I live among football Gods

Apparently every football every used in every Superbowl was made in that Wilson factory I jog past. Sweet.

who's #1? See For Yourself, biotch

#1

loss of diversity because of modern agribusiness

Thanks to Walt for passing it along.

chime in

I'm having an interesting discussion in the comments of this post. The author is defending a criticism that Richard Dawkins and other atheists (who I've taken to mean Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens) are "incurious" and otherwise unserious about examining religion's root causes before they dismiss it. He's also claimed that they ignore any position effects of religion. I've generally argued that the first claim is incorrect but rather irrelevant, and that the second is just wrong. Along the way I've defended evolutionary psychology and memetics against his derision.

Go see if what I've said makes sense.

Poor Horace

Horace has been in our bathroom for a week now and we're disappointed with his slow progress. He's very afraid of people, and doesn't seem to be warming up much to us. I found an excellent essay about what is involved in taming an adult feral cat, and we now realize it is going to be a lot harder than with the younger kitten we tamed in December. Cats need positive exposure to humans at a young age, otherwise they tend to be extremely distrustful of people.

He just hides in a cubby in the bathroom and generally seems miserable. He does eat the food we give him, use a litter box, and move around the bathroom when we aren't there. He'll let us rub his head sometimes, but rarely seems to enjoy it; he obviously just wants us to leave him alone. He doesn't seem to mind if we're in the room, but when we look directly at him or move near him, that's when he shrinks away or even hisses. If we try to move things around in his cubby, he panics.

We're taking him to the vet soon, which should be an ordeal. If he's healthy enough, we're going to keep him for a while and try to socialize him. We'll get him neutered and immunized and then give him some space. We'll keep hanging out where he can watch us, but stop pushing him to accept our physical contact and let him adapt at his own pace over several months. Eventually he'll meet our cats. Apparently feral cats learn a lot about how to interact with human from watching housecats, so it will be nice if we can find a safe way for that to happen.

Temperatures here have been in single digits at night and in the teens and 20s during the daytime, so I know he's better off being scared but warm and well fed in our bathroom than hungry and freezing out there.

votes, terrorists, criminals

Today I'd like to offer you three links of essential reading. All three issues are straightforward examinations and interpretations of incontestable reality, and yet all would likely be immediately dismissed as extremist hysterics by most everyone I know. People who genuinely prioritize truth and morality are rare.

1.) At Harper's, Scott Horton has Six Questions for Mark Crispin Miller. The discussion is about how election fraud, and the media's failure to report on it except derisively is an ongoing scandal that undermines our (already thin claim to) democracy. I'd note that while Republicans are overwhelmingly the perpetrators and direct beneficiaries of these dirty tricks, Democrats have done very little to oppose them. For me the most shocking example of Donkle capitulation is Al Gore's blocking the attempts of few Democrats from the House of Representatives to contest the 2000 Presidential election, and every single Senate Democrat siding with Gore.

2.) Chris Floyd discusses the bloody doings of "the most dangerous terrorist organization at work in the world since the Second World War," the United States Central Intelligence Agency. Your tax dollars pay for an unaccountable Presidential army that has "overthrown governments, sponsored wars, carried out assassinations and terrorist attacks, organized and financed death squads, kidnapped and tortured, trafficked in drugs, bribed and blackmailed, even worked with the Mafia." If America was even the least bit serious about fighting world terrorism, it would take Chalmers Johnson's advice and abolish the CIA.

3.) Winter Patriot makes the point that needs to be made every single day. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Paul Wolfowitz, Ari Fleischer, and Scott McClellan "by any civilized standard... are obviously guilty of mass murder, war crimes, and crimes against humanity." I don't share his hope that they all be tortured to death in front of a worldwide audience of billions (life in prison in the strictest sentence my conscience can allow to even the most vile criminal, a category to which all of them clearly belong), but I do share the outrage behind the sentiment. And I also share his frustration that nothing will ever happen about it.

collaborate, learn about justice

Great post over at The Primate Diaries. He recommends Chomsky and Zinn, two authors and activists I've praised here many times, along with many other people and organizations.

