Desultory Thoughts

I’m not much of a blog reader.

(And thus probably not much of a blogger).  But informed opinions- be they political, religious, or philosophical- benefit greatly from a diversity of source material.  So many people base their personal opinions entirely on headlines and news blurbs and don’t take the time to study things out for themselves.  Informative political blogs can be a refreshing alternative to a decidedly left-leaning mainstream media.  Here are a few of my favorite political blogs:

James Taranto’s Best of the Web Today
Ok, this is technically an official newspaper article in the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, OpinionJournal.com.  But Mr. Taranto’s upbeat and witty perspective on they day’s political stories reads like a blog and gives a humorous insight into the world of politics.  Taranto takes the stance of an Inside Outsider, focusing mainly on beltway reaction to and media coverage of politics, exposing hypocrisy and bias, and cutting through spin to explore an issue’s roots.  Taranto breaks down new daily political matters while keeping his finger on the pulse of ongoing ones.  He is an excellent writer that will have you hooked whether you agree with his take or not.  A must-read for the politically informed.

Bottom Line:  Taranto is an optimistic conservative amused at the political antics inside the beltway and in the press.

Michelle Malkin
Ms. Malkin is a prominent author and political commentator.  If you watch any cable news, you’ve likely seen her as a frequent guest on FNC, MSNBC, CNN, and C-SPAN.  Malkin’s take on politics is unique in that she’s young and a minority (she’s a Filipino American).  Her blog is less of a journal and more of an information center for issues like immigration, crime, and the War on Terror.  Malkin writes a weekly column for Townhall.com, and broadcasts an online newscast at hotair.com.

Bottom Line:  Malkin’s take is fresh, satirical, and unabashedly conservative.

Little Green Footballs
Editor Charles Johnson is a “9/11 conservative” (an otherwise liberal Democrat who converted to strategic conservatism after the 9/11 wake-up call), who focuses on stories about Islam that the mainstream media ignores.  He tackles bleak subjects like terrorism and Radical Islam with humor and wit.  LGF is perhaps best known for exposing the infamous CBS Bush National Guard documents as forgeries in Oct. ‘04, embarrassing CBS and ultimately forcing Dan Rather into an early retirement.

LGF, like MichelleMalkin.com, is less of a journal and more of an infocenter.  Johnson quotes and links to stories that the mainstream doesn’t dare touch.  I’ll admit, LGF isn’t a particularly fun read.  But it will open your eyes to some things that Western society would be unwise to ignore.

Bottom Line:  Johnson is a fair, yet politically incorrect self-proclaimed “Infidel.”
 

“We were beginning to starve. But of course, there was food on the mountain, as near as the bodies of the dead lying outside the fuselage. When my mind finally crossed that line, it did so with an impulse so primitive it shocked me…”

Some years ago I was strolling through the halls of the Student Union of Salt Lake Community College, where the latest film releases were regularly screened. Most of the time I would walk past the screening area on my way to class, taking little interest in what was being shown. But one movie caught my eye- 1993’s Alive, a movie based on the true story of a Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed high in the snowy Andes. A handful of teammates survived the crash and miraculously made it for 72 days by cannibalizing the bodies of their dead comrades.

I’m a regular reader of Outside Magazine, partly because I’m a sucker for ads for cool (and insanely overpriced) outdoor gear- which I’ll never have the budget to purchase, but which I gawk over nonetheless. But Outside’s articles also tend to be excellent, and this May’s issue features an exclusive look at the true story of what’s come to be known as “the Andes flight disaster” through the eyes of Fernando Parrado, a team member who lost both his mother and sister in the crash, and who trekked 10 days to find help that led to rescue of the others.

The story of the crash, its aftermath, and the rescue expedition is absolutely amazing. It is underscored by the underlying theme of man’s uncowering will to survive despite all odds. The bravery of Parrado and the 15 other survivors (out of 45 original passengers) is undisputable. Yet the part of the story I find my mind constantly returning to is the group’s decision to survive on the flesh of the dead.

“My gaze fell on the slowly healing leg wound of a young man lying near me. The center of the wound was moist and raw, and there was a crust of dried blood at the edges. I could not stop looking at that crust, and as I smelled the faint scent of blood in the air, I felt my appetite rising.”

Interestingly, while Parrado describes the decision to cannibalize the dead as heart-wrenching and sickening, once that line is crossed, he rarely mentions it. When he does, he refers to it almost casually. Taboo is shattered and human flesh becomes simply, meat.

It’s probably disrespectful to single out that one facet of the story for scrutiny. After all, the decision to resort to cannibalism was not made lightly. It should be noted as well that every one of the 16 survivors have gone on to live extremely normal and successful lives in spite of this experience.

But it’s the poignantly disturbing aspect of cannibalism that makes the story so impossibly mind-boggling to me. For the life of me I can’t imagine a situation where I would resort to eating human flesh to survive- much less the flesh of a friend. But then again that’s surely the mindset those rugby players had as they boarded Flight 571 for a match in Santiago, Chile.

Like most feature magazine articles, this one breaks off after a few pages and continues later in the magazine (the harrowing tale is separated here by car ads and the 2006 Surf Guide). The article is full of pictures taken by the survivors during the ordeal. Curiously, the pictures show smiling survivors as they appear to lounge around the crashed fuselage, their only shelter. One wonders why they even bothered to take pictures. I must conclude that they were simply making the most of their hopeless and bewildered state, wanting to leave some memory of optimism for whoever would find the pictures. Several days after the crash, they were able to repair the plane’s radio receiver just in time to hear a news report that the search effort had been called off. There they are with no food, no supplies, less-than-sufficient winter clothing, all alone in the snowy Andes with no hope for survival.

