The Iraq not seen on TV
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Things have gotten weird (or rather, weirder than usual). I've been thinking about a follow-up to my essay on why I was in favor of the war in Iraq. Generally, it deals with why I still think it was the right thing to do (I'm actually more convinced of that than ever) and why we need to stay in Iraq and resist those who want us to leave post haste. Unfortunately, it is still in bits and pieces in my head, so it won't be showing up here in the immediate future. In retrospect, I realize that the original essay was kind of weak, as essays go. It's not that the points aren't still valid, its just that it could have been much more forceful and pointed. I also realize that this is a feature of where my thought process was at that time. I was in the middle of something akin to Thomas Kuhn's paradigm shift then and it was the best I could do while struggling with the realization that I was no longer a member of the political left. I still hold on to some of what I thought being a liberal was all about when I was younger, but it is increasingly apparent that those values are no longer in fashion on the left. In spite of what I say when I'm joking with friends, I am not a Republican so I'm still in the process of sorting it out. However, sometimes things are just too good to wait for. This article by Johann Hari via USS Clueless (Den Beste's comments are worth the time to read) and Grotto11's Peeve Farm (whose comments are also worth a read) say more about why the invasion was right and why staying in Iraq is right than any lame, half-intellectual argument I could ever advance. It's not that what I think isn't valid, it's just that compared to the comments made by these individuals, they just seem less significant. What I do think is significant is my belief that we should all be paying more attention to people like this and a whole lot less to comments from the French government and leftists in our country and around the world who have a vested interest in seeing things go badly for us, and pretty much all of the mainstream media whose focus appears to be that disaster and failure is good TV and sells papers.by Cziltang 
Posted: Tuesday, September 30 2003 11:05:50 PM

Retirement
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I guess I can retire now. I've pretty much done and seen everything. I gave fashion tips to a transvestite today. .by Cziltang 
Posted: Tuesday, September 16 2003 07:35:47 PM

September Slump
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Between work, family, and other obligations, both real and assumed, the Head Rat and I seem to have hit one of those periods where there is too much to do, not enough time, and we don't feel like doing it anyway. Call it a nasty attack of real life or whatever, but I've been too busy to think, let alone write. But, this is one of the truly humorous things about the blogosphere: only in this medium do writers take the time to write to/for their readers to tell them they have nothing to say... EPL Update: I finished in 503rd for week 5 and am now 462nd overall out of 1441 active players. by Cziltang 
Posted: Tuesday, September 16 2003 01:32:31 AM

Greetings and Promulgations
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I really detest the word "promulgate." It is one of those words that became fashionable a few years back in correctional circles. I always thought it was one of those $3 words that people use to sound educated and refined, when a 10 cent word would do. My father used to tell me that the problem with these kinds of words is they generally have quite specific meanings and are therefore very easy to use incorrectly. A few years back we had a boss who was really into the words "promulgate" and "re-visit". I sort of made peace with "re-visit," but I never got over "promulgate". It just strikes me as being esthetically displeasing (or maybe just downright ugly). And, I could never get over the mental association with being a yuppie, trendy piece of nonsense. Anyway, he used to try to work "promulgate" into just about everything. He used to talk about one of our jobs in administration being to promulgate policy. I thought maybe just writing policy would be sufficient, but no, we had to promulgate it. When I thought about writing this entry, I looked it up:

promulgate \Pro*mul"gate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Promulgated; p. pr. & vb. n. Promulgating.] [L. promulgatus, p. p. of promulgare to promulgate; of unknown origin. Cf. Promulge.] To make known by open declaration, as laws, decrees, or tidings; to publish; as, to promulgate the secrets of a council. Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

So, basically, he was misusing the word, because you can't promulgate it til you've written it or developed it or something. (I knew there was something wrong with it...) And, as is the case more often than I would like to admit, my father was right. What's the point? None. I just detest the word "promulgate".by Cziltang 
Posted: Wednesday, September 03 2003 07:47:45 PM

Good People
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When I first saw this billboard in Wichita, I thought, "Wow, an advertisement supporting homosexual marriages!" Of course, it isn't. It's a billboard announcing the merger of two hospital/physician networks. But I don't think the people who came up with the PR campaign thought this one through... by Cziltang 
Posted: Wednesday, September 03 2003 07:32:37 PM

EPL Update
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Things went weird on me this weekend. I haven't written anything for a couple of days. But, in the EPL, Liverpool scored, so its not all bad. I finished week 3 at 373rd, my highest so far, and my cumulative score is 511th of 1298 active players. I made some changes to my lineup, but won't know whether they were a good idea or not for 2 weeks, due to the EPL taking a week off so players can play for their national teams.by Cziltang 
Posted: Tuesday, September 02 2003 11:44:05 PM