Quiet Declarations

And on Christmas morning, they came for the nun bun.

Now I’ve been to Bongo Java, and this thing really does bear a freakish resemblance to Mother Theresa. And yes, it no more deserves to be worshipped than did those holy grilled cheese sandwiches or whatever almost sold for $10,000 on eBay a while back. But really, if you’re upset that a few people are acting sacrilegiously in your judgment, especially when it involves a freakin’ cinnamon roll, is breaking the Eighth Commandmant on Christmas day really the best way to handle the situation?

[Update 12/26/05: A more detailed account of the nun bun theft, which was (unsurprisingly) the lead story in this morning’s Tennessean. Also, the aforementioned grilled cheese went for $28,000 on eBay.]

A few days ago, Grant McCracken put up a great post based on a story from the New York Times Sunday Magazine on the coaching style of Texas Tech football Coach Leach. All I want to say is I love organizational development and I love football so this piece has it all for me — I strongly recommend reading for yourself.

Side note: I’m starting to believe if I posted everything I enjoyed reading on the above blog, this site would just be one continuous hyperlink to it.

I’ve been in a number of conversations about the “Happy Holidays” vs. “Merry Christmas” ridiculousness lately, and apparently I’m not the only one. Money quote:

Every time you say ‘Happy Holidays,’ an angel gets AIDS.

That’s from Jon Stewart in a news sketch that was, believe it or not, much funnier live. On a broader note, here’s my question about political correctness in general: is mandated respect better or worse for our acceptance and celebration of diversity than speaking from the heart?

I’ve got a solution for that Wal-Mart Santa thing though. There are, what, ten thousand Wal-Marts in America? Every religion can choose a mascot, then we can allocate them to store advertising in proportion with each religion’s demographic representation. Oh, and let’s make sure we draw the advertising districts so that minority religions have a sufficient critical mass in a representative number of major media markets. (Note: yes, you athiests have to choose a mascot too; if we have to make some of the Wal-Marts godless then the least we can do is make sure they still have advertising.)

This deal at the WTO talks is generating a buzz. The ultra-brief synopsis: 149 nations have committed to end agricultural subsidies by 2013. Tyler, Tom, and Dan, among others, have already posted on the subject this weekend. I hope to continue to benefit from the attentiveness and expertise of others on the subject, but based on what I do know of the effects of subsidies, any developments aimed at their reduction should give us cause for happiness.

It’s worth noting the passing of a fine actor who’s brought many evenings of entertainment to myself and many others. CNN story here, a nice AP tribute here, and just a bit more here as well.

Well, the JibJab video version of it anyway. I enjoyed it, maybe you will too. [Hat tip: Barry]

From the always-entertaining Justice Antonin Scalia:

The Bill of Rights is devised to protect you and me against, who do you think? The majority. My most important function on the Supreme Court is to tell the majority to take a walk.

This and more from his speech at HispanicPundit.

Philosophically speaking, I’m opposed to using laws for frivolous purposes. You gotta admit, though, that attempting to ban death as a marketing strategy is creative. I’m also thinking this technique may be assimilable. Hmm, wheels turning….

From economist James Buchanan:

Why should the politics of democracy, either in idealized form or in practice, be different from the law, again as idealized or in substance? Why is discrimination in political action constitutionally permissible whereas discrimination in law is out of bounds?

One of many intriguing and quotable comments in his recent essay promoting three new constitutional amendments for Cato Unbound. [via Jacob]

And by “it” I mean football season. Oh sure, Vanderbilt’s finished for the year and there’s nothing left of college football ’till the bowl games and the Titans are seriously off this season, but when you can’t stop you can’t stop. Something about endorphins released into the bloodstream, so they say….

So, a few updates:

As I predicted, VU quarterback Jay Cutler is SEC Offensive Player of the Year, wide receiver Earl Bennett is on the SEC All-Freshman Team, and they both join LB Moses Osemwegie on the First Team All-SEC squad.

The Titans blew a bad one to the Colts last week, and in an uncharactic move by Coach Jeff Fisher we accused them of dirty play and an unsportsmanlike move. Nothing too uncommon, of course, if you remember this. I like Peyton Manning a lot, but people like Dwight Freeney are forcing the Colts up the evil power rankings at a faster rate than I would have predicted some months ago. (At least Pacman Jones is finally putting all that criminal activity from the offseason behind him.)

And, on a more humorous note, Jenny Slater compares the Southeastern Conference and the Simpsons. [hat tip: Ryan Horn].

A colleague recommends this gift for my lady friends this holiday season. It could be yours for only $15.97!