Firing Up the Computer in the Morning

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I so love this 'first thing in the morning' routine of firing up the computer for the blogging and news rounds. And it remains true when Monk is not getting any messages. It is all about the journaling. It is a luxury that would be sorely missed.

I think the twittering thing helps a lot, allowing the most mundane to seem a little marvelous.

xXx

Firing Up the Computer in the Morning

♠
I so love this 'first thing in the morning' routine of firing up the computer for the blogging and news rounds. And it remains true when Monk is not getting any messages. It is all about the journaling. It is a luxury that would be sorely missed.

I think the twittering thing helps a lot, allowing the most mundane to seem a little marvelous.

xXx

Boundaries

JERUSALEM, Dec. 5 -- Maps in future Israeli public school textbooks will show the boundary that existed between Israel and the West Bank before the 1967 Middle East war, Israel's education minister announced Tuesday. The move drew sharp protest from lawmakers, settler groups and religious leaders who claim the West Bank as part of the Jewish state.

-- Scott Wilson for The Washington Post

Very interesting. Yuli Tamir, the minister in question, says that this is in response to the way the Palestinians will not show Israel on their maps, as though seeking to develop a fund of good faith and mutual concessions. Other Israelis are more suspicious:

"In general, I'm not against giving all the information there is to students," said Shaul Goldstein, head of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc south of Jerusalem. "On the other hand, it's obvious she is doing this for political reasons, to educate our youth that 'this land is not ours.' "

And the Olmert government's position is thus:

Olmert, whose governing coalition includes Labor as its largest member, said after meeting with Tamir that "there is no reason not to mark the Green Line and where the borders of the country were in 1967," according to the Ynetnews Web site.

"But there is a duty to present the fact that the government's stance and the consensus in the country rule out returning to the 1967 borders," Olmert added.

I am only wondering how long it will be before Palestinians show any Israel on their maps. But I am not holding my breath.

xXx

Boundaries

JERUSALEM, Dec. 5 -- Maps in future Israeli public school textbooks will show the boundary that existed between Israel and the West Bank before the 1967 Middle East war, Israel's education minister announced Tuesday. The move drew sharp protest from lawmakers, settler groups and religious leaders who claim the West Bank as part of the Jewish state.

-- Scott Wilson for The Washington Post

Very interesting. Yuli Tamir, the minister in question, says that this is in response to the way the Palestinians will not show Israel on their maps, as though seeking to develop a fund of good faith and mutual concessions. Other Israelis are more suspicious:

"In general, I'm not against giving all the information there is to students," said Shaul Goldstein, head of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc south of Jerusalem. "On the other hand, it's obvious she is doing this for political reasons, to educate our youth that 'this land is not ours.' "

And the Olmert government's position is thus:

Olmert, whose governing coalition includes Labor as its largest member, said after meeting with Tamir that "there is no reason not to mark the Green Line and where the borders of the country were in 1967," according to the Ynetnews Web site.

"But there is a duty to present the fact that the government's stance and the consensus in the country rule out returning to the 1967 borders," Olmert added.

I am only wondering how long it will be before Palestinians show any Israel on their maps. But I am not holding my breath.

xXx

Chili or No

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Monk was debating hard whether to go with the chili, or just to make a hamburger, being a little concerned about riding the Mexcian dishes too hard. In the end, he decided to throw in the spice into his drab diet. And it was one of his best batches. Very satisfying!

xXx

Chili or No

♠
Monk was debating hard whether to go with the chili, or just to make a hamburger, being a little concerned about riding the Mexcian dishes too hard. In the end, he decided to throw in the spice into his drab diet. And it was one of his best batches. Very satisfying!

xXx

PC Now Overtakes Comedy Clubs

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People have long talked about the double-standard of the n-word (nigger), how white people get in trouble for using it while blacks throw it around freely as though they own it. Now, comdedy clubs have taken actions to proscribe its use by anyone regardless of race or skin color, fining and banning offenders, and a black comic has now suffered these penalties. This is in the aftermath of that recent cause celebre when the white Michael Richards (a former "Seinfeld" star) used the term in its most vulgar and hostile manner after being heckled by some black audience members.

I am certainly not for promoting racism, but this seems silly, the concern for magic words. And we are talking about comedy clubs! I suppose sexist jokes are next. The hope is that these are just growing pains.

