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 |
Saturday, February 21, 2004
Two examples of why Bill Hicks would not be pleased with the world and other notes Ten years ago this Thursday, February 26, the brilliant Bill Hicks passed away. Two examples of why Hicks would not be pleased... -As noted yesterday, there's this story: Jeremy Hinzman said he could barely stomach chanting "kill we will" during basic training and, as a Quaker, he didn't want to shoot anybody. But it was the thought of serving U.S. interests in Iraq that made the 82nd Airborne Division specialist flee to Canada last month.This is they type of thing that could have been avoided if Hinzman have heard Hicks scream about the military, "Aren't you a bunch of hired killers? Shut Up! You are thugs and when we want you to kill a bunch of brown people - we'll let you know!" (Chuck Simmins says hang Jeremy Hinzman. That seems a just a bit extreme to me.) -In Thursday's New York Post, William Neuman writes: Replicas of the nails used to hang Jesus on the cross have become the red-hot official merchandise linked to Mel Gibson's controversial new movie, "The Passion of the Christ.""A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks," Hicks once said. "Do you think when Jesus comes back he ever wants to look at a fucking cross? It's kinda like going up to Jackie Onassis with a rifle pendant on. 'Just thinking of John, Jackie, just thinking of John. Just thinking of John, baby.'" *** Time may change my opinion but I think "The commercial war" is one of my better posts. *** I need to move. *** *** "The largest object to be discovered in the Solar System since Pluto was found in 1930 was spotted by a sky survey on Tuesday," NewScientist.com news service writes yesterday. "Tentatively called 2004 DW, the object lies beyond Neptune in the mysterious Kuiper Belt. This shadowy belt is a collection of primordial icy bodies which circle our Sun and are thought to be the remnants of planetary formation." *** "Confronting problems on critical fronts, the CIA recently removed its top officer in Baghdad because of questions about his ability to lead the massive station there, and has closed a number of satellite bases in Afghanistan amid concerns about that country's deteriorating security situation, according to U.S. intelligence sources," Greg Miller and Bob Drogin of The Los Angeles Times write in yesterday's edition. "The previously undisclosed moves underscore the problems affecting the agency's clandestine service at a time when it is confronting insurgencies and the U.S.-declared war on terrorism, current and former CIA officers say. They said a series of stumbles and operational constraints have hampered the agency's ability to penetrate the insurgency in Iraq, find Osama bin Laden and gain traction against terrorism in the Middle East." *** J Hoberman's "With God, and the Constitution, on His Side" is a fascinating look at the controversy that surrounded The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988. UPDATE: Michigan State 66 Next up, a road game against Michigan on Tuesday. *** That somebody got paid to write this is sad. *** In a February 4 story for The Dartmouth about a speech given by Lewis Lapham, Rebecca Leffler writes: Lapham proceeded to equate the war on terror to "declaring a war on an unknown enemy, an abstract noun. It's like declaring a war on lust." Thus, Lapham said, there is a great deal at stake in the upcoming election, which he referred to as an "urgent moment of national identity."While I certainly agree with the first part, this election doesn't seem all that important since it doesn't appear like it will lead to a change in course as far as the "war on terror" is concerned. This, on the other hand, seems to be on target: Late in his speech, Lapham stunned the crowd when he said: "The government in Washington does not bear any good will to the American people." He also spoke somewhat condescendingly of news anchor Peter Jennings, saying: "You have to think of Jennings along the lines of Donald Duck. If you understand that, it won't upset you."*** I'd like to believe that the Iraqi Resistance Solidarity Network is a joke. 2:16 p.m. 02/21/04 |