New Rule: You're not a musician...you're just a douche with a massively over-sized video game controller. Sure, games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero are fun, but you're not actually playing music. You, therefore, don't need a triple guitar stand. Sure, it looks cool, but it just gets people closer to the delusion that they're playing music in some sense. It's one thing to play occasionally, but if you've beaten every level, including every bonus level and download pack, on super-duper expert, you were probably better off just getting some actual lessons. At some point you gotta say, enough with the illusion...just get a real guitar and some real skill ! I mean, who ever got laid for mashing buttons on a piece of plastic?
I'd include the link, but they've gotten enough free advertising from my ranting. Thanks to Jake for keeping me in touch with the world of consumer-whoredom.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
What Happened to Passion in Politics?
I guess Howard Dean's "ye-haw" killed it in 2004. We need more Congress-persons like Rep. Kaptur. Thanks to Amanda for the links.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbD62gNi9WE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S27yitK32ds
While I can understand Obama's strategy (painting himself as the reasonable, post-partisan, as an antidote to Bush's extreme polarization of the electorate), after eight years of Bush I think Americans are ready for some righteous indignation. Then again, I would've said the same thing four years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbD62gNi9WE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S27yitK32ds
While I can understand Obama's strategy (painting himself as the reasonable, post-partisan, as an antidote to Bush's extreme polarization of the electorate), after eight years of Bush I think Americans are ready for some righteous indignation. Then again, I would've said the same thing four years ago.
How the Republicans Win (Steal) Elections (Part I)
I share Marty Kaplan's concern for the integrity of the electoral process and the potentially devastating consequences it could have for the November election. As he notes, it is already under attack (as it was in Ohio in 2004 and Florida in 2000):
"In El Paso County, Colorado, the county clerk -- a delegate to the Republican National Convention -- told out-of-state undergraduates at Colorado College, falsely, that they couldn't vote in Colorado if their parents claim them as dependents on their taxes.
In Montgomery County, Virginia, the county registrar issued a press release warning out-of-state college students, falsely, that if they register to vote in Virginia, they won't be eligible for coverage under their parents' health and car insurance, and that 'if you have a scholarship attached to your former residence, you could lose this funding.'
...If you're one of the million Americans who lost a home through foreclosure, and if you didn't file a change of address with your election board, you're a sitting duck for an Election Day challenge by a partisan poll watcher holding a public list of foreclosed homes.
In the 2006 election...black voters in Virginia got computer-generated phone calls from a bogus 'Virginia Election Commission' telling them that they could be arrested if they went to the wrong polling place; in Maryland, out-of-state leafleters gave phony Democratic sample ballots to black voters with the names of Republican candidates checked in red; in New Mexico, Democratic voters got personal phone calls from out of state that directed them to the wrong polling place."
In these ways (and more in Part II), the Republicans systematically disenfranchise voters which poll heavily democratic: the poor, minority, and students.
"In El Paso County, Colorado, the county clerk -- a delegate to the Republican National Convention -- told out-of-state undergraduates at Colorado College, falsely, that they couldn't vote in Colorado if their parents claim them as dependents on their taxes.
In Montgomery County, Virginia, the county registrar issued a press release warning out-of-state college students, falsely, that if they register to vote in Virginia, they won't be eligible for coverage under their parents' health and car insurance, and that 'if you have a scholarship attached to your former residence, you could lose this funding.'
...If you're one of the million Americans who lost a home through foreclosure, and if you didn't file a change of address with your election board, you're a sitting duck for an Election Day challenge by a partisan poll watcher holding a public list of foreclosed homes.
In the 2006 election...black voters in Virginia got computer-generated phone calls from a bogus 'Virginia Election Commission' telling them that they could be arrested if they went to the wrong polling place; in Maryland, out-of-state leafleters gave phony Democratic sample ballots to black voters with the names of Republican candidates checked in red; in New Mexico, Democratic voters got personal phone calls from out of state that directed them to the wrong polling place."
In these ways (and more in Part II), the Republicans systematically disenfranchise voters which poll heavily democratic: the poor, minority, and students.
Monday, September 29, 2008
"Politics and the English Language"
On the necessity of thought in composing political speech, George Orwell said:
"You can shirk it by simply throwing your mind open and letting the ready-made phrases come crowding in. They will construct your sentences for you — even think your thoughts for you, to a certain extent — and at need they will perform the important service of partially concealing your meaning even from yourself. It is at this point that the special connexion between politics and the debasement of language becomes clear."
Michael Leddy correctly draws the parallels between the above and everything ever said by Sarah Palin.
Personally, I have certain 'pet phrases' that make their way into my writing, but as more of a conscious, linguistic game with myself. I can, however, easily see Orwell's point about
"ready-made phrases...construct[ing] your sentences for you--even think[ing] your thoughts for you, to a certain extent" occasionally made manifest in my mind. It can sometimes be startling the limited extent to which one has control over their own thoughts. This was a point brought home to me during meditation, as I initially, and counter-productively, struggled to quiet the voices in my head; words and phrases simply swirled within my consciousness with little input from my conscious mind.
Looking to Orwell's essay itself, I particularly enjoyed this:
"The words democracy, socialism, freedom, patriotic, realistic, justice have each of them several different meanings which cannot be reconciled with one another. In the case of a word like democracy, not only is there no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides. It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using that word if it were tied down to any one meaning. Words of this kind are often used in a consciously dishonest way. That is, the person who uses them has his own private definition, but allows his hearer to think he means something quite different."
-Take for example, George Bush's much used refrain: “That is why, for the security of America and the peace of the world, we are spreading the hope of freedom.”
And this:
"In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible. Things like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of the political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism., question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness. Defenseless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification...Such phraseology is needed if one wants to name things without calling up mental pictures of them."
-The language of the "War on Terror" springs immediately to mind: 'enhanced interrogation techniques' anybody?
It really is true, especially in the world of politics, that "The more things change, the more they stay the same" or, as The Who put it, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
"You can shirk it by simply throwing your mind open and letting the ready-made phrases come crowding in. They will construct your sentences for you — even think your thoughts for you, to a certain extent — and at need they will perform the important service of partially concealing your meaning even from yourself. It is at this point that the special connexion between politics and the debasement of language becomes clear."
Michael Leddy correctly draws the parallels between the above and everything ever said by Sarah Palin.
Personally, I have certain 'pet phrases' that make their way into my writing, but as more of a conscious, linguistic game with myself. I can, however, easily see Orwell's point about
"ready-made phrases...construct[ing] your sentences for you--even think[ing] your thoughts for you, to a certain extent" occasionally made manifest in my mind. It can sometimes be startling the limited extent to which one has control over their own thoughts. This was a point brought home to me during meditation, as I initially, and counter-productively, struggled to quiet the voices in my head; words and phrases simply swirled within my consciousness with little input from my conscious mind.
Looking to Orwell's essay itself, I particularly enjoyed this:
"The words democracy, socialism, freedom, patriotic, realistic, justice have each of them several different meanings which cannot be reconciled with one another. In the case of a word like democracy, not only is there no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides. It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using that word if it were tied down to any one meaning. Words of this kind are often used in a consciously dishonest way. That is, the person who uses them has his own private definition, but allows his hearer to think he means something quite different."
