Excess Opinion

Homework at the Speed of Light and Sound

2011-11-02T22:27:00.000-07:00

1. A lightning bolt releases a thunderclap as it discharges. You see the bolt almost immediately, but it takes longer (five seconds per mile) for the force of the sound to propagate through the air to your ears. Note that lightning, being electricity, of course travels at the speed of light. It generates continuous booms as it rips through the atmosphere faster than the speed of sound; this creates overpressures that move the air very quickly and create shock waves. Consider the relative speeds involved: If you see thundercloud lightning strike a tree, where does the first boom you hear come from?

2. Similarly, a fighter jet flies above you at supersonic speed. You see the jet as it passes over your head, followed by the roar of the jets a few seconds later (exactly the same sonic boom effect as the lightning bolt). It is pushed forward by a series of massive explosions but is traveling faster than those explosions are able to expand through the air and reach your ears. Note that the force has mostly dissipated by the time it reaches you, leaving you with only a sound instead of the explosive force of the engine exhaust. What would happen if the fighter pilot dropped an unguided bomb as he was passing over your head? What about if he fired a missile forward?

3. Vibration of any kind is also a decent thought experiment. Imagine striking a drum while resting your hand on the skin. You can feel the vibration of the drum as the energy of the strike moves through the material. You can hear the dull sound of the drum beat as that energy rebounds in the resonator and through the air to vibrate your eardrums*. Does the sound cease before, after, or simultaneously with the vibration in your hands? What would be the implications of the skin vibrating slower, faster, or at the same speed as sound? What would be differences between hitting a drum and striking a steel pipe against the ground?

*Extra Credit: Consider that our hearing is based upon our brain's interpretation of vibrations in our sensitive eardrum. Though we experience it quite differently, it is a sensation that is functionally similar to blowing on your arm. And yet there are many limitations on hearing. Things can be too quiet or too high-pitched, and it is difficult to hear through solid objects like doors. Our ears are tuned precisely to the sound energy traveling the air we are surrounded with. If we lived in a more heavily oxygenated atmosphere, like during the Cretaceous Period when Tyrannosaurus Rex walked the Earth, the thicker atmosphere would necessitate a different tuning to a faster "speed of sound".

On The Road Mix (Part 3)

2011-09-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

The final section of my three part travel album. Hope you enjoyed it.:

Track listing:

1. Wild Night, Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey
2. Flathead, The Fratellis - Costello Music
3. General, Dispatch - Bang Bang
4. Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
5. Gallows Pole, Led Zeppelin - III
6. Graceland, Paul Simon - Graceland
7. The King of Carrot Flowers pt. One, Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
8. Dashboard, Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
9. The Great Escape, We Are Scientists - With Love and Squalor
10. Fireworks, yOya - Nothing to Die
11. California Sun, Ramones - Leave Home
12. Power of Moonlite, Tiger Army - II:Power of Moonlite
13. Blue Orchid, The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
14. Way Out, Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
15. Shotglass, Caitlin and the Shotglasses - Caitlin and the Shotglasses
16. Homelands, Brad and Ethan - Live Recordings, Etc.
17. Barton Hollow, The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow
18. The Queen's Rebuke / The Crossing, The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

13. Blue Orchid by The White Stripes, on the album Get Behind Me Satan. Great single by the Stripes - I absolutely adore Jack White and I'm sure I still have a big ol' poster of him and Meg rolled up somewhere. I even went to a concert promoting this album up in Portland one time. That's a big deal for someone that rarely spends money on shows. Fortunately my folks had season tickets so Cass and I could go. I really love his brand of raw and open sound, I thought his music documentary It Might Get Loud was brilliant. I still haven't picked up his newer stuff post-White Stripes, and I really ought to.

14. Way Out by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, on the Show Your Bones album. Another band I picked up during my sophomore year. A nice little girl band, they do a great job of mixing up Seattle riot grrl attitude with more of a Southern sound. They're easy pleasers, and I thought they'd be a good outro for my brief intrusion of showy rock. I really ought to check out what they've been up to since.

15. Shotglass by Caitlin and the Shotglasses, on their self-titled album. Another local band. I've known Caitlin and most of the band for quite a while. They basically were a group of some of the funnest townie music kids that weren't getting their rocks off just playing in pep band. Cue a burning-brightly band that put out a bunch of shows and one album just before they all went their separate ways. Caitlin and Justin have bounced around a lot, but they're back in Corvallis now and heading a pretty successful punk band called The Angries. Amusingly, I didn't notice that this track (one of their best in my opinion) also contained more than a minute of silence and a secret track. Whoops. Definitely creates a different mood there at the end of the mix. And I like it. I guess it was meant to be.

16. Homelands by Brad and Ethan on their Live Recordings, Etc., album. This song is a real winner with anyone who grew up here in the Northwest. But I'm a fan of a number of their singles including In the Mountains and Seraphim (both on the album). Another local band, though I really only knew these guys by reputation. They were a couple years ahead of me in school, but they also were big regulars over at the Beanery back when I was pounding coffee with the best of them. Amusingly, while their music is very chill my most prominent memory of them was riding a couple of hijacked shopping baskets tied to a bike down Second Street at night.

17. Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars on their self-titled album. A real newcomer to my collection compared to these local bands that I've had for years. Barton Hollow is probably my favorite single from this band, the group is generally more easy-going folk than hard-strumming country. Annabritt introduced this band to me after falling in love with it herself, and she can now do a bang-up cover of it with her friend Catherine Wright to do the harmonizing. Reminds me a bit of a Steve Earle that found a girlfriend instead of heroin.

18. The Queen's Rebuke / The Crossing by The Decemberists on their continuous album The Hazards of Love. Called a rock opera by Pitchfork and other critics, you can imagine some mix of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and a Shakespeare comedy farce playing out behind the mics. However, since the whole thing is connected it makes it rather difficult to pull out a single track. I leaned toward one of my more favorite and unitary ones, The Rake's Song, but people sometimes get a bit weirded out by its baby-killing lyrics (hey, you can't have a tragic narrator without a tragedy) so I figured I'd pick out something that didn't need as much context. However, while this track does a good job of showcasing the vocals and the band, I think that the transitions are too hard and make for a difficult concluding track. I think perhaps I should have picked something else or added additional music. I had room for another 15-20 minutes of music, but not enough time to pick something suitable.

Here are the links to the first and second parts of this mix.

On The Road Mix (Part 2)

2011-09-05T22:54:00.000-07:00

The second of my three part travel album:

Track listing:

1. Wild Night, Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey
2. Flathead, The Fratellis - Costello Music
3. General, Dispatch - Bang Bang
4. Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
5. Gallows Pole, Led Zeppelin - III
6. Graceland, Paul Simon - Graceland
7. The King of Carrot Flowers pt. One, Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
8. Dashboard, Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
9. The Great Escape, We Are Scientists - With Love and Squalor
10. Fireworks, yOya - Nothing to Die
11. California Sun, Ramones - Leave Home
12. Power of Moonlite, Tiger Army - II:Power of Moonlite
13. Blue Orchid, The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
14. Way Out, Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
15. Shotglass, Caitlin and the Shotglasses - Caitlin and the Shotglasses
16. Homelands, Brad and Ethan - Live Recordings, Etc.
17. Barton Hollow, The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow
18. The Queen's Rebuke / The Crossing, The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

Annotations:

7. The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. One, by Neutral Milk Hotel on the album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Quite a pleasant little band, their music is really best experienced over the breadth of their album. They're great for lazy weekends and singing along to in the Sun. They're probably the only band that manages to have the lyric "I love you Jesus Christ" be catchy instead of preachy. So there's something. Also, I associate this band with the Redwall books (the ones about the Martin the Warrior mouse and all of the funny hare commandos) because I was re-reading a bunch of those books when I discovered this band. Funny how that works.

8. Dashboard by Modest Mouse on the album We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank. Marking a change in the album toward more energetic music. If Dispatch carried me through freshman year of college, then Modest Mouse carried me through most of high school. Great band. It was a bit difficult picking out just one song to represent them entirely. Black Cadillacs on the album Good News For People Who Love Bad News was my first great love with that band. There were several others, but in the end I decided to pick out something more recent for you to listen to.

9. The Great Escape by We Are Scientists on their album With Love and Squalor. Picking it up with a nice little guitar and stick-symbol opener, We Are Scientists are a fun little band that I picked up during a misguided attempt to find more punk. I'm thinking some time junior year in college - so about 2007. Sadly, the guy I got the music from was more a fan of Emo. Fortunately, they were one of the points of agreement. Still not really punk, but they've got some great guitar and a fun attitude.

10. Fireworks by yOya, on their album Nothing to Die. The first of three local bands on this mix, the two singers were actually buddies of mine from CHS and my children's choir. They were both in my vocal section for years, so I got to know them quite well. They now live in Los Angeles and are putting out their unique blend of folk-electronica.They seem to be doing pretty well with it - they do tours up and down the West Coast regularly. Fun band.

11. California Sun by the Ramones, on their Leave Home album. Never mind the bollocks! It's the Ramones. Well actually that should be the Sex Pistols, but I was having a tricky time putting punk music onto an album that also had Johnny Cash. The Clash would perhaps have been a safer bet in retrospect, but whatever. The Ramones are totally awesome punk, a band that came into the scene early enough to still be more rock than "pump it up to 11" noise. Not that I have anything against that kind of punk - there's another fun local punk band, Rock N Roll Hearts, that I rather wanted to put on - but I eventually decided they were too "Sex, Drugs and Rock n'Roll" for this mix. Maybe the next one?

12. Power of Moonlite by Tiger Army on their album II:Power of Moonlite. Tiger Army was one of several bands that I picked up my sophomore year while living in the Jasper house. A big bach house with lots of girls and homebrewed alcohol (occasionally awful) seemed well-suited with noisy and poppy rock. Similar bands were the brightly electronic Death From Above and LCD Soundsystem - and lots of lots of Irish punk. Fun times

See part one here and part three here.

On The Road Mix (Part 1)

2011-09-04T01:39:00.000-07:00

After yet another long hiatus, I thought that I'd make another post on my poor old blog. A little while ago I put together an annotated travel mix for my friend Kindra, and I've been meaning to repost it online when I got the chance. It ended up being one-part discography and one-part audio biography. Since my focus was on representing the music that I've listened to most in life, it's more or less the standard fare. Still, check out the first of three parts here and let me know what you think! (I'll put up the next part tomorrow):

Track listing:

1. Wild Night, Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey
2. Flathead, The Fratellis - Costello Music
3. General, Dispatch - Bang Bang
4. Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
5. Gallows Pole, Led Zeppelin - III
6. Graceland, Paul Simon - Graceland
7. The King of Carrot Flowers pt. One, Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
8. Dashboard, Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
9. The Great Escape, We Are Scientists - With Love and Squalor
10. Fireworks, yOya - Nothing to Die
11. California Sun, Ramones - Leave Home
12. Power of Moonlite, Tiger Army - II:Power of Moonlite
13. Blue Orchid, The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
14. Way Out, Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
15. Shotglass, Caitlin and the Shotglasses - Caitlin and the Shotglasses
16. Homelands, Brad and Ethan - Live Recordings, Etc.
17. Barton Hollow, The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow
18. The Queen's Rebuke / The Crossing, The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

Annotations:

1. Wild Night by Van Morrison on the album Tupelo Honey. I've actually never been huge into Morrison, and I can't really remember when I downloaded this album. Probably when I picked up a bunch of Jimi Hendrix and similar classic rock; it just seemed the thing to do. This single is fantastic, but I think some of the other songs on the album lack the happy energy of Wild Night.

2. Flathead by The Fratellis on the album Costello Music. The Fratellis are such a happy little Ska band. They're great at having a driving sound that is still quite classy. I picked them up from a photographer friend of mine, Leah, down in Eugene. Nowadays she's living in Prague! Can you imagine that? She and I would just hang out at her house swapping photo books and record albums, chatting about one thing or another. Cool chick. And at one point she dumped a bunch of awesome music onto my laptop. Hurrah!

3. General by Dispatch on the album Bang Bang. Dispatch was one of those bands that carried me through my freshman year of college. My roommate Ryan was huge into them, and it didn't take me long to start to obsess as well. General was one of those songs that hits all the sweet spots for me; it's a story song (based on the Civil War!) that has some great lyrics and some stirring melodies. It's a favorite with everyone who's heard the band, I think. I almost got a chance to go see the band live once, but it never panned out. Too bad!

4. Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash on the At Folsom Prison album. The Man in Black! Cash was so great. His life story is quite interesting, and I think that they did a decent job of retelling it in Walk the Line. I've been listening to him for years. He has another couple of songs that I like a bunch too: The Legend of John (later in the album) and The Man Who Couldn't Cry on the American Recordings album. Great stuff. But Folsom Prison is the most iconic, and this song is the best at showing it off. Cash played at many prisons during his life, but it was this one in Folsom, California that really kick-started his career onto the national stage. Good thing too.

5. Gallows Pole by Led Zeppelin on the III album. Zeppelin! Continuing the prisoner motif of Prison Blues, Gallows Pole is one of my favorite Zeppelin songs. It follows a pretty classic three-part story format, which I love, but it's Jimmy Page's fantastic voice coupled with the twanging guitar that really propels this song into greatness for me. There used to be a great Zeppelin cover band here in Corvallis called Stairway Denied, and they had some of the best covers I've ever heard. The lead singer absolutely nailed Page's vocals, and also had good looks and the long rocker hair. They've since broken up, but I'll bump into him here in town and have to resist gushing over a Corvallis celeb.

6. Graceland by Paul Simon, on the Graceland album. Though I do like Simon and Garfunkel, the sheer amount of overplaying of them by my friend Arielle caused me to cast out for this album. I played it a bit, never really latching on, and then one day I came home from an epic backpacking trip into Eastern Oregon and turned this on and everything clicked. Instant travel song favorite. The rest of the album is fine, but it is really this single that I am most enamored with. Hopefully some day I won't feel as burnt out on The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel. :p

See part two here and part three here.

The Stick Game

2011-04-26T11:54:00.000-07:00

I was reading some stuff from this guy who is a Viking LARPer, and while they hav a pretty bad rep I have to say that some of their research turned up some pretty awesome stuff like "the stick game"

"The stick game": Played while drinking. Opponents face each other, and are handed a stout stick about 8-10 inches in length. Both opponents grasp the stick with their right hands. The loser is the first person without a hand on the stick. There are no other rules, but it's considered rude these days to interfere with the opponents groin in any way. It's really physical and people get hurt quite often, with opponents getting thrown around and contorting each other. Our current Holder Of The Stick is a girl who's about as big as one of my legs. She's extremely vicious and flexible, and her light weight makes throwing her around less effective than it would be with a large opponent. I'm useless at the stick game.

The Disasterous Reporting of Fukushima

2011-03-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

I know that it's often rather eye-rolling to see controversial political advocacy, but I'd really recommend checking out what Fareed Zakaria has to say in this report. I think he does a good job of putting the issue into context. I don't think he goes far enough in terms of alleviating concerns over the Fukushima accident, nor in supporting the idea of clean nuclear energy, but he's one of the first Western reporters covering the story that I've been able to nod my head with.

For the last week I've been in quiet despair over the baseless fearmongering and sometimes stark racism that seemed to afflict Western media covering the disasters in Japan. Some of my favorite news agencies - ProPublica, NYT and NPR among them - were not unaffected by this seeming free-for-all of dire speculation that has caused so much panic. I was glad to see that at least one reporter has managed to retain some level of journalistic reserve and perspective on such an explosive issue.

Pet Peeve #465

2010-05-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

Why the heck are you putting stuff up on a vehicular dashboard? Don't you know that someone is LOOKING through that area so as to avoid a massive collision! And that furthermore, have you noticed how those items tend to shift back and forth distractingly, in a way that may contribute to DEATH? Are you somehow unaware that there is a plethora of places to put extra items in a vehicle, such as the glove box, side pockets, or the floor in front of you? And how did you get such an item into the vehicle in the first place, why don't you simply put it BACK there instead of littering my car! My dear friend, get your crap off my dashboard!

Afghanistan

2009-12-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

I've been too busy writing out here at the coast to update this blog for the last two weeks. But since Obama is going to announce his plans for the war in Afghanistan tonight, and I've been thinking about war so much, I thought that I'd put together my opinions on the issue.

Obama is reportedly intending to increase troop levels by 30,000, but also plans to end the war in Afghanistan within three years. Best of luck to him. It's not an entirely popular move, and with the many comparisons to Vietnam, there are fears that Obama may be simply embroiling the United States in a war it cannot win and cannot afford.

While the cost of the war is a significant issue in its own right. There is some hope on that front. Congressional Democrats David Obey and Carl Levin are forwarding a "war tax" proposal that would effectively implement a one percent tax that would fund the war in Afghanistan (a war that may cost upwards of $100 billion a year). The tax, entitled the Share the Sacrifice Act, would exempt service members who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, as well as families that have lost loved ones. While Murdoch's media machine is already revving up to fight it, there is hope that there are enough military conservatives to overcome the greed of the business elites.

As for the troop increases themselves, my hope is that Obama will be able to use them to give himself the time to do three things:

1) Stand up non-uniformed Afghani militia forces to protect their homes with AKs and grenades against outside influences in the name of stability. Call it the Minuteman policy. Give them political training, small-arms defensive guerrilla training, and send them home. It was virtually the only thing that was particularly effective (especially cost effective) in Vietnam, and it's the right thing to do here.

2) Allow Pakistan time to harden up its defenses in the border region, in anticipation of militancy in the future. Sorry Pakistan, better start digging trenches, the next decade is going to suck for you.

3) Give special forces and UAVs the maneuvering room to continue targeting militants in the hills, trading time for precision, and giving especial thought to avoid collateral damage in order to prevent a widening of the conflict. This is a boring village country. Kill one farmer, and the only thing his son has to do for the next 15 years is bitch to his friends about how Americans murdered his dad. Don't let it happen.

This is not a good war to fight. We saw what happened to the Soviets when they tried it. It is a theater that negates every advantage we have except UAVs. Maybe we could win, but win against what? 300 militants hiding in the hills? What's the point if in the process we do far more damage to ourselves by overextending than they ever could? I say pull back and let the chips sort themselves out a little bit. Karzai is not worth supporting at the cost of our own principles and the myth of stability. He doesn't control anything outside the capitol, and even that is tenuous, and he's basically just another warlord.

Right now the only thing providing real stability is Coalition forces, and that doesn't seem to be changing. If things are going to fall apart as soon as we leave, regardless of what we do, then we better just pull the band-aid. We can't stay there forever. It's time to call it a win and go home. We can always come back if we need to.

Veterans Day Remembrance

2009-11-11T22:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a fantastic war story for Veterans Day. It features the renowned British commando Mad Jack Churchill, whose exploits are as amazing as they are true.

Some people, especially here in the liberal West Coast, question whether to celebrate Veterans Day or not. I'd say to them that it's not about the wars fought, but individual actions of the soldiers themselves. They aren't being rewarded for winning or picking their battles, they're being recognized for the sacrifices demanded of them by a democratic nation. It's about amazing men like Roy Benavidez, whose courageous actions saved the lives of eight men, won him the military's highest honor and serves to inspire generations of not only soldiers, but American citizens.

And now to the tale:

In the desperate years of the second world war (Great Paranormal War as it became known to the Russians), the Nazi's fused super science, their penchant for mass-murder, and the occult into a scourge that would haunt the steps of man forever. Hitler, realizing that he could never complete his victory over the Soviet Union with the dwindling manpower of Germany, turned his attention to something the Fatherland had plenty of, the dead. Himmer's freshly formed SS Division of Paranormal Ops, teamed with the Black Arts and Sciences Department of the German government set to work creating the Fuhrer's ultimate army.

Initially, they met with failure, while the "Scheusal", which roughly translates into "zombie" was tough to kill. It was also highly unreliable, as they would wander off in the direction of the nearest attainable food source, which in many cases tended to be the Wehrmacht's own troops. One SS report also stated that it had a detrimental effect on morale and "caused considerable difficulty in rallying men as they watched their former comrades in arms devouring enemies or allies.". For the Germans, this was only the first misstep on the road to perfection. Next, Himmler chose a corps of especially racially pure SS officers, whom, after participating in a "Blood Ritual" believed to be an oath of eternal service devised by the SS Paranormal Ops teams, he had ritually slaughtered. Using some arcane means, he had the souls of these men implanted in specially created hosts.

