Ah the first snow. New York in the snow is one of the best things ever. It feels like the 19th century. It seems like the city is covered in snow in every picture from that time, it's lovely. It muffles all the sounds, highlights the wrought-iron fences and fire escapes, and of course makes everyone generally lose their minds.
Well, what's going on?
Personal drudgery:
Thanksgiving was good/nice/fine/tolerable. I got to enjoy one of my favorite holiday traditions, listening to my father sing "Rock of Ages" during Hanukah. It's a rare pleasure to hear someone sing so badly and yet with so much joy.
Most of my time lately has been spent working on the web site for our upcoming epic journey. It's coming along fairly well, I think. It's nice to have a project again.
What's in the news... Looks like ole' what?s-his-name is really itching to go to war, inspections or not, which is wonderful. The whole diplomacy thing is just for show, they're already saying they're "skeptical" of the results before it's been a week. Sounds like a foregone conclusion. I'll miss New York, but I gotta say I'm not sure I'd want to be here when we start bombing Iraq. It seems to me the repercussions will be felt most by ordinary people, many of whom aren't in favor of attacking the damn place. Well, that might be wrong, in reality it seems like so many people are in favor of it, I just keep deluding myself into thinking there is a majority of sane people in this country. Duh.
On the way home from Baltimore, in Delaware perhaps, I saw a house by the side of the interstate flying the confederate flag. Now I might be a bit sensitive since I've been soaking in the Civil War for a month or two (it's doing wonders for my skin), but I really wanted to throw a bucket of shit at their house. What exactly are they advocating? The ownership of black people? Seriously? I mean, what the fuck?
I know some people see it as a "southern pride" thing, but that's bullshit. The country that flew that flag instigated and fought the bloodiest war in our history to protect their right to own other humans, plain and simple. Sure, there were other factors, but that was the one that had them pulling guns on the senate floor. That's the one they seceded over.
So, for the record, if you're flying a confederate flag, you're an unbelievable ass.
Quote of the moment:
"When I was Ambassador to Indonesia, which was a long time ago, a lot of Indonesians complained, 'Why don't you Americans pay more attention to Indonesia?' and my standard response was, 'Well look at the countries we do pay attention to: Lebanon, El Salvador. You should be glad.'"
-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz
