September 18, 2008
I want to be like this guy someday
From a story in the Houston Chronicle about a 67-year-old man who decided to stay home during Hurricane Ike:
"I’m just a crazy old hardhead," Wilkinson said Saturday while sitting on the front porch of his apartment on Fort Velasco Boulevard. "I didn’t say I had all my marbles."
"I just saw all kinds of goodies floating away, like my refrigerator downstairs," he said. "I watched automobiles floating by," like a Volvo that traveled for several blocks before ending up in a ditch.
Wilkinson said that he felt his home shaking badly in the fierce winds as he sat there drinking beer, but the gusts were so loud he couldn't hear much else.
He was never scared, just entertained. He did not pray for help.
"I figure I put me in this position and God couldn't get me out," he said.
Though he came through unscathed, Wilkinson didn't think others should follow his example.
"I don't advise it unless you're nuts," he said.
18 Sep 17:54 | Link | Category: Current Events, Humor
August 31, 2008
Praying for Rain
Before Obama's speech, some of James Dobson's wingnut followers were praying for the event to be rained out:
"But if God decides -- and it's always up to God to decide -- that rain of Biblical proportions would be a good and proper meteorological condition for that evening, we'll see it, and we'll say that it is good. And if He decides it's not really necessary, I'm OK with that. I'll still trust in His wisdom and I'll rest peacefully knowing that lots of us offered up a humble prayer request. Would it be so wrong if we asked people to pray for rain?"
No word from God (whom we can presume has better things to do), but it does look like Mother Nature has readied a statement on Republican policy and may upstage the convention. (It could be good, bad, or both for them.)
I really shouldn't approach this issue so facetiously, so let's be completely serious for a moment. It's eerie to look back at the post I made here right before Katrina hit. Like everyone else, I dearly hope Gustav ends up being far less destructive. If you're into praying about the weather, this is something you should pray about. By the way, the offer of a free place to stay still stands. And this time I'm in Austin, Texas - where we already have evacuees - so it's actually a reasonable offer: You are welcome to crash in my shoebox apartment for as long as you need.
31 Aug 17:04 | Link | Category: Current Events, Politics
August 25, 2008
Jamaican athletes and the 'sprinting gene'
In my new apartment, I've opted to go with a handful of fuzzy over-the-air TV channels. (Cable is both expensive and distracting, but oh, how I will miss it!) So I actually spent quite a bit of time watching NBC's coverage of the Beijing Olympics. I can't remember why I missed most of the '04 and '06 games, but it was somehow comforting to watch Bob Costas and the NBC crew covering the events in their usual, distorted way.
In sprinting, the Jamaicans were simply unbelievable. Usain Bolt's performances were superhuman and his teammates racked up a number of medals, too. Assuming they're not doping (a reasonably safe bet since they've apparently been tested frequently), why is it that Jamaicans are such great sprinters? Further, why do New Worlders of West African ancestry make up such a disproportionate number of champions in short-track events? Is it genetic?
Clearly, genes are a very significant factor in creating an Olympian. Olympic champions are probably all at the very far end of the bell curve for some trait or combination of traits. (Michael Phelps, for example, has disproportionately large hands, feet, and torso.) But of course there's much more to it. We all know phenotype isn't determined entirely by genotype, yet we hear about a "sprinting gene" and immediately forget about countless environmental factors (like culture, nutrition, scouts, trainers, etc. -- it's quite belittling to Jamaica's culture and running programs).
The popular press, in particular, loves to latch on to some piece of data from the very complicated and nonintuitive field of genetics and run with it. A number of simplistic stories have been circulating in the press declaring ACTN3 as the Jamaican sprinting gene. Some articles (like Slate's 'Jamaican Me Speedy'), to their credit, did try to point out that it's rather more complicated than figuring out who does or doesn't have one or two copies of a particular gene variant (allele) in their genome. There are, of course, countless interacting genes involved as well as countless environmental & cultural factors. (Read this article to learn about some of the social reasons Jamaica has such a great track program.)
The best explanation I've seen is over at the Genetic Future blog. Take a minute to read The gene for Jamaican sprinting success? No, not really. Some highlights:
So, how good is this scientific evidence? Does the "Actinen A" gene (whatever that is) actually influence sprinting performance? And if so, does it explain the difference in explosive power between Jamaicans and the rest of the world? The answers, as it turns out, are "probably" and "not really."
...
So the absence of α-actinin-3 means very little to most of us, but to a young athlete craving 100 metre Olympic superstardom it could make all the difference in the world. The same could be said of many other genetic variants, of course; Olympic sprinters, essentially, are those unlikely individuals at the vanishing edge of the probability distribution for whom nearly every genetic coin has come up heads.
...
It is almost certainly true that Usain Bolt carries at least one of the "sprint" variants of the ACTN3 gene, but then so do I (along with around five billion other humans worldwide). Indeed, I'm fortunate enough to be lugging around two "sprint" copies - but that doesn't mean you'll see me in the 100 metre final in London in 2012. Unfortunately for me, it takes a lot more than one lucky gene to create an Olympian.
None of this rules out the possibility that some genetic edge does play a significant role in Jamaican sprinting success. Maybe there really is a difference in the Jamaican gene pool (and it wouldn't have to be much because it would be magnified when you're looking at Olympics-level athletes). It could be stochastic, or it could be the result of something like artificial selection resulting from the slave trade. (I doubt this, but you never know...) More explanation can be found at Weird lands of the tails from the Gene Expression blog.
The bottom line is that we simply don't know. It's complicated and there are probably multiple explanations for the trends we see. It would behoove the press (and us, as individuals) to stop speculating and making simplified assumptions. (In this wild new 'genetic world' we're living in, I'm not sure that's going to happen. Frankly, I'm a little worried. But we'll see...)
25 Aug 13:31 | Link | Category: Current Events, Human/Primate Evolution & Behavior, Science
June 27, 2008
I just calculated fuel costs for my upcoming move, so here's a rambling post about OIL.
Everyone wants to blame someone for the latest oil crisis. I think it has more to do with geopolitics, the U.S. political establishment, and the oil industry than it does with environmentalists or socialists or whoever else. But it doesn't really matter who you choose for your whipping boy. We've all wasted more than thirty years during which we could've started working our way out of the inevitable end of cheap oil. Things will keep getting uglier; it's just a matter of how quickly that happens.
Lifting the ban on drilling off the coasts (and in places like ANWR) seems like a decent short-term solution, right? 60% of Americans think so. Unfortunately, the impact on gasoline prices would be negligible and it would take quite a while to ramp up drilling anyway.
Even if you feel the (dubious) short-term benefits of drilling in these places outweighs the potentially severe long-term environmental costs, I think it's worth pointing out the fact that the oil industry already has access to millions of leases to existing areas but has not tapped them yet. Instead, they're pushing to open areas in which drilling may be easier. Why? Oil may hit $150 / barrel any day now -- but much of this has to do with speculation, the weak dollar, and other economic factors. (And maybe one or two of those crazy conspiracy theories you've heard.) The oil companies are afraid the price will come down and investments in costlier areas won't pay off. (Wait... I thought they were reinvesting every penny of their record profits?)
President Bush, Senator McCain, and others are suggesting a knee-jerk reaction with questionable short-term benefits and potentially serious long-term costs. Even regardless of environmental damage, the amount of oil produced if we opened all of these areas will not solve our energy problems, especially if world oil consumption continues to rise as predicted (from 85 million barrels a day to 100 million barrels a day by 2025).
We need a focused, long-term strategy for dealing with this mess. But it's a very complicated mess and it seems like none of our policymakers have the slightest idea how to deal with it. As for the presidential candidates, John McCain's proposals amount to basically nothing. Barack Obama's proposals are better for the most part (aside from a few boneheaded ones), but even if all the better ones were implemented, I'm still not sure they would be enough.
I remember hand-wringing about oil on this blog three years ago. The politicians have done nothing in those three years. And while I would love to believe it's all George W. Bush's fault, I know it's not. I don't think policymakers are going to find a way to really grapple with this issue, so get ready for some interesting times and figure out ways to deal with it on your own.
27 Jun 23:32 | Link | Category: Current Events, Politics
June 2, 2008
Links 19 (The Cost of War)
I'm starting to go crazy (and the shit hasn't even hit the fan yet -- that'll probably happen later this week). I won't be doing any online whining or venting here like I used to do, but posts may continue to be sporadic. (I have thought about starting an anonymous blogspot or livejournal blog as an outlet, though. If I do, I'll post notice here and I'll give the address to a select few of you.)
Anyway, let's soldier on with the link dump... Today's topic is the Cost of War. Specifically, the cost of U.S. misadventures in Iraq. "Cost" here is in the economic sense -- this is, needless to say, a fairly narrow view of the costs of war, but it has the virtue of being easy to quantify ...relatively easy, at least. There are plenty of estimates, but the general consensus is something like, um, a lot.
1. Last year, when the Bush Administration was requesting more funding for the war, the total official cost - just up to that point - came to $611.5 billion. This led many people to ask What can $611 billion buy? The answers were sobering.
2. Later, the Joint Economic Committee concluded that the Iraq war would cost $1.3 trillion - that's $1,300,000,000,000 - by 2009, and the combined cost of Iraq & Afghanistan could reach $3.5 trillion by 2017. They factored in the cost of borrowing money to pay for the war, lost productivity, higher oil prices, cost of healthcare for veterans, etc. At that price, the cost to a family of four would be more than $20,000 between 2002 and 2008.
3. But the cost is actually higher than that, pointed out economics professor Tyler Cowen in the Washington Post. One needs to factor in opportunity cost (more about opportunity cost). His article points out wasted opportunities, hidden costs, and the 'fruitless investment' Iraq has been. (Not to mention the human cost, which is of course incalculable.)
4. Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz arrived at a conservative figure of $3 trillion to the U.S. and another $3 trillion to the rest of the world. Can you even imagine what else we could have done with that money? Some could have been applied to actually protecting the U.S., and the rest could have been spent on energy independence, environmental and social issues, etc. The list is huge. Even those who argue that manned space exploration is a boondoggle would probably agree it would've been a better use of the money - and for that much money, we could have embarked not just on an exploration program of Mars, but we could've practically colonized the place.
5. So. An enormous economic cost for a war that, according to the National Intelligence Estimate, has fueled the terror threat.
None of this is terribly new or surprising, though. In many ways, the current terror threat stems directly from the Cold War, another simply incredible waste of resources. I recall a speech delivered by Carl Sagan twenty years ago for the rededication of the Gettysburg memorial. (A copy can be found on the History Channel site or in the book Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History; a copy updated by co-author Ann Druyan is in Sagan's posthumous publication Billions & Billions.)
In the speech, Sagan pointed out the $10 trillion spent by the U.S. waging the Cold War, more than a third of which was spent during the Reagan years. (And it never really stopped... Druyan notes in the update in "Billions & Billions" that the Clinton defense budget in post-Cold War 1995 was $30 billion higher than Nixon's defense budget in the height of the Cold War.) Sagan wondered what else we could have done with, say, half of that $10 trillion:
What else could the United States have done with that money (not all of it, because prudent defense is, of course, necessary — but, say, half of it)? For a little over $5 trillion, skillfully applied, we could have made major progress toward eliminating hunger, homelessness, infectious disease, illiteracy, ignorance, poverty, and safeguarding the environment—not just in the United States but worldwide. We could have helped make the planet agriculturally self-sufficient and removed many of the causes of violence and war. And this could have been done with enormous benefit to the American economy. We could have made deep inroads into the national debt. For less than a percent of that money, we could have mustered a long-term international program of manned exploration to Mars. Prodigies of human inventiveness in art, architecture, medicine, and science could be supported for decades with a tiny fraction of that money. The technological and entrepreneurial opportunities would have been prodigious.
02 Jun 8:01 | Link | Category: Current Events, Link Dump '08, Politics, Site/Life News
April 23, 2008
Links 3 (Biofuels)
1. How the rich starved the world - an article about grain shortages and the role of biofuels.
2. (Some) biofuels aren't very environmentally friendly, either. From last year: Corn biofuel 'dangerously oversold' as green energy. A couple of excerpts:
The report concludes that the rapidly growing and heavily subsidised corn ethanol industry in the US will cause significant environmental damage without significantly reducing the country's dependence on fossil fuels.
Even if all corn grown in the US was used for fuel, it would only offset 15% of the country's gasoline use, according to the study. The same reduction could be achieved by a 3.5-mile-per-gallon increase in fuel efficiency standards for all cars and light trucks, according to federal figures cited in the report.
3. Forget biofuels - burn oil and plant forests instead. Planting forests doesn't necessarily compensate for burning oil, and not all biofuels are bad, but this link does a nice job of briefly explaining why biofuels can be bad for the environment. An excerpt:
Burning oil and planting forests to compensate is more environmentally friendly than burning biofuel. So say scientists who have calculated the difference in net emissions between using land to produce biofuel and the alternative: fuelling cars with gasoline and replanting forests on the land instead.
They recommend governments steer away from biofuel and focus on reforestation and maximising the efficiency of fossil fuels instead.
The reason is that producing biofuel is not a "green process". It requires tractors and fertilisers and land, all of which means burning fossil fuels to make "green" fuel. In the case of bioethanol produced from corn - an alternative to oil - "it's essentially a zero-sums game," says Ghislaine Kieffer.
What is more, environmentalists have expressed concerns that the growing political backing that biofuel is enjoying will mean forests will be chopped down to make room for biofuel crops such as maize and sugarcane. "When you do this, you immediately release between 100 and 200 tonnes of carbon [per hectare]," says Renton Righelato of the World Land Trust, UK, a conservation agency that seeks to preserve rainforests.
23 Apr 21:11 | Link | Category: Current Events, Link Dump '08, Science
March 26, 2008
The Big Thaw (continues)
From National Geographic (and nearly every other news source) via the Associated Press:
Satellite images show the runaway disintegration of a 160-square-mile chunk in western Antarctica, which started February 28.
You can see the photos & video footage at the British Antarctic Survey site and this Nat. Geographic page.
Perhaps not as momentous as the breakup of Larsen B, but still unsettling.
(Which reminds me... if British Sea Power's song about Larsen B is not in your collection, it should be. As love songs / laments about ice shelves go, it's the tops.)
26 Mar 17:09 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
March 19, 2008
Wacky Wabbit
It seems like I've mentioned Assud the Hamas bunny before, but here's another fun clip in which he says that if the Danes have the audacity to affront Muhammad again, they will be killed. Specifically, he will "bite them and eat them up," like he wants to do to Jews. (I'm thinking the bunny should look more like Frank the Rabbit from Donnie Darko.)
The part I'm talking about is at ~ 3:34, but the whole thing makes for surreal viewing:
A fine (if bizarre) example of the variety of mind virus that is very pernicious indeed.
19 Mar 23:54 | Link | Category: Current Events, Video
January 23, 2008
Panic! At the Trading Floor
Robert Reich in a Salon.com article titled The politics of an economic nightmare:
In reality, the crisis is both a credit crunch and the bursting of the housing bubble. Wall Street is in terrible shape and Main Street is about to be in terrible shape. And there's not a whole lot that can be done about either of these problems -- because they are the results of years of lax credit standards, get-rich-quick schemes, wild speculation on Wall Street and in the housing market, and gross irresponsibility by the Fed, the Treasury and the Comptroller of the Currency.
23 Jan 21:24 | Link | Category: Current Events, Politics
November 8, 2007
'Waterboarding'
Waterboarding is back in the headlines (and you've gotta love that term - 'waterboarding' almost sounds fun, like wakeboarding or something). Since Mukasey's lame dodging of the question, the issue is back on peoples' minds and a couple of videos are floating around the web with renewed momentum. One is a segment from FOX News that reminds me of a clip from The Daily Show (but nevertheless does demonstrate waterboarding). The other is a clip from Current (with annoying dramatic music but minus the stupid FOX talking heads), embedded below.
The issue is, of course, larger than waterboarding. There are plenty of other 'coercive interrogation techniques' that are just as - or more - questionable (e.g., sensory deprivation).
08 Nov 16:30 | Link | Category: Current Events, Politics, Video
October 1, 2007
"I'm trippin' too"
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (Or as I call him, The Iranian W.) Plenty of his statements indicate that he, like so many other world leaders, is blinded by ideology - or just batshit insane. The Holocaust denials, the claim of being "surrounded by light" during a speech, and so much more. Like this:
The most remarkable aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad's piety is his devotion to the Hidden Imam, the Messiah-like figure of Shia Islam, and the president's belief that his government must prepare the country for his return.
But I'll admit that he occasionally makes a good point (rhetorically, at least). And sometimes he can even be funny (albeit inadvertently). Like last week at Columbia University when he claimed there are no gays in Iran. Which prompted Andy Samberg's Mahmoud love song, "Iran So Far" (which was the whole reason I posted anything about Ahmadinejad's visit since it's been hashed and rehashed by everyone). The official clip at nbc.com doesn't work for some reason (typical), so enjoy it on YouTube. (If the clip below doesn't work, try searching for other copies.)
01 Oct 19:33 | Link | Category: Art & Entertainment, Current Events, Humor, Politics, Video
September 30, 2007
Replaced with a look-alike
We all know that Paul McCartney died and was replaced with a look-alike. (Here's undeniable proof! Heh.)
Less well-known, however, is the fact that Richard B. Cheney died and was replaced with a look-alike. This video from 15 years ago, in which the real Dick Cheney explains why the George H.W. Bush administration stopped military action in Iraq in 1991, is undeniable proof:
30 Sep 15:12 | Link | Category: Current Events, Politics, Video
September 18, 2007
Leave General Petraeus Alone
I wasn't gonna post this, but since it seems that everyone has seen that Leave Britney Alone video on YouTube (thanks to reputable news organizations like CNN and ABC), you should get the joke.
(via Cynical-C)
18 Sep 17:10 | Link | Category: Current Events, Humor, Video
September 8, 2006
Katherine Harris, part of today's American revolution
One of my favorite topics for blog posts is the idiocy of individuals running for or holding public office. This is obviously a topic for which there is no shortage of subjects. But one person who keeps popping up on the radar again and again is Katherine Harris. (You may remember her as the Florida Secretary of State - and co-chair of W's Florida election campaign - during the Bush vs. Gore fiasco.)
Last year, I mentioned how she supported spending the state's money on investigating how something akin to Kabbalah Water could help prevent citrus canker from destroying trees. It didn't work. (Incidentally, Madonna is lobbying to save the world through the use of Kabbalah Water as a treatment for nuclear waste. You never know... maybe it works better on nuclear waste than citrus canker?)
Anyway, Harris continues to amuse. She's been in the news quite a bit lately (mostly for her mismanaged, fiasco-ridden campaign). What I most enjoyed were the nuggets of wisdom found in her interview with the Florida Baptist Witness. Like this:
The Bible says we are to be salt and light. And salt and light means not just in the church and not just as a teacher or as a pastor or a banker or a lawyer, but in government and we have to have elected officials in government and we have to have the faithful in government and over time, that lie we have been told, the separation of church and state, people have internalized, thinking that they needed to avoid politics and that is so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers.
Hmmm... Lots to say about that, but mostly I'm just dying to know how God is choosing our rulers. And if He is, why are our rulers doing such a terrible job? And is He choosing rulers of other countries? Anyway, moving on... let's look at some of her other comments from that interview...
On rights for homosexuals:
Civil rights have to do with individual rights and I don’t think they apply to the gay issues. I have not supported gay marriage and I do not support any civil rights actions with regard to homosexuality.
Gays are not individuals. Duh. Are they even humans? (Sarcasm aside, check out this clip of Jon Stewart and Bill "The Gambler" Bennett. I could quibble with a couple of Stewart's arguments, but I love the parts where he explains to Bill that gay people are 'part of the human condition' and that divorce is not caused because 50% end in 'gayness'.)
When asked if abortion is "a moral evil":
Yes. Because it’s a life, it’s a life. Life begins at conception.
Of all the good and bad arguments against abortion, "life begins at conception" is possibly the worst. What about the countless numbers of human zygotes and embryos (and fetuses) that are spontaneously aborted every day by women's bodies? Is that a moral evil? Think of all the lost souls! (Also, I suspect Katherine eats meat, as I do. What does she think of the 'morality' of killing and devouring a fully-developed, sentient mammal?) I don't want to delve into the issue of abortion because there's so much to say. But it's just worth pointing out that her particular argument is one of the silliest.
Since she has already told us that church-state separation is a "lie," and that our rule of law derives from the 10 Commandments, her views on electing Christian candidates should come as no surprise:
If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin.
Wow. Perhaps it should be added that if you are electing her, then in essence you don't give a shit about the long-forgotten notion that U.S. senators should have some ability to think. And apparently Republican voters in Florida don't give a shit (or the competition was even worse): Harris easily wins GOP Senate primary in Florida.
Interestingly, "state GOP leaders tried to talk Harris out of running for the Senate, citing fears she would lose to Nelson while spurring a large November turnout by Democrats, which would hurt the entire Republican ticket."
An interesting article about her is up at Salon.com.
Katherine Harris, thank you for amusing (and enraging) me today.
08 Sep 0:20 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
August 3, 2006
The Middle East Buddy List
This is actually pretty handy:
Confused? We are too. Slate's Middle East Buddy List breaks down the relationships between the countries, terrorist organizations, and political factions who are fighting it out in the current conflict. Who likes whom? Who are the bitterest of enemies? And which groups don't really know where they stand? Click here to open an interactive chart that tells you everything you need to know.
03 Aug 1:58 | Link | Category: Current Events
Your United States Senators in Action
Aside from lamenting Bush's impending use of his first-ever veto on a stem cell bill a few weeks ago, I've been silent on the issue. So much has been said since then that I don't really think I can add anything. But I do feel the need to share a short video clip with you.
To see how low political discourse has fallen (and the depths to which intelligence and common sense have dropped) in the U.S. Senate, watch this utterly depressing video of Senator Sam Brownback discussing the issue. The video speaks for itself, so I'll keep most of my comments to myself. I'll just say that while I might excuse his astounding ignorance of biology (he's from Kansas, after all), I can't excuse what I consider his insulting, tasteless sensationalism.
(via Cynical-C)
03 Aug 1:15 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science, Video
Hope, maybe
I noticed this news item earlier today:
Conservative Republicans who pushed anti-evolution standards back into Kansas schools last year have lost control of the state Board of Education once again.
03 Aug 0:39 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
August 2, 2006
Are you happy?
Back in December of '04, I mentioned an article from Wired in which Daniel H. Pink argued that along with metrics such as GDP, happiness should be considered an economic indicator. It was an interesting argument. (Read it if you haven't.)
Recently, I've noticed a couple of related stories. One was from last week, about research that created the "first world map of happiness." According to this study, Denmark is the happiest country in the world. The U.S. came in 23rd, Britain 41st, and France 62nd. The D.R. of Congo, Zimbabwe, and Burundi were at the bottom of the list.
However, according to another national happiness index (by Nef), Denmark is 99 and the U.S. is 150th. The tiny south Pacific island nation of Vanuatu rates highest in that list. (The Nef study is interesting because it takes consumption of planetary resources into account and shows that "well-being [does] not have to be linked to high levels of consumption.")
It's not really surprising that there are such widely divergent views of how to calculate so-called 'gross national happiness'. (This quote is telling: "He admitted collecting data based on well-being was not an exact science, but said the measures used were very reliable in predicting health and welfare outcomes.")
How do you define happiness? (Or worse, quantify it?) Ask anyone what happiness is, and you'll usually find that they don't have a very simple answer. Plus, answers will vary from person to person and culture to culture. (It usually involves comfort, health, love, family, environment, etc., but the relative importance of each seems to vary quite a bit.)
Despite the difficulty (or impossibility?) of measuring happiness, I think "how happy are we?" is a crucial question for humanity, and this sort of inquiry seems useful and important. When you look around at.... well, everything we do, all the frenetic economic activity, all the resource extraction and energy consumption, all the airplanes and barbie dolls and newspapers and pets and electronics and grocery stores and pipelines and multinational corporate mergers and media conglomerates and refrigerators and junk mail... it only makes sense to ask what the end purpose is or should be (or if indeed there should even be an end purpose in mind, but that's a topic for another day).
Humans are in the interesting position of feeling like we should be driving for something more than mere survival & reproduction. Much like the answer to what happiness is, I'm sure the answer to what the end purpose of our activities should be varies greatly from individual to individual, culture to culture. But I think most people would say that part of the purpose for all of this hectic high-energy human activity should be happiness... whatever it is. My general view is that humanity should have at least three major long-term ambitions and goals. The primary one should still be simple survival, which is far trickier than it sounds. If we can manage to stick around, we should aim for increased happiness and increased understanding of ourselves and our universe. Survival, happiness, knowledge, wisdom. No doubt it's difficult to balance all those things and find an equation in which they all fit correctly. With some care, and perhaps some thoughtful tradeoffs, the hope is that ultimately they can all go hand in hand.
02 Aug 0:45 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts, Science
July 14, 2006
"Two neighbors who are proud of their massacres"
As the situation in Israel, Lebanon, and elsewhere in the Middle East spirals into ever-greater conflict, I'm reminded of something I wrote on this site over four years ago. I don't even recall the exact events, but it was some sort of conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. The situation today is somewhat different, but most of what I wrote applies equally well. Besides, I'm not in the mood to write about what's happening now. Easier to cut & paste from years past:
Every day there's something new (yet somehow old) from the 'Land of the Canaanites.' I tried to take sides until I realized I could never figure it out... not enough objective information, too much history, too much complexity. At some level I just start looking at both sides as being wrong - or if not wrong, just a little stupid. I want to be back in third grade so i can say "why can't they realize this will lead nowhere, and simply put their differences and history aside, just living harmoniously together looking to the future?" and say it without a trace of irony.
If someone had wanted to create an 'ideal' human conflict, they couldn't have done too much better than this. It has everything: tribal hatred, religious conflict, culture clash, bad history going back generations, economic/resource struggles, and on and on... how it will all turn out is anyone's guess.
What really gets me -- and this is true of most conflicts, obviously -- is that beneath the leaders and militants (and a heap of obviously useless ideology) lie two large populations of humans who simply want to live happy lives, watch their children grow up, work, listen to music, grow old, take vacations, fall in love, be creative, eat delicious meals, laugh and smile.
CNN's Jeff Greenfield wrote a short, thoughtful piece about why it's so tough to be optimistic:
Sometimes I think we ought to keep some headlines in a "most active" file, because we know they will be appropriate time, after time, after time.
Consider, for example: "Violence, tensions rise in the Middle East."
In the wake of the latest explosions -- literal and geopolitical -- it may be time for an airing of unblinkered, full-throttle pessimism.
...
There may be a logical, rational way to resolve a conflict when both sides believe God gave them the same piece of land.
But right now it's a little hard to glimpse through the smoke and fire and blood.
In the case of all-out war (which is not at all unlikely), we will be affected acutely. Even just in the economic realm, oil finished the day at a record of over $77 based just on fear of what might happen. One analyst says "if another major event takes place, it's not at all unrealistic for oil to spike to $100."
Given the current U.S. leadership's track record, I don't have reason to expect a thoughtful reaction in any sphere (whether economic, foreign policy, or anything else). Slate's Fred Kaplan writes:
It's a perfect storm out there, each crisis feeding into the others yet at the same time laden with unique origins and features, demanding unique approaches and solutions. George Marshall himself would have a hard time keeping his grip.
...
Still, it's horrifying to scan the full horizon of disasters—in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, East Asia, South Asia, all the simmering hot spots on the verge of boiling over—and to realize that no one in charge knows what to do.
The house is still on fire and the prospects ain't looking so good. Well... as Bob Dylan remarks, "If the Bible is right, the world will explode." I often wonder if that's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
(The title of the post comes from The Gulf of Araby, a song by Katell Keineg. Natalie Merchant has often performed the song powerfully at live concerts. Here's a copy (MP3, 8 MB) of one performance, though others I've heard were actually far more powerful and moving. I don't know exactly what the song is about, but some of the lyrics seem appropriate.)
14 Jul 19:50 | Link | Category: Current Events
July 13, 2006
The stem cell madness continues
Just when I was about to praise the Bush administration for creating an enormous marine sanctuary (see also), they do something boneheaded.
According to Karl Rove, President Bush would veto a bill to expand federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research if it passes the Senate. His first veto. Ever. I've long found it odd that he's never felt the need to veto anything (even considering his party controls the legislative branch). But it's quite outrageous he would use his first veto on this bill.
Meanwhile, the Vatican is saying that researchers who work on embryonic stem cell research should be subject to excommunication.
Oh... and in semi-related news of crazy Catholics, Rev. Thomas Euteneuer called Warren Buffett "the Dr. Mengele of philanthropists" because of Buffett's very sizable donation to the Gates Foundation. See, among many other commendable programs, the Gates Foundation promotes reproductive health, helping fund research on new contraceptive technologies and initiatives to improve access to birth control. You know, exactly like Josef Mengele.
Sheesh.
13 Jul 2:02 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
July 12, 2006
Ken Lay crucified 'like Jesus'? (Even though he died of natural causes?)
The memorial service for Kenneth Lay (or 'Kenny Boy', if you're George W.) was today:
Houston's political and business leaders, including former President George H.W. Bush, turned out for Kenneth Lay's memorial service Wednesday, less than a week after the Enron founder's sudden death. ... Among the other luminaries at the service were former Secretary of State James Baker, former Secretary of Commerce Robert Mosbacher Sr., several corporate heads such as Reliant Energy Inc.'s Joel Staff, and baseball team owner Drayton McLane.
Below are some quotes from the service:
Reverend Dr. William Lawson: "(Like Jesus Christ) he was crucified by a government that mistreated him."
Reverend Steve Wende: "At the height of his power and position ... he used the position to lift others up."
David Herrold, Lay's stepson: "He did have a strong faith in God, and I know he's in heaven. And I'm glad he's not in a position any more to be whipped by his enemy."
I'm a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic: What a weird (and perhaps uniquely American) confluence of political power / business clout / religion. Draw historical parallels as you wish.
(I don't claim exhaustive knowledge of Lay's actions, but as this article points out, "nothing will ever change the fact that after a long, fair trial, 12 people found Ken Lay guilty of fraud and conspiracy.")
12 Jul 20:05 | Link | Category: Current Events
July 6, 2006
Creationism and evolution tackled on 'The Simpsons'
I came across a brilliant clip from an episode of 'The Simpsons' that ran a few months ago. Sadly, only about 13 minutes of the show are included in the clip... but there are still some classic moments:
- Lisa's clandestine meeting in the school's "Single Purpose Room" where she has written 'Viva La Evolución' on the blackboard
- Homer, upon hearing that according to creationism, there were no cavemen: "Good riddance! Their drawings suck and they look like hippies."
- Ned Flanders declaring under oath that he is as sure that man and ape are not related as he is that "Jesus hates hip-hop"
- Ralph Wiggum saying "The George Will?!"
My favorite moment of all, though, is when Reverend Lovejoy and Ned Flanders tell Principal Skinner they want the school to teach alternatives to Darwinian evolution. Skinner replies, "You mean, Lamarckian evolution?" Classic.
[The biology geek in me would like to note that Darwin himself never ruled out Lamarckism since he was unaware of Mendel's work (or was he?) and its significance... but when most people talk about "Darwinian evolution", they're referring to the modern synthesis.] Just as a sidenote while I'm talking about Lamarckian evolution (something I never thought I'd be doing on this blog), some scientists feel that cultural evolution is very Lamarckian... that is, in species with culture (a group whose size is heavily debated), cultural changes are acquired during an organism's lifetime and passed on to offspring -- Lamarckism (of a sort)! In fact, I just finished reading a recent book by Eric Chaisson ("Epic of Evolution") in which he writes:
. . . in the recent history of humankind, Lamarckian evolution has clearly dominated Darwinian evolution. Cultural acquisitions spread much faster than genetic modifications. Our gene pool differs little from that of the Cro-Magnons some twenty thousand years ago, yet our cultural heritage is a good deal more robust in the knowledge, arts, traditions, beliefs, and technologies acquired and transmitted during the past thousand or so generations.
If you have trouble getting the Simpsons video from the site I linked to, try here (11.3 MB QuickTime).
For another very cool Simpsons video, check out the best Simpsons couch gag ever (10.3 MB QuickTime).
06 Jul 23:44 | Link | Category: Art & Entertainment, Current Events, Human/Primate Evolution & Behavior, Humor, Science, Video
June 16, 2006
Lynn A. Westmoreland
Congressman Lynn Westmoreland, a bold and visionary leader from Georgia, has worked hard for his constituents. While he apparently has yet to introduce any original legislation during his term, the press releases on his web site show he has been busy... for example, voting for ANWR drilling and opposing legislation to designate Bill Clinton's birthplace a national historic site.
Before entering the U.S. Congress (in January '05), he introduced "common sense" legislation in Georgia to place the Ten Commandments in government buildings in the state. If you use the search feature on his web site, you will see that he has continued to co-sponsor and support various related bills in the U.S. House.
Stephen Colbert recently interviewed Mr. Westmoreland for his compelling 'Better Know a District' series. Westmoreland, a self-professed devout Christian, eloquently defended his case.... oh, wait.... actually, he could not even cite the Ten Commandments, instead stumbling around and badly paraphrasing three of the easiest ones.
Check out the very funny interview here: QuickTime (9 MB) or Windows Media (12.3 MB).
All I can say is... this is why I love Stephen Colbert. We all know that plenty of members of Congress (from both sides of the aisle) are incompetent and boneheaded. But at least when Colbert exposes it, he diverts me from anger and depression by making me laugh a bit.
Update: John points out that Westmoreland co-sponsored a bill in Georgia calling on the state assembly to commend Mel Gibson on 'The Passion of the Christ'.
It's nice to know our wise legislators are hard at work solving the serious and vexing problems facing our nation.
16 Jun 22:18 | Link | Category: Current Events, Humor, Opinion & Thoughts, Video
June 8, 2006
Bomb kills al-Zarqawi
Finally, some good news from Iraq. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, thought even by many insurgents and other terrorists to be a madman, died in a bombing raid.
This is definitely a positive development, though just exactly how it will or will not affect the situation in Iraq (and Islamic terrorism around the world) remains to be seen. CNN's Jeff Greenfield offers a cautionary note:
Will the death of al-Zarqawi lessen the level of violence against Americans and against Iraqis of different religious beliefs?
And here, the words of a high ranking Jordanian intelligence official, quoted in the forthcoming Atlantic magazine, are worth noting: After arguing that the U.S. had vastly exaggerated the role of Zarqawi, the official said, "If Zarqawi is captured or killed tomorrow, the Iraqi insurgency will go on."
Spencer Ackerman of The New Republic even suggests that the biggest beneficiary of al-Zarqawi's death could actually be al Qaeda. He notes that Zarqawi's strategies, which included condemnation and killing of Muslims, "allowed Iraqi Sunnis a face-saving way to distance themselves from murderous jihadis." His death might "allow Al Qaeda to mend fences with Muslims and perhaps even other terrorist groups that his 'excesses' have alienated." Ackerman's final word is essentially the same as Greenfield's: "what no one--in the United States, in Iraq, and beyond--should do is confuse Zarqawi's death with a strategic success."
No decent human being could be sorry al-Zarqawi is dead, but the point both writers make is that the ultimate impact of this development - positive or negative - remains to be seen. Any celebration would be hasty. I've been reading Madeleine Albright's latest book (more on that when I finish it), and just last night I was reading the following selection in which she writes about watching the celebration in Prague's Wenceslas Square at the end of the cold war:
"This is it," I said to myself at the time. "Thank God."
How will our confrontation with terror end? Quite differently, one presumes. There may be spectacular events. Perhaps in the time it takes for this book to be published, we will have finally seen bin Laden's capture or demise. In Iraq, al-Zarqawi may already be yesterday's news. Certainly there will continue to be attacks, arrests, and takedowns. It seems unlikely, however, that we will ever see the equivalent of the celebration in Wenceslas Square. I doubt that we will be able to turn on our televisions one day and say, "This is it." In the worst case, we will see a constant drumbeat of attacks (some possibly involving biological or even nuclear weapons) against an expanding list of targets. We may see more areas, conceivably entire countries, become havens for violent extremism. We could see Islam further divided between the followers of a peaceful faith and those whose minds have been poisoned by hate.
In the best case, we will see the opposite: a reduction in the number of attacks, a shrinkage of areas where terrorists have support, a closing of the ranks within Islam. If that should happen, our confrontation will end with a nonevent - bin Laden, or his successor, will videotape a threat to incinerate us, and nobody will broadcast it, because the terrorists lack even a smidgen of public backing.
08 Jun 18:50 | Link | Category: Current Events
April 24, 2006
No more Biosphere 2
It sounds like Biosphere 2 will be torn down soon. According to the Tucson Weekly:
Looks like Biosphere 2, the world's largest terrarium, may soon be history. Reporter Joseph Barrios of the morning daily broke the news last week that Fairfield Homes is making a deal to buy the Biosphere's spectacular 1,600 acres to develop a master-planned community. Evidently, a three-acre simulation of the planet isn't a selling point for buyers of luxury homes these days.
It'd be a shame if they tore it down. I visited Biosphere 2 a few years back, and not only was it in a beautiful spot, but the building itself seemed like quite an engineering marvel. Much more interesting than a master-planned community.
Such is life in the sprawling West.
(via J-Walk)
24 Apr 19:37 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
April 7, 2006
Should we talk about the government? (Hi... hi, hi... hi)
Ah... politics. So much to talk about. I thought about writing a long series of paragraphs on Tom DeLay, but I think Studs Terkel summed it up pretty well the other night when he said that DeLay had "made the best career move of his life -- quit public life and became a private servant, which he's been all his life."
There was also the UAE ports fiasco, but I think Jeff Greenfield summed it up pretty well by pointing to the fact that it had more to do with xenophobia than safety. Read With port deal dead, do you feel safer?
So maybe I'll move on to George W. Bush. Where to begin... The recent developments in the Plame/Libby case are pretty amusing. I doubt it will lead to anything (Salon.com's Tim Grieve writes more about what the documents do and do not prove), but it's yet another item to add to the steaming pile of all things rotten with this administration. (Maybe we should limit presidents to one term to avoid the second-term scandals that inevitably pop up.) It's amazing that this administration has been able to get away with so much corrupt, negligent, and potentially criminal behavior without anyone (except Russ Feingold) calling for any sort of acknowledgement or accountability. People were (rightfully) upset when the Clinton administration got away with things, but this administration makes the Clinton folks look like a bunch of silly lightweights.
Last month, I remember looking at a blog where the author asked readers to come up with a list of every 'idiotic' thing President Bush has done in the last five years. I've lost the link, but a good example is an outdated list of 100 mistakes from May 2004. Needless to say, there's now much more to add to the list.
Ah well. At least people seem to be reaching the breaking point with Bush & Co. If you missed the guy at the town hall meeting the other day, here's part of the transcript (you can see a QuickTime video clip here):
Q: You never stop talking about freedom, and I appreciate that. But while I listen to you talk about freedom, I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me without charges, to try to preclude me from breathing clean air and drinking clean water and eating safe food. If I were a woman, you'd like to restrict my opportunity to make a choice and decision about whether I can abort a pregnancy on my own behalf. You are --
THE PRESIDENT: I'm not your favorite guy. Go ahead. (Laughter and applause.) Go on, what's your question?
Q: Okay, I don't have a question. What I wanted to say to you is that I -- in my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened by my leadership in Washington, including the presidency, by the Senate, and --
AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: No, wait a sec -- let him speak.
Q And I would hope -- I feel like despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administration, and I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself inside yourself. And I also want to say I really appreciate the courtesy of allowing me to speak what I'm saying to you right now. That is part of what this country is about.
THE PRESIDENT: It is, yes. (Applause.)
Q And I know that this doesn't come welcome to most of the people in this room, but I do appreciate that.
Helen Thomas was sent thousands of flowers after grilling the president at a press conference a few weeks ago. (Oddly, the campaign to send the flowers was started by a woman who lives in a suburb of Salt Lake City. Go, red states!) I think I've mentioned Helen Thomas before... back in 2002 I wrote about her statement that Bush was the "worst president ever". I agreed somewhat, but wondered how he really compared to others traditionally considered poor presidents (Warren Harding, Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, Ulysses Grant, etc.). But the more time George W. Bush spends in office, the more I start to think she might've been on to something back then.
But fear not. The Bush dynasty will roll on. Check out George W.'s nephew, Pierce, being interviewed on the Today Show. I actually agree with him somewhat, but... wow. Georgetown has (or rather, had) some really sharp students. I'm sure he got in based on his academic merits. (Please please please don't follow in your uncle's footsteps, Pierce. Y'knowhatI'msayin?)
And finally, a page to supplement the always entertaining Complete Bushisms: Keep up-to-date on your Bushisms with Fresh Dubya from DubyaSpeak.com.
Now that I've surely pissed off at least a few of you, my job is done so I think I'll go see a movie.
07 Apr 18:18 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
January 24, 2006
Falwell, Robertson, or Bin Laden?
I found this cool little quiz through The J-Walk Blog:
Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Usama Bin Ladin have a lot in common. Take the quiz and see if you can identify statements by each of these "leaders."
I scored 10 out of 20.
24 Jan 9:11 | Link | Category: Current Events, Interactive, Opinion & Thoughts
December 20, 2005
'Breathtaking inanity'
Finally some good news showing that, occasionally, reason and common sense prevail. A judge today ruled against a requirement for high school science teachers to teach "intelligent design" as an alternative to the theory of evolution.
Earlier today, I was watching that CNN show where Wolf Blitzer stands in front of a distracting wall of televisions and sensationalizes things, and I heard him say that the decision is "inflaming the culture wars," or something along those lines. I guess it's easy to describe it that way, but I'm not sure it's accurate. I guess I'll pontificate on that another time.
All I know is that "intelligent design" might be an interesting philosophical argument (and very reasonable pre-Darwin)... but it isn't science. Those who advocate teaching ID in science classes apparently believe that 'science' includes natural and supernatural explanations of phenomena. But how can views of a supernatural role in the origin (and/or expansion) of life be science (unless you redefine science like the folks in Kansas)? ID can't be tested through the scientific method. Even the claims of folks like Behe and Dembski offer few details, have no testable consequences, and make no predictions. With all apologies to fundamentalist Christians, Pastafarians, and others, such views should be taught in subjects like theology, philosophy, history, cultural anthropology, and the like. Not biology. It's a relief to see the courts upholding that.
Of course, critics are already decrying the decision and probably planning to appeal. They're calling the judge an "activist judge" (see this ridiculous Discovery Institute press release). To refute that, I'll just cut and paste part of the CNN story:
Jones -- an appointee of President Bush, who backs the teaching of intelligent design -- defended his decision in personal terms.
"Those who disagree with our holding will likely mark it as the product of an activist judge. If so, they will have erred as this is manifestly not an activist court," Jones writes.
"Rather, this case came to us as the result of the activism of an ill-informed faction on a school board, aided by a national public interest law firm eager to find a constitutional test case on intelligent design, who in combination drove the board to adopt an imprudent and ultimately unconstitutional policy," he said.
Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said, "Children in public schools deserve top quality science education and freedom from religious indoctrination and today they were granted both."
You can read the judge's opinion online (or here). It's lengthy (139 pages), but pretty interesting to read. It's well-reasoned, and he's not shy about saying what he thinks (calling the school board's decision "breathtaking inanity," for example).
For more, see John Hawks, PZ Myers, and The Panda's Thumb.
20 Dec 23:36 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
November 14, 2005
Report Card for the USA
A few weeks ago, I caught a segment on CNN called "America By The Numbers". Although I was aware of most of these dismal figures, seeing them collected in a two minute video segment was thoroughly depressing.
Here is a link to a clip of the video. Since I'm not sure how long it will remain active, I'm also cutting & pasting the text of the piece, available from this transcript. (Emphasis is mine.)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, while policy makers wring their hands over this latest Washington scandal, as important as it is, the truth is there are fundamental problems in this country that are eating away the foundations of America and the numbers don't lie.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROMANS (voice-over): Policy makers, this is what you've achieved.
37 million people live in poverty. One in five American children is poor. And today the government announced a record 1.5 million babies born to unwed mothers last year.
50 percent of black and Hispanic teenagers will never graduate from high school. Overall, high school graduation rates in this country aren't even in the top 10 of industrialized nations.
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich calls Washington an arrogant echo chamber. And he says as nation we are blowing it.
ROBERT REICH, FORMER LABOR SECRETARY: Our children are not going to do as well as we are doing. And that's for the first time in many, many years, since the Depression.
And, in fact if you extend backward in American society there's always been an optimism. There's always been a sense of progress. And I'm afraid we're going to lose that because all of the economic indicators, all of the social indicators suggest that we are sliding backward.
ROMANS: American students rank 28th in math preparedness, badly trailing the leaders: China, Finland and Korea. In science, American students are behind 21 other countries. We are no longer the most college educated nation.
ERIC HANUSHEK, HOOVER INSTITUTION, STANFORD: I think it tells us something about the long-run prospects if we don't in fact take a new tact and improve our schools.
Other countries in the world are pushing very, very hard at developing their human resources and the skills of their population.
ROMANS: China graduates eight to 10 times as many engineers each year as the United States.
Eric Klinenberg, a sociologist at New York University, has studied inequality for our elderly.
ERIC KLINENBERG, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: Today, the United States is the great superpower of the world. But, we haven't found a way to take care of our elderly, our poor, young children and infants. In many respects here we lag behind nations that are far less advanced and powerful.
ROMANS: Life expectancy in the United States lags Japan, Canada, France, the UK, Spain and Singapore.
And here in Washington, D.C. the infant mortality rate is higher than cities in India.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: It is harder and harder to live the American dream in this country. Wages are stagnant, mortgage defaults are rising now, 47 million Americans are without health insurance. This is what America's policy makers have achieved.
14 Nov 18:05 | Link | Category: Current Events
November 10, 2005
Hey, Pat: Jesus Thinks You're A Jerk
Lately, Pat Robertson seems to have been in the news a lot. This can be fun at first. Pat's always good for a laugh. For example, I was fairly amused when he called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez ("Who Would Jesus Assassinate?"). And earlier today, I had a link in the Quick Links section to an entry at Pharyngula titled Either Pat Robertson is insane, or God is, which linked to a parody about Pat Robertson blaming the tornado in Indiana on Warren Beatty. It was funny because despite the story's absurdity, PZ and most of the commenters missed the fact that it was a parody. (Sadly, it wouldn't surprise anyone if he really did say something like that.)
But as I read about about Robertson warning Dover residents about God's wrath because they didn't support 'intelligent design', I realized I wasn't laughing. I think Pat's prominence in the media lately has pushed me into the dreaded state of Pat Robertson overload in which one recognizes the true power this man wields and the monetary reserves he draws on and the many poor souls who actually take him seriously. Pat Robertson overload is bad because he ceases to be amusing and becomes intensely irritating - even frightening. I don't often enter this state, but when I do, it's not good. I figure writing this post will help me vent so I can quickly get back in the amused-by-Pat mindset.
So here are some fun links for you:
- A collection of Pat Robertson quotes - lots of good ones.
- I Hate Pat Robertson - a fine blog dedicated to Mr. R.
- Pat's Biography from rotten.com
- Perhaps the most entertaining site of them all, the official Pat Robertson site
I find it truly astounding that more people don't see right through Mr. Robertson (not even the Chief of Police). He's a so-called "Christian" with a $200 million - $1 billion net worth who shrilly condemns others, suggests that a nuclear weapon exploding at State Department HQ would be good for the country, tricks the poor, old, and uneducated out of money through television, etc. etc. When I was a kid, my Mormon sunday school teachers warned of 'priestcraft'... I think Pat Robertson would be a shining example of that notion.
Last night, I was watching a TV show about Jesus (one of those silly programs where they interview religion professors, theologists, archaeologists, and the like as they try to determine 'who Jesus really was'). It struck me that Pat Robertson (the "Christian") is the embodiment of nearly everything Jesus so simply and eloquently spoke out against. (I believe this is known as 'irony'.) I really suspect Jesus would be appalled at all the religions that use his name... but particularly appalled at Robertson and his ilk.
(By the way, the title of this post comes from a Frank Zappa song that poses the truly timeless question, "Did he really choose Tammy to do his work?")
10 Nov 22:51 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
November 8, 2005
Kansas falls to the ID-iots
I was just greeted with this unbelievable headline: Kansas school board redefines science. The following line floored me:
... the board rewrote the definition of science, so that it is no longer limited to the search for natural explanations of phenomena.
No, this is not a story from The Onion. This really happened.
Since I'm still in a shocked, confounded state, I have nothing to say but "holy shit". I refer you to PZ Myers for more thoughtful words:
It's a sad day for American science. We've lost Kansas... For the next few years, a lot of schoolkids are going to get taught slippery twaddle—instead of learning what scientists actually say about biology, they're going to get the phony pseudoscience of ideologues and dishonest hucksters. And that means the next generation of Kansans are going to be a little less well informed, even more prone to believing the prattlings of liars, and the cycle will keep on going, keep on getting worse.
...
Rewriting the definition of science seems a rather presumptuous thing for a school board to do, I think, especially when their new definition is something contrary to what working scientists and major scientific organizations say is science. As for removing the limitation to natural phenomena, what do they propose to add? Ghosts, intuition, divine revelation, telepathic communications from Venusians? It's simply insane.
08 Nov 21:54 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
November 7, 2005
"We do not torture."
Bush defended U.S. interrogation practices today: "So you bet we will aggressively pursue them but we will do so under the law. We do not torture."
As far as I know, he didn't specify which laws we will adhere to nor did he define "torture." I mention this because a 2002 Justice Department memo cleared by Alberto Gonzalez argued that laws prohibiting torture do "not apply to the president's detention and interrogation of enemy combatants", and that the pain caused by interrogation must be of the intensity of "injury such as death, organ failure, or serious impairment of body functions — in order to constitute torture". That's pretty vile. (John McCain had this to say: "We are Americans, and we hold ourselves to humane standards of treatment of people no matter how evil or terrible they may be. To do otherwise undermines our security, but it also undermines our greatness as a nation." I happened across Jimmy Carter on Larry King's [fluffy] show the other night, and he had some interesting words as well [scroll just past the first commercial break].)
Also... Isn't it disturbing that, as part of the CIA's covert overseas prison system, al Qaeda captives have been hidden and interrogated "at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe." (The EU and human rights groups are now demanding information from the U.S. and our buddies in "the 'new' Europe".)
Yet another item to add to the 'This is America...right?' file.
Also of interest, an item I posted nearly a year ago: You, too, are capable of committing torture.
07 Nov 18:49 | Link | Category: Current Events
October 3, 2005
Killer dolphins on the loose?
From The Observer, a rather odd Hurricane Katrina-related story/rumor. According to this article, armed dolphins trained by the U.S. military might be loose in the Gulf of Mexico:
Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold War. The US Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught to shoot terrorists attacking military vessels. Their coastal compound was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea. But those who have studied the controversial use of dolphins in the US defence programme claim it is vital they are caught quickly.
Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing.
Hmmm. (Where's Aquaman when you need him?)
(via John Hawks)
03 Oct 20:20 | Link | Category: Current Events, Misc. Tidbits
We're not scaremongering; this is really happening
A couple of news items to add to the pile of ice-is-melting articles:
- Arctic Ice Cap Shrank Sharply This Summer, Experts Say - "It also appears that the change is becoming self sustaining, with the increased open water absorbing solar energy that would be reflected back into space by bright white ice." ... "'Feedbacks in the system are starting to take hold,' Dr. Scambos said. 'The consecutive record-low extents make it pretty certain a long-term decline is underway.'"
- Report: Ice-free Arctic summers possible by 2100
03 Oct 18:49 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
September 23, 2005
BBC News on the tenuous hurricane - global warming link
I noticed a good article from BBC News that concisely explains why scientists are reluctant to jump aboard the hurricane - global warming bandwagon. (Also see this CNN story.) One problem is a lack of data:
"The problem is," observes Julian Heming, "that we can only look back about 35 years with satellite data; before that the record is somewhat unreliable, and 35 years isn't long enough to draw a definite conclusion.
"Before global satellite coverage, we're pretty sure there are gaps in the record; storms would start at sea and die out at sea, so we never knew about them."
Another problem is the cyclic nature of hurricane formation:
"Activity is naturally very variable in terms of frequency, intensity and regional occurrence; in the Atlantic, there are active phases and not so active phases, and currently we're in the middle of an active phase."
There are other variables to account for, too - like other climate cycles and the spots where hurricanes land.
It is interesting, though, that one study found a rise in the number of intense hurricanes over the last 30 years:
The leader of that research project, Dr. Peter Webster, believes there may be a link to climate change.
"What I think we can say is that the increase in intensity is probably accounted for by the increase in sea-surface temperature," he told the BBC News website, "and I think probably the sea-surface temperature increase is a manifestation of global warming."
So it seems the jury's still out. I'm convinced of the reality of global warming, but I agree with those scientists who aren't sure about whether it's the cause of recent hurricane patterns. Hurricane formation is affected by the same incredibly complex sets of factors that affect all global weather. I think many people make a mistake in simplistically applying global warming to existing weather patterns. The reality of "climate change" is that it will change weather patterns in some unpredictable ways. Even with our advanced models and analytical tools, we don't have a complete grasp of how the weather works in "stable" conditions (if there are such things). Add in a major shift in global temperature and it turns into a total guessing game. That unpredictability is one of the most unsettling things about global warming.
(As an aside, if your computer has spare processor cycles you might consider joining climateprediction.net.)
23 Sep 23:36 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
September 10, 2005
Another ironic twist on "freedom"
Four years after 9/11, 10,000 people will march in Washington in a patriotic "Freedom Walk" sponsored by the Pentagon. (I know the Pentagon was hit on 9/11, but is it really appropriate in any way to have a military-themed rally on Sept. 11th?)
Some fun facts about the Freedom Walk (from the Daily News and WP):
- The walk has Defense Department backing
- Anyone who did not sign up for the event by yesterday will not be allowed to enter the fenced-in route from the Pentagon to the National Mall
- Those who try to join the march without registering and refuse to leave will face arrest by the U.S. Park Police
- The route will be lined with four-foot-high snow fencing to keep it closed and "sterile"
- The U.S. Park Police will have its entire Washington force of several hundred on duty and along the route, on foot, horseback and motorcycles and monitoring from above by helicopter.
- It's billed as a memorial to victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks AND a show of support for those serving in the military
- It will be topped off with a concert by country singer Clint Black, known for his pro-troops anthem, "Iraq and Roll"
- The tight security is necessary to ensure the safety of VIPs, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
- One restricted group will be the media, whose members will not be allowed to walk along the march route
Sounds like freedom to me! (Aside from the lack of synchronized marching, of course.)
Look, I understand the reasons for the security precautions, but what does it all say about the state of our country? And how much more ideologized can "freedom" possibly become in the U.S.?
10 Sep 23:48 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
September 6, 2005
"Unselfconscious depravity"
We all know the 'elites' are out of touch (or worse). Unfortunately, many of the stories illustrating this turn out to be highly embellished accounts or popular myths. Consider Marie Antoinette's "Let them eat cake," or George H.W. Bush's amazement at seeing a supermarket scanner for the first time in 1988.
But the latest one from Barbara Bush turns out to be true, and this time it's not as out-of-context as her "beautiful mind" gaffe or as ridiculously improbable as, say, her son's supposed "Do you have blacks, too?" quote.
Barbara Bush really did say that things are working out "very well" for evacuees from New Orleans. It would be fine if she had actually said, "Considering that these people were already destitute and this disaster took their community, their homes, and perhaps their friends and family, things are working out very well." But read this (emphasis mine):
In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost everyone I've talked to says we're going to move to Houston."
Then she added: "What I'm hearing - which is sort of scary - is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality."
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."
Ah, plutocracy.
The "scary" comment could be interpreted several ways, but the rest... I don't know. You can link to an audio clip here and see what you think. I know I shouldn't care one whit about flippant comments from some former first lady, but still... in a tiny way, I think it highlights how far the "ruling class" is from the harsh realities that face so many in this country and around the world.
I liked Patrick's post on the matter at Making Light. (The comments there are also good, as usual.)
06 Sep 12:18 | Link | Category: Current Events
September 4, 2005
Katrina TV clips (or, "Are the talking heads growing backbones?")
Very shortly after Katrina hit, I was watching CNN's coverage and veteran reporter Jeanne Meserve gave a highly and unusually emotional report, breaking into tears several times (download an MP3 here). Since then, I've noticed quite a bit of atypical behavior from reporters. One of the most notable trends is that many reporters and anchors seem to have lost their normal "professional reserve" and started to stand up to the bullshit they constantly receive from guests (and each other) on the air. (I'm sure the trend will not continue, but I must admit it's nice to imagine a world in which stonewallers aren't accommodated by brainless newsanchors. Anyway...)
Slate looks at this phenomenon and has a nice roundup of examples in The Rebellion of the Talking Heads, but here are some of my personal favorites:
- I can't stand Mary Landrieu, so it was just excellent to see Anderson Cooper scold her for having the audacity to sit there and pat other politicians on the back while people were dying throughout NOLA. Also watch his interview with Trent Lott (7 MB WMV).
- Ted Koppel also gets high marks for refusing to accept bullshit answers from FEMA director Michael Brown (9 MB QT). Even Paula Zahn (you know, that anchor who's "just a little sexy") went after Brown (2.6 MB WMV).
- NPR's Robert Siegel grilled Homeland Security Sec. Michael Chertoff.
- Perhaps the most interesting moments came from Fox News, where the heads in the field actually departed from the typical Fox script. As Bill O'Reilly sermonized about how the people just needed a Rudy Giuliani, "Shep" Smith responded that what they needed "on the first day was food and water and what they needed on the second day was food and water and what they needed on the third day was food and water." Later he joined Geraldo Rivera in lashing out at blowhard Sean Hannity (and feeble sidekick Colmes). (8 MB QT or 5 MB WMV)
While I'm listing TV clips, watch Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard on Meet the Press (4 MB QT).
Finally, watch Bob Schieffer's scathing "personal thought" segment (1.3 MB WMV) from Face the Nation:
"There is no purpose for government except to improve the lives of its citizens. Yet as scenes of horror that seemed to be coming from some Third World country flashed before us, official Washington was like a dog watching television. It saw the lights and images, but did not seem to comprehend their meaning or see any link to reality. As the floodwaters rose, local officials in New Orleans ordered the city evacuated. They might as well have told their citizens to fly to the moon. How do you evacuate when you don't have a car? No hint of "intelligent design" in any of this. This was just survival of the richest. By midweek a parade of Washington officials rushed before the cameras to urge patience. What good is patience to a mother who can't find food and water for a dehydrated child? Washington was coming out of an August vacation stupor and seemed unable to refocus on business or even think straight... Since 9/11, Washington has spent years and untold billions reorganizing government to deal with crises brought on by possible terrorist attacks. If this is the result, we had better start over."
(An aside: The feds clearly dropped the ball, but why aren't we hearing more condemnations of officials in New Orleans, the State of Louisiana, and other cities & states for being so terribly underprepared?)
04 Sep 16:59 | Link | Category: Current Events
Katrina = God's Mercy or God's Wrath?
You knew it would happen sooner or later... folks far and wide have started to explain that God either saved them from the storm or caused the whole damned thing. Check out this synopsis from "AgapePress" for both views:
But the seminary leader says he is able to discern God's hand in the situation.
"Imagine what would have happened if [New Orleans] had taken a direct hit," he tells BP. "The levee did not break until after the storm was clear and the winds had died down and the rescue workers were able to get out." Had the levee given way during the hurricane, he says, "untold thousands of people" would have been killed.
As puzzling as it is that so many people believe that an all-knowing, all-powerful deity plays such games (rather than being either completely in charge or completely uninvolved), at least that guy is trying to look at the situation positively.
Rev. Bill Shanks, by contrast, takes this despicable view:
Shanks says the hurricane has wiped out much of the rampant sin common to the city.
The pastor explains that for years he has warned people that unless Christians in New Orleans took a strong stand against such things as local abortion clinics, the yearly Mardi Gras celebrations, and the annual event known as "Southern Decadence" -- an annual six-day "gay pride" event scheduled to be hosted by the city this week -- God's judgment would be felt.
"New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion -- it's free of all of those things now," Shanks says. "God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there -- and now we're going to start over again."
I don't even know how to respond to that.
04 Sep 16:43 | Link | Category: Current Events
A few more Katrina links
A few new links:
- You're on your own, Britain's victims told
- Notes From Inside New Orleans
- Survivors reveal Superdome horror
- One first-hand account
- Evacuees anguished at leaving pets behind
04 Sep 16:34 | Link | Category: Current Events
Katrina
The finger-pointing and second guessing started immediately after Hurricane Katrina dissipated and we all got a sense of the scale of the destruction and suffering. In a way, I hate to join in because I do feel that such discussion (especially in the wake of a natural disaster) should wait until relief efforts have been successful and the wounds have at least started to heal. However, there are links I'll lose and thoughts I'll forget if I don't post them now, and I suppose it's never too early to start figuring how to more effectively prevent/handle disasters in the future. Anyway, let me preface the rest of the with this link: Hurricane Katrina Help Center - information on volunteering and donation.
I think one of the biggest questions on everyone's mind is how the hurricane could wreak such havoc in a Western nation - indeed, the wealthiest nation on the planet. I think many people are forgetting just how powerful this storm was and how quickly it developed. However, it's worth noting the lack of preparation.
Terrible predictions of what would happen to New Orleans in the event of a strong hurricane have been made for years - just check out this extensive Wikipedia entry. The levee system has a been a disaster waiting to happen for decades, and for just as long experts have been aware that without major changes, New Orleans would face flooding if any of the levees failed. (Look at this elevation diagram.) The politicians - whether because they have selective memories or are lying outright - would like us to think nobody knew what might happen. Bush has the gall to say "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." Completely wrong. Bill Clinton got in on the act, too: "I'm telling you, nobody ever thought it would happen like this."
It seems like scientists and planners are always harping on us about impending disasters... and because most of them don't happen in the short spans of time we humans tend to concern ourselves with, we just ignore them or pretend we were never warned in the first place. Even when similar disasters are recent, we refuse to accept the possibilities and probabilities of more disasters. Case in point: Last year was the worst hurricane year in decades. Experts started writing scenarios like this: What if Hurricane Ivan Had Not Missed New Orleans? (an eerily accurate prediction of Katrina). Interestingly, federal hurricane control and funding for New Orleans - which had already "slowed to a trickle" - was the lowest ever in 2005. I doubt extra funding would have helped in time for this hurricane, but the point is that our priorities have been dreadfully out of order (and getting worse) for a long time. Particularly damning: "In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to a Feb. 16, 2004, article." And this, from June, 2004: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."
Also damning is the fact that officials in New Orleans were well aware of the risks of such a hurricane and failed to have an adequate evacuation plan in place. They knew New Orleans had one of the highest poverty rates of any major U.S. city, and they knew that 27% of households - 120,000 people, did not have private transportation, one of the lowest percentages of any major U.S. city. Yet they failed to have an adequate evacuation plan. (Then, FEMA director Michael Brown proves how out-of-touch officials are by saying much of the death toll will "be attributable a lot to people who did not heed the advance warnings" - people who couldn't get out!)
