It's one of those freaking days. God knows why. I could use something to calm the mind.

Josh is away again, and so what do I do tonight for entertainment? I think the Sabres are on. I could also go shopping for gifts. I'm looking for a good music DVD for my Dad. His tastes are not mainstream and so you cannot find most of what he wants in normal stores. Maybe I'll stop by New World and see what they have.

I don't really think I want anything material. Money is always good, and there are things I suppose I can use (a.k.a. need) but I don't really find myself wanting anything at all. The closest thing is some kind of speaker system where I can plug my iPod and listen at night. Tons of those are available. Even so, I don't really care if I get anything at all.

No, the things I want are intangibles that just aren't on the shelf.

Whatever. I'm rambling.

Now that I've enticed you with the Drudge-esque title, here's a link to the story of a Federal Lawsuit involving Ladies' Night. Some guy is suing because he alleges it is discriminatory to let chicks in for nothing and for their drinks to be practically free:



I have mixed feelings about this.

I don't buy the argument that Ladies' Night benefits guys in "other" ways - it sure as shit isn't a guarantee you are going to go home with a hottie. I hate the fact the bars are trying to disguise their greed. They want to sell drinks, not get guys laid, and who buys drinks? We do.

I also don't think that early bird specials or senior citizen coffee mornings are discriminatory. That's pretty cynical, and what are you going to do, go to Grampa and tell him to pony up the buck for his cup of joe? No, you're not, unless you are the biggest asshole ever.

What motivates a straight man to go to a club? I do think it is mostly to see girls, although nobody is expecting to take one home. That only happens for a small percentage of guys who look and act the part of the cheeseball greaser. Most guys just gawk, although the cheap drinks for the girls will impair their judgment enough to maybe tip the scales in our favor.

MY SOLUTION - Keep Ladies' Night, but force clubs to hand back the entrance fee for guys who don't end up bringing one of the ladies home. You'll still get soaked for drinks, but at least you'll be able to receive your "benefit" both ways. It's less discriminatory, no?

First of all, it was great meeting and re-meeting you at the pot luck. Those of you unfortunate enough to not be there, maybe next time. I'll try to bring (e:Joshua) along next time. Everyone loves Josh - he is by far the favorite Larson, due to his extremely outgoing and chatty nature. It is a skill he learned through being a waiter, and doing the job he's doing now.

In case you want to know, and haven't looked outside already, the snow is starting to come down harder now, and it is the heavy stuff that we all hate to shovel. It's "damn" cold now - the kind of day when you want to go cuddle with that hot neighbor upstairs.

Well, I had a bad dream that woke me up at 8 AM, so here I am. You know, over the past few years I've had a variation on the same bad dream, and I can't tell you how much I wish it would go away. It has me thinking of relationships again, and sort of dampens my mood.

My best buddy I think found a girl he really likes, but circumstances may derail that before it ever takes off. Too bad, she's an awesome chick for the most part. I'm hoping for the best for him.

Another friend of mine is a new father, and I'm really excited for him. I'm sort of the opposite of Jerry - he wants to be married but not have kids - and I would love to be a Dad someday, but marriage frightens me. If I met a girl I thought could be that loyal, I would do anything to keep her.

I don't think I'm as close to my NYC pals as I used to be, and I wonder if it's possible to right that ship. Since an ex and I share mutual friends, I don't really see them anymore. I wonder if that will ever change? They go on vacations together now and stuff. There's a part of me that feels left out as a result of this, wondering if I'm losing my friends, but I also think I need to be a far more reliable communicator. I think I'm just going to pick up the phone.

I think a trip to NYC is in order. Not just to visit them but also some other friends who I haven't seen in a while. I start to get vacation time at the beginning of the year, so hopefully I can plan something and get out there.

Ah, another category!

I've just read another excellent offering by Camille Paglia. I would love to buy her a beer sometime and let her just riff about whatever. Hahaha, she's great.



She mentions the fact that Imus is on the air again, with WABC Radio, at the expense of the Curtis & Kuby show. For those who are not familiar, Curtis Sliwa is the founder of the Guardian Angels, and you couldn't beat the New York out of him with an iron pipe. Ron Kuby is a criminal defense and civil rights attorney out of Manhattan. They had a very interesting left/right dynamic on the air that was far different than the Hannity & Colmes dynamic.

Personally, I can't believe Imus is back on the air. I mean I don't think he should be prevented from making a living, but he is fucking old, fucking rich, and a bigot. I don't want to listen to him even more than I didn't want to listen to him before. I really enjoyed the Curtis & Kuby show on internet radio.

