The New York Times -- Where Men are Men

Vestiges of style-book traditionalism linger in the New York Times. Remember the long fights over 'Ms.' and 'longtime companion'? Well, today's Times preserves 'Man' when speaking of an exclusively male grouping. See:

CBS Appoints 2-Man Panel to Investigate Guard Report

Google "2-Man Panel" OR "Two Man Panel" in Google News and you get precisely three relevant hits -- one from the New York Times and two from conservative news source Newsmax (there are five other hits concerning panels to investigate problems with the Nigerian and Malaysian Olympics teams).

A search for "Two Person Panel" gets more than 1100 hits on the same topic.

Nice to know that the Times is keeping an occasional tradition alive.

Not Much to Celebrate on Celebrate Bisexuality Day (2004)

Bisexuals have much less to celebrate this year than last. Their Lesbian and Gay allies have thrown them off the sleigh in their pursuit of Same Sex Marriage.

SSM doesn't help Bi's. OSM doesn't help them either. Only official, state-licensed polygamy, polyandry, communal, group, clan, or line marriages would.

But SSM promoters have promised that they will never, ever, consent to legalizing polyamory so poor Bi's are SOL. They'll never get their 1024 guaranteed federal benefits. They'll never be able to visit their partners in hospitals.

They will be outside the glass looking in as mono-sexuals celebrate the weddings that Bi's can never have.

Perhaps they should consider leaving the L, G, B, T, Q, C, etc. coalition that has rejected them.

Mel & Vatican II and I

Andrew Sullivan wrote a while ago:

I'm tired of people believing that Gibson is representing Catholicism. He isn't. He is a rebel against Catholicism, specifically the reformed, open, repentant Catholicism of the Second Vatican Council. Gibson doesn't recognize the authority of the current Pope; he doesn't recognize the current mass - the central ritual of Catholics across the world. People are mistaken in believing that he merely prefers the Latin mass; he doesn't. He favors the Tridentine mass, a relic.

But look on the bright side.  If one accepts the Council of Trent, one not only rejects Vatican II but also Vatican I.  So no Papal Infalibility.

I don't know why Andrew dislikes the Tridentine Mass.   It must be a British thing. 

I Need a Program

There just aren't any programs for people like me. We right-wing anarchist Anglicans are woefully underserved by our government. There are programs out there for all sorts of tiny subgroups like performance artists and sugar producers but nothing for me.

And it's not as if I couldn't justify a few subsidies. Take your average libertarian or right winger (I'm in both camps so I know whereof I speak). Libertarians and right wingers are much less likely than the average American to sign up for all normal government programs. They are more likely to pay for their and their children's own education. They tend not to go on public assistance or sign up for Medicaid. They are disproportionally represented in the .8% of Americans (258,000) over the age of 65 who are uninsured.

Like smokers who die young, libertarians and right-wing nuts save the States and the Feds Giga bucks annually (or we would if there were more of us). So what we need is a program to produce more.

If the Feds were smart they'd start teaching the individualist philosophy in the schools as a means of reducing future spending. Then I'll be able to say with perfect seriousness, "Mine is just an alternative lifestyle. I understand they're even starting to teach it in the schools."