learn about a period in Junge's past that may be even more troubling than Keith Ellison's flirtation with the Nation of Islam.
As might be expected of someone who traveled in 1971-72 with the singing group "Up With People," she does 7 a.m. elliptical machine workouts at Lifetime Fitness near her home to gear her up for long days.
But There Were No Terrorists in Iraq Before We Invaded
A very useful site for information on the links between Saddam's regime and terrorism is the appropriately named, Regime of Terror blog. Here's a sampling:
Earlier this year, Mohammed Rashed, a.k.a. Rashid Mohammed, was quietly convicted and sentenced in connection with the 1982 bombing of Pan Am flight 830. (Thomas Joscelyn commented on this story in March of this year) The attack took the life of Shigetsugu Ozawa and injured several other passengers.
Ozawa's father recalled witnessing the murder of his own son in a letter to government officials, saying "At the time, my honest emotion was to wish the plane would crash into the Hawaiian ocean as I had lost the will to live since my son was no longer alive."
Rashed belonged to the "15 May" terrorist group, which was formed in 1979 with the objective of "promoting the Palestinian cause by killing Israeli and U.S. citizens, and by causing damage to Israeli and American interests around the world." The FBI's press release states that the group is "believed to be responsible for five separate bombing missions in the early 1980s."
The "15 May" group, "was based in Iraq, with operatives around the world" and provided safe haven by Saddam Hussein's regime to launch multiple bombing operations throughout Europe, and in this case a U.S. passenger plane headed to the U.S., from their Baghdad base.
Earlier this year, Mohammed Rashed, a.k.a. Rashid Mohammed, was quietly convicted and sentenced in connection with the 1982 bombing of Pan Am flight 830. (Thomas Joscelyn commented on this story in March of this year) The attack took the life of Shigetsugu Ozawa and injured several other passengers.
Ozawa's father recalled witnessing the murder of his own son in a letter to government officials, saying "At the time, my honest emotion was to wish the plane would crash into the Hawaiian ocean as I had lost the will to live since my son was no longer alive."
Rashed belonged to the "15 May" terrorist group, which was formed in 1979 with the objective of "promoting the Palestinian cause by killing Israeli and U.S. citizens, and by causing damage to Israeli and American interests around the world." The FBI's press release states that the group is "believed to be responsible for five separate bombing missions in the early 1980s."
The "15 May" group, "was based in Iraq, with operatives around the world" and provided safe haven by Saddam Hussein's regime to launch multiple bombing operations throughout Europe, and in this case a U.S. passenger plane headed to the U.S., from their Baghdad base.
MOB Mentality
If you have not yet heard, there will be an official gathering of the Minnesota Organization of Bloggers (MOB) tomorrow night at Keegan's Irish Pub. All local bloggers and readers of local blogs are welcome. The festivities will kick off sometime around 7pm.
Those members of the MOB who have not yet formalized their membership by attending a MOB function are strongly encouraged to show up tomorrow night and make it official with the traditional ceremonial rubbing of Mitch Berg's belly.
Those members of the MOB who have not yet formalized their membership by attending a MOB function are strongly encouraged to show up tomorrow night and make it official with the traditional ceremonial rubbing of Mitch Berg's belly.
Ghost Children
The crunchy conman, Rod Dreher links today to a recent report by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and David Popenoe called "Life Without Children" detailing the decline in the number of children American adults are having and what that does and will mean.
Being a parent has never been easy but today it is a source of growing distress and a rising chorus of complaint. Increasingly, Americans see the years spent in active child rearing as a grueling experience, imposing financial burdens, onerous responsibilities, emotional stress, and strains on marital happiness. The cri de coeur is loudest among the most privileged. For upscale parents, it seems, every step of parenthood, from getting pregnant to choosing the right childbirth method to getting the kids into a nursery school to managing the Herculean task of college applications, is fraught with difficulty, anxiety and a growing sense of isolation from the adult mainstream.
Hardly a day goes by without a story appearing somewhere detailing exactly what the authors mention above. The absolute freakish paranoia about "kidnapping" being but one of the many supposed crises that parents are supposed to be wringing their hands in fright about daily.
So what is behind the anxiety and consequences of couples having less churlen?
The answer lies in a recent and dramatic change in the adult life course. For most of the nation's history, Americans expected to devote much of their life and work to the rearing of children. Life with children was central to marriage and family life, to norms of adulthood, and to an adult sense of purpose. Today, however, child rearing occupies a smaller share of American lives. An ever-diminishing proportion of the entire adult life course is devoted to the nurture and care of minor children.
