Not with a Bang...

The war for Iraq appears to be coming to a quiet end. The last major outpost of Saddam's Baath regime, Tikrit, may fall without a battle.

A Worthy Cause

Help a girl out you know? Buy her some enlarged mammary glands! People think (and they are right) that they can get people to give them money for anything.

Stuff that I am reading

If you're ambition is to grow up to be like Idaho (heaven help you, poor fool) than you have to develop a voracious appetite for news. The easiest way to satisfy a lust for intelligent discourse is not the morning newspaper, (well maybe since it is online) or televison news, but internet media. Most newspapers are also available online for free on the day of publication, and there are also numerous independent webzines that publish outstanding opinon articles about all and sundry.
My favorite webzine and one of the few completely free news websites left standing, is Slate magazine. Slate owes its existence to the help of Microsoft (much of Slate's traffic is routed through Microsft's MSN portal) but the quality of the opinions and writing at Slate is ungodly. Slate doesn't attempt to cover the news in the same way MSNBC.com or CNN.com does but the results are more satisfying since you get the news distilled through the lens of an intelligent writer's opinion. My only beef with Slate is that the journalists are overwhelmingly liberal. My beef is mitigated by the fact that the bias is acknowledge rather than covered in a veneer of journalistic integrity.
The next best way to find breaking news is Google News. I don't consult google for news very often, but the results are always satisfyingly comprehensive. Here's a story about UN involvement in post-war Iraq that I just picked up from the google news homepage. If it is out there google will find it.
The bulk of the most interesting material I read are random links picked up from the web from my start page, Slate.com, MSNBC.com, and random web browsing. Here's some stuff I am reading now:

• BuzzMachine
  
• BBC News
  
• Andrew Sullivan
  
• Paul Krugman in the New York TImes
  
• Fashion in the New York Times
  
• Ken Layne
  
• www.mightygirl.net
  
• This gem from an anti-war activist detailing the left's failure to detail alternatives to war.
  
• A discussion of women in the military at Slate.com
  
• My friend's new tatoo.
  

Blogs you should read

I think I am going to start a new feature on my blog to go with my "Sudden Insights". I think I'll call it "Voices of Reason". Every once in a while I run into a a blog written by somebody whose world view, while not an exact mirror of my own, appears to be built on logical foundations and reasonable conclusions and not blind ideology. The world is populated with unreasonable people, who yell and scream to be heard above the din but are usually only adding to the confusion. Most people refuse to listen or change their minds from mere inertia. They have always seen the world in a particular way for whatever reason and they aren't flexible enought to listen to what somebody else has to say. Being unreasonable is worse than unintelligence. A stupid person is hampered by simple ignorance and lack of ability to think. An unreasonable person can hear the truth, ignore it and continue to speak the lies he spoke before in the face of damning evidence. Nick Denton is a Voice of Reason and if I am not mistaken in my reading of Wired Magazine an internet micro-publishing mogul. You should be reading his blog, even if you disagree with what he has to say, really...

Mickey Kaus Explains Why everyone should own a BMW or 350Z

Mickey Kaus's Gearbox column at Slate.com details why rear-wheel drive cars are so much fun to drive. Now I know what to say to my friends when they ask why I like BMW's. Rear-Wheel Drive!

Still trying to get a handle on Wander-lust syndication

I'd been wondering why I couldn't see the last three posts; now I know why - I didn't close the comment tag on the syndication command. I am so stupid sometimes.

Fun For Car Nuts Everywhere
Mickey Kaus's Gearbox column at Slate.com details why everybody should run right out and buy a 350Z. Kaus also explains why BMW's are so much fun to drive.

Stumbling into the Weekend

I feel like I have the beginnings of a nasty cold or the flu and I am really in need of rest; but guess what? It's the weekend! This week went by fast, but today seems like it is dragging and my body seems to be calling on me to let up a little, so I will.
I feel like I am living at a pivotal moment in history, and that I will soon be involved in making history in ways that I do not yet understand. At the same time, I am really just counting the days till I ship out and just watching as other people live their lives at full throttle, while I am idling. The best I can do is prepare and try to entertain myself while I wait.
Lately, I have been getting back some really good modeling pictures. Maybe I will post one or two. In the meantime I think I am going to try find some chicken soup. :-p

Europe Comments on the War and is China hiding something?

Isn't it nice to see that our allies are behind us in the war effort? CNN has comments from various European leaders about the Anglo-American coalition's progress in Iraq. It should be obvious that many European countries have no interest in anyone's security but their own.
Meanwhile, China is busy covering up evidence of a dangerous and possible massive outbreak of disease within its borders. The story is that they actually shipped an American teacher to Hong Kong to avoid having another death on the mainland. It jibes exactly with my theory that China is the new Evil Empire and shouldn't be trusted further than you can throw several billion people at once.

