homeland security

In this new age of terrorism, it may be the case that the American people have to accept some kind of wiretapping or whatnot. Let's be realistic: there are nasty people out there that want to kill us, and Bush didn't just make that fact up to scare us. It's really out there. It's also true that that problem is getting worse because of our policies, but that's another story.
The point is, if Bush wanted more power, he should have gone through proper channels. He's not king. Ted Koppel said just that last night on Charlie Rose. He said what I'm saying, which is that there may be cases where we have to give up a freedom or two. These are complicated questions. But when George junior just goes and does what he wants like he's king, that's not acceptable.
Speaking of Ted, that guy has a lot of intelligence and poise, it is obvious. That's the cool thing about TV, I guess. Sometimes Charlie gets guys on there that really know how to talk and make a point, people that can really choose their words carefully and really leave an impression. The news hour with Jim Lehrer, on the other hand, has a lot of people that really don't know much, but I like Jim anyway, and Ray, and Margaret, and the whole gang.


What I have been reading recently:

The Get Fuzzy Experience, about a cat with a bad attitude
"Tropic of Capricorn" by Henry Miller, because George Orwell said he was worth reading and he had some similarity to Walt Whitman.
"Collected Essays of George Orwell". A great writer that has fallen off in popularity.
The Book of Job. Over and over.
"How to Compost": fun with composting.
"History of Shotokan", about the old inventory of this particular style. Karate history is kind of nebulous because nobody wrote much of anything down.
The expiration dates on milk bottles. I got a bad milk at Fred's today. Fortunately they were nice about giving me another. If you check the dates out, some of them sit there for weeks....

Seen on the street: "Without Beavers there would be no water. Without water, there would be no life. Choose the Beavers. Choose life."

I try to not feel superior to people that are still out there wreaking havoc on their bodies with drugs and alcohol. I try not to feel superior, but I fail.