The banning of Michael Richards should have been enough. I think we can distinguish between genuine hate speech and the play of wild spirits. The concern for hard cases perhaps explains the use of a 'magic words' policy, to play it safe and fair, and maybe this will prove to be only a short-term expedient.


(source: TMZ.com)

xXx

PC Now Overtakes Comedy Clubs

♠
People have long talked about the double-standard of the n-word (nigger), how white people get in trouble for using it while blacks throw it around freely as though they own it. Now, comdedy clubs have taken actions to proscribe its use by anyone regardless of race or skin color, fining and banning offenders, and a black comic has now suffered these penalties. This is in the aftermath of that recent cause celebre when the white Michael Richards (a former "Seinfeld" star) used the term in its most vulgar and hostile manner after being heckled by some black audience members.

I am certainly not for promoting racism, but this seems silly, the concern for magic words. And we are talking about comedy clubs! I suppose sexist jokes are next. The hope is that these are just growing pains.

The banning of Michael Richards should have been enough. I think we can distinguish between genuine hate speech and the play of wild spirits. The concern for hard cases perhaps explains the use of a 'magic words' policy, to play it safe and fair, and maybe this will prove to be only a short-term expedient.


(source: TMZ.com)

xXx

Simple Dinner

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After that rich, delicious chili lunch, I decided to go real simple for dinner, just having a ham sandwich and a peanut butter & jelly sandwhich. The Doritos sweeten that a bit. And you gotta have the coke.

xXx

Simple Dinner

♠
After that rich, delicious chili lunch, I decided to go real simple for dinner, just having a ham sandwich and a peanut butter & jelly sandwhich. The Doritos sweeten that a bit. And you gotta have the coke.

xXx

Too Many Books, Too Little Time

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Taking up history books into the hit-and-run reading may have been too ambitious, even the good narrative ones. Monk just needs to have pure sugar on hand. To think: he was going to stick to the exalted poetry of Homer and Shakespeare.

I only hope that books like "Magic Mountain," "David Copperfield," and "Of Human Bondage" would work, and that it is enough for it to be a story. But who knows? I wouldn't bet on it, that's for sure.

As far as "Citizens" goes, Monk definitely wants to finish his second reading of it, but is uncertain how. The first thought is just to drop it into the weekday reading, once we finish the story of Carthage and Rome in the Roman history text. However, with the "Aenied" coming up in a couple of weeks, "Citizens" might make perfect hit-and-run reading then, since the poem is such pretty fiction in its own right.

I do not know. The reading life is up in the air, as usual. Part of the current complications is that Monk is thinking about dropping his practice of reading the poem and an accompanying exegetic book over the same time, opting instead to read the exegetic books on their own, and he would like to read "Reading Vergil's Aeneid" before beginning Fagles' translation. Since he would like to get into Fagles' book as soon as he can, he needs to start the exegetic text soon, like last week.

As I said, all is in the air again. Maybe a plan will come out in the clear light of morning sometime. This is just a more elaborate form of twittering, laying out the play of mind at a particular moment for an ongoing problem.

xXx

Too Many Books, Too Little Time

♠
Taking up history books into the hit-and-run reading may have been too ambitious, even the good narrative ones. Monk just needs to have pure sugar on hand. To think: he was going to stick to the exalted poetry of Homer and Shakespeare.

I only hope that books like "Magic Mountain," "David Copperfield," and "Of Human Bondage" would work, and that it is enough for it to be a story. But who knows? I wouldn't bet on it, that's for sure.

As far as "Citizens" goes, Monk definitely wants to finish his second reading of it, but is uncertain how. The first thought is just to drop it into the weekday reading, once we finish the story of Carthage and Rome in the Roman history text. However, with the "Aenied" coming up in a couple of weeks, "Citizens" might make perfect hit-and-run reading then, since the poem is such pretty fiction in its own right.

I do not know. The reading life is up in the air, as usual. Part of the current complications is that Monk is thinking about dropping his practice of reading the poem and an accompanying exegetic book over the same time, opting instead to read the exegetic books on their own, and he would like to read "Reading Vergil's Aeneid" before beginning Fagles' translation. Since he would like to get into Fagles' book as soon as he can, he needs to start the exegetic text soon, like last week.

As I said, all is in the air again. Maybe a plan will come out in the clear light of morning sometime. This is just a more elaborate form of twittering, laying out the play of mind at a particular moment for an ongoing problem.

xXx