-Take for example, George Bush's much used refrain: “That is why, for the security of America and the peace of the world, we are spreading the hope of freedom.”
And this:
"In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible. Things like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of the political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism., question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness. Defenseless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification...Such phraseology is needed if one wants to name things without calling up mental pictures of them."
-The language of the "War on Terror" springs immediately to mind: 'enhanced interrogation techniques' anybody?
It really is true, especially in the world of politics, that "The more things change, the more they stay the same" or, as The Who put it, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
Will Barack Obama Cut My Taxes?
To save you the trouble, the short answer is yes...unless you earn $226,982 or more per year.
If I hear one more person claim that Obama will raise their taxes or is an elitist, I swear I'll scream.
The Bailout that Wasn't
I was going to write a long post about the $700 billion bailout plan that was voted on today, but since it failed to garner the necessary votes (the vote was 205-228), it doesn't seem quite as pertinent. So instead, I'll just link directly to the relevant posts I was going to discuss. Just as well...I'm no economist.
You can read the whole bill here.
Paul Abrams wrote an excellent piece on the "pathetically weak limitations on executive compensation."
Also check out David Sirota's "Top 5 Reasons to Vote Against Paulson's $700 Billion Bailout." I guess somebody was listening.
Update: For those of you wondering why the bailout failed to pass, it wasn't because of conservative, ideological opposition to government intervention in the market. It was because Nancy Pelosi made a speech before the vote that some Republicans perceived as too "partisan." See and read more about it here.
You can read the whole bill here.
Paul Abrams wrote an excellent piece on the "pathetically weak limitations on executive compensation."
Also check out David Sirota's "Top 5 Reasons to Vote Against Paulson's $700 Billion Bailout." I guess somebody was listening.
Update: For those of you wondering why the bailout failed to pass, it wasn't because of conservative, ideological opposition to government intervention in the market. It was because Nancy Pelosi made a speech before the vote that some Republicans perceived as too "partisan." See and read more about it here.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Clinton's Head Still Buried in Sand
Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, in the spirit of Bill Maher...
New Rule: The news media needs to stop acting like the National Enquirer. CNN's Political Ticker blog ran a story today about Bill Clinton's reluctance to call Barack Obama "a great man," despite using the phrase to describe McCain a week ago. Considering the $700 billion bailout plan that was also published today, this story ranks right up there with Britney Spears and Kevin Federline being in couple's therapy (which I only know because I went to the market and saw the tabloid headlines) on my things I should care about list. Yes, I realize that I perpetuate the problem by propagating the meme, filling your minds with useless blather...but irony sustains me.
The only thing that even phased me about the article (without parsing the semantics of the word 'great' and other than the sheer douche-iness of undermining the Democratic nominee) was this:
"'I think his greatness is that he keeps trying to come back to service without ever asking people to cut him any slack or feel sorry for him or any of that stuff because he was a POW,' Clinton said of the Republican presidential nominee."
Has Bill Clinton been in a coma (or more likely, a simple drug-induced stupor) for the last year? Whereas Rudy Guliani's sentence construction consisted of "a noun, a verb, and a 9/11", McCain's is "a noun, a verb, and a POW," as Andrew Sullivan noted. Off the top of my head: the Katie Couric interview, the View, and David Letterman.
New Rule: The news media needs to stop acting like the National Enquirer. CNN's Political Ticker blog ran a story today about Bill Clinton's reluctance to call Barack Obama "a great man," despite using the phrase to describe McCain a week ago. Considering the $700 billion bailout plan that was also published today, this story ranks right up there with Britney Spears and Kevin Federline being in couple's therapy (which I only know because I went to the market and saw the tabloid headlines) on my things I should care about list. Yes, I realize that I perpetuate the problem by propagating the meme, filling your minds with useless blather...but irony sustains me.
The only thing that even phased me about the article (without parsing the semantics of the word 'great' and other than the sheer douche-iness of undermining the Democratic nominee) was this:
"'I think his greatness is that he keeps trying to come back to service without ever asking people to cut him any slack or feel sorry for him or any of that stuff because he was a POW,' Clinton said of the Republican presidential nominee."
Has Bill Clinton been in a coma (or more likely, a simple drug-induced stupor) for the last year? Whereas Rudy Guliani's sentence construction consisted of "a noun, a verb, and a 9/11", McCain's is "a noun, a verb, and a POW," as Andrew Sullivan noted. Off the top of my head: the Katie Couric interview, the View, and David Letterman.
Heroin Purity and Harm Reduction
Recognizing that humans have cultivated a relationship with psychoactive substances since our evolutionary dawn and, therefore, no prohibitive legislation will curb our appetites for them, I firmly believe that we should instead mitigate the harms associated with their use--the central tenet of 'harm reduction theory.' Thus, I am heartened to see that Spanish scientists are currently developing a faster, more efficient method for testing the purity of heroin samples, as the wide variability of heroin purity is one of the primary causes of overdose deaths.
"The scientists tested the samples using the new analytical method, called Diffuse Reflectance Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (DR-NIR). It involves shooting a beam of infrared light into a sample to determine its chemical composition based on the wavelength of light emitted."
Hopefully this technology will find use at safe injection sites and not go the way of MDMA pill testing under the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation (formerly RAVE) Act (brought to you by staunch drug warrior, Joe Biden-- who tacked it onto the bill which brought us the legitimate Amber Alert System after it failed twice as a stand-alone bill). In short, since the RAVE Act made concert promoters criminally liable for their patrons' on-site possession, promoters became hesitant to allow pill testing organizations like DanceSafe to allow testing on the premises, as it would amount to an implicit acknowledgement of concert-goers' illegal activities.
"The scientists tested the samples using the new analytical method, called Diffuse Reflectance Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (DR-NIR). It involves shooting a beam of infrared light into a sample to determine its chemical composition based on the wavelength of light emitted."
Hopefully this technology will find use at safe injection sites and not go the way of MDMA pill testing under the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation (formerly RAVE) Act (brought to you by staunch drug warrior, Joe Biden-- who tacked it onto the bill which brought us the legitimate Amber Alert System after it failed twice as a stand-alone bill). In short, since the RAVE Act made concert promoters criminally liable for their patrons' on-site possession, promoters became hesitant to allow pill testing organizations like DanceSafe to allow testing on the premises, as it would amount to an implicit acknowledgement of concert-goers' illegal activities.
For the Love of God and All that is Holy, My Anus is Bleeding!
I saw the premier of Don Hertzfeldt's newest piece "I'm So Proud of You" on Friday. The sequel to "Everything Will Be Okay," it was the second of a three part series. For those of you familiar with his previous work (e.g. Rejected or Billy's Balloon), it is a little more on the 'serious' side, with fewer laugh-out-loud moments, as the main character, Bill, grapples with the meaning(lessness) of life-- although it does have a significant amount in common thematically with his older works (existential despair and the descent into madness being high on the list). At certain points, particularly in "Everything Will Be Okay," the material hits too close to home (not surprising since he acknowledged that the use of stick figures allows for easy identification with the characters--a la the simplicity of Charlie Brown). One instance in particular: Bill reflects on the repetitive, mundane tasks of his life (washing dishes, cleaning, switching lamps on and off, etc.) and realizes that those tasks ARE his life and that the minimal time spent doing other things truly is the exception.
