Whiskey, straight up!

It was recently alleged that some astronauts were allowed to fly even though they were drunk. I don't know about you, but if I were in that confined quarters with several thousand pounds of highly flammable fuel powering a vehicle that was about to push the limits of the laws of physics and gravity with only some ceramic tile, which by the way has twice failed catastrophically in the last 20 years, while entering and then exiting the most unforgiving environment imaginable....I might want a drink too.

Land of 10000 bicycles

Paris just began a huge new cycling initiative that involves placing 10,000 bicycles at 750 different stations throughout the city, with plans to eventually double the number of bikes to over 20,000. Will this ever happen in the U.S.? Probably not, but it's nice to dream.

Max Blumenthal is at it again

Blumenthal is fast becoming my favorite muckraker. If you thought "Generation Chickenhawk" was disturbing, "Rapture Ready" will really scare you. I always knew Joe Lieberman was an idiot, but speaking at a convention for a group, CUFI, that advocates the eventual elimination of his own religion takes his idiocy to a whole new level. The thing that really bothers me about these wackos is not their beliefs, although they are troubling enough. It's the fact that when they are asked to address these beliefs, they do not. Why don't they explain themselves and publicize the true nature of what they're trying to accomplish? It's probably because they know 95% of the world would see them for what they really are--extremist psycho wackos.

I need some new pajamas.

What the hell?

Want a solution to homelessness? Give them homes.

I am drawn to people who, when faced with a common problem, invent an uncommon solution. Malcolm Gladwell is one such person (read Blink and The Tipping Point), and he'll most assuredly pop up in this blog from time to time. When somebody is jawing in my ear about how society coddles the homeless and we should instead just cut them off entirely (because that will end homelessness for sure!), I often find myself rereading Gladwell's Feb. 13, 2006 article about how to end what he terms "chronically homeless"--those who really cost society the most. This article presents the challenge--do you really want to solve the problem, or do you simply want to wax nostalgic about bootstraps and whine about how Americans have lost sight of the ideals on which this country was supposedly built?

This war needs to be fought!!! **but not by me

So sad it's hilarious. Apparently, college Republicans who fervently support the war have a tremendous predisposition toward injuries and medical conditions that prevent them from personally participating in it. Damn the luck!

Firsts

Well, here it is--the first blog. Initiated perhaps by Socrates--"the unexamined life is not worth living..." although I hardly claim intellectualism as lofty as his. Maybe more of an impetus is the fact that I'm getting married in a little over a year. I've dipped my toes in the murky waters of maturity a couple of times before, but marriage is a head-first swan dive. Someone is going to be dependent upon me, and vice versa, for the rest of my life. But, I'm ready and I want it.

Get to know me better--you'll find I will typically jump from subject to subject without any smooth transition. Like right now.

I do not understand the mentality of these extremist wackos who shoot at Americans picking up trash and sewage in the streets of Iraq. I don't believe I could ever be so misguided and filled with hatred that I would desire to shoot someone who was picking up my excrement. It's just one more instance of how jacked up things are over there. I am of the belief that the Iraq War was wrong in the first place, but now that we're there we have to finish the job by instilling some sort of stability in the area. However, hope grows dimmer that we can accomplish this.

Done for now.

Cheers,
G. Wood