Wednesday, March 22, 2006

ahhh, science!

i happened across this article in slate today. the entire thing was quite good.

one of my favorite parts is the following:
"The risk of today's genetic genealogy tests is that they tend to divide people into groups, whereas the real message that emerges from genealogy is one of connections."

however his conclusion is just too pat:
"People may like to think that they're descended from some ancient group while other people are not. But human ancestry doesn't work that way, since we all share the same ancestors just a few millenniums ago. As that idea becomes more widely accepted, arguments over who's descended from Jesus won't result in lawsuits. And maybe, just maybe, people will have one less reason to feel animosity toward other branches of the human family." <--emphasis mine.

whatever, my friends, whatever. folks will always have reasons to feel animosity towards their brethern, realized or otherwise. and perhaps if science ever gets out to the layman and penetrates his thick skull, the layman might abandon his flawed device of "race." ...no, i can't even type that with a serious mindset. race, and all it's accessories, paraphenalia, is with us til kingdom come.

and in that vein, come quickly Lord Jesus, come quickly...

Monday, March 20, 2006

i'm laughing

even though i know it's not funny at all. in fact my laughter isn't funny laughter, it's more that bitter laughter, those cynical barks of air. this is the reason. and the article finishes by saying "Elles seraient également de nature à jeter un peu plus la suspicion sur les compte-rendus d'actions militaires généreusement délivrés aux médias par les services de propagande de l'état-major américain."

but see here, does anyone actually believe all the news reports coming out of that whole mess? i doubt it. the only thing we actually listen for is the names of our loved ones. anything else is but window dressing.

and would anyone be surprised if it comes out that some reports from "the front" have been... doctored? of course not. these are war times! the ends justify the means! anyone who says otherwise is obviously not a proud citizen of these states, united or otherwise.

the article, imo, seems to imply that we are better than that, bigger than manipulating the facts to suit our position. wake up. we are the same as any other country in that respect. the only difference is that somewhere along the line, those other countries gave us the power to think ourselves better, bigger, and more perfect than them. yeah i bet those other countries are just mangeant du rage now, eh? on est mort de rire. car sinon, quoi faire?

Thursday, March 16, 2006

fever dreams

i went out to a birthday party last night, for a girl i don't know.
ate some, drank some, donated $0.50, and got a kiss on the cheek in return from the pretty birthday girl. i wonder what i'd have gotten if i'd had the normal donation of $1.00...? lol.

on and off i feel vaguely ill. a little shy of feverish. for the past couple of days. i wish i'd either get the full blown kookamunga, or feel fine. this halfway-halfway is not so good.

...the party was the most fun i've had in a while. it was lovely.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

virtue

is a funny word.

according to my favorite online dico, virtue has manliness as a root. which says to me that it is a male word. nothing that exciting therein, except that the many times i've heard it, the word has been used in a feminine context. which, according to webster, indicates chastity...

but what i was going to say is that "patience is a virtue." ...i am not virtuous. lol! patience is certainly not one of my strong points.

in related news, i've gotten 2lbs of fruit, and the wine. this over the past few weeks; got the wine last night. i only need 2 more lbs of fruit and the steeping can begin. i'd really love to pick up the rest of the fruit today. but i'm going to wait til next week.

i mean, just because i'm using credit instead of cash, that doesn't = reckless spending. ...or does it...? no! it doesn't! temptation get away from me!