There's lots more to talk about, but I don't have the time. Maybe I'll find time later to reflect on the way natural disasters shake up the stratified social order and expose the inequalities and deep dysfunction in our society that is normally hidden from view. There's also global warming's arguable effect on such natural disasters -- it seems that we're also blithely ignoring this most pernicious of threats. It's also interesting to note that the ballyhooed post-9/11 "homeland security" has been a complete and abject failure. Lots of topics to explore... too little time.
Anyway, here are a few extra links before I shut up:
- Katrina is case where laxity cost dearly
- Paul Krugman: A Can't-Do Government
- United States of Shame (one of Maureen Dowd's venomous columns that actually makes some good points)
- A Disaster Foretold
- A National Disgrace
I'll leave you with this heartwarming quote from Dubya (video):
The good news is -- and it's hard for some to see it now -- that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch. (Laughter.)
... and all the great orators simultaneously roll in their graves.
04 Sep 12:00 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
September 3, 2005
Katrina, part 2
A few days ago, I predicted "major disaster," but I had hoped it wouldn't be this bad. Check CNN's Katrina Help Center for ways to volunteer & donate.
I wrote up a longer post that I put in the 'thoughts' section because it was so long. (It includes a fair amount of finger-pointing - something I hesitate to do when people are still in the midst of tragedy - but I had to write something before I get busy and forget what I wanted to say in the first place.)
03 Sep 13:43 | Link | Category: Current Events
August 28, 2005
Katrina
Do any of you live in the path of Hurricane Katrina? I'm not aware of any old friends or regular visitors who live in that part of the world, but I don't do a very good job of keeping track of where everyone lives. Anyway... It looks like a major disaster is on the way. (I'm sure you're high-tailing it as I speak.)
Let me know if there's anything I can do. If you can make it all the way to Utah, you're welcome to crash at my place for as long as you need. (Great time of the year, too - our forecast for this week is sunny and 84°.)
Good luck to all.
For more info., see the constantly developing Wikipedia entry. Also, New Orleans metblog and this LiveJournal contain some firsthand accounts.
28 Aug 23:51 | Link | Category: Current Events
June 29, 2005
The Lost Liberty Hotel
I was alarmed by the Supreme Court's recent ruling on personal property seizures. I agreed with almost everything in Sandra Day O'Connor's dissent. (Should I also mention my surprise at being in agreement with Justices Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas?) I personally know of several powerful local politicians who have made momentous planning decisions and are intimately connected with developers & development companies. Why should property seizure be left solely to their "good judgement" regarding public benefit? Hmmm.
Anyway. I chuckled at a news item I read today about a critic who wants to replace Justice Souter's home with a hotel. He wrote a fax to leaders in Souter's New Hampshire town stating that "the justification for such an eminent domain action is that our hotel will better serve the public interest as it will bring in economic development and higher tax revenue to Weare." Beautiful.
29 Jun 22:32 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
Flag Burning
Regarding those nutty folks in the House of Representatives and their recent approval of a flag burning amendment, I think I have to agree with Jaf's assessment. See also: What does happen when you burn an American flag?
29 Jun 22:27 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
The Drapes have been removed!
Say what you will about Alberto Gonzalez, but hey - at least he removed Ashcroft's silly drapes from the Spirit of Justice statue in the Great Hall. Now if we could just get him to reconsider his belief that the war against terrorism "renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners," we'd be making some real progress!
29 Jun 22:03 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
June 15, 2005
Amazon loggers clash with lost tribe
This link has been lingering in my bookmarks list for weeks. I've been trying to think of a suitable comment for it, but I always find myself at a loss. Instead of deleting it (as I do with an increasing number of my bookmarks), I'll just throw it at you and wish we could exchange facial expressions.
(I would put it in "Quick Links" but judging by the RSS feeds visitors subscribe to, I have a nagging suspicion that a lot of you skip those... your loss, since they're often the best links I post.)
15 Jun 0:18 | Link | Category: Current Events, Human/Primate Evolution & Behavior
May 24, 2005
Peak Oil
About two months ago, James Howard Kunstler wrote an article for Rolling Stone entitled "The Long Emergency" about his view of what will happen as cheap oil runs out. (Sadly, I'm only now getting around to commenting.)
According to some estimates, global oil production will hit its "peak" sometime between now and 2010. Kunstler explores the transformation of our way of life and the rending of the social fabric that will take place as oil becomes scarce and we no longer have inexpensive sources of energy. His article is alarming - and alarmist - but makes some interesting observations. Worth a read.
This is an enormously important issue that will affect your life, so gird up your loins (ah, such a fine Biblical phrase) and inform yourself. Here's a link to a BoingBoing post about Kunstler's article with lots of commentary and links. And a post at kuro5hin entitled Saudi Oil Close To Peak - So What?. And a very informative article from Wikipedia about Hubbert peak.
National Geographic covered the issue about a year ago in an article called "The End of Cheap Oil". Their site is down at the moment, but if you can find a copy of the magazine, I recall the article being fairly informative. They also had an eerie photo of a suburban American family who brought all their petroleum-derived products out onto the lawn and posed for a picture.
(Related: Is it time for the U.S. to reconsider nuclear energy?)
24 May 19:57 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
March 30, 2005
"Earth's Health Deteriorating"
You've probably already seen stories about the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. If not, read up:
- U.N. Study: Earth's Health Deteriorating
- Study highlights global decline
- Report: Earth's ecosystem at risk
Check out these photos: Changing World
Also check out the BBC's Planet Under Pressure series. (I always fantasize about American networks producing relatively high-caliber science material with the frequency that the BBC does. Then I realize they probably couldn't even get away with mentioning "hominid origins" or suggesting that global warming... er, "climate change" is actually happening.)
I suspect Americans will remain blissfully unaware of the stark realities that such reports reveal. (We can always take heart in our wise leaders like George W. Bush who say they won't do anything that might harm the U.S. economy. Bah.)
30 Mar 23:26 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
March 29, 2005
Terri Schiavo. Again.
I'm not trying to turn this site into a 24-hour cable news network, but I need to share a couple of links with you. I'll try to be brief.
The first actually has to do with the news networks. Last week, The Daily Show aired an excellent segment on the Schiavo case, highlighting such absurdities as Fox News using TV psychic John Edward as an expert guest. The other networks aren't much better. I've found that Fox, CNN, and MSNBC are always talking about the same story whenever I tune in (which is why I now avoid doing so). It's sickening, really, but the only positive reaction is to laugh at it. Get the Daily Show clip here (Windows Media, 3.9 MB), or the torrent here.
I also have to mention that sad specimen Tom DeLay again. See, it's amazing how politicians find it so easy to act differently depending on whether they can use a situation for perceived political gain. In 1988, DeLay's father was seriously injured and the family faced a decision over life support.
There were also these similarities: Both stricken patients were severely brain-damaged. Both were incapable of surviving without medical assistance. Both were said to have expressed a desire to be spared from being kept alive by artificial means. And neither of them had a living will.
In 1988, however, there was no such fiery rhetoric as the congressman quietly joined the sad family consensus to let his father die.
Unfortunately, DeLay isn't as easy to laugh at as John Edward. (If you'll allow me to repeat what I said earlier earlier, he's simply nauseating.) Update: Good article on this by William Saletan of Slate.
Finally, brettd of Kuro5hin wrote a pretty good Op Ed on the general facts of the situation.
I really truly hope this is my last post on this topic (no promises).
29 Mar 23:52 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
March 23, 2005
I guess I had to comment sooner or later...
Matters like quality of life and right to die are very personal and very tricky, and the Terri Schiavo situation is particularly difficult. I can understand why it has been problematic. I don't know enough of the specifics to offer substantive comment on the case itself. But I do have few comments on the absolutely appalling response of politicians to the case.
In a memo distributed only to Republican senators, the Schiavo case was characterized as 'a great political issue' that could pay dividends with Christian conservatives, whose support is essential in midterm elections such as those coming up in 2006.
(Isn't it disgusting watching the politicians jump all over this situation? Seeing the attention they're giving this case also makes me wonder why they're so inattentive when it comes to, say, multitudes who die needlessly because of inadequate healthcare in this country, innocent people dying every day in Africa and elsewhere, and a laundry list of other human crises.)
Looking through my local newspaper today, I noted that even in my extremely conservative community, there's fairly overwhelming support for Michael Schiavo's case and for removal of the feeding tube. That makes me even more baffled as to why the GOP leadership seemed so eager to make a mockery of our judicial system (and tenets of their own platform). It makes me think they're out of touch with reality (even 'reality' in a haven of religious conservatism like Utah), but I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that -- I seem to understand this country less and less as time goes by.
Read a transcript of Tom DeLay's comments at a Family Research Council meeting last Friday, and see if it doesn't make your stomach churn. The man is nauseating and incredibly dangerous.
Anyway... I should probably stop ranting and go write a detailed living will. But one final thought, from A Blow to the Rule of Law:
Republicans have traditionally championed respect for the delicate balance the founders created. But in the Schiavo case, and in the battle to stop the Democratic filibusters of judicial nominations, President Bush and his Congressional allies have begun to enunciate a new principle: the rules of government are worth respecting only if they produce the result we want. It may be a formula for short-term political success, but it is no way to preserve and protect a great republic.
23 Mar 15:23 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
March 17, 2005
Oops.
Remember last year when it was reported that a DEA agent accidentally shot himself in the leg during a schoolroom demonstration? The video appears to have hit the Internet: "I'm the only one in this room professional enough that I know I can carry a Glock 40"
(alternate link)
17 Mar 14:01 | Link | Category: Current Events, Humor, Video
Intellectual Diversity at Stanford
Boy wonder Aaron Swartz on the fact that 13% of Stanford professors are Republicans (and the arguments of discrimination and academic Republicans being eradicated by academic Democrats):
Scary as this is, my preliminary research has discovered some even more shocking facts. I have found that only 1% of Stanford professors believe in telepathy (defined as "communication between minds without using the traditional five senses"), compared with 36% of the general population. And less than half a percent believe "people on this earth are sometimes possessed by the devil", compared with 49% of those outside the ivory tower. And while 25% of Americans believe in astrology ("the position of the stars and planets can affect people's lives"), I could only find one Stanford professor who would agree.
You should also check out Swartz's reply to David Horowitz (author of the Academic Bill of Rights) and his "response to critics" of the astrology comparison, which contains links and thoughts on Frank Luntz, mentioned here in my Jan. 24 thoughts and again yesterday in Quick Links (see "How to Lie and Win Elections).
17 Mar 12:39 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
March 13, 2005
John Bolton
Since it's taken me so long to sort through my bookmarks this week, I missed my chance to rant about John Bolton (nominee for UN Ambassador) in a timely fashion. I'll just throw a few links at you:
- NY Times - The World According to Bolton
- Bush to U.N.: Drop Dead
- Collection of links at Ghost In The Machine
13 Mar 23:34 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
February 23, 2005
Scientific voice stifled in Bush administration
This isn't remotely surprising, nor is it news (I mentioned it last July). Scientists are complaining that the Bush administration is allowing fewer scientists to be heard in policy discussions, and is cutting money for research and advanced training.
"In previous administrations, scientists were always at the table when regulations were being developed," she said. "Science never had the last voice, but it had a voice."
23 Feb 11:31 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts, Science
February 2, 2005
Is it time for the U.S. to reconsider nuclear energy?
After the 1979 incident at Three Mile Island (which coincidentally occurred about two weeks after the nuclear power plant coverup/disaster film The China Syndrome opened in theaters), the U.S. nuclear power industry fell into a torpor that was further deepened by the Chernobyl disaster.
In Nuclear Now!, Peter Schwartz and Spencer Reiss offer an argument for waking it up.
Schwartz and Reiss note that in the 25+ years since Three Mile Island, we've searched for alternatives to fossil fuels, but each year we excavate 400 million more tons of coal than did back then, "light it on fire, and shoot the proceeds into the atmosphere."
Not only do fossil fuels drive climate change (a matter over which even some Pentagon experts are scared shitless), the authors note that coal-burning electric plants "have fouled the air with enough heavy metals and other noxious pollutants to cause 15,000 premature deaths annually in the U.S. alone." They also claim that coal-fired plants release a significant amount radioactive material into the air and mention that 5200 Chinese coal miners died in accidents last year alone.
Burning hydrocarbons is a luxury that a planet with 6 billion energy-hungry souls can't afford. There's only one sane practical alternative: nuclear power. We now know that the risks of splitting atoms pale beside the dreadful toll exacted by fossil fuels. Radiation containment, waste disposal, and nuclear weapons proliferation are manageable problems in a way that global warming is not."
The authors say conservation and efficiency are not enough, because energy is "not a luxury people can do without" and note that "the developed world built its wealth on cheap power." Demand for energy will continue to skyrocket, they say, referring to an MIT study that forecasts worldwide energy demand could triple by 2050. "China could build a Three Gorges Dam every year forever and still not meets its growing demand for electricity."
The article details the various promises and failings of renewables, but this probably sums up their ultimate conclusion:
Jesse Ausubel, director of the human environment program at New York's Rockefeller University, calls renewable energy sources 'false gods' - attractive but powerless. They're capital- and land-intensive, and solar is not yet remotely cost-competitive. Despite all the hype, tax breaks, and incentives, the proportion of US electricity production from renewables has actually fallen in the past 15 years, from 11.0 percent to 9.1 percent.
By contrast, they say, nuclear power is thriving around the world. In the U.S., the nuclear power industry hopes to hold on to a 20 percent share of the rapidly growing US power market, but the authors say it's not enough. "We should be shooting to match France, which gets 77 percent of its electricity from nukes."
What about nuclear energy's serious problems such as costly plants, risk of accident, the vexing problem of radioactive waste, and the danger of spent nuclear material falling into the wrong hands? Schwartz and Reiss offer solutions, some of them more satisfactory than others. (For example, the best they can come up with for radioactive waste is "interim storage," saying that we just need to put it somewhere long enough to let it cool down and let us decide what to do with it in a hundred years.) Nevertheless, their ideas are worth consideration, since climate models based on carbon dioxide levels expected later this century predict temperature increases 1.5°C to 4.5°C or - God forbid - even more, if recent simulations from climateprediction.net are accurate. (Let's just hope they're not.)
Schwartz and Reiss say the ultimate goal is "dethroning King Coal" and pushing nuclear power until something better comes along. They provide four steps to increase the momentum: Regulating carbon emissions, recycling nuclear fuel, rekindling innovation, and replacing gasoline with hydrogen.
It's an interesting article and an interesting argument, despite its flaws. Read it (and look at the charts) and let me know what you think. (Was it just PR for the nuclear power industry? Is there validity to their argument? Is it flawed? Is their characterization of renewable energy innacurate?)
You might also be interested in the companion article, Green vs. Green.
02 Feb 21:12 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
February 1, 2005
The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America
Last night, I wasted some time browsing through TIME's selection of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America.
The writeups on a few of them really made me cringe.
Take Howard and Roberta Ahmanson, savings-and-loan multimillionaires whose private philanthropy has funded, among other things, "an institute linked to the antievolution intelligent-design movement." Over the years, they've been accused of having "an extremist agenda, mostly because a onetime pet charity advocates the Christian reconstructionist branch of theology that says gays and other biblical lawbreakers should be stoned." But - phew! - they've distanced themselves from that one... the follies of youth... well, middle age... whatever.
Then there's David Barton. "The 51-year-old Texan's thesis: that the U.S. was a self-consciously religious nation from the time of the Founders until the 1963 Supreme Court school-prayer ban (which Barton has called 'a rejection of divine law')." He's buddies with Tom DeLay ("whom he has advised on the Pledge Patriot Act, which seeks to keep the phrase 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance") and was "tapped by the RNC during its election sprint as a liaison to social conservatives."
If you ever watch Larry King Live, you've probably seen James Dobson (several transcripts here). Not only is he "advocating policies calling for a ban on gay marriage and for restraint of the judiciary" but he's also "threatening to target Democratic Senators at the polls if they don't vote the way he likes on President Bush's judicial nominations." At the moment, he's embroiled in the current SpongeBob controversy. (Wow, I can't believe I'm even using 'SpongeBob' and 'controversy' next to each other... but then I've used 'Tinky-Winky' and 'controversy' next to each other, so why am I surprised?)