He provides some links to excellent resources to learn about them. I've felt like my internet reading routine is getting kind of stagnant, so I'm looking forward to exploring these. Now that I'm grooving on anarchy, I'd been meaning to read some Emma Goldman, so I'm particularly excited to learn more about her. My wife has been talking about Che Guevara recently, so we'll have to dig into that too.

I added a comment that sustainable agriculture is a topic that fits well into the social justice discussion. Check out his list and add your own ideas in the comments!

YES!

We just got this guy to come inside and now he's chilling in the bathroom. He was really hard to get to come near us, but I think winter and loneliness have caught up to him. He's been crying at our door the last few nights. We call him Horace, after another cat we know that he reminds us of. In a few days we'll take him to the shelter (hopefully after cutting off that thing matted into his hair). Hopefully he's not sick...

YouChomsky

I've been spending time in between my reading binge watching Noam Chomsky videos on yewtewb. This man is a treasure, and the amount of free material instantly available to you is incredible. (Many are audio tracks with still pictures added.) Make an hour some time and watch this 6-part series, or any of the many shorter items available.

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Cat Rescue Updates

Kira has the story.

We were very sad to learn that "Big Boy" had contagious feline leukemia and was killed. That disease is contagious and he would have required an unrealistic level of care, so I'm reluctantly conceding that euthanasia was probably justified in his case. I really liked that guy though, and he would have made an awesome pet if someone had taken care of him before he got sick.

The good news is that 3 of the 4 other cats we've taken in have now been adopted, including the fraidy cat. The last one left is the one I thought was most likely to be adopted, the adorable little kitten. We're pretty sure that both of those guys were Big Boy's sons, so he has left quite a legacy.

so many books (so much time)

I realized today I'm in the middle of these 7 books right now:

Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies

A collection of 5 Chomsky essays. I've read one so far, and it was excellent, as he always is. The interesting thing about this volume is that it has 5 appendices of supplemental material, one for each essay, whose combined length is longer than the main text. I haven't decided if I should read each appendix as I read its corresponding chapter, or just read it all in a row.

Teaching As a Subversive Activity

Originally published in 1969, about a philosophy of teaching and criticism of the existing school structures. I've read the first chapter and found myself vigorously nodding my head in agreement.

Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq

I'm about a quarter of the way into this scathing critical analysis of the execution of the Iraq invasion and occupation. To an extent, I think this subject is unnecessary, since I'd contend we had no justification for invasion regardless of how ineptly things were planned and managed. But the book seems very well researched and written, and offers a great deal of information that supports my position regardless of the author's intention or views. It also provides insights into the minds of various government and military figures, which is interesting for me, given my interest in political psychology.

The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution

Richard Dawkins writing about evolution is always delightful. I'm about halfway through. The book has a very cool premise: start with humans, and go back in time meeting each common ancestor along our evolutionary family tree all the way back to the origins of life. So I've met all the apes, and then monkeys, other primates, etc. He structures the book in the fashion of The Canterbury Tales. A very cool idea for a book, and very good reading.

1984 (Signet Classics)

I started this classic work of fiction a while ago, but haven't touched it for a long time because I can just read the news and get the real thing. Orwell was truly a genius.

Unexceptional: America's Empire in the Persian Gulf, 1941-2007

I met the author at a lecture and he sent me an advance copy of his book. I've read most of his concluding chapter, which he said he originally planned to read as part of the lecture (but changed his approach to fit the audience). I'm not sure if I'll end up reading the whole thing, since I feel like I already know most of the material on a basic level, and might not be especially interested in learning it in more detail.

God Is Not Great

The Christopher Hitchens polemic, subtitled "How Religion poisons everything." I read the first few pages last night because I was excited when it arrived in the mail. I anticipated it would be lighter reading for me, but I found Hitchens' style to be more dense than I expected (I've never read a book of his before). So I might pretend I never started it and move this into the next group of books.