After the presentation, the first time the piece had been played for audiences, he stayed for a Q&A session. Intelligent but soft-spoken, he displayed none of the signs of psychotic depression his work would seem to indicate. I particularly enjoyed his explanation of his artistic 'style': laziness.
After the presentation, the first time the piece had been played for audiences, he stayed for a Q&A session. Intelligent but soft-spoken, he displayed none of the signs of psychotic depression his work would seem to indicate. I particularly enjoyed his explanation of his artistic 'style': laziness.
Friday, September 26, 2008
McCain Wins Tonight's Debate
Somebody should notify Barack Obama not to bother showing up tonight. McCain already won it, interestingly enough, before he even decided to participate. This was an actual ad placed in the Wall Street Journal online. This, of course, after he flirted with not attending because of the economic peril our country faces...even though, by McCain's own admission "the fundamentals of our economy are strong," and, according to his chief financial advisor (whose deregulation policies precipitated the crisis), "the recession is in [American's] heads."
"Mission Accomplished" anybody?
Thanks to Crooks and Liars and the Huffington Post.
Judges--the New Doctors?
Despite the authorization of his doctor for lower back pain and arguments by his attorney that opiates made him sick, Robert Dalton of Washington was recently convicted of marijuana cultivation. Superior Court Judge Anna Laurie sided with the "Kitsap County Deputy Prosecutor Coreen Schnepf [who] argued during the trial that Dalton was receiving relief from opiate pain medications and that he needed to have pain that was not relieved by other medications in order to use medical marijuana. It is not known where Schnepf obtained her medical degree."
We can now apparently add judges and prosecutors to the list of professionals guilty of practicing medicine without a license--right after the police who decide daily whether or not an individual 'looks sick enough' to rightfully possess medical marijuana.
Also, given the evidence that marijuana works synergistically with opiates to alleviate inflammatory pain, allowing patients to use a smaller effective dose of the addictive opiates, it seems foolish to take a 'one or the other' approach to the use of medical marijuana when opiate medications are also involved.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/medical_marijuana_washington_judge_doctor
We can now apparently add judges and prosecutors to the list of professionals guilty of practicing medicine without a license--right after the police who decide daily whether or not an individual 'looks sick enough' to rightfully possess medical marijuana.
Also, given the evidence that marijuana works synergistically with opiates to alleviate inflammatory pain, allowing patients to use a smaller effective dose of the addictive opiates, it seems foolish to take a 'one or the other' approach to the use of medical marijuana when opiate medications are also involved.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/medical_marijuana_washington_judge_doctor
Al Gore on Civil Disobedience
"If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration."--Al Gore speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative
I've long admired practitioners of civil disobedience from Thoreau, to Gandhi, to Martin Luther King Jr. and it is refreshing to hear somebody of Gore's stature advocating civil disobedience as a legitimate strategy. I, however, am not sure as to the efficacy of such an endeavor aimed at the prevention of "the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration." It seems a little too nuanced of a position (that some coal plants are okay, but only so long as they utilize a certain technology which mitigates their harms) and if there is one thing I've realized from watching the last two election cycles, it's that the American people don't do well with nuance; the American people need "coal bad, solar good."
Taking the example of the civil rights movement (that of the 1950's to 1960's--again, more nuance), we see that people need dramatic images framed in terms of right and wrong. It was the televised broadcasts of innocent men and women being mauled by dogs and sprayed by fire hoses that aroused the conscience of Americans. I think it would be difficult to frame these coal plant acts thusly. Instead, I see them being dismissed as the isolated actions of tree-huggers--not to be taken seriously. That's not to say it's impossible...solely that their work is cut out for them and a proper frame will be a necessity.
One of the most difficult parts will be garnering sustained media attention, because as a society, we have the attention span of gnats. A mass movement is necessary to raise these actions above the din of the 10 second news cycle. Perhaps if a civil disobedience demonstration were planned for the opening of every single new coal plant that didn't possess carbon capture technology it might be meaningful enough to gain some coverage.
Non-violent civil disobedience, distinguished from other lawlessness by a willful acceptance of the penalty, is a tremendously powerful philosophy--one which the medical marijuana legalization movement would do well to adopt. I've always envisioned a rally on the steps of the Capitol Building with hundreds of patients, the more sickly the better, lighting up and subsequently being arrested. We must harness the lessons of the civil rights movement by employing the power of images. By replacing the image in people's minds of a young person gaming the system in order to get high with that of a police officer hauling off a wheelchair bound cancer patient, we can leverage action by politicians. It is much more difficult to dismiss an injustice when you are confronted with the face of the victim.
This was a criticism I had of a march against the DEA's closure of Santa Barbara's cannabis clubs that I recently attended. For every twenty relatively healthy looking people there was one person who looked seriously ill. Now, as a medical cannabis user who probably fits the stereotype of a healthy looking, college age student, I'd like to say that not all of us carry our scars on the outside. However, I also understand the power of framing and the importance of striking visual imagery.
"Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine."- Thoreau
"Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison."- Thoreau
"Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is force to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored."- MLK Jr.
“One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.”- MLK Jr.
I've long admired practitioners of civil disobedience from Thoreau, to Gandhi, to Martin Luther King Jr. and it is refreshing to hear somebody of Gore's stature advocating civil disobedience as a legitimate strategy. I, however, am not sure as to the efficacy of such an endeavor aimed at the prevention of "the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration." It seems a little too nuanced of a position (that some coal plants are okay, but only so long as they utilize a certain technology which mitigates their harms) and if there is one thing I've realized from watching the last two election cycles, it's that the American people don't do well with nuance; the American people need "coal bad, solar good."
Taking the example of the civil rights movement (that of the 1950's to 1960's--again, more nuance), we see that people need dramatic images framed in terms of right and wrong. It was the televised broadcasts of innocent men and women being mauled by dogs and sprayed by fire hoses that aroused the conscience of Americans. I think it would be difficult to frame these coal plant acts thusly. Instead, I see them being dismissed as the isolated actions of tree-huggers--not to be taken seriously. That's not to say it's impossible...solely that their work is cut out for them and a proper frame will be a necessity.
One of the most difficult parts will be garnering sustained media attention, because as a society, we have the attention span of gnats. A mass movement is necessary to raise these actions above the din of the 10 second news cycle. Perhaps if a civil disobedience demonstration were planned for the opening of every single new coal plant that didn't possess carbon capture technology it might be meaningful enough to gain some coverage.
Non-violent civil disobedience, distinguished from other lawlessness by a willful acceptance of the penalty, is a tremendously powerful philosophy--one which the medical marijuana legalization movement would do well to adopt. I've always envisioned a rally on the steps of the Capitol Building with hundreds of patients, the more sickly the better, lighting up and subsequently being arrested. We must harness the lessons of the civil rights movement by employing the power of images. By replacing the image in people's minds of a young person gaming the system in order to get high with that of a police officer hauling off a wheelchair bound cancer patient, we can leverage action by politicians. It is much more difficult to dismiss an injustice when you are confronted with the face of the victim.