Tim LaHaye (a Bob Jones graduate) is a paranoid fundamentalist (sometimes referred to as a "kook" or "lunatic"). In recent years, he's finally achieved wild success, building a literary empire around his apocalyptic "Left Behind" series (which - I can personally vouch - are quite inexplicably popular even in Mormon suburbia). Intrepid readers are advised to read this disturbing article about LaHaye's past and present.
When I got to the page about Joyce Meyer, I first laughed at the photo. Then I laughed at the text. "She is a traveling road show with a multimedia connection to followers. Meyer, 61, offers a gospel of prosperity that promises that God rewards tithing with his blessing. But her own conspicuously prosperous lifestyle—which, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, includes a $2 million home and a $10 million jet—concerns some Christians." "Meyer says an [IRS] investigation does not worry her, and she continues to deliver her uplifting message on more than 600 TV stations and 400 radio stations as well as in 70 books and scores of stadium-filling appearances."
Finally, there's Senator Rick Santorum. He's the senate's third-ranking Republican who "regularly taps evangelical broadcasters and activists to help mobilize support for their common agenda," and regularly and vocally takes "the point position against gay marriage, abortion rights and judges who defend either." He's best known for his "verbal attacks on gays and supporters of abortion rights." You might remember him for his comments on homosexuality (and his fascination with "man on dog"). (See also: The Daily Show's Senator Rick Santorum mp3 clip.) According to TIME, Santorum has presidential amibions. "'Never say never,' he says—music to evangelical ears."
01 Feb 10:02 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
January 31, 2005
Students: First Amendment goes "too far"
I ran across a story this morning that is disturbing and depressing. According to a recent study (which surveyed more than 100,000 students, nearly 8,000 teachers and more than 500 administrators at 544 public and private high schools), the First Amendment is an unimportant issue to many high school students.
More than one in three high school students in the study felt that it goes "too far" in the rights it guarantees. Only half of the students said newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories. (Half!)
The results of the study indicate that students are both indifferent and ignorant. 3 out of 4 students said they "took the First Amendment for granted or didn't know how they felt about it." The same proportion had the notion that flag burning is illegal. And half of them thought the government can can restrict any indecent material on the Internet.
Another interesting note is that students are "even more restrictive in their views than their elders." 97% of teachers and 99% of principals said people should be allowed to express unpopular views, while only 83% of students did.
(More coverage here and here.)
31 Jan 11:03 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
January 27, 2005
Freeing Sex Slaves: A Year Later
Last year, Nicholas D. Kristof paid to free two young Cambodian sex workers. Readers came to know the girls, Srey Neth and Srey Mom, and followed their stories as they left their brothel and were reunited with their families. Now, Mr. Kristof is back in Cambodia to see how Srey Neth and Srey Mom are coping with freedom.
27 Jan 12:18 | Link | Category: Current Events
Strategic Support Branch
I'd love to know the real story behind the Pentagon's secret espionage unit, the Strategic Support Branch. The Washington Post says it "arose from Rumsfeld's written order to end his 'near total dependence on CIA' and operates under the defense secretary's direct control." (This is also intriguing: "A recent Pentagon memo states that recruited agents may include 'notorious figures' whose links to the U.S. government would be embarrassing if disclosed.")
The Pentagon refutes the notions that the unit reports directly to the secretary or that they are reinterpreting law.
Senator Chuck Hagel says: "The concern I always have in these matters as well as others when it comes to power in government is too much power concentrated in too few hands. That's when a country gets into a lot of trouble, when you brush back the Congress and you don't have oversight and you don't have cooperation, and I see too much of that out of this Pentagon."
Seymour Hersh's The Coming Wars (which I mentioned earlier) offers the most interesting and senseful take.
27 Jan 12:01 | Link | Category: Current Events
Middle East Item #3: Perception and Media
The other day, I attended a talk by Mideast scholar and pollster Shibley Telhami. He polled residents of the Middle East and found that "the majority believe Iraq is less democratic since the United States toppled Saddam Hussein; that Iraqis are now worse off; and that the U.S. motivation for invading Iraq was oil, Israel and the desire to weaken the Muslim world." From the report of one of my local papers:
In the Middle East, "people don't have much faith in elections," Telhami said, because in some countries their governments have supported U.S. actions that the public opposed. And, he said, because they are nervous about public opinion, those governments have tightened controls and limited freedoms.
The ironic upshot, Telhami said, is a lessening of democracy and liberty.
According to Telhami, anger at the U.S. is largely grounded in a perception that the U.S. is out to get Arabs and - what seems even more worrisome, if like me you don't yearn for global culture wars - Muslims everywhere.
One of the most interesting notes was that when he polled Mideasterners to find out how the media affected their opinions, he found that watching TV stations like al-Jazeera made no difference. He polled Arab-Americans who watched CNN and Fox News (yes, Fox News - a few people chuckled at that) and found that their answers were close to those of Arabs elsewhere.
It is fashionable, he said, to blame the Arab media, particularly networks such as al-Jazeera, for the growing resentment of the United States. But the resentment is now worldwide, he said.
27 Jan 11:26 | Link | Category: Current Events
Middle East Item #2: Iran
Read The Coming Wars, written by Seymour Hersh for The New Yorker.
Rumsfeld added that America was committed to staying in Iraq and that there would be no second-guessing.
"This is a war against terrorism, and Iraq is just one campaign. The Bush Administration is looking at this as a huge war zone," the former high-level intelligence official told me. "Next, we're going to have the Iranian campaign. We've declared war and the bad guys, wherever they are, are the enemy. This is the last hurrah—we've got four years, and want to come out of this saying we won the war on terrorism."
In a radio interview earlier this week, Dick Cheney insisted diplomacy would be used, but threw in this threat about Israel:
"Well, one of the concerns people have is that Israel might do it without being asked," Mr. Cheney said. "If, in fact, the Israelis became convinced the Iranians had a significant nuclear capability, given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide to act first, and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards."
Iran says it "has plans to defend itself."
I can see this going all kinds of places, none of them particularly good.
27 Jan 11:20 | Link | Category: Current Events
Middle East Item #1: Iraq
According to a new analysis by Knight Ridder reporters Tom Lasseter and Jonathan S. Landay ("who have done some of the best reporting on Iraq during the past two years"), unless something "dramatic" changes — such as a newfound will by Iraqis to reject the insurgency or a large escalation of U.S. troop strength — the United States is heading toward losing the war in Iraq.
It is axiomatic among military thinkers that insurgencies are especially hard to defeat because the insurgents' goal is not to win in a conventional sense, but merely to survive until the will of the occupying power is sapped. Recent polls already suggest an erosion of support among Americans for the war.
There is no denying a few positive trends. Money is flowing into reconstruction efforts, providing jobs for many Iraqis. Some major cities have become relatively peaceful. And many Iraqis are looking forward to voting late this month.
But the unfavorable trends of the war are even more clear.
The article (also here) takes a look at various statistics (combat deaths, wounded, insurgent attacks, bombings, electricity / oil production) and comments from experts.
While I hope the authors are being overly pessimistic or missing some important trend, I have a nagging feeling their analysis might be right.
For more depressing reading on Iraq, look at A shooting after nightfall or visit growabrain's Iraq archive.
27 Jan 11:16 | Link | Category: Current Events
January 24, 2005
Let Freedom Ring - 42 times
Those of you who watched/listened to/read George W. Bush's second inaugural address surely noticed that he used the words freedom and liberty a few times... well, forty-two times (as illustrated by this excellent Daily Show clip, courtesy of Lisa Rein).
The funny thing is that only a week or two before the address, the topic of a class I'm taking at school was the basics of political ideology. We covered the fact that all ideologies (you name it - liberalism, communism, conservatism, even fascism) claim to defend and extend "freedom" & "liberty", condemning societies that don't promote freedom and promising to take steps to promote it themselves. The problem, of course, is that different ideologies define "freedom" (along with "democracy") in different ways.
The point I'm trying to make is that politicians and pundits throw these words around as ideological tools and little else. In the last fifteen or twenty years, they've gotten even better at it - while the public has seemingly become even more gullible. (Think of the "Contract with America" or the Orwellian Frank Luntz and his "Global Warming" vs. "Climate Change", "Healthy Forests," "Clear Skies", etc.)
So - back to the State of the Union address - was it all just ideological clichés and sloganeering, or was there any substance to be found in and among Bush's endless use of "freedom" and "liberty"? If there was some depth beneath the rhetoric, what are the implications?
Instead of offering you my own 'opinion in a nutshell' (since I can't really claim to have an opinion in a nutshell), I'll just throw some interesting links and quotes at you. (They might elucidate my line of thought anyway.)
In Give Me Liberty or Give Me... What?, Fred Kaplan of Slate muses:
In any case, what is this thing called "freedom"? The speech did note, "America will not impose our own system of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way." But what if the freely expressed view of some downtrodden people happens to collide with our views or interests? Does "freedom" always mean a Western-style, or pro-American, democracy?
Whatever freedom is, how do we go about spreading it? The president said in his speech that the mission "is not primarily the task of arms," though he added that sometimes it must be. If not with arms, then how do we spread freedom? With rhetorical encouragement? Bush's answer was intriguing: "All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: The United States will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you."
...
This sort of talk raises three questions. First, does the president really know what he's saying here? ... If the leaders of a democratic underground in some dictatorship hear this speech and rise up tomorrow against their own tyrants, will George W. Bush "stand with" them? Really?Second, the United States does have good relations with several repressive governments--China, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, to name a few--and chooses to do little or nothing about the way they treat their own people. ... We can argue about whether the trade-off is correct, but the existence of a trade-off is indisputable.
...
Third, can we undertake this mission to spread freedom all by ourselves?
...
One could say that an inaugural address is an opportunity to express grand themes with broad brushstrokes, and shouldn't be read closely as a blueprint for the future. But it is well known that many presidents--including this one--dwell on this speech with great care. Certainly the theme of President Bush's address is consistent with the theme of his first term's foreign policy. It therefore offers little hope that his second term's will be formulated with any greater care.
A couple of basic articles from the BBC look at the speech from an international perspective. From Bush plays variations on freedom theme:
One thing seems clear: this is not a president who intends to turn back from his doctrine of taking pre-emptive action, in the interests of American security (or, as he would put it, American freedom).
...
And there was a stark message to regimes which have already found themselves players in the president's rhetoric.
...
The warning bells will be ringing in foreign capitals such as Tehran and Damascus.
From Bush speaks - now what?:
The Bush second inaugural has implications for America's friends and foes.
For friends, it should make uncomfortable reading.
"We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people," Mr Bush declared.
Does this mean that the Saudi royal family, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, let alone a raft of obscure governments in Central America and Africa, not to mention China, have to radically change their ways?
It would be nice if they did, but not absolutely necessary, if comment by the White House is to be believed.
...
And what of America's foes? They of course have been on notice for some time under the doctrine of the pre-emptive strike.The speech was not a manual of specific foreign policy goals. One has to look elsewhere for detailed policy objectives.
...
The strength of the speech was in what it said about freedom, its weakness was what it did not say about Iraq, which can be seen as an effort to impose that freedom.Since the project in Iraq is likely to help define this presidency, it cannot be ignored.
Its absence suggests uneasiness in the White House, a sense that the reality in Iraq does not match the rhetoric of the speech.
Scott Rosenberg of Salon offers some of the harshest commentary in a blog post entitled The fire this time (forgive me for quoting so much of it):
This speech wasn't just soaring rhetoric. It was a lighter-than-air burst of helium verbiage -- lofty language untethered from the perplexing world we occupy and from the messy events of the last four years, sentences floating off into an empyrean of millennial vagaries.
The world is a simple place to Bush. For him, "the moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right" is one that involves no hard calls. And since America represents freedom and freedom is eternally right, it must still be right even when it locks hundreds of people away for life without trial or it tortures prisoners in a war launched on a lie. We are the forces of freedom; we can admit no wrong because we can do no wrong.
Sounding like a bizarre cross between Hegel, Woodrow Wilson and the nihilists of "The Possessed," Bush spoke of a "fire in the minds of men" (Dostoyevsky's phrase, adopted by James Billington as the title of a famous book about "revolutionary faith") that would spread freedom around the world. Freedom! Who would oppose it? But it is a word so universally embraced, even by those who flout its essence most crudely, that it means nothing when simply uttered; it has meaning only when our actions make something of it, when our deeds fill in its outline.
While Bush's text spoke of freedom, his imagery told a different story, a tale of retribution and flame. America's enemies set "a day of fire" on 9/11. We must respond with the "untamed fire" of freedom that America will bring to the benighted world. Fire with fire.
...
He's talking Biblical conflagration. His fire is the cathartic inferno dreamed of by people who are confounded by a world they know is out of their control -- one that, incomprehensibly, is not moving in a visible direction.
...
There must be people out there who find Bush's fiery talk uplifting. I found it alternatingly depressing and horrifying. Idealism fueled by ignorance and unanchored by reality can be the savagest fire of all.
My favorite short summation of the speech comes from Kevin Murphy of Ghost in the Machine, who writes:
All in all, the inaugural wasn't an embarrassing speech as delivered -- Gerson's too good at his job for that. But, like too much in this administration, it was all style and no substance, offering false simplicity and sanctimony in the place of good ideas or hard-won truths. In short, it was just like Dubya.
24 Jan 12:00 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts, Politics
January 6, 2005
Conspiracy theorists, check this link
20 Amazing Facts about Voting in the USA should be great fodder for conspiracy theorists. I'm passing it on because there is much that needs improvement in U.S. voting, conspiracies or not. If a technologically advanced country like the United States can't count on a flawless voting system, something's terribly wrong. (See here, here and here.)
06 Jan 23:37 | Link | Category: Current Events
January 5, 2005
Asia tsunamis, part two
Below are a few good spots on the web for information:
How you can help: www.tsunamihelp.info
News & information: tsunamihelp.blogspot.com, Wikipedia entry, and BBC News aerial photos.
And, to frighten those of you along the eastern coast of North America... I watched a Discovery Channel / BBC show called "Megatsunami" a few years ago about a theory that a massive tsunami could occur sometime in the next few thousand years if there's an eruption on La Palma (in the Canary Islands) and a large chunk of the island falls into the ocean. Wikipedia entry here.
05 Jan 23:40 | Link | Category: Current Events
December 27, 2004
Asia tsunamis
It looks like the recent earthquake & tsunamis in Asia will rank as the single worst natural disaster in years. Please visit the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies or your favorite disaster relief organization to see what you can do.
27 Dec 0:15 | Link | Category: Current Events
December 19, 2004
More for the "This is America... right?" file
So, an artist in New York City created a portrait of President Bush that, when viewed closely, is seen to be made up of monkeys swimming in a marsh. That was enough to lead to the closure of a New York art exhibition:
"We had tons of people, like more than 2,000 people show up for the opening on Thursday night," said show organizer Bucky Turco. "Then this manager saw the piece and the guy just kind of flipped out. 'The show is over. Get this work down or I'm gonna arrest you,' he said. It's been kind of wild."
You can find a better image of the portrait here.
This is nearly as ridiculous as the Secret Service investigating high schoolers who decided to sing Bob Dylan's 41 year old Cold War protest song "Masters of War" at an assembly. (For those of you who missed that particular bit of craziness when I posted it to Quick Links last month, look here, here, and especially here.)
19 Dec 21:39 | Link | Category: Current Events
December 16, 2004
Are you on drugs?
I had gathered a small collection of links for comment on a story from a couple of weeks ago about how over 44 percent of all Americans take at least one prescription drug, and 16.5 percent take at least three. Then I found a story by one of my favorite columnists, Mark Morford, who summed it all up quite nicely:
All of which means one of two things: either it's the goddamn finest time in history to be an American, living as we are in the age of incredible technology and miracle medicines and longer life expectancies and $5 coffee drinks and a happy synthetic chemical to match any sort of ache or pain or lump or rash or spiritual crisis you might be facing.