These hosts were to be the leaders of Hitlers new Dark Army. The BA/S department through the use of historical documents, dug up the remains of dead knights of the Teutonic orders of old, and had their bones placed in specially designed armor, daubed in runic symbols sacred to the SS. Ritually sealed, and imbued with the souls of resurrected SS officers, they walked again. As they had no human body to limit them, these creatures had near limitless strength, and were equipped with weapons that would slow a normal man to a crawl, such as the feared MG42, or Flamethrowers... some wielded darker weapons that they brought back from the other side with them. To make matters even worse for the Allies, they were virtually indestructible.

Hitlers new dark Teutonic Order were the perfect leaders for his armies of undeath. The new "Scheusal Mk. II" was programmed with a spell that bound it to the will of the Black Knight leading the company. Driven by his fanatical will and murderous intent, they became devastatingly effective soldiers, only killed by headshots, and frightfully strong, they could rip men to shreds. The SS also made the morale improvement of masking the faces of the reincarnated dead with gas masks, and giving the detachments names like "SS Plague Weapons Division" and the like, to keep average soldiers away.

They were first tested at the city of Leningrad, a place of much consternation to the Third Reich. The siege had dragged on for almost as long as the armies of the Reich had been in in Russia. The people, starving and weak, held on with dogged determination, and no end seemed in sight. Himmler thought of this as his chance at a shining achievement for his aptly named "Deaths Head Legion".

They took the city in three days. The unstoppable hordes of undead smashed through the barricades, and butchered the defenders. Where fortified buildings gave the horrified Red Army soldiers a chance to slow the oncoming horde of monstrosities, they were blasted or burned out by unstoppable Black Knights. The ravening horde then fell upon the populace. Only a few living SS officers joined the dead army to observe their effectiveness, and barely any remained sane enough to report back what they had witnessed in those two terrible days. Through them, and the transcribed ramblings, they gathered reports of soldiers feasting on flesh, and the Knights feasting on something darker still... souls, ripped screaming from their human forms, and devoured. When the German Army entered on the sixth day, they found the fortress city nothing but a charnel shell. The streets ran with blood, piles of corpses were everywhere and the air hung heavy with horror. Nothing was left alive, all was consumed. It was a victory that had not been seen since Paris, and the German people would know none of it. The press corps was not allowed within a mile of the city, and signs like "Verboten, Typhus!" cropped up everywhere. For the SS and Himmler, however, spirits could not be higher, and Hitler would use this dark army to crush the resistance at Stalingrad.

It was not until the battle of Moscow that the tide could be turned. The battle of Moscow had dragged on for weeks, even with the army of the unliving, but progress was steady. With its ranks swollen by the harvest at Leningrad and Stalingrad, and every Red Army army soldier that fell became a new recruit. Sometimes, the DA/S department wouldn't fully program the newly dead, and would simply unleash the mindless, hungering fiend on the populace of Moscow. Many reports were taken by Commissars of men screaming and raving about dead brothers and friends coming back to eat them before finally shooting themselves. Himmler took particular pleasure upon hearing such dispatches.

The Allies, desperate for a countermeasure, had pooled their resources to develop a weapon against the undead legion. Stalin gathered every Gypsy, palm reader, fortune teller, and tested them ruthlessly to find those who were truly gifted, and those who were not. The psychics who succeeded, went on to further training, those that did not, were shot to preserve secrecy. The survivors were put through rigorous training that enabled them to sever the energy linking the Dark Knights from their soldiers, and in some cases, free the tormented souls of their undead shells completely. The Dark Knights however, had joined willingly, and so were much more difficult to spiritually removed, all alone however, they could finally be destroyed with overwhelming firepower. Further, the psychic weapons provided some shielding against the darker powers wielded by the Knights, and the Cultists which had joined the ranks.

Not to be outdone, British Military Intelligence, and the Office of Strategic Services began work on what became known at the highest levels of the western allied governments as the Spiritual Warfare Division. With aid from the Vatican, weapons to combat the dark arts were developed. Shotgun shells filled with exorcised salt as well as lead were produced, bullets with holy water ampules contained inside, flamethrowers with blessed oils from the holiest churches in Christendom, knives and bayonettes were blessed and hammered out of silver and steel from Crucifixes. Joined by willing Priests drawn from all the Allied countries, Poland, America, Free France and even some Italian refugees. There was even an Indian battalion, where Shaman and holy men from the Apache, Comanche, and Sioux joined the ranks. Now even the very Earth rose in anger against the unholy Reich. These men, trained like soldiers, but with the hearts of clergymen, when the time finally came led the assault on Castle Wewelsburg.

The Siege of Castle Wewelsburg became the battle for the soul of humanity. While largely kept out of the press until after the battle, it was well known to people of the world that the dark forces unleashed by the Nazis had to be contained and destroyed, or they would overwhelm everything in time. This became especially clear when the Nazi's, in desperation, attempted to use bloated zombies to cross the channel at the Pas de Calais. While almost all were destroyed in direct action by the Spiritual Warfare division, a few managed to slip through the protective cordon and wreaked havoc on close in land towns, causing many to be Quarantined until the undead menace could be quelled. As the Western Allies mustered their forces for battle at Wewelsburg, the Russians had turned their new psychic weapons into the physical manifestation of Slavic vengeance.

At Wewelsburg, the allies began with a mechanized assault, using specially blessed and exorcised tanks and armored fighting vehicles, resistant to the corrupting and corrosive spells wielded by the Cultists and Knights, as well as the new "Pentagramic Shells" and "Baphomet Cannons" developed by the BA/S department. Which had flayed the souls of so many soldiers of the Allies. Allied artillery, inscribed with prayers of exorcism and purification pounded the walls of the Nazi fortress, finally breaching the gate, and allowing allied infantry inside.

Hundreds died as Himmler unleashed his newest creation, the Ende Garde, or Death Guard. Huge flesh golems created out of the congealed flesh of SS dead, were only a half dozen in number, still in the test phase, but proved insanely tough to kill. Slowly but surely, they were lured outside, to be destroyed by lightning from the hands of Shaman, combined fire from the blessed weapons of the SW Division soldiers, or in one case banished by the hands of a single SW Division Priest. Only then could they fight their way into the bowels of the black citadel. Fighting through fanatical SS Troops, driven to depravity and insanity by the dark forces they had been exposed to, the Western Allies discovered the true depths to which the evil Reich had sunk.

In the miles of excavated catacombs beneath the castle, untold horrors were discovered, few SW Division soldiers would speak about what they saw, even to high command, but what reports could be compiled defy belief. Piles of plague infected concentration camp victims lay ready for reanimation, to be sent via the channel to England, and specially designed U-boats to the coast of America. Body parts and organs of fallen Waffen SS daubed in vile magick runes, lay in semi congealed soup, ready for injection into molds that would allow for easy mass production of the Ende Garde super soldiers. It was clear that Himmler to produce these on a scale similar to the Scheusal Soldaten, and had them led by the Dark Knights. Given only a few months more, the Third Reich would have overwhelmed and swept aside the armies of the Allies in an unstoppable wave of dead flesh. More alarming, it came to the attention of the OSS that the SS Paranormal Ops division had begun to merge the cultists and Dark Knights, creating near indestructible undead warriors, that could raise freshly dead soldiers right on the battlefield. Distressingly, none of the few that remained could be found, and had apparently escaped into the woods of the Rhineland.

Perhaps the most famous of the British answers against the Nazi's new Teutonic Order was Lieutenant-Colonel Jack Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill, more commonly known as "Mad Jack" by his troops and "Britannia Triumphant" among the public. Leading a handpicked squad of Commandos, Churchill's primary mission was to seek and destroy Black Knights. His legendary success can be attributed both to his personal character, and to the sword that was his primary weapon: what many historians agree was Excalibur itself. Regardless of the sword's identity, there are numerous eyewitness accounts of it shining brightly as Churchill used it to cut Black Knights in half--the same horrors that had taken artillery rounds without pause. Churchill also is claimed to have been able to disrupt the magic controlling a Scheusal's mental processes by playing a set of bagpipes, but these allegations have yet to be given proper documentation. Churchill's Commando group was handpicked from England's finest; being knighted for exceptional gallantry was a must before any man could even be considered for selection. The British propaganda corps noticed this, and dubbed this Commando group "The New Round Table." "Never have so many owed so much to so few." Winston Churchill's words, after the defense of London, where he led from the front with Tommy gun in hand, and was saved by Mad Jack's timely relief.

Among his most notable deeds were the development of the Pendragon Rounds. Jack Churchill was more than able to destroy a Black Knight at three hundred paces with this ammunition, which burned like a flare, and screamed like and eagle when fired. To this day, no one knows their exact composition, because Mad Jack took their secret to the grave, back in 1996. He also participated in the action that would make his name synonomous with British ingenuity and daring, in a commando raid on a Norwegian installation that gave the British forces their first Black Knight to analyze. Armed only with his trusty sword and aided only by his lieutenant known to most records only as “Percy”, he managed to capture twenty-seven SS soldiers and, inexplicably, an active Black Knight.
Stalin, not wishing to tip his hand about his newly developed psychic weapons, had told SHAEF that he simply didn't have the forces available to aid in the destruction of Wewelsburg. This would come back to bite the Soviets in the Korean Suppression, as armor technology captured from the Nazis would lead to the development of the US "M8-Patton" Personal Tank, a massive suit of diesel fueled powered armor. Regardless, he massed his psychic soldiers, whom had used the years of German defeats and retreat to develop not only psychic defense, but psychic weapons against the Wehrmacht. On the outskirts of Berlin, soldiers began going insane, shooting themselves or their comrades, or simply walking out into the guns of the avenging Soviets. Women threw themselves and their children from windows, the old and the invalid dying of terror induced heart attacks as nightmares from the Eastern Front were transmitted directly into their brains. Tanks crumpled as incredible unseen force held them in a vice like grip. The captured were forced to slit their own throats, "To save us the ammunition..." one Commissar noted, "these fascist pigs are not worth the bullet." The truest revenge came in the final days of April, 1945. Until then, Hitler had proved remarkably resistant to psychic attack, his mind incredibly strong, as if driven and reinforced by a darker and stronger intelligence. Deep within his psychicly shielded bunker, and surrounded by psychic defectors from the USSR, he remained impervious to assassination attempts by psychic agents. So Stalin's agents chose to isolate him, first and easiest to turn was Goering, as they stoked the fires of his ambition. Each of his Generals, one at a time, accepted defeat and turned on him, the seeds of Soviet victory planted in their fear fevered brains.

Eventually, paranoia, defeat, the malign influence of the darkness he sought to harness, and above all the despair of lonelyness weakened Hitler, until he too became vulnerable. The breakthrough was made by a psychic agent, known even to this day only as Agent Ivan. No concrete reports exist or have been declassified to this day of the exact events, but a Soviet defector during the following cold war spoke of Stalin psychicly being witness to Hitler's suicide, through the ministrations of Agent Ivan. With the death of Hitler, the strongest link in the chain that connected the Reich with the forces of darkness snapped, and Nazi paranormal activity dropped to near zero. Stalin ordered that great show be made to beguile the Allies into believing that the rumored Soviet Psychic Agency was indeed just rumor, and that would prevent the development of psychic counter measures like those used by the Nazis.

Unfortunately for mankind, the few Black Knights that had escaped scattered themselves to the four winds. They would only emerge again at the head of a horde of undeath, usually reaping a frightful harvest before being defeated again, and driven away. It became the personal quest of "Mad Jack" Churchill to hunt down the last of these creatures, and to the day he died he protected the world against those who would use the dark arts to further there own agendas. For the people of Russia however, their suffering was not yet ended. Leningrad became a haunted shell of a city. After the war ended, the Soviet government tried to have it repopulated, only to find that a single unimaginably powerful Dark Knight had taken up the city as his own blasted citadel. Allied Intelligence believes, but cannot conclusively prove, that this creature is in fact Heinrich Himmler. Unwilling to fight for the tormented shadow city, the Russians gathered the most potent of their Psychic Agents, and walled the city off as the Agents erected a psychic dome of energy, sealing it forever. The dome must be forever maintained by the Psychic Agency, or the horrors contained within could be unleashed on a war weary world. So it remains to this day, the Dark Knight encapsulated in his psychic prison, plotting against the world of the living, waiting for the day of his release to haunt the steps of Man again.

Legalities of the Fort Hood Shooting

2009-11-07T12:57:00.000-08:00

In continuation of my attempt to resume using this blog, I thought that I'd share a bit of legal theory-crafting that I was doing earlier. In the light of the Fort Hood shooting, I began examining the legalities of the situation, particularly if the attacker, MAJ Nidal Malik Hasan, had hypothetically been a member of a foreign militant organization. I think that this is a very interesting legal question because it is a good example of where the lines are drawn insofar as international wartime law is concerned.

Here are the following questions that would have to be looked at under the Hague conventions and by extension the other international war conduct treaties. If you are unfamiliar with the event, then crawl out from under your rock and check out the fantastic New York Times article by spot news Pulitzer veteran Robert McFadden about the incident (especially its fantastically written ending):

1) Is the man (hereafter called the Agent) a soldier of an enemy army or militia? Or alternatively, does the Taliban / Al Qaeda / Sadr Militia count as an army or militia, seeing as it is a political organization that doesn't really control a country? On this note, I think the answer is probably yes, but there is some room for debate.

2) Assuming the above is true, do the laws of war apply to the Agent? This seems unlikely due to the actions of the organizations in question. Article 1 of the Hague code would indicate that they have not fulfilled the requisite conditions:

Article 1, Chapter I, Section I of the Regulations Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, of the Hague Convention

The laws, rights, and duties of war apply not only to armies, but also to militia and volunteer corps fulfilling the following conditions:

To be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;
To have a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance;
To carry arms openly; and
To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.

In countries where militia or volunteer corps constitute the army, or form part of it, they are included under the denomination "army."

3) Assuming that the laws of war did apply to the Agent, would his actions be a war crime? In this case, I would say yes. He violated two clauses of Article 23 of the Hague convention, killing and wounding treacherously as well as making improper use of an enemy uniform and insignia (meaning wearing it while attacking, as opposed to using it for reconnaissance or a so-called ruse of war).

4) Separately, are the soldiers at Fort Hood legal war targets? All indications point to yes. The base is guarded, and the soldiers are not convalescing or otherwise to be considered noncombatants. The civilians in the area would be considered collateral damage so long as they were not targeted specifically. Of course, for such an attack to be considered legal under international law, it would have to be conducted legally and by a legitimate army.

5) As such, the Agent would not be protected under international wartime law, as he did not abide by that law (indeed he violated it flagrantly). He would then be tried as an unlawful combatant, and thus would be judged under the domestic laws of the United States.

So enough of the hypothetical theory-crafting, what's really going to happen to the guy? Is he going to hang or are his lawyers going to say he's crazy? Probably both. His lawyers are going to plead not guilty by reason of incompetence (PTSD most likely), and the government is going to quash that like a ripe fruit. As far as I know the guy hasn't even been overseas. They'll ask for the death penalty and they'll probably get it too (this is Texas after all). Even if they didn't need to send a message to other would-be war objectors that this sort of thing gets put down with prejudice, this many murders would land a man in the hot seat regardless of the circumstance.

I once covered a similar case with a former military man who kidnapped and later killed his wife here in Oregon. His lawyers claimed he had PTSD, but the jury sentenced him to death anyways. The defense just isn't that strong, especially because the jury sees only a sane man and not a lunatic.

My only real question is whether they are going to try him under the UCMJ in a General Court-Martial with a JAG lawyer, a military judge and a five serviceman panel, or if they are going to turn him over to the civilian authorities to be tried in a Texan district court. Personally I'd prefer the former in this case, but I'm sure the Pentagon will get a lot of pressure to put him into state hands; whomever represents the guy will have a heck of a time deciding which one would be better for his client.

Rogue Praetorians?

2009-11-06T23:11:00.000-08:00

It has been quite a while since I last updated this blog, as Twitter seems to have sated most of my creative and informative writing urges. But fear not! I've recently come up with an array of stuff that I would like to share, and I'm going to be putting out some of it over the next few weeks. First a little writing, then perhaps some old photography (for real this time). Who knows where my semi-productiveness will take me?

In any case, a review: I recently came across an audiobook of Jeremy Scahill's seminal work, Blackwater: World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, which I had heard so much about in some of the more excitedly liberal circles. If the topic (American mercenaries in Iraq acting as modern-day Praetorians that are exempt from oversight) was not enough of a hook, the cover art surely was.

Unfortunately while it was interesting listening to the book, honestly I was a little disappointed. Blackwater came across as being too much of a YouTube indictment, with the author wringing his hands over minor anecdotes rather than putting together a cohesive narrative. He seems to expect the reader to be rah-rahing him on, and without a healthy topping of righteous indignation the work rings rather hollow. But it simply is hard not to notice that his book, though extensive, is principally just conjecture and recantation of relatively well-known news stories. To top it off, Scahill's roughshod approach to military parlance and culture makes him appear rather confused and inexpert in a topic that clearly deserves a more considered hand.

While I went into the work looking forward to a stirring and fascinating take on one of the most controversial horrors of the Bush era, I came to a limpwristed finish thinking that if these were the worst examples to be found, then perhaps the usage of mercenaries in Iraq probably wasn't all that bad. Amusingly enough, this was much the conclusion of Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, though he later partially apologized for his confrontational attitude.

The most memorable example of this sort of thing was when Scahill details an action where enlisted US soldiers join Blackwater contractors in fending off thousands of advancing Iraqis armed with small arms, RPGs and mortars. In the midst of describing this hours-long firefight that ends only after American gunships show up to put down the mob, Scahill chastises Blackwater for potentially creating the conflict by firing warning shots, according to unnamed sources. After raising the issue, he then seems to dismiss it entirely in a sort of "We report, you decide" parody of Fox News. The author further expects the reader to join him in an eye-rolling reproach of a soldier who asks the Blackwater mercs (who are typically highly experienced and ex-special forces) for permission to fire in absence of a US officer or noncom.

In short, while I admire the ability of the author to pick a great topic and then to write an even better jacket cover, I was sadly discouraged by his lack of follow-through. The only thing that he convinced me of is that writing about Blackwater is a fantastic way to use the term Praetorian Guards, and otherwise I should remember to look for good journalism from experienced organizations like the Washington Post, not well-meaning Democracy Now! hacks.

As a parting shot in this unashamedly negative review, I was most amused by the opinion of Publishers Weekly on the book. Not only did it ravage Scahill for his "scare language", but it applauds audio narrator Tom Weiner's cool baritone delivery for balancing out the histrionics of the text. It would appear that this is one of the few works where the narration not only improves the content, but outshines it completely.

Camp Awesome

2009-09-21T00:16:00.001-07:00

I've been meaning to update this thing for a while, but Twitter has been fulfilling most of my "hey look at this" quota lately. I'm preparing a bunch of old photos to share though, hopefully I'll be able to get those done and post them Soon (tm).

I did want to share my love for the TV series Survival School (or as I liked to called it: Camp Awesome). Freely available on Hulu, it follows a platoon of US Air Force airmen through the environmental survival sections of SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) School for air jockies. Typically there is around a 40 percent graduation rate, though in this show it's around 80 percent (it's hard to tell if that is due to the effect of the cameras putting a damper on the harshness of the training or to the prowess of the students.)

It's a three-month course that takes the students through hell and back in some of the toughest areas of Washington, Alaska and Florida. Think Survivorman meets Full Metal Jacket and daily ruck marches. While at first I was a little skeptical of a bunch of flyboys fucking around in the woods, they end up facing off with some pretty serious hypothermia, bloody wounds and gnarly ass jungle bugs. Nearly all the students end up on the medic's stretcher at one point or another, and several are medevaced for life-threatening conditions.

These guys basically live in the wild off of what they can build out of an ejection seat and trees for months, and in the last episode they accidentally face a textbook example of those rain-induced hypothermic conditions that we're concerned about. Definitely worth checking out if you're into this sort of thing, if only to see a guy rip a cow's eye out of its skull with his teeth and eat it raw.

