Saturday, April 01, 2006
Friday, March 31, 2006
Re: Hewitt and Lileks and the SecDef
Scooter is too modest to say so, but he was the one who sent Lileks a photo of said desk, which Lileks then ran in the Bleat. [I don't think one can search the Bleat, otherwise I'd find the right day. Maybe Scooter has that day's Bleat framed and hanging on his wall and can point me to it.]
Hewitt far behind the curve...
Mentioned SecDef's "stand-up desk" tonight. Lileks and I have been all over that.
Re: Airplanes
I grew up very close to Love Field in Dallas, some might say deafeningly close. Could tell the time of day by the landing times of those hideously brightly colored Braniffs. (Remember those?) I was north of the airport so it was landings only for me from my house.
Anyway, as for the fascination, there was a restaurant built out at Love, not in the terminal just out on its own, with one of its entire walls made of glass...just so folks could go out and enjoy a meal watching, pretty nearby, the jets landing and taking off. It is long gone now and was pretty pricey in the 60s so we didn't often go, but I loved it.
Anyway, as for the fascination, there was a restaurant built out at Love, not in the terminal just out on its own, with one of its entire walls made of glass...just so folks could go out and enjoy a meal watching, pretty nearby, the jets landing and taking off. It is long gone now and was pretty pricey in the 60s so we didn't often go, but I loved it.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Re: Immigration
Yes, I read your post. Thanks.
When you're sitting in a car, watching planes and talking to yourself, it all comes together. When you try to write it, it all falls apart.
Morality, economics, compassion, empathy, patriotism, legal issues, fear, racism...the pieces of the whole puzzle just go on and on. It reminds me of trying to understand how to "fix" the economy. What is good for one sector is bad for another. Today's economic indicator (which could be good or bad) is offset by tomorrow's (which is the direct opposite of the previous days). In the end, it's all so complicated and intermingled that 99.9% of the people just throw up their hands and say..."whatever".
That is where I am (almost) on this issue. It's so complicated and there isn't an easy solution and any steps to get to a solution will cause just as many negative effects as positive ones.
When you're sitting in a car, watching planes and talking to yourself, it all comes together. When you try to write it, it all falls apart.
Morality, economics, compassion, empathy, patriotism, legal issues, fear, racism...the pieces of the whole puzzle just go on and on. It reminds me of trying to understand how to "fix" the economy. What is good for one sector is bad for another. Today's economic indicator (which could be good or bad) is offset by tomorrow's (which is the direct opposite of the previous days). In the end, it's all so complicated and intermingled that 99.9% of the people just throw up their hands and say..."whatever".
That is where I am (almost) on this issue. It's so complicated and there isn't an easy solution and any steps to get to a solution will cause just as many negative effects as positive ones.
Airplanes (2)
Even if you know why they can fly (and I do, Bernoulii, etc.) , it's still the most exciting thing I know to watch a monster plane take off. The second most exciting thing is to see these beasts land.
Immigration
LJ, I'm sensing from you what I feel. I'm overwhelmed. I'm assume you've read what I said about you and your excellent post.
Airplanes
This is so easy for me. I cannot not watch an airplane take off or land. I've taken dates to the old Hooks Airfield [Update: Hooks is not right but I can't recall the name. It was on Westheimer.] in Houston and IAH and my ex-wife to the edge (and it was the the edge) of the old Austin aiport to watch planes take off and land. More later.
More on immigration...maybe
The mother-in-law is visiting us for 10 days, so I needed to get out of the house this afternoon. Not to give away TOO much personal info, I decided to make the short drive over to the DFW airport observation area and watch planes. And think.
After the day-long back and forth about immigration, that subject was still on my mind.
(And I've been trying to write this post for an hour and am not able to articulate in writing the questions and points I've been thinking about most of today. I've gone through 4 drafts and am getting a bit frustrated.)
So I'm saying now, to h*ll with it.
Why do people like to watch airplanes take-off and land? After about, oh 3 or 4, it sorta loses it's appeal. Is it the "hoping for a crash" thing (ala car races)? And I wasn't alone - there were about 5 or 6 vehicles there. It wasn't a nice day (very windy and cloudy). Are that many mother-in-laws visiting at a given time????
After the day-long back and forth about immigration, that subject was still on my mind.
(And I've been trying to write this post for an hour and am not able to articulate in writing the questions and points I've been thinking about most of today. I've gone through 4 drafts and am getting a bit frustrated.)
So I'm saying now, to h*ll with it.
Why do people like to watch airplanes take-off and land? After about, oh 3 or 4, it sorta loses it's appeal. Is it the "hoping for a crash" thing (ala car races)? And I wasn't alone - there were about 5 or 6 vehicles there. It wasn't a nice day (very windy and cloudy). Are that many mother-in-laws visiting at a given time????
Crunchies
Not read the book. Occasionally look at the website. Most of my understanding comes from Goldberg's criticisms. My admittedly shallow impression is that crunchies (1) live in the city, (2) enjoy tasty and preferably "natural" food and (3) go to church. Uh, ok. Used to live in the city (don't anymore because I have a child who needs to play outside and go to a school that's rated better than "satisfactory"); have never considered eating dinner a "rite" and enjoy an occasional double cheeseburger; and go to church. Goldberg argues they are cons who have made a lifestyle choice, AND, by labeling themselves differently, denigrate "traditional" cons, and I think I agree.
Re: predestination
Speaking of which. There are lots of related topics you and I are interested in. (to dangle, etc) Here or somewhere else? You still have Scooterblog.
Re: tomato
Then you fit nicely into my [that is to say your] predetermined ideological niche. [Burn's voice] "Excellent."
