Ex Bibliotheca

The life and times of Zack Weinberg.

Friday, 28 June 2002

# 1:45 AM

one nation, under god, indivisible

As has been mentioned all over the place already, the Ninth Circuit has ruled the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional, at least as amended in 1954 to include the phrase "under God." This has come in for bipartisan outrage, e.g. a 99-0 Senate resolution objecting to the decision.

So let me weigh in here with my total agreement with the decision. The pledge should never have had any reference to divinity in it, and the Ninth Circuit ruled correctly. I am disappointed that it seems the Supreme Court will not agree. Matter of fact, I would like to see the pledge abolished altogether, but I'll settle for this change.

Seth Schoen speaks far more eloquently on the subject than I can manage. Go read what he says.

ow ow ow

Tried to learn how to wear contact lenses. I did, once, manage to get one onto both my eyes, at the same time even, and back off again. And it seemed like they worked; edges were sharp and all that. The procedure for putting them on and taking them off, however, was unpleasant and painful, and most of the time unsuccessful. If the optometrist had not kept reassuring me that everyone has this much trouble, I would have given up. My eyes are still sore.

loot

I've a copy of Diane Duane's reissued first two volumes of "The Tale of Five" (as an omnibus). This is a wonderful sword-and-sorcery series, which has been very hard to find for years. Well, the first two volumes were not so hard. The third volume was very difficult to find, and the fourth... well, the fourth volume never actually got finished. Supposedly, the third and fourth volumes will be printed in another omnibus later this year or early next. Here's hoping.

seen on the street

Down at Shattuck and Addison there is a piece of public art which I've been walking by for months, and every time it bugs the heck out of me. It's an area of sidewalk that has been sculpted to look like there's lots of human lips poking out of it. So if you walk on this area, you are walking, metonymically, on human faces. I would rather not do that. There is a reason why 'If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — for ever' is such a powerful line. I don't think it was the artist's intent to evoke that frame, but I'm not going to cut him or her any slack on that score. People should think of these things.

On a lighter note, today I saw a couple of pre-teen kids staggering down the street, each carrying two cardboard boxes about as big as they were. It was a Three Stooges moment.