This was a criticism I had of a march against the DEA's closure of Santa Barbara's cannabis clubs that I recently attended. For every twenty relatively healthy looking people there was one person who looked seriously ill. Now, as a medical cannabis user who probably fits the stereotype of a healthy looking, college age student, I'd like to say that not all of us carry our scars on the outside. However, I also understand the power of framing and the importance of striking visual imagery.
"Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine."- Thoreau
"Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison."- Thoreau
"Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is force to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored."- MLK Jr.
“One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.”- MLK Jr.
Brain as Cerebral Reducing Valve
Going a ways towards illustrating Aldous Huxley's description of the brain as "cerebral reducing valve" is the discovery of Npas4, a transcription factor responsible for the formation of inhibitory synapses. "...Npas4, regulates more than 200 genes that act in various ways to calm down over-excited cells, restoring a balance that is thought to go askew in some neurologic disorders." Huxley's realization, made possible through his ingestion of Mescaline and written in The Doors of Perception, was that one of the primary functions of the brain is to reduce the amount of information available to us at any one time, distilling what is left into an evolutionarily viable product (i.e. something that lets us fulfill our basic drives: eating, sleeping, and having sex). Npas4, described as a 'master switch', plays a vital role in this mechanism.
Not sure where I was going with that, other than that I really like the phrase "cerebral reducing valve" and wanted an excuse to use it.
Speaking of Huxley's bypassing of the 'cerebral reducing valve', check out this comic from overcompensating.com. Don't worry, they're not actually anti-drugs. In fact, they're the only comic I've seen to feature DMT elves.
Not sure where I was going with that, other than that I really like the phrase "cerebral reducing valve" and wanted an excuse to use it.
Speaking of Huxley's bypassing of the 'cerebral reducing valve', check out this comic from overcompensating.com. Don't worry, they're not actually anti-drugs. In fact, they're the only comic I've seen to feature DMT elves.
The Debates
It is kind of fitting that tonight's debate will be on the anniversary of the first televised U.S. presidential debate in history. Tonight the world will see Barack Obama and John McCain stand side by side, go talking point against talking point (there won't be any real debate, only rehearsed spectacle), and, if history serves as a reliable guide, Obama will be the victor. Not only because he can actually articulate his positions, whereas McCain is quickly giving way to senility, but because, well...McCain LOOKS OLD. In the 1960 debate between Nixon and Kennedy, those who watched the debate on television gave the win to Kennedy, while those who listened via radio gave it to Nixon--the difference being the visual component. Kennedy looked vivacious--Nixon, haggard. While I am confident in Obama's ability to win on merit, we can always count on the superficiality of television (hence why Kucinich was never considered a serious contender) to ensure a victory for him.
The Derek Trucks Band
Sorry that my posting lapsed. I took a few days off of work to go to San Francisco and didn't have computer access.
I saw the Derek Trucks Band at the Lobero Theater on Sunday-- what a great way to kick off my vacation! If you haven't heard of them, they're a fantastic fusion of blues, jazz, rock, funk, folk, and world music. As it turned out, the Lobero show was the last of their recent tour and it really reflected in the band's energy. Every single note, even the 'off-notes', was in place; the off-notes only served to set up dissonance for the eventual, joyous return to the harmony. They played a lot of material with which I wasn't familiar--which is always a treat because it lets you focus on the immediacy of the music rather than anticipating the next chorus; I'll have to hunt down a set list. They really hit their stride with a slithery, Chicago-blues stew, that they quickly brought to a boil. Truck's playing was incendiary; the gentleman next to me pointed out the exit before the show started because "that's where we'll have to run when Derek's playing sets the place on fire." He was right...high, I'm sure, but right. As only Homer Simpson could sum it up, the show was "groin-grabbingly transcendent" in every sense.
I want to thank Lauren and KC, and Angela for letting us crash at their places. We all had a blast.
I saw the Derek Trucks Band at the Lobero Theater on Sunday-- what a great way to kick off my vacation! If you haven't heard of them, they're a fantastic fusion of blues, jazz, rock, funk, folk, and world music. As it turned out, the Lobero show was the last of their recent tour and it really reflected in the band's energy. Every single note, even the 'off-notes', was in place; the off-notes only served to set up dissonance for the eventual, joyous return to the harmony. They played a lot of material with which I wasn't familiar--which is always a treat because it lets you focus on the immediacy of the music rather than anticipating the next chorus; I'll have to hunt down a set list. They really hit their stride with a slithery, Chicago-blues stew, that they quickly brought to a boil. Truck's playing was incendiary; the gentleman next to me pointed out the exit before the show started because "that's where we'll have to run when Derek's playing sets the place on fire." He was right...high, I'm sure, but right. As only Homer Simpson could sum it up, the show was "groin-grabbingly transcendent" in every sense.
I want to thank Lauren and KC, and Angela for letting us crash at their places. We all had a blast.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
High Fructose Propaganda
Anybody else see this video, brought to us by the Corn Refiners Association, trying to convince us that high-fructose corn syrup isn't really killing us?
Miracle Fruit (Part II)
Something else about the article caught my eye: "During the 1970s, a ruling by the Food and Drug Administration dashed hopes that an extract of [the harmless] miraculin could be sold as a sugar substitute"--demonstrating that the "Sugar-Industrial Complex" (mine) still exerts a tremendous influence over policy. If you think I'm nuts, see: the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. (The trade in sugar, composing 1/3 of the Triangular Trade, was a primary impetus for the slave trade, which provided the human capital necessary to quench Europe's hunger for sugar and thirst for its derivative, rum).
Quote of the Day
"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope... and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." - Robert F Kennedy
Our actions are not isolated in time and space; rather, they reverberate throughout the world. Every gesture, every utterance absolutely counts. We, by our actions and inaction, are constantly in the act of redefining the world in which we live. This should make us hopeful for the possibility of change, even in the face of ingrained power structures trying to maintain the status-quo.
Our actions are not isolated in time and space; rather, they reverberate throughout the world. Every gesture, every utterance absolutely counts. We, by our actions and inaction, are constantly in the act of redefining the world in which we live. This should make us hopeful for the possibility of change, even in the face of ingrained power structures trying to maintain the status-quo.
Miracle Fruit (Part I)
I'd like to thank DoseNation for cross-posting my National Coming Out Day story. I've been following them for quite a while and it's nice to have finally contributed something. I really admire their open posting format; drawing from the collective minds of everybody who surfs the Internet, it provides a great variety of perspectives.
Read their article on Miracle Fruit. It demonstrates a fact known to anybody familiar with psychedelic drugs. The senses, our interface to the world around us, are not static. Although we do have a normative level of consciousness, it is subject to a great deal of things, and our senses can be fooled (and altered) rather easily. This can be done by many things, not the least of which, but certainly not the only, being drugs.
