This weekend was insanely busy as we're preparing for a move and to put our house on the market. We've got a guy starting tomorrow repairing drywall and painting most of the inside, so all the walls had to be bare and accessible. As soon as he's done, we'll have someone come replace the carpeting throughout the house. Between the demands of both of those, plus a desire to reduce clutter for a staging effect, we decided to rent a storage unit and dump a bunch of stuff there, so that was a lot of packing and lifting. On top of that we're fixing up various plumbing and electrical issues. One plumbing issue in particular has been vexing me for way too long, but I'm cautiously optimistic that I might have finally figured it out. I'll put the finishing touch on that tomorrow, or I'll descend to a new level of frustration if it doesn't work. Once all that stuff is done, hopefully it will just be a few more minor repairs and spuce-ups and then we'll put out the FOR SALE sign. That will be a big day.
Happy birthdays to my mother (52 on Sunday) and grandfather (83 on Saturday).
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
3 related links
Friday, April 27, 2007
Is this a movie?
The Dean of Admissions of M.I.T. resigned after working there for 28 years because she falsified her resume and doesn't actually even have a college degree.
That article mentions she wrote a book called Less Stress, More Success.
It seems that she was a very well-liked and well-respected character on campus. It is hard to imagine someone living a lie for so long, while doing such good work, wondering if one day it would all come back to haunt her.
It is kind of like that Leonardo DiCaprio flick Catch Me if You Can.
That article mentions she wrote a book called Less Stress, More Success.
"Less Stress, More Success" addresses not only the pressure to be perfect but also a need to live with integrity.
"Holding integrity is sometimes very hard to do because the temptation may be to cheat or cut corners," it says. "But just remember that 'what goes around comes around,' meaning that life has a funny way of giving back what you put out."
It seems that she was a very well-liked and well-respected character on campus. It is hard to imagine someone living a lie for so long, while doing such good work, wondering if one day it would all come back to haunt her.
It is kind of like that Leonardo DiCaprio flick Catch Me if You Can.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
look
Continuing with the 'America = Cho' thing, here is Arthur Silber on the matter.
I don't even know how to describe his writing, which I've said before. I guess one thing I'd add is that Silber is the guy who says something that absolutely nobody wants to hear, but that many people deep down somewhere know is true. Rather than deal with that disturbing truth they find a way to put it out of their mind. Everyone has their own way, but every time someone ignores Silber's message, it kills a little piece of him. It makes for very compelling writing, heartbreaking and maddening.
I don't even know how to describe his writing, which I've said before. I guess one thing I'd add is that Silber is the guy who says something that absolutely nobody wants to hear, but that many people deep down somewhere know is true. Rather than deal with that disturbing truth they find a way to put it out of their mind. Everyone has their own way, but every time someone ignores Silber's message, it kills a little piece of him. It makes for very compelling writing, heartbreaking and maddening.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Ok I'm ready
I haven't blogged about the Virginia Tech lunatic yet, but I'm ready now.
America is an entire nation of Cho Seung-Hui. Cho Seung-Hui is our President. He is us. That is who we are. And for those of you who laugh at this, I hope one day you wake up and realize it is true.
America is an entire nation of Cho Seung-Hui. Cho Seung-Hui is our President. He is us. That is who we are. And for those of you who laugh at this, I hope one day you wake up and realize it is true.
Pat Tillman was a hero
I've mentioned before that I want to write a blog entry about Pat Tillman; I've wanted to for years now. Actually I want to write a hundred blog entries about Pat Tillman, but I just can't bring myself to write about him. It is just too hard. Today I'm going to try again.
Simply, Pat Tillman was a hero.
That's a word, hero, that gets thrown around so much that it is almost devoid of meaning most of the time it is used. I'm not using that word lightly here. I think I'm using it in a way meant to convey almost the same sense as when religious people speak in wonder and awe about their personal deity. But like Pat Tillman I'm an atheist, and as people without supernatural perfect beings for inspiration, we only have principles and ideals of our own choosing. We tend to think of these ideals as pure and good and right, just as religious people think of their gods as pure and good and right. (I mention this here not to start an argument against religion as I often do, but to relate my emotions to something that maybe more people can understand.) I call Pat Tillman a hero, and he inspires a childlike sense of awe, and writing about him is so hard, because he was a man who lived up to his ideals, and died for them.
Just thinking about him in that regard is an emotionally powerful thing for me. How many people could do what he did? There are hundreds of thousands of people in the military, and this shouldn't take away from their honor, but I wonder how many of them would have given up everything that Pat Tillman gave up. This was a man who left behind what most people would consider a dream life, a hero's life - professional athletic career, wealth, fame, a beautiful wife - to fight for what he believed was right. He had everything anyone could want, and his conscience compelled him to walk away and fight for his ideals. That is what made him a hero, and what inspires such strong feeling. I'm typically not emotional on a visceral level, but I get choked up thinking about it.
Pat Tillman risked and lost his life for his ideals. And before his body was cold, terrible people began using his death as a cynical weapon against the pure and good and right ideals for which he fought.
The first part is enough to make me want to cry. The second part is enough to make me want to rip the beating hearts from the chests of the the disgusting pigs who make a mockery of the ultimate sacrifice. They are the self-serving politicians who cynically throw the word hero around to suit their political agenda, but try to destroy a real hero. They are the credulous reporters and media organizations who mindlessly and gutlessly regurgitate the politicians' propaganda and lies, and then congratulate themselves on their tremendous work. They are the parasitic pundits who collect fat checks to scream about how we're in the ultimate war to end all wars, but make no sacrifice of their own, and certainly aren't putting on a uniform. They are the soldiers who betrayed their fallen brother's memory by allowing the lies, and by insulting his family.
It is maddening to contemplate. I can't imagine that I'll ever be able to reflect calmly about Pat Tillman until Bush and his entire disgusting administration are impeached and prosecuted for their crimes; until every media outlet runs front page stories about their own pathetic failings and implements serious policies to make sure they never repeat their mistakes; until every fat pathetic pundit who cheered on the war that Pat Tillman knew was "so fucking illegal" and defended the Bush administration's inexcusable offenses has been shamed into obscurity; until every soldier who spread the lies they were ordered to spread has apologized; and until the officer who smeared the Tillman family is dishonorably discharged.
I can at least take a sliver of hope from seeing that the Tillman family continues to fight for Pat's memory. I can take a bit of hope that honorable political commentators are showing how the media has failed us. And I can take a bit of hope that the Democratic Congress is beginning to exercise some oversight of the Bush administration.
That's all I can write about it now. This is too much.
Simply, Pat Tillman was a hero.
That's a word, hero, that gets thrown around so much that it is almost devoid of meaning most of the time it is used. I'm not using that word lightly here. I think I'm using it in a way meant to convey almost the same sense as when religious people speak in wonder and awe about their personal deity. But like Pat Tillman I'm an atheist, and as people without supernatural perfect beings for inspiration, we only have principles and ideals of our own choosing. We tend to think of these ideals as pure and good and right, just as religious people think of their gods as pure and good and right. (I mention this here not to start an argument against religion as I often do, but to relate my emotions to something that maybe more people can understand.) I call Pat Tillman a hero, and he inspires a childlike sense of awe, and writing about him is so hard, because he was a man who lived up to his ideals, and died for them.
Just thinking about him in that regard is an emotionally powerful thing for me. How many people could do what he did? There are hundreds of thousands of people in the military, and this shouldn't take away from their honor, but I wonder how many of them would have given up everything that Pat Tillman gave up. This was a man who left behind what most people would consider a dream life, a hero's life - professional athletic career, wealth, fame, a beautiful wife - to fight for what he believed was right. He had everything anyone could want, and his conscience compelled him to walk away and fight for his ideals. That is what made him a hero, and what inspires such strong feeling. I'm typically not emotional on a visceral level, but I get choked up thinking about it.