Or it's the absolute worst, what with so many of us heavily drugged and over half of us massively obese and IQs dropping like stones and our overall quality of life deteriorating right under our noses and shockingly huge numbers of us actually finding Shania Twain somehow interesting. Which perspective is right for you? Ask your doctor.
I certainly don't think it's such an either/or proposition (can't it mean both?) but I still enjoy Morford's spin.
What I would like to see is a breakdown of prescription use by type - for example, to see what proportion of the population uses drugs like Prozac or Zoloft. I personally know handfuls of people who are on them - usually unnecessarily. (Oddly, these people generally tend to think an occasional glass of wine is of the devil, support the costly & innefectual failure that is the war on drugs, and oppose even medicinal marijuana use - but maybe it all makes more sense when you're on anti-depressants.) But my state leads the nation in prescriptions for anti-depressants, so maybe I have a skewed perspective.
Update: Someone sent me a link to this interesting blog entry: Flatlining Our Problems Away
16 Dec 19:28 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
December 11, 2004
Yuschenko was poisoned
Several weeks ago, I asked 'What Ails Viktor Yushchenko?' Doctors have now determined he was poisoned with dioxin.
11 Dec 15:28 | Link | Category: Current Events
December 8, 2004
Ugh.
The last few days have been the kind in which I see the news and I get the consuming feeling of sad weariness but nothing else. Combine that with the late hour and the fact that I should have been sleeping an hour ago, and I'm not in the mood for thinking about the world. So no comments or thoughts... just a few links:
A Fundamental Change in America
Pakistan and the True WMD Threat
Report: CIA chief paints bleak picture in Iraq
Edwin Black: Iraq election results will reflect longtime divisions
Economic 'Armageddon' predicted (also see When America Sneezes, a story I linked to from Quick Links back in November)
08 Dec 0:20 | Link | Category: Current Events
November 25, 2004
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 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
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.
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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.
...
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.
...
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.
...
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.
...
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
October 13, 2004
Sudan
It's strange and sad that in all the recent foreign policy debate, there has been only the briefest mention of the genocide in Sudan. Nicholas D. Kristof writes about it in his latest column and concludes:
It's progress that the world has denounced the genocide without waiting the customary 10 years before wringing its hands in regret. But there are many other steps the United States could take: a no-flight zone, an arms embargo, an asset freeze on businesses owned by Sudan's ruling party, and greater teamwork with African and Islamic countries to exert more pressure on Sudan.
President Bush is already in the forefront of the world leaders who have addressed the slaughter in Darfur, and he has done far more than President Clinton did during the Rwandan genocide. But there is so much more the United States can still do.
Mr. President, you pride yourself on your willingness to stand up to evil - so why do you remain so passive in the face of such evil?
13 Oct 23:52 | Link | Category: Current Events
October 8, 2004
Exhuming McCarthy
John pointed me to this ominous item:
After the FBI was alerted about handwriting in the margins of a library book about Osama bin Laden, they confiscated the book from its small rural library and demanded to know the names and addresses of everyone who ever checked out the book. Since the FBI didn't invoke the Patriot Act, the library was able to fight back. They don't give out circulation information without a court order. When the FBI got a grand jury subpoena (how??) the library filed a motion to quash it. The FBI withdrew the subpoena but reserved the right to file it again.
If the feds had demanded the records under the Patriot Act, the library would have had to hand them over without question and without help from the courts.
I used to joke with one of my co-workers at the library about John Ashcroft coming in someday to peruse all our records for depraved evildoers. (Or when people would check out something controversial like Mein Kampf, Das Kapital, or The Communist Manifesto, we'd always say "oh, yeah, that guy's definitely gonna get a Justice Department investigation now.")
Somehow those jokes don't seem funny or ironic now... just sad and frightening.
08 Oct 0:17 | Link | Category: Current Events
September 26, 2004
Are two (or eight) demagogues really better than one?
Another example of why it's so fun (interpret that word however you wish) to live in Utah:
Members of the student government at the community college in Provo-Orem decided to invite rabble-rouser Michael Moore to speak. Poor saps. Other students - along with citizens all over the conservative community - didn't take kindly to the notion of having someone like that tell them what to think. No, much better to have their own rabble-rousers tell them what to think.
The Trib says:
"Michael Moore will break away from the swing-state Bush-bashing circuit to speak at Utah Valley State College - one of the most conservative campuses in one of the most conservative counties of one of the most conservative states in the country.
Some segue.
Political invective aside, it may be the first time that a sitting American president gets lashed, lambasted and lampooned from the podium of Orem's David O. McKay Events Center.
"He went to the Republican convention," UVSC spokesman Derek Hall said. "This has got to be a friendly place compared to that."
Don't count on it.
According to the Provo Daily Herald (proudly located at harktheherald.com):
"The college has received a steady stream of complaints from across the nation, from a grandfather vowing he won't come to his grandson's graduation to an employer swearing to never again hire a UVSC graduate. Many parents and alumni have expressed disgust that the college is using student fees to pay Moore $40,000 to speak at the college and one e-mail administrators received said that if they didn't cancel the speech a UVSC diploma 'might as well be printed on twin-ply, perforated tissue paper and dispensed on rolls in bathroom stalls.'"
(This begs the question - why twin-ply and perforated?)
No worry, though. The college has invited about eight other speakers, including such luminaries as talk show hosts Sean Hannity and Michael Reagan.
The great shame is that instead of a well-attended lecture from a celebrity-of-the-moment and perhaps a minor controversy played out on the editorial pages of the school paper, the poor kids get an enormous community-wide scandal... and now they have to endure propaganda from lots of demagogues! (Between the outraged students / community and all the fervor that'll be hurled by Moore, Hannity, and the rest, I think UVSC will temporarily rank among the most vitriolic spots in the world. Such a sad fate for Happy Valley!)
The funny/sad/ironic thing is that noted individuals (as in, people other than propagandists and talk show hosts) speak at my university (scroll to bottom) and around town all the time... and nobody really pays attention. Gorbachev spoke and earned a small mention on the back page (no letters to the editor, I'm afraid). Lech Walesa stopped by in... I think it was probably '98, and when I later complained to people about the (relatively) low attendance and lack of interest by local news media, most people just looked at me blankly and asked me who the hell Lech Walesa was.
But I can guarantee they all know who the eminent Sean Hannity is, dammit!
Ugh.
26 Sep 22:27 | Link | Category: Current Events, Politics
September 23, 2004
Scared to Death
Another item for the Age of Fear file:
David Ropeik, director of risk communication at Harvard University's Center for Risk Analysis, explains that We're Being Scared To Death.
23 Sep 22:20 | Link | Category: Current Events
September 2, 2004
Of college campuses and 'vote machines'
"College campuses are stirring back to life, and Eric Hoplin's vote machine is ready to spring into action. Hoplin, chairman of the College Republican National Committee, has 120,000 members, 60 field staffers and a multimillion-dollar budget directed at turning out 125,000 or more young voters for President Bush in battleground states."
It's pretty sad when college campuses, of all places, are simply targets of multimillion-dollar marketing machines for voter headcounts. Shouldn't colleges should be starting-points for political ideas, or at least hotbeds of thoughtful debate? Or are those now very aniquated, passé notions?
02 Sep 0:03 | Link | Category: Current Events
August 2, 2004
More news links
A few more tidbits from my bookmarks file:
- Back in July, President Bush met with a group of Old Order Amish. At the end of the session, Bush reportedly told the group, "I trust God speaks through me." This really freaks me out because it raises two frightening scenarios - either Bush is more delusional than I thought, or God is really having some fun at our expense.
- In yet another example of life in the Age of Fear, studies show that fear shapes voters' views. The psychology professors figured this out approximately three years after Karl Rove did.
- According to the Pope - a man who possibly, just perhaps, has a stake and interest in a very dysfunctional patriarchy - feminism weakens family and promotes homosexuality.
02 Aug 0:45 | Link | Category: Current Events, Politics
July 12, 2004
Postponing Election Day?
U.S. officials are now discussing the possibility of postponing Election Day. Is anyone else completely freaked out by this development?
12 Jul 11:34 | Link | Category: Current Events, Politics
May 26, 2004
Age of Fear
A long time ago I had this idea... to collect links and clippings about fear and throw them all together in one scary ass display, to illustrate that despite the fact we're living longer, safer lives, our age is becoming the Age of Fear more than anything else.
If I had actually followed through with the idea, a BBC article I saw today could be one of the central clippings. It seems that now children are 'scared to play outside'. Oh good. Let's see how this plays out in twenty or thirty years.
26 May 0:37 | Link | Category: Current Events
Fundamentalist Secession?
A group of fundamentalists are upset about the state of the Union. So upset, in fact, that they're in the beginning stages of an effort to have one state secede from the United States to become its own sovereign nation.
According to the ChristianExodus web site, such 'atrocities' as gay marriage "continue in spite of the fact that we now have the 'right' people in places of power. Indeed, the occupant of the White House is a professing Christian. The U.S. attorney general is believed to be a devout Christian. 'Conservatives' control both Houses of Congress, and Republican presidents appointed seven of the nine Supreme Court justices."
Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina were all considered for the plan, but South Carolina has been selected as the target location.
So there you have it. I don't really know what to say.
(via Pale Blue Dot)
26 May 0:19 | Link | Category: Current Events
May 25, 2004
18,000 al Qaeda fighters
According to the International Institute of Strategic Studies there may be 18,000 al Qaeda terrorists. This assumes 20,000 were trained in Afghanistan before the Taliban was ousted, and that 2,000 have been killed or captured.
It looks like we have a month or two to find them.
What seems really fucking brilliant to me is that we've wasted such an amount of money, resources, and time on a war in Iraq that has so little to do with the imminent danger of terrorism (aside from inflaming anti-Americanism around the world - particularly among fundamental Muslims of the sort attracted to groups like al Qaeda).
So our resources and attention are distracted and preoccupied, terrorists are more likely to find supporters, and those WMDs, if they ever existed, are somewhere - but not Iraq and not in our custody.
It's these kinds of infuriating and deeply disturbing stories that remind me why I shouldn't pay attention to the news some days.
25 May 22:57 | Link | Category: Current Events
May 21, 2004
Neighbor Search
Find out if your neighbors have contributed to a political campaign (and how much they gave) with the Fundrace 2004 Neighbor Search.
(via Dylan Greene)
21 May 0:35 | Link | Category: Current Events, Politics
May 20, 2004
Abuse of Iraqi prisoners and Prison Experiment parallels
Phil Zimbardo is the person who conducted the Stanford Prison Experiment (more) back in the 1960s. Read his statement from Div. 8 of the American Psychological Association listserv.
20 May 0:55 | Link | Category: Current Events
May 14, 2004
God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut
Many thanks to John for pointing me to an excellent essay by a writer among my favorites, Kurt Vonnegut. (If you haven't read Slaughterhouse-Five or Cat's Cradle or God Bless You Mr. Rosewater or Mother Night or Galápagos or The Sirens of Titan or - get my drift by now? - you really should.) It's called Cold Turkey, a title that will make sense if you read the whole thing.
While I'm at it, I guess I should mention an interview John also linked to, Kurt Vonnegut vs. the !&#*!@
14 May 1:03 | Link | Category: Art & Entertainment, Current Events
May 13, 2004
Abuse of Iraqis 'well thought through'
(I've been considering a long rant - or series of short rants! - about... well, the state of state of affairs in my country and the world as a whole, but for now I'm restraining myself. Stay tuned, though. My resolve falters occasionally.)
According to psychologists contacted by New Scientist, the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners is unlikely to have occurred without the knowledge of higher authorities. This is, of course, old news... it was just an interesting article.
13 May 14:29 | Link | Category: Current Events
The difference a year makes
August J. Pollack has compiled a few year-old quotes from George W. Bush.
13 May 14:15 | Link | Category: Current Events, Politics
May 11, 2004
Repeal the Patriot Act
In a short and sweet commentary, tenured judge (and Fox News analyst!) Andrew Napolitano explains why the Patriot Act should be repealed.
Those who believe that our freedoms are guaranteed and cannot be legislated away by Congress remain committed to the repeal -- not the renewal -- of this overreaching legislation.
11 May 23:48 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
Wake me up in 1925
(I know this is old news, but I'm clearing out a few months' worth of bookmarks.) The Georgia state school superintendent has proposed striking the word 'evolution' from Georgia's science curriculum and replacing it with the phrase "biological changes over time." According to the superintendent, evolution is a "buzzword" and the ban was proposed, in part, to alleviate pressure on teachers in socially conservative areas where parents object to its teaching.
Apparently 'illiterate' and 'ignorant' aren't buzzwords in Georgia.
Jimmy Carter is rightfully ashamed of his state.
In other news, a National Science Panel is warning of far too few new scientists in the United States, noting "a troubling decline" in the number of Americans training to be scientists. The report shows waning interest among young Americans in science careers. Huh... I wonder why...
11 May 22:10 | Link | Category: Current Events, Human/Primate Evolution & Behavior, Opinion & Thoughts, Science
November 2, 2003
Anger on Saudi Arabia's streets
BBC correspondent Roger Hardy has written an interesting article: Anger on Saudi Arabia's streets
02 Nov 23:16 | Link | Category: Current Events
September 26, 2003
Captain of Industry, Esq.
Move aside, Boeing and Alcoa. Make way for the lawsuit industry.
26 Sep 0:18 | Link | Category: Current Events
September 16, 2003
Numbers, anyone?
Numbers, anyone?
- 10 questions for Kofi Annan (Suddenly he's a mentionable person again, now that people are realizing the UN probably had the best approach to Iraq all along...)
- The Top 25 Censored Media Stories of 2002-2003 (also see previous years)
- 1000 reasons to dump George W. Bush (or the Top 10, for the lazy)
16 Sep 19:47 | Link | Category: Current Events
August 18, 2003
Prop-Agenda
In an article for the Guardian, Brian Eno writes "It isn't just propaganda any more, it's 'prop-agenda'. It's not so much the control of what we think, but the control of what we think about."
18 Aug 23:47 | Link | Category: Current Events, Music, Politics
June 19, 2003
Pipeline's profits may bypass Africans
The LA Times has published a disappointing but unsurprising report about an oil pipeline project in Chad and Cameroon.
19 Jun 2:11 | Link | Category: Current Events
What the world thinks of America
The BBC has produced a program that explores what the world thinks of America. At this juncture in time, it seems to me that simply asking the question in the first place ("What do you think of America?) presupposes a certain type of answer, but the results are very interesting nontheless. Be sure to check out some of the online feedback.
19 Jun 1:11 | Link | Category: Current Events
June 10, 2003
Missing WMDs
John Dean has published a thoughtful piece about missing weapons of mass destruction. Like Dean, I hope WMDs are found. It would settle a troubling situation in the best way, and it would avoid Bob Graham's "three other possible alternative scenarios," all unsettling. One is that the weapons made their way out of Iraq and into the hands of various dangerous groups (a situation far more troubling than Saddam having them). A second is that our intelligence was bad. A third scenario is that the intelligence was acceptable but that it was manipulated (or only the bits that supported a certain agenda were picked out) in order to make the case for war.
(If you find the article interesting, also read last year's piece about predicting presidential scandals.)
Hopefully they'll find the weapons and all the prattle will have been irrelevant.
10 Jun 22:58 | Link | Category: Current Events
May 28, 2003
The Language Police
Beware the Language Police. ("It is like George Orwell's 'Newspeak' come to life.")
28 May 13:45 | Link | Category: Current Events
May 17, 2003
Without warrant or cause
"While I understand the need for some measure of security and precaution in times such as these, the manner in which this detention and interrogation took place raises serious questions about police tactics and the safeguarding of civil liberties in times of war."
Read one man's account of being held against his will and without warrant or cause under the USA PATRIOT Act.
17 May 1:27 | Link | Category: Current Events
May 4, 2003
"We don't need no education"
Pat M. Holt of the Christian Science Monitor wrote an excellent piece about how the U.S. is losing sight of the need for education.
04 May 15:59 | Link | Category: Current Events
May 3, 2003
SARS
According to an article in the L.A. Times, SARS may just be the start, a "dress rehearsal for some other, more dangerous outbreak that could strike at any time."