I want you guys to read what Ron Kuby wrote about the situation. Kuby is an atheist, pro-abort, anti-war Communist (really, he's a commie), but I love him. Do you know why I love him? Because he's not an asshole. He's not a bomb thrower. He's not a hypocrite. You aren't going to see him fighting right-wing "hatred" by being a bigot or a hater himself. He does not want to control people or make them conform to his vision of the world. He's got the ability to make a good, persuasive argument without exposing BDS symptoms. He's a good guy. I want to buy him a beer too.



Granted....I'm definitely not one to say that the government has any business at all enforcing equality on the airwaves in terms of ideology. That idea is a relic of years gone by, and should never see the light of day again. If you can't come up with a competing product, don't cry to Uncle Sam that competition is too difficult for you to handle.

I will say this - I do agree with Kuby's point about "stationality" and how it stifles critical thinking (and, I'm certain he actually knows what the phrase means). Then again, I think Americans are absolutely in love with the idea - and it isn't a surprise that this extends to media formats outside of radio. People love living in a bubble where their orthodoxy is never challenged.

That being said, I think WABC made a ridiculous and stupid decision to put Imus on the air and take Curtis and Kuby off the air. They've lost me as an e-listener forever. I like the back and forth more and more these days. I love watching old episodes of Firing Line. I, like Camille Paglia, am going to miss Ron Kuby. I hope he gets a great radio gig somewhere else.

Saw the Hatton/Mayweather fight last night, thanks to (e:Joshua) - and I have to say, I was glued to the monitor. What a spectacle. Of course, the Blokes behaved like a bunch of animals, which was a disgrace, but no surprise to anyone who follows English sports (England v. Croatia is only the most recent example).

I was thinking to myself, you know, the NFL is becoming less and less attractive to me. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but there have been times (certain Super Bowls in recent memory) that my faith in the NFL as an honest sports enterprise has waned significantly. I also know that the NFL would love nothing more than for the Bills to leave here and move to Toronto or Los Angeles, strictly for TV revenue, and that doesn't help things.

So I think, well, if I'm supposed to believe in the NFL, I might as well believe that Boxing isn't corrupt or shady, and just enjoy the entertainment as it is - and I have to say I don't give a damn how much of a jerk Floyd Mayweather is - he is an unbelievable boxer. I loved watching the fight.

Thanks (e:Joshua)!

Hehe. Well, not exactly, but the way she speaks about her biological child is a little off:



"I felt so much more for Madd, Zahara and Pax because they were survivors.

"Shiloh seemed so privileged from the moment she was born.

"But I'm conscious that I have to make sure I don't ignore her needs, just because I think the others are more vulnerable."

Brad, the mother of your child is saying that!! Where is your fucking spine? I hope you don't feel that way about your daughter, too.

Maybe Angie really wasn't cut out for biological kids. I know my mother wasn't. I hope this is just the British press being the British press, and none of it is true.

I've been reading more and more about how important it is to eat breakfast, not just to give you energy, but also for your general health. I'm not sure if it's BS, but I hate the inevitable hunger pangs that happen every day at around 11:00. That's reason enough for me to start eating breakfast, and anything else is a side benefit.

How many of you fit breakfast in with your morning routine? How do you do it? I'm the type of person that likes to wake up as late as possible, as is feasible to get to work on time. Cooking a full breakfast means sacrificing probably another half hour of sleep. So what is my solution? Pop Tarts, or maybe bring an orange to work.

It has been at least a week since I've checked in with you all, and so here I am. Things are fine, but there are some details you should know.

First of all, I noticed over the weekend that I had a nasty back itch. I ran my hands along my upper back to feel for the itch, and I felt GROOVES on my back. I finally took a look, and sure enough, my back is scratched to all hell. Anyone else have a bout with the Ghost Back Scratch phenomenon?

I know what you're thinking, and no it isn't that. It's been a year since a chick tore up my back like that. By the way, why does love hurt so much? I can't tell whether you love me or hate me when you do that, ladies. Gramma worries about me getting hurt, but I don't think she quite has things like that in mind. Suffice it to say, I'm not having that kind of fun lately.

Which reminds me - my best buddy is dating a girl who wants to set me up with a friend of hers, who happens to have a boyfriend already. "We don't like him" - huh? Who is to say that they won't say that about me someday and work behind my back to derail shit? Jerry says the guy is a drug dealer, and pretty much shook his head. That tells me everything I need to know about the situation - if your best bud tells you NO, follow his advice.

God, my back is really itching now. This is distracting.

Okay, I also went clothes shopping, which should surprise some people. I got 3 shirts, a sweater, and a pair of gray slacks. My other gray slacks had the zipper torn off and I've been slacking on replacing them. Why does love have to be so expensive? Actually, I only spent a total of $88 and for me that is pretty good. I'm not a patient shopper. It is not my favorite activity unless we're talking electronics.

