When I suffered through U.S. Army Basic Combat Training way back in 1995, I heard about the Soldier’s Creed. I never learned it word for word. But the other night, while fucking around on Wikipedia, I stumbled across the creed I ‘lived by’ and discovered it has been revised recently. And not for the better. […]

Two of the preeminent academic institutions in the world call the San Francisco Bay Area home. The Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University annually compiles a list of the top 500 universities in the world. In 2007, Stanford University and UC-Berkeley ranked second and third respectively. Very impressive. Both institutions, however, have […]

The Flannery O’Connor quote I’ve been thinking about: “Everywhere I go I’m asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don’t stifle enough of them. There’s many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.”

The CIA recently, in violation of a judge’s order, destroyed video tapes of interrogations. These interrogations took place at secret prisons through the world–Black Sites. The tapes were thought to show, in living color and surround sound, some of our recently developed “enhanced interrogation techniques.” Or, in non-Republicanspeak, torture. Two tapes were destroyed. And everyone […]

Oh good, you’ve got the yellow ribbon stuck to your car. It’s getting a bit faded though, isn’t it? Might want to run down to the Wal-Mart and pick up a new one or dozen. You want to support the troops all you can, don’t you? And while you’re there, make sure to pick up […]

“Sept. 11, 2001. At 8:46 a.m., in one of the most tragic events in the history of mankind, George W. Bush’s political career is saved.” The Onion’s Our Dumb World

Oh our Constitution. Three branches of government. Can you name them? Judicial (Courts). Executive (President). Legislative (Congress). Three branches. None will have more power than the other. Do you remember this? Checks and balances. Tenth grade government class? No king or queen to run the whole show. Ninth grade Constitution class? No crazy judges writing […]

In Burger King today. In the Mission. The Mission. There are no other missions around. They’ve given up on this place long ago. There are no souls here to save. All damned. In Burger King. Hope of the whopper. The triple stacker. The artificial meat and artificial bread. Sucking down syrup mixed with carbonated water. […]

I hung this poster on my wall at Fort Benning. Our leadership went through our rooms regularly. I was 19 years old. I knew they would see it. My First Sergeant was inspecting rooms one morning. Everything was good. The floor free of dirt, boots polished, bathroom shiny. He stopped as he was leaving. “What’s […]

“Show me a man wearing an American flag pin in his lapel, and I’ll show you an asshole.” And don’t forget: Your flag decal won’t get you into heaven anymore.