A poem! February 28, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Poetry, Uncategorized.4 comments
I've recently been asked to compile some poems that were influential to me. I thought I'd share one here: Carolyn Forche's "The Colonel." Enjoy.
A Toast! February 27, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in arts and culture, Friends, language and lit.1 comment so far
It's my birthday, and today I was rereading the magnificent "Season of Mists" story from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, so I thought I'd quote the toast Hob Gadling offers the Lord of Dreams:
"To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the devil his due."
It may be sentimental, but if you're an absent friend, a lost love, or even an old god (freakin' sweet), then I'm thinking of you today. I raise a metaphysical glass in your honor.
About this port business February 27, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in bigotry, News and politics, Terrorism.5 comments
I know I'm discussing a much-debated topic, but recent discussion of whether port management should be outsourced overseas has been much on my mind recently. Dispatches from the Culture Wars has some interesting thoughts on this point here , but I have my own questions that I'd like your thoughts on:
1) Is this really about foreign governments operating U.S. ports? After all, we outsource almost everything else. To put it another way, would there be the same furor if we'd made this deal with, say, the U.K. or France? Okay, maybe France is a bad example.
2) If outsourcing would sometimes be okay, is it not okay here because Dubai was a home to 2 of the 9/11 hijackers, because they have policies we don't like, or because they're Arab (read: Muslim)?
3) Can we even be unbiased enough to decide this, or has our fear of terrorism made these issues so connected in the American mind that we can't even tell if we're being racist about this?
Evil Bender wants to know what you think!
About This Blog February 27, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Blogging.2 comments
Flexo is a character on the brilliant TV Show Futurama. He looks exactly like Bender, only he has a gotee. Because of this, Fry assumes he is evil. Of course, it is eventually revealed that Bender is the evil one.
Fry: "I'm shocked! Shocked! Well, not that shocked."
It is my view that the current tendency among much of U.S. society is to oversimplify every issue, reducing it down to the point where it is easily understandable and meaningless. Sometimes Evil Bender turns out to be good. Sometimes it isn't clear what is evil and what is good.
This writer will do his best to deal with the complexity of the issues he addresses. He will also try to work pop culture quotes in whenever he can.
