November 28, 2004
No more Trio
It's true. DirecTV is dropping the Trio channel. Bastards. It was only a year and a half ago that I was praising Trio for its quirky programming and cool documentaries. Thank you, DirecTV (and American viewers) for making television even less interesting than it already was.
28 Nov 23:29 | Link | Category: Art & Entertainment
November 26, 2004
Cool pictures from St Maarten airport
The runway at St. Maarten's airport is situated right next to a beach. The pictures are amazing. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a Photoshop trick. You can see a few at these sites:
Video footage is available here.
26 Nov 17:02 | Link | Category: Misc. Tidbits
You, too, are capable of committing torture
An analysis of psychological studies has come to the depressing but entirely unsurprising conclusion that "all humans are capable of committing torture and other 'acts of great evil'"
(Even a cursory review of human history reveals the same thing, doesn't it?)
The researchers considered the circumstances surrounding how individuals committed seemingly inexplicable acts of abuse in the midst of the US military's torture of Iraqi inmates at the Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 and 2004.
"Could any average 18-year-old have tortured these prisoners? I would have to answer: 'Yes, just about anyone could have.'", Fiske says.
This is why we have international law, human rights organizations, and such. Of course, it doesn't help when the world's most powerful nation pursues policies and tactics which "include a deliberate disregard for the Geneva Conventions (for the treatment of prisoners of war and other detainees)" and a "willingness to violate international law by detaining individuals without charge or means of proving their innocence." (See Urge President Bush to Reform American Detention Policies)
26 Nov 16:49 | Link | Category: Science
November 25, 2004
Can I Have Your Zip Code?
Have you ever been annoyed by cashiers who ask for your zip code or telephone number? If so, you might enjoy reading Can I Have Your Zip Code over at kuro5hin.org.
25 Nov 21:09 | Link | Category: Misc. Tidbits
What ails Viktor Yushchenko?
If you haven't seen the pictures of Ukraine's popular pro-Western opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko from this summer versus now, check them out. One set is here and another is here. A current picture can also be seen here. Detractors claim he ate "bad sushi." He claims he was poisoned, and the general consensus seems to be that he probably was - perhaps with biowarfare toxins such as the old KGB favorite ricin.
Doctors were unable to confirm suspicions of poisoning because Mr. Yushchenko first checked into the clinic four days after the symptoms appeared — too late for tests to show if poisoning had occurred, Dr. Korpan said. At Rudolfinerhaus, Mr. Yushchenko underwent a week of intensive treatment for several illnesses, including acute pancreatitis, a viral skin disease and nerve paralysis on the left side of his face, Dr. Korpan said.
Mr. Zimpfer and the clinic's chief physician, Dr. Lothar Wicke — who requested police protection after receiving an anonymous threat while treating Mr. Yushchenko — later asked for outside help from "a specialist in military operations and biological weapons," the Austria Press Agency reported. Mr. Yushchenko's medical files since have been sealed and turned over to Austrian prosecutors, local media reported.
As a contributor to BoingBoing says, "truth is stranger than - a fictional cold war spy novel."
25 Nov 21:04 | Link | Category: Current Events
November 23, 2004
GUI gallery
Those of you geeky enough to be interested in the histories of Graphical User Interfaces and the differences between them might enjoy browsing through GUIdebook. It's a nicely designed site that will probably take you back in time.
23 Nov 21:47 | Link | Category: Technology & Computing
A conversation with Richard Dawkins
On Point aired an interesting interview with Richard Dawkins that you can listen to online. Among other things, Dawkins discusses his new book The Ancestor's Tale a sort of evolutionary Canterbury Tales that moves back through the tree of evolution with various "pilgrims" telling tales. Worth a listen.
23 Nov 21:34 | Link | Category: Science
November 22, 2004
Top 100 quotes from the movies
From CNN:
"The American Film Institute is surveying Hollywood types for the top 100 quotes from U.S. movies, with contenders including Bogart's 'Here's looking at you, kid' from 'Casablanca,' Schwarzenegger's 'I'll be back' from 'The Terminator' and Nicholson's 'You can't handle the truth!' from 'A Few Good Men.'"
100 lines will be chosen from 400 nominees (.pdf).
I usually dislike lists like these, and I'm not a "Hollywood type," but if I had to choose my favorite line? Off the top of my head it would be from Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Peter Sellers as the President says "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"
Come to think of it, there are many other fine quotes from that film (though not too many one-liners). The President's telephone chats with the Soviet Premier ("Hello, Dimitri?") are classic, as are all the moments in which Peter Sellers plays Dr. Strangelove.
Both the War Room quote and Dr. Strangelove saying "Mein Führer! I can walk!" are on AFI's list of nominees. Hopefully at least one of them makes the top 100.
22 Nov 19:38 | Link | Category: Art & Entertainment
Electronic Game Scrapbook, 1980-1990
I realized the other day that kids who were born at the time my siblings and I got our Atari game console are now over 21 years old. The realization had two effects on me. The first was to shock and depress me at my 'advanced age.' The second was to give me the desire to revisit some of my favorite games from days gone by. (Thanks to emulator / simulator software that lets you run your old favorites on your PC or Mac, it's an easy task.) I've never actually been a huge gamer (despite what this page might make you think), but like so many people my age, I have fond memories of the video games I grew up with. Here's a scrapbook of graphics:
My first experience with computers was with my family's TI-99/4A:
It was a trip back in time to fire up the simulator software and see the cyan startup screen with 16 colors:
My favorite game was Hunt The Wumpus:
I also liked Alpiner:
I've had the best luck with the Win994a-TI-99/4A Simulator, but there are others.
