Sentential Links #52

[Jack Bauer]

Click the link, dammit! We're running out of time!

[/Jack Bauer]

:: Focusing on ethnic cleansing of/by Indian tribes or the sad manipulation of Indian tribes in our quest for manifest destiny is neither a presuasive nor logical argument as to why the Senecas have a right to slot machines.

:: But there are other lessons. And today’s lesson was that some grown-ups are not good sports.

:: I swear, I don't think there's any other place in the world where a work crew going around filling small potholes with asphalt consists of twelve men in four trucks. (I haven't seen it that bad here, I must admit -- although we've got our own little road crew niceties. For instance: suppose some work is being done on a single bridge on an Interstate highway. One bridge only. We're talking maybe a couple hundred feet worth of roadwork. An area of about two miles on either side of the bridge will be designated a "work area", which means that the speeding tickets incurred therein are an even nicer chunk of change for the state.)

(Note to self: play with the Road Sign Generator mentioned in the above link sometime.)

:: Why is no one asking the right wingers the hard questions, like "Why do you want to damage my family?" Shove that at Bill Frist, loudly and publicly and often. I'd love to hear his answer.

:: What happens, as near as I can tell, is that through some combination of intentional partisan framing by political operatives and the press corps' pre-existing feelings toward a candidate, a narrative is born. (And many are still succumbing to that narrative, aren't they? The overwhelming reaction I hear from people regarding the prospect of Al Gore running in 2008 is, "Oh, God, not him again!", as if we'd be seeing the second coming of Michael Dukakis, as opposed to a guy who, in his last candidacy, was such a horrible candidate that he merely inspired more people to vote for him than the other guy and only lost through the combination of some shenanigans and our stupid-assed Electoral College system.)

:: This is one of the reasons why I'm optimistic about classical music -- it is doing much better on the Internet than in the record shops and in the concert halls.

:: I’ve never been a quiet person when experiencing joy or any other emotion. In fact you could truly say restraint and humility have never been my strong suits. When something wonderful happens either to me or for me, my YES! rings from the rafters [and my beloved is wreathed in smiles].

:: That is one of the wierd things about doing business. The mechanics of doing it well are interchangeable regardless of the product. You can be selling crack cocaine, or drawing pins, you still have to look after your customers and make sure you run a tight and efficient operation.

:: I think this is a winning theme for the 2006 midterm elections.

:: F*** the World Cup. (Hallelujah!)

Time to close it up. Tune back in next week for more.