The next group includes at least these 5 on my reading pile:

What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Power in a Changing World

In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines

Les Misérables (Signet Classics)

A Power Governments Cannot Suppress

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

I'm declaring a reading binge, to begin immediately. How long until I finish all 12? Does the end of February seem realistic?

do they say anything else?

could Dick Cheney have brain damage?

I imagine many of you have seen the old clip of Cheney from 1994:



The video above attributes Cheney's inconsistency to financial interests. Maybe.

I just started reading Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq which in passing raises another possibility. After discussing how Cheney, before the run-up to the Iraq invasion in 2003, had always seemed like "a realist" who "demanded the hard facts" and was "very practical," Ricks writes "Cheney had changed... perhaps because of his heart ailments, which can alter a person's personality."

This immediately made me think of Phineas Gage, whose personality drastically changed after a railroad spike accidentally was driven through his frontal lobe. He became obstinate, abusive, and profane. Since then science has come to understand that region of the brain to be important for judgment and impulse control.

I wonder if heart attacks could cause minor frontal lobe damage? Could Dick Cheney literally have brain damage? Not to the extent of Gage's obviously, but enough to make him more aggressive, less reasonable, and more profane? This is the guy who told Senator Leahy "go fuck yourself."

This is obviously pure speculation on my part, but it struck me as odd that I'd never seen this idea anywhere else.

assortments

I jogged around the neighborhood in shorts today. In Ohio. In January.

I'm sending off my 4th and final graduate application today. I have no idea if I'll get in to any of these programs.

I haven't eaten meat in 4 days.

I haven't seen a stray cat near my house since I've been back from Maryland. They must know we're the people who disappear felines.

the story of stuff

watch, then do something

belgian beer value alert (updated)

Trader Joe's 2007 Vintage Ale is now available, which I've never had, but it is brewed by Unibroue and costs $4.99 for a 750ml bottle, which seems like a great value for anything from that brewery. I'll try it soon to let you know if you should rush out and stock up.

I'm just looking out for you.

UPDATE: Delicious. It is a dark brown Belgian-style Dubbel Ale, very spicy and sweet, and smoother than you'd expect from a 9% ABV offering. Great value for $5.

a nice church story (seriously)

This is a pretty cool story, about a preacher (with the awesome name of The Reverend Hamilton Coe Throckmorton) who did something of an experiment with his congregation, based on a biblical parable. He gave everyone $50, and asked them to use their talents double it and donate the profit to charity. They made about $40,000.

The money raised really wasn't "profit" in the business sense. While many people did produce goods and services of value, it sounds like ultimately most of the funds raised came from within the congregation, so I think of it as more a success of charity than business, not that that's a bad thing. The article emphasizes what I see as the real value of the project: bringing the community together, giving people a reason to use their talents and creativity, and providing an opportunity to enjoy life.

When I argue that religion is a bad thing for society, I am often misunderstood to be saying that nothing good comes of religion, which is definitely not my point. One of the best things that organized religion offers people is a sense of community. Charity is also commonly associated with religion, and it is possible that religious people generally are more charitable (there are some popular studies of this subject that seem inconclusive). I would argue that religion is unnecessary for either of those things, and I'd similarly argue that the success of the $50 project had little to do with religion. Helping others and enjoying community is a natural thing, and religion can be a unifying factor, but it also causes a lot of other damage.

When I argue that religion is a net negative, it is because I'm unwilling to attribute the success of Rev. Throckmorton's idea to an irrational belief in a supernatural deity who hates gay people and will condemn you to an eternity of suffering if you cross him; I attribute that success to the basic goodness of people.

"I will not pay my income tax if we go to war with Iran. I realize this is a desperate and perhaps futile gesture..."


hmmm

consume the terror

How is it possible that I've eaten the #1 most terrifying food in the world, a food more terrifying than #5, which is illegal and causes bloody diarrhea, or #4 which is a drink with dead baby mice as a featured ingredient?