We later had an Atari 2600:
My favorite games:
Atlantis:
Surround:
There were lots of other good ones, too. I liked Pac-Man, Combat, Fire Fighter, Human Cannonball, and Video Pinball. The only game I never learned to love was Space War. I remember thinking the picture on the cartridge made it look much cooler than it was:
I've been using the Stella emulator for these games.
My school had lots of Apple II machines with green monochrome screens on which we played games like Oregon Trail. I was never a big fan of Oregon Trail, however. What I did like was playing Lode Runner on the Macintosh at my uncle's house:
(Happily, the original Lode Runner works under OS X on my Power Mac.) My cousin and I would also play around with the Mac's built-in speech synthesizer, making it curse at maximum volume until his mom would yell at us from upstairs.
At some point, my parents were convinced into buying a Nintendo Entertainment System. Compared to the Atari, this was some advanced shit. I loved Super Mario Bros.. I also liked a number of other games, including Ice Hockey, Double Dragon, Contra, and these:
Gauntlet
1942
Metroid
Interestingly enough, the NES was the last game console my family (or I) ever owned.
I've been using the OS X NEStopia emulator with great success. (A good GameBoy emulator is KiGB.)
My friend's family had an IBM PS/2, and I thought Space Quest II was really cool:
When my family got a PC (a 286 running MS-DOS 3 at a whopping 10 MHz with a gigantic 40 MB hard drive) it didn't have anything from the Space Quest series, but it did have King's Quest IV, which was pretty fun:
Another memorable DOS game was given to me by the same friend who had Space Quest at home. It was called Future Wars and took me ages to solve:
Many of these games will still work using current operating systems. (Future Wars ran fine on my Mac using Virtual PC with Windows 95's "Prevent MS-DOS programs from detecting Windows" setting.) For some of the older Sierra games, you might need to use something like Sarien.
I have fond memories of post-1990 games, but I can't say I feel nostalgic about them yet. So it'll probably be a few years before I feel like revisiting those ones. (There are quite a few, though... among them Doom, Myst, TIE Fighter, Wing Commander, and many others.)
I haven't really played any new games in the last three or four years (the last was Jedi Knight II). Does that mean I'm finally a boring adult? Hmmm. Something to think about.
22 Nov 12:00 | Link | Category: Art & Entertainment, Technology & Computing
November 17, 2004
Today's Photography Links
- 59th College Photographer of the Year winners. (Some are interesting, some aren't.)
- Terra Galleria
- Image Savant
17 Nov 16:47 | Link | Category: Photography
Abandon All Hope
An article by Danielle Morton led me to the Dante's Inferno Hell Test. It determines which circle of Hell you will be banished to.
Things aren't looking good for me. It banished me to the Sixth Level of Hell - The City of Dis, with the heretics.
Here's how I matched up against all the levels:
| Level | Score |
|---|---|
| Purgatory (Repenting Believers) | Very Low |
| Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) | Moderate |
| Level 2 (Lustful) | High |
| Level 3 (Gluttonous) | Low |
| Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) | Moderate |
| Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) | Low |
| Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) | Very High |
| Level 7 (Violent) | Moderate |
| Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) | High |
| Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) | Low |
17 Nov 14:29 | Link | Category: Interactive
November 16, 2004
The lost 'Switch' ads
If you go to the website of Errol Morris, who directed Apple's 'Switch' ads, you can watch a few of the ones that never made it on the air. Among the switchers are a number of celebrities. A few of them are funny ('Parfait' and 'Hot Dogs' by Will Ferrell and 'Mensa' by Wanda Sykes). Others attempt to be funny ('Actor Dog' by Christopher Guest) but don't quite make it. Some are just lame ('Wiring' by Perry Farrell).
But what made me laugh more than anything was seeing Douglas Rushkoff, reporter/host of The Persuaders (see my entry from a few days ago) in 'Forbidden Fruit' shamelessly pitching the Mac (using Biblical allusion, taking a bite out of an Apple... the whole shtick). I knew I was starting to take that guy too seriously.
16 Nov 17:50 | Link | Category: Misc. Tidbits, Technology & Computing
10x10
10x10 is an interesting - and fairly useful - flash app. It's a grid of the top 100 words (and corresponding images) in the news for any given hour. "10x10 scans the RSS feeds of several leading international news sources, and performs an elaborate process of weighted linguistic analysis on the text contained in their top news stories."
16 Nov 17:21 | Link | Category: Cool Links
Unguarded Moments
Pete Souza worked as a White House photographer for the last five-and-a-half years of Ronald Reagan's presidency. Unguarded Moments is a nice collection of candid and often behind-the-scenes moments. The highlights (IMHO) are the boy making faces, Michael Jackson in the middle of a private chat between Ronald and Nancy, Reagan throwing a paper airplane, and re-writing the speech after the Reykjavik summit.
16 Nov 16:57 | Link | Category: Photography
November 15, 2004
"Was Darwin Wrong?"
The struggle against 19th century ideas is alive and well in the 21st (despite the refinement and overwhelming evidence from the 20th). And we're not just in Kansas anymore, Toto. Recent news headlines include Georgia school superintendent Kathy Cox proposing removal of the word evolution from Georgia's teaching standards, a suburban county in the same state placing stickers inside biology texts warning that evolution is "a theory, not a fact," and school officials in Wisconsin allowing teaching of Creationism because science curriculum "should not be totally inclusive of just one scientific theory."
