The Syria Debate

In the debate over whether to bomb Syria, which is still running hot on the Hill, some people argue that by failing to hit Syria, or by only hitting her lightly, America will lose a lot of credibility when it comes to standing up against attacks by chemical weapons and other weapons of mass-destruction. Ezra Klein provides a memorable answer.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

[N]o one — not Assad, not Iran, not North Korea — has any confusion about what would happen if they deployed chemical weapons against our troops or embassies, or if they handed them to terrorists who used them to attack us. They would be annihilated. And our credibility on this score is overwhelming: After 9/11, we invaded Afghanistan, which had given safe harbor to al Qaeda, and then we also invaded Iraq — just because we were so angry. Pinprick strikes against Assad change nothing about the incentives of using chemical weapons against the United States.

-- Ezra Klein

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sugar

Melissa gives us a keeper of a column, and it is not on music, but on her picture with Patrick Stewart, with a discussion on feminism and manhood. This one was rather philosophically juicy. Feminism is her thing.

( Read more... )

Food for the Masses

The food for the masses seems to keep getting worse and worse. I tried the Swanson Mexican TV dinner, and the meat in these dinners was never a treat, but now one cannot even find much of this mystery meat in it.

Elvis

Interviewer: How long do you think that rock and roll will last now?

Elvis:I wish I knew. That’s a question that if I could answer, I’d be makin’ plans for the future, but I don’t know. I’ll say this, it is very hot now and I like it. I enjoy rock and roll. A lot of people like it, a lot of people don’t. But as long as it lasts, as long as it sells, I’ll continue doing it, as long as that’s what the people want. And if they change, if it dies out, I’ll try to do somethin’ else, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll just say, well I had my day.

-- Elvis Interview

( Read more... )

Kerouac and the Beats

Jack Kerouac's poems have been published by the Library of America series, which I take it is a handle onto literary immortality, and Bruce Bawer is not happy about it: "To read through these seven hundred–odd pages of Kerouac’s staggeringly slapdash effusions set in elegant Galliard, outfitted with the usual meticulous editorial apparatus, and bound—like Twain’s novels and Lincoln’s speeches—in a beautiful Library of America volume is enough to trigger a serious attack of cognitive dissonance." Whatever one might think of Kerouac's book On the Road, there is a good case to be made that the poems are rather more disposable. However, it is apparent from Bawer's book review that he does not care much for the Beat artists to begin with, as can be seen in this excerpt.

( Read more... )

Surprise Steak

Caught a break on my diet. Pop went to the commissary to pick up a few items, and he was bedazzled by the fine sight of the steaks. He called to ask if I would like one. Oh, yes, I would! That helped me out of a tight spot.