In line to see Bush. The line is really, really, really long.This message will expire on May 3, 2005

A Writer and a Poet walk into a bar, and sit down for a drink and discussion. The Writer says, “Grammar is unnecessary! You could write a novel- a Great Novel- with improper grammar, and your point will still be made.” The Poet contemplated this, but as he was a champion of language, he argued, “No, silly fool, without grammar- indeed, without a standardized understanding of communication- all meaning will eventually be lost. And thus, grammar and a universal understanding of language is most necessary.” The Writer contemplated this, but was left unconvinced. So the Poet continued to break down the discussion further. “Writer,” he said, “what when all language breaks down? When meaning is blurred that a civilization is only left with FIVE WORDS in its vocabulary? Could we build structures as we do now? Fie! We could not live as we do now, without language.”

And an attractive young lady at an adjoining table asked, “What would those Five Words be?”

And the Poet and the Writer thought and thought….

So, riddle me this: what WOULD the five words be?? (The Poet and the Writer’s conjunctive answer to follow.)

Tolkien was right!

Martha Stewart was released from prison earlier this morning/evening.

I remember the good ol’ days, when the creation of this team and the construction of their stadium was a hotly-debated issue on ESPN Radio.
My, how they’ve grown!

Kristy’s post got me thinking about this again. I have a challenge. Can anyone think of a single positive portrayal of an atheist in books, TV, or movies? The closest I’ve seen was in an episode of Babylon 5. The captain had to show the other worlds Earth’s dominant belief system. At the end of the episode, he took them through a long line of members of every single religion on the planet. The first introduction was, “This is Mr. Harris. He’s an atheist.” But then, J. Michael Straczynski is atheist. St. Claire in Uncle Tom’s Cabin doubted, but as he died he turned to Christ and Harriet Beecher Stowe made sure to reserve the word atheist for slave catchers. I really can’t think of anything else. The message in most entertainment that touches the subject is that you must believe. The woman in Stigmata was an atheist, and she had pretty much no morals. Agnostic writer Piers Anthony’s only scene with an atheist involved his suicide and the destruction of his soul. Even atheist Carl Sagan wrote Contact with a message that seemed to glorify faith over observation. (Or maybe it was just changed for the movie. I never read the book. Plus, it would seem to contradict his message in his nonfiction work The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.)

Now, now, I’m not demanding affirmative action for atheists, or suggesting I’m such a victim that I’ll never get where I want to be, or anything like that. Besides, artists don’t need to be pressured to add positive depictions of minorities once they realize the lack. They tend to like doing that on their own. And I’m not pointing fingers, or suggesting that religious characters should not be portrayed positively. (In fact, I can recall a review of B5 praising JMS because he was an atheist but understood that religion would be with us always, and because he could treat it so fairly.) This is purely academic.

In light of my recent unemployment, and the relocation to New Hampshire that caused it, I feel the need to spend my time being the foremost Nor’eastern correspondent for my future sha-girl-in-law (HA), Brendan. SO, live from the Granite State, a little reminder not to take government for granted:

Democratic freshman Gov. John Lynch had the pleasure of reconciling the state’s budget this month, and attempted to devise a plan to make everyone happy (his first mistake). The plan introduces an elimination of a fairly new property tax, and sets up to raise the cigarette tax to 80 cents per pack.

Being a good, taxpaying citizen from New York via California, I was hard pressed to see the problem with this. 2 reasons: #1, smoking is bad. It costs money to keep emphysemics and lung cancer patients in hospitals. Raise the tax to $20 per pack, make money off of people who essentially want to kill themselves. Why not? or #2, there’s no tax here! All hail the founders of the Live-Free-Or-Die mentality, I was paying close to 9% sales tax in my previous homesteads. Here, when I buy $49.99 DKNY jeans at Filene’s, they REALLY COST $49.99! There’s low taxes everywhere, no sales tax, no state income tax, no inheritance tax, the list goes on. Still, the dangers of a sin tax should not be ignored (my very first “hat tip” goes to Eddie! Not for the link, but for the thought). Eddie- a Republican smoker- is adamant about the moral ramifications of government dictating particular behaviors as more objectionable than others. Also, does it begin with a sin tax and end with sales, income? If we let one little, bitty tax here and there, what’s the harm?

