The Collected Writings of Sardonicus

Quick thoughts while watching the State of the Union

-Huh, I wonder who the cabinet member who didn't come was.

-The root cause of 9/11 was a dictatorship? How does he figure that? The Taliban was hardly a dictatorship, it's more of a plutocracy, perhaps a theocracy of sorts.

-Funny how he claims the US has a legacy of battling oppression when US imperialism has just as rich a history.

-Wow, he's really pumping a lot of blind patriotism talk into his address.

-Oh good job, Mr. President. Why don't you just exploit a dead man by reading his letter aloud for your own political gain. Bravo, jerk. Oh, that's right Camera Guy, give us a nice juicy close-up of the dead soldier's teary-eyed wife. Hope you're proud of yourself.

-Oh no... I think he's gonna talk about Hamas... yeah... he just did. Huh, he was actually quite diplomatic this time. I'm impressed. I was expected him to include Hamas into the Axis of Evil.

-Huh, I forget, did the UN decide to impose sanctions on Iran? I forgot to follow up on that, but it doesn't sound like it happened.

-Oooh, he just said the P-word. The dreaded P*triot Act. Oh, that guy they flashed on the screen looks pissed.

- STOP SMILING EACH TIME THEY CLAP FOR YOU!

- I like his speech about the economy so far. It's very optimistic. A little disingenuous, but it's nice rhetoric.

- I'm not an econ professor, but I strongly disagree with his talk about making the tax cuts permanent. This is not the time for tax cut talks, man. Sigh... projecting balancing the budget? THE BUDGETS DON'T EVEN TAKE IRAQ INTO ACCOUNT! *Sigh*

- HAHAHAHAH. Oh man, that's fantastic. The dems just gave a standing ovation to the failed Social Security reform.

- Ethanol-based gasoline competitive with petroleum in six years? Hmm, what does he mean by "competitive" exactly?

- HAHAHAH! The American Competitiveness Initiative??!! Jeez, are you still trying to pretend that No Child Left Behind was a good thing? Just let that one go, Mr. President.

- Man, I feel happy for CJ Roberts and AJ Alito. That must feel pretty good. But I sorta feel bad for Roberts. He has to sit next to Thomas.

- "History is written in courage?" What in the world does that even mean?


Parting Thoughts:
Eh.... I've heard much much better Bush speeches. That was not anything special at all.


The Democratic Response:
Wow... you stink Governor Kaine. This is horrible. I appreciate that you're from the South and thus not that much should be expected from you, but can't you at least not be annoying? There's something creepy about this guy... I think it's his eyebrows. His left eyebrow is constantly piqued. Argh... this is painful!

Saw "Good Night and Good Luck" the yesterday while I was chowing down some Papa Johns. A pretty good movie, and the guy who played Edward R. Murrow seemed to be a natural. The other performances were fine, I guess. Robert Downey Jr. was in the movie, but him and his wife had absolutely no purpose. It was shot in black-and-white, which really did help transport me back to the 50s, and I guess it was shot well, but aside from the Murrow editorials, the rest of it was sadly lacking. Which is unfortunate, because I had really high hopes for the movie. Ah well.

WOO-HOO! Semester. Over. Finito..... what do I do now? Maybe sleep. Zzzzzzzz....

On the topic of homosexuality being "genetic." Biology is perhaps an explanation why some people are MORE LIKELY to be a certain way and prefer certain things, but I don't think it's the most important consideration. For whatever reason, in my genetics, I may- out of chance- be more impressionable when it comes to certain types of sexual impulses than others, but it's stupid to say my preference is 100% biological. I may be more receptive to homosexuality than the average male, I might not. There's always degrees of variation in anything, and genetics is no different. Perhaps there's some guy out there who is wired in some way biologically to be more receptive to finding homosexuality or cross-dressing attractive. But that doesn't come CLOSE to explaining WHY he will if he does. Is it possibly ONE reason. Eh, maybe, but probably not one anyone will take seriously on an academic level. There has to be other reasons too.

I mean, I like long dark hair on girls, slim, but still curvy. A lot of that was conditioned, and I think if I was born in Renaissance Italy, I have liked the more full-figured lady. I like it when a girl wears glasses, because in my past I have liked how glasses look on certain girls, or liked certain girls that happened to wear glasses, and now I just project those qualities onto other people who wear glasses.

The type of clothes I wear, the way I talk, the way I walk, the way I WANT to be... I'm emulating people that I respect or admire in a certain way. Why do I choose the people I want to emulate in actions and behavior? Possibly some of it is genetic, the rest is experience.

So when a man in front of me says that he is really a woman born in a man's body... eh, I'm not so sure. I really believe that if was born with the same exact psychological wiring that I have now, but was born inside a female body, I would now figure I'm a girl and probably find the prospect of being penetrated by a pen1s relatively more exciting.

At the end of the day, trying to blame your sexual preference on biological factors is stupid. You don't need to explain yourself to everyone for doing something you are perfectly free to do in our society.

SDLFKJLDSKFJLK! I AM ANGRY AT THE NEW YORK TIMES! Screw you and your precious "TimeSelect" articles. All I want are the editorials and columns. Is that too much to ask? I've been trying to learn to live with it the past few months, but now I'm calling you out. I'm drawing the line here... See that lightpost at the end of the road? We have to run around it and back. First to cross the finish line wins. Loser admits they suck. I hate you.

Hmm, what do I do about that other thing?

Saw Syriana the other day. It was a really interesting movie about the U.S.'s chess-match with China over securing oil, U.S. covert operations in the Middle East, corporate and government corruption, Islamic fundamentalism, and US-Middle East politics. A few of the scenes weren't for the faint at heart, but I thought it was great. There were a number of subplots, and they didn't really cross each other in a meaningful way. Still, it's definitely a movie I plan on getting on dvd. I've noticed I've been getting into dramas and historical fiction a lot more nowadays, rather than the huge fantastical blockbusters I usually choose to spend my money on. Which reminds me, I should really try to find Good Night and Good Luck on dvd to borrow.
All in all, nothing really going on. Will probably make the trek back to campus tomorrow night once I feel rush hour is over.