By Mike
Something I’ve been mulling over for a while is the subject of moral obligation, or the lack of it, in law. The way I’m looking at it right now is that the law is not, and was not intended to be, a set of moral codes. Rather, it is primarily intended as a way to maintain societal order.
Now, this is in conflict with my religious beliefs, and many of my right-wing ‘brothers’ would argue that morality should have a place in law, but it seems to me that whenever such an issue arises (abortion, morning-after pills, gay-rights) we have nothing but conflict. Or when a religious group gets involved in any sort of political process, and WWI and the crusades comes to mind, something negative generally happens to the groups image and thus religion on the whole. This is a subject that I want to write about more once I solidify it in my mind, but I was wondering what any of you have to say about the relationship between the two.
By the way, sorry it took me so long to post anything.
Nov 30, 2005 • OP-ED
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By Jared
I was just curious to see what you all thought about how the BCS Bowls will play out. Here are my guesses:
Rose Bowl (National Championship)
USC vs. Texas
Barring any disasters.
Fiesta Bowl
Ohio State vs. West Virginia
Orange Bowl
Penn State vs. Notre Dame
Sugar Bowl
Virgina Tech vs. LSU
I’m not really sure how the conference championships play into this, if say, the Big 12 champ West Virginia has to play in a certain bowl or not.
Post your predictions.
Nov 30, 2005 • Sports
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By Jared
Four years later, President Bush has outlined our victory over third world Iraq. Still, he insists, “this will take time and patience.” Well Georgey, we’ve been wating four years, what’s another couple gonna hurt?
In what seemed like the most obvious cry for suppot to date, President Bush said Iraqi forces were taking the lead in fighting terrorists and that the American troops were “making progress.” Wait…I thought…well wasn’t the war over when he was…that whole Navy ship victory thing…I’m confused.
The document titled, “National Strategy for Victory in Iraq” outlines the National Security Council’s strategy…for victory…in Iraq. So, shouldn’t this have came out, I don’t know, four years ago. The document, which you can browse through here, is quite a contradiction when properly examined. For instance it starts off with a nice quote by Bush:
“The United States has no intention of determining the precise form of Iraq’s new government. That choice belongs to the Iraqi people. Yet, we will ensure that one brutal dictator is not replaced by another. All Iraqis must have a voice in the new government, and all citizens must have their rights protected. Rebuilding Iraq will require a sustained commitment from many nations, including
our own: we will remain in Iraq as long as necessary, and not a day more.” This was the 26th of February, 2003.
A few pages later, in the Executive Summary, the headline reads “OUR NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR VICTORY IN IRAQ: Helping the Iraqi People Defeat the Terrorists and Build an Inclusive Democratic State.” Build and inclusive democratic state. Earlier it said that the US had no intention of determining the precise form of governement in Iraq. I guess a few minor pages change a few major intentions.
The document outlines how important Iraq is in the fight against terror and how the stability of the Greater Middle East is essential to Ameircan security. But when looking at how many terrorists from the 9-11 attacks actually came from Iraq, we find the number is low, actually it is beyond low, it is non-existent. The Washington Post reported in June, 2004 that there was “no direct collaborative relationship” between Iraq and terrorists from the attacks. And who found this information? The 9-11 commission, a specialized committee that devoted entire months to investigating exactly what happened on September 11th, 2001. My assumption is that they probably know more than GW Bush about the whole thing.
But we are doing our best, training their troops, arming their military, giving advice to their brass. Not like those tactics never failed us before (i.e. Bin Laden, Saddam). Sure, the Iraqi troops may be fighting the terrorists now but just like the Afghani troops fought the imperial Soviets back in 1979 with our help and then attacked the Towers, the Iraqi’s are likely to have their idea of terrorists change once we remove our hand of influence.
On the bright side, at least the war, which is costing us billions of dollars, is getting the attention it deserves and maybe, just maybe, we might be able to bring 150,000 troops home by next year’s Holidays.
Nov 30, 2005 • OP-ED, Politics
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By Jared
Yesterday the Washington Post reported that a bipartisan amendment passed by congress will rebuff the mandate given to President Bush post September 11th. This following the unrest with the failed war effort in Iraq and Bush getting a little too defensive over being called out for misleading the people over my favorite term, weapons of mass destruction.
