All posts by Chris

a call for help, a plea for sanity

Iraq, Language, Philosophy, World

I need a word. Perhaps I’ll call on the verbivores to help, but you, gentle reader, might know of one already. Here’s the definition: “To become what one ostensibly opposes, often in the course of that opposition.” It may sound like hypocrisy, a la “if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s intolerance,” but this new thing needs an element of menace, of tactics employed to win the battle. Think of Serenity‘s Operative, who hunted down sinners by commiting every sin he ascribed to them.
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Bush threatens to veto non-Iraq overspending

Government, Iraq, Politics, World

Because, you know, we can only manage one giant money pit at a time.

Updates from my previous posts, in case you’re still keeping score:

  • Weapons of Mass Destruction found before invasion: 0
  • Weapons of Mass Destruction declared by US before invasion: LOTS
  • US Cost in dollars: 275,000,000,000
  • US military deaths: 2,390
  • Iraqi civilians killed: 34,500
  • Weapons of Mass Destruction found after invasion: 0
  • U.S. timeline to leave Iraq: NONE
  • Generals calling for Rumsfeld’s resignation: 6

full tables, empty pockets, and open Gates

Culture, Food, World

I just stumbled across an odd little op-ed about a dinner that Bill Gates held for the president of China.  The event itself wasn’t nearly as interesting as the author’s interpretation of it from a Chinese culinary (and gusto-political) standpoint:

…To us Chinese, eating is not just about filling up the stomach. It is an art that we love to overindulge ourselves with. It may be the only art form that remains legal and yet savoured by people across every social stratum.

The main reason we would overdo all these things is because we live in scarcity or constant fear of it. When one barely has enough to eat, he makes sure that once a year he can eat like there’s no tomorrow.

There’s a reverse correlation between abundance of food and conspicuous consumption of food…