Linkmeister

Texas has some very stupid elected officials

In particular, the State Board of Education qualifies as my candidate for "dumber than a box of rocks."

“I reject the notion by the left of a constitutional separation of church and state,” said David Bradley, a conservative from Beaumont who works in real estate. “I have $1,000 for the charity of your choice if you can find it in the Constitution.”

Ahem. Mr. Bradley? Meet the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

For much much more, you can read a liveblog of the goings on at that meeting by the Texas Freedom Network. Be forewarned; it's nauseating.

Urban squalor

Why on earth would anyone want to live in a city where this could happen spontaneously?

I've only been to NYC once, for our senior class trip in 1968. Seeing this makes me wish I'd had more chances to spend time there. Via Making Light.

The decision of Aragorn

So, what was Aragorn's thinking when he looked into the palantír in Chapter 2 of "The Return of the King?"

Kate Nepveu says "Me, I can’t get particularly passionate about it: he did it, it worked, so he was correct that he was able to do it." Her commenters suggest he was claiming his kingship before Sauron and not incidentally distracting Sauron as Frodo got closer to Mordor and Mt. Doom.

I think the argument that he's saying "Hey, Sauron, I'm Elendil's heir, and I'm right here, buddy!" has more merit than the distraction one, mostly because I don't think Aragorn knows precisely where Frodo is. But he recognized the risk that he wasn't quite up to facing Sauron down; he says to Legolas and Gimli: "Nay, my friends, I am the lawful master of the Stone, and I had both the right and the strength to use it, or so I judged. The right cannot be doubted. The strength was enough--barely."

If you've got the time, you really should do a re-read with Kate; it's a lot of fun. The chapter index is here.

Harry Reid, sports fan

"The filibuster has been abused. I believe that the Senate should be different than the House and will continue to be different than the House," Reid said. "But we're going to take a look at the filibuster. Next Congress, we're going to take a look at it. We are likely to have to make some changes in it, because the Republicans have abused that just like the spitball was abused in baseball and the four-corner offense was abused in basketball."

Senator Harry Reid, today.

Every year when Congress convenes it can change its rules, which is why this might be significant come January 2011. Let's hope so, for the sake of the country. When the majority is faced with a united minority bent on obstructionism rather than good governance, there has to be a way to get around that minority. "Majority rules," we were taught in high school; the government teachers didn't bother to tell us about the filibuster because it happened so rarely back in the 1960s. Not anymore.

Lost, Season 6, Episode 7

Blurb: Ben deals with the consequences of an uncovered lie.

Huh? Ben's entire life is a lie! Which one's been uncovered?

Ryan

Alan Sepinwall

EW's theorization that "Lost" is an allegory for man's search for spirituality (a theory about which I'm agnostic at best -- it's a TV show, Doc!)

EW Recap

Evocative

There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen.

If you've ever lived in Southern California, you recognize that atmospheric condition.

Wild Geese

No, not the ornithological ones. It's a term in Irish history for the Irish soldiers who served in foreign armies from the 17th to 18th centuries. I've also seen it used to refer to Irishmen serving much later than that in the French army in Sedan in 1870 and the Sino-French war in 1884-1885.

Why am I thinking about this? Easy. On NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday today I heard Ry Cooder and the Chieftains' Paddy Moloney talking about a battalion of Irish-American conscripts who deserted the US Army and joined the Mexican Army during the Mexican War in the 1840s to fight against the invading Americans. Cooder and the Chieftains have released an album commemorating their efforts. You can hear the entire album for a limited time at the NPR website. If you like the kind of music the Chieftains have been putting forward for the past fifty years or so, I'm betting you'll like this. I did.

This is new

Not content with eating socks, now our appliances are eating washcloths. For several years we've had more than enough to last a week until the next washday, but now we're coming up at least one short the day before.

Somewhere there's a planet run by textile overlords, and socks (and now washcloths) are periodically beckoned home.