Oregon soldiers due to deploy

2009-07-03T19:52:00.000-07:00

My friends, 2LT Thomas Harding and SPC Alexander Newman, and most of the rest of the Oregon Army National Guards's 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, completed their final mobilization training Thursday at Fort Stewart, Ga., and are preparing to ship out to Iraq shortly.

For those who have friends or family in the Oregon National Guard, this would be a good time to call them up to say your goodbyes if you haven't already.

Oregon Military Department:

The Brigade's deployment to Iraq will be the largest war-time deployment of the Oregon National Guard since World War II. It will be three times larger that the Brigade's recent deployment to Afghanistan in 2006-2007 and will involve the entire Brigade of 3,400 Soldiers and will affect every community in the state.

To those about to deploy: Good hunting and godspeed.

BrightBike by Mandiberg

2009-06-22T14:26:00.001-07:00

Huh, this is a pretty cool cyclist idea, mixed with a smart and quick presentation via social media. Check it out.

To: Iran

2009-06-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

To: Iran

You have the support of the Free World. We are now approaching the sixtieth anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, when the international community stood up against the forces of oppression. And we did so again in 1963 when the Soviets erected the Berlin Wall in an attempt to imprison their own population, and Kennedy famously came to the city of West Berlin and declared "Ich bin ein Berliner." Now we are all Iranians. Freedom knows no master.

From: Tristan Coolen, democrat

p.s. Be sure to check out the title link at the top, it's pretty good. Also, here's a link to the Time magazine if you want to check out what's inside.

In Defense of CNN

2009-06-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

There's been a lot of talk about the failures of CNN and the mainstream media to cover the Iranian elections. I touched on this in my last blog entry, but I wanted to expand on it.

Principally the complaints are two-parted: That coverage is wholly insufficient and then that what little coverage there is seems to be hesitant to stray from the Iranian government line. Mainstream media journalists are seemingly ignoring the tidal wave of information pouring forth out of the social media networks, and instead merely saying that "President Ahmadinejad retained his position according to the official election process with 65 percent of the vote. Ayatollah Khomeini released a statement Monday inviting Mousavi and his supporters to identify ballot areas that they would like to be recounted."

Meanwhile frantic Iranian Twitterers are reporting millions of marchers and blood in the streets.

In defense of CNN, I think some might be getting a little confused by the way journalists write. "Official reports" mean that they are the reports that are coming from government officials, not that they are objectively true. The editing process is a lot more stringent than people think, but part of that means that things have to be written in a certain way or it takes inches and inches to explain.

Professional journalists try to limit themselves to attributable statements and provable facts, and that's why they are having a tough time writing about a movement that is heavily based on rumor and anonymous Internet users.

As a joe-blow citizen, I can write: "That hick Ahmadinejad rigged the election and now his goons are killing peaceful demonstrators. It's an affront to democracy everywhere and the entire world should damn him and Khomeini for it." But if I'm working as a journalist then I can't say any of that because I have no proof or attributable sources and I need to avoid editorializing.

The journalistic industry as a whole is totally averse to printing anything that is unsubstantiated, and if you want to print a quote from an anonymous source (or often just somebody's first name) then you usually have to get all sorts of people to sign off on you doing it. And for good reason. It isn't good enough to simply say, "Here's what someone might have said, we have no proof that it is at all true and we can't say who said it," because that's a just a quick trip to fictitious stories and libel suits.

That doesn't excuse mainstream media for letting stupid shit sit on their front pages and interviewing the Jonas brothers while people are dying in the streets, but you have to recognize the position they are in - either they have to find a way to report on hearsay or they have to play the same stuff over and over.

Journalists shouldn't remain mute if they know of a good story in the making, but there's a need to hold their enthusiasm somewhat. Let Twitter and YouTube have the glory of the 24-hour live coverage, and focus on getting it right. Hell, baseless journalism from overexcited journalists making assumptions is what helped get us into Iraq.

Twittering the Iran Election

2009-06-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

I've been spending much of the last day or so online watching the Iran election and Twittering about it. My previous resistance to using Twitter seems to have dissipated, especially because I found a gadget that allowed me to put it onto my iGoogle homepage as well as automatically update it to my Facebook and Blog. Very easy to use on a whim, and it goes out to a wide range of people.

The Iranian elections have been carried almost entirely online, with mainstream media sources being limited by both logistics as well as Iranian government authorities prohibiting coverage. Instead of my television, people have been using Web proxies to use online services like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and more.

It's interesting to see how each event like this seems to have these social media sources rapidly outpacing the mainstream news. Part of this is because of the limitations upon journalists to avoid publishing hearsay, but CNN and the BBC seem to be falling further behind each time.

This is particularly true for events that affect broad range of people and have significant duration. Previous examples are the attacks in Mumbai, or even the original RNC convention that put Twitter on the map. At this point the mainstream media is putting out information that is hours out of date and is therefore pretty worthless. The signal to noise ratio is definitely lower, but the sheer amount of output and self-correction is making for some incredible coverage.

For example, Iranian students like this one have been providing live coverage during brutal attacks upon the student dorms by Iranian Hezbollah. A very different, visceral kind of journalism.

Additionally, major blogs and news agencies are beginning to really incorporate this kind of social media into their reporting. Places like the Huffington Post are following trending topics like #IranElection in order to collate good information and collective it, while larger news agencies such as CNN International are contacting popular Twitter users in order to gather first-person sources.

It's a changing world. Of course, there's no money in it either.

Paths of Good Intentions

2009-06-07T20:37:00.001-07:00

I was talking to some people online about national actions and good intentions. It was argued that the United States doesn't have good intentions and that it doesn't act sufficiently selflessly. It was argued that we should hold nations up to higher standards, because those nations that act in their own self-interest are immoral and evil. I disagreed, not because I support selfishness, but because I thought it was an unrealistic standard. I was asked what my definition of "good intentions" would be, and here was my reply:

I'd say that people in general have good intentions, as do nations, but there are also going to be ulterior motives at play. That's just human nature. We act in our own best interest, and indeed our democratically-elected representatives are expected to prioritize national interests.

What this means is that we do what we can, and we're trying to do better, but it is impossible to expect a nation to always act for the "global good" (whatever that may be).

The Rwandan wars and genocides are a perfect example of the complexity of national actions and ethics versus their abilities and responsibilities. The whole stems out of such a complex interaction of causes and effects that it is impossible to determine who is in the right.

The Belgians had brutally colonized the country, established a racist system of government that engendered hate on all sides, and then tried to rectify the situation by splitting the country in two. However, by doing so it led directly to war and genocide. When the Belgians saw what was happening, they evacuated all the whites and quietly took their leave.

The Belgian actions created a civil war in the name of democracy and independence, and each side of the conflict committed genocide upon the other, driving the others across the country at the point of a sword. A power-sharing agreement was put into place when the dust settled, but it still left two million Hutu refugees with many militias intermingled. The UN asks for help, but everyone recognizes that the whole thing is such a shit storm that no one wants to get involved. The U.S. didn't put troops on the ground to deliver security, but it did deliver food directly and via NGOs. Israel, France and a small contingent of European nations offered medical care and a limited amount of security.

Those resources then caused riots and deaths and were abused by the militia to exert control. Recognizing such, the U.S., the NGOs and the other Western nations left. Many more refugees died of disease, and political instability further empowered the militias. The UN called for support, and no others wanted to get involved. After asking 40 other nations, Cold War anti-communist and then-dictator of Zaire, Mobuto Seko, offered troops to instill some level of security. It worked for a limited amount of time, but when Zaire's political instability became too great it spread to Rwanda and set off the genocide and two of the deadliest wars since World War II.

Congo, Uganda, and other neighboring countries get involved. Many different militias get involved. Leaders from all backgrounds get involved. Some help, such as the now-famous Canadian general Romeo Dallaire. Some worsen the situation. Eventually the sheer amount of death and destruction seemed to bring the remaining warring parties together to create coalition government that still has huge problems. There's still so many resistant militias out in the forest that some consider the civil war to still continue. A war that started, in many ways, back in 1963, with the end of colonial rule. Between two groups whose differences are extremely arbitrary, and are really just a function of history rather than culture or race.

Who are the good guys and who are the bad ones? Belgium, France, Israel and the U.S. are the only nations in the world to contribute significantly to halt the fighting, and they all have been simultaneously lambasted for making it worse, and for not doing more. Were they in the wrong for trying to help out? Was Belgium in the wrong for granting independence in the first place? These questions don't have satisfactory answers, and they just aren't useful.

For the UN and the NGOs this was a huge crisis of conscience, and displayed the limitations inherent in institutions that operate without cooperation with military forces. They withdrew from a nation that needed them most, because they thought they were making it worse. And then, after reorganizing and reexamining their mandate, they did it again in Sudan.

So who should we assume had good intentions? I don't think it matters that much. I'm sure most did, but then again the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Fundamentally the people who started the wars didn't have motivations particularly different from the ones who ended it, they just had a different perspective. No one was completely blameless in this mess, but most had motivations that were seated in ending the genocide.

If I've learned anything about politics, is that it is best to not spend a lot of time questioning the motivations, and to focus on moving forward towards solutions that people can agree on. It's nice to be able to sit down and point fingers and blame people for this and that, but it doesn't really get anywhere productive because everyone is guilty of mistakes, and things always end up turning out unexpectedly, particularly in a war. Peace is a better goal than moral victory, and in 20 years they can set up a Truth and Reconciliation commission to try and work out the ghosts.

So what is my definition of "good intentions"? It's trying to make things better for those you care about, hopefully without hurting too many people in the process. I think that's the only real standard that's worth anything. Judging people's morals by the results of their actions is a crapshoot.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T23:55:00.001-07:00

A wee bit of humor I came across on this most happy of holidays. Slainte!

An Ode to the ODE

2009-03-06T08:47:00.000-08:00

In talking about the Oregon Daily Emerald strike, I was reminded of the poem "First they came…", by Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about political apathy. While I originally raised the poem in a purely sardonic manner, the more I read it the more I feel its author would feel comfortable that I cite it in relation to our small contest. Unionists, schools and the press are often included in the list, and ultimately the point of the poem is that no fight is too small to be fought - we are all part of the larger community.

Original (1976):

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.

Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.

Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

Als sie die Juden holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Jude.

Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.

Translation:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

ODE On Strike

2009-03-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

If you work or go to school at the University of Oregon, I'm sure you've heard by now: The Oregon Daily Emerald is on strike!

The Newsroom has decided to cease production in response to Board of Directors actions that threaten the independence of our student-run paper. We published an explanatory editorial this morning, and have already seen a wave of support from the community, including the ASUO Executive. Journalists from around the country have shown an interest in the story, and we have already succeeded in one of our goals: namely preventing the shoe-in of Steve Smith as publisher.

Visit http://independentjournalism.wordpress.com/ for more information.

The Thin Green Line

2009-02-08T18:42:00.000-08:00

Wow. This is really bad news from BoingBoing. The Speaker of the House released this happy little graphic that compares the current monthly job loss rate to the previous recessions in 2001 and 1990. See that green line that looks like it saw a $20 bill on the ground? That's us.

Wordle

2009-02-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

Wordle.net is a fantastic little toy that takes a bunch of text, or a website with RSS, and turns it into a text graphic that looks amazing. You can play with the fonts, the colors, the orientation, and much more. Loads of fun. Here's the Wordle version of my site. Check it out.

Here's the Wordle version of my newspaper's website, dailyemerald.com.

Limitations of the UN

2009-01-31T09:47:00.000-08:00

I've been discussing elements surrounding the US military budget for more than a week now on SomethingAwful. It is a frustrating topic, and difficult to render into blog format for the most part. But I did write a bit on the limitations of the UN that I wanted to share:

(This was in response to the statement, "This is a bigger problem, but I can't think of many situations where you wouldn't be able to convince the UN to intervene, but should intervene yourself.")

I think that the genocide in Darfur was a clear example of a time where there was a mandate for international intervention. However, due to the lack of public support for the wars in the Middle East, the US waited for UN leadership that never materialized. Sudan is a symbol of the limitations of the UN system.

That analysis is based on several things: a historical perspective on the elements of past successful UN missions, the similar relationship between US involvement in Somalia and its lack of action in Rwanda, and a good understanding of the political events surrounding the tragedy in Darfur.

Successful UN missions (whether they be interventionary or merely health initiatives) have always relied upon strong leadership by one of the members of the Security Council. This is part of the system, primarily because attempting action without support of any of the world powers is a fool's errand. However, this limits the initiative of the body itself, and difficult decisions quickly become deadlocked without unilateral impetus by a first-world nation - often the US.

You could see this same situation play out in Rwanda in 1994. A growing crisis generated international outcry, but no UN action. The US had adopted an isolationist policy after Somalia, and no other nation was willing to take a leadership role in creating a coalition. The result was a confused and timid UN response to a genocide that ended only when the rebels drove off the murdering regime.

The response to the Darfur crisis was the same situation: the US has grown isolationist due to the lack of public support in the Iraq war, and limited its response to the political arena. Other nations deemed the situation too risky, and China / Russia actually gave arms to the Sudanese government that is decimating the population. Nothing happened, and the conflict has now escalated into the surrounding regions.

More generally, Sudan has seen civil war and genocide for the last 20 years, and the UN has done little more than ship in US-supplied food aid. Legal confusion, double-dealing and complicity, and cowardly support from the world community systematically mar UN missions. You can recognize the US' hesitation in putting more of its resources under UN control. The US has been pushing for UN managerial reform for years now, and its nonpayment of assays is part of that (despite which the US still shoulders the largest part of the UN's costs). Until those reforms go through, it will remain likely that tragedies like Rwanda and Sudan will continue.

Huffington Post Review

2009-01-21T09:11:00.000-08:00

The Huffington Post considers itself to be an Internet newspaper, and in many ways this seems to be a good description of its content. It has a centerpiece front page, with an important news story featured prominently so that all viewers will read it. It has different sections that focus on different kinds of news, like the Politics, Entertainment or Style sections. There are style palettes, standardized formatting, and the other trappings of a regulated news source. The site even has the same type of in-body ads that support print newspapers.

But there is much more to the site than merely being an electronic version of a common print newspaper. It is filled with multimedia - photos, slide shows and videos dominate the website - as well as a host of other web devices. Links, RSS feeds, search functions and menus can be found on all of the pages - nearly overwhelming the reader with their potential functionality.

Interestingly enough, there is also plenty of content that is not produced by the Huffington Post staff at all. It is also something of a public forum. There are extensive user blogs (some are even featured via the editorial sections!) comment sections, where registered users can post their reactions to news stories (though they are unfortunately limited in their ability to interact with each other rather than the original story). There are also links to content produced by other news organizations, such as this CNN video, plenty of AP photos, or even links off the site altogether.

However, while this visual vibrancy is refreshing after the staidness of the standard print newspaper, there are also some truly bizarre parts of the website that don't seem to work well. The mass variety of content is incredible, but it also makes for a confusing diversity in tone. Some of the stories are serious, considered news pieces, others are entertaining puff pieces, while others are satirical and should not be taken seriously. Without clear and obvious indications of which is which it can become a difficult and confusing way to look at news.

So in summation, while the Huffington Post website does appear to be a good one, it also seems to have some room to grow. The Wikipedia-esque level of cross-linking and depth in the site is fun and engaging (there must be six different ways to find a specific story, each good in its own way), but much of the functionality is poorly explained (if at all). And while it is good to have a news source that is willing to show its readers more than the small amount of information that its staff can produce, the multiplicity of sources can also prove quite confusing.

After perusing the website for this class review, I plan to continue coming back and using the site for my own news needs. However, I probably won't be recommending the site to my less computer-literate friends and family. The site's functionality (such as its openness to Google Reader and other aggregate generators) is fantastic, but it also seems to get in the way of readability.

Legend of Zelda Solo/Quintet

2009-01-11T14:02:00.001-08:00

The last part (hopefully) of my 'YouTube videos with little or no explanation' trilogy.

School is Back in Session

2009-01-04T14:31:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T20:36:00.001-08:00

How's the weather?

The Oregonian Triages Eugene Area

2008-12-19T23:52:00.001-08:00

Looks like the mainstay Oregon newspaper, The Oregonian, is pulling up its roots in Eugene and Springfield, and is to stop delivering dailies in order to save money on printing costs. I first heard about this from Newspaper Deathwatch, the reaper-like website that has been watching the fall of the industry of 'black, white and read all over'. As a journalism-major this is all a little less than reassuring.

The news came from my mother in a phone call.

Had I seen The Oregonian's letter announcing the end of daily delivery? Seems rising newsprint and distribution costs make it too expensive for The Oregonian to bring its papers to home or retail outlets in Eugene-Springfield on a daily basis, apart from Sunday.

My own letter from The Oregonian's circulation director lay in the unopened mail pile. Another busy day of leaving early and getting home late. I'd managed to start off right by reading the Register-Guard and Oregonian before leaving my house at 6:00 a.m., but hadn't opened the mail after rushing home that night.

The letter was kind. A model of strength-based reassurance. The Oregonian knows its decision to stop visiting my house every morning is a loss, for me and for each and every one of the readers. While the newspaper won't be found in retail outlets in Oregon's second largest metropolitan area, it will arrive on Sunday and web content is available 24/7.

Now all I want for Christmas is for The Oregonian to keep landing somewhere in my yard by 6:00 a.m.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/myoregon/2008/12/waking_up_to_a_morning_without.html

Weather Warning

2008-12-14T19:23:00.000-08:00

Winter travelers living in the Willamette Valley should rethink any travel plans this week. A severe storm front has resulted a sudden drop in expected temperatures over the next week. Wind and weather warnings have been issued from the National Weather Service and police officials. The Eugene area is expected to stay below freezing through Thursday, with lows of 16F (-10C) on Monday and Tuesday. The Portland area, the Gorge and southern Washington should experience the worst of it though.

Be careful out there, most Oregon drivers aren't experienced with icy conditions. Beware of bridges, and if you live on a hill then it might be a good idea to bunker up and park your car at the bottom of the hill - just in case.

edit: That snow showed up, it sure is pretty.

My dad first let me know about this a couple days ago, thanks dad:

National Weather Services warns that the weather systems headed for Oregon and SW Washington could bring some of the “coldest weather in several years.” A combination of factors, from low pressure systems coming from the Gulf of Alaska to an Arctic air mass moving in from Canada, are forecast to deliver very cold temperatures, snow – particularly in the Cascades and Coast Range, high tides and some coastal flooding, and strong winds both along the coast and inland.

Summary:

* The first system is forecast to arrive late tomorrow morning (Friday, 12/12) with precipitation and winds through Saturday. Snow will be significant in the Cascades, 2-3’ during this time period, and blizzard conditions are likely with the accompanying winds. The Coast Range is likely to have accumulations (7-15 inches) of snow during this time. The valley may have some accumulation of snow, 1-2” above 1,000 feet, and bursts of snow and cold rain showers with little accumulation possibility until Sunday.
* Winds with the first system are expected between 30-40 mph and gusting to 60-70 mph on the coast. The Coast Range may experience winds 30-40 mph and gusting to 65 mph. In the valley winds are forecast at 20-30 mph sustained and 45 mph gusts. Most of this wind event is anticipated to be Friday pm to Saturday am.
* Along the coast high surf from a combination of the highest tides of the year and the windstorm could cause coastal erosion and some flooding.
* Sunday the Arctic air mass will be moving in from Canada and Washington and with it very cold temperatures, from the teens and 20’s at night to highs around freezing during the day. Any precipitation on the ground, rain or snow, could freeze and become icy. As the week progresses, the forecast inland is for dryer and continued very cold weather.