This is a very big step in what is largely becomming the worst year of George Bush’s life. Much worse than, say, playing frisbee with buddies at Yale. What this means is that our government is working. Our legislative branch is doing its part to limit the executive branch’s power. This happens ever-so-often, most notably after Watergate and Nixon. Executive power was extremely limited when it came to international relations when Ford took office. But when Clinton was in office and Kosovo took place, that was when waging war on a nation was allowed as long as war wasn’t technically declared by congress. The power of the president to deploy troops was unlimited by a bill allowing for about two months of military conflict before Congress could say anything.
What is happening is very good. It’s a big step in limiting the expenses of this conflict, be it death, money, etc. If you are against the war in Iraq, this is a very good sign in what could bring an end to our occupation of Iraq. And finally, if you are a liberal, this is a good indication of where Congress and the country are going. In addition to the elections of last week, where Dems won two senate seats, and public opinion swaying in the favor of the Left. Conress passing this amendment, although premature, could be the end of the conservative reign over Congress.
Nov 16, 2005 • OP-ED, Politics
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By Jared
After watching Troy again, I realized it was a pretty decent flick. I didn’t give it a lot of credit before but now that I have had time to let in sink in, it has some unique features that epics usually don’t have. For example, more than one protagonist. Eric Bana, as Hector, Prince of Troy, and my main man Brad Pitt, as Achilles, the near immortal Greek. I found myself routing for both of them this time around. But I still hated homosexual-get-all-the-hot-pieces-of-ass Orlando Bloom.
Which brings me to my point. What historical epic of last year’s movie season did you all enjoy the best. I mean there was Kindom of Heaven with Bloom, Alexander with Colin Farrell, The Alamo with Billy Bob (I suppose this classifies), of course Troy. If I’m leaving one out let me know.
Love to hear some arguments or input on this one because I think Troy ranks up there with some of the other big time movies like Gladiator or Braveheart. Maybe not as good as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves but hey, there has to be one Titanic for every genre.
Nov 15, 2005 • Movies and Television
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By Larry
A lone review of the two-disc Foo Fighters album In Your Honor.
Foo Fighters- In Your Honor ***1/2
RCA
Before recording 2002’s One by One – the Foo Fighters almost broke up, they have now been together for ten years, making Dave Grohl f-you rich and famous; a whole head-and-shoulders above being a notable sideman in, you know, That Band. But more importantly what happened to that album was that Dave Grohl had written and recorded a full album’s worth of material, and at the last minute scrapped it. They ended up releasing it later, with new songs and to much critical and commercial success. He did the same thing with this album; Grohl initially imagined the Foo’s fifth disc as an acoustic solo disc disguised as a movie score, a side project similar to Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood’s atmospheric Bodysong. So there’s half of the story.
Upon immediate listening, disc one (the heavy disc) comes off as superior, but that’s only because disc two (the acoustic side) disarms you when you’re sleeping, quickly slips inside and beats disc one’s ass and emerges triumphant. The difference is a stronger song set, maybe because Dave Grohl spent all his “Heavy” energy split between Queens of the Stone Age, Tenacious D, (that’s him as zee Devil in their Tribute video) and his Metal side project Probot. Perhaps I would like disc one better if it didn’t have that extra layer of polish, I like my Foo’s in a rawer state like on their best-effort The Colour and The Shape.
Grohl spent most of ‘04 on the campaign tour with John Kerry, the album’s title is a tribute to him, and performed most of the Foo’s canon solo and acoustic for the people he saw that Kerry was there to save. And that could be another reason the songs are sharper on disc two.
Like I said before, the second disc takes more time to sink in. Cold Day in the Sun and Virginia Moon (with Norah Jones) are the only tracks Kurt’s ghost doesn’t appear on, other than that he dips liberally into That Band’s pool, (perhaps the one on the Nevermind cover) Friend of a Friend could be a coda to “Something in the Way.”
