Charlotte Tea Party - Not my cup

I attended today's Tea Party in downtown Charlotte, NC. I was there to protest the out of control spending that is being undertaken by our government. What I found was a Republican pep rally attended by three to five hundred people. And even though we were in downtown the audience didn't appear very cosmopolitan. I was reminded of the yearly Speed Street that descends upon the city center; big hair, NASCAR and t-shirts with religious slogans. Nothing wrong with that - just not my cup of tea.

Adding to my distrust, the Republican party was out in force: "vote for so-and-so, sign-up for this cause, that cause, down with the democrats!" But from where I'm standing, Republicans are about half the problem. We have a one party country club that functions to serve the needs of its member politicians. Democrat or Republican.

At the end of the day, I'm not at all interested in helping out the Republican party. But the Tea Party folks are the only ones in town protesting out of control spending. So I'm stuck. Do nothing or support a movement that is identified with people and ideas I have little in common with? Such is politics.

Calexico Extended Discography

For people like me who like to collect all the songs by their favorite bands, Calexico is frustrating. Wikipedia only begins to tell the story. The band has been nice enough to sell their tour only CD's as mp3's on their website. But even that misses a lot of tracks.

So I went through Amazon and iTunes and here's what I found that is not easily available on their website or iTunes band page: (song/album)

Covers and Singles from Various Albums
Drivin' on 9 - Guess Who This Is
Casey's Last Ride - Nothing Left to Lose
Wave - A Salute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Sweetheart 2005: Love Songs
I send my Love to You - I Am A Cold Rock, I am Dull Grass
Dance of Death - Resurrection: A Tribute to John Fahey
Carleess - You Can't Always Listen to Hausmusik
Sundown, Sundown - Total Lee
Fruit of the Vine - The Believer Magazine Music CD 2006
Alone Again Or (live) - Austin City Limits Festival

Singles and EPs
Alone Again Or (Love cover sung by Joey Burns & Nicolai Dunger) - Alone Again Or EP (Australian)
Kabong Rides Again - Convict Pool EP (UK)
Lacquer and Drape - Stray single (UK)
Black Heart (Live at the Barbican) - Black Heart EP (UK)

Import Album Bonus Tracks
Recalling Regatta - Feast of Wire Import (UK)
Fallin Rain - Feast of Wire (different) Import (EU)
Landing Field and Cast You Coat - Garden Ruin Import (EU)

Live in Studio Tracks
Not Even Stevie Nicks from WDET LIVE! Vol. 4
The Ride, Part 2 from VPRO's De Avonden: Crossing Border 1998
Quattro (World Drifts In from KFOG: Live From The Archives 14
Ballad of Lupe Montoya - Kxci Live Fdrom Studio 2a Vol.1

Remixes
Black Heart remix EP (UK)
Woven Bird 2 remixes - Alone Again Or single
Minas De Cobre (Extend-O-Mix) and Minas De Cobre (Spatial Mix) - Black Light import (UK)
Untitled 3 (Swordsmen mix) - Peppered With Spastic Magic
Crystal Frontier (Buscemi remix) - Buscemi: Late Night Reworks Vol. 1

Carolina Sweet Tea Party

Marshall Park - Charlotte, NC. April 4th, 2009.

red(wire) is a piece of shit

No other way to say it. Red(wire) Is the worse user interface I've ever seen. What the? U2 goes off to make a site to download unique content to raise money to fight AIDS in Africa and you have to download a web 1.0 interface? An interface that won't even give scroll bars for someone using 800/600 resolution (around 48% of all users)!

And then you're stuck having to use the player. You can't burn the content or move it to other players. What a ripoff. Don't reward these people. Keep your money. And that's beside the point that the mag is a celeb ego site where we get to hear about how great these people are and how much they care and are "giving back."

Ugh. Happy new year.. enjoy.

UPDATE: RW sent me an email with info on where to find their data files. For some reason they dump their files into "documents" on Vista. Why there and not data files or downloads? Or Music?

Then their statement on 800/600 made about as much sense: "We're sorry for the trouble. We are in the unfortunate position of having to balance modern resolutions and content with flexibility for every user. Unfortunately, we don't have a way to resolve this issue for you."

Actually they do have a way to resolve my issue; use a scalable GUI such as, I dunno, a standard web browser?

McCain's sure fire way to get elected: Hillary as his running mate!

My online life has become a drag on my existence. I have a life. I have a job. But after everyone has gone to sleep, I logon to Facebook and respond to getting poked. I post to my blog. Then I run over to myspace to deny a "friend" request. Then its off to eBay to give "feedback" or to Amazon to check the status of shipments. Then the real work, uploading photos to Flickr, videos to Youtube. But all the editing first!

And who's it all for? Who cares? And why do I spend so of much time worry about? Is it for posterity? For my kids? My ego? Or just boredom? When I'm dead is this what will be left for me to be remembered by? Yikes.

Random Reviews

Some thoughts on various media I've been into lately.