Pat Tillman risked and lost his life for his ideals. And before his body was cold, terrible people began using his death as a cynical weapon against the pure and good and right ideals for which he fought.
The first part is enough to make me want to cry. The second part is enough to make me want to rip the beating hearts from the chests of the the disgusting pigs who make a mockery of the ultimate sacrifice. They are the self-serving politicians who cynically throw the word hero around to suit their political agenda, but try to destroy a real hero. They are the credulous reporters and media organizations who mindlessly and gutlessly regurgitate the politicians' propaganda and lies, and then congratulate themselves on their tremendous work. They are the parasitic pundits who collect fat checks to scream about how we're in the ultimate war to end all wars, but make no sacrifice of their own, and certainly aren't putting on a uniform. They are the soldiers who betrayed their fallen brother's memory by allowing the lies, and by insulting his family.
It is maddening to contemplate. I can't imagine that I'll ever be able to reflect calmly about Pat Tillman until Bush and his entire disgusting administration are impeached and prosecuted for their crimes; until every media outlet runs front page stories about their own pathetic failings and implements serious policies to make sure they never repeat their mistakes; until every fat pathetic pundit who cheered on the war that Pat Tillman knew was "so fucking illegal" and defended the Bush administration's inexcusable offenses has been shamed into obscurity; until every soldier who spread the lies they were ordered to spread has apologized; and until the officer who smeared the Tillman family is dishonorably discharged.
I can at least take a sliver of hope from seeing that the Tillman family continues to fight for Pat's memory. I can take a bit of hope that honorable political commentators are showing how the media has failed us. And I can take a bit of hope that the Democratic Congress is beginning to exercise some oversight of the Bush administration.
That's all I can write about it now. This is too much.
Thanks Rudy!
Jaw agape.MANCHESTER, N.H. —- Rudy Giuliani said if a Democrat is elected president in 2008, America will be at risk for another terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001.
But if a Republican is elected, he said, especially if it is him, terrorist attacks can be anticipated and stopped.
“This war ends when they stop coming here to kill us!” Giuliani said in his speech. “Never, ever again will this country ever be on defense waiting for [terrorists] to attack us if I have anything to say about it. And make no mistake, the Democrats want to put us back on defense!”
Giuliani said terrorists “hate us and not because of anything bad we have done; it has nothing to do with Israel and Palestine. They hate us for the freedoms we have and the freedoms we want to share with the world.”
Giuliani continued: “The freedoms we have are in conflict with the perverted, maniacal interpretation of their religion.” He said Americans would fight for “freedom for women, the freedom of elections, freedom of religion and the freedom of our economy.”Addressing the terrorists directly, Giuliani said: “We are not giving that up, and you are not going to take it from us!”
They hate us for our freedoms!! (So if we take away our freedoms they won't hate us any more!!!! Right? Ok cool!) You'll never take our freedoms (wink wink)!!!
“I listen a little to the Democrats and if one of them gets elected, we are going on defense,” Giuliani continued. “We will wave the white flag on Iraq. We will cut back on the Patriot Act, electronic surveillance, interrogation and we will be back to our pre-Sept. 11 attitude of defense.”Cut back on illegal anti-American things that reduce our freedom? Only those pussy-ass defensive Defeatocrats do that!!! I'm RUDY!!! I WAS THE MAYOR ON 9/11! I'm not a fucking pussy defender because I play offense and offense is awesome and defense is for little girly Democrats who are not as big and manly as me. RUDY!!!!! RUDY!!!!!!!
Monday, April 23, 2007
froth
"Modern-day spin has vanquished substance so thoroughly that even the most well-grounded charge of deliberate deception is often considered more despicable than the deception itself."
- Elizabeth de la Vega, UNITED STATES v. GEORGE W. BUSH et al.
case #740834.
- Elizabeth de la Vega, UNITED STATES v. GEORGE W. BUSH et al.
case #740834.
life
I've made a lot of big decisions over the last 3 years.
I bought a house knowing that there was a good chance I'd be quitting my job. I quit my job. I didn't get another job for a year and a half, and played poker to support myself in the meantime. The job I finally took paid a whole lot less than the one I had quit. I invited my girlfriend to move in with me when she dropped out of college, after we'd only been dating for a few months. A few months later we got married. We visited the Philippines, my first trip abroad. I started eating sushi all the time. We adopted a cat. Then another. Now we're selling the house and move to Ohio for her to finish school, presumably leaving both of our jobs behind. We have no idea where we'll be going after that.
The only choices I'm sure were good were Kira and the cats. The rest might have involved varying degrees of stupidity, but I don't think I could have done it any other way.
I bought a house knowing that there was a good chance I'd be quitting my job. I quit my job. I didn't get another job for a year and a half, and played poker to support myself in the meantime. The job I finally took paid a whole lot less than the one I had quit. I invited my girlfriend to move in with me when she dropped out of college, after we'd only been dating for a few months. A few months later we got married. We visited the Philippines, my first trip abroad. I started eating sushi all the time. We adopted a cat. Then another. Now we're selling the house and move to Ohio for her to finish school, presumably leaving both of our jobs behind. We have no idea where we'll be going after that.
The only choices I'm sure were good were Kira and the cats. The rest might have involved varying degrees of stupidity, but I don't think I could have done it any other way.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
a minute is over
"I ain't been in the playoffs in a minute."
- Iverson explaining his slow start tonight
I love it. I love that playoff basketball is here, and I love that Allen Iverson said that and I love this game!
Going into the first round it seemed like the outcomes were fairly certain for most of the series, including the assumption that the Spurs would beat the Nuggets. But after watching Denver pull off the upset tonight, I think they can win this series. I never fully appreciated Carmelo's game until tonight; Camby is a beast; my Terp brother Steve Blake is a solid role player, as is Nene. And A.I. is A.I. and he ain't been in the playoffs in a minute, but he's back now. Awesome.
I definitely have to root for them because they're way funner to watch than San Antonio, and I have to support Blake (by passively cheering him on from 2,000 miles away). I love it!
Selling my HDTV
I'm selling my television in case any DC-area readers are interested. It is a 57" Toshiba HD, bought it from Best Buy 2.5 years ago. It works perfectly, we're just downsizing to prepare to move. $1200 or best offer. Leave a comment or hit adspar at Gee-Mail.
Bill Kristol = fucking idiot
In 2003 Bill Kristol said "There's been a certain amount of pop sociology in America ... that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular."
Today he said that admitting what a irredeemable disaster the Iraq War has been is worse than saying America would be better off if we still had racist segregation policies.
I don't doubt that he believes it. Dude is a war-mongering fucking idiot, and Fox News and the rest of our retarded media continues to treat him as if his opinion is worth hearing. And I guess there's perverse justification for it since our fucking idiot President clearly listens to fucking idiots like Bill Kristol.
Today he said that admitting what a irredeemable disaster the Iraq War has been is worse than saying America would be better off if we still had racist segregation policies.
I don't doubt that he believes it. Dude is a war-mongering fucking idiot, and Fox News and the rest of our retarded media continues to treat him as if his opinion is worth hearing. And I guess there's perverse justification for it since our fucking idiot President clearly listens to fucking idiots like Bill Kristol.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
holy shit
Who the fuck are these people and who the fuck is electing them? What the hell is going on?
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Yay Green!