So, when the latest edition of National Geographic arrived in my mailbox a few weeks ago, the question boldly posed on the cover - "Was Darwin Wrong?" - hit a nerve. Not simply because National Geographic sank to using tabloid-like tactics to sell a few extra copies (by creating the appearance of some shocking revelation inside), but because mentioning the name Darwin can still be such an effective way to create controversy.
Obviously the article inside wasn't any sort of refutation of Darwin's big idea, or even - for example - a look at the debate over "intelligent design" (see Michael Behe and others). It was just an article outlining the basics of evolution, headlined by a giant "No" in response to the question on the cover. The article is actually a nice introduction to the basics of evolution. The schoolboard in Georgia should pay attention to the following passage:
Evolution by natural selection, the central concept of the life's work of Charles Darwin, is a theory. It's a theory about the origin of adaptation, complexity, and diversity among Earth's living creatures. If you are skeptical by nature, unfamiliar with the terminology of science, and unaware of the overwhelming evidence, you might even be tempted to say that it's "just" a theory. In the same sense, relativity as described by Albert Einstein is "just" a theory. The notion that Earth orbits around the sun rather than vice versa, offered by Copernicus in 1543, is a theory. Continental drift is a theory. The existence, structure, and dynamics of atoms? Atomic theory. Even electricity is a theoretical construct, involving electrons, which are tiny units of charged mass that no one has ever seen. Each of these theories is an explanation that has been confirmed to such a degree, by observation and experiment, that knowledgeable experts accept it as fact. That's what scientists mean when they talk about a theory: not a dreamy and unreliable speculation, but an explanatory statement that fits the evidence. They embrace such an explanation confidently but provisionally--taking it as their best available view of reality, at least until some severely conflicting data or some better explanation might come along.
The rest of us generally agree. We plug our televisions into little wall sockets, measure a year by the length of Earth's orbit, and in many other ways live our lives based on the trusted reality of those theories.
Evolutionary theory, though, is a bit different. It's such a dangerously wonderful and far-reaching view of life that some people find it unacceptable, despite the vast body of supporting evidence.
The article mentions that in 2001, 45 percent of responding U.S. adults agreed that "God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so." To me this has more to do with scientific literacy than it does with religion per se. (Religions with something relevant and purposeful to offer their followers should be able to acknowledge overwhelming scientific evidence and adapt - otherwise it's an indication of something rotten.) If 45 percent of U.S. adults are really this scientifically illiterate, we're in serious trouble.
Maybe we just need evidence that's so incredibly "in your face" that it will stir people out of their ignorance. Like Richard Dawkins, I have "nursed a wild and hopeful dream" that someone might stumble across "living, breathing specimens of a second and very different species of human, intermediate between ourselves and chimpanzees." We nearly have that in the Flores Woman. But maybe that's not enough for people... maybe we need a living, breathing being. Dawkins muses:
But maybe Homo floresiensis survived the volcano, only to be extinguished by competition -- or worse -- from our own species. And, is it possible? Dare we hope that they still lurk in the forests?
Why call it hope rather than just disinterested scientific curiosity? Because we are human, and to meet another human species would be a soul-building experience. Besides, the live discovery I wistfully imagined would turn human complacency on its head. Our speciesism accepts a vast moral gulf between Homo sapiens and every other animal. Nice people will unquestioningly value the life of a human embryo above that of an adult chimpanzee. The chimpanzee thinks and feels, enjoys love and suffers fear, yet moral absolutists feel no unease at the killing, or selling, of a captive chimpanzee. Simultaneously, they see an infinite moral objection to the "murder" of a brainless, senseless human embryo.
What would become of such a double standard in the face of a living -- and perhaps suffering -- Homo floresiensis?
And if Flores Woman indeed belongs in the genus Homo, she might be capable of interbreeding with us -- and therefore of shaking absolutist morality to its ill-considered foundations. (Please, somebody, go out to Flores and search.)
Unfortunately, the daydream about this most unlikely of discoveries probably won't come true, so we can't rely on it as a solution to a pressing matter. We've really got to figure out how 45 percent of us have missed out on the last 150 years of earth-shattering scientific discovery, and we've got to correct that. If we're going to build any sort of future, we all need to understand our past and our connection to the planet and our fellow lifeforms.
15 Nov 12:00 | Link | Category: Human/Primate Evolution & Behavior, Opinion & Thoughts, Science
Current Playlist
This month's installment...