Hazards:

* Transportation – be extremely careful of slippery road surfaces – from precipitation (rain, snow) to leaves and windstorm debris accumulation. If you travel, be sure you and your vehicle are fit for challenging driving conditions, that you have an emergency kit on board at all times http://www.co.benton.or.us/sheriff/ems/documents/travel-kit_brochure.pdf , and that you slow down. Do not hesitate to defer travel if conditions are extreme. Stay abreast of conditions as you consider travel, “know before you go.” www.tripcheck.com or www.weather.gov/portland are two internet resources and dial 5-1-1 for road conditions from your cell phone.
* Supplies – particularly critical supplies such as medications, fuel and food. Prepare now in case road and weather conditions limit safe travel.
* Power outages – related to the wind event, accumulations of ice and snow on tree limbs that break over power lines, accidents. Be prepared for power failure – to keep warm and have light safely. Remember, if you use alternative heating or cooking from a combustion system it must be properly vented according to manufacturer’s recommendation. Never leave an open flame unattended.
* Winds - secure loose property and holiday decorations around your house to prevent damage from strong, gusting winds.
* Frozen pipes – disconnect and drain hoses, cover foundation vents and hose bibs to insulate them. Indoors open cupboards near plumbing to allow warm air to circulate around them. Protect pipes to appliances and utility sinks in garages.
* Domestic pets – take extra precautions to protect even outdoor pets during this sustained cold spate. Consider additional shelter such as a garage or barn.
* Check in – with at least three other people who may not be able to endure a severe weather event, being housebound, or a power outage. These vulnerable populations can be in serious trouble without needed supplies, heat or light and check on them can make all of the difference in the world. If you’re someone who may have a tough time dealing with cold, power outage or being shut-in, reach out and let others know that you’d value a visit, a check-in. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how many people would love to extend a hand, but may not know how.

The cold weather coming may last longer than one week. Stay abreast of changes as forecasts are updated and extended. Monitor weather on local news and on the internet: National Weather Service, www.weather.gov/portland Oregon Department of Transportation at www.tripcheck.com

Roadway Advisory

2008-12-09T21:27:00.001-08:00

I love the cop's attitude in this. His tone when he says "Gah...he's gone" is just so "Nuts, darn it I hate when that happens."

Ears, Open. Eyeballs, Click.

2008-12-09T10:36:00.000-08:00

Ears, Open. Eyeballs, Click. Drill Instructor revving up a recruit during beginning pugil stick training:

DI1: Friggin' hand to hand, close fucking combat. No freaking pushing, no little sissy fucking lovetaps. Every throw you throw needs to be like your life friggin' depends on it; because (taps on watch) if you make it, it will. You understand that?
R: Yes, sir!
DI1: All the rage and aggression you have in your body needs to come out on that recruit right there. You don't know him, do you?
R: No, sir.
DI1: So there's no reason to fucking like him is there?
R: No, sir.
DI1: Take out everything you have on that kid right there, you understand?
R: Yes, sir.

[Fight commences. He wins, but hesitates to make killing blow. DI yanks on his helmet and gets in his face.]

DI2: Why did you stop, Why did you stop, WHY did you STOP, WHY DID YOU STOP, Why did you stop, WHY DID YOU STOP!? Answer the fucking question before I rip out your teeth. Why did you stop?
R: (mumbles a reply around the mouth guard)
DI2: No you didn't! You were being a little fag! You didn't want to hurt him, because you're sweet, and nice, and you don't want to friggin' kill! Get the frig away from me right damn now!

DI1: Yeah you listened, huh? I guess you're going home in a body bag. Don't worry someone else will take care a your girl.

Let the Right One In

2008-12-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

I just finished watching the beautiful yet haunting, romantic yet unsettling Swedish film Let the Right One In (yes there are subtitles). It tells the tale of two young people who find comfort from their serious inner demons in each other's polar opposite nature.

Oskar, a 12 year-old boy from a broken home, is close to the breaking point after relentless bullying and loneliness. Enter Eli, a mysterious and intriguing child who befriends Oskar and saves him from his own anger, but eventually is forced to reveal her existence as a guilt-ridden vampire.

Beautifully shot and directed by Tomas Alfredson, the film is based on the novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also wrote the screenplay. The film has swept up European film awards, but has only recently begun showing in the United States. Actress Lina Leandersson delivered a stunning performance of the quite human yet at times truly alien vampire Eli, and may well receive an Oscar nomination for it.

I truly recommend finding and watching this movie. Screenings have remained limited in the States, but Portland, OR has seen some screenings at Cinema 21, and there are some people (myself included) asking for a screening at the Bijou here in Eugene. A must see if it is shown here.

Addendum: It is interesting to compare the US and EU versions of the trailer. I put the international version at the head of the post, because I feel that it does a better job of conveying the feel of the movie. The American version has more of a screamer feel to it, and I'm not sure that it really conveys the movie well. Funnily enough, an English-language remake is being made of Let the Right One In already, and many fear that it will lose much of what made it such a fantastic movie.

Addendum 2: I wanted to mention a couple of plot critiques for those who watch the movie. So don't read the following if you don't want parts of the plot spoiled:

As I mentioned before, the movie is based on the book. But whereas the novel has time to fully explore all the issues it raises, the movie only touches on a couple of rather important plot points - Hakan's relationship with Eli compared to her relationship with Oskar, and Eli's history and transsexuality.

The book is much darker than the movie, and it is clear in the novel that Hakan's relationship with Eli is based on Hakan's pedophilia, and Eli's need of a servant. The two met when Hakan was already old, and Eli has no love for him, whereas she does have love for Oskar. This knowledge changes the ending significantly - the film seems to imply that Oskar is merely the new Hakan, but in the book it is clear that Eli considers Oskar to be "the right one".

Tangentially, the book is also much clearer on Eli's past. She is a 200 year old vampire, who was born a boy but then castrated, heavily abused, bitten and left to die. This is barely touched upon in the film - there is a quick shot of her castrate scars in the bathroom, and Lina Leandersson's voice was dubbed over for a more androgynous one. She says repeatedly "I am not a girl", but the reader can easily interpret that as her admitting that she is a vampire.

In my opinion, these two plot points are significant, yet lazily done. Apparently there was a surreal sequence to better explain them that was cut. While there is some merit to leaving room for the viewer's interpretation, I think that the ambiguity instead leads to confusion as to the director's intent. I would have chopped off (hah) the transexuality angle in lieu of clarifying Eli's feelings about Hakan. Her scars are good at conveying the child's perspective of sex as being mysterious and somewhat sinister, but it adds little to her character as a whole and invokes questions as to why it isn't a larger part of the story.

Laugavegur Trail (Iceland)

2008-11-30T13:55:00.000-08:00

I was looking around on Something Awful for threads about backpacking sleeping bags, and came across this amazing thread about backpacking in Iceland. Oh man, I really want to do this now. It's like visiting another world out there. Totally surreal.

Put this Sigur Ros music video on in the background and read this thread to see what I'm talking about. Backpacking Christmas here I come!

Newspaper Industry Hit Hard in 3rd Quarter

2008-11-28T15:58:00.000-08:00

Hey all, thought you might be interested in this, Happy Thanksgiving:

Newspaper sales fall 21% in historic rout
Newspaper advertising sales dived by a record 21.1% in the third quarter in a historic, across-the-board rout paced by a nearly 31% plunge in classified revenues.

Barely eking out $9 billion in print sales in the three months ended in September, the industry shed more than $1 billion in revenues from the same period in the prior year, according to statistics published quietly on the afternoon before Thanksgiving by the Newspaper Association of America (continued).

http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2008/11/newspaper-sales-fall-21-in-historic.html
http://www.naa.org/TrendsandNumbers/Advertising-Expenditures.aspx
http://www.slideshare.net/hblodget/mary-meeker-web-20-presentation-presentation

Death in Gaza

2008-11-26T19:57:00.000-08:00

Never Again

2008-11-24T23:29:00.000-08:00

This summer I went on a backpacking trip up a mountain about 6 hours away from where I live. We had the best luck all the way up and down that 8,000 ft mountain, only for it all to nearly fall apart at the end.

First we got down, only to realize I couldn't find the keys to my car. 3 hours from cell-phone reception. Miraculously, after a half-hour of searching I found them lodged into my ruck harness - presumably where they had landed when I was quickly packing that morning, despite 6 hours of hiking over rough terrain. That by itself could have turned pretty ugly.

But we got on the road, and drove 3 hours to my friend's hometown, only to eat a bunch of food and burn a bunch of time because we were tired and indecisive. By the time I finally get on the road I've been up 12 hours, hiked down a mountain, and had about 6 hours sleep in the last 48. Alone on the straightest, most boring road you can imagine - and it's getting dark.

After about an hour, I pull off to the side because I'm getting groggy. But with traffic whipping past me I don't want to stop there. In retrospect, I should have slept right then and there. But I don't, I get back on the road and call my friends to see if they want to meet up and drive my car. Only there's nowhere to stop, and I'm barely hanging on at this point.

Eventually we figure out that there's a rest area (the only one for hours in either direction) up ahead that I can pull into and wait in. So now I've got my window open and my radio blasting and I'm drinking water and trying to keep my eyes open. I see the familiar blessed sign - and it informs me that there is a rest area in 9.5 miles. That's like an eternity to me at this point.

Semis are blasting past me on the other side of the two-lane highway with their bright beams disorienting as hell, and their shocking passage is terrifyingly close at this point. I finally see the rest area sign again - 2 miles to go. Dear god, this is brutal.

The cars behind me are getting close as I slow down because I DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS EXIT. But their beams make me further disoriented, and at this point I figure I have about 5 minutes left before I'll just fall asleep. I've already heard the rumblestrip a couple times, and I figure this is it. I see the familiar blue rest area sign (my vision is so bad at this point it's hard to focus on anything more than that) - 3/4 mile. No shit. I remember being infuriated at this. Who the hell plants so many signs for a damn rest area?

The last 1/2 mile brought me to my limit. I had started the day at the top of a mountain, and now I was about to die like a fucking idiot. I pretty much lost control of my speed at this point, coasting along at 10 under and focusing entirely upon the course and staying awake. I see the final sign up ahead, but to add insult to injury a huge line of semis zooms past me in the other direction. It felt like a gauntlet. In the end I'm barely able to limp off the road and into the rest area parking lot, where I fall asleep almost instantly.

I woke up one hour later with my friend knocking on the window with a concerned smile. She got some coffee and then drove us home. I'm never doing that to myself ever again.

More stories of near death experiences can be found in this thread. There's one about a kayaker on a Class 5 rapid that made me wince, and then want to write my own.

The Monty Python Channel on YouTube

2008-11-24T01:00:00.001-08:00

Yeah.

Oh Snap!

2008-11-21T21:56:00.001-08:00

I am lost for words, this is awesome.

Armistice Day

2008-11-11T20:56:00.000-08:00

It's a bit late to mention it, but today was Armistice Day - the day that the Great War was ended in 1918. It is traditional in Europe to wear red poppies this day in remembrance of the fallen, and here in the States we call it Veteran's Day, which has an awkward competition with Memorial Day (effectively the same holiday.)

10 veterans of that war survive to this day, including one American, and it's amazing to think of the changes they have experienced in the 90 years since then. The embedded link is to one of my favorite episodes of the fantastic BBC4 miniseries The First World War. If you are interested in this kind of thing, I'd definitely suggest watching it.

On a side note, yesterday was the Marine Corps birthday, celebrating the birth of the Marine Corps in the Tun Tavern 233 years ago. The affair is traditionally a jarhead affair all the way around, which resulted in a few Brits getting miffed that 'those damn Yanks' were cutting cakes with swords while generals were doing shots with privates on what was supposed to be a solemn occasion. But it was just a timezone difference.

Apparently this year it also resulted in the acronym USMC getting spray painted across half a US Army base in California.

One Day in the Near Future

2008-11-07T20:32:00.000-08:00

President-elect Barack Obama held his first press conference today on the economy. It was actually a little weird to watch him acting so ... presidential. I kept on expecting people to start chanting "Fired up, Ready to Go!" Something different, but in a good way.

In any case, my dear Aunt Jini sent me a chain-mail today. While, as some might know, this is not particularly newsworthy it did seem timely and topical, and I thought that I would like to share:

One sunny day in January, 2009 an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush." The Marine looked at the man and said, "Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here." The old man said, "Okay", and walked away.

The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush." The Marine again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here." The man thanked him and, again, just walked away.

The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same U.S. Marine, saying "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush." The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, "Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I've told you already that Mr. Bush is no longer the president and no longer resides here. Don't you understand?"

The old man looked at the Marine and said, "Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it."

OBAMA Obama obama obama....

2008-11-06T22:06:00.001-08:00

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Though I was at first disinclined to post the above news, my new favorite website convinced me that I probably should. Plus, I definitely know more than one person who has found themselves completely at a loss now that the election is over.

Fortunately, Obama's new website, Change.gov, has posted job offers! Want to compete with 30,000 other people to file papers? Check it out!

What Might Have Been

2008-11-05T21:55:00.001-08:00

MORE POLITICAL FALLOUT IN THIS HOUSE!:

Fox News has gotten aboard the post-campaign secrets train, releasing information that Palin was about as dumb as a doornail. Apparently she was not only too much of a rogue for the Maverick, but she didn't know that Africa was a continent. And she was almost Vice-President!

While it is hard to say whether the as yet anonymously sourced story will turn out to be true, it certainly seems to have made the Republicans look a little foolish. But don't think that this is a sign that the ship is going down for good, this could easily be the RNC throwing her under the bus for its own survival, or even the first play by Republican favorite Mitt Romney for the 2012 election.

In other news, after a grueling race and a two-day count, the Oregonian is now predicting Democrat Jeff Merkley will take the Oregon Senator seat from incumbent Republican Gordon Smith, edging the DNC ever closer to their super-majority. While it is unlikely that Democrats will actually attain all 60 seats, Merkley's success signals an "exponential" increase in their ability to overcome the Republican filibusters that have plagued the Democratic party ever since their takeover of Congress two years ago.

In even more local news, Republican Rick Dancer, formerly a KEZI anchor, is trailing Democrat Kate Brown by 3,000 votes, while the latest results from Lane elections show a slight lead in the Eugene mayoral race between Democratic incumbent Kitty Piercy and conservative rival Jim Torrey. That race should continue on to tomorrow, as the Lane County elections suffered a several hour delay Tuesday after a system failed and they had to restart the count on a redundant system.

And in the closest race of all, liberal Rob Handy holds a nail-biting 113 vote lead over incumbent North Eugene County Commissioner Bobby Green (a margin of .03 percent, state law mandates an automatic recount if the margin is less than .2 percent).

Final results will come in tomorrow morning, and it would not be surprising if this 13,000 vote election comes down to a margin less than the number of write-ins (currently 77), never mind the under votes (people who turned in a ballot without marking a preference in the commissioner race - 3,754).

Good Effort, Good Effort

2008-11-05T14:59:00.001-08:00

So ... we win. Obama is president-elect, and should hopefully rule the roost for quite some time. I'm not sure what else to say about it, I was so exhilarated that it kind of settled into a feeling of unreality. Fun.

Anywho, now that the election is all done with, on to bigger and better things. Newsweek is publishing a behind-the-scenes project that is showcasing all the stories we couldn't hear during the campaign season: like, for example, that Palin spent way more on clothing than was revealed; or that both the major Obama and McCain databases were hacked by China or Russia, and huge amounts of data were pulled down for what the FBI and Secret Service termed "[uses] in negotiations with a future administration".

Moving on, Russia's oil economy is so bad that people are talking about revolution due to unemployment doubling. Good thing they announced plans today to put missiles on its Western border.

Good luck Obama! Make us proud!

Election Soundtrack

2008-11-04T13:24:00.001-08:00

Peter, Paul and Mary are today's election soundtrack for me, just thought I'd share. They are damned good if you don't recognize the name, but you're sure to know all their music even if you didn't know you did.

Godspeed Obama

2008-11-03T23:11:00.001-08:00

Well it is 2300 here in Eugene, Oregon, and it is almost hard to believe that the election is finally here. It has been a long, hard-fought campaign - the most expensive in history. But in only a few short hours voting booths will start to open on the East Coast. I can only hope that in 24 hours we will be able to begin closing this dark chapter in American history that has been the last 8 years under Republican leadership.

To Barack Obama, and all of his many supporters around this nation: Good night, and good luck.

Twitter

2008-11-03T13:12:00.000-08:00

I'm not feeling well so I decided to sit down and try and figure out what the deal is with Twitter. After setting up an account and playing with it and reading about it, I've come to a few conclusions.

1. It is basically just the Internet Relay Chat that I played with as a kid, only with more mediums of communication that just an IRC client. So now you don't need to be a nerd to use it. Of course I don't use IRC anymore either.

2. Apparently journalists are losing their minds over it, and the RNC convention rioting was apparently some kind of turning point where people without Twitter were some stone age morons. Of course, considering how poor the coverage of the RNC convention was anyways I don't think that's saying much.

3. It is pretty cool to see a huge channel like http://election.twitter.com/.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T14:26:00.001-07:00

Obama Assassination Plot Thwarted

2008-10-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

Some unsettling news in the last week of the election:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Law enforcement arrested two men in Tennessee who had plans to rob a gun dealer to shoot Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and "as many non-Caucasians" as possible, an official said on Monday.

An official from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said police found the men in the Jackson, Tennessee area with a number of guns, including a sawed-off shotgun, in their car.

"They wanted to go to a place where they could shoot as many non-Caucasian as they could," the official said, noting that the men first planned to rob a gun dealer. "They also had a plot to assassinate Sen. Obama."

Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, is leading Republican John McCain in opinion polls ahead of the November 4 election.

If McCain has any self-respect, the first thing he'll do if not elected is to attempt to undo the dangerous character attacks that have characterized his campaign. If Obama were to be injured or killed by an assassin, I believe that much responsibility for that would rest squarely upon McCain's shoulders. His reckless disregard for the truth has endangered Obama, his family and the police and Secret Servicemen who are guarding them.

FOLLOWUP: Looks like it was white supremacists. Link

CNN: Palin is 'going rogue'

2008-10-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

I don't even know what to say to this:

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (CNN) -- With 10 days until Election Day, long-brewing tensions between GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and key aides to Sen. John McCain have become so intense, they are spilling out in public, sources say.

Several McCain advisers have suggested to CNN that they have become increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going rogue."

A Palin associate, however, said the candidate is simply trying to "bust free" of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged roll-out.

McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. They cited an instance in which she labeled robocalls -- recorded messages often used to attack a candidate's opponent -- "irritating" even as the campaign defended their use. Also, they pointed to her telling reporters she disagreed with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan.

A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.

"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

...

With the presidential race in its final days and polls suggesting that McCain's chances of pulling out a win are growing slim, Palin may be looking after her own future.

"She's no longer playing for 2008; she's playing 2012," Democratic pollster Peter Hart said. "And the difficulty is, when she went on 'Saturday Night Live,' she became a reinforcement of her caricature. She never allowed herself to be vetted, and at the end of the day, voters turned against her both in terms of qualifications and personally."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/25/palin.tension/

Awesome Russian "Song for Sarah"

2008-10-24T15:30:00.001-07:00

This video, featured on BoingBoing.net, is simply a fantastic parody of Sarah Palin's ridiculous assertions that she had foreign policy experience due to the proximity of her state to Russia.

Definitely check it out.

Palin's Wardrobe Stabs RNC Where It Hurts - The Polls

2008-10-22T06:49:00.000-07:00

A quick early-morning political blog round-up:

At a time where Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama seems to finally be hitting his stride with voters, GOP rival John McCain's campaign has seemed to have made a critical misstep: The political blogosphere is buzzing about recent findings by The Politico that the RNC has spent more than $150,000 on designer clothing for Sarah Palin and her family.

Author Jeanne Cummings writes:

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

After initially refusing to comment on the issue, the Republican campaign eventually issued a response:

"With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it’s remarkable that we’re spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses," said Republican spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt. "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign."

Still, while fashion may not be the most serious of issues facing our candidates, it is something that has appeared to strike home with Americans concerned with an economic recession and a real need for fiscal responsibility.

"Something must be terribly wrong with this story which claims that the RNC has spent $150,000 on clothes for Sarah "Real American" Palin. This can't possibly be true, otherwise she'd be like the worst hypocrite ever," writes one blogger.

And it appears that liberals are not the only ones to have already picked up on it. The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder noted on his blog that he has already been e-mailed by many Republican supporters "to share their utter (and not-for-attribution) disgust at the expenditures."

The Boston Globe's Foon Rhee points out the seriousness of these impact that these allegations may have in the last two weeks of the presidential race:

Meanwhile, in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that shows Democrat Barack Obama leading McCain 52 to 42 percent among registered voters nationwide, up from 49 to 43 percent two weeks ago, voters also said that Palin's qualifications to be president was their top concern about McCain -- ahead of even continuing President Bush's policies.

Of respondents, 55 percent said she is not qualified to serve as president, and 47 percent have a negative opinion of her, up from 27 percent when she was first picked two months ago.