I take the D.C. Metrorail to work every day and am always handed a copy of Express, the Washington Post's free daily paper. Usually it is full of dreary shit that pisses me off (news), but yesterday it had a whole section about "going green." Somehow that section managed to grab my attention. I'm now filled with enthusiasm for environmental causes.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
McCain Self-Destructs
I've written about John McCain a few times before, but reading this today is my breaking point. What's weird about this is that I don't really know very much about him, and I don't seek out information about him, but he just keeps astonishing me with his stupidity.
I honestly wonder if maybe he's got some kind of brain damage. He's an elderly man at this point; maybe he's in the early stages of Alzheimer's or something. Seeing what he says and does makes me think that somewhere deep in his brain he has a few core values like "America = good" and "must win war" and "I will be President" but then the parts of his brain that process information and govern rationality are malfunctioning.
So he gets in front of a certain audience, has a few ideas about what that audience values, and tries to spin his own core ideas and the audience's values into a message. But he long ago abandoned any hope of his message being consistent with anything he's ever said before. And now he's at the point where he's abandoned logical coherance as something important in his message.
It is like McCain is a caricature of a pathetic pandering politician, except real. I'm basing all of this off basic reporting of what he says and does, and I'm not sure that it puts me in a position to evaluate this next statement, but I do think that he is almost totally genuine. I don't think he's a diabolical schemer. I think he genuinely believes everything he says at the time he says it, and is genuinely unable to comprehend the contradictions and inanity.
End rant/
I honestly wonder if maybe he's got some kind of brain damage. He's an elderly man at this point; maybe he's in the early stages of Alzheimer's or something. Seeing what he says and does makes me think that somewhere deep in his brain he has a few core values like "America = good" and "must win war" and "I will be President" but then the parts of his brain that process information and govern rationality are malfunctioning.
So he gets in front of a certain audience, has a few ideas about what that audience values, and tries to spin his own core ideas and the audience's values into a message. But he long ago abandoned any hope of his message being consistent with anything he's ever said before. And now he's at the point where he's abandoned logical coherance as something important in his message.
It is like McCain is a caricature of a pathetic pandering politician, except real. I'm basing all of this off basic reporting of what he says and does, and I'm not sure that it puts me in a position to evaluate this next statement, but I do think that he is almost totally genuine. I don't think he's a diabolical schemer. I think he genuinely believes everything he says at the time he says it, and is genuinely unable to comprehend the contradictions and inanity.
End rant/
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Today I am a man
This weekend I replaced a bathroom faucet. That was something I never imagined I'd do, and I'm not sure I've ever been more proud of myself. I had to do all kinds of crazy things like shut off the water and use a basin wrench, and there was clear caulk involved as well. I realize that normal people do this kind of thing fairly regularly, but I'm not normal, so this is a big deal for me. It was a team effort, so Kira gets much credit too.
Here are 3 good links to celebrate my victory.
1) Here's an interview with a recently retired DOJ attorney. Lots of insights like this:
Here are 3 good links to celebrate my victory.
1) Here's an interview with a recently retired DOJ attorney. Lots of insights like this:
Q: You began in the Justice Department during the Watergate years. How would you rank Alberto Gonzales in terms of politicization of the department in comparison to the other AGs you have worked for?
A: Actually, I began earlier, in the first Nixon administration, as a college intern in 1971. But I was there again in the Watergate era, when I worked in part of the Attorney General's Office during my first year of law school in 1973-1974, and then continuously as a trial attorney and office director for nearly 30 years. That adds up to more than a dozen attorneys general, including Ed Meese as well as John Mitchell, and I used to think that they had politicized the department more than anyone could or should. But nothing compares to the past two years under Alberto Gonzales.
To be sure, he continued a trend of career/noncareer separation that began under John Ashcroft, yet even Ashcroft brought in political aides who in large measure were experienced in government functioning. Ashcroft's Justice Department appointees, with few exceptions, were not the type of people who caused you to wonder what they were doing there. They might not have been firm believers in the importance of government, but generally speaking, there was a very respectable level of competence (in some instances even exceptionally so) and a relatively strong dedication to quality government, as far as I could see.
Under Gonzales, though, almost immediately from the time of his arrival in February 2005, this changed quite noticeably. First, there was extraordinary turnover in the political ranks, including the majority of even Justice's highest-level appointees. It was reminiscent of the turnover from the second Reagan administration to the first Bush administration in 1989, only more so. Second, the atmosphere was palpably different, in ways both large and small. One need not have had to be terribly sophisticated to notice that when Deputy Attorney General Jim Comey left the department in August 2005 his departure was quite abrupt, and that his large farewell party was attended by neither Gonzales nor (as best as could be seen) anyone else on the AG's personal staff.
Third, and most significantly for present purposes, there was an almost immediate influx of young political aides beginning in the first half of 2005 (e.g., counsels to the AG, associate deputy attorneys general, deputy associate attorneys general, and deputy assistant attorneys general) whose inexperience in the processes of government was surpassed only by their evident disdain for it.
Having seen this firsthand in a range of different situations for nearly two years before I retired, I found it not at all surprising that the recent U.S. Attorney problems arose in the first place and then were so badly mishandled once they did.
2.) Here's a nice metaphor from PZ. Religion is an obstacle, and there are pictures!
Friday, April 13, 2007
People who look a bit different getting together more often
Do I count? Bah, stupid question. All this race stuff is stupid. Race is all in our heads, a weak shortcut to thinking you know something about someone before you know them. I guess we're making some progress if more people are (openly) mating outside their tribes.
Apparently though, I might be a source of friction:
Apparently though, I might be a source of friction:
In some categories of interracial marriage, there are distinct gender-related trends. More than twice as many black men marry white women as vice versa, and about three-fourths of white-Asian marriages involve white men and Asian women.Should I wonder how my wife is viewed in the half-Asian community? Or should I wonder if she's half as much of a sell-out as her mother? Actually, half a sellout would be pretty generous, judging by the bottom line on our joint tax statement.C.N. Le, a Vietnamese-American who teaches sociology at the University of Massachusetts, says the pattern has created some friction in Asian-American communities.
“Some of the men view the women marrying whites as sellouts, and a lot of Asian women say, ’Well, we would want to date you more, but a lot of you are sexist or patriarchal,”’ said Le, who attributes the friction in part to gender stereotypes of Asians that have been perpetuated by American films and TV shows.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Greenwald pwns ABC News
While the media is obsessing about Anna Nichole's baby-daddy and some racist bigotard who said some stupid shit, Glenn Greenwald is busy doing actual journalism. And wow, did he ever bring the thunder down on ABC news.
It all started with this piece about how ABC recently made a huge deal out of a story about Iran's nuclear capabilities without giving any information about the sources of its information. That led to an exchange with an executive at ABC who basically says that people should just trust ABC because of what a great news organization they are. There was no way Glenn was going to let them get away with that, and so a few days later he came out with a story showing how ABC has yet to retract their irresponsible and erroneous reporting where they linked Iraq to the anthrax scares here in 2001. Both the Iran nuclear story and the Iraq anthrax story were from ABC's Brian Glenn, and both were based on anonymous sources.
After an ABC exec sent Glenn an absurd response to the anthrax story, he unleashed this brutal shredding of ABC News today. Amazing work.
It all started with this piece about how ABC recently made a huge deal out of a story about Iran's nuclear capabilities without giving any information about the sources of its information. That led to an exchange with an executive at ABC who basically says that people should just trust ABC because of what a great news organization they are. There was no way Glenn was going to let them get away with that, and so a few days later he came out with a story showing how ABC has yet to retract their irresponsible and erroneous reporting where they linked Iraq to the anthrax scares here in 2001. Both the Iran nuclear story and the Iraq anthrax story were from ABC's Brian Glenn, and both were based on anonymous sources.
