Drink Upstream

Not Ready for Prime Time

We should just call this douche-bags on parade.....talk about a 'debate' that will go nowhere.

Link: Evangelist Challenges Atheists to Bible-Less Debate | Christianpost.com.

Note to self...read more Vonnegut

15 Things Kurt Vonnegut Said Better Than Anyone Else Ever Has Or Will | The A.V. Club.

Death No More.

I'm glad to see that the DMN Editorial Board has finally decided to join the right side of this debate.

Death No More 

Anyone willing to argue that they are wrong?  Personally, they had me when they called Scalia's 'rationale' supporting capital punishment "a transgression against Western moral tradition."  W00t.

The Best Show You Aren't Watching

Okay.

I asked you to trust me once with Battlestar.

Some of you watched it.

Most of you loved it (see..I told you so....)

Now I'm asking for another 30 minutes of your television watching time.  If you aren't watching How I Met Your Mother, you should start....now.  Next Monday night features the 2nd season episode "Slap Bet", the best one this season.  If you watch it and don't like it, well...then I'll shut up about it....but that won't happen.

Give this article a quick read...it'll get you caught up.
Link: NYO - News Story 1 - Meet Mother Please.

The Right to Keep and Bear Arms

The Second Amendment--
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

As I have heard it, the over-wrought debate between pro-gun conservatives and gun-control liberals can be simplified into two basic positions.

Conservative: 'The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed'; most every law that is passed to restrict or limit access to firearms is a violation of our second amendment rights.

Liberal: Let's not forget the first part, 'a well regulated militia'; where do you see a well-regulated militia unchecked public access to guns? All I see is violence and death.

I roll my eyes when I hear either of these two arguments (or their real world equivalents). There are monumental differences to the discussion of rights than arguments dwelling on two short phrases.

learning korean is hard

this is a continuation of babby's earlier post about assimilation and america and the like.  so, since i'm having a go at living in another country whose main language is different from my native language, i thought i'd reflect a bit on that (quite difficult) experience.  perhaps it helps shed light on ways we may approach our friends coming into the US.

WorldNetDaily: Bringing the Bible back into public schools

Here's the newest tidbit from the high quality news organization that brought you the Pulitzer Prize winning "Soy makes you gay" article:

Chuck Norris + WorldNetDaily = Bringing the Bible back into public schools.

Remember...he can kill you with his bare hands.

I like my bowls full of chili....not dust.

So what does it take to convince a global warming doubter that we're not making this stuff up?

Dust Bowl-like drought projected | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Latest News.

....and would you even do anything if I could convince you?

NewTeeVee Karina’s Capsule: Dinner with the Band

So as a part to my re-commitment to this blog, I've decided that at a minimum you get a cool link a day...if not a full-fledged post....

Okay....Can you combine two of my favorite things (cooking and music) any better?

How cool is this!
Dinner with the Band.

See what happens when you assimilate...

You make an ass out of imilate....or something.

I've been thinking a lot lately about "assimilation".....

Whenever someone takes a stand against undocumented immigrants in this country, and they are called "anti-immigrant" in response, they say something like: "I'm fine with immigrants, as long as they come legally, and when they get here, they assimilate into OUR country." Now...I take issue with a number of things here, not the least of which is a bunch of white-ass crackers saying that the United States is exclusively "theirs"...but that's a conversation for another time.

It seems that our now "pro-immigrant" friend here has something in mind when she is talking about assimilation. I'm not entirely sure that I know what she means...so I do what I often do...I look for examples...

I think the best place to look is in communities of immigrants that have been here for a long time...surely they have "assimilated".

What do they look like?

Is it about language?

Well. Take a trip to a Chinatown (pick one...of many). Are the signs in English? What language do you hear the locals speak to one another?

Maybe it's about the food...or the music....or that ephemeral notion of "culture"...

Go to Little Italy in Manhattan during the Feast of San Gennaro. Doesn't really look, sound, or smell like cheeseburgers, jazz, or country music....it feels...well...Italian...

That all begs the question....What do I think?

I think ultimately assimilation is more about what we, as an immigrant's new home, do to make them a part of our culture. I think assimilation occurs when we start to see that new community as a part of our collective whole, just like we've done with the Italians (Have you seen the Godfather....), the Chinese (What's a trip to San Fransisco, New York, or DC with out a stop in Chinatown for lunch?), and any number of the panoply of cultures that makes up the mismash that we call "our" culture. Once we get over ourselves, and recognize that "they" are really a part of "us"...then we've got that assimilation thing down.