Quips: Quick commentary on politics, technology and life, I think.

Tuesday, December 31

I sense a credibility problem

So, where in this sentence do you start worrying?

"..., according to a cloning company linked to a sect that believes space aliens created life on Earth."

Why should we believe anything these people say? Yes, cloned humans are a worrisome public issue, but just because someone holds a news conference in Hollywood, Fla., doesn't mean it should lead the 6 o'clock news. The fact there's been no proof or even evidence offered should make everyone at least skeptical. And apparently there are some questions about the "independent" verifier.

Posted by jb, 2:01 PM :: :: #

Saturday, December 14

Holiday decorations

Time for O Tannenbaum and stringing up the lights. And only one shopping trip needed: for new lights and garland. We snapped a few pictures while decorating, so you can see where we put the tree. Feel free to take a candy cane as you leave.

Posted by jb, 8:32 PM :: :: #

Thursday, December 12

We'd all be better off if...

If you'd rejected the repudiated policies of the past, would you keep praising the man that embodied them?
  Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi apparently has trouble with this concept. Twice now he has praised retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond {google || metafilter}, saying the country should have elected him president in 1948, when Southern Democrats who didn't like Truman's civil rights program formed the Dixiecrats.

2002: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years.

1980: You know, if we had elected this man 30 years ago, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today.

• Terry Neal: "Lott was commenting on a man who ran for president in 1948 on the ticket of the Dixiecrat Party, whose sole goal was the preservation of segregation in the South."

I can accept the idea, espoused by a Mississippi State professor, that Lott was trying "a Southern thing in that he was trying to make an old fellow feel good on his birthday." All Americans can relate to that — being nice to someone on his birthday. It's these other "Southern" things that make us uncomfortable.

In the 21st Century, Americans also need to relate to something Rep. Dick Gephardt said: "Statements that fondly reminisce about our nation's segregationist past are unacceptable. Nostalgic reminiscing about a platform that called for depriving people of their civil rights has no place in Congress."

Posted by jb, 3:46 AM :: :: #

Friday, December 6

And now, back to politics

I believe in email. It brings all kinds of good stuff right to me. I've signed up for the Washington Post's On Politics newsletter and, since I haven't been quipping, this most-recent installment had a bunch of good topics.

• Bush signs 'dot-kids' bill: Reminder to progenitors: Nothing in here absolves you of your responsibility to raise your children. And repeat after me: "The Internet is not a babysitter. The Internet is not a babysitter..."
• Bush Blames Al Qaeda for Kenya Attacks: Didn't everyone else come to that conclusion several days ago? So here's my media question: Is it news just because the President says something? His spokesman apparently later said there has been no certain determination. Can we wait until we decide to start making pronouncements?

  And finally:

• Left, Right? Debate Over Media Bias Continues: If both sides are upset, maybe something is being done correctly. I do find it humorous that some point to the slant of editorial pages as evidence of media bias. Um, opinion pages are where arguments are to be made and conclusions come to. That's not bias — it's contribution to the civic debate.

Posted by jb, 1:47 AM :: :: #

Our Thanksgiving

Hosting Thanksgiving gives you a chance to create all kinds of lists: what dishes you don't have, what to make for side dishes or dessert, how to work off all that food. And there's also pictures to take so everyone can see how the new house hosts holidays.

Posted by jb, 12:58 AM :: :: #

 More in the archives.

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