Sunday, March 02, 2003

3 Arab nations call for Saddam to resign [Chicago Sun-Times] Friends like these illustrate that old Proverb about the road to hell being paved with good intentions. This war isn't about East vs. West.  As thinking humans, we have to rally and rise over the "war/anti-war" concept that abstracts and trivializes the human lives already lost, and those that will be lost, in this campaign against tyranny.  This war isn't about religions; it's not another Crusade.  There is room enough in even the smallest of suburban backyards for Christians, Muslims, Jews and Buddhists, for Agnostics, Pagans, Wiccans, and Satanists.  This war is about what is to be tolerated, and what's not. It's about what is universally right, and what is universally wrong. Yep, you read that right.  I'm talking about universal truth.  I'm talking "absolutes."  As unfashionable as it may be in this world of moral relativism where we're all historical revisionists who cater to political correctness (because that fluttering in the pits of our stomachs tells us we shouldn't really utter the first words that came to our lips), there are moral absolutes.  There are such things as right and wrong. So, for those who are still on the fence about the "justness" of this war, here's a quiz: Under what circumstances is it morally permissible to dunk other humans in acid and watch their bodies corrode? Under what circumstances is it morally permissible to attempt the annihilation of a society based solely upon their ethnicity or geographical location? Under what circumstances is it morally permissible to kill not just those who disagree with you but their spouses, children and parents? Under what circumstances is it morally permissible to intentionally direct your weapons against non-combatant civilian men, women and children? Adding up scores: Give yourself one point for each time you said "none."  For each answer besides "none," give yourself +1 point. The Correct Answers: None.  Humanity is precious.  We can't know today who will become the geniuses of tomorrow.  Life that is conceived is entitled to fulfill its innate potential.  (This is also why I believe that abortion is wrong but I believe in a woman's right to choose.... Go ahead, ask me why.  I'd love to give you my 2+ page diatribe without ever once contradicting the above statement, although I doubt you have the cohones to read it.) None.  Any other answer contradicts the answer to Question Number 1 and excuses the savagery of Hitler, Idi Amin and Milosovec. None.  Any other answer condones the actions of the Taliban, in addition to those of Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Milosovec and countless other despots who came before them. None.  See explanation for Answer Number Three. Interpreting Your Score: 1-4: You are a would-be dictator. If you provided any answer but "none" to any of the four preceeding questions, you have acknowledged that under certain circumstances it is legitimate to carry out actions against the innocent in the pursuit of goals one believes to be important.  By answering in this fashion, you have acknowledged that (1) you believe the end justifies the means, provided that (2) you support the end.  Translation: You are a would-be dictator who would compel others to live according to your standards and, like Hussein, you would attempt to rationalize your efforts under the guise of some movement "bigger than you."  My interpretation: You're a shit.  Go ahead, try to logically prove me wrong.  I dare you. I'll bet you can't give me an answer that doesn't involve moral relativism, the concept that something is moral under one set of circumstances but not another.  If so, explain the circumstances in which you feel the above-described action is justified.  Then answer this: if our country were to act in the ways mentioned above, would you believe we were right? 0: If you answered "none" to the above questions, then you believe in moral absolutes, too.  Consider yourself an enlightened human being, although enlightenment, like being, is never complete until your life is done.  Read.  Learn.  Discard what they told you to think.  Then think some more.  Just as our nation should never again grow complacent in its effort to guard our borders against the incursion of those determined to do us harm, you should never grow complacent in your vigilance to exist as creatures capable of distinguishing right from wrong.   7:49:20 PM  Bites [];

McDonald's Trying to Regain Ground After Years at Top. While it is still the nation's most-visited fast- food chain, McDonald's is facing an undeniable decline. By Sherri Day. [New York Times: NYT HomePage] Hmmm... maybe they should try this one on for a Super-Size: the food tastes like shit.  Grown-ups pay for the food.  To get grown-ups to buy, the food has to taste better. Logic.  It's almost as rare of a commodity as multiple orgasms. 6:47:58 PM  Bites [];

I am thinking today of those timless lyrics of Elton John's song, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight": You almost had your hooks in me, didn't you dear? / Altar bound.  Hypnotized./ Sweet freedom whispered in my ear / You're a butterfly / And butterflies are free to fly / Fly away.... Now, I'll admit that on a normal day I despise everything that Elton John stands for.  That's the Republican in me.  But today was anything but normal.  Today was one of those days when sappy yet direct lyrics found a welcome audience in my brain and bounced from one synapse to the other.  I woke up in an introspective mood and have been unable to shake it since.  Today, estrogen has been in the driver's seat and my thoughts have gone along for the ride. The main thing that I hate about days like this (aside from the fact that I'm forced to concede to at least temporarily thinking like most other women) is that they make me a sucker for all things sentimental.  My husband knows this.  Disproving my general theory about male intelligence, he reserves his rare displays of thoughtfulness for mornings when my monthly cycle, my hormones, the moon rising, the planets' alignment and all of the other various cosmic forces all coincide to change me from being a mean-spirited, jaded but straight-shooting Venomous Bitch into a hair-twirling, self-conscious twit who cries those Sally Struther commercials about starving children (as if the food she apparently consumes on a daily basis to maintain her Miss Piggy physique couldn't feed an entire freakin' village) and frets about whether my toddler's resistance to potty-training is linked to my decision to stop breast-feeding at 3 months when I went to work for a short stint as counsel to one of the nation's leading car manufacturers.  Yeah, it's days like today that make me realize that I'd have to think a hell of a lot less if I had a penis. It all started when I got online this morning.  I'd intended to blog, to catch up on the news, to blast through my e-mail and, when my son woke up, to start on my hap-hap-happy day.  I'd gotten as far as having my first cigarette on the lanai and finishing my coffee, then opened my browser and watched my day go to hell. See, the first thing that I found when I went to check in here was a popup from one of those high-school reunion sites.  Five minutes later, I was looking at a list of names I hadn't thought about in nearly 20 years.  Talk about a weird sensation.  Although I threw out my yearbooks years ago, it wasn't hard remembering some of the faces that went with the names.  There was the knock-out that all of the boys lusted after.  There were the boys that lusted after her.  There was the quiet girl whose family owned chickens and pigs but not a t.v., whose clothes were always handmade like the bread in the vegetarian sandwiches she brought for lunch every day.  There was the boy we all beat up on in grade school until he showed up one day in junior high, bigger and taller than half of the teachers at the school.  And there was the fat girl, Bessie, whose parents had given her a name which seemed to have pre-destined her to be fat. Of course, the site wasn't really free.  They teased.  They showed a little but held back the good stuff.  They wanted more before you could have it all.  Yeah, I remember pulling that crap in high school, too. I debated for a long time whether to sign up for the Gold Membership.  It's only $34, I reasoned.  Hell, I spend more magazines and newspapers in one week.   But something held me back.  Something just wouldn't let me whip out my well-worn credit card.  And then, after walking away from the computer and coming back to it again and again, I finally realized why.  Read more 1:40:49 PM  Bites [];

© Copyright 2003 Kate Berry. Last update: 3/11/03; 7:11:34 PM.