Wilfing My Way to Badger Knowledge

In the 'Jargon Watch' section of July '07 Wired they define 'Wilf' as:

"an imperfect acronym for 'What was I looking for?' Wilfers spend up to a third of their online time drifting from news to shopping to porn sites."

And suddenly I prefer this verbage to 'surfing' the Internet (which implies 'wave action' - periodic bursts of propulsion through sites - decidedly not how I use the Internet), since it belies more of the bored mix of curiosity, ennui and what, maybe schadenfreude, that beckons me around the Internet like an opium dream when I don't have a point for being there.

So anway, I discovered this new terminology is perfect. Whilst wilfing today, I discovered this crazy line at the end of a pretty standard post at one of my favorite blogs (MGoBlog). It reads:

"Also: vicious, monkey-headed, cow-eating badgers who are "swift as deer" plague Iraq."

Naturally, I clicked the link. In the comments I saw a reference to another strange badger I'd encountered on the Internet. The Euroed-Out 'Badger Badger Badger' of few-year's-back forward fame.

Not that this had much to do with reality, but it reminded me that I had seen a badger cross US Highway 20 in Idaho on the drive from Boise to Sun Valley once and this got me curious about real badgers, so I went to the Wikipedia entry on badgers and learned something I did not know before (and thus proved the value of 'wilfing'):

"Aside from Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) and Humans (Homo Sapiens), badgers are
thought to be the only animals which attack without provocation."

Well, I'll be goddamned. That's fascinating.

The Internet Knocked Me Up

Capitalism, apparently, isn't the only American trait slowly creeping into the pathos of China these days. If recent news is to be trusted, the Chinese people are also appearing to have adopted our tortish refusal to accept any personal accountability whatsoever.

See "Shanghai Teen Pregnancy Blamed on Internet."

As it is always someone else's fault for anything bad that happens in our lives here in America, why shouldn't it also be true in China that people are still nothing more than helpless, un-thinking victims of a world we can't control?

Apparently the pitfalls of this world are everywhere lurking to ruin our lives at an unlucky moment's notice and no thinking, action or common sense on anyone's part can do a damn thing about it. Teenage girls everywhere (or maybe only those of the above who also happen to be idiots) should be worried and careful to not give into the Internet's demands for unprotected sex. He will say that it just doesn't feel the same and that he really loves you and will pull out in time, but the Internet lies and is not to be trusted. You'd be better off continuing to suck face and heavy pet with those honest teenage boys and their drinks and pills.

Then again if your own actions have no bearing at all on the outcomes of your own life (as the finger-pointing is seeming to suggest) just throw your ankles back behind your ears and take on all comers, Internet, teenage boys, full-grown cads, Hell or high water.

A Prescient Talking Heads Video From 1988

'Nothing But Flowers'

Strange how coming on 20 years later the issues haven't changed much and now we're celebrating the '80s for almost nothing more than excellent pop music.

$144 Billion Worth of Iraq War

Forbes is reporting the Iraq War is costing a cool $12 billion per month.

To put that in perspective that's $4,700 for every second that we are there and about $120 million per dead American soldier at current rates of expiration.

My question is who's buying this?