This from our friends at Ameriblog via our friend MEB: 

Since their op-ed criticizing the administration’s strategy in Iraq began with the words, “Viewed from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment,” one has to assume that nearly a month later the seven soldiers who authored the piece were achingly close to returning home.

Two of them won’t be coming back alive. Yance Gray and Omar Mora, both of the 82nd Airborne Division, were killed on Monday. Gray leaves behind a wife and infant daughter. Mora is survived by a wife and five year old daughter. They demonstrated personal bravery in their service and integrity by speaking publicly about their views. They will, as will all those killed in this misbegotten war, be missed.

Ameriblog => Two Soldiers Who Wrote NYT Op-ed Killed

I recently started reading the biography of Oscar Wilde that is the source for the recent movie. I don’t know how recent the movie is really, but its been sitting on my television in its nifty little Netflix envelope for over a month.

My initial impression from the first hundred pages is that this is a lot of folderol. Oscar seems to be a rather silly person caught up in a silly time. Significant noise is made about him in terms of GLBT History, but initially I am a touch underwhelmed by the story. If any of you have read the story and can comment on how it is going to increase in interest, please let me know.

It was interesting, however, to observe my own reactions. I was struck by how in the press of events in my own life, I was rather turned off by my impression of the silliness of Oscar Wilde’s life up through college. Again, I may need to just keep ploughing through as a matter of discipline, but at this point I’m thinking I’ll watch the movie and see the two hour time block will inspire more interest in the hours of reading.

Let me be as clear as possible in this quick dash of a blog entry when I point out that this isn’t a really to say that Oscar should have been more interesting as a person. I know I was probably equally pointless in my life through college. Further, I recognize that there can be beauty in the everyday. Maybe I’m just not in mood for this story at this time in my life. I will say this before I leave it to Oscar Wilde fans to excoriate me: the book is well written. I did enjoy that.

I thought these were rather choice:

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: “Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.” “That depends, Sir,” said Disraeli, “on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.”

“He had delusions of adequacy.” - Walter Kerr

“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”- Winston Churchill

“A modest little person, with much to be modest about.” - Winston Churchill

“I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.” - Clarence Darrow

“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.” - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?” - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

“He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.” - Abraham Lincoln

“I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.” - Mark Twain

“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.” - Oscar Wilde

Read the rest of this entry »

Patrick and I are off to China. We will try to post our progress for friends and family the main website: http://davidandpatrick.com/

The Bush administration’s disregard for these laws is part of its extraordinary theory of the “unitary executive.” The administration asserts that the president has the sole authority to supervise and direct executive officers, and that Congress and the courts cannot interfere. This theory, which has no support in American history or the Constitution, is a formula for autocracy.

Other presidents have issued signing statements, but none has issued as many, or done so with the same contemptuous attitude toward the co-equal branches of government. The G.A.O. report makes clear that Mr. Bush’s signing statements were virtually written instructions to executive agencies to flout acts of Congress.

The New York Times ? Editorial

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

Steven Weinberg, US physicist → The New York Times, April 20, 1999