Thomas Sowell...A Great Thinker

For today's post, I direct your attention to my favorite columnist: Thomas Sowell (bio). I've been reading his articles since my early teens, and every reading is a graceful academic exercise reaffirming my own common-sense ideas and ideals. An economist by trade, this guy has the best-thought-out arguments about everything ranging from liberal activist judges to elitist environmentalists to anti-war peacemongers. Read any comments below his column, and you'll find very few well-crafted rebuttals--a testament to his strong grasp of today's issues and how they fit in the moral scope of the country.

I like his quiet, no-nonsense style. Pretty much the exact opposite of most other talking heads (liberal ones in particular). Check out his column. You'll be smarter for having done it.

Sting: Bored, or Boring?

Let me start by saying that Sting is incredibly gifted. He displays an adeptness for jazz and other musical conventions rarely seen among popular artists, deftly infusing them into his rock music. That's why I consider myself a fan, normally shunning standard FM radio fare.

Now, it seems, according to Reuters, that Sting is bored with rock music.

"Rock music has come to a standstill -- it's not going forward any more, it only bores me."

For me, it's no coincedence that Sting's music is the thing that has become boring in the last few years. I don't disagree with him; today's rock music is generally a huge waste of time--along with just about everything else you hear on the radio. However, an old college friend once told me, "Only boring people get bored." This seems to be the case with Sting. If he wants to shake off the doldrums of boring rock music, I think he would truly benefit from listening to the Flower Kings, Neal Morse or Ayreon. Worked for me.


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Deep Thoughts...by Mikhail Gorbachev

Doesn't Gorbachev have anything better to do? Apparently not. I can't figure out why anyone puts a microphone in front of the guy.

I refer to an A.P. story in which our esteemed former and defeated communist dictator compares the Berlin Wall with the United States' future border fence with Mexico.

I, too, compare the two barriers. I compare them thusly:

One was designed to keep defectors from escaping. The other is designed to keep illegals from entering.

Honestly, it's the difference between the walls of a prison, and the walls that might surround a country club. Or Disneyland. Or a petting zoo. A petting zoo that a bunch of people want to walk in and see for free.

So Mr. G., we understand your chronic humiliation in being defeated by Reagan, but show some dignity and shut it. Please.

Oh, and the picture? Nothing says "desperate for attention" like posing with Teri Hatcher.

Harry Reid – What A Hero

I just love this headline from U.S. Newswire: "Reid Goes Beyond Ethics Requirements, Disarms GOP Smear Campaign."

The article is pretty much a press release from the Harry camp, outlining the extra-mile efforts Reid has undertaken to head off a Republican smear campaign. In other words, he has frantically tried to rewrite history to avoid losing whatever moral high ground he supposes he has. And it will probably work. It looks like he received enough pressure from his fellows that rather than defend his actions, he has capitulated and tried to make his actions seem like an innocent mistake.

I wish I had the opportunity to make an "innocent mistake" to the tune of nearly a million dollars.

What a handsome picture of Nevada's dear Senator. And what a nice lapel pin.

What kind of pin is that?

Oh yeah, right. Go Harry!

Apple Should Pay Me

Then again, after discovering my well-founded cynicism toward Apple, I'm sure they wouldn't.

But I came up with just the thing to sell the iPod to more elitist Mac lemmings: the streiPod.
Who wouldn't want to gaze upon Babs as they listen to their favorite music and compliment themselves on their own fine taste?

Just remember, Mr. Jobs: It was my idea first.

Album Covers Have It Out

Now, I know this isn't much of a media-rich blog, but I just had to post this very clever and entertaining video. Especially if you're 30 or older. So here.

People Bad. Not-people Good. Ugh.

It seems that four out of five articles I read incorporate the hackneyed, presumptuous angle that the civilization of man is bad. Can't these people come up with anything else? Don't these environmentalist blowhards realize that their arguments are anything but compelling?

Today, I refer to New Scientist.com: Imagine Earth Without People. While the subject matter makes for an interesting read (conjecture as to how planet Earth would adapt in an unpeopled condition), it's lines like this that truly make me roll my eyes:

In just a few thousand years we have swallowed up more than a third of the planet's land for our cities, farmland and pastures. By some estimates, we now commandeer 40 per cent of all its productivity. And we're leaving quite a mess behind: ploughed-up prairies, razed forests, drained aquifers, nuclear waste, chemical pollution, invasive species, mass extinctions and now the looming spectre of climate change. If they could, the other species we share Earth with would surely vote us off the planet.

Swallowed? Commandeer? Mess? Looming spectre?

Let's just cut to the chase and distribute cyanide pills to everyone. I'm not disputing these facts. I just take issue with the foregone conclusion that converting God-given lands to useful purposes is somehow reprehensible.

I love the invention of another amusing evil:

In some countries, including Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, there is no longer any night sky untainted by light pollution.

"Bobby, turn off that flashlight right now! Don't you know you're tainting the environment?!"

I suppose if you define "pollution" as something that wouldn't exist without mankind, then sure. I suppose that means every last building, invention, composition, utterance and breath of every human on the planet is a form of pollution. Our very thouhts must be wreaking havoc on the normally pristine psychic enivornment of the planet.

My position can be nicely summarized by Mr. Hollohan, my 9th grade English teacher. Regarding the ongoing struggle between mankind and the Earth, he said that ultimately the Earth will win, hands down. The article states that some of the "damage" we inflict upon the environment will take thousands of years to heal. In geological time, that's the blink of an eye. From the perspective of Earth, it's nothing more than a mosquito bite. We humans aren't as powerful as we think we are.