All through the album though, Grohl’s lyrical shortcomings become exposed: The sameness and vagueness of his love lyrics blunt their impact. Grohl is comfortable chronicling messy relationships but rarely digs deep enough to share insight into who he is, even when the music suggests introspection.
Maybe it’s just hard for me to imagine him as the “pained guy” when time and time again he’s been called the nicest guy in rock. But that doesn’t mean he’s not a bad songwriter.
What I wish is that they would have just put the best tracks of each and made one spectacular album. Below is an twelve track single disc offering what would have been a ****1/2 or ***** review, but feel free to try your own combinations.
Other notable guest appearances: Led Zep’s own John Paul Jones, and QOTSA’s Josh Homme.
The Best of Foo: Highlights of In Your Honor
In Your Honor
Best of You
Deepest Blues Are Black
Still
Resolve
Another Round
End Over End
Over and Out
Hell
Razor
Last Song
Friend of a Friend
Sideboard: Miracle, Cold Day in the Sun, Virginia Moon
Nov 15, 2005 • Music
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By Jared
In mockery of his book “Stupid White Men,” I have decided to post this article about Filmmaker, Author, and Regular Joe, Michael Moore. I recently found this written in the Arizona Republic by columnist Jonah Goldberg. “Moore told the IRS his home is the headquarters of his tax-free foundation, to which he contributes some of his millions for the write off.” This is a smart move. “The foundation’s holdings include Halliburton shares.” This is not a smart move.
Moore has made millions off of bashing corporations like Halliburton, Pfizer, and Ford. Turns out he owns stock in all three. I guess GM is bad for moving out of Flint but Ford is ok because they pushed Detroit into poverty. So not only does he publicly prey on these companies and make them out to be “thugs” and thieves, he makes money behind the scenes by selling their stocks.
Moore’s “foundation” has given $32,000 to charity. It seems like a lot of money to me but when Moore is worth somewhere in the tens of millions of dollars range, it’s pocket change. Hell I donated $1,200 a year when I only made about $5,000 when I was a freshman in college. I’m more of a philanthropist than this hypocrite. And I won’t even go into Moore’s preferential hiring habits that all but include colored people.
In his book, “Stupid White Men,” Moore claimed to have never owned a single share of stock. I guess times change after one becomes a stupid white man. After millions of dollars are acquired from destroying the images of men that one envies. Maybe he didn’t own stock at the time but it wasn’t because of the reason he claimed, “morally worng” but because he hadn’t made enough money to buy them yet.
Further Reading
Nov 14, 2005 • OP-ED, Politics
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By Jared
As a complete fanatic over college football, one wishes that a formula, more complicated than the US tax code, didn’t decide what two teams get to play for the Championship.
Bowl games are great. In no way should college football axe the bowl games. They make college football, college football. Plus they contribute monetarily to the schools that play, so they’re good for the program. But this BCS garbage, it’s crazy. Trying to understand the formula is like trying to speak Mandarin Chinese. In fact, it would be no surprise if China authored the extreme equation.
Figured into determining the number one and two teams in the Nation goes something like this. There are six computer rankings that average out a number between 1-25. This number is used as the computer average in the BCS and carries 1/3 of the weight of the BCS ranking.
Next are two human polls. The Harris Interactive Poll and the USA Today/Coaches Poll. Both accounting for 1/3 of the BCS ranking. Each assigns a numerical ranking to the top 25 teams in reverse order of the votes. For example: USC gets voted number 1 they get 25 points.
The problem is the computer rankings look at an enormous amount of variables including points scored, margin of victory, and yards gained. Now, if a team with a tough schedule loses one game but a team with cupcakes outside of the conference schedule loses none, and wins by considerably more points, the computers don’t know the difference. So their data is skewed. With the two polls, both human voted polls, the members are people who know college football but don’t necessarily have the time to analyze all the teams. Coaches of teams who vote in the USA Today poll have full time jobs and rely on what they see on highlight shows to cast their votes. The Harris Poll has members who were coaches, players, and sports writers. Notre Dame’s Athletic Director Kevin White helped to select the voters out of the 300 nominees.
Seems like there is some bias in the process of selecting the two teams to vie for the National Championship at the end of the year.
