The Friday Furo Questus

Questus Furore -
Look Lady, I'm Not Looking To Get Married, I Just Want A Second Date

[WARNING - The following rant has been evaluated by the editors to be even more whiney, gloomy, and narcississtic than usual. Also, it is more likely to offend. Unfortunately, as Salt Lake Mayor Anderson has been trying hard to not do anything extra stupid lately, and beating on the Democratic senators at the Alito hearing would be like watching the Denver Broncos play the 49ers, we had to post this.

Sorry. - The Editors]

What a lousy week.

Not that anything terribly bad happened. No major illness, accident, or tragedy befell me. In the grand sense of things, life is good. I'm still breathing, I live in happy and healthy surroundings, and nothing has occurred to make me doubt I will live out the next fifty or so years the actuarial tables predict.

Rather, my ego is being dealt the death of a thousand cuts. Minor setbacks and failings at work, at home, and in my abilities to manage my money, my health, and my romantic life, have all combined in a perversely well-organized combination so as to cause me to question not just one aspect of my life, but everything. And nothing scares an anal-retentive person so much as to have everything go quietly to hell all at once.

I was going to launch into a typical disappointed-male "women suck" tirade here, but it wouldn't be anything you haven't already heard. Besides, it wouldn't be fair, and it wouldn't be true. There's just something about the latest disappointment that hit me harder than usual, and it's got me down. Apparently I lack something women want.

2006 is not off to an auspicious start.

By the way - ladies, do guys like me a favor. Dispense with the bull. Yes, I know you don't want to be rude, so you tell us you want to remain friends even when it really wouldn't trouble you if you never saw us again. I appreciate your efforts, and your honesty in being up front with this. But really. You have no interest in us, so just say so.

Recommended Reading
Victor Davis Hanson weighs in on Iran, in "The Multilateral Moment?" In short - we've only got bad and worse options left.

Andy McCarthy discusses the NSA controversy. (For more on this, I recommend checking out Protein Wisdom - the guy's got a twisted sense of humor, but he has also done some of the best summarizing and analysis on this whole confused mess I've seen.)

Deroy Murdock, "The Butcher With The Terror Ties." Saddam did have terror links, in case you suffer from the same memory loss most of the press seems to have.

A link found in The Corner: "IKEA - The Swedish Feeding Trough." This is just scary. The welfare-state mentality run amok.

And in case you didn't read it last week, here's the link again: Mark Steyn's "It's the Demography, Stupid." It's long, but it's worth it.

Patrolling the Front
OK, this is how it will work. Send me something you want mentioned, and I will. Otherwise, this section will be all about me. 'Cause I'm writing this post. So there.

Thought of the Week
"One of the best models of good government is the Umpire Model. Government is here not to play the game of life for us, nor coach us on how to play best. It's here to help us play the game peaceably by deciding a few tough calls. It adjudicates conflicts. Of course, the model isn't perfect. Today's government does way too much coaching and managing as well as actual playing...and even cutting the grass on the field; government's not just for umpires any more."
Paul Jacob

Churchill Quote of the Week
One day President Roosevelt told me that he was asking publicly for suggestions about what the war should be called. I said at once 'The Unnecessary War'.
Sir Winston Churchill, Second World War (1948)

P.S.: Yes, I am aware today is Friday the 13th. This week has stunk already. Basically, it's been a week of Mondays.