I Must Repine by a Squishable Star
Oct. 11th, 2006 07:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rain_gryphonIn a manly display of personal responsibility that should serve as an example for all Americans, Hastert is prepared to sacrifice his staffers, if that will appease people and save his own precious ass.
*****
I'm hearing predictions of as many as 50 House seats lost to the Democrats, although that seems excessive to me. I'm betting somewhere between 20 and 25 myself. Things always narrow up a bit in the week before the election.
The Democrats seem to be doing very little to take advantage of Republican disarray, although that's perhaps the wisest strategy on their part. If there ever existed a party that excelled at pulling the pin then dropping the grenade, it would be the Democrats. Doing nothing minimizes the risk of turning a triumph into a debacle.
*****
For whatever reason, when I gloat over the Reaganites' misfortunes, the soundtrack is the extremely over the top overture to Pink Floyd's "In the Flesh!". It somehow conveys just that perfect air of everything lurching spasmodically, yet inexorably, towards hubris-fueled disaster.
It's satisfying watching them thrash. They really don't seem to have clue #1 about why stuff like this sticks to them like glue, while it slid right off Clinton.
*****
About the only thing that can pull the GOP's nuts out of the fire at this point would be efficiently and bloodlessly (American and allied blood, that is) flattening Iran before the election, and I don't think the timeline allows for that.
*****
The Syrians have developed a sudden interest in peace with Israel. This is interestingly timed, coming as it does right after Rice's tour of the region.
*****
There's great panic here over North Korea, of course, although interestingly the vast majority of it comes from the left. For whatever reason, the American left sees NK as a dire threat to peace.
I don't see it that way. IMHO, The Beloved Leader is chiefly interested in hanging on to power. He's quite obviously a dead man if he lets go. He's not going to risk starting a war that he might lose unless it's by accident or miscalculation. The main threat there is that they might sell bomb parts or technology to other countries.
*****
The BBC's Washington correspondent is busy explaining why Americans blame the Democrats for the Foley scandal. This is the same fellow who earlier revealed that there's a groundswell of popular support for the idea of drafting Barbara Bush as President, and that W's initiative to reduce dependence on foreign oil was motivated by his Green leanings. You really have to wonder how any major news organization could print stuff like this. If the BBC would pay me what they pay this man, I would at least produce articles grounded in reality.
I have this comic image in my mind of a reporter with a reputation for believing literally anything he's told, however improbable, so congressmen amuse themselves by priming him with 'inside information'. John Cleese could play him in the movie version.
*****
Pets will now be evacuated in emergencies. That's long overdue. Expecting someone to leave their animals behind in a disaster is just unspeakable.
*****
Does anyone know of a machine that shreds cellophane? Such a thing has to exist somewhere, else we'd not have filling for Easter baskets. I have an acquaintance who wants one.
*****
There's a polio outbreak in India, which is apparently becoming fairly widespread. This is getting remarkably little play in the news anywhere.
*****
The cleaning people are displaying a new behaviour. Anytime they happen to be in your way - not rudely or deliberately, understand, but just occupying a piece of ground where you want to walk, such as happens often in one narrow corridor here which is barely wide enough for two - they apologize, and flatten themselves against the wall. It ought to be appealing to my inherent megalomania to have servants cringing when I walk by as though I were a Kzin overlord, but I'm finding it oddly disturbing instead.
These people aren't that naturally submissive. They don't give off that vibe. Natural omegas are quite comfortable around others, because they always know their place, and will never have to have pecking order fights to defend it. A real omega'd hop right out of the way without the explicit apology. These guys aren't that way. This is something they're making themselves do, and like the greeting, it's weirding me out.
*****
Edit: Oh YES!! When I'm the Beloved Leader, smiling will be mandatory! What an absolutely depraved invention!
*****
I'm hearing predictions of as many as 50 House seats lost to the Democrats, although that seems excessive to me. I'm betting somewhere between 20 and 25 myself. Things always narrow up a bit in the week before the election.
The Democrats seem to be doing very little to take advantage of Republican disarray, although that's perhaps the wisest strategy on their part. If there ever existed a party that excelled at pulling the pin then dropping the grenade, it would be the Democrats. Doing nothing minimizes the risk of turning a triumph into a debacle.
*****
For whatever reason, when I gloat over the Reaganites' misfortunes, the soundtrack is the extremely over the top overture to Pink Floyd's "In the Flesh!". It somehow conveys just that perfect air of everything lurching spasmodically, yet inexorably, towards hubris-fueled disaster.
It's satisfying watching them thrash. They really don't seem to have clue #1 about why stuff like this sticks to them like glue, while it slid right off Clinton.
*****
About the only thing that can pull the GOP's nuts out of the fire at this point would be efficiently and bloodlessly (American and allied blood, that is) flattening Iran before the election, and I don't think the timeline allows for that.
*****
The Syrians have developed a sudden interest in peace with Israel. This is interestingly timed, coming as it does right after Rice's tour of the region.
*****
There's great panic here over North Korea, of course, although interestingly the vast majority of it comes from the left. For whatever reason, the American left sees NK as a dire threat to peace.
I don't see it that way. IMHO, The Beloved Leader is chiefly interested in hanging on to power. He's quite obviously a dead man if he lets go. He's not going to risk starting a war that he might lose unless it's by accident or miscalculation. The main threat there is that they might sell bomb parts or technology to other countries.