| Exodus 77 - Just Time >> For a few years, I've been looking everywhere for a copy of the Just Time EP - or even decent MP3s on the net. I finally resorted to eBay.co.uk and found one for £0.99. I've had the album - particularly this title track - playing loudly since it showed up in the mailbox. |
| Magokoro Brothers - My Back Pages >> A very cool Japanese version of the classic song. |
| Supergrass - Can't Get Up >> One of the many fine songs from Life on Other Planets. I can't get up no more / Though I tried standing in a forest of reasons / Driving into the sun light / I've been thinking about a better life / There's nothing left to delight in / It's a sign we ain't got it right |
| William Shatner feat. Henry Rollins - I Can't Get Behind That >> A perfectly executed frantic rant against the frustrations of modern life, this percussive track is one of many excellent moments from Shatner's Has Been album. (Yes, I'm serious. Check out this album.) I can't get behind the gods who are more vengeful, angry, and dangerous if you don't believe in them! // Everybody knows everything about all of us. That's too much knowledge! I CAN'T GET BEHIND THAT. // If you're gonna drive an urban assault vehicle then get off the phone and keep your eyes on the road! // Leave me the hell alone! 'Eat more!' 'Spend less!' The colonel is break dancing. GIVE ME A BREAK. |
| Jim White - Handcuffed to a Fence in Mississippi >> Some twisted alt-country-rock (I don't know what it is) from the genius that is Jim White. |
| David Byrne - She Only Sleeps >> A crisp, funky song with calypso beat and lyrics full of Byrne-isms and odd humor. An instant classic. |
| Bob Marley & The Wailers - Caution >> One of my favorites from the early years. Moody instrumentation and great background vocals (from Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer). |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience - May This Be Love >> This slow ballad-like song is a trippy, beautiful, and commonly overlooked bit of perfection. |
| Britta Phillips and Dean Wareham - Night Nurse >> If I ever live in a movie, I want it to be one in which this shimmering song plays at least once. It's so cheesy... and so beautiful. |
| Jets To Brazil - Starry Configurations >> This song isn't terribly great, but one day it was playing on my way home from school, and I realized I liked it for some reason. It has a very emo vibe, complete with horribly pretentious lyrics (that for some damned reason I find myself enjoying) and somewhat annoying vocals... I really like it, and I simply can't explain why. (It might have something to do with the guitars.) |
| Hum - Ms. Lazarus >> It's no secret I dig this band. I like to wrap myself up in their little sonic world every so often. Ms. Lazarus is one of their many excellent songs... pretty much a random selection. |
| Yo La Tengo - No Water >> Another perfect chill out song for the middle of the night. Or the middle of the day. Shhhh... sink and listen. |
15 Nov 1:08 | Link | Category: Music
November 14, 2004
The Persuaders
If any of you were unfortunate enough to miss last week's Frontline episode "The Persuaders", the full show is now available online. So watch it. It's a very interesting look into today's world of advertising and marketing. Here's a short article about it.
(Rushkoff mentions a New Yorker article by Nicholas Lemann about Frank Luntz - it can be read online here: The Word Lab.)
You should also check out a Frontline episode from a few years ago, also hosted by Douglas Rushkoff, called The Merchants of Cool. It can also be viewed online.
14 Nov 21:42 | Link | Category: Misc. Tidbits
November 12, 2004
Sweater Project
Check out The KFS Sweater Project:
My friend Kevin recently cleaned out his wardrobe, which, due to his pack rat nature, was crammed with clothes he hadn't worn in more than a decade. Among the discarded were 25 sweaters that can generously be described as "hideous." Or, as one critic put it, "Bill Cosby would not wear this." Kevin's defense? "I worked at Marshalls in North Olmsted, Ohio, during high school and got a 15 percent discount. It was cold. It was the late '80s." The horror, the horror.
It reminded me of these two bizarre sweaters I inherited from a family friend about five years ago. I can't even describe to you how strange they were... a swirling collection of colors and textures (yes, textures - considering the way they were made, I suspect they were very expensive sweaters). It was like taking a mild pyschedelic trip every time you looked at them. The great tragedy is that about a year ago in one of my attempts at simplifying my life and getting rid of excess junk, I sent them to a local charity. So I don't have them anymore. If I did, I would certainly take a picture for all of you, because I assure you my two sweaters were far worse than anything on that web site. And that's all I have to say about that.
12 Nov 1:30 | Link | Category: Misc. Tidbits
What Kind of Elitist Are You?
Find out what kind of elitist you are by taking this quiz.
It tells me I'm a "politics and culture guru":
From Timbuktu to Tijuana, you know all about world culture and politics. You've seen it all, and what you haven't seen, you watched on one of the "smart people channels." Your friends tell you that you should run for governor. What people love: You've always got a great story to tell. What people hate: You make them feel like ignorant plebians. Sometimes you slip and CALL them plebians.
(via J-Walk)
12 Nov 1:21 | Link | Category: Interactive
Playlist: Election 2004
I noticed a bunch of people putting together Election Playlists, both before and after the election (example here), so I decided to make my own. I decided it should only be ten songs, which was tricky considering I found about 75 candidates in a quick browse through my collection. It ended up being sort of an overly serious collection of songs that don't really meld together, but oh well. Here it is:
| Talking Heads - The Democratic Circus >> David Byrne's odd take on all of it. And when they're asking for volunteers / We'll be the first ones aboard / And when the ringmaster calls our names / We'll be the first ones to go ... to sleep // The rain's gonna pour on down, falling out of the sky / Coming down, coming down / And the celebrities all run out, and the rain's / Coming down, coming down / Gonna rain, Gonna rain, Gonna rain / And now I wonder who's boss / And who he's leavin' behind (lyrics) |
| Talking Heads - Making Flippy Floppy >> The title says it all. The song also contains this great line: I can't believe it / And people are strange / Our president's crazy / Did you hear what he said? (lyrics) |
| Bob Dylan - Political World >> Not among Dylan's greatest songs, but it still contains some cool lyrics. (lyrics) |
| Radiohead - 2+2=5 >> Their 2003 album was titled "Hail to the Thief" so, yes, most of the songs would fit on this playlist. It wasn't easy choosing only two. It's the devil's way now / There is no way out / You can scream & you can shout / It is too late now / Because you have not been paying attention (lyrics) |
| Radiohead - The Gloaming >> They will suck you down / To the otherside / To the shadows blue and red / Your alarm bells should be ringing (lyrics) |
| Natalie Merchant - This House Is On Fire >> This eerie, prophetic song comes from the pre-9/11 world (if only by days). This house is on fire / Kick off your boots, come sit a spell / Listen to me worry, come and listen well / All you better best come and lean in boys / I don't dare to raise my voice // It's all gonna catch like a house on fire / spark an evil blaze and burn higher / Well, I don't have the gift of prophesy / telling everybody how it's gonna be / You go passing wrong for right / and right for wrong / people only stand for that for just so long (lyrics) |
| Natalie Merchant - Motherland >> A beautiful, aching song that can be interpreted many ways. (lyrics) |
| R.E.M. - Final Straw >> As I raise my head to broadcast my objection / As your latest triumph draws the final straw / Who died and lifted you up to perfection? / And what silenced me is written into law // I can't believe where circumstance has thrown me / And I turn my head away / If I look I'm not sure that I could face you / Not again. Not today. Not today. (lyrics) |
| R.E.M. - I Wanted To Be Wrong >> Some of the best lyrics for this fine song aren't actually in the song, but just appear in the liner notes. (Prop up The Omega Man / we're primed for victory / God gave us the upper hand / there's honor among thieves / Temper it with arrogance / a dash of sad conceit / The top's down on the T-Bird / we're the children of the free // I told you I wanted to be wrong / But everyone is humming a song / That I don't understand (lyrics) |
| Leonard Cohen - Democracy >> Another ahead-of-its-time song from Cohen's "The Future" album. (lyrics) |
| David Bowie - A Better Future >> Let's end this playlist on a slightly less depressing note. Please don't tear this world asunder / Please take back this fear we're under / I demand a better future (lyrics) |
12 Nov 0:48 | Link | Category: Music
November 10, 2004
Are you a TV commercial rage-aholic?