John Adams - HBO miniseries
Replicates the greatness and flaws of the book. Critics made more noise then was warranted over the skimpy coverage of the Alien and Sedition Act. The greatness of the story lies in the timespan and characters that we are exposed to: Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Ben Franklin, etc. John Adams in the lens, America the focus. But the last hour of the series was really pointless. Yeah, everybody gets old and dies. Go figure.

No Country For Old Men- The Coen Brothers
Much darker tone for the Coen's - even compared to Fargo or Raising Arizona. This is a serious move with fantastic acting and direction. The soundtrack, or the lack of one, helps pace this movie perfectly. Western, noir, action, drama; it's all of those and more. A post-modern masterpiece.

The Golden Compass
I understand a lot of fans of the book were disappointed in the film. Since I haven't read the book I was able to relax and enjoy the show. Nothing ground breaking here. Its a mix of the Narnia films with Harry Potter. But the violence was enjoyable and unexpected. I wouldn't recommend this for children under 13. The movie has some serious themes beyond the magic and is worth the viewing. Anti-climatic - but par for the genre.

NIN - The Slip
Been listening to the new NIN album which was released freely by the band. Its decent if a little short - 30 mins plus three instrumentals. Overall a little more than a collection of songs. Regardless, I've paid money for albums not near as good. The sound is a nice mix of hard rock and "industrial" whatever that is these days - a sound mid way between their last two albums. Recommended for fans of Year Zero.

Making Money - Terry Pratchett
In many ways the latest novel from the master of dark comedy is "Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle for dummies." Pratchett manages a very hard tasks for a writer: getting better with age. The amount of wit and humor Pratchett is able to cram into a book about the basic tenets of a modern economy would leave most economists dumbfounded.

Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Still digging my way though this disc. DCFC is a band that warrants and rewards playback. So far Narrow Stairs starts strong and rockin' then quickly fades. Bit of a curve ball here from Ben and company. On first listen the songs are mixed much louder then previous albums. I'm not calling this a sellout but I could see were some angry fans would give into the temptation. So far I think its weaker then their previous two.

More election thoughts; if John McCain beats Obama will it be seen as further evidence of a racist America?

The Ultimate Betrayal?

So in June, or July, or August, Hillary loses the democratic nomination. Why do we all seem to think she'll just drop out? She could always pull a Lieberman and go independent. John McCain winning in '08 is her best chance for final victory in 2012.

Obama on Fariness

Youtube of Obama on "fairness." Do we really want the government deciding who the winners and losers are? Haven't they done enough damage in the past?

Murray N. Rothbard in 1967: [redacted and paragraphed]

The cruelest myth fostered is that the Great Society functions as a great boon and benefit to the poor. The poor are the ones to lose their homes to the bulldozer of urban renewal, that bulldozer that operates for the benefit of real estate and construction interests to pulverize available low-cost housing.

The poor are the welfare clientele whose homes are unconstitutionally but regularly invaded by government agents to ferret out sin in the middle of the night. The poor are the ones disemployed by rising minimum wage floors, put in for the benefit of employers and unions in higher-wage areas to prevent industry from moving to the low-wage areas. The poor are cruelly victimized by an income tax that left and right alike misconstrue as an egalitarian program to soak the rich.

The poor are victimized too by a welfare state of which the cardinal macro-economic tenet is perpetual if controlled inflation. Farm programs that supposedly aid poor farmers actually serve the large wealthy farmers at the expense of sharecropper and consumer alike; and commissions that regulate industry serve to cartellize it.

40 years later its hard to argue with this critique.

Global Warming

I recently had a conversation with an in-law who believes the economy should be re-tooled to correct for man-made global warming. I pulled up quote upon quote of scientific evidence that 1) global warming doesn't exist or 2) isn't man-made.

His response was to shrug - "then why is everyone talking about it? Why does everyone think it's happening?" My answer was because global warming was never the point. Greenhouse gas emissions are just the latest in a decades old war over who will control the commanding heights of the economy.

He countered: "even Newt and President Bush now accept global warming." My turn to shrug. Politicians are not a good source for science. And its obvious the Republicans are pandering. Regardless, I'd presented case after case of scientists questioning global warming. His response was to look at me like I was crazy, because they (everyone else he knows) believes in it.

There is no argument that can combat they. They can not be questioned. Global Warming is turning into a lost cause. Reason and science have no input into the debate. Its a faith.

Amazon Customer Service

In recent weeks I've had more reasons than I ever wanted to interact with Amazon customer service; half the electronics I'd bought in 2008 decided to die on me in one horrible week.

First off my new 37' JVC flat screen TV. After just over 2 months it just decided one day not to work. The JVC icon would launch when the TV was turned on but then a flash of purple and nothing. So I called Amazon. Turns out I bought the JVC via Amazon but from another vender, Vanns - so Amazon wouldn't help me directly. I contacted Vanns and they explained that since I'd owned the TV more then 60 days (around 65) they wouldn't help. So I had to go to JVC.