What are the alternatives though?
Nov 14, 2005 • Sports
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By Jared
But it sure gets more attention than a peaceful protest.
These young, jobless, poor adults in France have reason to riot. They are given free rides to college and then have no jobs waiting for them when they get out. The French already have a nationalistic chip on their shoulder, so to speak, but with a college education these young men and women feel as though they are owed employment because they are intelligent. They have to live with their parents until they’re 30-35, now some people might enjoy that, ie. Peruvians, but highly educated snobs want their own flat with a waffle maker and some champagne in a box above the fridge.
I’m kidding.
But seriously, the unemployment rate of citizens under 25 is 23%. That’s huge. That means that nearly one in four people under 25 is sitting around making Molotov cocktails in their parents back yard while reading philosophy and throwing darts at Jacques Chirac’s face. Now, given, a lot of the rioters are immigrants that don’t share the pride of being a French citizen and this raises a brow, to say the least. A while back, maybe seven years, the French census bureau stopped collecting information about different racial categories in France. This was because of the idea of nationalism, that everyone in France was French. Black, white, brown, yellow, short, tall, male, female, Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, all just French. The problem is that by categorizing everyone as just French, the leaders don’t know what groups are having the hardest time, besides age groups. So they don’t know what to do.
Face it, French diplomacy and bureaucracy have always been a mystery, just try to decipher their branches of government and electoral processes. Back in 1968, they rallied against the government; back in the 18th century they rallied against and overthrew King Lou XVI. They used a phrase during WWII, “Better Hitler than Blum,” referencing they would rather have Hitler rule them than Leon Blum, a socialist leader of the time. So now that the French youth are throwing a tantrum over being unemployed, what do the leaders expect?
The problem is the economy. Although France has a comparably high Gross Domestic Product ($1.4 trillion) good for fifth in the world, they don’t have the number of quality jobs to go around. The middle-aged work force has all the wealth and careers. There are jobs there for these young adults to have, mostly service jobs, restaurants, and retail but what person with a college degree wants to wait tables or stock shelves?
A proud French nationalist.
But it’s a new generation over there right now with more open borders and a higher population of immigrants who want to destroy things they don’t have all because two teens who thought they were getting chased by the police and hid in an electrical facility were electrocuted (the first reason for the 18 days of riots).
So the new slogan for the rioters in France, “Better to burn cars than to clean bathrooms.”
Nov 14, 2005 • OP-ED, Politics
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By Jared
Days after bagging a coyote in the outlandish odyssey of the Michigan outdoors, Scott “The Coyote Kid” Nykamp sat down with us to share about hunting, Fred Trost, and lost love.
1. In a recent article in your beloved herald palladium, Al Arend accused hunting of being an inferior sport. How do you respond to this claim?
Please don’t poison this wonderful series of questions with talks of Mr. Arend. Mr. Arend is entitled to his opinions, even though those opinions are swayed by the evil “S”. Besides, Al’s just pissed because the last time he tried to go hunting, cardiac arrest stole the day from him after he took four steps into the woods.
2. In Contrast, you were named Sportsman of the Week by the Tri-City Record. How does Mike Leith stand in your book in comparison to Al Arend?
Mike Leith is just so dry. “Then they got the ball. Then they ran four plays. Then they scored.” I’d still take Leith over Al though. He doesn’t use the Record as a podium to spew immature views upon the public.
3. What about the coverage of area sports, who does the better job?
Well if by area you mean Hartford, Coloma, and Watervliet, definitely the record. The Palladium is pretty awful. Example? Say there is a big rivalry basketball game in a small class C school. The outcome of the game lacks some huge implication, but the gym is packed and the crowd is going nuts. We’ll say that game goes into triple overtime and the winning team scored the final nine points in the final 17 seconds. That game will get a three paragraph write-up, while St. Joe losing to Battle Creek Central by 36 points will get one color, one black and white photo, and two pages. Please explain to me why.