"The miracle fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, is native to West Africa and has been known to Westerners since the 18th century. The cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids, according to a scientist who has studied the fruit, Linda Bartoshuk at the University of Florida’s Center for Smell and Taste."
However, our perceptions can be altered in far more routine, but no less fascinating, ways. Check out Illusion Sciences to see what I mean.
I find these things so interesting because I believe that, at least in many ways, perception dictates reality. This may seem like an odd concept, because, one might argue, consensus reality operates regardless of the state of one's consciousness (e.g. even if I'm on PCP and believe I can fly, it's still not smart to jump off the room of my house). However, to use a simple example, say that you're not really listening to somebody and you mishear something that they say. You react to what you heard, say a perceived slight, and respond with something not too delicate, resulting in an argument. You perceived argumentativeness and made it a reality. This can be extrapolated to a grander scale by considering the philosophical implications of Chaos Theory, particularly the Butterfly Effect (no, not that awful Ashton Kutcher movie)--summed up best by Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park.
Read their article on Miracle Fruit. It demonstrates a fact known to anybody familiar with psychedelic drugs. The senses, our interface to the world around us, are not static. Although we do have a normative level of consciousness, it is subject to a great deal of things, and our senses can be fooled (and altered) rather easily. This can be done by many things, not the least of which, but certainly not the only, being drugs.
"The miracle fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, is native to West Africa and has been known to Westerners since the 18th century. The cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids, according to a scientist who has studied the fruit, Linda Bartoshuk at the University of Florida’s Center for Smell and Taste."
However, our perceptions can be altered in far more routine, but no less fascinating, ways. Check out Illusion Sciences to see what I mean.
I find these things so interesting because I believe that, at least in many ways, perception dictates reality. This may seem like an odd concept, because, one might argue, consensus reality operates regardless of the state of one's consciousness (e.g. even if I'm on PCP and believe I can fly, it's still not smart to jump off the room of my house). However, to use a simple example, say that you're not really listening to somebody and you mishear something that they say. You react to what you heard, say a perceived slight, and respond with something not too delicate, resulting in an argument. You perceived argumentativeness and made it a reality. This can be extrapolated to a grander scale by considering the philosophical implications of Chaos Theory, particularly the Butterfly Effect (no, not that awful Ashton Kutcher movie)--summed up best by Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park.
Friday, September 19, 2008
I Am Full of Shit
I'd like to file an addendum to my National Coming Out Day post. Thank you to a good friend for pointing this out. In South Dakota you can be prosecuted for having been high. It's a concept called 'internal possession' that perverts the 4th Amendment in ways standard drug law jurisprudence never could. Armed with a search warrant and allegations of marijuana trafficking, police entered the home of Dave Johnson and, despite finding only a small pipe with marijuana resin in it, proceeded to arrest him. "The cops took me downtown and said if I didn't piss for them, they'd stick something in my dick and take it by force." Frighteningly, "the Huron police weren't lying. Under state law, they could, with probable cause, seek a warrant from a judge ordering an individual to provide a urine sample, and if he refuses, forcibly extract one from him." They found traces of cocaine in his urine and prosecuted him for possession. Indeed, the state Supreme Court recently upheld the conviction, despite arguments by his attorney that "the court has traditionally held that once a substance is in your body you can no longer exercise dominion and control, which are key elements of defining possession." The Court cited a "2001 amendment to the state's drug laws [that] erased the dichotomy between laws that make it a crime to ingest a drug and laws that make drug possession a crime."
Massachusetts also has a bill pending which, if passed, would criminalize so called 'internal possession.' This is particularly problematic in the case of marijuana, whose metabolites, which are stored in body fat, can be detected in urine for up to a month depending on frequency of use.
So, to the people of South Dakota, sit down unless you're willing to engage in an actual act of civil disobedience.
Here is the source article I used.
Also, please feel free to call me out on anything you disagree with or point out something I've missed. I'd love for this to become more than me talking to myself.
Massachusetts also has a bill pending which, if passed, would criminalize so called 'internal possession.' This is particularly problematic in the case of marijuana, whose metabolites, which are stored in body fat, can be detected in urine for up to a month depending on frequency of use.
So, to the people of South Dakota, sit down unless you're willing to engage in an actual act of civil disobedience.
Here is the source article I used.
Also, please feel free to call me out on anything you disagree with or point out something I've missed. I'd love for this to become more than me talking to myself.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Selling Out
Anybody else ever wonder what happened to artistic integrity? Ever think that the advertising industry couldn't possibly develop anymore insidiously insipid ways to convince you that you absolutely need some item of useless crap? If so, this post probably won't make you feel any better. While this should come as no shock to anybody who has watched a movie or TV show in the last six decades, product placement now unequivocally extends to the music world.
I won't go into too much detail because Eliot Van Buskirk at Wired has already done an admirable job. However, the gist of it is that "...Kluger explained via e-mail that for the right price, Double Happiness Jeans could find its way into the lyrics in an upcoming Pussycat Dolls song...The thing is, Double Happiness Jeans is not your everyday brand -- it's a virtual sweatshop organized by EyeBeam for a display at the Sundance Festival, which involves paying Second Life citizens 90 cents an hour to make real, customized jeans designed in the virtual factory." Jeff Crouse, the e-mails recipient, also happens to be affiliated with the Anti-Advertising Agency, a group vehemenantly opposed to exactly that sort of thing, and promptly posted the e-mail on his website. Kluger is now suing Crouse for disparaging comments left on the post. This is right up there with Bill O'Reilly lambasting Daily Kos for comments left on several of their threads, calling them hate-mongers. I thought it was reasonably well-established that bloggers were not responsible for the content of their reader's comments. We'll see. In the meantime feel free to leave any comments you want here.
Check out Neil Young's This Note's For You for great commentary on product placement in music--although I've always quibbled that by mentioning the names Pepsi and Coke, even in railing against them, that he does in fact advertise for them (remember, all publicity is good publicity, which probably explains Kluger's lawsuit, which could only serve to draw greater attention to his imbecility). Still, great song with a smokey nightclub feel.
Also check out Bill Hicks on marketing. I agree with his sentiments almost completely. I say almost only because to a very limited extent marketing is essential for making us aware of unknown products that may actually be useful in our lives. Suffice to say, the percentage that actually accomplishes that is miniscule.
I won't go into too much detail because Eliot Van Buskirk at Wired has already done an admirable job. However, the gist of it is that "...Kluger explained via e-mail that for the right price, Double Happiness Jeans could find its way into the lyrics in an upcoming Pussycat Dolls song...The thing is, Double Happiness Jeans is not your everyday brand -- it's a virtual sweatshop organized by EyeBeam for a display at the Sundance Festival, which involves paying Second Life citizens 90 cents an hour to make real, customized jeans designed in the virtual factory." Jeff Crouse, the e-mails recipient, also happens to be affiliated with the Anti-Advertising Agency, a group vehemenantly opposed to exactly that sort of thing, and promptly posted the e-mail on his website. Kluger is now suing Crouse for disparaging comments left on the post. This is right up there with Bill O'Reilly lambasting Daily Kos for comments left on several of their threads, calling them hate-mongers. I thought it was reasonably well-established that bloggers were not responsible for the content of their reader's comments. We'll see. In the meantime feel free to leave any comments you want here.