My dad also clipped a column from the newspaper, crossing out the name of the author and writing in my name because he thought it sounded so much like me. See, every time I happen to watch TV, I start raging at the box whenever the commercials come on because they're so... stupid. (Some incite rage more than others. For example, KFC's break-dancing Colonel Sanders commercial always made me angry while a commercial I saw the other day for the Gazelle exercise machine just made me laugh.)
I'll admit that part of me enjoys yelling at the TV about how stupid it is -- sadly, I get a certain enjoyment from complaining about things -- but sometimes I actually do get angry about it. I guess I should simply avoid the TV more than I already do.
Anyway, this is the column: Help! TV ads are driving me out of my mind. (Utah residents will probably be well acquainted with 'Super Dell' Schanze and Dan the Laptop Man.)
10 Nov 20:05 | Link | Category: Humor
A few wise maxims
These were sent to me by my dad, who thought I might appreciate them:
- If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
- Don't assume malice for what stupidity can explain.
- The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
- He who hesitates is probably right.
- If you think there is good in everybody, you haven't met everybody.
10 Nov 19:45 | Link | Category: Humor
November 7, 2004
Another blue and red map
Take a look at this election map that takes population density into account. It's one of the best county-level visual representations of the election I've seen.
07 Nov 23:22 | Link | Category: Current Events
Minds or Machines?
I've long complained that schools (from elementary school through college) are increasingly taking the humanity out of learning, but I've never thought to complain about it in a clever way like John Gust does in his LA Times editorial Are Schools Building Minds or Machines?
(Be sure to read the entire article.)
07 Nov 0:38 | Link | Category: Opinion & Thoughts
November 6, 2004
Profile of a non-voter
This probably would have made a more interesting link last week, but it's still worth telling you about.
Most Americans who are eligible to vote, don't. NONE OF THE ABOVE, an excellent piece in The Washington Post, explores the reasons why. It's not a short article, but it's worth reading in its entirety. It first explores the question of whether it makes sense to vote or not. Then it profiles a random non-voter. Very interesting stuff.
06 Nov 1:20 | Link | Category: Current Events, Politics
Election Day results
Purple-USA.jpg - each state is colored along a spectrum between blue and red, illustrating its Democratic / Republican ratio. Interesting. Also very, um, charming that I live in the reddest state of all.
2004vs1850.gif - The 2004 presidential election as compared to the Compromise of 1850. Somewhat disturbing.
06 Nov 1:08 | Link | Category: Current Events, Politics
November 5, 2004
Election #4: Where do we go from here?
So how to move on?
There are lots of people with lots of ideas. Below is just a small sampling of quotes and links.
Peter Rothberg of ActNow writes in 'Winter In America':
Being a progressive is now a much more important job than ever before. So, it's a good time to single out a few of the many public-interest groups who are now the only bulwark we have against an increasingly emboldened Bush team set out to impose its fundamentalist agenda on a divided nation. Please join, volunteer with, make donations to, praise often and otherwise support these organizations with all your might.
Mark Morford, in another of his clever, entertaining columns, exhorts people not to follow through on their threats of leaving the country:
You cannot leave. You cannot drop the armor now. Why? Because you are needed, more than ever. You are mandatory to keep the energy flowing, the karmic vibrator buzzing, to keep the progressive and lucid half of the nation breathing and healthy and awake and ever reaching out to the half that's wallowing in fear and violence and homophobia and sexual dread, hoping to find harmony instead of cacophony, common ground instead of civil war, some sort of a shared love of a country so messy and internationally disrespected and openly confused its own president can't even speak the language.
...
Look. No one said it was gonna be easy. No one said it was gonna be painless. And no one said it was gonna be quick. As I've noted before, the neocons have been planning this takeover for decades. The Bush regime, despite feeling like a massive indigestible incomprehensible fluke, is no accident.
...
The bottom line: Don't disband the newfound army just because one ugly battle was lost. Mourn, commiserate, lick wounds, lick each other, drink heavily, spit out your stale gum of disappointment and pop in a fresh clove of laughter and spiritual heat and then regroup and sober up and take an even deeper breath and watch in hot wet spiritually emboldened amusement as the cosmic circus unfolds.
...
It's far from over. The tunnel is just a little darker -- and longer -- than we imagined.