*****
The BBC's Washington correspondent is busy explaining why Americans blame the Democrats for the Foley scandal. This is the same fellow who earlier revealed that there's a groundswell of popular support for the idea of drafting Barbara Bush as President, and that W's initiative to reduce dependence on foreign oil was motivated by his Green leanings. You really have to wonder how any major news organization could print stuff like this. If the BBC would pay me what they pay this man, I would at least produce articles grounded in reality.
I have this comic image in my mind of a reporter with a reputation for believing literally anything he's told, however improbable, so congressmen amuse themselves by priming him with 'inside information'. John Cleese could play him in the movie version.
*****
Pets will now be evacuated in emergencies. That's long overdue. Expecting someone to leave their animals behind in a disaster is just unspeakable.
*****
Does anyone know of a machine that shreds cellophane? Such a thing has to exist somewhere, else we'd not have filling for Easter baskets. I have an acquaintance who wants one.
*****
There's a polio outbreak in India, which is apparently becoming fairly widespread. This is getting remarkably little play in the news anywhere.
*****
The cleaning people are displaying a new behaviour. Anytime they happen to be in your way - not rudely or deliberately, understand, but just occupying a piece of ground where you want to walk, such as happens often in one narrow corridor here which is barely wide enough for two - they apologize, and flatten themselves against the wall. It ought to be appealing to my inherent megalomania to have servants cringing when I walk by as though I were a Kzin overlord, but I'm finding it oddly disturbing instead.
These people aren't that naturally submissive. They don't give off that vibe. Natural omegas are quite comfortable around others, because they always know their place, and will never have to have pecking order fights to defend it. A real omega'd hop right out of the way without the explicit apology. These guys aren't that way. This is something they're making themselves do, and like the greeting, it's weirding me out.
*****
Edit: Oh YES!! When I'm the Beloved Leader, smiling will be mandatory! What an absolutely depraved invention!
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 05:14 pm (UTC)And the overly polite flatten against walls and apologize thing creeps me out too, even when it's something that sort of makes sense, like shutting off a leaf blower as I walk past.
What annoys me is when people who aren't forced to do it, though. Or hold open doors, or whatever. I always feel like I screwed up and just let them score points off me in some game I don't even want to be playing.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 08:06 pm (UTC)I do believe that in Hastert's case, the final answer will be "yes".
no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 04:12 am (UTC)Not exactly. The American left sees NK as the dire threat to peace *that Bush claimed Iraq was*. All the reasons Bush gave for invasion were lies when said about Iraq, but would have been truths for NK.
If the BBC would pay me what they pay this man, I would at least produce articles grounded in reality.
But it's much easier to write articles grounded in reality! Writing articles that live in their own universe takes talent.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 04:56 am (UTC)What do you suppose North Korea can actually do, though? They can invade South Korea, but I can't imagine that they could sustain their army more than a week or two in the field (if that long) without Chinese backing, and I don't see that coming. The Chinese don't want war and sacrifice - they're trying to raise their living standards and stabilize the country.
They might, conceivably, be able to hit Japan with a couple of missiles, but they certainly don't have any nuclear tips small enough to launch on a rocket, if indeed they managed to set off a bomb at all (I have my doubts).
Woe betide them of course, if they get uppity with Red China.
The Beloved Leader has an enormous army, but it's going to starve if he tries to use it. It's fundamentally a showpiece, and it takes everything they have to maintain it on a peacetime footing. What the Chinese and South Koreans both worry about (and rightly so, IMHO) is a collapse of NK, and starving refugees streaming across their borders.
Hussein was dangerous in part because of his Pan-Arabist ideology, and in part because he sat in the middle of the oil fields. He had a vision of how the world should be, and it was one inimical to the west. The Beloved Leader, as far as I can tell, is interested mainly in himself.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 11:10 pm (UTC)North Korea can accidentally set off a bomb that turns out to be unexpectedly dirty, causing a huge mess in the entire subcontinent.
Hussein was not particularly dangerous. It was just a personal grudge-match between him and the Bush family, who have close ties to the house of Saud.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-13 05:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 05:33 am (UTC)I mis-read that at first as wanting a machine that shreds cellphones. My first react was "just remove the SIM", but after being in too many public places with people on cellphones, remote detonation seems a better idea (Israel already did it).
But ... what of the EastroTurf and Peep makers? They only make their money on one day of the year!
I'm unsure I can find the photo now but a rotary cutter kinda like a tiny lawn mower was used in WW II to cut aluminum into tiny strips of chaff for radar jamming. Fred Lawrence Whipple (1906–2004) (http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=2429). So please don't squeeze the cuttings!
no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 06:08 am (UTC)The cellophane shredder is wanted to make what they call 'coconut', which is little bits of shredded, crinkled cellophane about the size of the tobacco bits in a cigarette. It was ubiquitous on Christmas decorations in the 20s and 30s, and I recall seeing it on stuff (although rarely) into the early 70s. It seems to be one of those things that you just can't get anymore, which makes it hard for people restoring old ornaments. There was obviously some kind of machine produced at the time for making this stuff, but of course the design and manufacturer are long forgotten.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-13 05:53 am (UTC)What gives, if I might ask? I was under the impression, from many of your comments that I've seen so far, that you were very heavily a, well, to mutilate the term, Yellow-Dog Republican.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-13 05:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-13 07:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-13 04:46 pm (UTC)