I Just Voted!

2008-10-18T00:39:00.000-07:00

I just voted in one of the most important American elections in the history of the nation. I'm pretty pumped. As a resident of Oregon I am able to use mail-in voting and get my ballot in weeks before they are counted.

I'm dithering about whether or not to go in-depth about the specific issues that I voted on, but I will proudly say that I voted for Barack Obama to become president of the United States of America!

What is Rotten in the State of the Gaming Industry?

2008-10-09T10:52:00.001-07:00

Ubisoft, the developers of the new video game Tom Clancy's Endwar have decided to offer their game only on Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. They defended their decision to do so by saying that computer piracy has destroyed the PC gaming industry.

"At the moment, if you release the PC version, essentially what you’re doing is letting people have a free version that they rip off instead of a purchased version," said Ubisoft Shanghai creative director Michael de Plater. "Piracy’s basically killing PC."

Other critics have pointed out that it is far easier to pirate video games on a computer than a console. PC software pirating is as simple as finding an image of the game and mounting it on an easy to use virtual drive. Console piracy usually requires cracking open the case to modify the system, though after modding a system the piracy just means burning a cd.

But I disagree. It requires more money and technical skills to ensure your computer can play games than it does to buy or pirate them. Either you drop tons of money to regularly buy new computers, or you order new video cards and RAM to upgrade your existing computer. It takes a great deal of technical knowledge to appraise what you are buying, regardless. The effort in doing so makes piracy pale in comparison.

The problem with the PC gaming industry is that it is out of control - it has little to do with piracy. Poorly QA'd systems seem endemic to the platform, with buggy software and limp-wristed hardware being all too common. And there are no reliable metrics to judge what you are buying. Reviews are almost uniformly meaningless, "hardware requirements" are close to lies, and technical support / consumer protection is laughable.

As a result, consumers are relying entirely upon branding. PC gamers buy from Blizzard, or they buy from Will Wright, or they use a service like Steam to pick up vetted games. Console buyers are able to mostly trust that the games they buy will work on their machines, and are partially backed by Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo.

If developers want their PC games to succeed, they need to start optimizing for a broader range of systems, and that means everything from flexible code to scalable art direction. If a coder can't enjoy a game on their parent's computer, they need to ask themselves what their market is.

And industry leaders need to create a trusted source that can give accurate and reliable advice to consumers worried about buying a lemon. It isn't surprising that people are wary of an industry that so regularly fails to deliver on its promises. Hyped up market failures like Crysis, overly technical hardware options, and terrible driver deficiencies in operating systems (like that dud Vista I'm running on) all contribute to a stagnant industry far more than piracy.

http://blogs.pcworld.com/gameon/archives/006522.html

Diamonds in the Rough

2008-10-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

I am currently in the process of going through my 100+ Gig photo archive with the intent separating the wheat from the chaff and featuring them on my blog. It is pretty slow going, but I thought I'd present this gem I found at a church near my old house in Springfield.

Biden / Palin Debate

2008-10-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

Great Depression Photos

2008-09-30T21:10:00.000-07:00

Reuters is featuring a series of 18 famous photos of the Great Depression. Though it is clearly a comment on the recent economic crisis, which has often been compared with the 1930s, it is difficult to say how the editors intend for it to be interpreted. It could be seen as a contrast with the past, or a hint towards the future - probably a bit of both. Check it out.

Bailout

2008-09-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

I wrote to my House Representative, Peter DeFazio D-Ore., regarding the recent bailout vote. The $700 billion bailout is designed to insulate the market from years of poor decisions and irresponsible lending. Along with many other Congressional members, Rep. Defazio voted against the bailout plan. The market reacted with the largest point drop in history, and one of the largest percentage drops since the Great Depression.

I understand that http://www.house.gov/ is getting slammed by citizens who are wanting to let their representatives know their opinions, and I thought that I would lend mine as well. Here is the message that I sent the DeFazio administration:

To whom it may concern,

I wanted to register my concern with Rep. DeFazio's no vote on the recent bailout proposal. I think he is a good man, and I am sure he has many reasons for his position, but I urge him to consider supporting the bill.

I do not think that it is the best solution, but I think that it is a necessary evil. The potential risk of allowing the economy to stagnate for another two or three weeks is too great.

The government must display decisive leadership to provide a direction for the markets before they shake themselves apart. Inaction threatens harm that will take a generation to heal.

Thank you for your time,
Tristan Coolen

Spore

2008-09-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

I started playing Spore a little while ago, and it is truly a fantastic sandbox. You are charged with creating a species and guiding it from a cellular stage through to a star empire - and hand designing every facet of its development along the way.

These are screenshots of my own little creatures, the Palindrone - pink and poisonous with the ability to brainwash allies - and the Repogig (don't ask), which is a happy little predatory species that looks like a mix between a velociraptor and a Maori warrior. It's awesome.

Definitely check the game out if you have ever been interested in Sims-type games. (It's made by the same developers).

Lawrence Hall Gallery Installation

2008-09-17T16:42:00.000-07:00

My roommate Zach Trow was part of an exciting art installation here at the University of Oregon. I wrote an article about the exhibit for the local campus newspaper, the Oregon Daily Emerald:

UO student Michael Williamson enters the white-walled gallery space filled with colorful shapes and forms. He walks the length of the room, examining each piece of art, before returning to the center to gaze at a dark and monstrously large painting dominating the middle of the room.

The graphite forms appear to writhe upon the canvas – their nearly human qualities vying with shapes that are clearly neither man nor woman. They catch the eye for a moment before otherworldly clouds and tendrils grasp the eyes’ attention away.

“I love it,” Williamson said. “I absolutely adore it.”

The painting entitled “Mass-Spore” is part of a larger exhibit in the floor level gallery of Lawrence Hall. Three University of Oregon art installation students are displaying their work. The unusual month-long student-driven exhibition is the result of hundreds of hours of work on the part of the three students.

UO senior Zach Trow, master’s student Lorie Heagle, and master’s graduate Chang-Ae Song joined together to independently fill a gallery usually reserved by professors for course-driven art projects. Entitled “View/Viewed,” the installation is composed of separate installation pieces by each artist.

The unifying theme of the three works is to challenge the viewer’s ideas of perception. And each artist approaches the theme in a different way.
Trow, a sculpture major, created an immersive sculpture installation that draws observers into the artistic space. In an attempt to explore the perception of value, he created a variety of replicas of luxury items that seemed at once realistic and clearly fake.

“I first started playing with the role of logos and how luxury items are found in visual advertisement,” Trow said. He modeled his sculptures after the two dimensional photos of Louis Vuitton products he found online.

His handbags, made out of wood and paint, are sliced in half. The open, un-painted wood is shown to the observer, while the highly realistic other side is reflected in mirrors to give the viewer a different perspective. Similarly, an unassuming black suit and purse stand to one side. It is quite difficult to realize that the suit is completely made of steel, and covered in a thick acetylene ash that looks like paint.

“I’ve always been interested in steel sculpture,” Trow said. “You are very involved with the piece of work.”

Lorie Heagle was similarly involved in her artwork, but in a different way. Heagle created a video installation that incorporated many different layers. Using projectors, she displays a film of herself laying in bed, restless in her sleep.

The artwork was intended to portray the complex thinking and layered experience that occurs at all times, but is particularly noticeable just before falling asleep, Heagle said.

Chang-Ae Song’s large painting summons some of the darker thoughts in those late hours. Her painting is beautiful, but also somehow disturbing. The reason behind this becomes clear when it is understood where the source of the art comes from.

“The original source of the figure drawings I incorporate into landscapes comes from online newspaper photos of the Abu Ghraib detainees.” Song said. “One photograph in particular shocked me. It depicted naked figures climbing on top of one another in a pyramid. It was the most appalling and humiliating photo I’ve ever seen.”

The figures are the direct result of photocopies of the Abu Ghraib photos. As such, the painting contains a strong feeling of unease. The viewer initially sees something of a classic landscape painting, but closer inspection reveals humanistic figures wrapped into contortions.

The installation will remain on display until Oct. 3. Lawrence Hall is the home of the School of Architecture and Applied Arts. Other art and sculpture is on display throughout the building on a rotating schedule during the academic year.

The Why of the Vice-Presidential Pick (Part Two)

2008-09-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

This is the second half of my essay analyzing the vice-presidential picks by Barack Obama and John McCain. I'd suggest reading the first part before delving into this one.

According to the Median Voter Theorem, Obama’s decision should have been relatively straightforward. Having clinched his party nomination, Obama should have deliberately moved towards the median, independent voter – effectively following a political Laffer curve. Clinton’s widespread support among moderate women would make her the obvious choice from that game theory model. Whatever votes Obama lost from the contention would be more than made up for by independents and cherry-picked Republican moderates.

But he didn’t pick Clinton. Obama chose Biden.

In Game Theory class, this decision was rationalized using Prospect Theory. That is, that Obama knew that picking Clinton would improve his chances of winning the election, but the utility of probably winning the Presidency with Clinton as VP was lower than potentially winning the election without the worry of an administration at odds with itself – essentially that he was too emotionally biased against Clinton to make the right call. This model is supported by the largely adversarial primary campaign, and Obama’s statement towards the end of the contest that he was not considering Clinton as a candidate for vice-president.

However, I disagree with this understanding. For all the idealism displayed in the campaign – the grandiose speeches and calls for “Hope” and “Change,” Obama is fundamentally an American pragmatist. In his books, The Audacity of Hope and Dreams from My Father, as well as many of his speeches, Obama displays a considered attitude conscious of the difficulty of the road ahead. He appears driven by a desire to effect policy, and willing to compromise in order to do so. It seems uncharacteristic of the man to jeopardize the prospects of the entire liberal movement in order to spite Clinton.

For me at least, this model appears insufficient. In game theory, we are taught that a model is only correct if it serves a purpose. While perhaps this is merely confirmation bias, I don’t think that a model predicated upon the irrationality of Obama and his campaign advisors is particularly serving the purpose of explaining Obama’s decision. These are people who created a juggernaught campaign, raised unheard of amounts of money, and shoved aside a shoe-in candidate at the 10-yard line – it does not seem likely that they would bench Clinton for a Hail Mary pass rather than kiss and make up.

Therefore, I drop the prospect theory explanation, and return to the discussion of Obama’s choice between focusing on independent voters and depressing conservative turn out.

The Median Voter Theorem is predicated upon the existence of the uninformed voter. That is the purpose of appealing to the median voter – to convince the uninformed that their opinions are moderately liberal or moderately conservative. Converting the decided voter is far more of a crapshoot. But in an election that has seen record advertising and discussion, truly uninformed voters are rare at this point. Most people have already decided if they are liberal or conservative, and are unlikely to cross all the way over the aisle.

From this perspective, Obama and McCain were engaged in an infinitely serial Prisoner’s Dilemma with imperfect information: they were effectively cooperating with each other by striving for moderate voters and increasing their base for this election and those in the future. Each party benefited from the contest, because it pulls in donations and marginalizes the third parties. But at some point each campaign needed to stop going after the increasingly marginal number of undecided voters, call that a 50 / 50 game, and work on shoring up their base in battleground states like Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Iowa.

In this model, it can be expected that the two parties will follow the Trigger Strategy (as opposed to Tit For Tat in the primaries or between like-minded parties,) meaning they will cooperate until “Nature” provides a triggering event that will cause one player to defect, followed by the other, for the remainder of the game.

That is exactly what seems to have happened.

Biden is a liberal who will help to bolster turnout in Democratic blue-collar areas. His credentials are unlikely to actually convert those leaning towards McCain, but rather to allay concerns that might keep moderate liberals home or induce disaffected Republican voters to voting against Obama. Whereas picking Clinton would have rallied a limp conservative flag.

McCain seems to have recognized this signal for what it was. Rather than picking Joe Lieberman to drive home McCain’s maverick image, or even Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty to gain the median voters ignored by the Democratic pick, McCain chose little known Sarah Palin. The little-known Alaskan governor has proved to be a hit with social conservatives and small government traditionalists, but has struck out with moderates and all but the most ardent PUMAs.

While the McCain / Palin ticket has seen such rocky roads out of the starting gate that they haven’t really been able to get on the offensive, I predict that Republicans will begin fielding attacks aimed at depressing Democratic turnout as the official campaign kicks into full gear. Though neither campaign will totally abandon rhetoric aimed at convincing undecided voters, particularly in battleground states, I think that the candidates are going to focus on raising the percentages of their base, rather than increasing the size of the base as a whole. I’d also anticipate aggressive tactics by the DNC and RNC to gain the full support of the Green Party and Libertarian Party respectively.

I have one final point to make supporting this model, which lies with Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney. If Prospect Theory was correct, and Obama spited Clinton while McCain retaliated against his party preventing him from choosing Lieberman, then Clinton’s and Romney’s involvement with their respective campaigns would be very limited. Instead, both Clintons have maintained their stumping around the Mid-West, while Romney is revving up for an offensive after Republicans throw off the Palin controversies, while being touted as the Republican candidate for 2012 or 2016.

Surely the prospect of allowing those two to recover by retaining them as stump speakers would be little different from having to deal with them as vice-presidents. And the Republicans are certainly no idealists. The Prospect Theory model just doesn’t explain the picks.

The Why of the Vice-Presidential Pick

2008-09-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting over my primary fatigue that has plagued me for the last few months. After the Obama nomination was self-apparent, I pretty much turned my attention to other things. The war in Georgia and the state of the national economy took up much of my discussion time, and summer consumed the rest.

Still, I have been writing, photographing and attending summer classes, and I plan to start posting some of the things I've found interesting over the last couple months. I thought I'd start by sharing an essay I just wrote analyzing the vice-presidential picks. I spent a great deal of time thinking about the issue, and I think that it is something worth reading. Enjoy:

The American presidential election provides a wealth of opportunities for exploration by political scientists. The infighting between the parties and the candidates and the large variety of goals and interested parties makes for a complex and fascinating contest, which makes delving into it all the more rewarding. Game theory appears to excel at parsing the process, which is why I chose to explore the election for this course essay – specifically I wanted to analyze the surprising selection of the vice-presidential candidates by Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican contender John McCain.

While many, including myself, were surprised by the choices by the candidates that appear to contradict the game theory expectation that each candidate would moderate their ticket, I think that the decisions can be rationally understood and supported using game theory.

Prior to the early morning announcement on Aug. 23, that Delaware senator Joe Biden would carry the Democratic vice-presidential title, the Obama campaign was remarkably tight-lipped about their selection from the field of contenders. In lieu of concrete information, journalists camped out in front of the houses of the three leading candidates, as well as tailed Obama and his surrogates. The McCain campaign was similarly close-mouthed before their choice a week later of Alaskan governor Sarah Palin as their VP pick.

This degree of secrecy is abnormal for American elections, where a hungry and well-connected media tends to receive tip offs well in advance of formal announcements. It was a change of pace for the news outlets, which were so on edge that a pizza delivery prank to Joe Biden’s house in Wilmington received live national television coverage in the hope that it was some kind of political symbolism. Only a flurry of 11th hour Wikipedia updates and a careful monitoring of unscheduled flight plans tipped the hand of either campaign.

With all this in mind, it is clear that the campaign advisors were operating in a climate of incomplete information. Not only did they not know the intended pick for VP by the other party, but each pick represented a different strategy for their respective campaigns. The inability to predict their opponent prevented either campaign from making a response for fear of reacting to the wrong strategies and utilities.

In game theory terms, the selection of the vice-presidential candidate was the paradigm-changing “costly signal” that indicated the campaign course to both supporters and opponents. The classic example of the “costly signal” in game theory is the wedding band, which is offered to a potential fiancé to indicate the seriousness of one’s intentions. The ring accomplishes two things: it signals long-term investment in the relationship, and it also overtly promotes an intended course of action.

Game theory predicts that each of the players in this situation will sit on their hands until a third player, “Nature,” makes an action that unveils the preferences of each party. And so the campaigns did since the end of the primary season (though political fatigue was also a part of that) – but the advent of party nominating conventions was the third player that would determine the future strategies.

As the Democratic Party convention was scheduled earlier than the Republican Party convention, Obama was forced to make a decision with less information than his opponent – a disadvantage that he attempted to mitigate with the above-mentioned uncharacteristic party discipline that gave Republicans little time to react.

Obama effectively had three significant candidates going into the Democratic convention: Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Bill Richardson. Each choice had broad implications for the last leg of the election campaign.

Biden would bring a wealth of experience to the campaign and a Catholic working-family background that would help to defuse the Republican narrative against Obama, but his long, liberal Senate history would be unlikely to win over many Republicans, nor particularly excite independents. While popular in his state, Delaware has a negligible number of electoral votes.

Clinton’s more moderate politics would nominally bring in many fence-sitters, especially women. However, her selection would also serve to invigorate part of the conservative base more interested in voting against her than voting for McCain. It would also create ongoing turmoil within the Democratic Party still sore after the primaries, though there were already a number of discontents (such as the PUMAs, or Party Unity My Ass, that had exploded onto the blogosphere with their intention to punish the Obama campaign’s treatment of Clinton by voting for McCain) that promised complications regardless of the pick.

Finally, Richardson, as a Latino and governor of New Mexico, would bring his own assortment of pros and cons to the ticket. He would help with a battleground state, and bring in a Latino population wary of Obama during the primaries, but he would also rile a conservative population already uncomfortable with a young, Black president.

In short, Obama was faced with the prospect of choosing to increase his own support by going after independent voters, or attempting to depress McCain’s conservative base that appeared to have lackluster support for their candidate.

(Part two to follow)

Star Wars According to a 3 Year Old.

2008-08-15T19:27:00.003-07:00

Ever make a home movie that was then seen 8.4 million times? Apparently that is now possible with a few clicks of a button.

This 1:30 minute video was posted in late February, and has now collected an astounding 40,900 ratings, 17,600 comments, and more than 20 video responses.

Home videos of kids are very popular on YouTube, and though this degree of appeal is uncommon, it is by no means unique.

Tiffany Mills Dance Company

2008-08-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

I wrote the following article for the Oregon Daily Emerald. Tiffany Mills is a distinguished graduate of the University of Oregon, and I attended her lecture on Monday. I'm not sure I communicated the extent of her success, but I figure that most people who are interested in the dance industry will understand my meaning:

Lithe figures writhe around each other in a chaotic jumble onstage, each being lifted high by the others before being pulled back into the group. The six artists are clothed in layers of tattered clothing and remind the viewer more of struggling survivors than the professional New York dancers that they are.

However, in time an order begins to take hold. The frenzy slows to a controlled movement. A lone woman emerges, balancing carefully upon the backs of the others. The men and women form a human chain, slowly guiding their cargo offstage.

Applause. But this isn't a live performance, the video, part of a larger piece entitled "Landfall," is part of a presentation by UO honors graduate alumnus Tiffany Mills. She visited the university campus on Monday, Aug. 4, to talk about her experience founding a successful New York dance company.

Mills spoke at the UO Robert D. Clark Honors College to a room of more than 15 faculty and guests, several of whom had taught Mills during years at UO.

"She's doing really cutting edge work," said Theresa Picado, the honors college communications coordinator. "It's really quite exciting."

Mills’ presentation comes at the end of a month-long visit to the Northwest with her husband, Andrew. She says she regularly returns to the West Coast during the summer to visit family and to teach.

This year she spent a week teaching at Conduit Dance in Portland, and three weeks at the Velocity Dance Center in Seattle, where she created a new piece.

“My language is movement,” Mills said.

In her presentation to the honors college, Mills said she is a Eugene native whose interest in dance began in her early years with tap lessons and gymnastics, and eventually involvement with musical theatre and the Eugene Ballet.

After graduating from the University in 1992, she received a Master's in dance from Ohio State and moved to New York in 1995 to work as a dancer and choreographer. Five years later, she had started the Tiffany Mills Company, a nonprofit dance studio.

Mills says she wants to use the company to diversify interest in dance as a medium for communication. To expand beyond the "same people at the same concerts," and to grapple with broader issues that affect a wider audience.

"'Modern' dance is a problem word," Mills said. "We're neither modern nor post-modern. We are contemporary but that's not the right word. We are creative moving beings. We need a title."

Following that creative vein, Mills' work in progress is entitled "Tomorrow's Legs," which incorporates movement and speaking to explore real stories in the dancers' lives.

