Yoda & PM Martin

What the Force can do for you, ask not. But what you can do for the Force - ask.

There's a Fark caption contest going on where you submit famous quotes as they would have been phrased by Yoda.

From the It's About Time page, Seattle's ticketing drivers that wait until the last second to merge. Yay.

David Frum thinks that same-sex marriage is going to cause the end of society - oh boo hoo. Should the government really refuse civil marriage based on an immuatble characteristic like sexual orientation? How about race then? Don't be fooled, this is the next civil rights struggle. Hopefully though, the battle will be fought in the arena of ideas and not in the courts.

And, for God's sake, why can't we get the same sort of intelligible rhetoric on same-sex marriage in this country that Paul Martin's demonstrated in Canada?

The rights of Canadians who belong to a minority group must always be protected by virtue of their status as citizens, regardless of their numbers. These rights must never be left vulnerable to the impulses of the majority.

Bravo, Mr. Prime Minister.

The nut of the debate: In the last post I talked about the struggle for control of the Republican party, and Ryan Sager's 02/21 piece on (of all places) Tech Central Station started that little dialogue with the National Review.

Make absolutely no mistake about it: This party, among its most hard-core supporters, is not about freedom anymore. It is about foisting its members' version of morality and economic intervention on the country. It is, in other words, the mirror image of its hated enemy.

It's so disheartening to see what's happened to the GOP over the last few years. Savvy politicking on one incendiary issue to each demographic has resulted in a populist patchwork of economic liberalism and social "conservatism" that results in bigger and bigger government. I'm waiting for them to completely abandon the idea of individual empowerment altogether. The rhetoric survives, at least for now.

My brother's raving to me about the new Dave Holland disc. Anyone heard it yet?

So It's Happened

In response to the question "do you have a website?" I've always answered "No. I don't have that much to say, and I don't think anyone would be interested in hearing it anyway." And I still stand by that. I don't have a website. I have a weblog. Easy to set up, always looks nice no matter how little talent is involved... Not unlike the school I attended.

Anyway, this place is going to be where I deposit links I come across. I shoot so many links to everyone over IM every day, I hope this blog can consolidate the effort.

Been following the Sager-Ponnuru debate over the direction of Conservatism: The Sectarian Religious Conservatives, the Big Government Conservatives, and the Freedom Hawks are all vying for the nucleus of the movement, and the first two groups have their guy in the White House. Their rouze of calling themselves "Conservatives" really is irritating. Bill O'Reilly puts it better by deeming that side (of which he considers himself a part) "Traditionalists." But the soul of the Conservative movement should also be the sole Conservative ethos: Freedom - an ideal big government and religious authority only impede.

Check out the point-counterpoint on airline safety in this month's issue of Reason. Cato's Jim Haper changed my mind on this issue.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra have set up an online survey for supporters to voice their opinions on the subject of Barenboim's successor. Being that he announced his "retirement" over a year ago, we can guess at how quickly this committee is moving. The Staatskapelle Berlin elected him "Chief Conductor for Life" in 2000, and that's really where he should be. There conductor and orchestra share a common vision, sometimes to startlingly excellent results, other times just to nostalgic, over-wrought Von Bulow-ish taffy-pulling. My two cents? Chicago should do everything possible to get any of the Concertgebouw's circle of conductors - especially Riccardo Chailly - in there. If not him, then Robertson, Spano or Nagano.

This week I've rediscovered a CSO recording that I hadn't listened to in far too long. The beginning of the fourth movement on this Mahler 1 recording reminds you how lucky we are to have a brass section like the CSO in existence today. Frankly, I've yet to hear a Boulez recording made since his return to the podium that hasn't blown me away.

That's all I have time for now - need to keep working on Brett's piece ...It's coming, I swear!!!... and get going on these Sweet Charity backing tracks. But I can only do those things once I get a new SATA drive.

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