all is optional

The best the NYPost has to offer is this photoshopped image of Nancy Pelosi. But Madame Speaker can rock out with her non-existant cock out. Ethan Phillips put it best when he said Pelosi was in charge of the biggest “good-old boys” club in the country. And, here she is, bitchslapping them with beans

Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House speaker, said Mr. Bush should “calm down with the threats,” and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, said his impression was that Mr. Bush “doesn’t want anything other than a confrontation.” - Bush Rules Out Bid by Congress for Iraq Pullout

U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis
courtesy of the NYTimes so subscription might be required.

Denouncing Iran and Syria for supposedly supplying Hezbollah while saying nothing of your own deeds.

Pot calling the kettle black. How nice.

Oh well, you’re all idiots.

How’s this for narcissism? An article in every section of the paper sans Centennial, which was an unexpected section. If that wasn’t enough, I log in to college publisher today to see three of the four amongst the most popular articles. This is almost as crazy as Katy Desmond landing a pad off Central Park West.

News: Review of University Budget Reveals Projected Deficit of $3.2 Million
Features: Rock Lovers Displeased with P.A.C.E. Board’s Hip-Hop Monopoly
Arts & Entertainment: Harlem Wizards Whiz Past Pace All-Stars
Editorial: There Is Something Rotten in the State of the University*

unsigned editorial

The New Year, for most intents and purposes, has come and gone. The only reason we really care about the famed day is because of foolish notions of sorting out our neatly pre-packaged lives. (Most of you call them resolutions and they usually have something to do with losing weight.) So, when fifty-six percent of a recently polled female population said they would much rather be thinner than smarter, I deduced that New Year’s was more of a girl-y holiday than Valentine’s Day. It doesn’t stop at that. It’s a holiday celebrated mostly for our escapist generation, one which would much rather fix the minor individual programs than think on a greater, more selfless scale.

Instead of trying to find the perfect swimsuit that accentuates your figure while guzzling down beer after beer during Spring Break (Cancun edition), our generation needs to take note of its degenerating lifestyle. However, a simple realisation of how we are losing the fight against our own rights does no good if we are not willing to do something, or even any thing, about it.

“The world’s stupid optimism must be shaken to the base. We must face the ugly truth as well as the beautiful, we must give the bitter and nasty truth a chance to wrestle with the sweet and lovely lie…

If religion will not do its work, if science fears to draw its conclusions, the bold, the fearless spirit of artistic genius must (perhaps) go down in the mud to clear the way for the advance it needs must have, and which it cannot get from its servants” - Lincoln Steffens (1891)”

Our education does not and should always take place within the confines of a windowless Pace University classroom. If your professors are not facilitating progressive intellectual discussions like you would want them to, then it is your duty to take the initiative to make those discussions happen in the hallways, in parks, on the Brooklyn Bridge.

your guilty pleasure of Wednesday night television or whichever day you might prefer on your 500 channel television set is not freedom of choice. It is confinement. We are our worst oppressors because we are buying into this façade of freedom. Turn off the television; pick up the newspaper (and I don’t mean Page Six). There are too many among us who decide that it is okay for us to perpetuate escapism in our own lives because there are enough people out there who do care about current events. What you are forgetting is each and every thing any of us does is political, whether you like or not. Stop trying to escape from it and do some thing, anything.

For starters, become involved in the world around you by volunteering. the Centre for Community Outreach is sponsoring a trip to New Orleans where you will be able to help with various projects to restore shelters and traditional housing. Next, read up on members of Congress who are up for re-election this year. Get involved with their campaigns.

The fog is only as real as you want it to be.

Originally published in the February 2006 edition of the Pforzheimer Honors College newsletter (NYC campus).

The New York Times (via AP) is reporting that Tom DeLay will be resigning. DeLay chose to resign after House GOP called for his resignation in light of his ongoing problems with conspiracy and money-laundering charges.

DeLay is battling campaign finance charges in Texas and was forced to step aside temporarily as majority leader last fall after he was charged in his home state. He has consistently maintained his innocence and said he intended to resume his leadership post once cleared.

Christmas spirit reigns supreme in Karachi and Islamabad, too.

Mmhmm, a Muslim nation celebrates Christmas to honour their fellows of another religion. (You still want to tell me it’s not a commercial holiday?) Oh, and don’t get me started on those Muslim terrorists.

In the past twenty four hours, I have received numerous “Merry Christmas” wishes by numbers unidentified on my mobile, by screen names on my AIM buddy list; both leave me wondering what in the hell are these people thinking? By what stretch of the mind do I strike you as a human being who celebrates Christmas in any respect: the supposed religious one or the overcommercialised one?

That’s all I got.

donations opportunities available at: Red Cross (redcross.org), Salvation Army (salvationarmyusa.org), National Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (nvoad.org), Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (la-spca.org)

As far as I know, each of these foundations are special interest-free, which is why I am recommending them. There are many others to choose from as well, including several religiously based ones.

It’s a pity what has happened. While I don’t buy into the cockamaime bullshit of how New Orleans will never be the same, I do symapthise with its people and their trials in the upcoming months. Of course, it won’t be the same. Places and things and people aren’t intended to be the same for the entirety of its/their respective existences.

The family went earlier this summer and each of us, despite being different ages and having different interests, thoroughly enjoyed our visit. In fact, Mom contemplated relocating once her contract finishes up in Eudora.

I’ll be doing my part to help bring the colour back to New Orleans with at least two visits scheduled to help spark the local economy (not single handedly of course but every little bit helps). The family is sending clothes and non-perishable food items alongside monetary donations.

recommended reading: throwingstardna’s blog entry on president bush in the face of katrina

“As I recall, three years ago these guys were wandering around with their hands out looking for someone to save them,” said Mike McGuire, an analyst at Gartner G2. “It’d be rather silly to try to destabilize him because iTunes is one of the few bright spots in the industry right now. He’s got something that’s working.”
— Apple, Digital Music’s Angel, Earns Record Industry’s Scorn via NYTimes

Will the greed never end? What is wrong with today’s artists and their labels?

Shouldn’t the record industry and the artists aim to tackle the problem of “illegal” downloading instead of making it harder for those who are downloading music legally? Why make it more expensive for people who are doing things right, the way you want them done?

These people have no concept of the fact that they are getting to live their dreams. Countless people piss away their lives, trying to to have one tenth of the life you people live and you’re still not satisified.

Lazy days in Greenville lead to wasteful hours of surfing the world wide internets^TM. I hit random on livejournal.com and came across this:

If only I could get BBC world news or something on the tube to start my day, rather than be bludgeoned non-stop by a single sensational story by the American info-tainment “news media.” I’m sure there’s some interesting things going on in the world right now, but all I can watch for breakfast is this terribly dull and uninformative Challapalooza, as Israelis challenge the Catholic Church’s hegemony in use of the word “pullout.”

Aren’t there any missing white women?
— shelbinator