Did Phoebe actually intend to post to the Cabal of Style?

I have no idea. Is the Cabal back? It seems unlikely, but here's hoping!

I was happy for an hour this evening

Tonight was my first-ever UChicago young alumni happy hour. Not the first of the year, but the first I actually remembered in time to go. While I was very tempted to just go to Noodles on 28 (just the random noodle place I passed on the way to the thing), I made it through a couple hours of schmoozing before diving into enough stirfry for tonight's ample dinner and tomorrow's ample (if cold/greasy) lunch. I brought with me two non-UChicago alums (from Stanford--what is this slumming I do on the weekends...) which caused a bit of a stir, but nothing of Courtney Love-esque proportions. I had two whole beers, which meant that I spoke to people I had not met previously, but again, nothing of Courtney Love-esque proportions. And then Masha (the remaining non-UChicagoan) kindly accompanied me to the aforementioned noodleteria, and watched me eat a surprisingly hot-and-sour-sauce-coated platter of tofu-broccoli. A good time was had by all, except for the poor soybeans whose lives were needlessly cut short to make way for my dinner.

Welcome Back...

To myself! I don't know how long it'll last, but I felt like blogging, so here I am again. Maybe somebody will catch wind of this and rejoin/join the Cabal.

Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know...

About Lyndon LaRouche but were afraid to ask.  Personally, I've seen these creeps hanging around campus for years and read my fair share of pamphlets and never really got it.  I still don't think I get it. This, however, helped a bit.

power, power, everywhere...

I must admit that at first I was shocken then impressed by the early transfer of power to the Iraqi President. but now I feel like it's a poor move.

the fact is, it acknowledges a very true but very disturbing fact: that the government can't currently control what goes on in the country, and has to accomodate the terrorists inside. as any student of intl relations will tell you, it's the job of a state to have a monopoly on the legitimite use of force within its borders. how can it be good to found a state two days early, essentially because one cannot fulfill that basic function of a state?

and what of the Iraqi election in January? handovers among elites can be moved up, but elections cannot. so January 2 shall be the real wait and see date. along with a certain other election tuesday in November, of course.

meanwhile, I'm heartened by the fact that the Supreme Court had the good sense to give legal recourse to the detainees in Guantanamo Bay. the more the US applies the concepts of rule of law within its borders, the less other countries will fear and balance against us. Shame on the Bush Administration for rejecting basic enlightenment principles of law, justice, and rights, effectively letting the terrorists win. and cheers to the six members of the supreme court who saw the light.

Flying Squids and Blog Templates.

Aaron, dearest. Please take the "flying squid" photo down and replace it with a link. The picture is so ponderous that it forces everything down and to the side, leaving no text at the top of the blog -- at least on my browser.

Post Script

Really. We don't have to play this game of pretending to feel sorry about the dead guy because it looks nice for the cameras. I mean, the way Ted Kennedy carried on about the "greatness" of Reagan, you would have thought he actually liked the man. Kennedy's only claim to fame in his lengthy political career (I consider the death of Mary Jo Kopechne and his multiple instances of gross and obvious intoxication while speaking from the Senate floor as claims to infamy) was that he successfully opposed a few of Reagan's more disastrous policies. They hated each other -- and for good reason: they're both dirty evil schmucks. Don't go soft on me now Ted. Oh, and Teddy, just for the record, the day you part this Earth will be one of celebration -- you're an embarrassment to your state, to your family and to your country.

Dishonouring the Dead.

Hello world, fellow Cabalists, I'm back. I expected a little whining about the style in which I communicated my thoughts about (thankfully) former President Reagan's timely demise. However, compared with the national tear-festival that followed his bucket-kicking, my response was downright reasonable. First off, the man lived for 93 years and was on the brink of death for the last 10 of them -- all this "shock and sorrow" seems a little overdone. Secondly, the man was not only a shockingly horrible president but a downright evil person who set back the cause of thinking conservatives everywhere. Reagan took the Conservative legacy of Nixon (which aside from Watergate was sterling) and turned it into the modern Republican party.