Not much else to report, peeps. Work is fine, although I wish the Banking industry were more interested in newer web technologies. I'm going to be doing some very interesting things soon, none of which I am allowed to talk about.

I am going to come to the pot luck dinner, okay, but I am baffled as to what to make. Maybe I will try Ladycroft's zucchini squares. I love them thangs!

Soundtrack for today is Franz Ferdinand, again. Maybe I'll try some internet radio later (Classic rock!) Hey, I really like the song "Fade Together" - I love the guy's voice. The song is a little sad, but I think there is a part of us that likes sad songs too.

I don't have a problem with anything you guys have said re: Don't Ask, Don't Tell. To be fair to Clinton, he supported an openly gay approach early on, but eventually he compromised.

I would bet heavily on this one thing - if someone who isn't used to being around gay folks and feels uncomfortable, or even if they are out and out homophobe, gets their backs watched and saved by a gay soldier, their minds will change in a hurry.

Maybe I'm being a bit generous there. My gut feeling is, and this may not be completely true, that homophobia is pretty damn common in the military. If it weren't, there would be no need for a Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, and we would be doing the fair thing already.

Interesting how the Republican candidates phrased their answers - most of them avoided the fairness issue altogether and talked about how the military brass thought the policy was working.

It is true that the Army first integrated african-americans into the military ranks. The thing is, they did not come up with the idea or suggest it to Truman - he issued an executive order demanding it, and was fairly flexible with the commanders in how they implemented the policy. The cynical view would be that he used the military as a tool of social experimentation, but I like to think that he was a forward thinker in this regard. It wasn't all that long after the Korean War before things came to a head in the civilian population.

Do I think the Army was ready for it? Thank you for asking. I can't imagine that opinion the military was all that different from civilian opinion - there were probably people who supported the policy and those who didn't support the policy. I think it is obvious the net effect has been nothing but positive.

Who wants to bet me that Don't Ask, Don't Tell comes up in the next Democratic debate, whenever that is? That Hillary sure is sharp. She's nothing if not cunning and clever, transferring ownership of the issue between parties. Turns out there were multiple people who, let's just say they never had any inclination to vote for anybody on stage to begin with. I'm not sure how anybody can believe that CNN didn't know what was going on. I guess the "paranoia" was justified. If I'm a Democratic, I'm grinning from ear to ear and having a cheeky laugh.

I guess if it were possible to enforce such a policy, I wouldn't mind if the opposition got a voice in the primary debates. The reason why I don't support it is because it is pretty plain to see that it just won't work that way. I wouldn't want to put shackles on the media like that anyway. The only answer is to do what the Democratics did with Fox (minus Kucinich) and avoid going to unfriendly places.

....liberals asking the questions. At least one of them (who knows how many more we'll find out about) is associated with a Democratic running for President currently. Which candidate? I'll give you one guess.



This would be equivalent to someone from a Republican candidate's team being permitted by the media to ask the Democratic candidates what they are going to do to preserve traditional marriage, or what they are going to do to protect the unborn. The fairness of Don't ask, Don't tell is a question that, while it may be relevant in some circles, definitely is not a hot button or important issue to any Conservative, or even most Republican voters.

That kind of a question is, to me, only in context in the general election. It is not even close to being on the map for a Republican primary. Do I want tough questions from the other party in a primary debate? No, I don't, whether it is Democratic or Republican. This is for THEIR supporters to decide which of THEIR people is good for THEM, not good for the opposition. I don't think anyone is really surprised by this development, but the pervasive stupidity of the electorate ensures that somehow this results in Hillary becoming more popular.

The irony in all of this is the simple fact that a very popular and beloved Democratic put Don't Ask, Don't Tell in place. Do you know which one? I'll give you one guess.



To me, this is a complex question that weighs fairness against reality. The fair thing is to allow people to be who they are openly. I consider a gay soldier to be just as brave and worthy of my respect as a straight soldier, possibly even more so. They do not deserve violence and harsh treatment from anyone. Cold, hard reality slaps you in the face, and lets you understand that this isn't just a military problem, it is a social problem, something that isn't easily fixed in an organization such as the US Armed Forces. Homophobes will be homophobes, no matter what you tell them, and some of them WILL treat gays differently. I trust military people to understand what will work and not work with the military far more than a politician vying for votes. This Hillary plant gives one version, and it is worth listening to, but I would think this is something that has to be reviewed carefully, not reduced pitifully to a gotcha moment on TV.

If I were gay, I wouldn't serve. Period. I'd try to serve the country in another way, because I just don't think this is going to be settled anytime soon.