Tomatoes: My Bad
I blew it. I added that parenthetical later in the wrong place and have since moved it. I'm not Crunchy.
Re: tomatoes
You are a Crunchy if you like "old style" tomatoes. You're not a Crunchy if you find them and refuse to pay for them. As usual, Scooter, you defy categorization.
Re: immigration issues
Very interesting discussion here. At this point, have only two observations, one about myself and one about LJ.
I am so ambivalent about this subject. On one hand, on the other hand, and on, well, several other gripping hands. I've never found persuasive the Michael Savage "they're destroying our country" nonsense. Really? I live in Houston and I expect we have a large population of illegals. Do I pay higher taxes to support some of them? I don't know, but probably. Are they a crime problem? Not that I can tell. [Although the experience in California sounds like it might be different.] Are they destroying the fabric of Houston civilization? No.
On one of several other (gripping and otherwise) hands, should they jump to the front of the line to be legal? That doesn't seem fair to the people who have played by the rules. Are they taking jobs from Americans? GWB doesn't seem to think so. There was a pretty big fight on NRO today about JAWD today, indicating the complexity of these questions. (Scooter can weigh in on the economic considerations re when Americans will do a job vis-a-vis an illegal.)
LJ's response may have surprised Scooter, but it didn't me. Although he's ostensibly a lefty, he has a legacy of patriotism and a right/wrong default that he received from his father. Those combined (not to psychoanalyze too closely) inform LJ's views. And I can't disagree with a thing he said here.
I am so ambivalent about this subject. On one hand, on the other hand, and on, well, several other gripping hands. I've never found persuasive the Michael Savage "they're destroying our country" nonsense. Really? I live in Houston and I expect we have a large population of illegals. Do I pay higher taxes to support some of them? I don't know, but probably. Are they a crime problem? Not that I can tell. [Although the experience in California sounds like it might be different.] Are they destroying the fabric of Houston civilization? No.
On one of several other (gripping and otherwise) hands, should they jump to the front of the line to be legal? That doesn't seem fair to the people who have played by the rules. Are they taking jobs from Americans? GWB doesn't seem to think so. There was a pretty big fight on NRO today about JAWD today, indicating the complexity of these questions. (Scooter can weigh in on the economic considerations re when Americans will do a job vis-a-vis an illegal.)
LJ's response may have surprised Scooter, but it didn't me. Although he's ostensibly a lefty, he has a legacy of patriotism and a right/wrong default that he received from his father. Those combined (not to psychoanalyze too closely) inform LJ's views. And I can't disagree with a thing he said here.
Tomatoes and Immigration
Warning: Useless post.
One the arguments I've heard used this week from those wanting to "ship them all home" goes like this:
"Oh yeah, well, in the 50's under Ike they said if we sent them all home there'd be no one to pick the tomatoes. Well we got around that, we developed machines to pick the tomatoes."
I guess the argument is that we got around the labor shortage by technology.
BUT, my response to that is this, sure we machine pick tomatoes now but we also had to develop tomatoes that could withstand the much rougher treatment that these machines give the tomatoes. Accordingly, I HATE the cheap store-bought tomatoes . One has to spring for the "organic, hand-picked" types to get anything remotely edible...which I hate to do on general principles (guess I'm no Crunchy-con). Any tomato on a fast-food hamburger, for instance, is like a piece of cardboard.
Granted, I'm too young to recall store-boughts before they became machine picked, but I've heard they used to be much better.
Got my tomatoes in the ground in January thanks to our mild winter. The fruit are just starting to redden.
One the arguments I've heard used this week from those wanting to "ship them all home" goes like this:
"Oh yeah, well, in the 50's under Ike they said if we sent them all home there'd be no one to pick the tomatoes. Well we got around that, we developed machines to pick the tomatoes."
I guess the argument is that we got around the labor shortage by technology.
BUT, my response to that is this, sure we machine pick tomatoes now but we also had to develop tomatoes that could withstand the much rougher treatment that these machines give the tomatoes. Accordingly, I HATE the cheap store-bought tomatoes . One has to spring for the "organic, hand-picked" types to get anything remotely edible...which I hate to do on general principles (guess I'm no Crunchy-con). Any tomato on a fast-food hamburger, for instance, is like a piece of cardboard.
Granted, I'm too young to recall store-boughts before they became machine picked, but I've heard they used to be much better.
Got my tomatoes in the ground in January thanks to our mild winter. The fruit are just starting to redden.
Re: Girlfriend
Absolutely agree with you on the cultural and economic side as she wrote, just not on the patriotic side. Acknowledging that the vast majority of those who are here aren't going anywhere, why not inculcate them with the stuff she listed so that we don't see the kind of c--p we saw at those "impromptu" demonstrations over the weekend.
They (and I mean the ones coming for good reasons) get that "job that no American wants to do," their kids learn valley speak, but no one teaches them that Washington never lied (of course, don't really mean that last one...but the stuff from her article, the patriotic stuff). It is hard enough to get that stuff into native kids given the state of our schools.
Aside: Every Thursday at my Lions Meeting, we start by singing the first verse of America and saying the pledge...I know I'm a dork but I appreciated that today.
They (and I mean the ones coming for good reasons) get that "job that no American wants to do," their kids learn valley speak, but no one teaches them that Washington never lied (of course, don't really mean that last one...but the stuff from her article, the patriotic stuff). It is hard enough to get that stuff into native kids given the state of our schools.
Aside: Every Thursday at my Lions Meeting, we start by singing the first verse of America and saying the pledge...I know I'm a dork but I appreciated that today.
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