Let's take a nice hard look at Reagan's legacy, particularly with regard to the standard set by Nixon:

Debategate. Reagan operatives steal Carter's debating materials to prepare the Gipper. Sounds remarkably like what Nixon did in '72 -- Reagan just manages to keep himself clean. He had no idea that he was being briefed about Carter's materials by George Will (among others). No idea whatsoever.

Iran-Contra. Reagan illegally sold weapons to extremist Iranian clerics. Reagan then lied about illegally selling the weapons to the clerics, and then defended himself by saying that the weapons he didn't sell weren't in exchange for hostages and that the amount of weaponry that wasn't illegally sold wasn't that much in the first place. Reagan then diverted the proceeds of this illegal transaction to vicious fascist thugs in Nicaragua. Following form, he proceeded to lie about this too. Oliver North ended up taking the fall, with Ronnie walking off Scot-free thanks to being too senile to "remember" if he had, in fact, committed the criminal actions he was accused of. The Gipper was much more crooked than Tricky Dick -- he was also, unfortunately, more adept at getting away with it.

The Environment. Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency. Reagan appointed James Watt as Secretary of the Interior -- the guy charged with preserving our national parks, among other duties. For those of you not in the know, James Watt is the man famous for the quotation: "We don't have to protect the Environment, the Second Coming is at hand." Just the kind of guy I want in charge of Yellowstone.

The Cold War. Hello, Mr. Blind Squirrel. Meet Mr. Nut. Reagan's stupidity, obstinate nature and blind faith finally pay off. The Soviet Union was evil. They did deserve to go down. That's the one thing little Ronnie ever got right. The trouble is, he had very little to do with the downfall of Communism. The Nixon policies of detente and engagement with communist China created a situation of open, or nearly open, economic competition between the USSR and the west. As all we good little U of C economists know, capitalism beats communism on an even playing field. The USSR fell apart. Thanks to the vision of a certain MSG (no, not monosodium glutamate), it fell apart more quickly and with a small amount of grace. Reagan kept up the heat, so to speak, for which he deserves credit. But he didn't start the melting process.

Civil Liberties. After the advances in civil liberties for African-Americans (i.e. that they finally had some) under the Truman and Johnson administrations, it was natural for southern bigots (among other bigots) to bolt the Democratic party. Notice the divergent messages they received from Nixon (Go vote for George Wallace) and Reagan (Welcome to the Republican Party).

The Economy. Nixon lowered taxes and cut unnecessary federal programs. Reagan also lowered taxes, but while simultaneously creating unnecessary programs and attempting to borrow America's way to greatness.

Leadership. Nixon was famous for his intellectual, hands-on approach to government. Cold, calculating, brutal at times, but brilliantly effective nevertheless. Reagan, the "great delegator" was infamous for falling asleep during key national security briefings and having to read even the most inane statement off three inch by five inch cards. However, the most damning evidence of Reagan's sheer stupidity and general opposition to rational thought comes from the Gipper himself:

"In the 38th chapter of Ezekiel, it says that the land of Israel will come under attack by the armies of the ungodly nations, and it says that Libya will be among them. Do you understand the significance of that? Libya has now gone Communist, and that's a sign that the day of Armageddon isn't far off.

Biblical scholars have been saying for generations that Gog must be Russia. What other powerful nation is to the north of Israel? None. But it didn't seem to make sense before the Russian revolution, when Russia was a Christian country. Now it does, now that Russia has become communistic and atheistic, now that Russia has set itself against God. Now it fits the description of Gog perfectly.

For the first time ever, everything is in place for the battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ. It can't be too long now. Ezekiel says that fire and brimstone will be rained upon the enemies of God's people. That must mean that they will be destroyed by nuclear weapons."

