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I was talking to Yosi a couple days ago, and he said, “you hafta put this quote in your blog.”

I responded, “Yeah, but where did you get it?”

“A friend of mine. An Arab Muslim.”

I still didn’t want to put it in, but I wrote it down anyway and promised to think about it. Of course, Yosi knows me too well and knows that I’ll eventually stick it in.

We’ll see.

Anyway, the reason why the subject came up was a speech given in Australia by a guy named Israeli from a country called Israel on something called Islam. He inadvertently ignited a storm of controversy by the following:

I was talking to Yosi a couple days ago, and he said, “you hafta put this quote in your blog.”

I responded, “Yeah, but where did you get it?”

“A friend of mine. An Arab Muslim.”

I still didn’t want to put it in, but I wrote it down anyway and promised to think about it. Of course, Yosi knows me too well and knows that I’ll eventually stick it in.

We’ll see.

Anyway, the reason why the subject came up was a speech given in Australia by a guy named Israeli from a country called Israel on something called Islam. He inadvertently ignited a storm of controversy by the following:

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Years ago, I ran across a factoid that hammered home this point that Communism isn’t the problem. It was from an analyst/historian who specialized in China. He said (and I paraphrase):

Mao Zedong considered himself and the Communist Party to be the modern-day emperor of China. 

I will need to re-track down this fact some day to get the exact wording, instead of paraphrasing. But, the point still stands.

The point is that China was a problem not because they were Communist, but because they were Imperialists.

Years ago, I ran across a factoid that hammered home this point that Communism isn’t the problem. It was from an analyst/historian who specialized in China. He said (and I paraphrase):

Mao Zedong considered himself and the Communist Party to be the modern-day emperor of China. 

I will need to re-track down this fact some day to get the exact wording, instead of paraphrasing. But, the point still stands.

The point is that China was a problem not because they were Communist, but because they were Imperialists.

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A friend of mine at University was Communist, as in Marxist – even Trotsky, maybe. He was on my debate team and we had an interesting relationship. Me, the Conservative firebrand. Him, the too-Socialist to be Socialist.

I enjoyed crossing verbal swords with him and learned a lot from this quiet student of library science. One of those things was a firm conviction that librarians should never formulate public policy. Another was that Communism was never a threat to anyone.

Communism is that beautiful, even artistic, vision of peace and tranquility. It’s a dream. It also assumes more goodwill than most human beings have a capacity for – which means that it’s pathetic.

A friend of mine at University was Communist, as in Marxist – even Trotsky, maybe. He was on my debate team and we had an interesting relationship. Me, the Conservative firebrand. Him, the too-Socialist to be Socialist.

I enjoyed crossing verbal swords with him and learned a lot from this quiet student of library science. One of those things was a firm conviction that librarians should never formulate public policy. Another was that Communism was never a threat to anyone.

Communism is that beautiful, even artistic, vision of peace and tranquility. It’s a dream. It also assumes more goodwill than most human beings have a capacity for – which means that it’s pathetic.

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There are a lot of reasons why I don’t like the UN. It’s mind-numbingly corrupt. It’s appetite for hypocrisy is gluttonous. It’s horribly inefficient, in the extreme.

And, it’s outrageously stupid.

Stupidity is a hot button for me, so I can’t pass up examples of it.

Here’s one. Today, the Associated Press reports:

In Vienna on Thursday, delegates to a 35-nation meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency approved the suspension of 22 nuclear technical aid projects to Iran as part of UN sanctions.

Wow.

After years of Iranian intransigence, the IAEA (the UN’s nuclear regulatory agency) FINALLY suspends nuclear technical AID PROJECTS?!?!?!

There are a lot of reasons why I don’t like the UN. It’s mind-numbingly corrupt. It’s appetite for hypocrisy is gluttonous. It’s horribly inefficient, in the extreme.

And, it’s outrageously stupid.

Stupidity is a hot button for me, so I can’t pass up examples of it.

Here’s one. Today, the Associated Press reports:

In Vienna on Thursday, delegates to a 35-nation meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency approved the suspension of 22 nuclear technical aid projects to Iran as part of UN sanctions.

Wow.

After years of Iranian intransigence, the IAEA (the UN’s nuclear regulatory agency) FINALLY suspends nuclear technical AID PROJECTS?!?!?!

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I have a problem.

I get annoyed. About Little things.

Well, not EVERY Little thing, but a lot of Little things – like, for instance, the proper pronunciation of words.

I was driving home today after dropping my aunt off at the airport and was listening to my second favorite radio station, when the announcer said the word calzone. However, instead of saying it right, he said it like this: cal-zohn.

Look, calzone is Italian, which means that you ALWAYS pronounce the last vowel. ALWAYS. When you say calzone, say it like this:

cal-ZO-neh

I have a problem.

I get annoyed. About Little things.

Well, not EVERY Little thing, but a lot of Little things – like, for instance, the proper pronunciation of words.

I was driving home today after dropping my aunt off at the airport and was listening to my second favorite radio station, when the announcer said the word calzone. However, instead of saying it right, he said it like this: cal-zohn.

Look, calzone is Italian, which means that you ALWAYS pronounce the last vowel. ALWAYS. When you say calzone, say it like this:

cal-ZO-neh

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