JVC directed me to the number of a service dealer who happened to be in the same zip code. That week I called the service dealer, who came out to house the next day! He explained that he'd seen this recently on another JVC flatscreen. There was an apparent grounding problem with some of the boards, no parts were needed. In ten minutes he was done. And all he wanted was a copy of my Amazon receipt. Not impressed with Amazon or Vanns but JVC had a system setup to take care of me.

Then my Amazon Kindle died. After about 3 months of use. The navigation bar stopped working. Amazon troubleshooted with me then agreed that there was no work around. Within two weeks I had a brand new one. Although I do wonder if my frequent buying with Amazon had anything to do with their quick response. If true that will make we want to shop at Amazon even more. A box store will have no idea how loyal a customer I am. But Amazon does by design.

Neal Stephenson's "Anathem," September 9, 2008. Interesting Wikipedia entry.

I predict that the Texas polygamy cult case will not end very well - for anyone.

Several fathers and some mothers will go to jail for various abuse charges. Potentially hundreds of children will be permanently removed from their parents - even if no abuse was proved.

Then the state of Texas is going to be sued for violation of the 1st and 4th Amendment rights of the cult members. They will additionally be sued for intentional infliction of emotional damage and malicious prosecution. If the state is lucky, these cases will be lumped together into a class action.

A lot of losers here. Let the mass ambulance chase begin.

I'm looking forward to the Pope's US tour wrapping up. Although I hear he's coming back for some of the summer festivals.

Bottom Story: Hollywood Still Clueless

This defense of the poor performance of the new Iraq war movie "Stop Loss" struck me as particularly clueless:

No. 7 Stop-Loss eked out a $4.6M weekend. "It's not looking good. No one wants to see Iraq war movies. No matter what we put out there in terms of great cast or trailers, people were completely turned off. It's a function of the marketplace not being ready to address this conflict in a dramatic way because the war itself is something that's unresolved yet. It's a shame because it's a good movie that's just ahead of its time."

Well actually, the only movies they've "put out there" are all anti-war. According to the studio, the reason Stop-Loss failed was actually the fault of their audience. No wonder video games are kicking their ass.

Iraqi Poll

Interesting results from an ABC/BBC poll of Iraqis: 49% now say the US was justified in attacking and just 38% want them to immediately withdraw. Someone memo Obama.

Global Warming Roundup

A look at recent scientific and other developments on the theory of global warming.

From NOAA:
The average temperature across both the contiguous U.S. and the globe during climatological winter (December 2007-February 2008) was the coolest since 2001, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center

From the National Post:

Snow cover over North America and much of Siberia, Mongolia and China is greater than at any time since 1966.

"We missed what was right in front of our eyes," says Prof. Russell [of the University of Arizona]. It's not ice melt but rather wind circulation that drives ocean currents northward from the tropics. Climate models until now have not properly accounted for the wind's effects on ocean circulation, so researchers have compensated by over-emphasizing the role of manmade warming on polar ice melt.

Kenneth Tapping [of the Canadian] National Research Council, who oversees a giant radio telescope focused on the sun, is convinced we are in for a long period of severely cold weather if sunspot activity does not pick up soon. The last time the sun was this inactive, Earth suffered the Little Ice Age that lasted about five centuries and ended in 1850.


Gateway Pundit global warming roundup:

Antarctica Records Record High Ice Cap Growth
South America Has Coldest Winter in a 90 Years
Iraqis See First Snow in 100 Years As Sign of Peace
Worst Snowstorms in a Decade in China Cause Rioting
Jerusalem Grinds to a Halt As Rare Snowstorm Blasts City
Worst Snowstorms in 50 Years Continue to Cripple China
China Suffers Coldest Winter in 100 Years
Pakistan Suffers Lowest Temps in 70 Years-- 260 Dead
Record Cold Hits Central Asia-- 654 Dead in Afghanistan
Severe Weather Kills Dozens in Kashmir
Tajikistan Crisis!! Coldest Winter in 25 Years!
Record Cold Wave Blasts Mumbai, India
Snow and Ice in San Diego?
Wisconsin Snowfall Record Shattered
The Disappearing Arctic Ice Is Back And It's Thick
Turkey's snowiest winter continues.
Record Cold & Snow Blankets Acropolis in Greece (Video)
Longest Ever Cold Spell Kills Cattle & Rice in Vietnam


From the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works:

[Note: all comments and quotes from here below are credited to the author linked. My editing reserved to clarifications and syntax]

“New research from Stephen Schwartz of Brookhaven National Lab [US Department of Energy] concludes that the Earth’s climate is only about one-third as sensitive to carbon dioxide as the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) assumes.”

The study’s “result is 63% lower than the IPCC’s estimate of 3 degrees C for a doubling of CO2 (2.0–4.5 degrees C, 2SD range). Right now we’re about 41% above the estimated pre-industrial CO2 level of 270 ppm. At the current rate of increase of about 0.55% per year, CO2 will double around 2070. Based on Schwartz’s results, we should expect about a 0.6 degrees C additional increase in temperature between now and 2070 due to this additional CO2.