Produced in collaboration with British theatre artist Peter Petralia, Mills used a Skype-equipped laptop to allow Petralia to work with the company from his home in England. "Tomorrow's Legs" will premiere in February at the St. Mark's Church in the East Village, New York.

To prospective dancers and choreographers who want to make their living in the industry, Mills has both words of warning and encouragement.

"Cultivate lots of skills," Mills said. Competition is forcing many professional dancers to work at several dance companies at once. Dance companies like hers, with a dedicated cast, are a dying breed, while "pick-up companies" with one-time dancers are becoming more popular.

"Gotta love what you do," Mills said. "That carries you on."

The Tiffany Mills Company offers internships to university students interested in the dance industry. More information can be found at http://www.tiffanymillscompany.org/.

Seattle Critical Mass Incident

2008-07-30T22:39:00.000-07:00

A quick mention of an incident last Friday up in Seattle that is beginning to hit the national wires.

Seattle, Wash. - A group of Seattle Critical Mass riders were involved in the assault of a driver that put the man in the hospital and caused $1,500 in damage to the vehicle.

The incident on Capitol Hill has led to a reopening of the car versus bicycle debate, with some - including one of the nation's largest bicycling clubs - calling for the contentious Seattle Critical Mass program to be disbanded.

Two of the riders have been charged in the attack, and police are searching for a third man who is alleged to have struck the victim in the head with a bike lock.

While it will take some time for the issue to fully develop and play out, online forums and blogs are already deeply embroiled in the debate.

Some supporters of the Critical Mass dispute the police version of the events, saying that the driver initiated the attack. Their opponents contend that this is evidence that Critical Mass is mere hooliganism.

Link to more media coverage

Flesh and Blood Defense

2008-07-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

Washington Monthly recently published a fascinating article written by Kevin Carey, the research and policy manager of Education Sector, an independent think tank in Washington, DC.

"Too Weird for The Wire," the article is titled, "How black Baltimore drug dealers are using white supremacist legal theories to confound the Feds."

Upon finding it I quickly found myself engrossed in the extensive article, but when I tried to tell people about the article, it was difficult to relay my fascination. Detailing the history of a legal defense, it reads less like a documentary and more like a mystery novel.

"I am not a defendant,” Mitchell declared. “I do not have attorneys.” The court “lacks territorial jurisdiction over me,” he argued, to the amazement of his lawyers. To support these contentions, he cited decades-old acts of Congress involving the abandonment of the gold standard and the creation of the Federal Reserve. Judge Davis, a Baltimore-born African American in his late fifties, tried to interrupt. “I object,” Mitchell repeated robotically. Shelly Martin and Shelton Harris followed Mitchell to the microphone, giving the same speech verbatim. Their attorneys tried to intervene, but when Harris’s lawyer leaned over to speak to him, Harris shoved him away.

Judge Davis ordered the three defendants to be removed from the court, and turned to Gardner, who had, until then, remained quiet. But Gardner, too, intoned the same strange speech. “I am Shawn Earl Gardner, live man, flesh and blood,” he proclaimed. Every time the judge referred to him as “the defendant” or “Mr. Gardner,” Gardner automatically interrupted: “My name is Shawn Earl Gardner, sir.” Davis tried to explain to Gardner that his behavior was putting his chances of acquittal or leniency at risk. “Don’t throw your life away,” Davis pleaded. But Gardner wouldn’t stop. Judge Davis concluded the hearing, determined to find out what was going on.

Link via The Washington Monthly

Jesse Helms Epitaph

2008-07-09T22:44:00.000-07:00

While my 28.8k dial-up AOL childhood scars usually make me shun America Online like the Black Death, this AOL News feature obituary made my heart sing a little.

The controversial Senator Jesse Helms died this Fourth of July, and blogger Ken Layne wrote an amazing obit piece. I have practiced writing them in college, but the examples never read like this:

Jesse Helms died today, 25 years too late, but the stench of his rotten career will always linger in the Senate, and over the South.

He was a hero to bigots and the cigarette corporations, a menace to the poor and downtrodden, and a mean little troll whose heart was so wrecked by wickedness that doctors had to patch it up with coronary valves from a pig.

It was a far better summary of the man's life than I heard on NPR, which featured an infuriating apologist in lieu of worthy journalism.

Oregon Electric Station

2008-07-08T17:46:00.000-07:00

I was recently published as a freelance photographer, again for the Oregon Daily Emerald, the campus newspaper for the University of Oregon. This time I was shooting a local posh restaurant and bar, the Oregon Electric Station, in downtown Eugene.

It was a good assignment, though I did find myself hurting for a good flash that was nowhere to be found. Oh well.

My only real complaint was that one of the photos was published incorrectly, because it was highly pixelated (probably a mistake in the re-sizing of the photo).

Eugene City Brewery

2008-07-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

It's been about a week or so since I've posted, mainly because I've been busy either working or watching the West Wing, but I did have time to get hired on as a freelancer at the Oregon Daily Emerald, the college newspaper of the University of Oregon.

The Olympic Trials are going on here in town right now, and I wrote an article published 30 JUN 08 that was about a local brewery owned by Rogue Ales that is going all out to support the Trials.

This is the original form of the article, as the published version had some editing:

Many of the bars and restaurants around Eugene have become Track Town-flavored during the two weeks of the Olympic Trials here at Hayward Field. Posters of track and field stars and televisions tuned to sports channels seem commonplace.

But the downtown Rogue Ales Eugene City Brewery is pulling out all the stops in its support of the event. Apart from a $10,000 donation to the Olympic Trials, the brewery kicked off the Trials with a Eugene celebration at all of the Rogue pubs.

“Track Town is about a town, not just Hayward Field,” said Jack Joyce, a founder of the Rogue River Brewing Co. He said he has supported track since he was a student at the University of Oregon in 1960, and the Track Town events at the brewery a way of showing that support.

In an effort to become Track Town Central for locals as well as the many visitors here for the trials, the pub house has opened up its doors round the clock and offered a breakfast menu including duck eggs.

The Eugene City Brewery has also started a shuttle service to Hayward Field, as well as pizza and beer delivery service and has put all of their award-winning Track Town Ales on draft.

People seem to appreciate the service. Though the first days were slower than expected, by early evening Saturday the building is filled with patrons parched by the hot day. Servers push past with trays laden with food and drink, while customers at tables talk and laugh together.

In one area of the brew house, an Adidas representative has set up a Wii console and a man and woman excitedly play the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games videogame.

At a table outside, a group of people visiting for the Trials sit and enjoy the evening. Tom and Faith Miller, of Pittsburg, Penn., are the parents of Fawn “Deloma” Miller, a high-school sophomore pole-vaulter competing in the Olympic Trials. They are accompanied by her high-school coach Grey Slatcoff, and her NCAA coach Mark Hannay.

This is the second time they have come to the Eugene City Brewery, after finding out about the place from a pamphlet at their hotel, and all seem to be enjoying themselves.

“We’re doing just fine,” Faith Miller said. They are all fans of Northwest microbrews. The four had ordered tasters of some of the 34 varieties of beer on draft, and they were picking out favorites. Hannay called the large number of choices “kind of overwhelming.”

The Raspberry Mead was Faith’s favorite, while her husband liked the Hazelnut Brown Nectar. The Track Town Triple Jump pale ale was also well liked.

“There has not been one beer that I haven’t enjoyed,” Tom Miller said.

There was one beer that was a point of contention. The Oregon Golden wheat ale seemed to strike the wrong chord with Slatcoff.

“You can quote me on this,” Slatcoff said with a grin, “this is the worst beer I’ve ever had in my whole life.”

To each their own.

Marx, Weber and Foucault (Part Two)

2008-06-15T17:37:00.000-07:00

I just finished working on two essays for my Modernist Political Theory class with Prof. James Ingram at the University of Oregon. This is the second half of the second essay, which explores the writings of Marx, Weber and Foucault in the critique of freedom and equality. The first half of the essay is here, while the previous essay parts can be found here and here.

So how do they all agree?

To show the point, look towards Marx’s arguments. In his most well-known work, Capital, Marx makes his case against capitalism in the name of the down-trodden proletariat injured by the elite classes. He rails against the injustices committed by the system.

“We suffer not only from the development of capitalist production, but also from the incompleteness of that development. Alongside the modern evils, we are oppressed by a whole series of inherited evils, arising from the passive survival of archaic and outmoded modes of production, with their accompanying train of anachronistic social and political relations. We suffer not only from the living, but from the dead. Le mort saisit le vif!” (Marx, 218)

However, also note that he is not arguing against the idea of democracy, the form of political government, but rather against capitalism, an economic system based upon the ideal of democratic freedom. He does not want to subvert the rule of law, but rather expects capitalism to slide naturally and democratically into socialism. And he is not arguing against freedom, per se, but rather for equality.

His revolution is a bloodless one, and supported by the people. This distinction is an important one to make, and mirrored in the critiques of the other authors, because it serves to show how similar their underlying values are.

In analyzing Weber’s The Vocation Lectures, one sees an extensive argument in favor of two things: the role of science and religion in society, and increased legitimacy of political leaders. In doing so, Weber argues for a bureaucratization of politics, as seen in science and academia, and a offers a justification for elites as often existing due to inherent qualities such as competence and charisma, though he acknowledges systemic reasons as well.

“We can hear from that beautiful song of the Edomite watchman … in the book of Isaiah. “One calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? what of the night? [sic] The watchman said, Even if the morning cometh [sic], it is still night: if ye inquire already, ye will come again and inquire once more.” … From it we should draw the moral that longing and waiting is not enough and that we must act differently. We must go about our work and meet “the challenges of the day” –both in our human relations and our vocation. But that moral is simple and straightforward if each person finds and obeys the daemon that holds the threads of his life.” (Weber, 31)

In the above passage, Weber cites a biblical passage to his students in order to promote his idea of science and politics as being vocational in nature. And although the end result of this line of thought allows the divide between the common and the elite, it stems from a belief in freedom and fulfillment, rather than some advocacy of inequality or injustice. The bureaucracy is engendered in order to protect individual freedoms from a demagogue or tyrant, not limit them for the benefit of the leaders. Like Marx, Weber only hopes to use democracy to give the public more freedom and equality, but he is similarly caught up in the difficult relationship between the two ideas acting in on a broad scale.

Finally, in his previously-mentioned works Discipline and Punish and The Birth of the Prison, Foucault seems to attempt to avoid the problems experienced by Marx and Weber, and he tries to limit the focus of his book to those who have historically lacked both freedom and equality: the criminal, the soldier and the student.

Foucault describes the historical relationship between the criminal and the state, and clearly contrasts the brutality of early times with the relative humanity of contemporary forms of punishment and incarceration. He uses the example of the prison Panopticon as a jumping off point to explore a system that promotes that impersonal equality and blind justice that was so lacking in prisons, but also in schools and military barracks.

“The panoptic modality of power – at the elementary, technical, merely physical level at which it is situated – is not under the immediate dependence or a direct extension of the great juridico-political structures of a society.” (Foucault, 221)

“There is no risk, therefore, that the increase of power created by the panoptic machine may degenerate into tyranny; the disciplinary mechanism will be democratically controlled, since it will be constantly accessible ‘to the great tribunal committee of the world’.” (Foucault, 207)

Once again, it can be seen that this author really is a proponent of democracy, though he spends much of his book outlining plans to close the fist of control around the society. His plan is centered around leveraging the democratic society at large in order to prevent abuses and mini-tyrannies. From this perspective, the Panopticon concept is an equalizer: it restricts everyone in the same manner, to prevent a small number from being especially molested.

Now that each author has been examined, it is clear that their opinions can be seen as complementary, even if they seem to be in tension and opposition at first glance. For though they disagree in the details, in doing so they also affirm the broad principles that govern a democracy: the sovereign will of the people, the rule of law, the importance of individual freedoms and collective equalities.

While they would likely never agree on their separate concerns with modern democracy, it is safe to say that their disagreements have nothing to do with the idea of democracy itself, but rather with its symptoms.

Marx, Weber and Foucault (Part One)

2008-06-14T09:36:00.000-07:00

I just finished working on two essays for my Modernist Political Theory class with Prof. James Ingram at the University of Oregon. This is the first half of the second essay, which explores the writings of Marx, Weber and Foucault in the critique of freedom and equality. The previous essay parts can be found here and here.

“If these lines ever reach America, I am certain of two things: first, that all readers will raise their voice to condemn me; second, that many of them will absolve me in the depths of their conscience.”

- Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

Prompt four: Marx, Weber, and Foucault argue that, despite its undeniable advantages, modern liberal democracy fails to deliver on its promise of freedom and equality. Compare their accounts of why this is, paying special attention to their comments on democracy and the rule of law. Do you think their accounts are complementary, or are they in tension?

Freedom and equality - two concepts most often considered by political scientists and philosophers (whether they are renowned authorities or argumentative students). They are simultaneously synonymous and dichotomous. With freedom must come equality, but promoting one often dampers the other. Modern liberal democracy promises an abundance of both, but the details often seem to get lost in the fine print. As such, it is often the target of critics who fault democracy as being unable to provide a desired level of either quality. And although few would return to the dictatorial style of government of old, there is certainly a wide range of proposals for change.

If my previous essay compared the method and aim of modern political criticism, then this essay is an examination of that criticism itself. All of the authors read for this term (Friedrich Nietzsche and all the rest) have explored democratic freedoms and equalities in their own way, and from very different perspectives. J.S. Mill and Alexis de Tocqueville write from the beginning of the 19^th century, when kings and emperors still ruled the world, while Michel Foucault wrote until the waning years of the Soviet Union. It comes to no one’s surprise that these authors take different perspectives on these considerations. But there is a common strain throughout their works: a certain admiration for the idea of democracy and the rule of law.

Karl Marx, Max Weber and Michel Foucault focus upon different aspects of Western democracy, but despite some tensions, their conclusions as to the future of that democracy are largely complementary. Though they take issue with certain parts of democracy, they, collectively and individually, affirm the principles for which it stands.

So how do a revolutionary, a scientist-bureaucrat and a disciplinarian come together to agree on a system that they spend so much time haranguing? It sounds like something of a bad joke. Marx, the well-known socialist, wants to up-end the system and institute a new order that promotes equality above all else; Weber counters this proposal by legitimating the hierarchy between the common and the elite; Foucault seems to take the mid-line between these two, by wanting everyone to be imprisoned equally.

Increased Cost of Commuting

2008-06-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

I finished writing this enterprise article today. I've been meaning to write about rising gas prices since the beginning of the term, but it wasn't until the end of the year that I found an opportunity to do so. This article was submitted to my Reporting II class with Prof. Mark Furman, and I also sent it over to Gini Davis at the Creswell Chronicle, where it hopefully will be published next week. Let me know what you think!

Commuting Costs on the Rise

A daily commute to work, a child athlete, and errands in town. What do these three things have in common? They are driving commuters to the fuel pump, which is up a third in price since last year.

“We’re on the road a lot,” said Christopher Presley, a Creswell resident who works in Eugene at Hynix Semiconductor.

Presley has been following the same 30 minute commute in for the last four years, and he estimates that with his wife’s Honda Accord he spends $170 per month in fuel for the commute alone, never mind his three sport athlete son, Garrett.

“I would like to ride a bike,” Presley said. But Creswell is 10 miles south of Eugene on the freeway so biking that distance isn’t viable, and he calls the bus service “really inconvenient.”

Presley said that he is thinking about buying a scooter to help mitigate fuel costs, though he does have concerns about safety. When asked if he might try out his son’s efficient homebuilt motorized bike, he replied, “Oh hell no.”

Rising gas prices are forcing drivers to be more frugal in their fuel consumption, and to consider cheaper ways of getting to work. Public transportation, carpooling and smaller vehicles can be good ways to drive down costs, but safety and convenience can be real concerns.

For many people, like Richard Milne of Eugene, conflicting schedules make it difficult to use public transportation or set up a carpool with co-workers.

“It’s not really an option,” Milne said. As a coach and teacher at Creswell Middle School, most of his colleagues have left by the time his athletes go home.

And while more and more people are using the bus system, the Lane Transit District saw an increase in ridership of 16 percent over the last year, LTD Service Planning and Marketing Manager Andy Vobora says that funding concerns make it harder to make it more convenient for people like Milne and Presley.

“There’s a couple of tough years coming up,” Vobora said. He said budget cuts and a slow economy have mixed with rising oil prices that “couldn’t come at a worse time.”

80 percent of LTD payroll funding comes from taxes, and recession worries are making the service look for other sources of funding. Vobora expects a five to ten percent decrease in bus service next year.

But there is hope for Creswell. The Creswell / Cottage Grove bus route is the highest utilized of the rural communities around Eugene, with busses serving the community 10 times each day. While expansion is unlikely, the service probably will not be cut down.

“Don’t expect any changes to that route,” Vobora said.

So if bus service isn’t expanding, how can people save money on gas?

Companies are beginning to take notice of the commuter’s dilemma. LTD is working with them to provide vanpools to help employees, where vans are rented by LTD, fueled by the company and driven by employees to provide a cheaper and more accessible solution.

Van-pools can also be set up by the drivers themselves via the LTD website. The vans are centered around Eugene, but there are van pools that run all the way down from Corvallis.

Hynix spokesperson Bobby Lee said Eugene Hynix recently began offering the service, as well as on site bus service, and that biking and traditional car-pooling are also very popular.

Despite these options, high gas prices remain frustrating for drivers.

“The number one talk is gas prices,” Presley said. Narrowing down that cause is difficult, and will probably play a large role in election politics and national policies to come.

Presley says that he and his wife are leaning towards Barack Obama in the upcoming Presidential election, in part due to Obama’s fuel policy.

“It’s affecting our voting,” Presley said.

But Milne doesn’t think that prices at the pump will impact who he will vote for.

“I don’t spend that much time thinking about it,” Milne said. He compares the fuel crisis to similar worries in previous eras.“It’s a new wave of change that’s going to happen in my lifetime.

“It’s futures in Wall Street,” Presley counters. “It’s people in Wall Street, it’s Americans getting rich on Americans.”

Nietzsche v Foucault (Part Two)

2008-06-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

Here is the follow-up to the previously posted essay written for my Political Theory class.

Now that the terms have been established, we continue to the heart of the discussion.

The titles of the authors’ works do well to describe their contents: Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals is relatively self-explanatory, and while Foucault’s Discipline and Punish and Birth of the Prison only tell the reader of the content of the discussion, rather than the form, his genealogy quickly becomes apparent from his historical focus and regular citation of Nietzschean language. And it is clear that along with mirroring each other’s method, the authors also share similar aims in their works: that is, to guide the reader towards a conclusion by contextualizing the debate. It is an all-encompassing style of argument, wherein the author seeks to offer the totality of societal understanding of the issue, believing that the knowledge of such will prompt the reader to hold opinions similar to the author. In this way, the aim genealogy is to provide a perspective argument where the author wins the reader by shaping their viewpoint, rather than directly changing their beliefs.

Friedrich Nietzsche, whose writings predate that of Foucault’s by some 50 years, first popularized this genealogical argument in his work. Due to this prima nature, his style is at once original and reflective of the analytical argument. At the beginning of his work he sets off with the standard mode of argument wherein you first establish the aim of the work – “We need a critique of moral values, the value of these values themselves must first be called into question.” (Nietzsche, 20) – and then conclude with a congratulatory self-pat on the back reminding the reader what the author has done.

But after doing so in the introduction, he then launches into a historical narrative which examines morality in the light of previous philosophers, the traditional struggle between the aristocrat and the plebe, and then an etymological examination of the words “good” and “bad.” It is a remarkable form of argument, which nonetheless remains persuasive at the end of the work (as the legions of youthful nihilists can attest).

“Now it is plain to me, first of all, that in this theory the source of the concept “good” has been sought and established in the wrong place: the judgment “good” did not originate with those to whom “goodness” was shown! Rather it was “the good” themselves, that is to say, the noble, powerful, high-stationed and high-minded, who felt and established themselves and their actions as good, that is, of the first rank, in contradistinction to all the low, low-minded, common and plebeian. It was out of this pathos of distance that they first seized the right to create values and to coin names for values.” (Nietzsche, 26)

By exploring the meaning behind the meaning and the context of the debate, Nietzsche achieved a cohesive argument that would be quite difficult to attain in the traditional style. ‘Proving’ nihilism to a critical audience in a debate format would be a difficult task, because it is an attack upon the basic fundaments of their character. A Grecian argument cum Plato would force the reader to question and dismiss his or her own sense of morality, a rather untenable position. But by providing that genealogy of morals, Nietzsche can contextualize his perspective and convince the reader of their similarity of viewpoint.

