Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Truth about the actual Liar(s)
First Person: Looking for liberals? Follow brains
By GREG JAMES
GUEST COLUMNIST
For several years I've been listening to folks of the conservative persuasion going on about the liberal bias in the media, in Hollywood and among elites on the West and East coasts. There's no denying that liberals outnumber conservatives on the two coasts. It is also apparent if you work in certain fields like education, the arts, or high tech that liberals also greatly outnumber conservatives there, too.
Is this some kind of conspiracy or is it just a fact that you get many more liberals where the education levels are the highest and where the concentrations of the brains are? Is it a coincidence that most of America's big liberal cities such as Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston are also the centers of high tech and the nation's best universities? Even in a conservative state such as Texas, the fastest growing big PC company in the world -- Dell -- is located in Austin, the most liberal, and educated, city in the state. I'm all for open and free discussions on the subject, but from all the anecdotal evidence around, one thing seems to be obvious: Liberals are where the brains are, and the brains are where liberals are.
This got me thinking. The definition of conservative in the dictionary is "one who is resistant to change, or disposed to preserve existing conditions." From a historical perspective, conservatives were the folks who clung to the idea that the Earth was flat. They opposed the end of slavery. They thought it was a bad idea that women be allowed to vote, and more recently, they opposed the end of segregation and the civil rights movement.
Our current president and his followers all seem to be singing the praises of a return to conservative values, and the recent election wins by the right wing seem to support that view. I'm worried. In a world that is dynamic and rapidly changing, are we well served by folks who have the basic belief that the good old days can be maintained? Wouldn't good conservatives be the equivalent of business folks clinging to the notion that we should all still be using the "trusty old typewriter"?
Conservatives generally oppose family planning and are in favor of tightening our borders but have no real answer to a world population that increases by 100 million people per year and who will naturally end up looking for new places to settle. Conservatives are in favor of a smaller federal government but have recently been calling for that same government to increase spending on defense and homeland security. Conservatives consistently want the government to endorse the Christian faith but at the same time find governments around the world run by conservative religious leaders to be the biggest threats to our national security.
The point isn't specific issues. The point is that old-style thinking in a dynamic, growing world with dynamic and growing problems is precisely the wrong way to react. As ironic as it may sound, the response this country had to 9/11 and the follow-up invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq may be just what the conservatives in those countries were hoping for to further their own "eye for an eye" archaic way of thinking. It may well end up pouring fuel on the proverbial fire and give them more excuses to hate what they perceive to be the domineering attitude of the west.
America sometimes seems to be a paradox: We're a country founded by amazingly smart people who saw the dangers of state-endorsed religion yet we have to devote much energy and time to fending off people who want to infuse our government with that same religion. We're a country that leads the world in high tech yet we have a large segment of the population that doesn't realize that high tech, universities, brilliant minds and liberal thinking all often go and in hand. We pride ourselves on our freedoms but then have to deal with folks who can't comprehend that freedom also extends to alternative lifestyles. I wonder how many people have really given thought to the fact that we're a much more liberal society today than we were 100 years ago and that it has been liberal creative thinking from day one that has put America ahead of most of the rest of the world.
It has become almost vogue to bash liberal thinking. You hear it on the radio and you are reminded of it on the television. However, if it's liberal thinkers that got us used to the notion that the world is not flat, that led slaves to their freedom and that fought for the right of women to vote, then I'm ultimately going to put my money on liberal thinking to come up with ways to solve today's national and global problems.
Greg James is president of Topics Entertainment of Seattle.ORIGINAL ARTICLE
GUEST COLUMNIST
For several years I've been listening to folks of the conservative persuasion going on about the liberal bias in the media, in Hollywood and among elites on the West and East coasts. There's no denying that liberals outnumber conservatives on the two coasts. It is also apparent if you work in certain fields like education, the arts, or high tech that liberals also greatly outnumber conservatives there, too.
Is this some kind of conspiracy or is it just a fact that you get many more liberals where the education levels are the highest and where the concentrations of the brains are? Is it a coincidence that most of America's big liberal cities such as Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston are also the centers of high tech and the nation's best universities? Even in a conservative state such as Texas, the fastest growing big PC company in the world -- Dell -- is located in Austin, the most liberal, and educated, city in the state. I'm all for open and free discussions on the subject, but from all the anecdotal evidence around, one thing seems to be obvious: Liberals are where the brains are, and the brains are where liberals are.
This got me thinking. The definition of conservative in the dictionary is "one who is resistant to change, or disposed to preserve existing conditions." From a historical perspective, conservatives were the folks who clung to the idea that the Earth was flat. They opposed the end of slavery. They thought it was a bad idea that women be allowed to vote, and more recently, they opposed the end of segregation and the civil rights movement.
Our current president and his followers all seem to be singing the praises of a return to conservative values, and the recent election wins by the right wing seem to support that view. I'm worried. In a world that is dynamic and rapidly changing, are we well served by folks who have the basic belief that the good old days can be maintained? Wouldn't good conservatives be the equivalent of business folks clinging to the notion that we should all still be using the "trusty old typewriter"?