Paleoclimate scientist Bob Carter, who has testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works noted in a June 18, 2007 essay that global warming has stopped. “The accepted global average temperature statistics used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show that no ground-based warming has occurred since 1998. Oddly, this eight-year-long temperature stasis has occurred despite an increase over the same period of 15 parts per million (or 4 per cent) in atmospheric CO2.

Second, lower atmosphere satellite-based temperature measurements, if corrected for non-greenhouse influences such as El Nino events and large volcanic eruptions, show little if any global warming since 1979, a period over which atmospheric CO2 has increased by 55 ppm (17 %).”

In August 2007, the UK Met Office was finally forced to concede the obvious: global warming has stopped. They now claim climate computer models predict “global warming will begin in earnest in 2009.

UN scientist Dr. Madhav L. Khandekar, a retired Environment Canada scientist and an expert IPCC reviewer in 2007, explained on August 6, 2007 that the Southern Hemisphere is cooling. “In the Southern Hemisphere, the land-area mean temperature has slowly but surely declined in the last few years."

Dr. Jim Renwick, a top UN IPCC scientist, admitted that climate models do not account for half the variability in nature and thus are not reliable. "Half of the variability in the climate system is not predictable, so we don’t expect to do terrifically well." Another high-profile UN IPCC lead author, Dr. Kevin Trenberth, recently echoed Renwick’s sentiments about climate models by referring to them as “story lines. . . In fact there are no predictions by IPCC at all. And there never have been. The IPCC instead proffers ‘what if’ projections of future climate that correspond to certain emissions scenarios.”

By studying the last 100 years of these cycles' [the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, the El Nino/Southern Oscillation, and the North Pacific Oscillation] patterns, they [see list below] find that the systems synchronized several times. Further, in cases where the synchronous state was followed by an increase in the coupling strength among the cycles, the synchronous state was destroyed. Then a new climate state emerged, associated with global temperature changes and El Nino/Southern Oscillation variability. The authors show that this mechanism explains all global temperature tendency changes and El Nino variability in the 20th century. Authors: Anastasios A. Tsonis, Kyle Swanson, and Sergey Kravtsov: Atmospheric Sciences Group, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Carbon dioxide did not cause the end of the last ice age, a new study in Science suggests, contrary to past inferences from ice core records. “There has been this continual reference to the correspondence between CO2 and climate change as reflected in ice core records as justification for the role of CO2 in climate change,” said USC geologist Lowell Stott, lead author of the study, slated for advance online publication Sept. 27 in Science Express. “You can no longer argue that CO2 alone caused the end of the ice ages.” Deep-sea temperatures warmed about 1,300 years before the tropical surface ocean and well before the rise in atmospheric CO2."

According to the findings reviewed in this paper [Geophysical Research Letters], the variable output of the sun, the sun’s gravitational relationship between the earth (and the moon) and earth’s variable orbital relationship with the sun, regulate the earth’s climate. The processes by which the sun affects the earth show periodicities on many time scales; each process is stochastic and immensely complex

The study found that times of high solar activity are on average 0.2 degrees C warmer than times of low solar activity, and that there is a polar amplification of the warming. This result is the first to document a statistically significant globally coherent temperature response to the solar cycle. Authors: Charles D. Camp and Ka Kit Tung: Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.

"Of 539 total papers on climate change, only 38 (7%) gave an explicit endorsement of the consensus [of scientists‘ belief in global warming]. If one considers 'implicit' endorsement (accepting the consensus without explicit statement), the figure rises to 45%. However, while only 32 papers (6%) reject the consensus outright, the largest category (48%) are neutral papers, refusing to either accept or reject the hypothesis. This is no 'consensus."

During the last 10,000 years climate has been seesawing between the North and South Atlantic Oceans. As revealed by findings presented by Quaternary scientists at Lund University, Sweden, cold periods in the north have corresponded to warmth in the south and vice verse. These results imply that Europe may face a slightly cooler future than predicted by IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

An August 2007 NASA temperature data error discovery has lead to 1934 -- not the previously hyped 1998 -- being declared the hottest in U.S. history since records began. Revised data now reveals four of the top ten hottest years in the U.S. were in the 1930's while only three of the hottest years occurred in the last decade.

Team of Scientists Question Validity Of A 'Global Temperature' – The study was published in Journal of Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics. Excerpt from a March 18, 2007 article in Science Daily: “Discussions on global warming often refer to 'global temperature.' Yet the concept is thermodynamically as well as mathematically an impossibility. "It is impossible to talk about a single temperature for something as complicated as the climate of Earth", Bjarne Andresen says, an expert of thermodynamics. "A temperature can be defined only for a homogeneous system. Furthermore, the climate is not governed by a single temperature. Rather, differences of temperatures drive the processes and create the storms, sea currents, thunder, etc. which make up the climate.” He explains that while it is possible to treat temperature statistically locally, it is meaningless to talk about a global temperature for Earth. The Globe consists of a huge number of components which one cannot just add up and average. That would correspond to calculating the average phone number in the phone book. That is meaningless."