Michel Foucault wrote his works in the light of Nietzsche’s success, and his style of argument was strongly affected by Nietzsche’s work. But the interval had given time for Nietzsche’s acolytes to refine the perspective, which left Foucault’s Discipline and Punish and his Birth of the Prison somewhat derivative in nature, but also more strongly removed from classical argument than that of Nietzsche himself. Foucault makes no real attempt to convince the reader of any overriding thesis – other than extending this mode of thinking to the school and barracks – he only outlines his genealogy of punishment and control.

Foucault explores the history of penal reform, the slow progression from the tortuous punishment of the autocrat, to the idealistic reform and attempted rehabilitation advocated by Enlightenment philosophers, and finally to the modern system of his contemporaries, which attempted a shallower yet more over-arching form of impersonal control and punishment for the population at large. While he is less proscriptive than Nietzsche, he nonetheless clearly lays out his chosen perspective solution.

“It was not so much, or not only, the privileges of justice, its arbitrariness, its archaic arrogance, its uncontrolled rights that were criticized; but rather the mixture of its weaknesses and excesses, its exaggerations and its loopholes, and above all the very principle of this mixture, the ‘super-power’ of the monarch. The true objective of the reform movement, even in its most general formulations, was not so much to establish a new right to punish based on more equitable principles, as to set up a new ‘economy’ of the power to punish, to assure its better distribution, so that it should be neither too concentrated at certain privileged points, nor too divided between opposing authorities; so that it should be distributed in homogenous circuits capable of operating everywhere, in a continuous way, down to the finest grain of the social body.” (Foucault, 80)

The genealogy is the common link between Foucault and Nietzsche, and it serves to differentiate the two from the majority of other political scientist authors. And the system was borne out by both of them; both authors used it successfully to promote their arguments. Nietzsche’s critique of morality has been embraced by potent socio-political movements (nihilism, atheism, reformism, Nazism) since his heralded first publishing of Genealogy of Morals. Foucault’s impersonal yet hyper-vigilant system of order and punishment has been embraced by Western law enforcement throughout the world.

While it would be imprudent to lay entirety of their success at the feet of their books, it is clear that the genealogical style of argument can be powerfully persuasive, even if it is not as widely practiced as the classical confrontational style used by many other political scientist authors.

Nietzsche v Foucault (Part One)

2008-06-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

I just finished working on two essays for my fantastic Political Science class with Prof. James Ingram, who is unfortunately heading back to Canada rather than sticking around the University of Oregon. Here is the first half of the first essay, which doubtlessly will never be read by anyone, but will make up for some of the shorter posts I've been making as of late. Hah.

“There is no such thing as absolute certainty,
But there is assurance sufficient for the purposes of human life.”

- John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

Prompt two: Nietzsche writes a ‘genealogy’ of modern morality; Foucault writes a ‘genealogy’ of modern punishment and the “modern soul.” Based on these two examples, what is ‘genealogy’? What are its main methods and aims? How does it differ from other types of political theory we have read? Does Foucault’s version of genealogy differ from Nietzsche’s?

Modernist political scientists have consistently attempted to examine the underpinnings of supposed failures in contemporary society. J.S. Mill did so by examining the dichotomous contest between the power of the state and the freedom of the individual, Alexis de Tocqueville explored the rise of the new form of democratic government presented by the United States of America, in comparison to revolutionary France. Max Weber and Karl Marx also make their arguments in support of fundamental, systemic changes to the government and societal values that form the basis of the problems they observe in society. So it can be seen that, in their works, Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault do not stray appreciably from the standard role of the modernist political scientist: a critic of the status quo. But it is their method of critique in which they are unique – for they part from the standard form of examination and attempt a genealogy. This method of argument is markedly different from the custom, as are its aims, but it also strikes upon a system of discourse that is as valuable as the classical method of debate.

Before exploring what Nietzsche and Foucault have done, what a genealogy is, we must first understand what a genealogy is not. J.S. Mill, Tocqueville and the rest can be seen as standard bearers of the customary form of literary exploration and written critical thinking. Mill identifies the principal problem(s) at hand (for example the subjection of women in society), as well as the contemporary advocates of that cause. He then uses argument and anecdote to prove his counterproposal (to include women as equal members of society without sharply defined gender roles, to continue the example).

Mill’s On Liberty is considered a sterling example of political thought, Raymond Geuss and Quentin Skinner, series editors of the Cambridge Texts in the History of Political thought, herald the work as “the most powerful defence [sic] of the freedom of the individual.” But it is important to note that the author keeps himself within the contemporary. His exploration of the past, of the history of the women’s rights movement itself, is tepid at best. Mill does not concern himself with such things, for he is quite busy taking on every facet of the argument of his chosen opponent. In doing so, Mill is utterly convincing (to this author, at least), and this style of writing is mirrored by previously mentioned authors such as Tocqueville, Weber and Marx.

Foucault and Nietzsche do not follow this line of argument. While they do examine contemporary problems, to a point, they are far more concerned with the exploration of the history of the problems, and of the previously attempted solutions to these problems, which have often existed throughout the duration of civilized society. This is their major contribution, Foucault and Nietzsche, the genealogical argument. It is one that is more focused on providing context and understanding than persuasion, and indeed it is difficult to identify the purposed solutions offered by either author. Despite this, Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals and Foucault’s Discipline and Punish and The Birth of the Prison are fascinating reads; they are major and significant explorations of the human psyche. The works attempt to lead you by the hand to the author’s conclusion, rather than the classic analytical proof of the other authors that often appears more akin to a literary press gang.

Creswell Chronicle Portfolio

2008-06-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to put some of this term's photos online. Here's a short portfolio of clips that were published in the Creswell Chronicle weekly newspaper.

Party Rallies Around Obama, Denied

2008-06-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

Supporters of Hillary Clinton are beginning to show their support for Barack Obama, two days after her speech conceding victory to Obama. But this photo of North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley denying a fist pound to Sen. Obama shows that it will take time for the primary wounds to heal.

"I know I'm late but I'm on the train." Easley said.

UPDATE: The Google news reader has some very good news to share!

CNN - The Downward Spiral Since the Gulf War

2008-06-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

Trust to CNN Hot Topic News for your immediate, up to date news needs.

Here's a sample:

Indian school names monkey god chairman

Story Highlights
Revered Hindu monkey god named chairman of an Indian business school
Position comes with an incense-filled office, a desk and a laptop computer
Hindus believe Hanuman led monkey army to fight the demon King Ravana

Mexican Bike Race Hits a Snag

2008-06-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

From the department of amusing yet horrific trivia: a Mexican bike race met with tragedy recently after the front runners were hit by a driver who was asleep or on drugs, or both. Police were on the scene immediately, and apprehended the suspect. One racer was killed, and ten others were injured.

The SA thread that sparked discussion over the event quickly and happily devolved into an argument between motorists irritated with slow-moving assholes who clog up traffic, and bicyclists irritated with dangerously vapid drivers of two ton death machines.

The one thing all agreed with is that the image is absolutely awesome.

If you are a driver or a bicyclist, please add your thoughts on the issue in the comment section below.

Obama Nomination Victory Speech

2008-06-05T22:30:00.001-07:00

I would really suggest watching this video, especially if you are a supporter of Hillary Clinton who is concerned about the Barack Obama nomination.

I found Obama's speech to be very gracious, and he spoke eloquently about the important role of the Clintons in American politics.

He described Clinton as being at the center of the universal initiative, and a strong advocate of the green energy economy.

Personally, I think that a Clinton / Obama ticket would be the best solution for the Democratic Party, as well as the nation as a whole. Clinton's strength will be absolutely needed in healing the wounds caused by eight years of President Bush.

Furthermore, I think that any other VP would simply pale in comparison to her, and appear wholly manufactured. A Clinton / Obama ticket would form the basis of a strong and productive administration, that could work together as a team more than the leader and his shadow that is the standard paradigm.

Hillary Clinton needs to join the Campaign for Change, because she has been campaigning for change all her life.

Amazonian Tribe Found

2008-05-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

I got a request from a reader to make a new post so my blog wasn't featuring the naked little girl photographed by Australian Bill Henson.

So I've decided to relay another Australian news article about naked people: a previously uncontacted South American tribe was filmed by a flyover plane, renewing Western interest in the plight of Indians being forced from their lands by illegal logging.

The first flyover yielded shots of the villagers slowly reacting to the aircraft, and by the second flyover the village had readied itself for battle with the unknown: red-painted warriors hefted bows and spears, accompanied by a woman painted in black, while younger tribes members crouched under the protection of the huts.

Personally, I think that they are fascinating photos. A true look into an unknown world, and into the past. Something Awful's discussion of the events tended towards a more humorous tenor, with a series of comparisons between these tribes people and the tribal Fallen in the Diablo II video game, as well as an extended discussion of the top five items to give a discovered tribe.

Still, the online exploration was not entirely unfruitful. A poster cited David Attenborough's fascinating hour-long documentary A Blank on the Map: First Contact with a Tribe, which follows more than 100 explorers as they travel through the depths of the unexplored Amazon in an effort to search out one of the few remaining undiscovered tribes. While a bit slow to start, I definitely recommend watching it if you are interested in this sort of thing.

And for those curious, here's my own list of 'Top 5 Things to Throw in a Box to an Uncontacted Indian Village.' Maybe not the most charitable list, but amusing nonetheless:

1. A giant monolith covered in nonsense glyphs and symbols.
2. A very durable remotely operated robot.
3. Party favors, everybody needs party favors.
4. A disease that they were immune to but we were not.
5. A gift of circa 1400s technology.

Add your own in the comments section if you have a mind to.

Art on Trial

2008-05-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

I came across an interesting article today about controversial Australian photographer Bill Henson, who was charged with art obscenity over a gallery series of nude children. Apparently Henson's gallery was seized for evidence, and the artist is hiding out somewhere.

I discussed the event in detail on my web forum, and I wanted to share some of those thoughts. We talked about the eroticism of the images, the legalities of the case, and whether or not Henson should be considered a shock artist.

Personally, I think that the images are intended to be semi-erotic. They draw a large part of their artistic merit through that eroticism. While I personally don't see the problem with putting them on display, I could understand a legal objection due to this concern. And Henson is clearly conscious of the uncertain nature of his work. He purposefully strides the line between innocence and sexuality:

quote:

'The object in my photographs is not always the subject,' Henson says and he challenges the audience to engage with the work in order to understand its true nature. He has said that he feels that he has succeeded if more questions are generated than answered, and believes the strongest criticism comes from those who are uncomfortable with not knowing the answers to the questions posed.

Pavement Magazine

quote:

Although Henson could not be reached for comment yesterday, he told the Herald this week he had chosen to work with children at the beginning of puberty because they were "half in childhood, half in the adult world" and this "creates a floating world of expectation and uncertainty". He told the Herald in 2006: "It's an impossibly oversimplified notion, this 'loss of innocence'. It's not like you cross a painted line on the floor; it's a progression."

Sydney Morning Herald

It is clear that he understands that his art as intentionally provocative, and he is primarily concerned with the audience reaction compared with the subject of his photograph. As any good artist, he attempts to elicit a response. He does so by bringing the low life to the high life, by romanticizing squalor. He keeps himself to the grey area, to the edges, in order to bring about the greatest response.

I don't think that this series is particularly egregious in this respect, but it is silly to ignore his connection to shock art. Henson is not as gruesome or extreme as the bloody anti-abortion shock art trotted out by some pro-lifers, but the power of his work stems from a similar source.

As per the legalities, it is hard to say. I am not familiar with Australian law, though it shares a common history with American and British law, but in a US court, I would wager the photographer would win out in summary judgment, mainly due to way his art was being displayed. If the images were on an anonymous website without the gallery context, he could easily be looking at jail time.

The Law Society of New South Wales has come out in support of Henson, and they defend him by saying that he only intended to create art, and that the state will have to prove intent before convicting him. I'm sure they'll file an amicus curiae, but I rather doubt that this is the extent of it. In US law, at least, an action's intent is only a small part of a case, regardless of how it is depicted in television dramas.

As in similar US cases, these proceedings will probably be heavily based on common law, and hence subject to interpretation. I'm not sure if Australia has an equivalent to the Roth or Miller tests. It is also important to note that child pornography statutes tend to be much more arbitrary than general pornography statutes.

For example, a strict minded US judge would be supported in the law for jailing Henson for depicting youngsters in lewd poses/conduct (even if they were fully clothed) - as well as every journalist that printed or possessed the images. This is regardless of the "serious value" of the image, or the work as a whole.

Of course, the judge would have to be pretty fire and brimstone to lay down that much smack down for images that are only semi-erotic. Still, I'll admit to some consternation prior to uploading the image at the head of this post, and I shied away from his more contentious photos.

But I wanted to applaud the courage of Fairfax's The Age, which is the only newspaper I know of that has published uncensored versions of Henson's photos. Bloggers are already speaking of the journalistic coverage of this event in terms of Denmark's cartoon parodies of Islamic figures, and I think that it may become another marker stone in the debate over the freedom of the press.

Great Pheonix Landing Photo

2008-05-26T13:50:00.001-07:00

One last mention of the Pheonix landing on Mars. Using the high-resolution HiRise camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA scientists have acquired this stunning shot of the Pheonix lander parachuting down onto the martian surface. As the lander uses the sparse atmosphere of Mars to slow down, the pod, drogue and cabling are clearly displayed in this chance satellite footage. Truly an astounding image.

Still no word on the Polar Bear object ...

It's Good to Travel

2008-05-25T23:41:00.000-07:00

Alright, so picking up from my previous time travel post, I'm hypothesizing traveling to Europe circa 1500. I already talked about arriving in Europe and traveling to Florence, Italy, in 1500. It probably won't make much sense without the lead up, so I suggest looking at part one. I pick up in late 1504 ...

I travel to Rome with Michaelangelo, and secure the patronage of Pope Julius II to create a second academy. Doing so would further tie Florence to the Vatican, and gain favor with the Pope. After his successful campaign in 1506, Julius has a good relationship with France and Germany, and he then creates the Swiss Guard.

I would attempt to demonstrate the success of the Florence militia in order to be involved in the training of the Guard. I would promote the role of Florence in the creation of an independent Italy as a nation state. This line of thinking would mirror that of Pope Julius.

Through the improved relationship between the Pope, Florence and the Academy cadre, it would be possible to conciliate between the Medici family and Florence, preventing the wars that would weaken Italy and doom both the Republic of Florence and the Pope's intentions. Support of the Medici, a potent noble merchant family with a history of patronage for the arts, philosophy and medicine, would solidify Florence as a mercantile city state within an emerging Italy.

Thus forward, my aim would be to obtain a place in the Florence Great Council alongside the Medici faction, and consolidate the economic and military might of the city. In 1509, Pisa will attack the city, but the improved militia will prove its might by soundly trouncing Pisa, which should be followed with expansion into Venice alongside the League.

In 1513, Pope Julius will catch fever. However, medical aid will improve his chances of survival. Doing so will allow him to transfer leadership of the Holy League to his successor, Pope Leo X, a leader of the Medici family who will be sympathetic to the cause of a loyal Florence in the face of Martin Luther. Religious discourse and political pragmatism may convince Pope Leo X and his successor to adopt some of Luther's accepted liberalization, in order to prevent the schism.

By 1520, Italy has been relatively stable and profitable for 15 years. France, Germany and the Vatican have decent relations, and are no longer capable of dealing with Italy city by city. Now secure under the authority of a liberated Rome and the military industrial power of an expanded Florence, Italy can take advantage of the renaissance academies that have been set up throughout the country (in Pisa, Venice, Rome, Florence, etc.) Science, health and education flourish throughout the newly founded nation, spread through the merchant trading ships throughout Europe and as far as Asia. The burgeoning middle-class fuels an economic boom, and induces slow political democratization. The support of the Medici, and nobles as a whole, will be maintained by showing them how to maintain their position through mercantilism, and eventually capitalism.

Barring an unlikely joint attack by Germany and France, Italy is ready to begin an industrial revolution 300 years ahead of schedule. A major war (effectively a smaller Great War) should start within 20 years, but it is unlikely that other nations will be able to comprehend the strategy behind the new technologies, and their attacks will fail.

Basic knowledge of the rifled flintlock musket, the bayonet and trench warfare would revolutionize the military, bringing it to late 1800 technology. Even the minie ball (a pointed bullet that expands to fit the barrel groves), which marked the huge casualties of the American Civil War, is a relatively simple advancement if one understands the basic principles of a rifle.

Indeed, I encourage the belief that these advancements have nothing to do with my specific knowledge, but rather the collective knowledge that any modern educated person holds. Most people know that bullets shouldn't rattle around in the barrel, even if they don't realize how to utilize soft lead to do it. The same could be said of the basic industrial line, if not manufacturing design.

Comparatively, the enemy would be using cavalry, pikemen, archers/crossbows, and a smattering of matchlock arquebuses and cannon artillery. The protection of the trenches would prevent the discipline problems that plagued early gun battles, improving the firing rate and demoralizing the enemy.

Once supplemented with rifled artillery, the Italian army could expand at will. So long as Italy does not over-extend itself, it should be able to weather the war on a defensive front, and then exploit the Americas to begin the last great expansion.

I should be able to live until about 1555, when I will be 77. Depending on the success of the war, I should be able to live out my days as Governor of an Italian-speaking American colony with circa 1900 technology.

Martian Polar Bears Attack

2008-05-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

Science bloggers are already buzzing over an anomalous object sighted in one of the Pheonix lander's first photos. The white object contrasts sharply with the otherwise bland red terrain surrounding the robot.

In a late night press conference, NASA authorities confirmed that they were examining the object, and that they doubted that it was a discarded part of the craft because there was little wind or lateral movement during the landing.

The panel acknowledged that there was some speculation as to what it was, as well as the quip, "Ed thinks it may be a polar bear."

Still, the group refused to comment on their speculations despite repeated questions on the object, saying that they "wanted to have something to talk about tomorrow." However, due to Memorial Day there will be no press conference until Tuesday afternoon.

The Pheonix is not equipped with wheels, and won't be able to close with the "Polar Bear" object to examine it. But the photos were not taken at the highest resolution of the camera, and the orbiting satellites will also be able to take overhead photos.

Assuming it hasn't moved.

The Pheonix has Landed!

2008-05-25T17:14:00.000-07:00

NASA's Pheonix Mars lander has touched down safely on the North pole of the red planet, a few minutes before 5 pm PST. It landed with less than half a degree of tilt, meaning that it avoided any rocks as its thrusters put it down. "It's in a nice flat place, all nice and happy."

Check out the visualization here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7400375.stm

The Odyssey orbiter will fly back over the Pheonix in 1.5 hours, which will yield the first footage of the lander.

Personally, I was glued to the live coverage of this event for the 15 minutes before and after the landing. NASA offered live online broadcast of mission control, which was available here: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

UPDATE: Check out the latest images streamed from the Odyssey orbiter that is examining the lander: http://fawkes4.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=0&cID=8

Waking Up in the Past

2008-05-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

Last night I got really involved in a thread on Something Awful that was exploring the idea of traveling back to the 1500s. I've always been fascinated by time travel, and I've avidly read and listened to anything about it that I could get my hands on.

In the thread, I wrote about two things: what I would do if I used that time machine, and an exploration of time travel itself.

Since I had an awesome time writing about it, I'll post a series of excerpts from my writing:

Assuming that I found myself in the middle of Europe on Jan. 1 1500, I would make my way to the new Republic of Florence, Italy, and ingratiate myself with Leonardo da Vinci, who will have just returned to the city. My extensive knowledge of science and engineering will make this a relatively simple procedure, though it will take time to transform my French into complex Italian.