Conservatives generally oppose family planning and are in favor of tightening our borders but have no real answer to a world population that increases by 100 million people per year and who will naturally end up looking for new places to settle. Conservatives are in favor of a smaller federal government but have recently been calling for that same government to increase spending on defense and homeland security. Conservatives consistently want the government to endorse the Christian faith but at the same time find governments around the world run by conservative religious leaders to be the biggest threats to our national security.
The point isn't specific issues. The point is that old-style thinking in a dynamic, growing world with dynamic and growing problems is precisely the wrong way to react. As ironic as it may sound, the response this country had to 9/11 and the follow-up invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq may be just what the conservatives in those countries were hoping for to further their own "eye for an eye" archaic way of thinking. It may well end up pouring fuel on the proverbial fire and give them more excuses to hate what they perceive to be the domineering attitude of the west.
America sometimes seems to be a paradox: We're a country founded by amazingly smart people who saw the dangers of state-endorsed religion yet we have to devote much energy and time to fending off people who want to infuse our government with that same religion. We're a country that leads the world in high tech yet we have a large segment of the population that doesn't realize that high tech, universities, brilliant minds and liberal thinking all often go and in hand. We pride ourselves on our freedoms but then have to deal with folks who can't comprehend that freedom also extends to alternative lifestyles. I wonder how many people have really given thought to the fact that we're a much more liberal society today than we were 100 years ago and that it has been liberal creative thinking from day one that has put America ahead of most of the rest of the world.
It has become almost vogue to bash liberal thinking. You hear it on the radio and you are reminded of it on the television. However, if it's liberal thinkers that got us used to the notion that the world is not flat, that led slaves to their freedom and that fought for the right of women to vote, then I'm ultimately going to put my money on liberal thinking to come up with ways to solve today's national and global problems.
Greg James is president of Topics Entertainment of Seattle.ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Sunday, August 24, 2003
THE ANTICHRIST OF NORTH CAROLINA
Monday, August 11, 2003
Great article about myth and reason...
Believers in the Lost Ark
The explorer who discovered the Titanic beneath the Atlantic in 1985 is setting out on another underwater expedition to document Noah's flood. The Black Sea was originally a freshwater lake that in ancient times became inundated by the salty Mediterranean. Robert Ballard believes that this was a cataclysmic event that occurred about 7,500 years ago, and was possibly the deluge described in the Bible.
Ballard's critics are sceptical: they argue that the infiltration of the Black Sea was a gradual process that occurred much earlier and over a long period of time. They accuse Ballard of using Noah to sex up his material for maximum publicity. [MORE...]
home again
Well the danger on the rocks
is surely past
Still I remain tied to the mast
Could it be that I have found my home at last?
Home at last...
is surely past
Still I remain tied to the mast
Could it be that I have found my home at last?
Home at last...
Wednesday, August 06, 2003
My Accomplishments as President
By George W. Bush
* I attacked and took over two countries.
* I spent the U.S. surplus and bankrupted the Treasury.
* I shattered the record for biggest annual deficit in history.
* I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.
* I set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market.
* I am the first president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.
* I am the first president in US history to enter office with a criminal record.
* In my first year in office I set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history.
* After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, I presided over the worst security failure in US history. [more...]
How?
How can a president who dons a uniform on an aircraft carrier deck be the same man who used family connections to avoid active duty during Vietnam, and couldn't even bother to show up for his last 18 months of service?
How can a champion of free enterprise and small government be the same man who got rich through government seizure of land in Arlington?
How can a president who pleads "leave no child behind" be the same governor who gutted insurance for low-income kids in Texas?
How can a man who claims to have been redeemed through faith be the same guy who mocked a born-again Christian woman after approving her execution?
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
A wonderful place to spend some time...
Bristol, England is a relatively unknown city for most Americans. After two visits there, I can tell you that Bristol is a very nice tourist destination. It has two universities, a thriving nightlife, with many clubs featuring a variety of music, from blues to jazz to dance to rock and Irish, karaoke, and much more. In addition, it features many top notch restaurants, including the GlassBoat which is an actual boat, floating in the Bristol Harbor, to the Spyglass, another dockside restaurant, the Europa, a friendly Italian place featuring the best in straightforward, simple Italian dining-great pizzas, pastas and other dishes presented with zest and flair. Overall, I have found Bristol and its inhabitants to be gracious, friendly and fun loving. Visit here soon if possible. Bristol is a well kept secret. Come, enjoy, and then tell only a select few friends......
One of my favorite haunts while here is a great pub, energetically and enthusiastically run by a crew of the nicest "young" folks I have met in a long, long time. And they are trad jazz buffs as well!
All my thanks to Stu, Andy, Dan, Peter, Katherine, Gwyn, and the rest of the crew at the Old Duke! I can't wait to see you all again!
The Old Duke, Bristol, England.
The war according to David Hackworth
As a patriot who loves his country, retired Col. David Hackworth has no problem telling like it is when it comes to the pathetic current administration, and its arrogant, bumbling Scty of Defense Rumsfeld:
"In mid April, I wrote a piece that asks for Rumsfeld to be fired, to be relieved. I took enormous heat for that. He went in light, on the cheap, he has misunderstood the whole war, he should go ... Rumsfeld is an arrogant asshole. That's a quote, by the way. " From the Salon interview.
Even in England, They Think He's Ludicrous