-Ronald Reagan.

Not only was Reagan dirty, he was stupid. Intellectual, environmentally conscious, pragmatic, libertarian conservativism gave way to faux-populist fear-mongering, economic and environmental short-sightedness and bigotry of the highest order the day that Ronald Reagan entered the White House. This is his legacy and quite frankly, I'm glad the old bastard is dead.

Flying Squid

The New York Times describes the history-making Spaceship One as "squid-like". I'm not quite sure I agree. However, nothing else immediately comes to me. However, I still don't like "squid-like". Regardless, this could be a huge deal over the course of the next decade. Let's hope it adds up to something. After all, every neocon/libertarian member of the Cabal should be jumping up and down over private space flight, right?


Update: the squid is gone.  It was ruining the layout of the page.  For any distress I caused, I'm truly sorry.

The Future

Well, I'm back in Chicago after a little under a week spent in Indy. I have little to report. The Cabal seems to have gone into hiding. Perhaps after summer gets a little boring, we'll all get back to it.

Twice wounded

There was some sourness here at the Cabal over the death of President Reagan. I didn't have much to add to it. Like him or not (I do) the man forever changed the dialog in this country. Our political life will never fully be out of the shadow of Ronald Reagan, just as it will never emerge from the shadow of FDR. America owes the man who loved her so dearly that we honor his legacy through continued optimism and a remembrance of the value of freedom. Reagan was an American original. His suspicion of the American government was matched only by his admiration for the spirit which walked among its people.

Another American original passed away this past week. Ray Charles, whose death will, I fear be overshadowed by that of our 40th president, left us at 73. The blind man who can make miraculous music will forever be an inspiration. He is an embodiment of the American spirit: its heart, its determination, its soul. His music was our music. And oh, how that man could play the piano.

God bless you, Ray and Ron. You'll be missed.

...dead presidents

now, now, mr. cohen.

while Ronald Reagan was not the best president ev-uh, as some conservatives would have you believe, I think it's clear that whatever one's opinion, it's in poor form to speak so ill of the dead.

actually, it's an interesting non-event as the nation has had lots of time to consider the Reagan legacy without him in the spotlight.

the 80's are a hugely influential time in US history--a time of progress that really set the nation on the course for its current position. there were bad aspects to the 80's as well, I'll admit. the music and hairdo's alone should have to answer to the international fashion criminal court.

nevertheless, whatever one's opinion, it's clear that Reagan served the country well, and should be spoken of kindly.

A Long Overdue Bucket-kicking

Good riddance.

good and bad

today is a good and bad day.

the new harry potter movie was released. I saw it at midnight. it was a qualitatively better film--amazingly directed. cheers to Cuaron for producing a truly remarkable work.

on the other hand, today is the 15th anniversary of Tiananmen Square, an event that truly indicates how crappy communist regimes can be, and should remind us that brutal regimes still exist in this world, and how valuable and sacrosanct we should really hold rights to be.

p.s. - down with capitalism (lower-case "c")

Should I send myself to teen boot camp? Or, "your family values," coming right up.

This questionnaire, designed to help parents deal with difficult teens, asks such charming questions as:

"Has your teen's appearance and/or personal hygiene changed?"

"Does your teen seem to demonstrate a lack of motivation?"

"Does your teen engage in activities you don't approve of? "

"Does your teen seem to constantly be in opposition to your family values?"

My teen, or, rather, my 20-year-old self, is somewhat disheveled when 10th week comes to an end. My "teen" has, at times, demonstrated a lack of motivation.

The other two questions above are just too vague, though. I'm not sure what to do with these "activites" that parents don't approve of--depending on who the parents are, these activities could include reading, talking on the phone, eating potato chips, snorting cocaine, refusing to snort cocaine...

And what exactly is meant by "your family values"--your family's values, or your values, which are somehow family-related. It's unclear. Please, please, do not send your teen to boot camp. The end.