4. Is Fred Trost a personal hero of yours? And what lasting effect has Bruce Pennington had on your life?
(Laughs) Fred Trost, now there’s a name. I’ve had the extreme pleasure of drinking with Fred on a bitter cold winter’s day in central Michigan, in a small bar that smelled of kerosene. He’s a real gentleman and a scholar, and he taught me a lot about life. He made a grab for my thigh around 1:30 in the morning, but c’mon—the guy’d been drinking whiskey for nine hours. Pennington taught me to never mount a goose and hang it from the ceiling, some asshole kid will fuck with it and your feelings will be crushed.
5. Do you consider yourself a hero for shooting that coyote, at least to the rabbits of the area?
Yes. When I found the dead dog, about four feet away was a large pile of turkey feathers. This guy was eating well. Through various forms, mostly the small, cheap thank you cards, the small game of the area have shown their appreciation. However, several vicious attacks have appeared in “Coyote Weekly.”
6. I think they should’ve given you a medal and an article but some people have been critical about killing a coyote when your out hunting for whatever it was you were out hunting for. How do you hush your critics?
Recent polls have shown that coyote awareness is down 32 percent this year. What that translates to is this: more dogs, more problems, with less people giving two shits. They are predators who cruise the countryside and kill whatever they see, barring the right circumstances. I was duck hunting on that beautifully peaceful morning and had ducks within a few feet of me, swimming around and feeding. But then out comes ‘ol Canis latrans, looking for a morning snack. I think I was more pissed off than anything; this asshole was trying to ruin my morning. So I ruined his.
7. What do the ladies think about your heroic quest to rid Southwest Michigan of coyotes under the alias of the ‘Coyote Kid’?
Geez. Where to start? At first they were slightly taken aback. I kept hearing shit like “Aww, why’d you shoot the puppy?” To which I replied, “That puppy killed my grandmother’s poodle.” That usually gets ‘em. Avenging my grandmother’s loss, they find that pretty sweet. I’ve had sex with 78 girls since the kill, and I’m pretty sure that porn is the next step. I’ll still be the ‘Coyote Kid’ and I’ll be wearing the actual dog skin while “fuckin”.
8. What next Scott, jaguars, lions?
Giraffes. I just think it would look badass to have a giraffe mounted with that really long neck. Hmm…got you thinking, didn’t it?
9. What is it about animals that rub you the wrong way and what does hunting accomplish?
I hate cute furry things with big eyes. Not really. I like the taste. Ever eaten a wild turkey? Tastes just like the bird you’d pay 15 bucks for in the store. For some people, the idea of eating an animal that I shot out in the woods is disgusting. They prefer farm raised animals that are pumped full of hormones and never had a chance to live.
I remember when I was a sophomore in Dollison’s class, and a heated discussion on deer hunting started. Headed by, of course, Leslie Ward. Dollison didn’t see the purpose of deer hunting and thought if there was a problem with deer population, why couldn’t we just trap them and release them elsewhere? That was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard. The state of Michigan makes a shit-ton of money because of deer hunting. So the state is happy. Many of the residents of the state are happy; either from having meat in the freezer, or from having a car outside that hasn’t been wrecked in a car/deer collision, possibly a result of overpopulation. It’s almost kind of funny to think of a deer jumping in front of a car on purpose to kill himself because he would rather die than walk into a trap and be separated from his family. Jesus, sorry for the rant.
10. Ever wanted to hunt a human?
Shit yes. Call me General Zaroff.
11. Finally, if you could do it all over again, and by it I mean life, what would you change and what would you keep the same?
Wow, what a great question. What I definitely wouldn’t change is my love for the arts.
If I could change something I would have kept my van a little longer. She needed a little work and I thought it would be worth keeping her, but in the end it just didn’t work out for us. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of the love that we shared and the similarities we had. Ha, her laugh, Jesus, that sweet laugh. I remember how disappointed she was in me the first time I fucked in the back of her. Silent treatment, engine would cut out at stoplights, the typical treatment received from a woman when she’s put into that position. I settled for a midsize pick-up that’s shy and not too outgoing. She was thrust into a relationship with a Hispanic gentleman who obviously didn’t care for her needs. Life goes on, one day and one coyote at a time.
Nov 02, 2005 • Humor
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