UN IPCC reviewer and climate researcher Dr. Vincent Gray of New Zealand, an expert reviewer on every single draft of the IPCC reports since its inception going back to 1990, had a clear message to UN participants. "There is no evidence that carbon dioxide increases are having any effect whatsoever on the climate," Gray, who shares in the Nobel Prize awarded to the UN IPCC, explained. "All the science of the IPCC is unsound. I have come to this conclusion after a very long time. If you examine every single proposition of the IPCC thoroughly, you find that the science somewhere fails. It fails not only from the data, but it fails in the statistics, and the mathematics," he added.

Spitzer

Its hard not to take glee in the trials of Elliot Spitzer. But from a legal point of view I don't think what he did should be illegal. It's his 80k.

Whether or not that should disqualify him from office is a totally separate issue. Its amazing to me that someone with so many enemies could get elected to begin with. And at the rate the reports are coming, before this is all over, we'll find out that Spitzer shot Kennedy.

Of course maybe this was his all part of his master plan of getting out of responsibility (and his marriage).

I've reached a new stage of fatherhood. Yesterday my son threw up on me. Twice. I'm not talking spit up either.

From Drudge: "Florida wants to regulate amount of toilet paper in bathrooms..."

The most pressing issue of the day.

President's Day

I celebrated President's day by setting up my flat screen TV. The TV had to fit in my existing cabinet so I went with a 37 inch. But I didn't skimp on resolution: 1080p. Time Warner won't be able to bring me an HD box until Friday so I had to rough it with less then half the resolution the TV could handle. The shame. I spent all day watching. I couldn't pull myself away. Even commercials kept me in amazement. TV reinvented. So thank you American Presidents!

One of the first things I did after setup was to order a movie, September Dawn. I was hoping for a action movie. What I got was a sad parable of religious extremism. Mormon in this case:

The Mountain Meadows massacre involved a mass slaughter of the Fancher-Baker emigrant wagon train at Mountain Meadows in the Utah Territory by the local Mormon militia in September 1857. It began as an attack, quickly turned into a siege, and eventually culminated on September 11, 1857, in the execution of the unarmed emigrants after their surrender. . .
After escorting the emigrants out of their fortification, the militiamen and their tribesmen auxiliaries executed approximately 120 men, women and children.

From an artistic standpoint the movie's pretty bad. None of the actors stand out, it has the voice of an after-school special about why not to kill people; with the added bonus of a cliche doomed love story and sappy soundtrack to boot. But I did find the history depicted to be engaging and mostly accurate.

September Dawn didn't make me think about Islamists so much as simply reinforce my own prejudice against any religion that applies dogma - okay, any religion. To the Mormon's credit they didn't call for a boycott of the studio or deny involvement.

Afterwards I got sucked into Inside the Vietnam War on Nat Geo. This three hour special, much to my relief, focused on the military history of the war. I also found it refreshing to see the war chronologically. And for once, instead of Berkley sit-ins, we got a documentary on the actual war.

Its frustrating to see how close our armed forces came to winning. Only to be betrayed by the politicos. It is errie how similar the first three years of the Vietnam War and the war in Iraq were - the insurgency, the military victories, the lack of good press coverage. Maybe Vietnam and the rise of alternative media helped inoculate our boys in Iraq from defeat this time around.

Where this documentary failed was to explore in detail how the Vietnam war was actually lost - at home. No mention was made of the post Watergate elected congress that failed to fund the South Vietnamese army - thus betraying the deaths of almost 60,000 US soldiers. Neither was there mention of the one of the largest consequences of cutting and running - the Killing Fields in Cambodia. But I quibble.

So that was my President's Day. Which gets me to thinking about who were the most important Presidents? I read somewhere that most presidencies are failures and that sounds about right. Even important ones historically, say, Wilson or Jackson, were failed administrations.

Obviously, George Washington is in the list of most important. I think he's obvious but he does feel overlooked as of late. Washington held the United States (not just a union of various peoples) together with the strength of his character. And he defied ten thousand years of human history by stepping down from power.

Jefferson makes the list, although his two terms in office were not very remarkable. It was Jefferson's vision that probably kept North American from being carved into a dozen Europeanish states - his demand that the Western states be added on an equal footing as the original 13 colonies. And the Louisiana Purchase didn't hurt.

Lincoln for keeping the Union together.

Teddy Roosevelt for reinventing the power of the Executive. Without Teddy the presidency would not have been prepared, as an office, to deal with the 20th century.

FDR for winning WWII. That's all I give him credit for, but it's enough to get him on the list.

Ronald Regan for reminding all of us about the vision and meaning of being Americans. And winning the cold war. Bush 41 doesn't get that credit in my book.