In Stand and Fight, Katrina vanden Heuvel says:
The American Right understands we are two nations, and cares less about healing than about holding power. A Bush wins forces us to understand, in a very deep way, what that means for us and for the values and institutions we care about. Not that they are wrong, or rejected or weighed down by "identity politics" or some other rationale for surrender. But that they are in desperate danger and we need to start thinking along the lines of how to resist, delay, deflect, oppose and ultimately defeat the assault on our freedoms.
...
In the end, this election is about what kind of people we are, what kind of country we'll be. Half of the electorate dissents from Bushism. The election still represents an expression of the strength of opposition to the radical and reckless course Bush has followed, despite the ugly campaign.
Some folks advocate more extreme measures. (I share them here for humor's sake, though they're all revealing in their own way.)
C.B. Shapiro has a modest proposal: The U.S.A.R. and U.S.A.B. (R for red, B for blue)
Ken Mondschein believes a "perceived American crisis of masculinity is the real cause of what happened November 2."
Stop reading this blog, South Knox Bubba says:
If you want to know why Democrats got whipped like a rented mule Tuesday, you need to understand how things work. You need to watch Fox News. You need to listen to Rush Limbaugh and Neal Boortz. You need to follow websites like InstaPundit and Town Hall and Free Republic.
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They stay on message, drive those wedges in deep, and scare the hell out of the electorate.
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And the malleable majority is either too busy trying to get by to dig deeper or think critically or too lazy to care, which makes the job even easier. They are attracted like moths to the flames of fear and empty promises of a better tomorrow. They appreciate that someone else has already done the hard work of thinking things through for them. They trust them because the thinkers look like them and talk like them and share the same "values"
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They package their candidates in an attractive wrapper of meaningless issues to create shiny, hollow baubles that jingle and jangle with melodious sound bites. It's all so pleasing to the eye and ear -- a comforting distraction from the daily grind.
Eric Lawrence asks What Would a Dumbass Republican Do?
Get depressed? Get down? Feel defeated? Go away? Refrain from being an obnoxious pain in the ass, 24/7? Temper his sense of righteous entitlement? Mute his howls of indignation? Question his convictions? Hell, no!
To be serious, though, I think it's going to take more than more organization, better support of activist groups, or a simple alteration of strategy. (Thinking of or referring to Republicans as "dumbasses" isn't going to help much, either.)
I spend a good proportion of my time among family and friends who are conservative Republicans. (Most of them consider me a lost soul whose views are deeply misguided and - though they won't usually say it to my face - evil.) My father, for whom I have great respect, is a Bush supporter. I've been a Limbaugh-listening, anti-evolution religious conservative myself (granted, that phase only that lasted from about age 14 - 15, but still...). So I think I have a fair amount of experience not only in understanding that worldview, but also in knowing what it takes to open a closed mind... and it seems to me that increased activism and organization - especially if it's as closed-minded and hate-filled as a lot of stuff coming from the right - will do almost nothing in that respect (instead, they'll close their minds tighter and batten down the hatches). And I think that's true not only for religious conservatives, but also for the middle- and working-class families of the red states.
Activism and progressivism (especially on the local level) is a good start, but we need more. We need a sea change in U.S. political dialogue and thought. Americans need critical-thinking skills, better education and open, inquiring, skeptical minds. Americans need knowledge of history and an appreciation and understanding of the rest of the world. Can such a change ever take place? I don't know. If it is possible, it will take a lot of work and many decades... but I guess there's always room for hope.
05 Nov 23:59 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
Election #3: The Abandonment of Reason
What's behind the continued shift to the "right" (or perhaps more precisely, religious conservatism) in the United States? One could discuss the topic for hours (historians are still arguing about the causes and effects of the Reagan and Thatcher "Revolutions" after twenty-five years) so I'm not going to attempt any real exploration here. I will only say that I think one of the core problems in American politics and culture is the abandonment of reason and the departure from that portion of our national identity rooted in the Enlightenment. Conservatives and liberals alike are guilty. It's just that it's more pervasive among conservatives, and that they're better at exploiting it for political gain.
Garry Wills wrote a superb op-ed for the New York Times entitled The Day the Enlightenment Went Out. I apologize in advance for quoting most of the article (in other words: just read the whole thing), but it was a gem amongst the other chatter.
[Rove] calculated that the religious conservatives, if they could be turned out, would be the deciding factor. The success of the plan was registered not only in the presidential results but also in all 11 of the state votes to ban same-sex marriage. Mr. Rove understands what surveys have shown, that many more Americans believe in the Virgin Birth than in Darwin's theory of evolution.
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Mr. Rove felt that the appeal to this large bloc was worth getting President Bush to endorse a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage (though he had opposed it earlier).
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America, the first real democracy in history, was a product of Enlightenment values - critical intelligence, tolerance, respect for evidence, a regard for the secular sciences. Though the founders differed on many things, they shared these values of what was then modernity.
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The secular states of modern Europe do not understand the fundamentalism of the American electorate. It is not what they had experienced from this country in the past. In fact, we now resemble those nations less than we do our putative enemies.
Where else do we find fundamentalist zeal, a rage at secularity, religious intolerance, fear of and hatred for modernity? Not in France or Britain or Germany or Italy or Spain. We find it in the Muslim world, in Al Qaeda, in Saddam Hussein's Sunni loyalists.
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President Bush promised in 2000 that he would lead a humble country, be a uniter not a divider, that he would make conservatism compassionate. He did not need to make such false promises this time. He was re-elected precisely by being a divider, pitting the reddest aspects of the red states against the blue nearly half of the nation. In this, he is very far from Ronald Reagan, who was amiably and ecumenically pious. He could address more secular audiences, here and abroad, with real respect.