After an ABC exec sent Glenn an absurd response to the anthrax story, he unleashed this brutal shredding of ABC News today. Amazing work.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Blogs I read, in case it isn't obvious yet
A significant proportion of my blog posting the last several months has consisted of me referencing someone else's political news or commentary, with maybe a little bit of my own interpretation to dress it up. I figure we might be at the point now where anyone who is still reading this blog would probably just be better off going directly to my sources rather than getting them through the Sparks filter. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop posting them; I usually post something when I'm so pissed off about it that I don't know what else to do. But I feel like I'm starting to do less posting and more reading, so here's what I read and what I recommend:
Glenn Greenwald - Glenn's brilliant blogging has gotten even better since his move to Salon. He puts up a new post almost every day. He is a fierce critic of the political media and the Bush Administration and its supporters. I can't say enough good things about his writing.
Think Progress - A daily news blog that seeks to advance progressive ideas. They're very quick.
Hullabaloo - Digby and friends crank out several insightful posts every day. They tend towards more of a partisan Democrat approach, but this isn't a bad thing as they are very fair-minded. The writing takes on a kind of casual feel, but is very serious.
The Daily Howler - Absolutely an awesome site with a new article around noon every weekday. Their focus is mainly media criticism, with a primary ongoing theme that the media mindlessly passes along flawed conservative talking points while liberals watch and do nothing. The writing explodes with a burning sense of righteous indignation, especially about the way the mainstream media savages prominent liberal politicians, Al Gore most of all.
Pharyngula - The ScienceBlog of biology professor and Man Beard PZ Myers, this self-described "godless liberal" churns out several posts a day on a variety of topics, mainly focusing on biology, religion/atheism, and politics. He's an especially vocal opponent of Intelligent Design Creationism.
Dispatches for the Culture Wars - My other regular ScienceBlog reading is Ed Brayton's blog. He also tends to churn out several posts every morning. He does a lot of social commentary and legal analysis, usually from an ACLU-type perspective, and he's an active opponent of Intelligent Design Creationism. He also mixes in some sports and music commentary on a fairly regular basis.
TomDispatch - "A regular antidote to the mainstream media" is a perfect way to describe this site. A few times a week Tom posts a feature story that takes an angle you'll rarely encounter in the major media. He is very critical of the war and the Bush Administration, and often tackles tough social issues.
Once Upon a Time - I think this is the most unique blog on this list. Arthur Silber posts a few times per week, but I'd have a tough time describing his posts. They are intensely personal to him, and he often seems unable to contain his passion. His topic is usually America's imperialistic foreign policy, so you might think this is another political blog, but his writing is more about morality. My crude summary of his central thesis would be that the world is an incomprehensibly cruel and unfair place, so much so that we use false narratives to shield ourselves from it, and that America's behavior, when properly viewed, is astonishingly hypocritical and immoral. I don't know if that description does justice to his work. You really have to go read it for yourself, and plan to spend a lot of time going back through his archives to see the support that he often self-references.
Media Matters - They relentlessly and astutely document the mainstream media's promotion of conservative misinformation.
Nit Pick - This guy posts irregularly about political matters. I just dig his style. He's into the whole brevity thing.
Crooks and Liars - Media critique and liberal politics. Lots of posts every day, usually built around video clips.
UPDATE: If you have an blog recommendations, please comment!
Glenn Greenwald - Glenn's brilliant blogging has gotten even better since his move to Salon. He puts up a new post almost every day. He is a fierce critic of the political media and the Bush Administration and its supporters. I can't say enough good things about his writing.
Think Progress - A daily news blog that seeks to advance progressive ideas. They're very quick.
Hullabaloo - Digby and friends crank out several insightful posts every day. They tend towards more of a partisan Democrat approach, but this isn't a bad thing as they are very fair-minded. The writing takes on a kind of casual feel, but is very serious.
The Daily Howler - Absolutely an awesome site with a new article around noon every weekday. Their focus is mainly media criticism, with a primary ongoing theme that the media mindlessly passes along flawed conservative talking points while liberals watch and do nothing. The writing explodes with a burning sense of righteous indignation, especially about the way the mainstream media savages prominent liberal politicians, Al Gore most of all.
Pharyngula - The ScienceBlog of biology professor and Man Beard PZ Myers, this self-described "godless liberal" churns out several posts a day on a variety of topics, mainly focusing on biology, religion/atheism, and politics. He's an especially vocal opponent of Intelligent Design Creationism.
Dispatches for the Culture Wars - My other regular ScienceBlog reading is Ed Brayton's blog. He also tends to churn out several posts every morning. He does a lot of social commentary and legal analysis, usually from an ACLU-type perspective, and he's an active opponent of Intelligent Design Creationism. He also mixes in some sports and music commentary on a fairly regular basis.
TomDispatch - "A regular antidote to the mainstream media" is a perfect way to describe this site. A few times a week Tom posts a feature story that takes an angle you'll rarely encounter in the major media. He is very critical of the war and the Bush Administration, and often tackles tough social issues.
Once Upon a Time - I think this is the most unique blog on this list. Arthur Silber posts a few times per week, but I'd have a tough time describing his posts. They are intensely personal to him, and he often seems unable to contain his passion. His topic is usually America's imperialistic foreign policy, so you might think this is another political blog, but his writing is more about morality. My crude summary of his central thesis would be that the world is an incomprehensibly cruel and unfair place, so much so that we use false narratives to shield ourselves from it, and that America's behavior, when properly viewed, is astonishingly hypocritical and immoral. I don't know if that description does justice to his work. You really have to go read it for yourself, and plan to spend a lot of time going back through his archives to see the support that he often self-references.
Media Matters - They relentlessly and astutely document the mainstream media's promotion of conservative misinformation.
Nit Pick - This guy posts irregularly about political matters. I just dig his style. He's into the whole brevity thing.
Crooks and Liars - Media critique and liberal politics. Lots of posts every day, usually built around video clips.
UPDATE: If you have an blog recommendations, please comment!
Homeless people
A couple weeks ago I was sitting on the D.C. Metro reading about how they were planning to remove the carpeting from the floor of the trains as a cost-saving measure. The carpets had originally been included to convey a "sense of luxury" to the subway system of the nation's capital. I looked around the train car I was sitting in. Across from me sat a homeless woman who I suspect gets on the train with all of her possessions and rides it all day for a warm safe place to sleep. Sitting next to me was a regular-looking man who must have had some kind of mental disability, as he was loudly talking to himself. The rest of the rush-hour passengers pretended not to notice, or they were too busy basking in the luxury of thin, ugly orange carpet.
My encounters with homeless/mentally ill people on Metro are becoming more common. Today a totally insane homeless women loudly wandered (in the middle of the train ride when normal people are sitting or standing still) into my general area, forcefully plopped herself down on a seat, sending a poof of putrid air out in a cloud around her. She then turned to the woman next to her and unleashed a viciously profane, racially-charged verbal attack, that included threats of physical violence. The woman got up and ran away in horror, as other people scattered from the area out of fear and disgust. Her stench was so overwhelming that I got out at the next stop and took the next train. I feel like the smell is still clinging to all of my clothes.
Here's a rather disturbing and heartbreaking piece on TomDispatch about how the nation's library system is basically day care for homeless people. I don't know if the author's math is right, but he argues that "we could solve the problem for less than it costs to manage it," meaning the entire existing system of managing the related problems of homelessness and mental illness:
My encounters with homeless/mentally ill people on Metro are becoming more common. Today a totally insane homeless women loudly wandered (in the middle of the train ride when normal people are sitting or standing still) into my general area, forcefully plopped herself down on a seat, sending a poof of putrid air out in a cloud around her. She then turned to the woman next to her and unleashed a viciously profane, racially-charged verbal attack, that included threats of physical violence. The woman got up and ran away in horror, as other people scattered from the area out of fear and disgust. Her stench was so overwhelming that I got out at the next stop and took the next train. I feel like the smell is still clinging to all of my clothes.