And since I want to drag this post on even further, the worst of the 20th Century:

Wilson - for that damned League of Nations thing, and helping to set the stage for WWII by letting the French destroy the Germany economy via reparations

Hoover - for failing to take any meaningful steps to address the market crash of 1929

LBJ - for being a coward and refusing to run for re-election when he had troops dying in the field to fight his war

Nixon - for making the tapes

Ford - for not bombing the North Vietnamese when they violated the Pairs peace treaty

Carter - for being Carter

Bush 40 - for "No new taxes"

Clinton - for Rwanda, Hillarycare, the internet bubble, and, well, you know

JFK gets an honorable mention for getting his ass shot before we could know if we was a failure or not.

Bush 42 - it's just too early to tell yet. Wait a generation.


Thats all for now. Blog again next month. Probably.

The more "C"onservatives bash McCain the more I'm inclined to like him.

"'[F]reedom of expression doesn't mean the right to offend,' said Maxime Verhagen, the [Dutch] Foreign Minister."

Then what's the point?

"When I am President, I will work to protect children from inappropriate video game content," - Hillary Clinton.

[Insert rant about the first amendment and the slippery slope of fascism here]

Not that Mike Huckabee is much better, he wants congress to outlaw the free market assignment of wages.

I just wish someone would run for president without their platform being based upon how America should be changed, voices restricted or the economy re-shaped into their view of fairness. And please stop using "children" as a code word for censorship or to otherwise take away my rights.

Vietnam, War Crimes and Morality

On a recent flight to DC I sat beside a single serving friend who turned out to be a Vietnam vet. He was traveling to Washington for the 25th anniversary of the Wall. Given the use of a talkative primary source, as my wont, I asked him a bunch of questions.

Early on I established my bona fides by proving to him that I was not totally ignorant of the military history of 'Nam. Which mainly means that I've thrown out most of what I was thought in movies and on TV growing up:

• The Tet Offensive was a military victory for the US
• The exaggeration of the civilian death toll of the Christmas Bombings
• The betrayal of the "Vietnam Congress" ("Faced with funding a $722 million supplement to stave off a collapse of South Vietnam, Congress refused to act.")
• That cutting and running can lead to genocide - Cambodia and Pol Pot

Our conversation loosened the vet up and he began to share his personal experiences. The point he kept reiterating that I want to pass on is that Vietnam vets are more successful then non-veterans of the 60's generation. He hated the image of the drugged out hippie war vet. He thought it was myth. This didn't surprise me since the military is currently full of recruits who are more successful then their non-military peers.

What did surprise me was when this vet detailed some of the action he saw. He spoke of going out on twenty man patrols to draw out the enemy - since the modern doctrine of overwhelming force had yet to be developed. His platoon would set out for weeks at a time, occasionally entering into Cambodia. After a time our conversation turned to the Iraq war. This vet held that Iraq would be won or another genocide would occur. It was at this point that he mentioned how much the soldiers hands in Iraq today are tied by lawyers.

To make his point clearer, he stopped to give me an example. To paraphrase: "I mean, we committed war crimes. It had to be done. We'd catch a spy while out on patrol. We couldn't keep him or he'd escape and if we let him go he'd tell his comrades were to find us. So we'd put a bullet in his head. That's a war crime. But what were we supposed to do?"

I was momentarily speechless. It's one thing to contemplate war intellectually. It is another to talk to a man who is an admitted war criminal. I immediately started tossing over in my head the choices. What would I have done? Is the life of one enemy combatant, most likely a war criminal himself, potentially worth the lives of a platoon? I came to the unsettling conclusion that the actions that these vets took were not only correct but moral.

As I contemplate the conversation I held with this man, I'm still shocked. And yet that is the reality of war. And my life is very comfortable and has nothing to do with the reality of reality. Should there be war crimes? Yes. Does that make every violation worthy of being prosecuted? Hell no. So there is that tension in the law. A tension that should never be resolved.

Barry Bonds and Thomas Jefferson

Been too busy to write on here much. Went to DC for a wedding, saw Davidson college almost kick UNC's ass then tonight I finally got to see The Police live in concert. And in my free time I've been running an eBay store; almost Christmas time again. All and all not a bad couple of weeks - just very busy.

Before I depart for who knows how long, I will say that I had the TV turned on tonight and it just happened to be on NBC News with Brian Williams. The lede surprised me. So, we're a war, in two countries. Iran is pushing the world towards a nuclear crisis. There was a horrible typhoon in Bangladesh. The US market is bouncing all over the place. And the democrats were having a debate to help decide who our next president will be. What did NBC start with? Barry Bonds. Followed by OJ.

It must have been at this point when Rome started to collapse under its own weight. Maybe Jefferson was right: we need a new revolution every generation.

Future Headlines of America

Future newspaper headlines:

Fires Caused by Global Warming
Soldiers Deployed in Iraq Unable To Help Fight Fires
Al Gore Visits Southern California
Federal Response to Fires Too Little Too Late
California Governor: President Did Not Act Fast Enough
FEMA Under 'Fire'
So Cal Drought Caused by Global Warming

Extra bonus headline from 2006:
So Cal Flooding Caused by Global Warming

The End Times

As I watch Malibu burn its hard not to think of a Tool song. I blame President Bush.