I call bullshit on this list and on paulp's tumblog that led me to it.

nice

good shit

no rights for godless parents

1970

now

yay God!!

je t'accuse

Sara at Orcinus makes a good point, which is that you can learn a lot about what someone thinks by listening to what they accuse their opponents of:

When conservatives tell us that we need constant surveillance to make us secure, what they're telling us is that they themselves are prone to criminal behavior if they think nobody else is watching. The fear of exposure is the only force keeping them on the right side of the law -- and that's why it's the only form of "security" they understand. Bear this in mind if you decide to do business with them.

When they tell us that our future depends on supporting a military that's bigger than the rest of the world's fighting forces combined, what they're telling us is that they can't handle chaos, complexity, change, or being out of control. The whole world is a threat; the only solution is a bigger gun. Bear this in mind if you find yourself in conflict with them.

When they tell us diplomacy isn't an option, they're telling us that it's not an option they understand. Words, agreements, treaties, and contracts mean nothing to them. Brute force is the only option they comprehend...or are likely to respond to themselves. Bear this in mind before you negotiate with them.

When they tell us that homosexuality is a threat to American families, what they're telling us is that homosexuality is a threat to their families. As in: if they ever dared to admit their own sexual interest in other men, their wives would leave them, and take the kids. Bear this in mind when they hold themselves up as moral paragons.

When they tell us the Islamofascists are a threat to our way of life, they are quite correctly pointing out that there are fascists threatening our way of life. They're just deflecting their own intentions on to brown people far away. Bear this in mind before assuming they share your belief in constitutional democracy.

When they accuse reality-based folks of promoting "junk science," they're telling us they basically think all science is junk. Bear this in mind before attempting to present them with convincing evidence of anything.

When they tell us to support the troops, what they're really saying is: You better, because we won't. Bear this in mind when you evaluate the real costs of the war.

When they tell us the government can't be trusted, they're telling us they can't be trusted to govern. Bear this in mind every time you step into a voting booth.

She obviously focuses on political conservatives, but there are lots of other good examples, in and out of the political realm. In my personal experience, keeping this principle in mind has been useful for making sense of various family squabbles.

democracy and anarchy

Another excerpt from Chomsky On Anarchism, this from a 2004 interview with Ziga Vodovnik.

Ordinary people often confuse anarchism with chaos and violence, and do not know that anarchism (an archos) doesn't mean life or a state of things without rules, but rather a highly organized social order, life without a ruler, "principe." Is pejorative usage of the word anarchism maybe a direct consequence of the fact that the idea that people could be free was and is extremely frightening to those in power?

There has been an element within the anarchist movement that has been concerned with "propaganda by the deed," often with violence, and it is quite natural that power centers seize on it in an effort to undermine any attempt for independence and freedom, by identifying it with violence. But that is not true just for anarchism. Even democracy is feared. It is so deep-seated that people can't even see it. If we take a look at the Boston Globe on July 4th - July 4th is of course Independence Day, praising independence, freedom, and democracy - we find that they had an article on George Bush's attempt to get some support in Europe, to mend fences after the conflict. They interviewed the foreign policy director of the "libertarian" Cato Institute, asking why Europeans are critical of the U.S. He said something like this: The problem is that Germany and France have weak governments, and if they go against the will of the population, they have to pay political cost. This is the libertarian Cato Institute talking. The fear of democracy and hatred of it is so profound that nobody even notices it.

It seems to me that many of the ideals of democracy, particularly those expressed by the founders of this nation, are quite admirable by anarchist standards, especially as compared to the actual state of things in our "democracy," which is why genuine democracy is feared in a similar way to anarchy. Thus, working to advance actual democracy is a reasonable intermediate action for someone convinced that anarchism is the ideal social vision.

kiss me

Is it just me or is this article basically saying, "Billick, I've always hated your ass and I'm fucking loving this shit"?