Friday, May 16, 2008
National Bike To Work Day
Yes, I biked to work today. In fact, I biked to work 3 times this week and 3 times last week. At this rate, I will cut my gasoline usage (for work) by 60% this summer. Sadly, I travel quite a bit so there will be weeks where I am out of town and will not ride my bike. By the end of the summer, I'll be lucky if I can cut into my gas consumption by 50%.
SMACK DOWN
Damn. Some people should just give up and learn some history. I don't watch TV, so I rarely catch the humor that is modern American journalism.
You Tube Link
My favorite part of the entire exchange is when the "liberal" tells the "conservative" if he read a certain book and the "conservative" replies by asking him if he had seen a movie. Classic. When a movie is elevated to the status of a book . . . Wow. . . . Classic.
More importantly, this is a phenomenal example of the importance of history. George Bush has made a pretty direct comparison between Barack's stated willingness to talk to someone we don't like (Hamas, Syria, etc.) and Chamberlain's weak kneed capitulation to the Nazis at Munich. Personally, I think Chamberlain gets a bad rap. Hitler was going to start WWII one way or the other. At the time, there was no way for Chamberlain to know this. I agree with the usual critique that Chamberlain should have stood up to Hitler, but I also think it's important to acknowledge the personal views and convictions (see Peace in our time speech) that led to the policy of appeasement (a phrase coined by Chamberlain). Had Chamberlain forcefully opposed Hitler @ Munich, WWII would not have been avoided. It's reasonable to assume that it would have started a little earlier and the ultimate outcome would not have been radically different. In fact, by 38 & 39, Britain was busy re-arming itself (Thanks to Churchill and others like him) and the delay in the start of hostilities arguably gave England a chance to arm itself before going to war with a much stronger enemy.
Anywho, comparing Barack's willingness to engage in dialog with Chamberlain's actions are, in a word, ridiculous. This is especially coming from a President who has been willing to enter into multi-lateral conversations with North Korea and has met with the leadership of "Communist" China, in spite of their obvious qualities as dictatorships, rampant abuses of civil rights, etc.
But, most Americans don't know enough history to be able interpret the President's Knesset speech for what it is - more BS. Our educational system is so mired in nonsense that it's impossible for students to get interested in topics like history. Test scores don't result in better students. Better trained teachers result in better students. More funding for modern school books, computers, and up-to-date technologies result in better students. But, that's another discussion.
You Tube Link
My favorite part of the entire exchange is when the "liberal" tells the "conservative" if he read a certain book and the "conservative" replies by asking him if he had seen a movie. Classic. When a movie is elevated to the status of a book . . . Wow. . . . Classic.
More importantly, this is a phenomenal example of the importance of history. George Bush has made a pretty direct comparison between Barack's stated willingness to talk to someone we don't like (Hamas, Syria, etc.) and Chamberlain's weak kneed capitulation to the Nazis at Munich. Personally, I think Chamberlain gets a bad rap. Hitler was going to start WWII one way or the other. At the time, there was no way for Chamberlain to know this. I agree with the usual critique that Chamberlain should have stood up to Hitler, but I also think it's important to acknowledge the personal views and convictions (see Peace in our time speech) that led to the policy of appeasement (a phrase coined by Chamberlain). Had Chamberlain forcefully opposed Hitler @ Munich, WWII would not have been avoided. It's reasonable to assume that it would have started a little earlier and the ultimate outcome would not have been radically different. In fact, by 38 & 39, Britain was busy re-arming itself (Thanks to Churchill and others like him) and the delay in the start of hostilities arguably gave England a chance to arm itself before going to war with a much stronger enemy.
Anywho, comparing Barack's willingness to engage in dialog with Chamberlain's actions are, in a word, ridiculous. This is especially coming from a President who has been willing to enter into multi-lateral conversations with North Korea and has met with the leadership of "Communist" China, in spite of their obvious qualities as dictatorships, rampant abuses of civil rights, etc.
But, most Americans don't know enough history to be able interpret the President's Knesset speech for what it is - more BS. Our educational system is so mired in nonsense that it's impossible for students to get interested in topics like history. Test scores don't result in better students. Better trained teachers result in better students. More funding for modern school books, computers, and up-to-date technologies result in better students. But, that's another discussion.
Should do more here
You know, I really should post more here. In 10 years I'll look back at this and say - WOW. How amusing. I tend to write long-winded emails and copy large numbers of people in on them. I think I should just tell people to read my blog and stop sending them my long-winded ramblings.
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