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The moral zealots will, I predict, give some cause for dismay even to nonfundamentalist Republicans. Jihads are scary things. It is not too early to start yearning back toward the Enlightenment.
Which brings us to the next question. If the United States is really so off course, what is the correct course and how can steer the country back to it?
Enlightenment ideas and ideals were the most common thread uniting the architects of the U.S. republic. They still permeate much of American law and political thought, so it seems Wills is correct to exhort a focus on Enlightenment values such as "critical intelligence, tolerance, respect for evidence, a regard for the secular sciences." (Exit polls indicate that "values" was the top issue for many voters. It's unfortunate for all of us that they weren't Enlightenment values.)
Some may view the Enlightenment as a quaint historical footnote marked by utopian European thinkers whose ideas have been discredited and replaced by two hundred fifty years of history and new thought., but... well, Paul Brians sums it up nicely in his class notes on the Enlightenment:
Today the Enlightenment is often viewed as a historical anomaly, a brief moment when a number of thinkers infatuated with reason vainly supposed that the perfect society could be built on common sense and tolerance, a fantasy which collapsed amid the Terror of the French Revolution and the triumphal sweep of Romanticism. Religious thinkers repeatedly proclaim the Enlightenment dead, Marxists denounce it for promoting the ideals and power of the bourgeoisie at the expense of the working classes, postcolonial critics reject its idealization of specifically European notions as universal truths, and postructuralists reject its entire concept of rational thought.
Yet in many ways, the Enlightenment has never been more alive. The notions of human rights it developed are powerfully attractive to oppressed peoples everywhere, who appeal to the same notion of natural law that so inspired Voltaire and Jefferson. Wherever religious conflicts erupt, mutual religious tolerance is counseled as a solution. Rousseau's notions of self-rule are ideals so universal that the worst tyrant has to disguise his tyrannies by claiming to be acting on their behalf. European these ideas may be, but they have also become global. Whatever their limits, they have formed the consensus of international ideals by which modern states are judged.
If our world seems little closer to perfection than that of 18th-century France, that is partly due to our failure to appreciate gains we take for granted. But it is also the case that many of the enemies of the Enlightenment are demolishing a straw man: it was never as simple-mindedly optimistic as it has often been portrayed. Certainly Voltaire was no facile optimist. He distrusted utopianism, instead trying to cajole Europeans out of their more harmful stupidities. Whether we acknowledge his influence or not, we still think today more like him than like his enemies.
(I realize my thoughts are veering off course, but the point is that a healthy dose of Enlightenment ideals would do this country well. Critical thought, tolerance, secularism, respect for civil rights, attention to scientific thought, and the rest. Imagine it.)
05 Nov 23:58 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
Election #2: What does it mean?
What does this all mean? Should we really be worried?
Allow me to go on a bit of a tangent. (Don't freak out, I'll come back to more reasonable discussion in the next section.)
In a recent issue of Free Inquiry, Laurence W. Britt wrote a very interesting article entitled Fascism Anyone? He's not just another fringe extremist or collegiate protestor throwing around the term "fascism" lightly. Britt's article is an interesting listing of common threads between seven fascist and proto-fascist regimes. "Analysis of these seven regimes reveals fourteen common threads that link them in recognizable patterns of national behavior and abuse of power. These basic characteristics are more prevalent and intense in some regimes than in others, but they all share at least some level of similarity." You should read the article in its entirety, but here are the fourteen common threads:
- Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism
- Disdain for the importance of human rights
- Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause
- The supremacy of the military / avid militarism
- Rampant sexism (male-dominated, women second-class, homophobic)
- A controlled mass media
- Obsession with national security
- Religion and ruling elite tied together
- Power of corporations protected
- Power of labor suppressed or eliminated
- Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts
- Obsession with crime and punishment
- Rampant cronyism and corruption
- Fraudulent elections
Britt goes on to write: "Does any of this ring alarm bells? Of course not. After all, this is America, officially a democracy with the rule of law, a constitution, a free press, honest elections, and a well-informed public constantly being put on guard against evils. Historical comparisons like these are just exercises in verbal gymnastics. Maybe, maybe not."
While I'm not suggesting anything as preposterous as the idea that we are close to having a fascist regime, it's distressing that people can draw so many parallels (however serious or realistic). It's an unsettling comment on the political climate.
(You should also check out my October 31 weblog post about the "Bush Pledge" and more. As for fraudulent elections, even this time around, look here and here. And can it be a good thing that traffic on Canada's immigration website increased sixfold the day after the election?)
05 Nov 23:57 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
Election #1: Four More Years
I'm not really sure what to say about the election (other than "what a damn shame," something I've been repeating ad nauseum). My head is full of thoughts, questions, and observations. They're so numerous and varied that I had trouble condensing them into a short piece of writing. Instead I ended up with a very long piece, divided into roughly four sections. Here's the first...
In the weeks and months preceding the election, candidates, pundits and supporters trumpeted "the most important election of our lifetime." While that was largely just a rallying cry to stir support and voter turnout in a neck-and-neck election, I think there's a kernel of truth to it. This election was 'important' in that it will likely prove to be a defining moment - a moment that so encapsulates the way the nation is changing that in twenty-five years, historians charting the course of the nation's politics and culture will list it as a pivotal event.
It should be interesting to see how those future historians interpret the event. Three days after the fact, here's the result of the election as I see it: The American public has just been hoodwinked into re-electing one of the worst presidents in U.S. history and largely handing the legislative branch to a group containing a number of reactionaries (read about five fine senator-elects).