Check out Neil Young's This Note's For You for great commentary on product placement in music--although I've always quibbled that by mentioning the names Pepsi and Coke, even in railing against them, that he does in fact advertise for them (remember, all publicity is good publicity, which probably explains Kluger's lawsuit, which could only serve to draw greater attention to his imbecility). Still, great song with a smokey nightclub feel.
Also check out Bill Hicks on marketing. I agree with his sentiments almost completely. I say almost only because to a very limited extent marketing is essential for making us aware of unknown products that may actually be useful in our lives. Suffice to say, the percentage that actually accomplishes that is miniscule.
Interesting Application of District of Columbia v. Heller
Some of you may not be familiar with the Heller case; it was the Supreme Court's attempt to, for the first time really, clarify the scope of the 2nd Amendment. At issue was whether or not the language of the amendment suggests a personal right to bear arms or is solely intended to allow possession by state militias. In high school, I argued that the text suggests a militia oriented interpretation and with militias being replaced by the national guard, the amendment was moot (in the name of defending an assault weapons ban). I've since come to the more radical interpretation that it does indeed preserve a public right, since the only right to bear arms that matters is the right to bear them against a tyrannical government (a position that wouldn't have been lost on the Founders given their then recent war against a tyrannical government), but that's neither here nor there. As it turns out, the conservative Court found a right to personal possession, largely in the name of self-defense. Their decision is now finding a unique application in a drug case where the defendant was given a mandatory minimum sentence of 55 years because of his (alleged) possession of a fire arm during the course of routine, hand-to-hand, marijuana sales, although the weapon played no part in the actual sale. This is what the defense wrote in their memorandum:
"In light of the Supreme Court’s broad and forceful recognition of the right of all citizens under the Second Amendment to possess firearms to effectuate 'the inherent right of self-defense,' District of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S. Ct 2783, 2817 (2008), the extreme sentence imposed upon Angelos for gun possession are now clearly unconstitutional and his 55-year sentence must be at least partially vacated."
Now we will wait to see if the courts will accept this reasoning or carve out yet another 'drug exception' to the Bill of Rights. I'll keep you posted.
"In light of the Supreme Court’s broad and forceful recognition of the right of all citizens under the Second Amendment to possess firearms to effectuate 'the inherent right of self-defense,' District of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S. Ct 2783, 2817 (2008), the extreme sentence imposed upon Angelos for gun possession are now clearly unconstitutional and his 55-year sentence must be at least partially vacated."
Now we will wait to see if the courts will accept this reasoning or carve out yet another 'drug exception' to the Bill of Rights. I'll keep you posted.
National Coming Out Day
Let me rant for a moment about an incident I had with a coworker that I feel is sadly revealing, but will eventually bring me to a point. Names have been changed to protect the innocent...and the irritating...and my job. I work processing gifts made to a local institution. It's not fulfilling in the least and I frequently enter existential crisis mode, but it pays $18/hour, plus great benefits, which because of my Crohn's disease, are a necessity. We have a new woman working with us in the office who, suffice to say, is not well liked...not for lack of trying as much as severe personality deficits (she can be overbearing--the type that will corner you in your cubicle and tell you about the problems she has with her kids without any prompting). I'll call her Jill.
When the kids downstairs (mostly freshman and sophomores from the nearby university) call to generate pledges, they sometimes leave comments about the person they called for future reference. The new group of callers have proven fond of potty humor (not that I'm not...I just recognize that there's a time and a place for it...and work...not so much) and in the comments section wrote, "did I just fart?" I remarked, "that's what happens when you make listings calling for fun and energetic people instead of professional and hardworking ones." Jill replies, "they should just fire all the drug users."
Being a medical marijuana patient, I took exception to that remark. My coworkers, in unison, chimed in with "if you did that there wouldn't be anybody downstairs." And I, irritated, added, "you obviously never went to college." Certainly it wasn't the best approach, but I'm seldom at my most diplomatic at 8:30 in the morning. She retorts snippily, "I did go to college and I graduated with honors, but that's because I never did drugs--I studied."
My level of irritation rising, I reply "It is possible to do both. I graduated from UCSB with high honors and I happen to be a medical marijuana patient." I wasn't prepared for what she said next: "Well, my Dad was a pothead so I don't buy that." You don't buy it? I'm not selling it to you! Before I could say "sorry your Dad was a crappy parent, but it wasn't the pot's fault," another coworker rightfully intervened and told us to get back to work.
Now, I honestly believe that I could not have made it through college without marijuana to combat the pain, nausea, diarrhea, etc. that are typical of Crohn's disease (an autoimmune disease resulting in chronic inflammation and ulceration of the intestinal lining) and if there's one thing I won't tolerate it's condescension, but I let it go.
My coworker's issues aside though, I feel that one of the major areas of neglect in the drug law reform movement is in combating stereotypes of drug users. Admittedly, this is making headway in popular culture. Harold and Kumar (at least the first one) went a tremendous ways towards depicting 'stoners' in a positive light.
What the world needs, however, is a National Coming Out Day for marijuana smokers. We need people to realize that there are a host of successful individuals, judges, lawyers, doctors, scientists and other professionals who have and still smoke marijuana to no ill effect. Although successful, nobody would be shocked to hear that Snoop Dogg smokes and therefore would do nothing to change people's opinions of the drug. Just like racial prejudice can be combated by knowing multiple successful people of different races, so too can drug user prejudice. Certainly, this is complicated by marijuana's status as an illicit drug, but nobody can be arrested for admitting that they have smoked previously, or even for being high--only for possession. This idea will only work en masse. Without a critical mass of people, any individual could be subject to persecution, but you can't fire half of your workforce. One of the members of NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) once remarked at a national conference that if 1% of marijuana users joined the organization and paid dues they would be the most powerful lobbying group in the nation and pot would be legal. There is strength beyond imagine in numbers, so stand up and be counted!
When the kids downstairs (mostly freshman and sophomores from the nearby university) call to generate pledges, they sometimes leave comments about the person they called for future reference. The new group of callers have proven fond of potty humor (not that I'm not...I just recognize that there's a time and a place for it...and work...not so much) and in the comments section wrote, "did I just fart?" I remarked, "that's what happens when you make listings calling for fun and energetic people instead of professional and hardworking ones." Jill replies, "they should just fire all the drug users."
Being a medical marijuana patient, I took exception to that remark. My coworkers, in unison, chimed in with "if you did that there wouldn't be anybody downstairs." And I, irritated, added, "you obviously never went to college." Certainly it wasn't the best approach, but I'm seldom at my most diplomatic at 8:30 in the morning. She retorts snippily, "I did go to college and I graduated with honors, but that's because I never did drugs--I studied."
My level of irritation rising, I reply "It is possible to do both. I graduated from UCSB with high honors and I happen to be a medical marijuana patient." I wasn't prepared for what she said next: "Well, my Dad was a pothead so I don't buy that." You don't buy it? I'm not selling it to you! Before I could say "sorry your Dad was a crappy parent, but it wasn't the pot's fault," another coworker rightfully intervened and told us to get back to work.