Online Hotel Reservations

I had a really bad experience with one of those online hotel reservation systems. I'm trying to get my money back. Now I get to see how their customer service is. I'll keep this updated.

The nine foot long single-cell sea-weed.

Utah Mine Disaster

Its past two in the morning but there really isn’t any point in going to sleep. Liam’s gone almost 6 hours since his last meal so I’m waiting for him to wake up and demand food. One of the chief requirement of the human machine While waiting I’ve been watching the news of the Utah mine disaster come across the wires. The second Utah mine disaster.

So far there are three dead. Three of those sent to save six. Yes, the news has a voyeuresque love of disasters and yes, I don’t want to encourage them. But there is something very compelling about this story; Shakespearian. The human loss is hard to comprehend from afar. While the struggle for life is acknowledged and the drama for rescue unquestionable, the actual loss becomes somewhat more nebulous.

To be trapped is to be human. But these men were driven into the Earth to seek the gold (coal) required to support their families. Their limited options and struggle to get ahead drove them underground. Only to become trapped by the wealth they sought to extract. Their air bleeding out, their sight blocked by derbies. I hope it went fast.

Days pass in prayer and fear but no word from the miners. Far up above rescuers drill probes into the earth in a desperate search. They’re hoping to find some link to those men who went into the ground before them. Only each search brings only silence.

Tired with the waiting, more men dig into the dirt to find them. Men of action. So they toiled and bent their backs. Day by day they sought those who went before. But the cruel Earth shook again, its forces vast and disinterested. And in that moment the rescuers were put into mortal peril and three of their number were slain. Many others injured, all shaken.

So now we wait. We mourn and wait for a sign that those who went down before us into the Earth will ever return or show signs of life. And we wait. And wait. But in our hearts we all know that there is no life to be found. Deep in the Earth.

The New Victorians

How do-good’er fascism is coming to a city near you: (collected this week from Drudge)

CITY CONSIDERS END TO ALCOHOL SALES...

Balloon ban wipes smile off clown's face; children might be allergic to latex...

'Sagging pants' law to take effect...

Behavior Detection Screeners At Airports; Danger In Facial Expressions...

Dutch Bishop to Christians: Call God 'Allah' to make peace with Muslims...

Plastic bubbles coming next.

pneumonia

For everyone wondering what happened to me…. turns out I have pneumonia. I’ve been at home resting as best I can. I got to the doctor tomorrow for a follow-up. I’m hoping to get a time table if nothing else. Also tomorrow I visit my Ophthalmologist to check out if my eye’s improving. Besides that nothing else has been really going on.

The market’s down, the heat’s up. . . hell of a summer. And daytime TV still sucks.

If the hills have eyes I want them

I feel like the beginning of the Simpson’s movie; itchy and scratchy. And its hard not to feel lied to. When I got cataract surgery on my right eye 6+ years ago I was told it was a simple procedure with a high success rate. As of today I’ve had my third corrective surgery.

The first two surgeries were yags. The fact that I had two yags in the same eye was apparently rare enough that my ophthalmologist documented it for possible publication. I’m just that kind of guy when it comes to my eyes. Today’s surgery was for filamentary keratitis; which I’d never heard of.

Sunday night I noticed that my right eye itched constantly. By Monday afternoon I was taking Visine and hoping I didn’t have conjunctivitis. By Tuesday morning I knew something was seriously wrong. My eye was swollen, red, sensitive to light and in pain.

As best I can understand it, a piece of my cornea broke off and filled itself into wounds on the surface of my healthy cornea. These broken pieces of cornea implanted themselves in the gouges on the surface of my eye and continued to grow outward until I felt their presence. At which time they became infected.

Like the yags, fk was most likely a side effect of that years old cataract surgery. The gift that keeps on giving. More depressing is that last year I finally had cat surgery on my left eye. And I already have a yag that needs removal. Will FK be next? FK is not actually a disease, it’s a symptom of another condition and one that will probably reoccur.

KF, rp, cataracts, yags, astigmatism. Dare I ask what’s next?

Survey

I don’t usually do these but why not? I added a few of my own questions at the bottom.

Tired of all of those surveys made up by high school kids?

'Have you ever kissed someone?'
'Missed someone?'
'Told someone you loved them?'
'Drank alcohol?'

Here are some questions for the people who are a little more mature...

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?
Daycare

2. What's the best place to eat a romantic dinner?
In Charlotte? Carpe Diem.

3. Last time you puked from drinking?
No comment

4. When is the last time you got drunk and danced on a bar?
Never danced on a bar

5. Name of your first grade teacher?
No idea.

6. What do you really want to be doing right now?
Touring southern Spain

7. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
An astronaut

8. How many colleges did you attend?
Two

9. Why did you wear the shirt that you have on right now?
What shirt?

10. GAS PRICES
Oil companies make 10 cents per gallon. The government makes 45 cents per gallon. The government investigates the oil companies. Who investigates the government?

11. If you could move anywhere and take someone with you...
A sandy island with interesting people and intellectual things to do.

