Greensboro

Morning folks!

I was perusing (a la George Carlin) Newsweek yesterday, and noticed an article titled "Drinking Liberally in Iraq". Wow--free advertising for DL? Well, not really. The article is about drinking, not about this fair organization, Drinking Liberally. However, I wouldn't be surprised if Justin Krebs is signing copies of the mag for any DL fans.

I apologize for not sending out an announcement last week--I was feeling under the weather. Today, I feel up to a chat, and hope you do, too! If so, then meet me at the Green Bean tonight at 7:30 pm, where we can discuss high-minded stuff, like the Supreme Court nominee, or low-minded stuff, like the accusations of vote tampering in the Idol finale! That way, our conversations can be enlightening or enlivening. Join me?

-William Moates
DL chapter co-host

Parting thought: If Walt Disney gets revived, will he have to pay back taxes?

Morning, folks!

Well, it's been a relatively light news week, but we can never run out of things to chat about. As the news runs light we can switch to other topics, like conspiracy theories.

For example, did we really land on the moon, or was it an elaborate hoax? (If so, what happened to all that government money we spent, since the hoax was much cheaper create? Are the accountants who managed the budget the same ones who billed us $150 for a hammer and $400 for a toilet seat in the 1980's?) Did Kyle from South Park really mastermind 9-11, or were the numerological clues misinterpreted? Are the news corporations hushing up important stories so the TV networks can push their season finales, boosting their ratings in an effort to push for higher advertising fees? Are the Illuminati running the IRS, and have they encoded their manifesto into the 1040 instructions? Is Obama really a Vulcan, sent as an envoy to prepare our society for the upcoming paradigmatic sea change in 2012? Is steroid use in baseball being pushed by sleeper agents from the KGB in an effort to undermine are national spirit? Was swine flu engineered by radical Zionists to promote a more kosher lifestyle, but escaped their secret Mexican lab before it could be properly weaponized?

If you have information to clarify any of this, call 411, press # three times, say "forty-two", then explain--in Esperanto--how what you know is vitally important and why the EPA shouldn't "superfund" you into oblivion.

However, if you're as much a conspiracy noob as I am, then join me at the Green Bean tonight at 7:30 pm, and we can chat about mundane stuff, and I might give you my critique of the new Star Trek movie.

-William Moates
Drinking Liberally co-host
...or am I?

Parting Thought: If people have personalities, what do animals have?

Hello, folks!

I hope you enjoyed Cinco de Mayo, and avoided any Porco de Flu. Me, I'm a Fringe fan, so I stayed inside and enjoyed the electrons. (And no, my Kirlian aura is fine, thank you.) Well, we've seen some interesting stories this week: Souter announces he's stepping down, more states vote for gay marriage, Chrysler declares bankruptcy, Schwarzenegger opens the floor to legalizing marijuana, and--coincidently?--fire season returns to southern California.

Souter's announcement is obviously well timed--it's during a Democratic administration, and after the "100 day" benchmark, so he's given the Obama administration time to settle in. Since Obama is a constitutional scholar, I expect he will have a strong hand in the nomination process, as opposed to Bush's delegation of duty when choosing Alito and Roberts. I doubt we'll see any oddball Harriet-Myers-like choices presented to the public.

Maine becomes the fifth state to accept gay marriage, and Miss California is still in the news, but now for alleged modeling improprieties, instead of her statement about gay marriage. I disagree with her opinion, but I respect it, whereas Perez Hilton called her a "dumb b*tch", which says more about him than it does about her. I've never had much respect Mr. Hilton, and his retort doesn't change things.

Meanwhile, Governor Arnold says California should study legalizing marijuana, and they should look at how other countries have done so. I *think* cannabis is as strong a drug as alcohol, but would like to see some research on the comparative addictiveness (addictionality?) of the two drugs. It would be nice to take a revenue stream away from organized crime, and our ongoing "war on drugs" has had mixed success at best. At this point, I agree with the Governator.

Finally, fire season has returned to SoCal, and I fail to see how multi-million-dollar houses are allowed to be build in a place which *has* a fire season. It's about as reasonable as building on a flood plain, or on sandy beachfronts. Well, as long as their housing choices don't affect my insurance rates--and as long as they pay for the recovery services out of their own pockets--rich people can continue to make these questionable choices.

Whew! That was a lot of opining! Hey, if you'd like to comment on any of this, or would like to persuade me to see a midnight showing of Star Trek, then join me at the Green Bean tonight at 7:30 pm, and we can opine, or whine, or sit supine until well past nine!

Until then,
-William Moates
Greensboro DL co-host

Parting Thought: If what's yours is mine and mine is yours, then why is possession is nine-tenths of the law?