Now, I honestly believe that I could not have made it through college without marijuana to combat the pain, nausea, diarrhea, etc. that are typical of Crohn's disease (an autoimmune disease resulting in chronic inflammation and ulceration of the intestinal lining) and if there's one thing I won't tolerate it's condescension, but I let it go.
My coworker's issues aside though, I feel that one of the major areas of neglect in the drug law reform movement is in combating stereotypes of drug users. Admittedly, this is making headway in popular culture. Harold and Kumar (at least the first one) went a tremendous ways towards depicting 'stoners' in a positive light.
What the world needs, however, is a National Coming Out Day for marijuana smokers. We need people to realize that there are a host of successful individuals, judges, lawyers, doctors, scientists and other professionals who have and still smoke marijuana to no ill effect. Although successful, nobody would be shocked to hear that Snoop Dogg smokes and therefore would do nothing to change people's opinions of the drug. Just like racial prejudice can be combated by knowing multiple successful people of different races, so too can drug user prejudice. Certainly, this is complicated by marijuana's status as an illicit drug, but nobody can be arrested for admitting that they have smoked previously, or even for being high--only for possession. This idea will only work en masse. Without a critical mass of people, any individual could be subject to persecution, but you can't fire half of your workforce. One of the members of NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) once remarked at a national conference that if 1% of marijuana users joined the organization and paid dues they would be the most powerful lobbying group in the nation and pot would be legal. There is strength beyond imagine in numbers, so stand up and be counted!
The Great Gig in the Sky
While I'm catching up, I want to give my thanks for all of the music Rick Wright has brought into this world. On the 15th, he left us to go play The Great Gig in the Sky, which, incidentally, happens to be the foundation for the single most spiritually and intellectually profound moment of my life.
I'll post the account of that experience, my first LSD trip, when I get the write-up off of my old computer. In the meantime, here are my thoughts on death, largely gleened from that trip:
I believe that death is as much a part of life as birth. In the Toaist sense, creation is destruction and destruction is creation; life and death, like Yin and Yang, are merely two sides of the same coin, not distinct entities. Like the myth of the Phoenix, from the ashes, life springs anew. Death should not be feared as the end of life, because neither the physical, spiritual, nor essential aspects of existence are ever lost; the matter that constructs us never disappears, the soul, as a metaphysical expression of the energy that permeates us, is eternal, and so long as you leave a legacy behind, in the memories of those that loved you and in your children, and your children's children, the essential will always carry on. Death, should instead be celebrated, not as an end, but as a transformation. Just as one wouldn't say that a caterpillar dies when it becomes a butterfly, neither should the perishing of a human form be considered our end; we are in fact composed of the very matter scattered by supernovae--our lives made possible by the death of a star.
I'll post the account of that experience, my first LSD trip, when I get the write-up off of my old computer. In the meantime, here are my thoughts on death, largely gleened from that trip:
I believe that death is as much a part of life as birth. In the Toaist sense, creation is destruction and destruction is creation; life and death, like Yin and Yang, are merely two sides of the same coin, not distinct entities. Like the myth of the Phoenix, from the ashes, life springs anew. Death should not be feared as the end of life, because neither the physical, spiritual, nor essential aspects of existence are ever lost; the matter that constructs us never disappears, the soul, as a metaphysical expression of the energy that permeates us, is eternal, and so long as you leave a legacy behind, in the memories of those that loved you and in your children, and your children's children, the essential will always carry on. Death, should instead be celebrated, not as an end, but as a transformation. Just as one wouldn't say that a caterpillar dies when it becomes a butterfly, neither should the perishing of a human form be considered our end; we are in fact composed of the very matter scattered by supernovae--our lives made possible by the death of a star.
Happy Belated Constitution Day!
Since I only started this blog today, I clearly have some catching up to do. The Constitution (including my favorite section, the Bill of Rights) is the single most important document in our nation's history. It is the foundation of our entire government and our national heritage. It is, however, trounced and disregarded daily in the name of protecting us from whatever the day's bogey-man happens to be. From elementary school onwards, we are indoctrinated into the belief that America is “the land of the free” and that the Bill of Rights is paramount in securing our liberty. The war on drugs, however, represents one of the greatest threats to this American ideal to date: chilling freedom of speech, rendering our right to be secure in our homes and free from unreasonable searches and seizures moot, depriving us of due process, preventing us from confronting our accusers through a system of secret informants, imposing cruel, disproportionate punishments, and completely stripping the Ninth and Tenth amendments of any semblance of meaning.
For more information check out the great post on the ACLU's website: http://blog.aclu.org/2008/09/17/this-is-your-bill-of-rightson-drugs/
As an aspiring attorney, currently applying to law school (more on that later), I can only hope that one day I'll be lucky enough to work for the ACLU, safeguarding our vaunted civil liberties from the government sworn to protect them.
For more information check out the great post on the ACLU's website: http://blog.aclu.org/2008/09/17/this-is-your-bill-of-rightson-drugs/
As an aspiring attorney, currently applying to law school (more on that later), I can only hope that one day I'll be lucky enough to work for the ACLU, safeguarding our vaunted civil liberties from the government sworn to protect them.
Another Thing to Lower People's Self Esteem
Everyday it seems as though the world in which the media dwells becomes more divorced from what I call 'reality land.' Now they have one more tool at their disposal to ensure that the people we see on TV look less like us normal folks (thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the link). Israeli researchers from Tel Aviv University are working on a program that would "automatically make photographed faces more attractive," as if air brushing and photo-shopping out every blemish from a model's face wasn't enough. I feel as though standards of attractiveness are already ludicrously high thanks to the constant media bombardment in our image obsessed society. As a side note: I feel infinitely more confident since I cancelled cable.
I suppose this raises the question of what is attractiveness? It is cliche to say that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Still, there are certain features that are found attractive across cultures. Facial symmetry is largely considered an indicator of attractiveness, apparently linking with sexual dimorphism, the existence of differing masculine and feminine forms. A few days ago I read an article saying that people are attracted to mates with different immune systems than their own, presumably to increase the range of illnesses to which their offspring would be resistant.
I'm sure I'll be discussing beauty and the like more in the future.
I suppose this raises the question of what is attractiveness? It is cliche to say that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Still, there are certain features that are found attractive across cultures. Facial symmetry is largely considered an indicator of attractiveness, apparently linking with sexual dimorphism, the existence of differing masculine and feminine forms. A few days ago I read an article saying that people are attracted to mates with different immune systems than their own, presumably to increase the range of illnesses to which their offspring would be resistant.
I'm sure I'll be discussing beauty and the like more in the future.