Here's a rather disturbing and heartbreaking piece on TomDispatch about how the nation's library system is basically day care for homeless people. I don't know if the author's math is right, but he argues that "we could solve the problem for less than it costs to manage it," meaning the entire existing system of managing the related problems of homelessness and mental illness:
The cost of this mad system is staggering. Cities that have tracked chronically homeless people for the police, jail, clinic, paramedic, emergency room, and other hospital services they require, estimate that a typical transient can cost taxpayers between $20,000 and $150,000 a year. You could not design a more expensive, wasteful, or ineffective way to provide healthcare to individuals who live on the street than by having librarians like me dispense it through paramedics and emergency rooms. For one thing, fragmented, episodic care consistently fails, no matter how many times delivered. It is not only immoral to ignore people who are suffering illness in our midst, it's downright stupid public policy. We do not spend too little on the problems of the mentally disabled homeless, as is often assumed, instead we spend extravagantly but foolishly.
Friday, April 06, 2007
consider it
Whacko lefty crazy person Noam Chomsky (via Tomgram):
Doubtless Iran's government merits harsh condemnation, including for its recent actions that have inflamed the crisis. It is, however, useful to ask how we would act if Iran had invaded and occupied Canada and Mexico and was arresting U.S. government representatives there on the grounds that they were resisting the Iranian occupation (called "liberation," of course). Imagine as well that Iran was deploying massive naval forces in the Caribbean and issuing credible threats to launch a wave of attacks against a vast range of sites -- nuclear and otherwise -- in the United States, if the U.S. government did not immediately terminate all its nuclear energy programs (and, naturally, dismantle all its nuclear weapons). Suppose that all of this happened after Iran had overthrown the government of the U.S. and installed a vicious tyrant (as the US did to Iran in 1953), then later supported a Russian invasion of the U.S. that killed millions of people (just as the U.S. supported Saddam Hussein's invasion of Iran in 1980, killing hundreds of thousands of Iranians, a figure comparable to millions of Americans). Would we watch quietly?
It is easy to understand an observation by one of Israel's leading military historians, Martin van Creveld. After the U.S. invaded Iraq, knowing it to be defenseless, he noted, "Had the Iranians not tried to build nuclear weapons, they would be crazy."
A Song of Ice and Fire
I recently read all 4 books that have been released in George R. R. Martin's series A Song of Ice and Fire. I've rarely read anything but nonfiction since high school, but a few friends talked me into reading the first book of the series, and I was hooked from there.
They're in the fantasy genre like Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia or Harry Potter, but these are very much not children's books. Aside from the violence and sex and politics, they're also full of very complex characters and there is rarely a clear good or clear evil. The series is supposed to go to 7 books in the next few years, and HBO and Martin are developing a television series.
I can't recommend them highly enough.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
who is my ostrich?
This one-two punch has me looking for an ostrich to adopt. I think it will be my father. I already tried with other friends and family and it is basically impossible. I might have one other friend who might go for it, but it will take longer.
EDIT: Updated so that "two" actually has a different link than "one" which helps make sense of the whole ostrich thing.
EDIT: Updated so that "two" actually has a different link than "one" which helps make sense of the whole ostrich thing.
paulp on McCain the liar
It has been a while since I cited paulp, probably because he hasn't posted much lately and when he does it is usually a bunch of words I don't even know, but I figured I'd mention this post that talks about the McCain bullshit that I've commented on.
The rational response to someone who lies like this is to drum them out of politics. Would you personally associate with someone who lied to your face like that? Why? Why do we have lower standards for the highest office in the nation than we do for who we'd go to dinner with? It's irrelevant that mccain is not the frontrunner. The point is that we so thoroughly expect to be lied to that it's barely an impediment.
David Brin has written some about this, such as in this predictions registry article. Today I am less concerned with a predictions registry (although such a thing would be extremely useful) than I am with a straightforward statement registry. A simple web site that catalogs every public statement made by every public official of any note, and which shines a light on all the lies and self-contradictions. I don't know what good I think it would do, because in general people clearly don't care that they are constantly being lied to. But like I said, if there is to be any hope at all, something has to be done to bring accountability to government.
As a good example of how far gone we are, consider the read the bills act. This is an attempt to get congress to know what laws they are passing. Seriously, that's what it is. And yet it's laughable. It will never, ever happen. What kind of government do we have if our legislators do not even have time to find out what laws they are passing? I don't know, but it's sure as hell not a representative government. The american revolution began over far smaller indignities that we face today.
80,000 to 1
I'm guessing that the following parlay is highly unlikely but I'll give it a shot anyway. What are the odds that:
(1) Someone who reads this (2) thinks that Fox News is a respectable news outlet, (3) clicks on this link, (4) reads the entire thing, (5) agrees that Gibson is full of shit, (6) is then open to the possibility that the entire network functions that way, and (7) exercises this kind of critical thinking in the future to form the proper conclusion that Fox News is nothing but a Republican propaganda network.
Seems like an impossible parlay but I'll put it out there anyway.
(1) Someone who reads this (2) thinks that Fox News is a respectable news outlet, (3) clicks on this link, (4) reads the entire thing, (5) agrees that Gibson is full of shit, (6) is then open to the possibility that the entire network functions that way, and (7) exercises this kind of critical thinking in the future to form the proper conclusion that Fox News is nothing but a Republican propaganda network.
Seems like an impossible parlay but I'll put it out there anyway.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
More McCain straight up lying
Just like last time, John McCain directly lies about things he said. This is pathetic.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
American Idol, sorry
I want to write about American Idol. Deal with it.
Phil Stacey - Every single week I manage to forget that this guy always surprises me with how good he sounds. He consistently nails the vocals, and his Police song tonight sounded excellent. The problem is that he's such a Gollum. Totally creeps me out to look at this guy.
Lakisha Jones - She's the other one who always surprises me with how good she sounds, except in her case I'm expecting her to sound good but she sounds amazing. That said, I never remember her performance, just that I thought it was good. I was about to write that maybe I just can't root for a large unattractive girl, but I really like Jordin (large) and Melinda (unattractive) so I think it is just something about Lakisha that doesn't do it for me.
Cousin Jordin Sparks - Obviously I have to root for my cousin, but I really enjoy her performances. Her voice is amazing and she's got great personality on stage. The judges can't say a word to her without mentioning that she's so good for being 17, but she's good for being any age. The only time she comes off young is when she talks; she comes off like a young girl trying to sound mature. But I'll cut her some slack on that. Go Cuz!
Melinda Doolittle- Honestly this girl is just better than everyone else, and I don't even think it is close. You'll notice that I haven't said anything yet about how people will actually do in the contest, because I have no idea what America is going to do, given that they keep voting for Sanjaya. But if this was truly a singing competition as the judges love to say (and not a voting competition as some British pop star from the 60s pointed out on a recent episode), the contest would be over and Melinda would be the winner. We'll see how she actually does.
Sanjaya Malakar - From the first auditions, the girls have been so much better than the guys. Six of the final seven girls were better than all of the remaining guys. Of those 6, Melinda, Lakisha, Jordin, and Gina are still alive (Stephanie and Sabrina are out). Haley is still in it, and while she isn't as good as those four, she's still better than all the guys except Blake. I mention all that when I bring up Sanjaya because I hope Sanjay makes the top 5. I'd rather see him perform than everyone else except for Beatbox Blake, Melinda, Cousin Jordin, and Gina. The reason I like to see him perform is because he is a breathtaking disaster on stage. He's like a train wreck mixed with a partial-birth abortion, and the flesh-melting pain of his awkwardness is magnified by his bizarre hair. Top notch entertainment. Keep voting for this weirdo, America!