The Mercury News reports that we're living in a new age of infections and we have mostly ourselves to blame.
(No word yet as to whether or not the sky is really falling.)
03 May 15:57 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
April 28, 2003
The New Cold War
In "The New Cold War," Bruce Sterling says India and China are picking up where the US and Soviet Union left off.
28 Apr 1:29 | Link | Category: Current Events
April 23, 2003
Iraq Iraq Iraq, part two
I just realized I've been silent for a while... first the obligatory assortment of Iraq links:
- Paul Pinto takes a look at the history of democracy in the Middle East.
- Examining what I think is one of the most pressing issues at present ("where are all the chem- and bio-weapons?"), David Corn asks Where Have All the WMD-Hunters Gone?. And Robert Scheer asks Did Bush Deceive Us in His Rush to War?
- The Washington Post reports U.S. Planners Surprised by Strength of Iraqi Shiites. Apparently many in the administration "were more focused on the overriding goal of defeating Hussein and paid little attention to the dynamics of religion and politics in the region." Brilliant (in a stupidly short-sighted way). Let's all hope Iraq doesn't fall to religious fundamentalists and other extremists.
- In History? What History? Robert Scheer (again... sorry, Mr. O'Reilly) writes that the "destruction of one of the world's significant collections of antiquities is a fit metaphor for current U.S. foreign policy, which causes more damage through carelessness than calculation."
23 Apr 1:07 | Link | Category: Current Events
April 15, 2003
Iraq, Iraq, Iraq
Charles Stith says: "I think that over the long term, economic engagement, not special ops, will be the most effective means of ending terrorism. We simply don't have the capacity to police the planet."
Two other articles of interest:
Wired: "Wacky Iraqi Minister a Web Star"
BBC: "Prized Iraqi annals 'lost in blaze'"
And a bedtime story. G'night.
15 Apr 23:23 | Link | Category: Current Events
March 19, 2003
Fragments from a diary
Read Fragments From A Diary by Wallace Shawn (yes, that Wallace Shawn).
19 Mar 0:28 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
March 4, 2003
North Korea's official web presence
Check out North Korea's "official page" for an odd trip through Stalinist propaganda. (It's completely disturbing, but in a comic-opera sort of way... I suppose your mood will affect your assessment.)
04 Mar 0:44 | Link | Category: Current Events, Technology & Computing
Goodbye, Mr. Rogers
Goodbye, Mr. Rogers. As Charles Taylor says, he "wouldn't lie to us, but he wanted us to have a happy childhood anyway. Through it all, he talked to us like people." Two other good articles are here and here.
04 Mar 0:30 | Link | Category: Art & Entertainment, Current Events
February 25, 2003
World Leaders Reality TV
During Dan Rather's interview with Saddam Hussein, everyone's favorite dictator challenged George W. Bush to a televised debate, which I found quite amusing. It never ends with this guy (though clearly he knows his opponent and precisely how to pester).
Anyway, it sparked an idea in my head. Considering the current predilection for 'reality' television, I think it would be a great idea to assemble a group of world leaders together in a house (à la MTV's "The Real World") to find out "what happens when world leaders stop being polite and start getting real!" Imagine the possibilities for conflict, humor, and all-around entertainment. If we follow the "Real World" model, the cast should contain seven or eight colorful personalities predestined for conflict.
I envision the current cast including the following eight: George W. Bush (the rich, brash partier), Jacques Chirac (the one who can't seem to get along with anyone, yet doesn't care), Kofi Annan (the well-meaning peacemaker who never solves anything), Saddam Hussein (the obnoxious and ludicrous yet cunningly devious troublemaker), Kim Jong-il (the quiet one, prone to fits of insane attention-seeking), Ariel Sharon (the loud, bossy know-it-all), Nelson Mandela (the old dude, respected by all, ignored by all), and Tony Blair (the affable British fellow). Or maybe I'd replace Tony Blair with Yasser Arafat, as that would provide plenty of conflict with Sharon. Or Osama bin Laden, assuming he could be found... Though he doesn't really qualify as a "world leader," he would perfectly fit the "misfit with a persecution complex" role. But would he spend all his time hiding in the closet plotting against his housemates, or would he be a "camera hog" ?
Imagine how many classic moments this show could produce. The drama, the conflict... the testimonials. After the thrilling first season, you could continue by using past leaders or various lower-ranking officials. ("Next time on 'The Real World': Tariq Aziz and Paek Nam Sun get drunk at a bar and return at 4 a.m., disturbing the entire house. Find out if Andrew Card and Ari Fleischer have finally had it with the conduct of this 'axis of evil'... Wednesday at 10!") If the show became stale, it would be easy to add more spice. For example, use the "Survivor" model and pit "tribes" of world leaders against each other. The possibilities are endless!
25 Feb 12:00 | Link | Category: Current Events, Humor, Opinion & Thoughts, Politics
December 15, 2002
John Poindexter. Again.
A while back (November 17, to be exact) I ranted about John Poindexter being appointed to head DARPA's Information Awareness Office. I had a good chuckle today when I read that a number of people have made him the target of personal data profiling as a way to protest the Total Information Awareness project.
15 Dec 23:26 | Link | Category: Current Events
November 17, 2002
John Poindexter
John Poindexter, an "outstanding American," is back, in charge of DARPA's Information Awareness Office. (It happened quietly enough that I didn't even hear about it until now...)
This is the Reagan national security advisor who oversaw the Iran-Contra operation. Oliver North's boss. In 1990, a jury convicted him on five felony counts of conspiracy, making false statements to Congress, and obstructing congressional inquiries.
This is the kinds of person we want involved in counterterrorism efforts and 'information awareness'? Sadly, I can't say I am in any way surprised by this piece of news.
17 Nov 2:05 | Link | Category: Current Events, Politics
November 13, 2002
Where does it stop?
The latest issue of Wired has a handy chart of bio/chem weapons. When it comes to these matters, I have some burning questions, foremost among them "Who else has this stuff, and how much of it?" and "Who the hell sat around dreaming this stuff up and creating it in the first place?" I guess I can answer the last question: the Soviets and the USA / NATO. So now we have to face our own deadly weapons. I'll skip the paragraph on irony and move straight to the idea that we will now come up with new defenses (against the weapons we created), then new, "better" weapons ("just in case!"). And on and on.
There's nothing unique about this particular situation... it's just the cycle of warfare & technology that has been around as long as we have. Longer, really. But where does it end? You start with apes killing each other with sticks and bones and move up from there... but where does it stop?
I suppose the two conclusions to the process are 1) when you annihilate each other so you're not around to keep improving your killing techniques or 2) when you get over the 'killing each other' thing. It seems to me that we're still set to follow the first path... we were on the brink of mutual annihilation for forty or fifty years... and despite what we all hoped when the Cold War ended, we're still generally in the same position. And we have a long way to go before we can "get over the 'killing each other' thing." So maybe the question is, "how long can you stay on the brink?"
13 Nov 12:00 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
October 29, 2002
Saddam's inbox hacked
Someone hacked into Saddam's inbox (well, the inbox for the address listed on his homepage). Find out what was in it.
29 Oct 21:24 | Link | Category: Current Events, Misc. Tidbits
Worlwide press freedom
Check out the worldwide press freedom index from Reporters Without Borders.
29 Oct 21:13 | Link | Category: Current Events
October 16, 2002
Mother Nature's Wrath or Human Shortsightedness?
I've seen several stories in the last few days about "Mother Nature's fury." I have a hard time finding sympathy for those who build on lava flows that are less than 100 years old. We have the same problem here, where people insist on building up the sides of a mountain until they reach the top, only to have fires and mudslides claim their homes. This leads to endless news stories about the unpredictable vengeance of Mother Nature, when human shortsightedness should really be blamed.
16 Oct 12:23 | Link | Category: Current Events
Returning to Baghdad
I enjoyed Nic Robertson's article about returning to Baghdad's Al-Rashid hotel.
16 Oct 12:09 | Link | Category: Current Events
August 27, 2002
Current Events
Lies, damned lies... politics, propaganda, confusion.
I have nothing interesting to say, so here's something from Bertrand Russell (circa 1928):
Our dealings with those we love may be safely left to instinct; it is our dealings with those whom we hate that ought to be brought under the dominion of reason. In the modern world, those whom we effectively hate are distant groups, especially foreign nations. We conceive them abstractly, and deceive ourselves into the belief that [our] acts which are really embodiments of hatred are done from love of justice or some such lofty motive. Only a large measure of scepticism can tear away the veils which hide this truth from us. Having achieved that, we could begin to build a new morality, not based on envy and restriction, but on the wish for a full life and the realisation that other human beings are a help and not a hindrance when once the madness of envy has been cured. This is not a Utopian hope ... It could be realised tomorrow if men would learn to pursue their own happiness rather than the misery of others. This is no impossibly austere morality yet its adoption would turn our earth into a paradise."
27 Aug 12:00 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
June 28, 2002
Liberty And Justice For All
OK, I'll bite.
Mass hysteria over the Pledge of Allegiance. (We need something to focus on between important news stories, apparently.) It just reaffirms that people are far too sensitive (that means everyone), most politicians are still idiots (they're ALL idiots in that article) who always feel the need to put on a show, the judicial system now bows to public opinion, and the country as a whole is misguided about the Pledge in the first place.
For one thing, the founders of the nation didn't institute the Pledge. It was written in the late nineteenth century by a socialist editor, in a magazine for children. It was finally recognized by the government in the forties. (What better time for a heavy-handed nationalistic oath? What better time to pledge allegiance to a flag?) The "under God" was added during the Dwight Eisenhower administration because it sounded too much like the pledges the "godless communists" were making. (Instead of realizing how pointless their pledges were, we just fired back with our own, but added God into the mix!) Which makes me wonder why we have the pledge in the first place, because it really does sound like something you would hear children in schools of a communist state repeating ad nauseam. (You should see what they make the poor children do in North Korea.) We all stand around like the overgrown Boy Scouts of Nationalism, reciting the damned thing, yet I'll bet a good proportion of us couldn't recite the beginning of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, or even the Gettysburg Address.
I've been told that the Pledge is just 'good old-fashioned patriotism.' Quite frankly, I think much of 'good old-fashioned patriotism' is cheap and empty. It's nationalism, supertribalism, whatever. I'll take a walk through a wealthy, thriving, open, multicultural city - or a weekend camping in the outdoors - over the pageantry of any 4th of July parade or fireworks show.
Then there's our attitude toward the flag. I see American flags everywhere. We make clothes out of it. We tack it on every product imaginable. We fly three of them from the window of our car (tattering them to shreds as we drive down the freeway). We make a flag out of ornamental lights, paint it across the garage door, stick twelve of them in the front lawn. Which is not completely bad... in a way, that's just quintessentially American. But it does reveal that we no longer view the flag in a deeper sense, as a symbol of All That Is Right with the USA. It's just another logo. After Sept. 11th it was almost magical because for a moment it had meaning again - as a symbol of unity, hope, strength. After 9/11 I had hoped we might remember the flag stands for bold ideas, but instead we started turning it into a tpyical tribal symbol proudly displayed at our opponents. We made twelve billion flags, shipped them to Wal Mart and pasted them in every possible location. ("If I don't have a flag on my car like everyone else, does that say something bad about me?" or "Hey, look at that SUV over there. I'll bet that guy's an American!") The flag lost even the meaning it gained after Sept. 11. And it remains tacked on a three-dollar t-shirt or stuck to the side of the Big Gulp we drink as we zoom past the voting booth on election day (the turnout at the local primary election was 7%).
So. Hmm. Forgive my ranting. I've always been wary of dime-store patriotic fervor. I consider myself very patriotic - I simply want it to be meaningful, otherwise it's silly & childish and there's no point to it. As messed up as we may be, I still think America is a brilliant idea - one that we should feel passionate about.
Back to the whole Pledge of Allegiance mess... I'm one of the few (apparently) who actually agrees with the decision, and I'm tired of having to defend myself. There's no doubt in my mind that separation of church and state is an essential characteristic of our political system. And it was important to those who founded this country (despite what the religious right would have you believe). Ask any American Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, etc. etc. etc. Another thing: Does stating that this nation is 'under God' imply that others are not? That seems such blatant nationalistic hubris that it's laughable. We're the only people capable of following God? Or worse, God cares more about His American children than He does about billions of Chinese? Please. If anything, He'd get a good chuckle out of the notion that Americans have exclusive rights to divine guidance.
But anyway. Now I'm all worked up about it too, which is embarrassing, since that's what I was going to rant about in the first place.
Well, everything will settle down soon. Then we can start worrying about more important issues. Like "In God We Trust" on coins. Heheh.
28 Jun 12:00 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts, Politics
April 12, 2002
Land of the Canaanites
Every day there's something new (yet somehow old) from the 'Land of the Canaanites.' I tried to take sides until I realized I could never figure it out... not enough objective information, too much history, too much complexity. At some level I just start looking at both sides as being wrong - or if not wrong, just a little stupid. I want to be back in third grade so i can say "why can't they realize this will lead nowhere, and simply put their differences and history aside, just living harmoniously together looking to the future?" and say it without a trace of irony.
If someone had wanted to create an 'ideal' human conflict, they couldn't have done too much better than this. It has everything: tribal hatred, religious conflict, culture clash, bad history going back generations, economic/resource struggles, and on and on... how it will all turn out is anyone's guess.
What really gets me -- and this is true of most conflicts, obviously -- is that beneath the leaders and militants (and a heap of obviously useless ideology) lie two large populations of humans who simply want to live happy lives, watch their children grow up, work, listen to music, grow old, take vacations, fall in love, be creative, eat delicious meals, laugh and smile.
12 Apr 12:00 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts
March 11, 2002
The Broadband Terror Effect
In a recent essay for Wired entitled "The Broadband Terror Effect," Robert Wright raises the idea that revolutions in information technology—in particular, meme-replication technology—trigger revolutionary violence. He cites examples such as movable-type printing & Europe's 16th and 17th century religious wars, and audiocassette & Ayatollah Khomeini's Iranian dissidents.
Today we have the web. Wright mentions Al Qaeda's recruiting video, available at CIAO and other sites. At the moment, most Muslim men susceptible to the message don't have computers or access to the Internet. That fact, of course, is only temporary. Wright says, "as the cost of processing and transmitting data drop, mobilizing interest groups - including radical ones - will get easier. This fact complicates the war on terrorism in ways few people in Washington have reckoned with."
He lists "emerging precepts." First:
"Define the enemy with care. President Bush has called this a war between civilized states everywhere and terrorists everywhere. But what's the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter? (Which are the Muslim separatists in western China? The Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran? The Hindu Tamils in Sri Lanka?) The cynical answer is that freedom fighters are the ones who finally win and get to write the history books. And the current I.T. revolution may mean that more separatist groups are destined for victory - just as the printing press swung the odds in favor of Italian, German, and Serb nationalists, all of which finally carved nation-states out of an empire. Does America want a no-holds-barred war against oppressed people who will only get stronger with time - and who have some legitimate gripes to begin with?"
Second:
"This isn't war. At least, it isn't your father's kind of war. As terrorists recruit, brainwash, and organize in cyberspace, they'll depend less on physical training camps of the sort that American bombs excised from the Afghan landscape. So the cost-benefit ratio for Afghan-type wars will grow. American bombs - the evidence of their destruction beamed around the world via web site and satellite - will enrage at least as many future terrorists as ever, while disabling fewer terrorists than before."
Much of the Bush game plan could have been written 50 years ago: Find the enemy's home base, destroy it, and kill your foes. The long-run success of this strategy is unclear. (Does it foment a hatred of America that will fester in virtual space and come home to roost?) What does seem clear is that such strategies will be less effective five years from now, to say nothing of 50. Killing Osama bin Laden and his kind is one thing. Killing his memes is getting trickier all the time."
I see a few different things in the picture, but I find Wright's ideas compelling nontheless. I think memetics may provide invaluable insight into terrorism and a host of other phenomena.
You can read more at Robert Wright's site.
11 Mar 23:45 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science, Technology & Computing