12. First thought when the alarm went off this morning?
My alarm was my son. And first thought was what he needed

13. Last thought before going to sleep last night?
Work

15. Favorite style of underwear for the opposite sex?
None on at all

16. What errand/chore do you despise?
All of them. Cleaning the bathroom probably highest.

17. If you didn't have to work, would you volunteer at an art gallery?
No. I hate most of the people that show up at art galleries

18. Get up early or sleep in?
Sleep in

19. What is your favorite cartoon character?
Eric Cartman

20. Favorite NON sexual thing to do at night with a girl/guy?
Go out to a lounge or club

21. A secret that you wouldn't mind everyone knowing?
I’m a vegan

22. Are you planning on remaining in your current field?
Yes.

23. If you are not married, do you see yourself married in the next five years?
I am and yes.

24. Your favorite lunch meat?
Roast beef

25. What do you get every time you go into a WalMart?
I hate Wal-mart because the lights give me a headache. But its usually baby related. I avoid it when possible. But damn those prices. They suck me back in.

26. Beach or lake?
Beach

27. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual that was invented by people who died at 20?

No. But the success of marriage is economically related. The divorce rate among the upper middle class is a quarter of what it is for the poor. Marriage additionally appears to be a genetically programmed desire - given the spread of the custom over all world cultures. But so, apparently, is adultery.

29. Favorite guilty pleasure?
Chocolate

30. Favorite movie you wouldn't want anyone to find out about?
The Spice Girls Movie

31. What's your drink?
A good ale

32. Cowboys or Indians?
I’m not into the village people

33. Cops or Robbers?
Two sides of the same coin

34. Do you cheer for the bad guy in a movie?
Sometimes. Especially if he’s a cartoonish cutout of evil. Just like me.

35. What Hollywood star do you think resembles you best?
Brad Pitt of course

36. If you had to pick one, which cast member of Lost would you be?
Sawyer

37. What do you want when you are sick?
To sleep

38. Who from high school would you like to run into?
Teachers who thought I wouldn’t amount to anything

39. What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now?
I don’t drive

42. Norm or Cliff?
Norm

43. The Cosby Show or the Simpsons?
Simpsons

44. Worst relationship mistake that you wish you could take back?
My first wife

45. Do you like the person who sits directly across from you at work?
I work from home

46. If you could get away with it, whom would you kill?
Dictators everywhere

47. What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
Chuck Palahniuk

48. What famous person would you like to sleep with?
Kieran Chetry

49. Have you ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose?
No. But I want to

50. Last book you read for real?
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

51. Do you have a teddy bear?
I’ve bought some for my son

52. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth?
The bathroom.

53. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to go?
Hollywood

54. Number of texts in a day?
0

55. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or relationship?
Career

57. Pencil or pen?
Pen

58. bueller??? bueller??? bueller???
Save Ferris

59. How many jobs have you had?
5 since college

60. Are you where you thought you would be at this age?
Further

61. Last CD you purchased
I don’t buy CD’s, I get most my music from Emusic or Itunes. I just bought Interpol’s Our Love to Remember. Also just got the new White Stripes and the new Spoon record. And I’ve been spinning Alt-Ctnl-Sleep.

62. How many car crashes have you been in?
Eight

63. If you don’t have kids do you want them?
I have one and want another

64. Do you have insurance?
Yes

65. Do you go to church or other religious services regularly?
No and I don’t feel guilty about it

66. Are you registered to vote?
Yes

MSM: London Bombing Caused by Iraq War

It was a lazy Saturday morning so I decided to stay in bed and watch TV. I ended up flipping between CNN and MSNBC for the latest info on the attempted London car bombings. Fox Saturday mornings are filled with their lame business programming so I didn’t the “fair and balanced” take. What struck me about CNN and MSNBC's programming was how often they invoked the war in Iraq in their coverage. The subtext was “it’s all our fault.” This despite the fact the previous Islamic terrorists in Britain have been Pakistani not Iraqi.

MSNBC showed their ignorance by wondering if the terrorists had learned how to build their car bombs while in Iraq. Anyone who’s been paying attention knows that car bombs in Iraq are much more sophisticated then the gas and nails used in the foiled London bombings. In Iraq cars are packed with explosives manufactured or designed in Iran. Not by unprofessional terrorists who couldn’t figure out how to properly lite gasoline. As for the car bomb, it was not, like MSNBC would have us believe, a terrorist tactic of middle east origin. Car bombs were an invention of the, wait for it, Irish Republican Army.

The next civil rights movement

I often hear from talking heads that “gay marriage” is a threat to traditional marriage. And yet there are many more realistic reasons why the institution of marriage is failing:

“[T]here’s much loose talk in the popular literature about atmospherics such as today’s lack of commitment, but consider the possibility that men are refusing to marry women because the risks are too great. Men have become broadly aware that they can be arrested and thrown out of their own homes on hearsay, and that their chances of prevailing in a child custody battle are small. With the presumption and the weight of the political bureaucracy against them, men have made what amounts to an economic decision to avoid situations that expose them to loss and ruin.”