Saturday, October 14, 2006

Florida and Auburn

Game off.

How many times? How many times?
How many times will instant replay fail in college football.

It was an incomplete pass and not a fumble. [I say this with no interest in the SEC. My team is in the Big Ten and benefits from bad officiating.]

At least hockey is back in season. At least refs in hockey never get the call wrong. Well....

Friday, October 13, 2006

Let me get personal for a minute...

I want to take some time to thank Solon for introducing me to a new brand of beer this past weekend. After putting down several Modelos on Saturday night, I tried one of his Dogfish Head IPAs. Boy, was it good!

It was so good, in fact, that I ran to the liquor store earlier this week and picked up a few for myself. I had to purchase them in singles, as my local store had stopped carrying the brand and was selling off its remaining stock by the bottle (to make room in their larger coolers for more popular varieties of beer). I bought last two they had. I think they were 120-minute IPAs.

I brought my two beers home (along with a few other sample singles) and decided to pop them open after dinner. Keep in mind that I was not planning to get loopy that night; I just wanted a Doghead or two. And they sure hit the spot.

But I had no idea that they were 20% alcohol. Before finishing my second beer, I was buzzing pretty good. I didn't quite understand it. I thought that all beers were of the same alcohol content. Something like 4.5-5%, required by law. At least that what it used to be in my home state. I never knew that the %ABV went this high in beers.

So thank you, Solon, for turning me on to Dogfish Head. And thank you for encouraging me to always check the alcohol content of my beer.

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On another note, I'd like to welcome Southpaw to The Rhetorical Situation. As you may have gathered from his last few posts, he is an entertaining and intellegent bloke who is sure to offer a unique perspective to our humble blog. Welcome, Southpaw!

More bad quotes from the NFL

In an article from Don Banks about the possibility Rand Moss will be traded by the Raiders before Tuesday's trade deadline:

"We're hearing there are a couple suitors for Moss,'' one veteran general manager. "And when you look at his contract, a trade is not as unlikely as people think. There is some smoke there right now, and you can't be sure it won't turn into fire.''

How does smoke cause fire? I always thought, correct me if I am wrong, that smoke is a sign of a fire.

In all my years of teaching argumentation and debate and discussing the fire/smoke relationship as an argument by sign, it took the wisdom of an NFL GM to prove me wrong.

Perspectives by Incongruity

This is random: A site combined the annoying Family Circus cartoons with the lovable philosophy of Freidrich Nitezche. Wait, I mean. Oh well. Here is an Example:


Caption: All sciences are now under the obligation to prepare the ground for the future task of the philosopher, which is to solve the problem of value, to determine the true hierarchy of values.

What wonderful technology: If you hit refresh, you'll receive another cartoon!!!

I once saw Marx's ideology outlined by using Family Circus Cartoons. I wonder is it is online?

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

"Call the attorney. Habeas Corpus. Call the Attorney!"

It is not as if we actually need this Habeas Corpus idea. People did fine without it. Why should we consider ourselves to be so special?

This is a sound party platform...

"At least no one died."

This is the defense by Republican Representative Christopher Shays (Connecticut) over the Foley Scandle. According to CNN, "Republican Rep. Christopher Shays defended the House speaker's handling of a congressional page scandal, saying no one died like during the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident involving Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy."

Does he defend the current disaster of Iraq by arguing Sadam killed more? Oh. Wait. That defense is no longer valid.

While I am not sure if I actually want the Democrats to win the midterms, I do think the country will implode or spontaneously combust if the Republicans were to win.

If only our political system would allow a viable third party to compete. But, coporations, er, I mean people, would not allow for...that...um...oh...um....democracy to work.

At times like these I can only think of Monty Python. Unfortunately, I think of them, in general, and this skit, in particular, as a metaphor for our democracy, or republic, or aristocracy, or...whatever.

Bell RInger: "Bring out your Dead."
Body: "I'm not dead yet."
Bell Ringer: "What?"
Body Carrier: "Nothing. Here's your nine pouds."
Bell Ringer: "He says he's not dead."
Body Carrier: "Yes he is."
Body: "I'm not."
Bell Ringer: "He isn't?"
Body Carrier: "We'll he will be soon. He's very ill."
Body: "I'm getting better."
Carrier of Body: "No you're not. You'll be stone dead in a moment."
Bell Ringer: "I can't take him like that. It's against regulaitons."
Body: "I Don't want to go in the cart."
Carrier of Body: "Oh, don't be such a baby."
Carrier: "Oh do us a favor...."
Body: "I feel fine."
Carrier: (to Bell Ringer) "Isn't there anything you can do?"
Body: "I think I'll go for a walk."
Carrier: "Your not fooling anyone you know."
Body: "I feel happy. I feel happy."

Thump.

(It's at the end of the clip, after "Ralph the Wonder LLama.")