Blake Lewis - The crooked-mouth beatbox dude is by far the most interesting guy on the show. He's so unique, and he picks songs that are challenging and manages to pull them off in ways that nobody else on the show could. He seems like he's a very talented musician too, not just a good singer. I always look forward to his performances and it will be a long time before I think he'll be the one deserving to be voted off.
Chris Richardson - For me this guy is like Blake Lite, except less interesting. The judges always like him more than I do, sometimes showering him with praise that I just never understand. I've never really liked male performers with the soft voices, so maybe he's just not my style. Where Blake is totally unique, Chris goes with a similar style but more mainstream. He just seems like a mediocre pop performer at best. Any time he gets knocked out is fine with me because I worry that he might be stealing votes that would otherwise go to Blake.
Chris Sligh - Nobody has fallen so far in my graces than this guy. I loved him all through auditions when he seemed like a jolly, goofy guy that didn't take himself serious but could sing his ass off. Then early in the top 24 he picked a little fight with Simon and made it clear that he actually does take himself very seriously, isn't that funny, and plus he went to fundamentalism Christian Bob Jones University (only stupid stuff like that gets a Fox News link from me). His Sting song tonight was terrible, so I hope we don't have to see this tub next week.
Gina Glocksen - Gina has been my favorite girl for a while, probably because I dig the red streak in her hair and the alternative piercings. The whole grunge rocker chick thing is cool, and definitely a contrast to the styles of everyone else on the show, which I hope helps get her enough votes to at least make the top 4. She's improving every week which is good to see.
Haley Scarnato - I wasn't happy that Haley made the top 12 over Sabrina Sloan, but I've actually kind of enjoy her performances. I guess it helps that she's a cute girl with great legs, but there is some kind of authenticity to her, even when she kind of botches a song. One of the strangest moments of the season was after she totally bombed some performance and was visibly shaken and almost begged the audience to give her another chance. Especially given that I (unreasonably) blamed her for knocking out Sabrina who I liked so much better, I was surprised to find myself rooting for her not to lose that week. I don't think she has any chance to win at all, she's just not nearly as good as the rest of the ladies, but I hope she makes it at least another few weeks.
Phil Stacey - Every single week I manage to forget that this guy always surprises me with how good he sounds. He consistently nails the vocals, and his Police song tonight sounded excellent. The problem is that he's such a Gollum. Totally creeps me out to look at this guy.Lakisha Jones - She's the other one who always surprises me with how good she sounds, except in her case I'm expecting her to sound good but she sounds amazing. That said, I never remember her performance, just that I thought it was good. I was about to write that maybe I just can't root for a large unattractive girl, but I really like Jordin (large) and Melinda (unattractive) so I think it is just something about Lakisha that doesn't do it for me.
Cousin Jordin Sparks - Obviously I have to root for my cousin, but I really enjoy her performances. Her voice is amazing and she's got great personality on stage. The judges can't say a word to her without mentioning that she's so good for being 17, but she's good for being any age. The only time she comes off young is when she talks; she comes off like a young girl trying to sound mature. But I'll cut her some slack on that. Go Cuz!
Melinda Doolittle- Honestly this girl is just better than everyone else, and I don't even think it is close. You'll notice that I haven't said anything yet about how people will actually do in the contest, because I have no idea what America is going to do, given that they keep voting for Sanjaya. But if this was truly a singing competition as the judges love to say (and not a voting competition as some British pop star from the 60s pointed out on a recent episode), the contest would be over and Melinda would be the winner. We'll see how she actually does.
Sanjaya Malakar - From the first auditions, the girls have been so much better than the guys. Six of the final seven girls were better than all of the remaining guys. Of those 6, Melinda, Lakisha, Jordin, and Gina are still alive (Stephanie and Sabrina are out). Haley is still in it, and while she isn't as good as those four, she's still better than all the guys except Blake. I mention all that when I bring up Sanjaya because I hope Sanjay makes the top 5. I'd rather see him perform than everyone else except for Beatbox Blake, Melinda, Cousin Jordin, and Gina. The reason I like to see him perform is because he is a breathtaking disaster on stage. He's like a train wreck mixed with a partial-birth abortion, and the flesh-melting pain of his awkwardness is magnified by his bizarre hair. Top notch entertainment. Keep voting for this weirdo, America!
Blake Lewis - The crooked-mouth beatbox dude is by far the most interesting guy on the show. He's so unique, and he picks songs that are challenging and manages to pull them off in ways that nobody else on the show could. He seems like he's a very talented musician too, not just a good singer. I always look forward to his performances and it will be a long time before I think he'll be the one deserving to be voted off.
Chris Richardson - For me this guy is like Blake Lite, except less interesting. The judges always like him more than I do, sometimes showering him with praise that I just never understand. I've never really liked male performers with the soft voices, so maybe he's just not my style. Where Blake is totally unique, Chris goes with a similar style but more mainstream. He just seems like a mediocre pop performer at best. Any time he gets knocked out is fine with me because I worry that he might be stealing votes that would otherwise go to Blake.
Chris Sligh - Nobody has fallen so far in my graces than this guy. I loved him all through auditions when he seemed like a jolly, goofy guy that didn't take himself serious but could sing his ass off. Then early in the top 24 he picked a little fight with Simon and made it clear that he actually does take himself very seriously, isn't that funny, and plus he went to fundamentalism Christian Bob Jones University (only stupid stuff like that gets a Fox News link from me). His Sting song tonight was terrible, so I hope we don't have to see this tub next week.
Gina Glocksen - Gina has been my favorite girl for a while, probably because I dig the red streak in her hair and the alternative piercings. The whole grunge rocker chick thing is cool, and definitely a contrast to the styles of everyone else on the show, which I hope helps get her enough votes to at least make the top 4. She's improving every week which is good to see.
Haley Scarnato - I wasn't happy that Haley made the top 12 over Sabrina Sloan, but I've actually kind of enjoy her performances. I guess it helps that she's a cute girl with great legs, but there is some kind of authenticity to her, even when she kind of botches a song. One of the strangest moments of the season was after she totally bombed some performance and was visibly shaken and almost begged the audience to give her another chance. Especially given that I (unreasonably) blamed her for knocking out Sabrina who I liked so much better, I was surprised to find myself rooting for her not to lose that week. I don't think she has any chance to win at all, she's just not nearly as good as the rest of the ladies, but I hope she makes it at least another few weeks.
more interesting stuff today
That was so much fun that I'm going to do it again. Actually the real reason I'm linkdumping all over my blog is because my gmail isn't working so I can't just email this shit to people. I imagine that they are grateful for this change of venue.
Let's start with a few stories about how completely pathetic the mainstream media is. Glenn Greenwald had a field day yesterday with two posts on Chris Matthews and his Sunday panel of pathetic asshats who giggled nonstop about the US Attorney scandal. Following up on that theme is a strong criticism of David Broder, who cautions Democrats that it would be politically unwise to investigate the Bush administration's conduct with the scandal.
Seriously, what the hell is wrong with these people? We've got information that strongly suggests executive branch was using its clout to pressure the Justice Department into partisan politically motivated prosecution, and these media fuckheads just laugh about it like it is a cute little joke and then urge those nasty Democrats not to take anything too seriously and actually investigate. This is just mind-blowing to me. None of these people give a shit about anything but preserving their own power. And it could be the case that those in Congress who are pushing these investigates are doing it for their own partisan political reasons too (though I have no reason to think so), but that doesn't mean they shouldn't do it. For fuck's sake James Madison thought that dismissing qualified public servants was grounds for Presidential impeachment, but David Broder says investigating the Bush administration is oh such a bad idea for Democrats. WHO GIVES A FUCK IF IT IS GOOD OR BAD FOR A POLITICAL PARTY? It is good for the fucking country to have inappropriate and possibly criminal behavior exposed and dealt with.
