micah holmquist's irregular thoughts and links |
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Welcome to the musings and notes of a Cadillac, Michigan based writer named Micah Holmquist, who is bothered by his own sarcasm. Please send him email at micahth@chartermi.net. Holmquist's full archives are listed here.
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Sites Holmquist trys, and often fails, to go no more than a couple of days without visiting (some of which Holmquist regularly swipes links from without attribution) Aljazeera.Net English Blogs that for one reason or another Holmquist would like to read on at least something of a regular basis (always in development) Thivai Abhor |
Friday, October 17, 2003
On Monday U.S. President George W. Bush said: ...for the contribution the Italian Americans have made to America, I say, thank you, we are grateful. But most of all, I ask God's blessings, not only of those of Italian descent, but ask God's blessings for all of us who are fortunate enough to live in the United States of America.Damn those coalition partners to hell! Damn them to hell! UPDATE: And while we're at, how about the Army? 10:19 p.m. 10/17/03 UPDATE #2: Three more things that amuse and/or enrage me... 1) In an American Forces Press Service story from Tuesday filed from Bagram, Afghanistan, Kelly Hunt writes: In the hidden back trails of Bagram Air Base stands an Afghan compound, made by hand out of mud by local citizens -- a training site used by Bagram troops to prepare for urban combat.2) The current issue of Imprimis reprints a speech entitled "What's Wrong with the CIA?" that Herbert E. Meyer gave last month as Hillsdale College. Meyer's answer is that the Central Intelligence Agency needs more people who read enough to think in the appropriate ways. Speaking about the C.I.A. analysts he worked with during his stints as the special assistant to the director of the C.I.A. and the vice chairman of the C.I.A.'s National Intelligence Council during about the Reagan Administration, Meyer says: They read the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time or Newsweek, perhaps U.S. News & World Report, and occasionally the Economist. I rarely met anyone who read Commentary, National Review, the Wall Street Journal editorial page, or any other cutting-edge publication where the world’s leading thinkers expound their ideas and perceptions about the world.3) Mike Szymanski of Zap2it.com says the new version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Marcus Nispel) is better than the original, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974), which is possible if unlikely since Hooper's picture wasn't all that good save for its unique look –something that is difficult to equal in a Hollywood production and context –something that can not be duplicated in 2003-, but Szymanski loses credibility by concluding with: It's not for the squeamish, and it's not as bloody as "Kill Bill," but if you enjoyed that one, then go see one of the originals that inspired Quentin Tarantino and lots of other action and horror directors around today.I'd say Szymanski probably also suggests seeing Battle Beyond the Stars (Jimmy T. Murakami, 1980) to get a better understanding of the inspiration for The Magnificent Seven (John Sturges, 1960) but that makes a bit too much sense. 5:03 p.m. 10/18/03 UPDATE #3: One more... In today's Guardian, Julie Burchill perhaps makes an argument of some kind in "White girl with attitude," but then again maybe she doesn't as I'm not sure what it was. Still there was this bit: ...any culture - be that gangsta rap or the Ku Klux Klan - that needs to use the word nigger fully to express itself is worthless. Lenny Bruce was the first alleged non-racist to insist that it was OK to use the word - his stand-up act in the 1950s featured a routine in which he repeated it over and over, in order to "remove" its power. I have always found this suspect, on many levels - first, the unbelievable arrogance of the man, believing that 15 minutes of drug-addled babble could wipe out centuries of pain; second, how many blacks were in his typical audience? Barely any, I'd wager, and the idea of a group of conceited, "cultured" whites tittering at this taboo-breaking is not an attractive one. Let's not forget, either, that Bruce was a total screw-up - he was a junkie, and I'd no more trust a junkie to make a reasonable judgment about what is appropriate than I would a slug.Is it worth responding? No. 5:29 p.m. 10/18/03 UPDATE #4: Here are a few more... *** *** "Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz, commander of the Army's 3rd Corps, has told reporters American troops would be in Iraq for another troop rotation or even two. At the current pace of a turnover of troops every year, that could mean U.S. forces would be in Iraq until 2006," CBS News writes in a story from yesterday. I have a hard time believing there are people who actually think the U.S. is going to leave on its own any time soon. *** "Only those with beliefs can defeat those with beliefs," says Dennis Prager in an October 7 column. Seven days later Prager writes, "[W]e are... in the midst of the Second American Civil War." *** Bush got into the following exchange on Thursday: Q Yes. Indonesia is a moderate country, but the campaign against terrorism has invited much controversy between a small minority of militant groups and the more dominant militant groups -- moderate groups.LOL 3:23 p.m. 10/19/03 |