With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy - I mean that if you are happy you will be good.
Too much sanity may be madness and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.
I enjoy paying taxes. With them I buy civilization.
2003-01-25 - 10:16 a.m.
Let’s start with the self congratulations. I have two entries in the last Oddgoogle and I submitted the current FHDC poll. Yes I am pathetic.
I got an email from one of my students yesterday asking if I could help her in my office today. I wrote back and said, “sure be there at three.” I don’t normally go in on Fridays but I was tutoring Alma at four so I’d be there anyway.” I got there at a quarter to three and saw Alma in the library. I was afraid that there was some miscommunication and I had promised her that I’d see her at three. I didn’t. She just got there early. I told her I had a student scheduled but that we should start because she probably wouldn’t come anyway. I was right, she never showed up. If you are a serious student and want a cool math teacher transfer to NYIT and register for my class. I’ll make it worth your while.
Tutoring Alma is always fun. It’s great to be paid for doing something you love. I don’t get paid enough but at least I like what I’m doing. When we were done she asked me to write a letter to her school asking that she be transferred to a different math class. She doesn’t like the teacher that she was assigned next semester. I felt so conspiratorial writing it. I really am a math teacher so that part wasn’t a lie but I don’t really know the teachers involved. I said I did to justify the transfer. I doubt it will work but you never know.
After I finished with Alma and playing on the computer at school I went to the Knick game. The Knicks played the Dallas Mavericks, the team with the best record in the NBA. They lost 101-90. The big news is that I predicted 101-89, the best prediction I ever made. I won, Alan is now winning 11-6. It’s going to be tough but I can make that up before the season’s over.
I’m actually going to get in some of that politics I’ve wanted to write about. There are very few people that I agree with on Iraq. The way I see it the doves are lying to themselves and the hawks are lying to everyone else. My first instinct are always against war. That doesn’t mean it’s always wrong though. The thing is I really don’t like Hussein and worry about what could happen. He really did use chemical warfare against not only the Iranians, who responded in kind, but against his own people. He is one of the few world leaders that I’d worry about actually using a nuclear weapon. He has twice invaded neighboring countries, Iran, and Kuwait.
What really gets me worried is that in the last gulf war when he wanted to rally support for himself he launched missile attacks on Israel. They didn’t break up the coalition but they might have if Israel retaliated. It really isn’t far fetched to think that if he had nuclear weapons he’d use them against Israel. To a large portion of the world that would make him a great hero. He knows that. He knows that he might face destruction if he did but he might feel it was worth the risk.
We have tried sanctions for years now to no avail. They hurt the Iraqi people but not Hussein. His people starve but he continues to build new palaces.
But why should we start a war now? This is where I start having a problem. Why is now different that two years ago. If Bush has information that shows that he really is close to acquiring weapons of mass destruction he hasn’t shared it with the rest of us. He wants us to just trust him. He doesn’t have nearly enough credibility with me for that. More importantly he doesn’t have enough credibility with the world for that. To attack Iraq unilaterally would be devalue the rule of law in international relationships. If he has reason to believe that the threat is real he should be able to convince the world and have a UN lead war. That’s the only kind I could support.
What I really want is to know the truth of the situation. I don’t have enough facts to judge what to do. That is Bush’s fault. When Kennedy announced the blockade against Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis he shared the intelligence that lead to his decision. He knew that the good opinion of the world and the American people depended on it.
OK enough depressing politics. The big news is that today I’m seeing the amazing Christine Lavin sharing a bill with Buskin and Batteau. The best part is that I’m going with two of my favorite people, Leah and Gella. I’m picking Leah up at noon and I have a fun day in New York planned for her. Gella is going to meet us at the Bottom Line. I’m a happy camper.
Lastly I can’t forget what today is, January 25th is the last day of Festivus. Not only that it is Jacimas and Lawrencemas.
Whee Festivus
Happy Jacimas
Merry Lawrencemas
The International Jewish Banking Conspiracy - October 07, 2008
On the Road to Westchester County - October 06, 2008
Inside the Madison Square Studio - October 05, 2008
I'm a Bosniac and I'm debating like I've never debated before - October 03, 2008
Islands in the Stream of Consciousness - October 02, 2008
Email me: GordonLew at gmail
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. Horvendile 2003-01-25