What I have been seeing a lot is new married couples who are far more interested in getting a dog than having a kid. Dogs are to our modern American life what children were to the '50s.
A big part of why childlessness or less of them is so popular now is the definition of marriage has radically transformed from what it traditionally meant--the union of a man and a woman for the purpose of making a family and what it has become--the union of two (or more, why not?) people for the purpose of making each other happy.
How we lost the vitally important understanding of what the entire institution meant in so few years is astounding and depressing. Of course, the usual suspects of feminism and secular humanism have been the most effective vehicles for this sea change. I also have to lay some of the blame at the feet of consumerism and the ridiculous expectations of luxury that many Americans think is simply middle class living since another thing couples fret endlessly about is how many children they can "afford". What is really meant is "How many kids can we have without changing our (relatively) opulent lifestyle and stuffing our 401k's every two weeks?"
What the two new life stages have in common is a focus on the self. This does not mean that adults in the non-child-rearing years are selfish. But it does mean that their lives, by necessity as well as by choice, are oriented to self-improvement and self-investment (ed: umm, isn't that the definition of selfish?). Indeed, the cultural injunction for the childless young and the childfree old is to "take care of yourself."
I could go on and on but the whole thing is well worth a read.
Btw, I was just thinking about Ally McBeal. Remember when she would be haunted by that little dancing baby? I always took that to mean she aborted that child and it was her conscience (they can be a bitch) coming back to bite her. But for some reason I don't think the writers of the show ever intended it that way.
Being a parent has never been easy but today it is a source of growing distress and a rising chorus of complaint. Increasingly, Americans see the years spent in active child rearing as a grueling experience, imposing financial burdens, onerous responsibilities, emotional stress, and strains on marital happiness. The cri de coeur is loudest among the most privileged. For upscale parents, it seems, every step of parenthood, from getting pregnant to choosing the right childbirth method to getting the kids into a nursery school to managing the Herculean task of college applications, is fraught with difficulty, anxiety and a growing sense of isolation from the adult mainstream.
Hardly a day goes by without a story appearing somewhere detailing exactly what the authors mention above. The absolute freakish paranoia about "kidnapping" being but one of the many supposed crises that parents are supposed to be wringing their hands in fright about daily.
So what is behind the anxiety and consequences of couples having less churlen?
The answer lies in a recent and dramatic change in the adult life course. For most of the nation's history, Americans expected to devote much of their life and work to the rearing of children. Life with children was central to marriage and family life, to norms of adulthood, and to an adult sense of purpose. Today, however, child rearing occupies a smaller share of American lives. An ever-diminishing proportion of the entire adult life course is devoted to the nurture and care of minor children.
What I have been seeing a lot is new married couples who are far more interested in getting a dog than having a kid. Dogs are to our modern American life what children were to the '50s.
A big part of why childlessness or less of them is so popular now is the definition of marriage has radically transformed from what it traditionally meant--the union of a man and a woman for the purpose of making a family and what it has become--the union of two (or more, why not?) people for the purpose of making each other happy.
How we lost the vitally important understanding of what the entire institution meant in so few years is astounding and depressing. Of course, the usual suspects of feminism and secular humanism have been the most effective vehicles for this sea change. I also have to lay some of the blame at the feet of consumerism and the ridiculous expectations of luxury that many Americans think is simply middle class living since another thing couples fret endlessly about is how many children they can "afford". What is really meant is "How many kids can we have without changing our (relatively) opulent lifestyle and stuffing our 401k's every two weeks?"
What the two new life stages have in common is a focus on the self. This does not mean that adults in the non-child-rearing years are selfish. But it does mean that their lives, by necessity as well as by choice, are oriented to self-improvement and self-investment (ed: umm, isn't that the definition of selfish?). Indeed, the cultural injunction for the childless young and the childfree old is to "take care of yourself."
I could go on and on but the whole thing is well worth a read.
Btw, I was just thinking about Ally McBeal. Remember when she would be haunted by that little dancing baby? I always took that to mean she aborted that child and it was her conscience (they can be a bitch) coming back to bite her. But for some reason I don't think the writers of the show ever intended it that way.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
So Busy...
Light posting from me for the next couple days as I'm off to pull a record muskie out of Lake Vermilion this weekend. I'll be back, and posting with my usual regularity, next Tuesday. Until then, try to enjoy the musings of the other Fraters. They do try so hard.
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