Over the next year I will work with him to increase our fortunes, and to gain the trust of him and his contemporaries. Using philosophies refined in future centuries, I will mend fences between him and his rival, Michaelangelo, (they mainly disagreed over the relationship between man and nature), to create the core cadre of a group of young Florentine artists, scientists, philosophers and engineers. This united group will be effectively charged with fleshing out and legitimizing the concepts that I already possess, and translating them into contemporary forms. A small general academy will be formed around the cadre, funded by my own medicine-based income, as well as Michaelangelo's substantial stipend as he begins work on the David statue.

By establishing this group as the premier scientific and academic center of Italy, I will attract the attention of diplomat Niccolo Machiavelli, who has now been appointed Second Chancellor by the Florentine Great Council. As the first political scientist, he will be fascinated by my understanding of politics. With the inclusion of political power in the cadre, I will be able to promote Florence's Republican ideals, and use Michaelangelo to deter the others from siding with Cesare Borgia, preventing da Vinci from leaving Florence in 1502.

At Borgia rampages through Italy, he is now bereft of his chief military architect, da Vinci, which means his sieges will stagnate. Florentine admirers such as Machiavelli will turn away from him, and focus their attentions on Florence and Borgia's rival in Rome, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere.

Machiavelli begins training the Florence militia in 1503, now supplemented by my modern military infantry movement training, da Vinci's improved military engineering, and a united Florence. At this point I would likely be inducted into the Florence government as Machiavelli's aide-de-camp. Apart from the extensive political benefits this would bring (Machiavelli traveled throughout Italy as chief diplomat), it would also give the Academy a direct line to the government, as the first academy graduates would be entering the officer corps as citizen-soldiers. As officers, they will interact with the merchants who are beginning to come into their own, and will begin to legitimate the middle-class.

In late 1503, as the Italian wars now grind on, Cardinal Giuliano will be crowned as Pope Julius II. His reign will be marked by an aggressive foreign policy, ambitious building projects, and patronage for the arts. Florence will now be in a much stronger position, with a highly trained military, a burgeoning merchant middle-class, and solid political ties with the Vatican.

Michaelangelo completes David in 1504, which will attract the attention of all Italy to Florence. Now unified with Michaelangelo, da Vinci and Botticelli will lead the effort to build a monument around David rather than moving it. The small Republic of Florence will use it as a sign that it has come into its own (David and Goliath myth). Michaelangelo is summoned to Rome to begin work on the tomb of Pope Julius II, and da Vinci and I will now accompany him - leaving Florence in the hands of Machiavelli and the Academy.

So that's the first five years. Come back later for the second part.

75,000 at Portland Obama Rally

2008-05-18T21:29:00.001-07:00

Barack Obama held the largest rally yet for the 2008 presidential race in Portland today. 60,000 crowded into the gates of Waterfront park, with another 15,000 outside and boats and kayaks floating alongside in the Willamette. It was a beautiful, sunny evening for the event, and a perfect capstone for the hard fought campaign. Obama is hoping to have a strong showing in Oregon, which should prove to be the clincher for the Democratic nomination.

Read the event coverage:

The Washington Post
The New York Times
Official Barack Obama blog

Oregon is the largest state remaining in the contest between Clinton and Obama, and it is considered a strong supporter of the Obama campaign. Still, every vote counts in this proportional contest. If more than 70% vote Obama then he gets every vote!

So if you haven't put your ballot in the mail, walk down to a ballot box and make your voice heard.

Obama in '08!

Tocqueville v Mill (Part Two)

2008-05-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

I wrote a class essay comparing two of liberal theory's earliest adherents, Tocqueville and J.S. Mill. I thought that I would share it here. One of the things I find most fascinating about the authors is that so many of their arguments are continued today: the relationship between liberty and equality, for instance, or the role of women in society. Reading the old authors gives context, and a reference point to better understand today's debates.

This is the second of two parts of this essay:

The previous passages are examples of how Mill and Tocqueville tend to unite in message, but deviate in tone. But this is not to say that this is always the case. Both authors speak to the equality of women in society, and in generally positive tones towards women.

In his essay The Subjection of Women, Mill writes at length about the importance of female empowerment, which he considers a major issue confronting democratic societies. Tocqueville echoes this perspective in his short chapter ‘How the Americans Understand the Equality of Man and Woman,’ which he concludes with the hypothetical question: “[Were I] asked to what I think must be principally attributed the remarkable prosperity and growing strength of this people, I would answer that it is to the superiority of their women.” (Tocqueville, 268)

However, once the two authors are examined critically, one recognizes that there are striking differences between their real opinions on this issue. Mill speaks of the status of women in terms of slavery, while Tocqueville easily assumes the “inferiority” of women compared to men.

“I have not noticed,” Tocqueville writes, “that American women considered conjugal authority as a happy usurpation of their rights nor that they believed that to submit to it was to abase themselves. It appeared to me, on the contrary, that they fashioned for themselves a kind of glory out of the voluntary renunciation of their will and that they placed their grandeur in bending themselves to the yoke and not escaping it. That, at least, is the sentiment that the most virtuous ones express: the others keep quiet, and in the United States one does not hear an adulterous wife noisily clamoring for woman’s rights while trampling on her most sacred duties.” (Tocqueville, 266)

Comparatively, Mill argues forcefully for greater freedoms on the part of women – for an escape from the domestic role that Tocqueville espouses.

“The legal subordination of one sex to the other,” Mill writes, “is wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement; and that it ought to be replaced by a principle of perfect equality, admitting no power or privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other.” (Mill, 119)

In this, it is clear that despite having a similar tone, Mill strongly differentiates himself from Tocqueville, who characterizes the former’s argument as submission to the “despotic empire of women.”

Thus, it is shown that the two men differ greatly on this subject, as they do on other topics such as racial segregation and Mill’s leanings beyond liberalism, towards libertarianism. Still, it is best to note their similarities than to contrast their differences, for both lived in an era where liberalism remained a revolutionary idea.

Tocqueville and Mill share themes in their works. Both authors promote American-style democracy, individual freedom and the role of the middle-class. They both contend with the dichotomies of liberty versus authority, and liberty versus equality. And perhaps the most important similarity of all is their common fear of the tyranny of the majority, which was perhaps best explained thusly by Prof. James Ingram: “It is a fear that the public will become a tyrant, and eventually appoint one.”

For Tocqueville, this fear was vindicated 20 years after the publication of Democracy by the coronation of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte as emperor of France.

First Speech of the General Election

2008-05-06T20:31:00.001-07:00

Barack Obama made a "decisive victory" in N. Carolina tonight, pulling within 200 delegates of securing the Democratic nomination. Hillary Clinton won Indiana by less than a 2 point margin.

In response, Obama delivered a major speech that has been called "the first speech of the general election."

"We can't afford to give John McCain the chance to serve out George Bush's third term," Obama said. "We need change in America."

"That's why I'm running for President."

Fast Prototyping

2008-05-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

I was talking to my roommate today about an article I read about a group of graduate students researching game development, and he suggested that I share the article on my blog. Four members of the Experimental Gameplay Project over at Carnegie Mellon spent a semester developing over 50 flash games, while noting their successes and failures as they did so. Their article over at Gamasutra is a great look into the process of developing creativity on demand, and it has implications that go far beyond the casual gaming industry.

The project started in Spring 2005 with the goal of discovering and rapidly prototyping as many new forms of gameplay as possible. A team of four grad students, we locked ourselves in a room for a semester with three rules:

1. Each game must be made in less than seven days,
2. Each game must be made by exactly one person,
3. Each game must be based around a common theme i.e. "gravity", "vegetation", "swarms", etc.

As the project progressed, we were amazed and thrilled with the onslaught of web traffic, with the attention from gaming magazines, and with industry professionals and academics all asking the same questions, "How are you making these games so quickly?" and "How can we do it too?" We lay it all out here.

Through the following tips, tricks, and examples, we will discuss the methods that worked and those that didn't. We will show you how to slip into a rapid prototyping state of mind, how to set up an effective team, and where to start if you've thought about making something new, but weren't sure how.

We hope these well-tested guidelines come in useful for you and your next project, big or small!

Boom De Yada

2008-05-05T14:43:00.001-07:00

Here's a song to get stuck in your head. Now go watch the Discovery Channel.

Boom de yada, boom de yada, boom de yada, boom de yada.

Do do la doo doo ...

Tocqueville v Mill (Part One)

2008-05-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

I wrote a class essay comparing two of liberal theory's earliest adherents, Tocqueville and J.S. Mill. I thought that I would share it here. One of the things I find most fascinating about the authors is that so many of their arguments are continued today: the relationship between liberty and equality, for instance, or the role of women in society. Reading the old authors gives context, and a reference point to better understand today's debates.

This is the first of two parts of this essay:

French historian Alexis de Tocqueville and British philosopher John Stuart Mill are both important authors in the history of liberalism and individual freedom. Tocqueville’s post French-revolutionary Democracy in America examined the successes and failures of 19th century America, with an eye towards the democratization of Western Europe. Mill’s On Liberty, published 25 years later, is considered a founding document of liberal thinking. Together, the two writers propose powerful arguments for personal liberty and democratic government – but from different perspectives. With different backgrounds and different political realities, it is not surprising that Tocqueville and Mill have different views on many issues; what is surprising is the number of striking similarities they do have.

Tocqueville was born a French aristocrat, in a time where the nobility had far more access to education and political power than the lower classes. This perspective permeated his writing, though he ended up supporting the republican movement that diminished the power of the aristocratic class.

“If one encounters less brilliance [in a Democratic state] than in the bosom of an aristocracy,” Tocqueville writes in the beginning of Democracy, “one also finds less misery; pleasures will be less extreme and well-being more general; the sciences less grand and ignorance rarer; feelings less energetic and habits milder; one will notice there more vices and fewer crimes.” (Tocqueville, 9)

Mill takes a note from Tocqueville’s writings, and he also explores the effects – positive and negative – that democracy has upon society. However, though Mill is equally well educated (and perhaps even more academic), he was decidedly middle-class (his father, James Mill, was a well-known liberalist author, but certainly not a noble). J.S. Mill’s upbringing means he identifies more with the common citizen than Tocqueville does. While both authors - in their own way - extol the virtues of the democratic middle class, Mill takes a more inclusionist tone. This can be seen from the beginning of On Liberty, where Mill’s language is more reminiscent of the Declaration of Independence than Tocqueville’s reflective work.

“From this liberty of each individual,” Mill writes, “follows the liberty, within the same limits, of combination among individuals; freedom to unite, for any purpose not involving harm to others: the persons combining being supposed to be of full age, and not forced or deceived. No society in which these liberties are not, on the whole, respected, is free, whatever may be its form of government; and none is completely free in which they do not exist absolute and unqualified. The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.” (Mill, 16)

Still, despite their distinct perspectives, Tocqueville and Mill often see eye to eye in a general sense. Both authors support individual freedoms, democratic government and suffrage. And each senses societal problems ignored or engendered by democracy, though the two remain broadly supportive of democratic ideals. For Tocqueville these concerns merely form part of his extended critique of American democracy, but Mill focuses his attentions upon these perceived problems.

"Individuals, classes, nations, have been extremely unlike one another: they have struck out a great variety of paths, each leading to something valuable,” Mill writes. “Europe is, in my judgment, wholly indebted to this plurality of paths for its progressive and many-sided development. But it already begins to possess this benefit in a considerably less degree. It is decidedly advancing towards the Chinese ideal of making all people alike. M. de Tocqueville, in his last important work, remarks how much more the Frenchmen of the present day resemble one another, than did those even of the last generation.” (Mill, 72)

Iraq Update

2008-05-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

I just watched an excellent interview with journalist Leila Fadel, who is the Baghdad bureau chief for McClatchy newspapers. She lays out an empathetic and introspective look at the war in Iraq. From Iran to al-Sadr to the U.S. soldiers, Fadel walks a vanishingly thin line as she and her Iraqi journalists try to report on the country.

Fadel's interview with PBS' Bill Moyers provides an excellent primer for the situation on the ground, as well as offer some thoughts as to Iraq's future.

I really suggest that you check it out.

LEILA FADEL: Covered in a scarf so that I wouldn't stand out in the neighborhood. I had to walk in 'cause there was a curfew. I had to take a taxi once I got inside with authorized vehicles. I had to go to the hospitals. And I was nervous. You know, I walked by one square at the entrance of Sadr City in the south. And the Iraqi residents in the area were telling me, "Oh, you gotta run through this area. There are American snipers on that roof."

And there were rumors that women and children were being killed. The U.S. military said that was not happening. Then I'm embedded with these guys [U.S. soldiers]. And they're in an abandoned house-- that they've never seen before. They're going through photo albums and trying to entertain themselves with air soft guns whenever they're not getting shot at. They were calling the little store that was this man's living, whoever lived there-- the Wal-Mart so that they could go in and get Lysol to try to clean the toilets that were no running water and no, you know, completely stopped up.

Nobody's innocent. And that's the difficult thing about this story is that, you know, right now the Mahdi Army is saying, "We're the victim of an offensive that is politically motivated" But they also have victimized so many people. I interviewed a commander in the Mahdi Army who was the most cold-blooded person I'd ever met.

The Empire Strikes Barack

2008-05-04T11:51:00.001-07:00

This is just awesome.

Use the (democratic) force, Barack!

Youth Suffrage

2008-05-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

Even some of my closest friends may not know this, but I have always been an ardent youth suffragist. Unfortunately, most people tend to dismiss the idea of youths being part of the election process. Over time I resigned myself to quietly holding an unpopular opinion, and it was only recently that it was revived.

A thread on Something Awful's Debate and Discussion board brought up the subject of youth suffrage. There was the usual majority of people who felt that people under 18 were too ignorant and too immature to be allowed to vote, but there was also a surprising number of people who seemed sympathetic to the youth suffrage movement.

One of them linked me to the National Youth Rights Association web site, an organization that I hadn't even realized existed.

"NYRA is a national youth-led organization with over 7,000 members and chapters in a dozen states," according to the website. "We support lowering the voting age, lowering the drinking age, repealing government curfews, protecting student rights and fighting age discrimination."

I am so happy to hear that someone else out there cares for the plight of the disenfranchised youth.

The following is a short version of their reasons to lower the voting age. Please visit the link for a complete and detailed listing.

Top Ten Reasons to Lower the Voting Age

"No right is more precious in a free country than that of having a choice in the election of those who make the laws under which…we must live. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined."

1. Youth suffer under a double standard of having adult responsibilities but not rights
2. Youth pay taxes, live under our laws, they should have the vote
3. Politicians will represent their interests if youth can vote
4. Youth have a unique perspective, they'll never have those experiences again
5. 16 is a better age to introduce voting than 18; 16 year olds are stationary
6. Lowering the Voting Age will increase voter turnout
7. If we let stupid adults vote, why not let smart youth vote?
8. Youth will vote well
9. There are no wrong votes
10. Lowering the voting age will provide an intrinsic benefit to the lives of youth

Obama's Anger

2008-04-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

Looks like another round of Clintonian panhandling about the 'Pastorgate Crisis' (on a side note, the *gate cliche needs to die a horrible death).

I read an article by Frank James from the Baltimore Sun Tribune entitled "Can Obama Show Real Anger?" James argued that Obama's recent televised renunciation of his former pastor Jeremiah Wright lacked the anger that was needed:

James writes (abridged):

Does Sen. Barack Obama ever cut loose and let his anger and, more broadly, his emotions show? And if not, what is that about and will voters go for a candidate who always seems buttoned down?

If ever there were a perfect opportunity for Obama to really show what most people would recognize as anger, it was yesterday, the day after his former pastor Jeremiah Wright's histronics at the National Press Club.

Then a man the candidate once counted as important to his life, his former pastor, essentially calls Obama an opportunistic, say-anything-to-win politician and appears intent on doing everything he can to sink his former congregant's chances.

Candidates have been driven to public displays of ire over less. And it may have helped some voters connect with more since most people would understand a candidate getting "fired up," as Obama might say, over such a perceived betrayal as Wright's.

While some reporters in the room said they saw glimpsed anger, watching on television it was very hard to see. What was more apparent was pique. Obama seemed very tamped down. He didn't even appear to be doing a slow burn.

Because I'm guessing many Americans want to see some fight in their presidential candidates. They want a president who at times will kick a little you-know-what and take names if the situation calls for it. A candidate needs to show that ability.

[Americans] want to see anger when it should be there, a popping vein on the forehead, and a well-aimed "How dare he!" They want to know the man or woman they choose to be president has not just the head for a fight, but the heart for it.

I tried leaving a comment on his article page, but apparently the web page doesn't work. Which is a bit ridiculous considering the premise of their blog, The Swamp, is to interface the reporters with the community.

I watched the NYT video of Obama's speech, and he appeared clearly angry. His rhetoric was forceful and to the point. But he was, as James said, also tamped down.

Personally, I see that as a good quality that will avoid a burnout like Howard Dean. A leader needs to keep a cool head despite adversity, and leave the vein-popping to the Marines. If a candidate snaps over something this minor, how are they going to handle a real crisis?

A Little Classical Music

2008-04-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

I recently put together a playlist of exceptional Classical music performances that are available on YouTube, and I've been listening to it while I do paperwork and sift through photos.

While by no means does this list comprise all of the excellent examples of Classical music on YouTube, I'd like to think that it does have some of the best.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Supanchick Article Reflection

2008-04-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

I have a couple things I wanted to say about writing the article on Tyke Supanchick.

First, it was quite interesting in the courtroom. Many people were rather emotional, and the atmosphere was very different from other trials I’ve been involved with.

It also gave me a chance to wear a good suit, and I was disappointed to see that most journalists did not follow suit (though Meghan from KVAL was an exception). I understand that it is just work to most people, but frankly I thought it disrespectful towards a man whose life was on the line.

Writing the article was relatively quick, though it was difficult to cram all the quotes I wanted in there. I ended up cutting out a good kicker because it made the article appear overly biased towards the prosecution. I bolstered the defense statements a bit, but it wasn’t until I found out the defense attorney’s name that I was satisfied.

Overall, most people who read my article found it slightly biased either towards the defense or the prosecution, which I understand is a good indication of neutrality.

I submitted the article to the Creswell Chronicle and the Junction City Tri-County News, which is why the article has a dateline, etc. However, the editor there had the following to say:

Tristan,

I appreciate that you wish to contribute to our newspaper, but it is customary in the industry not to accept freelance work on hard news stories such as the Supanchick trial.

Feature stories are a different matter though. We may accept features if they are current and within our coverage area.

Again, thanks for your interest.

Cheers,
Phil

The Corvallis Gazette-Times published the AP story a couple days later, which makes me think I should have submitted it there as well, but I just wasn’t sure how to go about doing that. Later I found that jurors had read and posted on this blog, and then I got a critique from Prof. Rea, who I BCCed the article.

All in all it was a very educational experience, and one that I enjoyed very much. I hope for as much success tomorrow at the Lane County budget hearing. The Creswell Chronicle sounded interested in that story, because it is part of Lane County, so hopefully I’ll get a clip.

Smile

2008-04-28T01:42:00.000-07:00

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to post today (at least ten minutes!). I decided to leave the hard stuff to the hardliners, and shamelessly steal a post from Boing Boing. These ballet dancers just keep making me smile. Enjoy.

Journal XVII

2008-04-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

Journal Entry 17: Phelps Family Documentary

The BBC’s Louis Theroux released his documentary “The Most Hated Family in America” almost a year ago, but it has taken a while for news of it to percolate over to the US, where it was never published on television. It was brought to my attention by the Phelps’ protest of the death of actor Heath Ledger. I think that it is a fascinating look at the Phelps family, but also at documentary interview journalism.

Here’s a temperate British journalist who is interviewing one of America’s most controversial families. The Phelps have been renowned for their aggressive evangelism, and can count one journalist among their frightening converts. Pastor Fred Phelps is a notoriously difficult interviewee, yet Theroux manages to do a fantastic documentary despite all that. He spends three weeks with the family, and walks away with film that they love and the rest of the Western world seems shocked at.

I think that it is clear he managed to do all this due to his charming attitude. His ability to show them that he just wants to put out their story, without any judgment on his part, is what won them over. That, and the human quality of seeing yourself as you want to be seen.

One clear example would be seen in Theroux’s interactions with one of the younger Phelps who was pretty clearly flirting with him 80% of the time. I mean, she started mimicking his accent, asked her mum to go to coffee with him and opened up with him much more than the others did.

Louis Theroux’s journalistic style is worthy of study and emulation.