This Is the New Reality

Heath tipped me off to William Gibson’s blog which had this quotation from Ron Suskind’s article, “Without a Doubt“, in New York Times Magazine:

“In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn’t like about Bush’s former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House’s displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn’t fully comprehend — but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.

The aide said that guys like me were in what we call the ‘reality-based community’ which he defined as people who ‘believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality’; I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ‘That’s not the way the world really works anymore’ he continued. ‘We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'”

Dear God, I think I am now more afraid about the state of the world than I have been since 9/11. Probably more because if this sentiment is true, and if it does in fact define the thought processes of the Bush Administration at large, then the real threat is within us.

Kick Out the Votes

Early voting is going on down the street from my office at the Laman Library. I went in at 8:00 this morning and came out at about 8:30. I was in the first dozen when they opened the doors, and I’m certainly glad I was a few minutes early because right now there is no parking and a long, long line for the three voting carrels. Four years ago I did early voting and I was in and out in a few minutes. Here people are packing the place. I think the entire country is ready to get this ordeal over with.

In other news, why does this never happen? Why is this so often a one-way street? And what does that say about Western Philosophy?

Radio Radio

John Lee is a genius. He’s the morning guy on FM 101.1 The River, the only radio station in Little Rock that I can stand. He’s probably better known to the rest of the world as Amy Lee‘s dad. I’ve met him a few times; he would come to the music store I used to work at in Maumelle. Great guy. Anyway, he’s one of the few DJ’s here that can still create his own playlist on the fly. He’s not limited to the same damn 20 songs over and over; a consequence of the station’s format: oldies. If the weather is rainy, he’ll play rainy day songs (this may sound like a given for older folks but today that kind of freedom is unfortunately rare in radio). Yesterday morning as the torrential rainstorm was coming down, John was reading a spot for some roofers, and I thought to myself, “you know, John, you should play ‘Fixing a Hole’ by the Beatles right now.”

And he did.

Your Vanity is Illin Me (Only Trina Will Get That Reference)

I have a few clients in the plastic surgery field, and as I was checking their search engine ranks I ran across Larger Breasts dot com. You’ll have to see the site to believe it – it’s for a breast enlargement pill called Vanity™.

I just enjoyed the fact that the pill was named after the appropriate character trait, or in this case, deadly sin (also called Pride, depending who you ask). I had to wonder what pills might be available under the names Sloth (downers), Wrath (uppers), Lust (Viagra), Envy (Viagra?), Greed (cocaine?) and Gluttony (Phentermine, or maybe Dexatrim?).

Semi-Narcissism

Here’s a recent self-portrait, taken purely to impress The 655 Mile Woman

Red Sweater

I had a good weekend. Saturday I met up with a girl from San Diego who found me on MySpace.com. She was looking for cool people to hang out with while she’s in Arkansas for an art show and to see her parents in Hot Springs. Her name is Meredith, and she’s friends with The Old 97’s and the Samples, so she has some fun stories. I took her to Vino’s and Damgoode Pies and played a ton of CDs for her. She’s here
for a couple of weeks so we’ll hang out again soon, probably to see some films at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.

Then Sunday night I went out to meet a lawyer named Sarah. We had a good time, so we’ll probably go see a movie or something soon, too.

Man, months of nothing and then two dates in a weekend. It’s almost like having a life. Tonight: laundry! Tomorrow night: Norah Jones at Alltel Arena with Heather.

The Liberal Media at Work

OK this is pretty sick:

Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of the largest chain of television stations in the nation, plans to air a documentary that accuses Sen. John Kerry of betraying American prisoners during the Vietnam War, a newspaper reported Monday.

The network has ordered all 62 of its stations to air “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal” without commercials in prime-time next week, the Washington Post said, just two weeks before the Nov. 2 election.

More on the liberal media here.

Now, I’m all for equal time for candidates and an informed electorate, but the only way to balance this thing out would be for them to run leftist propaganda like Fahrenheit 9/11. Either way, it would seem illegal that the head of the chain can just order network affiliates to run programming whenever he wants. These are network affiliates who have agreements with their networks and their own local programming already scheduled months in advance. Now they’re being forced to air something because their whack-job top brass gets a wild hair and decides they want to air something? This is a gross abuse of power.

In other news, Jacques Derrida and Superman died over the weekend. So without the Nietzschean über-mensch and the father of Deconstructionism, what ever will modern philosophy do?

Why Are You So Prevented?

The other day I received a message from a Brazilian guy asking me for an Orkut invitation. Evidently I’m not the only person that received this message, because logging into Orkut I see that not only has this guy joined, but he’s already got 369 people on his Friends list (by way of comparison, I have 16). He must have done some serious hitting of the virtual bricks to get invited. Here’s the message I got from him today, in beautifully broken English.

Hello, this is an global message:

1) To: my new friends:
Thank you for invite me to your friend’s list at http://orkut.com.
I’ll be your friend forever. A star shine already illuminates
you. Sorry, I’m unable to reply your messages at this
time. Reason: I have 5,560 emails in my GMAIL inbox.
The same as my Orkut account. I will contact you personally
as soon as possible.

2) To: people that has asked me if i know you:
Not, i`m just a human looking for friends. Are you human? Why are you so prevented? Please add me to yours friends list.

Best,
JE

“It’s love, not life, the opposite of dead

I think it’s good for all of us to occasionally take a step back and ask ourselves why we are so prevented.

Spam Poetry

I got this in my inbox today. Not sure what the text has to do with the subject line, which was “Remove your bills the Christian way” from sender “Christian bill removers”:

Consult an expert for help. Yesterday you were thinking about what could be — now you focus on what is. The effects of a mutual display of affection will be long-lasting. You wonder why others make such elaborate plans when life can be this easy.

Yesterday you were thinking about what could be — now you focus on what is. Expect to either impress someone or to be very impressed by someone. Take steps to discard the old and embrace the new. Quick thinking gets you out of a tough spot.

You are in a very industrious and creative cycle that will bring you profits and satisfaction. You are in a very industrious and creative cycle that will bring you profits and satisfaction. Avoid opposition for a little while. Issues with family and friends will be hard to resolve.

You will gain confidence in your abilities if you say no to those wanting you to do for them instead of for yourself. The more creatively you launch yourself. Creativity is not just a process of invention. It can also be a mode of relaxation. A better future is on the way. Take it slow and you’ll have a better chance of winning approval.

Sounds like random fortune cookie sayings mashed together. So be sure to add "in bed" to all the above sentences, to make this post significantly less boring.