I hope you're in a good mood, because here are some of my expectations for the next four years:
- Did the foreign policy of the last four years scare you? Now the architects of that policy are drunk with the power of their "mandate," so count on more reckless foreign policy. Expect continued pursuit of neoconservative policies (as proposed by the key players of such groups as PNAC) designed to use "military and economic domination of land, space, and cyberspace by the United States, so as to establish American dominance in world affairs for the future." Expect continued adherence to the Bush Doctrine, allowing for the possibility of more preemptive invasions.
- More right-wing judges will be appointed to the courts, including the Supreme Court. (Among the senators who will vote on confirmation of justices will be Oklahoma senator-elect Tom Coburn who favors the death penalty for abortion doctors, and opposes abortion in the case of rape.)
- The separation between church and state will continue to disappear. (One of the most disturbing thoughts about this is that many of the winners of this election cynically used the convictions of the religious right simply as a tool to grab power.)
- We'll see the continuation and further creation of anti-environmental initiatives with Doublethink names like "Healthy Forests" and "Clear Skies" designed to fool a gullible populace. Unlike legislative moves that can later be reversed, environmental policies can require decades and centuries to reverse - if ever.
- Homosexuals can expect more attacks against their rights in the form of anti-gay legislation, including proposal of a Constitutional amendment that would be the first in history to withdraw rights from a specific group of people. Already during this election, voters in 11 states voted to ban same-sex marriage. Kentucky even banned civil unions. South Carolina senator-elect Jim DeMint has stated that gays (and unwed pregnant women) are unfit to be teachers.
- Expect more fiscal irresponsibility, including tax cuts and increased national debt that we'll have to pay for either in coming years or through cuts in important programs.
05 Nov 23:56 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
Grieving since Election Day?
Sorry for the lack of posts over the last few very eventful days. I've been really busy, and my phone line (including DSL) was dead the one time I did try to make an actual post.
One e-mailer wondered jokingly if perhaps I was in such grief over the results of the election that I decided not to post. That made me laugh and gave me an idea.
So here they are, my seven stages of Kerry supporter grief:
- Denial: "No, this isn't happening. This isn't right... what about all those provisional ballots in Ohio? That could turn things around. Or what if Kerry carries all the remaining states?"
- Shock: 'NBC News predicts Bush to be the winner in Ohio.' "I'm speechless. Umm, now I'm feeling numb and drowsy... I think I'm going to pass out!"
- Isolation: "Just... don't bug me, I don't want to talk about it. I'm going to bed now."
- Anger: "What the fuck were those people thinking? This country is full of idiots! Re-electing George W. Bush?!? Fuck the red states!"
- Bargaining: "There's always next time. This was just part of a cycle, you know? And it's only four years. I mean, at least Kerry didn't have to inherit all of Bush's messes, right? I say, let the Republicans reap what they've sown. BRING ON 2008!"
- Depression: "What's the point? The whole country's going to hell and there's nothing anyone can do. I don't know why I even care about any of it."
- Acceptance
Update: Someone just sent me this link.
05 Nov 23:44 | Link | Category: Humor
November 1, 2004
Final pre-Election Day Roundup
This might be that last collection election-related links I post before Wednesday (but hold your applause because it might not).
From The New Yorker: The Choice, an intelligent, well-reasoned piece. It runs through the history and failures of the Bush administration, and offers reasons why Kerry - despite his weaknesses - is a better choice than Bush.
From the LA Times: A Failed Presidency:
[Bush] has been a reckless steward of the nation's finances and its environment, a divisive figure at home and abroad. It's fair to say that Bush has devalued the American brand in the global marketplace.
What keeps this a close race is voter discomfort with Sen. John F. Kerry and the success of Republicans in stoking concerns about Kerry's fitness for office. But the thrust of the Bush campaign message — essentially, you are stuck with me in this frightful time because the other guy is too unreliable — is a tacit acknowledgment that he can't allow the election to be a referendum on his record.
From AlterNet: Lie and You Thrive.
From The Boston Phoenix: The Cheney Myth. Dan Kennedy argues (in a very lengthy article) that far from being an "evil genius," Cheney is just corrupt and incompetent.
And - finally - from GNN: Bush Wanted To Invade Iraq If Elected in 2000. This has already been revealed by the likes of former Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill and former White House Terrorism aide Richard Clarke. This time it comes from George W. Bush's former ghost writer, Mickey Herskowitz. Below are excerpts I thought were particularly revealing, but you'd be better off reaing the whole article.
"He said to me: 'One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.' And he said, 'My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.' He said, 'If I have a chance to invade...if I had that much capital, I'm not going to waste it. I'm going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I'm going to have a successful presidency."
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Herskowitz said that Bush expressed frustration at a lifetime as an underachiever in the shadow of an accomplished father. In aggressive military action, he saw the opportunity to emerge from his father's shadow.
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Herskowitz also revealed the following:
- In 2003, Bush's father indicated to him that he disagreed with his son's invasion of Iraq.
- Bush described his own business ventures as "floundering" before campaign officials insisted on recasting them in a positive light.
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According to Herskowitz, George W. Bush's beliefs on Iraq were based in part on a notion dating back to the Reagan White House - ascribed in part to now-vice president Dick Cheney, Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee under Reagan. "Start a small war. Pick a country where there is justification you can jump on, go ahead and invade."
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"He told me that as a leader, you can never admit to a mistake," Herskowitz said. "That was one of the keys to being a leader."
01 Nov 22:57 | Link | Category: Opinion & Thoughts, Politics