Moving on to other areas of media worthlessness, here's a good piece today from the Daily Howler, which is my new blog obsession. These guys cut through the bullshit in a way that makes it look easy. Today's link continues their recent (well as recently as I've been reading which is about 2 weeks) of the media's burning hatred of Al Gore and their absolute failure to engage in responsible reporting on the global warming issue. I'd strongly recommend browsing through their incomparable archives.
Think Progress offers an amusing picture of Republican hypocrisy and characteristically authoritarian self-blindness, at the expense of Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee. This dummy blasts the investigation into the attorney firings as partisan grandstanding and supports the Bush Administration's refusal as a right of executive privilege, meanwhile Smith is trying to get President Clinton to come testify about Presidental pardons. (It is possible that Clinton used pardons inappropriately, but the obvious contradiction in regards to executive privilege is glaring, plus it is going to be tough to argue that his mission is nonpartisan but the attorney firing is political grandstanding.)
And to finish up on a lighter note, this guy rules.
Let's start with a few stories about how completely pathetic the mainstream media is. Glenn Greenwald had a field day yesterday with two posts on Chris Matthews and his Sunday panel of pathetic asshats who giggled nonstop about the US Attorney scandal. Following up on that theme is a strong criticism of David Broder, who cautions Democrats that it would be politically unwise to investigate the Bush administration's conduct with the scandal.
Seriously, what the hell is wrong with these people? We've got information that strongly suggests executive branch was using its clout to pressure the Justice Department into partisan politically motivated prosecution, and these media fuckheads just laugh about it like it is a cute little joke and then urge those nasty Democrats not to take anything too seriously and actually investigate. This is just mind-blowing to me. None of these people give a shit about anything but preserving their own power. And it could be the case that those in Congress who are pushing these investigates are doing it for their own partisan political reasons too (though I have no reason to think so), but that doesn't mean they shouldn't do it. For fuck's sake James Madison thought that dismissing qualified public servants was grounds for Presidential impeachment, but David Broder says investigating the Bush administration is oh such a bad idea for Democrats. WHO GIVES A FUCK IF IT IS GOOD OR BAD FOR A POLITICAL PARTY? It is good for the fucking country to have inappropriate and possibly criminal behavior exposed and dealt with.
Moving on to other areas of media worthlessness, here's a good piece today from the Daily Howler, which is my new blog obsession. These guys cut through the bullshit in a way that makes it look easy. Today's link continues their recent (well as recently as I've been reading which is about 2 weeks) of the media's burning hatred of Al Gore and their absolute failure to engage in responsible reporting on the global warming issue. I'd strongly recommend browsing through their incomparable archives.
Think Progress offers an amusing picture of Republican hypocrisy and characteristically authoritarian self-blindness, at the expense of Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee. This dummy blasts the investigation into the attorney firings as partisan grandstanding and supports the Bush Administration's refusal as a right of executive privilege, meanwhile Smith is trying to get President Clinton to come testify about Presidental pardons. (It is possible that Clinton used pardons inappropriately, but the obvious contradiction in regards to executive privilege is glaring, plus it is going to be tough to argue that his mission is nonpartisan but the attorney firing is political grandstanding.)
And to finish up on a lighter note, this guy rules.
Interesting stuff today
I'm going to have to acknowledge the harsh reality that "links adspar likes" was a pretty worthless meme. It was kind of like those Conan O'Brien featurettes that always have the most literal names that aren't funny at all. At least he used to do that. I haven't watched him in years. Yeah, but that's what they were like. And Conan and I both have huge heads, so we have at least those two things in common.Now that we've got that out of the way, I've seen a bunch of interesting stuff this morning that I thought I'd share.
First up was this piece by digby, contrasting today's understanding of impeachment with the views of the founding fathers. Here is James Madison on impeachment:
...let us consider the restraints he will feel after he [the president]is placed in that elevated station. It is to be remarked that the power in this case will not consist so much in continuing a bad man in office, as in the danger of displacing a good one. Perhaps the great danger, as has been observed, of abuse in the executive power, lies in the improper continuance of bad men in office. But the power we contend for will not enable him to do this; for if an unworthy man be continued in office by an unworthy president, the house of representatives can at any time impeach him, and the senate can remove him, whether the president chuses or not. The danger then consists merely in this: the president can displace from office a man whose merits require that he should be continued in it. What will be the motives which the president can feel for such abuse of his power, and the restraints that operate to prevent it? In the first place, he will be im-peachable by this house, before the senate, for such an act of mal-administration; for I contend that the wanton removal of meritorious officers would subject him to impeachment and removal from his own high trust.
"Mal-administration"... "wanton removal of meritorious officers"... "abuse of power"... raise your hand if this sounds like anyone you know. This wanton US Attorney scandal alone ought to be enough to bring that bastard down.Next up, courtesy of PZ, is the God Simulator. Start as an eternal, omnipotent deity and see what happens!
Here's a new story about how global warming is probably going to fuck us over in ways we haven't even really considered yet. But Republicans will still loudly deny anything is happening.
And rounding it out, here is the NitPicker condemning yet another Republican corruption scandal:
So, while it's good to see Congress finally chipping away at the crust surrounding the Bushies warm, gooey center of corruption, it's important to make clear that this isn't simply a rogue, incompetent administration. This is a rogue, incompetent administration which is, nevertheless, following the exact recipes Republicans have written over the last thirty years. Americans need to understand that, in one sense, Bush hasn't failed. He implemented core Republican principles and they failed. And they always will.
Monday, March 26, 2007
"War on Terror" = stupid stupid stupid
Here's some international flavor for Dave:
This is good too.
A recent BBC poll of 28,000 people in 27 countries that sought respondents' assessments of the role of states in international affairs resulted in Israel, Iran and the United States being rated (in that order) as the states with "the most negative influence on the world." Alas, for some that is the new axis of evil!The rest of that editorial is right on point. Read it!
This is good too.
Steroids
I might as well use some of this late-night contemplation on a totally worthless topic: professional sports. After reading this article I think I'm going to have a tough time renewing my NFL Season Ticket subscription. It isn't that I have any moral problem with grown men making risky decisions about what chemicals they ingest, and it isn't that superhuman freaks crashing into each is boring (quite the contrary), but I just don't think I want to support that perverse system with my $200. These guys are taking decades off their life to be achieve wealth and fame by amusing people with their unnatural physical prowess. Something about all of it is just pathetic and sad.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
getting out of the house and more school thoughts
Today the Smithsonian was showing some of the winners from the 2006 Wildscreen Festival, so Kira and I went to check it out. We watched 3 of the films, including the one on my primate obsession, the bonobo.
As I try to get myself geared up to apply to go to grad school, I think I'm narrowing my interests down into two main areas. I'm interested in the kind of psychology research Robert Altemeyer does, particularly into authoritarianism, and I'm interested in something around the anthropology/primatology area, where I'm especially fascinated by the potential for insights into human evolution from study of the bonobos. Both seem to combine my natural attraction to the topics and an element of urgency to the research.