Sarah Palin
I cannot believe that John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. How stupid does the Republican Party think Americans are? A more serious question: are they right? Based on the polling numbers, they are. Now, I know not to put too much stock in the polls (they got a typical post convention bounce which will fade, the polls don't account for people with cell phones, etc.), but it's hard not to get depressed when I read them incessantly. We are talking about somebody who had to return to Alaska after her selection to cram for three weeks before anybody was allowed to speak to her in even the most controlled sense. Let's forget for a moment that she's a bible thumping creationist who slashed funding for unwed teenage mothers (of which her daughter is one); tried to ban a library book and then get the librarian who refused fired; made the victims of rape pay for their own rape kits; supported the Bridge to Nowhere and then kept the money that was left when the project was decried and abandoned for being a complete waste, all while claiming, even in the light of massive evidence to the contrary, that she was against it; left the town she was mayor of almost $20 million in debt; has requested and received $450 million in the earmarks she supposedly despises; and that she shoots wolves from a helicopter. (See Sarah Palin, by the Numbers for substantiation)
In her first interview with Charlie Gibson, he asked her what her opinion of the Bush Doctrine was and she didn't know what he meant. Even after Gibson explained to her that it was the doctrine of preventive war, she still didn't get it and went on to articulate the long standing policy of preemptive war. We have always accepted that if a country is about to attack us, there is no need to wait for the first bomb to fall before defending ourselves. What is controversial is the notion that we can attack a country that could, maybe, hypothetically, be preparing weapons that might, at some point, because we've pissed them off so much, be pointed at us.
Now, I've read people on the Internets (even though I've seen only one so far) who say 'who cares, the average person doesn't know what the Bush Doctrine is either.' However, the average person should not be running our country. I thought we learned that lesson from eight years of the Bush administration, when Americans decided to 'elect somebody they wanted to have a beer with.'
For God's sake people! Her claim to foreign policy experience is being able to see Russia from Alaska! Does that mean I am qualified to be Secretary of State because I have a map?
In her first interview with Charlie Gibson, he asked her what her opinion of the Bush Doctrine was and she didn't know what he meant. Even after Gibson explained to her that it was the doctrine of preventive war, she still didn't get it and went on to articulate the long standing policy of preemptive war. We have always accepted that if a country is about to attack us, there is no need to wait for the first bomb to fall before defending ourselves. What is controversial is the notion that we can attack a country that could, maybe, hypothetically, be preparing weapons that might, at some point, because we've pissed them off so much, be pointed at us.
Now, I've read people on the Internets (even though I've seen only one so far) who say 'who cares, the average person doesn't know what the Bush Doctrine is either.' However, the average person should not be running our country. I thought we learned that lesson from eight years of the Bush administration, when Americans decided to 'elect somebody they wanted to have a beer with.'
For God's sake people! Her claim to foreign policy experience is being able to see Russia from Alaska! Does that mean I am qualified to be Secretary of State because I have a map?
AIG Bailout
Now that our government officially owns almost 80% of the American International Group, for all intents and purposes nationalizing a significant portion of the insurance market, can we stop pretending that socialism is the devil? We already have socialism; it's just corporate socialism.
As Steven Brant noted, discussing the use of 'cost plus' contracts by arms manufacturers, in which those businesses are guaranteed a profit regardless of the project's outcome, "There is no Capitalism in the Military Industrial Complex. It's all Socialism, justified by the concept that these weapons are so important to American security that the companies that manufacture them have to be guaranteed a profit, so they don't accidentally go out of business." As Milton Friedman said, the drug war (and the attendant prison-industrial complex) is similarly socialistic.
What we have experienced in America with the subprime mortgage crisis is the "privatization of profits and the socialization of risk." The denizens of the corporate world get to undertake extremely reckless business ventures (i.e. sub-prime mortgages) and when their shortsighted short-selling blows up in their faces, they get massive, taxpayer funded bailouts because they're "too big to fail." The CEOs that piloted these corporations into the ground...they get million dollar bonuses. On the other hand, when people's houses are foreclosed as a result, they get told to 'pull themselves up by their own bootstraps' because they shouldn't have taken on loans they couldn't pay. And this whole time I thought that the American public was "too big to fail."
Finally, a nobel prize winner in economics is willing to admit what every fan of The Boondocks knows already, that Ronald Regan is the devil. Not in so many words, but essentially, the market de-regulation that he presided over led to the current crisis. Joseph Stiglitz said, "During his reign as head of the Federal Reserve in which this mortgage and financial bubble grew, Alan Greenspan had plenty of instruments to use to curb it, but failed. He was chosen by Ronald Reagan, after all, because of his anti-regulation attitudes...Our country has thus suffered from the consequences of choosing as regulator-in-chief of the economy someone who didn't believe in regulation."
I'm not sure what the etymology is of laissez-faire, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with lay off our profits and get fucked. Take that you Ayn Rand fans.
As Steven Brant noted, discussing the use of 'cost plus' contracts by arms manufacturers, in which those businesses are guaranteed a profit regardless of the project's outcome, "There is no Capitalism in the Military Industrial Complex. It's all Socialism, justified by the concept that these weapons are so important to American security that the companies that manufacture them have to be guaranteed a profit, so they don't accidentally go out of business." As Milton Friedman said, the drug war (and the attendant prison-industrial complex) is similarly socialistic.
What we have experienced in America with the subprime mortgage crisis is the "privatization of profits and the socialization of risk." The denizens of the corporate world get to undertake extremely reckless business ventures (i.e. sub-prime mortgages) and when their shortsighted short-selling blows up in their faces, they get massive, taxpayer funded bailouts because they're "too big to fail." The CEOs that piloted these corporations into the ground...they get million dollar bonuses. On the other hand, when people's houses are foreclosed as a result, they get told to 'pull themselves up by their own bootstraps' because they shouldn't have taken on loans they couldn't pay. And this whole time I thought that the American public was "too big to fail."
Finally, a nobel prize winner in economics is willing to admit what every fan of The Boondocks knows already, that Ronald Regan is the devil. Not in so many words, but essentially, the market de-regulation that he presided over led to the current crisis. Joseph Stiglitz said, "During his reign as head of the Federal Reserve in which this mortgage and financial bubble grew, Alan Greenspan had plenty of instruments to use to curb it, but failed. He was chosen by Ronald Reagan, after all, because of his anti-regulation attitudes...Our country has thus suffered from the consequences of choosing as regulator-in-chief of the economy someone who didn't believe in regulation."
I'm not sure what the etymology is of laissez-faire, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with lay off our profits and get fucked. Take that you Ayn Rand fans.
First Foray
Although I tend to agree with Hank Moody from Californication when he opines that, "...people don’t write anymore, they blog; instead of talking, they text; no punctuation, no grammar. LOL this and LMFAO that. You know it just seems to me that it’s just a bunch of stupid people psuedo-communicating with a bunch of other stupid people in a proto-language that resembles more what cavemen used to speak than the king’s English," I have decided to try my hand at blogging. It seems as though this is the only way a common person can make their voices heard these days with the strangehold the corporate media has over all discourse.
Insulting my readership and peers...a great way to start.
I'll be posting about politics, the law, movies, music, art, life, and anything else that pops into my head. Basically, I'll be talking about things that piss me off and things that make me hopeful for humanity. Hopefully somebody will enjoy what they read here.
Insulting my readership and peers...a great way to start.
I'll be posting about politics, the law, movies, music, art, life, and anything else that pops into my head. Basically, I'll be talking about things that piss me off and things that make me hopeful for humanity. Hopefully somebody will enjoy what they read here.
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