The argument for and against war

The problem about arguing about war is that modern warfare moves with such startling rapidity that the war can start and end before the the interested parties have finished their arguments. An interesting point that could undermine many people's anti-war stance was brought up by William Saletan at Slate today. Those who argue against war should argue for a war that saves more lives than it destroys. Even if that is not the case in this war (too early to know), less collateral damage is the trend. Net loss of life may not be the question now but it will be the next time. Will anti-war advocates be able to justify their arguments if it is known that more innocent people will die if American troops stay home?

P.S. I know why I lost the link to Blogdex. Part of the reason is spelling. It is spelled "Blogdex" and not "Blogodex".

Breaking News, or Other People's articles I was able to dredge up on the search engines

I found that link to blogodex. It is strange that google search doesn't bring up the real blogodex website in the top ten results, but I assure you that does not mean blogodex is irrelevant or not useful. I wonder if it has anything to do with plans google has for dominating blog searching. Even this is unlikely since google is run by conscientious folks who believe strongly in fair play.
A few Iraqi children seemed to be pleased with the result of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Finally I have some ill but old news from a British news paper: One in three French People Have Saddam's back! I wonder what happens now?

Peace! Peace!

Christopher Hitchens puts salt in the wound. I like it :).

Baghdad FALLS!

Baghdad is in American hands.

How Do People muster the Creativity to Create Endless streams of headline titles?

I am overly fond of ironic headline titles and subject lines that are not really titles or subjects.
I am at work and I am in a tie and I am teaching mathematics. The teacher I am subbing for is a discplinarian so the kids are fairly well behaved and probably love me to death since I am not nearly as strict.
Jeez, when is lunch going to come? I find that I become more priitive all the time, and I am more concerned with my elemental needs - you know food, sleep, sex, etc. I find that nearly everything I need is in short supply so I have little time to think about more complex motivations. I am not starving, but I am hungry; I am not exhausted, but I am a little fatigued; and I also don't have enough time (bell just rang) to consider my other "Maslow" needs so I my audience will have to miss out on my clever description of my non-existent love life.

Going to work in a Tie

How many people havew aspired to go to work in shorts and a t-shirt? I understand why now. Tomorrow I resume working in a shirt and tie. I enjoyed the gig as a gym teacher, but it was a bit odd walking around the halls and having teachers ask me for a hall pass - in a middle school. I began to enjoy the teachers confusion, but I will enjoy rejoining the adults. Oddly enough, I have always aspired to go to work in a tie. People respect you automatically then, and respect is one thing my life is short of right now, since nobody has any respect for me.

Breaking News!

Like people visit my site for news about anybody but me? Msnbc.com has an article detailing Saddam's likely demise.

Is Saddam dead?

I sure hope so. I can't find anything using google saying anything about the most recent news. Television says he may have been hit yet again though. This is the most recent story about Saddam being dead on the web. Daypop thinks this is the most relevant story about Saddam's death in the blogosphere. (Whatever happened to blogodex?) No article on the web has any of the most recent information, but the US acquired some intelligence placing Saddam in a building with his son and other top Iraqi officials and destroyed said building, rendering anybody still inside very dead. All anybody is willing to confirm at the moment is that the people inside the building are dead.

Schoolgirl Crush

I am to the point with certain girls in my gym class that kindness has reached the end of its usefulness and cruelty might be in order. I actually had one caress the back of my head and neck today. The girls all seem to think that they can get away with whatever they want to. I think I should paint some gray into my hair, stuff a pillow into my gut and slouch a little. All the teachers mistake me for a student and the kids seem to know most of the time but they don't treat me better. At this point I am beginning to feel like a student. I might go and sit in a class by mistake tomorrow.

Raining Cats and Dogs

Hail was coming down a few minutes ago in Richardson like the wrath of God. My roommate most likely has a ruined windshield on his car. Other than that, we sustained minimal damage. Extreme weather turns my roommates into children, which is fine really. A certain wonderment about the world should be encouraged. For whatever reason, half-inch hail has no mystery or excitement for me. I think it has something to do with being worried that the pelting hail will dent my tender flesh. I mean it only breaks windows...

Heavy Lifting

I am trying to get in shape for the military so I am stepping up my workouts and my lower body workout in particular. This comes at great calorie cost. Today I killed 1,900 calories in about 35 minutes of working out. I also lifted weights so there is no telling what my actual energy consumption was. My aim is too catch up my endurance and leg strength to the rest of my physique. I am hoping it works.