To elaborate a bit more, my interest in Altemeyer's research is well expressed by this description of him that I've seen on some of his papers:
And my interest in bonobos is about my longstanding fascination with evolution in general, human evolution in particular, and probably evolutionary psychology as well. Reading Robert Wright's books about evolutionary psychology and then Steven Pinker's books really opened my mind back up after years of intellectual dormancy. I'm having trouble deciding exactly what to think about evolutionary psychology (I get the impression that lots of biologists scoff at it pretty hard), but I know that I'm totally sold on the human mind as a biological adaptation and I know that whatever I do I want to have some scientific rigor. Anyway, I imagine there's enough there to be studied to satisfy a lifetime of curiosity, and I think I could be quite happy trying to learn more in this niche for a long, long time. The element of urgency to this is that bonobos are dangerously close to extinction and their habitat is threatened by a raging genocidal civil war in the Congo. Our opportunity to learn about them could be almost gone.
Speaking of getting out of my house and trying to learn something, last weekend I went to see James Randi as the featured speaker at a National Capital Area Skeptics 20th anniversary celebration. That was an entertaining and enjoyable event. His James Randi Educational Foundation does good work and deserves more than this brief mention.
As I try to get myself geared up to apply to go to grad school, I think I'm narrowing my interests down into two main areas. I'm interested in the kind of psychology research Robert Altemeyer does, particularly into authoritarianism, and I'm interested in something around the anthropology/primatology area, where I'm especially fascinated by the potential for insights into human evolution from study of the bonobos. Both seem to combine my natural attraction to the topics and an element of urgency to the research.
To elaborate a bit more, my interest in Altemeyer's research is well expressed by this description of him that I've seen on some of his papers:
Bob Altemeyer is associate professor of psychology at the University of Manitoba. He does research on authoritarianism, prejudice, dogmatism, love, and the impolite topics of religion, politics, and sex.I have to be honest, I would love to be able to put "he does research on impolite topics" every single place my name is written. So that's my personal attraction to the area, and the urgency of the research should be obvious to anyone who's been paying much attention to my blog over the last few months. Basically, authoritarianism has become a devastating political force in this country, causing tremendous damage here and around the world. The more we understand it, the better we can fight it. And the sooner the better.
And my interest in bonobos is about my longstanding fascination with evolution in general, human evolution in particular, and probably evolutionary psychology as well. Reading Robert Wright's books about evolutionary psychology and then Steven Pinker's books really opened my mind back up after years of intellectual dormancy. I'm having trouble deciding exactly what to think about evolutionary psychology (I get the impression that lots of biologists scoff at it pretty hard), but I know that I'm totally sold on the human mind as a biological adaptation and I know that whatever I do I want to have some scientific rigor. Anyway, I imagine there's enough there to be studied to satisfy a lifetime of curiosity, and I think I could be quite happy trying to learn more in this niche for a long, long time. The element of urgency to this is that bonobos are dangerously close to extinction and their habitat is threatened by a raging genocidal civil war in the Congo. Our opportunity to learn about them could be almost gone.
Speaking of getting out of my house and trying to learn something, last weekend I went to see James Randi as the featured speaker at a National Capital Area Skeptics 20th anniversary celebration. That was an entertaining and enjoyable event. His James Randi Educational Foundation does good work and deserves more than this brief mention.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
My blog life is complete
One of my personal blog heros, PZ Myers, pimped Man Beard Blog today.
Traffic spiked:
Celebrate by growing a beard and sending your picture to MAN BEARD BLOG!
Update:
Traffic spiked:
Celebrate by growing a beard and sending your picture to MAN BEARD BLOG!
Update:
Using Digg to Pass the Read The Bills Act (RTBA) in 3 Easy Steps.
No group is better positioned to place the right kind of pressure on our representatives than Diggers. It's our destiny to start making a difference in the way things are run, and I propose we get the ball rolling.
read more | digg story
[I posted this directly from my newly made digg account. I don't really know if digg is cool or not, but i support the Read the Bills Act, so I figured I'd give this a try.]
You go, Gore!
Gore said:
“The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don’t say, well I read a science fiction novel that tells me it’s not a problem. If the crib’s on fire, you don’t speculate that the baby is flame-retardant. You take action. The planet has a fever.”Awesome.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Zinn interview
Howard Zinn is awesome. Here is an interview with Zinn by one of my favorite bloggers.
TD: Let me turn to another issue you certainly wrote about in the 60s, war crimes. But "war crimes" was the last charge to arrive in the mainstream in those years and the first to depart. We've certainly experienced many crimes in the last few years, from Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo to Afghanistan. I wonder why, as a concept, it sticks so poorly with Americans?
Zinn: It does seem like a hard concept -- war crimes, war criminals -- to catch on here. There's a willingness to say the leadership is wrong, but it's a great jump from there to saying that the leadership is vicious. Unfortunately, in American culture, there's still a kind of monarchical idea that the President, the people up there, are very special people and while they may make mistakes, they couldn't be criminals. Even after the public had turned against the Vietnam War, there was no widespread talk about Johnson, [Secretary of Defense Robert] McNamara, and the rest of them being war criminals. And I think it has to do with an American culture of deference to the President and his men -- beyond which people refuse to think.
TD: How does an American culture of exceptionalism play into this?
Zinn: I would guess that a very large number of Americans against the war in Vietnam still believed in the essential goodness of this country. They thought of Vietnam as an aberration. Only a minority in the antiwar movement saw it as part of a continuous policy of imperialism and expansion. I think that's true today as well. It's very hard for Americans to let go of the idea that we're an especially good nation. It's comforting to know that, even though we do wrong things from time to time, these are just individual aberrations. I think it takes a great deal of political consciousness to extend the criticism of a particular policy or a particular war to a general negative appraisal of the country and its history. It strikes too close to something Americans seem to need to hold onto.
Of course, there's an element that's right in this as well -- in that there are principles for which the United States presumably stands that are good. It's just that people confuse the principles with the policies -- and so long as they can keep those principles in their heads (justice for all, equality, and so on), they are very reluctant to accept the fact that they have been crassly, consistently violated. This is the only way I can account for the stopping short when it comes to looking at the President and the people around him as war criminals.
Read the Bills
An aspect of the U.S. Attorney scandal that needs to be aggressively highlighted, but won't be, is that the Bush administration was able to slip a measure into the reauthorization of the Patriot Act allowing the Attorney General to appoint "interim" federal prosecutors to indefinite terms, effectively bypassing the checks-and-balances provided by the Senate confirmation process. The desire to create an unaccountable authoritarian executive branch has long been an obvious characteristic of the Bush administration, and it isn't the least bit surprising that they'd take every opportunity to enhance their own power. That is an important aspect of the story that should be noted, but what I want to highlight here is the broken mess of a process that allows a law to be passed without Congress actually knowing what it says. These are our elected representatives, who are supposed to be looking out for our best interests, and they're voting on laws that have drastic effects to the country without even knowing what they say. How is this acceptable to anyone? How is the media not making this a featured story every day?
You might notice I put a small banner on the right sidebar featuring the Read the Bills Act. I strongly urge you to visit the site, read the material, and support their efforts. They have an easy system to let you directly email your Representative and Senators, and they appreciate small donations. The main provisions of the Read the Bills Act include:
You might notice I put a small banner on the right sidebar featuring the Read the Bills Act. I strongly urge you to visit the site, read the material, and support their efforts. They have an easy system to let you directly email your Representative and Senators, and they appreciate small donations. The main provisions of the Read the Bills Act include:
- Each bill, and every amendment, must be read in its entirety before a quorum in both the House and Senate.
- Every member of the House and Senate must sign a sworn affidavit, under penalty of perjury, that he or she has attentively either personally read, or heard read, the complete bill to be voted on.
- Every old law coming up for renewal under the sunset provisions must also be read according to the same rules that apply to new bills.
- Every bill to be voted on must be published on the Internet at least 7 days before a vote, and Congress must give public notice of the date when a vote will be held on that bill.
- Passage of a bill that does not abide by these provisions will render the measure null and void, and establish grounds for the law to be challenged in court.
- Congress cannot waive these requirements.
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