Ask your nearest New Yorker, who’s sales tax is on the verge of another “little, bitty hike” to 9%.

I’ve come to an epiphany. We’re ALL right about the Iraq war, opposition and supporters both. We on the opposition were right that Saddam posed no threat to us because we knew from the beginning that he had no WMD or alliance with al Qaeda. We were right that it would cost extraordinary amounts of money and that the people would turn against us violently. We were right that there would be wrongs committed in the occupation. We were also right that a man like Bush would blunder on the details. Supporters were right that people do just want to be free to live their lives, wherever they are, and elections would serve as inspiration for those nascent democratic movements in the Middle East. Oh yes, and that the UN sucks. Almost completely irrelevant, but yet oh so true.

The moral of the story: Iraq is less filling AND tastes great.

Okay, okay, I admit it: my headline is sensationalistic. :) Gov. “My Man” Mitch Daniels didn’t actually call anyone a terrorist. He did, however, choose a figure of speech that was rather over-the-top, IMHO, to describe Tuesday’s legislative meltdown:

Indiana’s drive for growth and reform was car-bombed yesterday by the Indiana House minority.

I get the reference — “drive… car-bombed” — and I realize it’s just a figure of speech, like I said. But it was a poorly chosen one, especially in this time of terrorism and war, when real car-bombings are far too common, and especially given that it came from a prepared statement, not an off-the-cuff remark or something.

(more…)

Adrian Wojnarowski: “Across the board in sports, women are treated like part of the spoils that come with success. Of course, they come with losing too. Truth be told, athletes are conditioned to believe that women simply come on a silver platter. And that’s whether they’re willing or unwilling. This seemingly endless Colorado scandal has been despicable, living proof of all of that.”

Read the whole thing.

Is anyone else seeing pop-up ads when they visit my homepage? Toni says she is, so I’m just wondering if anyone else is having the same problem.

According to WNDU, Air Force One will touch down at South Bend Airport at 2:25 PM Friday; President Bush’s speech will be at 4:45 PM at the Joyce Center; and he will depart South Bend at 6:20 PM.

Joyce Center doors will reportedly open at 2:00 PM. Tickets are hard to come by, but thanks to Patrick’s connections and Ryan Bradel’s flight schedule, I have one! Or at least, I will. I think. :)

(Patrick originally gave Ryan one of his three tickets, but it turns out Ryan can’t go because of his spring-break flight schedule, so he’s giving his ticket to me… though I have to do all this security crap first. Stay tuned!)

Notre Dame beat lowly Rutgers tonight, 66-56, rebounding from consecutive losses to UConn and UCLA. They’ll finish either 9-7 or 10-6 in conference, depending on the outcome of their Saturday game against Pitt. ESPN’s Bubble Watch wants to see them beat the Panthers before declaring them a “lock” for the NCAA Tournament. For now, they’re “still the consummate high-major bubble team,” the Watch says.

Elsewhere today… another mid-major bubble team, Joel’s Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, could have solidified their NCAA resume with a win over #4 Wake Forest. They didn’t. Meanwhile, in Connecticut, Jim Calhoun won his 700th game as UConn beat Georgetown in what could be a crippling blow to the Hoyas’ at-large hopes. And speaking of crippling blows, Buffalo can forget about an at-large bid after losing 90-77 to Akron. The Bulls will need to win the MAC Tournament, methinks, if they want to go dancing.

P.S. If you want a big helping of small-conference basketball, here’s a blogger who’s courtside-blogging the Southern Conference men’s and women’s tourneys, which got underway today.

The Ten Commandments: religious rhetoric, or just a good idea?

I mean really, isn’t “Thou shall not kill” a nice thing to reinforce?

For the benefit of those in Prof. Garnett’s Property class…

Heh. Also… “Osama bin … Osama … Obama.”