Octopodial Chrome

It's true, as demonstrated in this advert for Greene King India Pale Ale. Greene King's Abbot Ale was the first legal beer I had, in the pub at the base of my hotel in the late morning/early afternoon of 31 December 1998. Good stuff, and one reason why I had to return to England.

Rich Lowry writes about the plague of weeping men which afflicts us. He’s quite right: the ethos of wimpery is weakening us all. Wonderful quote: the rise of confessional daytime TV, which is a kind of emotional pornography. This is exactly my objection to the let’s-talk-it-out school of pseudo-thought. Some things are best left unsaid; to even discuss certain topics is injurious to oneself.

I read that the Oath of Allegiance is changing. The new version, to be frank, sucks rocks. Compare the current:

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

To:

Solemnly, freely, and without mental reservation, I hereby renounce under oath all allegiance to any foreign state. My fidelity and allegiance from this day forward is to the United States of America. I pledge to support, honor, and be loyal to the United States, its Constitution, and its laws. Where and if lawfully required, I further commit myself to defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, either by military, noncombatant, or civilian service. This I do solemnly swear, so help me God.

What a namby-pamby silly bunch of claptrap. Never mind that it also merely renounces allegiance only to foreign states, leaving those to people untouched. And it cuts the bit about bearing arms on behalf of the United States. Damn hippy fools. And this is under a Republican administration!

VDH has a great piece on differing views of our war situation: essentially, one group believe that we are not at war, and that 11 September and related incidents should have been treated as criminal disturbances, while another believes that we are at war with enemies who wish our destruction. It's a useful piece. I must admit that I incline slightly to the first viewpoint in some ways. It'd surely be cleaner and simpler that way. But realistically, the second view is the one practical one to take: it's as silly to try to criminally hunt down and charge every terrorist on earth now as it would have been to do the same to the Japanese or Nazis of the Second World War. At the end of all this, yes we'll need to have at least a few trials—but they're not really the goal. The goal is defeating our enemies and securing our safety.