Abba Zabba

As if the phrase "War on Terror" wasn't ridiculous enough, Rudy Giuliani has come up with a variant that's even worse. He likes to talk about "The Terrorists' War on Us". That's quite possibly the worst phrase in the history of the English language.

I know this isn't a new thing, but he's started using the phrase more often lately, and it really bugs me. War on Us? That implies a one-way conflict, in which they're attacking us and we're sitting here and taking it. That's hardly the image that Giuliani wants to present, since he's the big tough guy who knows how to fight back against terrorists. Even if you accept that there's a unified group called "the terrorists" and that it's possible to be in a war against that group (despite a lack of victory conditions, or any way of knowing whether we're winning or losing that war), that phrase is idiotic.

One time, I drove from Boston to New Jersey in 2 hours and 56 minutes. Usually it takes a little more than 3 hours; I plan for 3.5.

I was in the car for 3.5 hours today, but I didn't drive to New Jersey. I drove home. A lot of people have long commutes. I work with people who live more than 50 miles away. On a bad day, I guess it could take one of them over 3 hours to get home. You know how far away I live?

6 miles. 210 minutes for 6 miles. Admittedly, I didn't take a direct route. In an utterly ineffective attempt to avoid bad traffic and steep hills, my route was closer to 8 miles. But if you do the math, you'll find that 8 miles in 3.5 hours is absolutely fucking awful. That was literally the worst thing that has ever happened to anyone ever.