johnrpierce.info blog

"The low value Kerry’s team is assigning to both the visual story of the campaign and the role of gender imagery explains his drop in the polls after the GOP convention," writes Naomi Wolf for newyorkmetro.com.

September 22, 2004

OneShare.com offers single framed shares of stock in America's favorite companies.

Are there really lots of people who don't know what typewritten documents of 1972 looked like? I remember typewriters and I know what the documents that they produced looked like. There did exist typewriters in1972 with proportional spacing, but they were very unusual and were not likely to be found in a national guard office. Almost everybody used typewriters that produced documents in which each letter occupied a space of the same size, similar to what one would see in Courier font.

I sometimes feel that I am an intelligent awake person in a world of widespread stupidity, dishonesty and drug use.

September 21, 2004

The compact disc Aria 3: Metamorphosis is being released on September 21, 2004, as a follow-up to the previously released successful CD’s Aria and Aria 2. Paul Schwartz, who conceived, created and performed the recording, has transformed some operatic melodies to create contemporary ambient/dance soundscapes. Broadway’s Tony-nominated Rebecca Luker provides soprano vocals. A chorus is heard to dramatic effect on some of the selections. Some selections are instrumental. Those who enjoyed the previous recordings are likely to enjoy this one as well. Among the arias that Schwartz has chosen as his inspiration are Handel’s “Ombra mai fu” from Serse, Puccini’s “Chi il bel sogno di Doretta” from La Rondine, Verdi’s “Amami, Alfredo” from La Traviata, and Handel's "Lascia ch'io pianga" from Rinaldo. This recording is not for serious opera fans who are almost certain to prefer the original orchestrations of the arias with the voice more prominent minus the backbeat. But fans of ambient music who appreciate the electronic backbeat and contemporary arrangements may find these pieces hauntingly beautiful.

Fewer college-educated women are keeping their maiden names when they marry, according to a Harvard study, says an article by Alvin Powell in the Harvard University Gazette of September 16, 2004.

If you link to this page and let me know, I'll give you a reciprocal link, unless your site is wildly inappropriate.

E-mail: johnrpierce

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September 16, 2004

I do not favor amending the United States Constitution to permit the foreign-born to become President. The idea that the Constitution should be amended for Arnold Schwarzenegger is especially abusurd!

Actually, I am somewhat conservative. The people that the press calls conservative are radical fascist weirdos.

September 15, 2004

"He actually was in my class, but we traveled in different circles," said Ereka Vetrini of the first season of Apprentice about Raj of the second season, as quoted in the Boston Herald. "BC is all about drinking beer from a keg and hanging out. But Raj would throw parties where you'd drink wine and martinis. He was a real individual even back then."

I have read the first 85 pages of Bergdorf Blondes, a novel by Plum Sykes that the dust jacket says is about the "glamorous world of Park Avenue Princesses." I don't think that I'll finish it. It is really a terrible book. It makes almost constant attempts to be funny, but succeeds about one percent of the time. It seems like a book that any amateur could have written.

September 11, 2004

If fear of terrorism is the primary reason to vote for Republicans, why would the Republicans want to put an end to terrorism?

While walking to school yesterday, a fourteen-year-old girl in Norwood, Massachusetts, was killed by a car. "The driver, . . . a [female] teacher at St. John the Evangelist School in Canton, was cited on charges of vehicular homicide, negligent driving, and failing to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk, authorities said. . . .

"At [the teacher's] Norwood home last night, investigators assigned to the Middlesex district attorney's office executed a search warrant and removed her computer, according to WBZ-TV. [The teacher], the station reported, is under investigation for allegedly having a relationship with a 14-year-old Weston boy and sending 40 to 50 sexually explicit e-mails to the teen. The parents of the 14-year-old have taken out a restraining order against [the teacher], according to WBZ-TV.

"[The teacher] worked at a Weston school, resigning in July, [the] superintendent of Weston public schools . . . confirmed. He declined to comment on the reason for her departure."
--from an article in the Boston Globe of September 11, 2004.

After all that has transpired in the sexual abuse scandal of the Catholic Church in recent years, isn't it strange that a Catholic school is employing an adult who has a sexual interest in teen-aged boys? Isn't a restraining order a matter of public record, and wouldn't the restraining order be supported by a judge's finding of facts?

September 10, 2004

I watched The Apprentice last night. It appears that the second season will have an interesting group of contestants, but it is too early to tell if they will be so interesting as last year's. Some of them have not yet established themselves as individuals in my mind. Bradford and Pamela, the two group leaders, did. I was a little dubious about Bradford's undemocratic approach, but it turned out that his team was successful. My one thought about a prospective toy was that it should have wheels, and the winning team's toy (the competition was to design a toy for Mattel that would be tested by boys) did indeed have wheels. Pamela seemed a little tough and somewhat older. It was not very smart to make insulting unnecessary remarks about kids' appearance when she know she was being taped for national television.

Raj stands out because of his clothing. One outfit had red trousers and he generally wore a bow tie. I did not like his walking stick. To carry a stick if one does not have a bad leg connotes fear to me, fear of being attacked by an animal such as a dog or maybe by some sort of ruffian. The stick is not an attractive fashion accessory.

And Wes drank champagne from the bottle when glasses were readily available. Disgusting. Is that supposed to show that he is a good businessman because he is rude and selfish?

September 9, 2004

Regis Philbin's compact disc, When You're Smiling, set for release September 28, already has an amazon.com sales rank of 66. I had no idea that he sang or that there were people who would want to buy his recording.

September 2, 2004

While I was in the locker room at the gym this afternoon, Scarborough was on television on MSNBC interviewing some Republican. They seemed to go on and on for minutes using "the war on terror" in every sentence. I said to the guy at a nearby locker, "They have so much to say about the war on terror. I'm really not aware that there is a war on terror." He pretended not to hear me, as if I were some sort of nut. At my previous gym, people often agreed with my comments, or at least acknowledged them, but the gym that I am going to now has more of a straight little Mr. Businessman sort of clientele.

What exactly is the war on terror? It seems to me that Osama bin Laden is still at large. Is anyone looking for him? Are bomb-sniffing dogs at train stations part of the war on terror? The removal of trash barrels from my suburban commuter rail station? Police forcing little old ladies on the subway to show the insides of their handbags? I don't consider the occupation of Iraq part of a war on terror. Will the war on terror be more effective than the war on drugs? Than the war on poverty?

"U.S. Rep. Major Owens, a New York Democrat, warned a crowd of feminist protesters that the Bush administration is taking America 'into a snake pit of fascism.'

"Owens also said the Bush administration 'spits on democracy' and is leading the country down a path reminiscent of 'Nazi Germany.'

--from an article by Marc Morano at CNSNews.com.

Kerry Edwards items at ebay.com

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