Smiling for the camera.

One shot featured in the article (posted above) particularly illustrates the bleak realities these survivors faced. It is a photo of several smiling survivors posing outside the fuselage, much like many similar photos I have taken with friends on camping trips. But to the side of the group is a water bottle and what appears to be a human spinal column that looks like it’s been picked clean.

Though the photo appears in the print version of the magazine, it is noticeably absent from the online version of the article. An online search for this picture yielded several similar shots, all with the object in question cut out.

Certainly the bravery of these survivors should not be diminished by their life-saving decision to eat the dead. But perhaps it’s that unfathomable aspect of the story that demonstrates the austere rawness of these events. Perhaps it’s the contrast- desperation versus smiles, life from death- that draws us in and leads us along a path of determination and inspiration. I commend Parrado and his teammates for their toughness and admire them greatly. The Outside article is actually an excerpt of an upcoming book by Parrado- Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home- which I probably won’t purchase (gotta save up for those $250 hiking poles featured on page 68), but will definitely check out from the library. But from the excerpt in Outside, it looks like a good read.

There are some writers who when I read their writings, I just thirst for more. Sometimes it is the subject matter that is alluring, but most times it is their writing style. Such is the case with D. Sirmize who will be guest blogging here at Desultory Thoughts on a permanent basis.

He will fit in well, adding to the desultoriness (I may have just made up a new word) of this blog. He’ll likely wax political at times and then sometimes, as with his first entry, he’ll share with us an adventure. One of the great things about D. Sirmize is his ability to relate things to his own experiences, so we’ll be getting to know more about him as he shares with us his opinions, adventures and stories.

I’ve been prodding him to guest blog here at Desultory Thoughts for quite some time; I’m quite pleased that he has accepted the offer. Now I can enjoy his writings on a more regular basis. It will benefit us all!

One of the characters in “Prison Break” [fox.com/prisonbreak] is named Westmoreland who everyone thinks may be the infamous D.B. Cooper [wikipedia.org]. He has denied it…until tonight when he revealed his secret to Michael.

“The money’s buried under a silo at the Double K Ranch, just outside of Tooele, Utah. There’s plenty to split.” C-Note and Michael listen closely, “The government didn’t want any more embarrassment when I took off with that money, so they low-balled it in the papers. Truth is, Michael, it’s not one million under that silo, there’s five million dollars there.”

They even pronounced it correctly! I was surprised. Tooele is pronounced “too-will-a” for those who missed the episode. I’ve lived in Tooele, Utah for almost a year now. I really like it out here. It’s one of the fastest growing populations in Utah. I’m not aware of any silo on the “Double K Ranch”. I’ll keep my eye out for it, though. I wonder if in the series they’ll get to Tooele and find the money. It will be interesting to see how they portray our growing town on TV.

“Prison Break” is a show that I can slightly identify with since I worked at the jail as a Corrections Officer for two years. Heather probably gets annoyed with how many times I say, “There is no way that would happen!” But I probably say just about as much, “They got that right.” As a result, the show is probably not the most wholesome show I ever watched, but it is quite suspensful. Heather says she hates it because they’re always on the verge of getting caught; but that’s what makes the show exciting. It looks like tonight they may have actually escaped! We’ve been waiting the entire season for this moment.

I got an email from Ole today about a new feature on Pageflakes.  I introduced you to Pageflakes early in April and compared them to other “Ajax Desktops”, as they’re being called.  I had good things to say about Pageflakes, but they were still lacking in some areas.  Ole made a comment to my posting and asked for suggestions.  Little more has been done in the way of my suggestions, but his announcement today was cool to hear.  Here is the email:

Dear Pageflakes User,

Until now, Pageflakes was your very own personalized start page. From
now on you can also share your pages (with your friends or colleagues)
or publish them for everyone to see!

Why not put together a team page for your sports club with the latest
sport results, shared to-do lists and sport news feeds? Or how about an
easy way to share business contacts, manage group tasks and exchange
notes and ideas with your colleagues at work?

Just move your mouse over the tabs at the top of your page and select
’share page’ or ‘publish page’. The default setting is private - so as
long as you don’t share or publish a page, only you can view it.

As always, we’ve also been active on the flake adding side. Check out
our latest additions:

- Bookmarks Flake
- Indeed Job Search Flake
- Writely Flake
- Yahoo! Finance Flake

.and many more.

We are looking forward to hearing from you. Any feedback, questions and
suggestions are welcome. And remember, try the new sharing and
publishing features. They add a whole new dimension to Pageflakes.

With best regards

Your Pageflakes Team
Email: info@pageflakes.com
http://www.pageflakes.com

My new published Pageflakes page is available for all to see what I’m reading.  It’s a bunch of RSS feeds (in the form of flakes) that I keep up on, so you can read what I’m reading…if you even care.

So, the question begs to be asked, “Am I switching from Google Personalized Homepage to Pageflakes?”  The answer is still “Not yet.”  As soon as somebody fixes the Gmail flake to allow me to set how many emails in my inbox to display at one time, I’m not switching.  The other modules I use on Google will certainly be added to Pageflakes in due time, but I can’t stand looking at a long list of emails.  (And no, I don’t want to manage my Inbox better.  That’s the great thing about searchable Gmail and nearly 3 Gigs of storage; I’m not forced to stay organized.  I can just let it all build up and do a simple query when necessary!)