Cheerleaders are dancers gone retarded

Yeah I finally got to see "Bring it On", cute movie.

'Course I still hate cheerleaders.

Anyway, I went to the library last week to try to track down Michael Moore's "Stupid White Men" and all the copies were out so I started glancing around the section and landed on Bill O'Reilly's books "The O'Reilly Factor" and "The No Spin Zone". Some library-oriented deity must've been laughing its ass off when I checked those two out. Hey, if you spend all of your time only reading one side's perspective you don't really learn anything. So I decided to give the books a read.

I would say that I disagree with a great many of his points and opinions, but I found myself startled that I agreed so strongly with others. His views on SUVs had me downright howling, and I found myself nodding quite often when I read his chapter on parenting. I know, how scary is that? But the one chapter that actually honestly resonated for me was the "Friendship Factor".

He started out by saying that friendships differ from "acquaintances" in that they should be fewer, and that the standards for the former should be much higher on both sides. That the basis for true friendship started with personal responsibility, making promises and sticking to them, being reliable and true to your word. After that came loyalty, and of course honesty.

He commented that true friendship isn't always easy, nor should it be. That sometimes you have to do things for your friends that are inconvenient or difficult. Indeed sometimes you have to do things that scare you or make you uncomfortable, and anyone not willing to be inconvenienced for you should probably be slipped into the "friendly acquaintance" category.

High standards, he maintained, were not a bad thing, indeed anything less and you were selling yourself and your friends short.

I felt as if the Hallelujah Chorus was playing in the background as I read this. For a very long time I bought into the words of so many ex friends, "You want too much, you expect too much, I can't live up to your standards." Well maybe if I weren't offering the same in return, I'd agree with you. But I expect no more than I'm willing to give.

One last thing on the subject, this is a general philosophy that I'm discussing here, not a veiled attack on any of my current friends or acquaintances. Please do not take this as something directed at anyone personally, it's not meant to be, it's just an overall outlook, that's all.

( Do I really need to warn you what's under here at this point? )

Is the War on Iraq Lawful?

As someone only vaguely versed on international law, particularly where it regards the war on Iraq, I found this article quite interesting.

Something to ponder:
In that respect, a bit of ancient history may be relevant. In Chapter Seventeen of his History of the Peloponnesian War (between Athens and Sparta in the Fifth Century B.C.), Thucydides recounted the reaction of the people of the small neutral island state of Melos to the invading Athenian navy. Before attacking Melos, the Athenians gave the Melians an opportunity to surrender. The Melians attempted to persuade the Athenians to leave them alone. According to Thucydides, the Athenians would have none of it. Questions of justice arise only among equals, the Athenians said, while the strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must.

The Melians refused to surrender; the Athenians prevailed militarily; they killed the adult Melian males; and they sold the women and children into slavery. But ultimately with aid from Persia (modern-day Iran), Sparta defeated and conquered Athens, which never regained its glory.

Even as we hope that President Bush can bring the spirit of Athenian democracy to the cradle of civilization, we may fear that he has forged a different, and darker, connection to ancient Athens.